The daily national Whig. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1847-1849, 1849-01-24
correspondence oflhu New ]
COIN. GOLD.

ytlTE,
subject an importan, one only call II difficult
The carrying out code OF laws uuder existing cir
4 ehjn5tances, Is nf from being an easy task The
general government may appoint governors, seere
tlfies, and other public tunconafiesi and Judges
mprshals, collectors, Sc, may accept Offices with
salaries Of $1,000 or 81 600 per annnm but how
they are TO obtain their petty officers AT half these
sums remains to be seen. The pay Of member of
Congress will be accepted here BY those alone who
do not know enough 10 better themselves. Me-
chanies can now get $40 to SIG per diem laborera
on The whnrfs or ELSEWHERE - 10 $40; clerks and
storekeepers 81 600 10 $4,000 per annnm; some On,
gage 10 keep store during their pleasure at s5.per
day, or 10 l;2 lbs of gold per month; cooks and
stewards sou TO slO0 per month In iaeit labor OF
II every description commands exorbilant prices
My pieylods lni1rma lion 10 You merely forward
81 TO your Office open The way 10 The future be-
lief Of yonr many readers had not much expcc.
tatiou OF being believed. The idea of mountains Of
quicksilver only waiting the ingenuity OF man 70
make them pour forth as stream of rivers, Whose
4 bottoms and banks are Of gold, is rather too much
TO play upon the creduliiy Of New Workers or Yam
kees, suppose my story passed as ali enlarged
edition Of the Arabian Nights improved and adapt
ed 70 California
Whether you OF ysur readers took the tale for fc.
| ton or truth, know mol Your last paper that has
rHaehed US is Of April. This know,-lhe Sandwich
! Islands, Oregon, and Lower California, are fast part
Ing with their inhabitants, all bound for this coast
and thence 10 the great ''paeer OF the Sacramento
Valley, where the digging and washing Of one man
thai does not produce one hundred troy ounces Of
geld u caraIs from the size Of halt 9pange 10
pound in one month sets the digger 10 prospect
| ing. &, looking fol- better grounds. Your Pal
sano can point out many man who has, Tor 10 10
20 days IN succession, bagged up to 10 ounces Of
!, golt! day. r'
4 Oar placer, or gold region, nov extends over 800
or 400 miles Of country, embracing all the creeks and
1 branches on lhr east side Of the river Sacramento
I and one side III The San joaquin. In my travels
! have when resting under . tree and grazing my
horse seen few pieces of pure gold picked mp from
| the cferices 81 the rocks OF slate where we were
stopping On one occasion, incoming or refreshing
on the side Of stream entirely unknown to diggcrs
or ''prospeclofs,' rather ii known, not attended
70, one Of my companions, In rolling IN The sand,
said Give me Tin pan; why should we not he
cooking IN gold snndsl' He took q pan, filled it
with sand, washed It ont, and produced In five min
utes, 50 or ~ worth of gold merely saying, as he
threw both pan and gold the sand VI thought 50.
Perhaps II is fair that your readers should learn
that however plenty the Sacramento Valley may
afford gold the obtaining Of II has its disadvantages.
From The lst of July to the ls Of October, more or
less, half Of the people will have fever and agne
otincrnteni fever which takes them from the first
day Of digging until they have been one hundred
miles from hc'"Placer" fifteen or twenty days. In
the winter, it is too cold 10 work in the water; but
from next April to the following July, one million of
dollars Of pure gold or more, per month. will be pro-
duced from this gold region without digging more
Than three feet deep. Some work in the sand by
washing from the surface in n wooden bowl, or tin
PAM some gouge it oHt from the rocks or slate; the
more lazy ones roll about and pick up the large
pieces leaving the small gold for The next emigration
4 As you kccpthc run Of the money market in other
places than Wall street you must make your calcu-
lation what effect California will have on your stock
and boards Of gold in the United States elsewhere.
? At present. the United States receives but small
part of our "placer." All my correspondence TO you
has been light and lrifingy written bu every letter
every line facts and my letters contain facts
that must put fiction to the blush. You may believe
me, when cay that for some time to come, Caitor-
mia will export yearly nearly OF quite hall million
Of ounces ii gold twenty-five to lwenty.lour carats
fine some pieces Of that will weigh sixteen pounds
very many one pound Many men who began last
June to dig gold with capital OF 500 can now show
IS 900 10 $4,000 l saw man to-day, making pUr-
chasea Of dry goods &c. for his family lay on the
counter a bag mnde ofraW hide, well sewed up, con-
tanning one hundred ounces. | observed that Is a
good WY e pack gold dust, hs very in5noeen,ly
/ lke tie si7etn Five such bags in New York would
bring near $1,000 This man left his family last
| August Three months digging and washing, pro.
than being mate Of vessel at $40 per month, as the
man formerly waa. His companion, a Mexican, who
canped and worked with him, only had two or three
cowhide bags OF gold.
In this tough 6u, true, golden tale, you must not
imagine that all men are equally successful There
are some who have done better; even 10 $4,000 in a
month"; many 81 coo during the summer and 9TH
ers, who refused 10 join company OF gold washers
| who had CHEAP made machine, aud receive ono
ounce per day. that returned to the settlements with
NOT vest pocket full Of gold. Some left with Dnly
sufficient TO purchase horse and saddle, and pay
the physician six Of gold for ounce of quiz
nine, calonel and jalap In proportion. An ounce OF
gold for advice given, six ounces visit brings the
fever and ague 10 be rather an expensive companion
Awel man .has his pfoportionae heavy expenses.
also 10 reduce hia piles or bags of gold. Dry beef
in The settlement at ccnts per pound AT the Placer
81 10 So per pound salt beef and pork $50 TO 500
per barrel -four $40 TO Sl5 per balrcl coffee, sugar,
and rice SOC 10 81 per pound AZ washing is fifty
cent7 TO dollar a garment, many prefer throwing
away their used up clothes 10 paying the washerwo-
man; that IL, If they intend returning The settle
J mo A n
shaving haPe never seen man nj the Placer who
had time TO perform thar operation. They do moi
work Sundays, only brush up the tent, blow ont
the emery or fine biack sand from the weeks work
Horses that oan travel only one day, and from that
to week. are from 500 10 $500. Freight charge
By launch owners for three days tun 81 per barrel
Wae0ners charge $50 10 500 per load, twenty 10
inv miles IN good road. Com, bircy, peas, and
beans $40 bnshel. .'ommnn pistols, any price; pow
dai and lead very dear.
| know physician who. in San Francisco, pur.
chased common made gold washer al $40 OF $50 |
made Of 10 or 50 feel o! boards Alta great expense
he boated itup IN the first landing the SurrameH-
70, and there mct WAGNER bound 10 one OF thcdig-
giugs with an empty wagon distant about my miles.
The WAGNER would not take up the machine under
500 The doctor had 10 consent, and bided his |
lime June passed over rich in gold; all on that
creek did wanders when the wagner fell sick called
on his friend the doctor, whose tent was in sight
tho doctor came bui would not administer the first
dose under tbs old sum of 500 which was agreed
Ia. under prosso that the following doses should
b. furnished more moderate, When n mans time
il worth 800 day 10 spade and liz pan, nd
thcr doctors wagoners can think much oil a pound
Of COLL mud you may suppose merchants Traders
and pedars are not slow 10 make their fortunes in
these golden times.
In SIN Francisco there is more mere haudise sold
now monthly, thln before in year. Vessels after
vessels arrive, land their cargoes, dispose of them
and bag up the dust and lay up the vessel, as the
crew are soon among the missing. The rlcanest
clear ont is where the captain followed the crew..
There arc many vessels in San Funcisco that can
no, weigh anchor, even with the assistance Of three
or four neighboring vessels. Supcrcargoes must
land cargo on arriving, have no crew to do it for
them. Some vessels continue 10 90 TO sea with
small crews al $50 per month for green hands Old
hands are TOO wise for them, and prefer digging nm
ounce or two day, and drinking hook and cham.
pagn al half an ounce bottle ind eating bad sea
bread al II per pound | have seen captain Of 4
vessel who. by his old contract in the port from
whence he sailed, was getting $50 per month, paying
his cook +i5 and Offering si0D per mon,h for slew.
ard his former crew, even 10 his mates, havinggone
Il prospecting"
Uncle SANS ships suffer little the same way,
although they offer from $500 to $500 for The appre-
henson Of dcserter. The Ohio, however, laid in
the mort Of Monterey nbOut a month and lost only