The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1848-12-27

sass Suhse 81 Il. whisl at our mini f
eight Esn dollars OIL f6res for d bolt bfans
slYs bottle OF soda plug
as Is The quantity which htheg d ggsFs gets
take Z sa evidence know seven
men SVfli tSrkedl seven weeks and two days,
ssssunday yS s&cepte on Feather river; tlioyS
employ Yed on an average fifty Indians; audi
got out in these seven weeks and lwo@ days
two hundred and seventy five pounds of pure
gold. know the men and have & seen the!
gold, and. know what they state to be q fact;
80 stick a pin there. know ten other
men who worked ten days in; company, eH-{
sployed no Indians, and averaged in these ten
days fifteen hundred dollars each; so stick an.
other pin there. sI know anoi her man who
got out Of a basin in q rock, not larger than q
wash bow, two pounds aiidta flnlf Of gold IN
fifteen minutes; so site another pin there;
Not one Of these statements would i believe,
did not know tho men personally, and
know them to be plain matter OF fact men,;
MEN; who open a vein of gold Just as coolly.
sas yod would a potato hill. 81 S
The gold is Obtained in a variety of ways;
some wash it out Of The sand with bowls,
some with q machine, made like. cradle,
only longer and open ut tho foot, while at tho
other end, instead Of q squalling infant, there;
is n grating upon which the earth is thrown,
and then water; both pass through tho giat-
ing; the cradle is rocked and being on on in
olined plain, the watot carries off the earth,
and the gold is deposited in the bottom OF the
cradle. So the two things most priced in
this world, gold aud infant. beauty, arc both
rocked out Of their primitive state, one to
pamper pride, and the other to pan,per the
worm. Some forego cradles and bowls as
m fon1 Il -,
horses, half wild, dash upthe mountain gor-
gee, and over the steep hilla, picking the gold
from the cle(ts of the rocks with their bowie
knives; a much better use to make of these
instruments than picking the life out of
mems bodies, for what is man with that
article picked out Of him.
a larger party well mounted, are follow
ing up the channel of the Sacramento, ito
discover where this gold, found in its banks,
comes from; an l'imagine that near tho rivers
fount they will find the great yellow mass
ITSELF But they might as well hunt the
fettng rainbow. The gold was thrown up
from tho bed ofthe ocean with the rocks and
sands which it is found; and still bears. where
it has escaped tho action of the elements,
vivid traces of volcanic fire. 1t often encases
a crystal Of quartz, in which tho pebble lies
as fit had slumbcred there from eternity; its
ance. How strange that this ore should lave
lainhere scattered about in all directions,
Peeping every where out Of the earth and
sparkling in the sun, and been trod upon for
ages by men white and savagea, and by the en-
lssarics Of every scientific association in the
world; and never till now have been discoy-
cred. What an ass man is, with all his
learning. Ee stupidity stunhles over hills of
gold to reach rare pepper pod, or rifle birds
nest.
The whole country is now moving on the
mines. Monterey; San Francisco, Sonoma,
San Jose, and Santa Cruz, are emptied OF
their male population. a stranger coming
here would suppose he had arrived among n
race of women, who by some anomalous pro-
vIsan of nature, multiplied theirs images. with
out the presence Of tile other sex. :, But not
a few OF the women have gonc too, especially
those who had got out OF tea-for what is
woman without her tea-pot-a pythoness
without her shaking trypoon-an angel that
has lost his Tyre. Every bowl, tray, warming
pan, and piggin, have gone to the mines.
Every thing, in short, that has scoop in it
that will hold sand and water All the ro,i
has been worked up into crowbars, pick-axcs,
and spades. And all these roll back upon us
in the shape Of Gold. We have therefore
plenty OF Gold, but little to eat, and still less
to wear. Our supplies must como from Ore
gon, Chilli, and tho United States. Our grain
Gold, i'll exchange for corn, sells for nine and
ten dollars the ounce, though it is we'll known
to DO worth at tho mint in Philadelphia eigh-
teen dollars the ounce at least. Snch is The
scarcity of coin here.
We want mint. Let Congress send lis
one at once over the Ithmus; else this grain
gold goes to Mazatlar, to Chill and Peru
where it is lost to our national currency.
Over million of gold, at the lowest conpr.
tation, is taken from these mines every month
and this quantity will be more than doubled
when the emigration from the States, Oregon,
the Sandwich Islands and the Southern re-
publics, arrives. Send Is mint! | could
give you forty more illustrations of tho extent
and productveness Of these mines, but no one
will bclicvc what | hare said without nv
name, and perhaps but few with it.
AWFUL WEEcK.-We have already mc,,-
toned the loss of the steamer Wyaniott, on
the Mississippi River, OH The 2lst ult The
st. Eouis Republican gives the following
thrilling details Of this sad cnlamty:-
"The boat had just rounded to at Paw
Paw Island on the 21st, for the purpose of
wood'ng, and in going short distance I'D
stream, under very moderate head of steam,
to make landing, her larboard side struck
against n projecting snag some thirty yards
from the Mississippi shore, and in less than
twenty minutes she went down to her hurri-
cane roof AS soon as the shock was felt it
was known that the boat was in n sinking
condition, and Captain Yore instantly or.
dercd the forward hatch to be raised in order
to ascertain the cxtcnt OF damage, but before
his order could be executed and before tho
men could replace the matches, the water