Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1848-12-14
Monterey, Alta California,
August 81, 1918.

The gold diggcrs generally work in small
companies of slX or eight. They have tent,
provisions, cattle and horses. Each takes his
iurn in cooking aud keeping camp. -Four or
five are engaged IN getting out gold, and one
or two in Mia, they call prospectlng--thdt is,
hunting for some richer vein or deposit. They
are a merry sci of fellows, full of excitement
and fun. They undergo great fatigue and
make sport of their hardships. They throw All
air OF ie'lly about the acquisition Of gold,
which makes buresque of the ANXIOUS faces
you sometimes meet on Change.
\ They lose their eainings al the gaming ia.
1 bic Wilh as itlle concern as yOu would an old
garment with a new one io take lis place
L there is more where that came FROM lis their
l,.xpression and the next day they prove II true.
The whole economy Is changed. The dllcher,
hand -hou upcr, and butl-endcr are the most in
Jepeudeni i.ren IN the community-each has
his bag of gold aud can hl II ten times as fast
as his wants can empty 1t.
! doubt if there will tie, by the time this let.
,er reaches you, fifty soldiers at all our mill
AIRY posts in California. They will be IN The
.nines and II you send tho few tEat remain Ia
,rng them back, they will themselves 70 IL
digging gold
| Nor does the navy fare whit better. Let
a man-ut-war anchor in our harbor tO-m0rrow,
anc in three weeks she would hardly have men
enough To get her To sea. SeaInen "ho have
'een on this station five years, aud who have
four or five hundred dollars due them, forfeit
the whole and escape To the mines The only
way a merchant vessel gets 10 sea is 10 give
The men strong interest In the voyage
There is no discipline. except what they
choose to establish among themselves; each
Tor The lime is cock Of the walk.
| The Isaac Walton, a naval store ship, has
just arrived here from New York, and il is cal
culaied that it will cos, as much to discharge
her as the whole prices of her freight around
Cape Horn. Indeed she cannot discharge
without the aid of one Of our national ships,
and the result will be the loss Of some hundred
sailors. 1t is in vain to talk about sentrIes, the
sentfies will run. The only remedy is to cut
off all connection with the shore; and in that
case man of.war might as well be IN the
midst of the Pacific as on the coast. But
enough of this.
| There is at present very little coin in Cali
fornia, and III. consequence is, this grain gold
is sold here for len dollars the ounce. 1t has
been assayed by competent person. and prov
ed 10 be tweniy-,hree aud a half cara,s good.
! 1t must therefore be worth at our mint nearly
double what it is sold for here.
Therefore send Us a mint, and the sooner
the better. Take one OF your mints that is
standing nearly idle, and a good assayer, and
an honest treasurer, and send them To Cha
gres, over the lslhmus to Panama and then To
Monterey, and we will coin gold enough for
you 10 pay the Mexican wsr
Two vessels, 1t is reported, are on their way
from the Sandwich ISLANDS with passengers for
the gold nine. Admiral Wooster, an Ameri-
can, and once at the head OF the Chlllan navy
died here few days slnce. Ii is now more
than three years since received orders to the
Congress- expect TO return home by the hrs,
ship that leaves for America. w. T..