The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1849-03-22
THE GOLDEN AGE.


THE GOLDEN AGE.
"Gold! and gold and nothing but gold!
The Same suriferous shrine behold;
Wherever the eve can eet,le,
All teams with tho precious metal"
lfthe above be not truc in fact, it is ap-
plicsble so far rs it extends to newspaper
articles. Although We hive no. pretended
10 cmmbcr our columns with the multitude
Of reports thst have reached rs Of the su-
riferous produc.iveness Of The soil Of Cali.
fornia, vet We have chronicled oil that was
positively known to he correct. Many Of
the reports published by our contemporaries,
with every scmblnncc Of truth, were Of u
nature 80 contradictory that we have ro-
Trained from giving them publicity. There
is no doubt but TINT the great majority Of
tho stories circulated in respect to the vast
quantities Of gold found in California, have
originated with interested parties and we're
propsgated TO induce emigration. These
parties are not confined to Cali
fornia, but they extend all over the Union
md enter the trades. mechanical branches
md businesses q our citizens. While the
owners Of laud 10 CaIiiorais desire its cul-
and its value augmented, by in.
creased immigration, there nre those 10 the
States who, governed BY motives equally
selfish, anticipate pecuniary benefit from
the Same cause. The owners Of ships, the
vendors Of clothes, provisions, mining tools,
and every thing necessary 10 an outfit, ore
all interested in M increased emigration.
Bakers, frc.arm aud .washing machine"
mskers, are alike interested. Ia fact il is
difficult TO find . branch Of business prose-
cuicj in eastern cities, that 10 not affected,
aud materially 90, by tho extension Of these
reports. Shall We wonder then 10 see
them so numerous and 20 widely circula-
ted! No doubt thsro is some truth upon
which 10 base these stories, but men should
be extremely cautious hoe they receive
such accounts 40 foundation for business
operations. In the absence Of news VIC
will give an extract from On article in
recent number Of tho Philadelphia Ledger,
which analyses some Of the California gold
stories and shows their excessive Aimsi-
ncss:-
"A careful examination Of many Of these
stories will disclose some Singular improba-
bility in each. Let Us try few samples.
The Falcon arrives 1t New Orleans from
Chagres, and Is instantly telegraphed TO
New York. Not word said about gold on
board. A British ship leaves Chsgres a.
bout the same time, with ten millions from
California from England. As the Yam.
KEGS own California, and tho present dig
gers are Yankees and Indians employed BY
hem, how do tho English carry ten mill.
ions ncross tho lslhmus from California,
while these very Yankees carry none
But after the Falcon has been 1t New Or.
eans for eight or ten days, she has Fix thou
sand dollars to house IN New York;
When every body 10 wide NV axe about gold,
md lots nre daily advertised before their
srrivnl, how csme the intelligence Of this
arrival to slumbcr 40 long? One lump Of
i was assayed at Valparaiso! Why should
i be sent there, FIVE thousand miles from
San Francisco or Monterey, when il NIGH.
been assayed al either Of the latter? And
il the nssay OF . mint were wanted, why was
i not sent 10 Lima, fifteen hundred miles
nearer? And when nj Valparaiso. Why
was il not sent round the Cape, instead Of
being sent hack to the lsthmus, tn take the
chance Of conveyance? The Valparaiso
part Of the story throws doubt upon the
whole. A letter from Mr.. Lippet, once .
teacher in New York, afterwards an officer
10 the volunteers to Cslifornis, 10 read in
The school, at his desire, to his former pu-
pills. aud says he will soon return with
hall million Of dollars in gold. Inquiry
is made Of his friends, and At The school,
and shows that no such letter has been re-
rciycd. Accounts from St. Frsncisco and
Monterey say. that all the vessels there
nre deserted, and cannot depart for want If
hands. Yet Ne people who bring these
accounts came in ships. How is ,his?-
And while they tell us that British ships
are continually carrying away gold, the
ships 10 which they como bring none.-
How 10 this? After careful inquiries We
cannot trace more than fifty thousand dol
lars Of gold from Caliiornis 10 the United
States. within tho last six months. Yet
ships have been continually arriving, and
foreign ships have bccn continually carry
inn this cold from Califnrnia 10 other 70.