Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1849-08-24
SAN FRANcIsco, June 10.

! | arrived here on Saturday last, 80 days
from Panama. We were 40 days in calm
,,n the Pacific Ocean. Five or six vessels
left Panama before ours, none of which have
yet arrived. The steamer brings an account
that some of them were wrecked on reef
Click Turner was on one of them which run
ashore near Santiago, and six Of her passen-
s.ers were lost. The remainder will have TO
some the rest of the way by land, and will
nit probably arrive under six weeks. God
bnly knows where they are. This passage
was the hardest time ever saw. We were
o days in latitude fve,-the heat oppressive,
with no air stirring. People who come here
.'ught to get Gold plenty.
Money appears to have lost its value here.
labor is SO day, board So, and clothing
you cannot give away. We cannot take any
fling to the mines without paying three times
IS value. All you want, is one or two suits
# wooden clothes. 1t costs IS a month to
store a trunk. Tilley and myself intend ia
kiag our things to Suffers Fort, and leave
Skem there, except such as we need in the
shines. | understand the mining is good A
k5an can get one ounce day in any of the
&iggings, and not work hard at that. / think
some are making fortunes, and spending them
o.. easily. There is nothing like working
tien here. Carpenters get SI8 day, and re-
fuse to work at that. Lumber is $500 per
5000 it., and scarce. Lots $500 There
g no chance for man to speculate here, I'M
less he has two or three hundred thousand
dollars. Flour is worth IS d barrel; Pork
.old at auction for IS a barrel, and beef at So.
There have but three vessels arrived here from
The United States around the Horn. 1t is as
tonishing to see the amount of goods here
fhey are piled in the yards, streets, and on
wharf. They will not pay storage. There
ere English goods here by the quantity. You
can buy any thing here you wish. There are
Ewo or three hundred vessels here that have
been deserted by the sailors. They will give
man one thousand dollars for the voyage
.Dme. The vessel l came on, was left by
the sailors, cook and all hands on the night
5he landed, notwithstanding they had an in
ferest in 800 barrels of oil on board. There
gre some as fine ships here as there are in the
ytorld, without person on board. There
assEe many Irish people here who come from
Chill, and think there are more Irish wo-
paen here than from any other country. |
thank they are generally Of the poorer class.
There is vessel here from Canton loaded
V:zth Tea and Fancy Goods. l saw shawls
t9at cost five hundred dollars. The less man
f:as in this country, the better for him. 1t
u Il fo
E6re. / have enough to take me there, and
tten | hope the scales will turn the other
uiy. | tell you, this is an expensive trip,
Id those that try it will find it so. / think
there is no doubt shall do well. Money is
plenty as dirt; and any amount of gambling
saops. You can see $50, 900 on their tables
al time. The population is principally
composed of clerks, merchants, gamblers,
SPECTATORS, and sailors. There are $4,000
paoPle here and at the mines. They are of
all colors, and nations of civilized and unciv-
LIKED people in the world. Not one-ffth Of
tie inhabitants are from the States.
There are great many English merchants
h:re, who l think have made most of the
Money, they having their goods here when
they were worth ten times as much as at
present. The Old Country people do most
o. the business on the coast. The Ameri-
cans, / think were too late this time, and
uiany of them will break up with their large
st5ck Of goods on hand.
I'VE intend to stay in the mines all winter,
az tits the best time for digging. 1t is healthy
here, and | believe in the mines also. The
re.5son why people get sick there l am told is
ti.Js: they dig four or five hours, get an ounce
OF gold, and then 60 to gambling and drink
in., and lie out in the cold, which bring on
AIue ard Fever. l saw one piece of gold
yesterday that weighed ii ounces, and the
sane person had several others weighing
frcm enc to three ounces. You will see eve
ry:man with more or less gold dust
4 understand there are great many com
ing through by land, but fear they will suf-
fer. \ great many have come through bv
Tcxas and Mexico, and thousands have died
of..holera, some been killed by the Mexicans
ami Indians, and others died with hunger
TIE country here appears cold, but perhaps
it IS owing to my having been in a warmer
. climate; yet person needs pair of good
heavy blankets at night. There is a constant
wiad from the northwest. | am told that it
is much warmer at the mines, but it is cold
there. Should there be any of your acquain-
. tar.ce coming to this country, either by land
or otherwise, tell them to bring nothing but
co@mon clothes, and but few Of them. If
. they come by Panama, they should get tick
!. ct sn the steamer before they start. so as not
to pc detained at Panama. 1t is not as sick
) " :here as represented. On the 10th of Nav.
thc,e were six vessels there waiting for pass
enfrs. Tell them never to take a sail YES
sel,Trom Panama; would sooner pay $1,000