Baltimore commercial journal, and Lyford's price-current. [volume] (Baltimore, Md) 1840-1849, 1847-08-14

" "
brother Of the American, who had been heard Of
for more than forty years. What made this dscovc-
~ more remarkable, was the fact that Capt H. while
engaged in New Bedford 10 ship some harPoons, had
passed the house Of his brother several times with
out dreaming OF his existence"
Correspondence Of the y. !. Journal Of Commerce.
MONTEREY, (California) Nov. -. 1916.
Tradesmen of all kinds are very much wanted
in this country, and | would strongly recommend
a large number If them to emigrate here; for
here there are next to none; and those who are
here are mostly given 10 drunkenness, -orif not,
they invariably, after having been a short time in
the country, desert their trades and go to farming
OF spGCulallLg.
4 tailor will charge twenty-four dollars for
making a plain irOCk coat, and finding trim
mings; five dollars for the plainest kind Of pants
and every thing else IN proportion. black
smith Cor a substitute for a bIaCksmith) will not
work here unless he can make from six to ten
dollars per day, and even them it often happens
that the person who wants job done, has to
wait either till some man who fairly knows how
TO strike a blow with the hammer, has time to
get sober, OF be in the humrr TO 90 10 work.
There wharf partly built in Monterey last
year, and a crane Put on 1t Tor hosting bales,
boxes, &c. An iron band was required to go
round the cap, in which the crane swung. There
were then four backsmths in Monterey, and he
who was considered the best workman, was en-
gagged to weld this iron band, which consisted of
piece of flat bar iron six feet long, four inches and
a half wide, and three quarters of an inch thick.
On asking the blacksmith what he charged to
weld that band and put 1t on the cap, he said SIX
dollars per day; which was agreed on. The job
took tie man six days to finish it. | mention
these incidents that your readers may plainly see
the lack there Is in this country, of people who
understand their trades, and the opportunity it
offers for their peCuniary advancement. There
are some few carpenters in the country, but they
will not work day work. | have known some
of them to make twelve dollars a day each when
they thought proper TO work, and that at the
most ordinary kind of work. For instance, they
charge eighteen dollars for making panel door
of the NEST ordinary kind, and of red wood,
which is remarkably easily worked, and the same
price for pair Of common shutters, made of the
same wood. For making window sashes fifty
cents for each pane the sash contains, and four
dollars per square Tor laying floor, II o. red
wood, and six doll RS if Of pine.
| could mention hundreds of instances of the
/ same kind iii all the various branches Of trades;
but let it suffice to say, that any radesmar, par
ticuarly one who IS master of his business, who
has a wish TO cmigrate to California, ought to do
( il without the least hesitation. There is Use
in any man asking if such and such a trade will
be advantageous to him in California; because
no trade can be men toned that is required in a
civilized country, which Is not requisite III Cali
( ornia.
If a watch-chan should happen to be broken,
/ the watch must be sent TO the Sandwich Islands
/ to be repaired, and the owner must wait six or
nine months for his watch, and more than likely,
when he gets it, it will be spoiled forever.
/ Nov. l2th.-Ifaving obtained piece of quick
silver ore, send it to you, as a specimen OF the
quicksilver mine now in operation in the NOrlhcn
part of Upper California This mine is very rich,
as you will perceive 10y the piece OF ore | send
you, which is by no means selected piece, as II
was the first took hold of from a box full. All
the stone contains quicksilver but the richest
al, l,
tains The experiment may be tried in the fol-
lowing manner: lake piece OF the stone, and
beat it up very fine. Then take pi cc Of iron
that is fiat, the blade of a shovel for instance, and
make it red hot. Then put the pounded ore on
the shovel, and cover it over with a tea cup. The
vapor will adhere to the cup, and with the finger
this vapor may be gathered, when the quicksilver
will be found by putting piece OF silver coin
in the cup, or with the finger scraping the SCOT
out OF the cup upon piece OF silver
But the best method is TO take a gun barrel,
and fill it with the ore beaten into pieces about
the size of a small pea; keep the brcech end Of
the gun barrel in the fire, and let the other end
be immersed in tub Of waer-keeping a plate
or basin in the water for the quicksilver to fall
into, and likewise for the purpose Of keeping it
clean.
The quicksilver ore from this mine is procured
with the greatest imaginable facility. You will
perceive that the stone is easily broken, and from
this you will form pretty just calculation of the
quantity of ore that may be procured in a day,
either by one man or a hundred
Notwithstanding the facility with which this
mine may be worked, the owners of it have not
as yet procured above two thousand dollars worth
of the metal, owing 10 their sothfulness, and
ignorance of every thing like labor. As this
mine has never yet been properly explored, it is
not known how far it may extend.
Nature has been bountilul to this country in
many wonderful ways, but her goodness has been
disrcgardcd by those who have held possession
of it for so long a time. The reproductiveness
of animals in this country is extraordinary; but
incidence, carelcssness, and the love OF luxury,
have within the last twelve years brought it al
most into state Of desolaion.
A farmer in California who may have for in
stance three thousand cows, considers that he
ought to brand and mark during the season one
thousand calves, allowing twothirds of the
mum he ought to brand, to be eaten by the
wolves and foxes, which are constantly preying
upon them. They lie about, watching for cow
to calve, when they Immediately destroy the off
spring. All the farmers are aware of this; still
they take steps to prevent it, except that about
once in two or three years, some of them will
procure poison, and mix it with the flesh OF
dead horse or bullock, and scatter it about the
farm. They generally fix it in such manner
that it is certain death TO any animal that eats
of it.
What have said above, concerning farmers
branding only one third as many calves as he has