Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1849-03-16
Interesting Details from CallfOrnia---GOld
In Oregon.

u
items Of California news, brought by Mr.. Robt. I
AIheuon, who arrived in that city on Monday
morning, having left San Francisco on the 10Th .
Of December, aud made the journey via MazaI
ian and the city Of Mexico. We copy tie fol- /
lowing from the New York Tnb,ine:
Mr.. Alhcrton has resided for ten years on the /
Pacific, aud two at San Francisco. He left /
San Francisco on the 10ib Of December, and /
came 10 tho United States by way Of MazaIlan, /
\ Guadasxara, Mexico and Vera Cruz. The pas .
sage from San Francisco to Mazadan occupied
ten days, the vessel touching only at one port. |
/ From Mazatlan to Mexico the journey was
made on horseback, in two days. Nc Ather-
ton has accomplished the whole Of this long and /
arduous trip with remarkable dispatch, having
been only sixty one days upon the route. The
cost Of the whole, from San Francisco to New |
York, has been about seven hundred dollars.
f The gold region is now understood 10 embrace
a territory thousand miles n length and lhres
hundred in width. The gold is distributed over
lhis vast extent, though by no means equally,
some parts being Of surprising richness, while
others are comparatively barren Of the precious
metal. No limit can be fixed 10 the number Of
men who may find employment in extracting II
Or to the length Of time FOR which gold digging
may be profitable. There is room enough for
all who may desire 20 make their fortune by
this new sort Of attractive industry, and sufii-
cient quantity Of the giuerng dust in the earth
to keep them busy indefinitely.
But, as we learn from Mr.. Atherton, the busi-
ness Of mining mas nothing that is agreeable ex-
cepl the gold that it sometimes, not always pro-
: duces. In short il requires the hardest kind Of
l,b
Giles indurated by toll can undertake with pros
. pect of success.
Young men decateIy brought up, and more
familiar with the drawing room, counting room,
or lawyers Office, than with the pow or sIedge
hammer, had better keep their imagination free
from all visions of piacers, rivers floating with
gold dust, and big Jumps Of the real sluit Tor
The picking up. Gold is not TO be procured that
way even in California, but yields itself only to
strength and skill. Even these are not always
successful. Mr.. Alherton knew one company
I which went out from San Francisco with all The
proper tools, machines and necessaries, and
g whose members, after digging some lime, with
e better zeal than fortune, came back each with
= flea in his ear.
e However, a man Of the right sort in respect
il of health strength and skill, may, with fair luck
II and hard and steady work, obtain three ounces
Of gold on an average, per day. 1t is not olten
e found in Jumps. Sill Mr. Aherton has seen
d one mass weighing lbs, and friend OF hls
n had seen another weighing 81 lbs. The num-
:. Der Of persons who had been to the mines when
he left is estimated at 10000, but there had not
d been more than $500 digging at any one time.
n Oue man of his acquaintance, blacksmith, had
e got ten thousand dollars in three weeks. 4
q good many Indians had been employed as labor
ers, oy the miners, but they are poor assistants.
They do not work steadily, and never can be
=. kept at il above a month at a time, when they
n leave for San Francisco 10 spend their earnings
d in dissipation.
Mr.. Atherton brings with him bills Of lading
d of gold 10 the value Of 100000. shipped on
c English account, on which he proposes to efiect
T. an insurance here. Mr.. Atherton states that
l. the Lexington has on board $500, 900 worth of
i the genuine metal. She was about to sail When
: Mr.. Aherton left for The United States.
e There was nothing doing at the mines when
" Mr.. Alheron left, owing TO the rains, it being
/. the rainy season.; there was not much sickness
n in the diggings, no robberies and no dsturban.
l. ces.
l. The cost Of living at San Francisco has been
h the subject of statements quite as exaggerated as
:, some of those relating to the gold mines. Mr..
n Atherton says that good board can be obtained
', there at $40 per week, and provisions are plenty
n at fair prices. The population of the place is
10 about 900. Mr.. A. himself came 10 n. Iorl;
ID to purchase goods, but finding that immense
Of quantities have already gone forward will PrOba-
l. bly, not make very extensive purchases.
An extensive placer has been discovered IN
Oregon, and it was reported at San Francisco
that all the inhabitants of Oregon City had gone
out to try their luck
,, About dozen people at the gold dggings,
a have died, principally from want of prudence
le and exposure.
q The whole value of gold which has been
i gathered in California, is estimated, by those ac-
'o quainted with the matter, at three millions OF
r. dollars, two Of which left there in various ways
u and the remainder is on lis way to the United
9 States.
!, A pair of boots cost twenty dollars, Of which
- there was but small stock on hand when Mr..
, AIherton left; common blanket coats are worth
~ forty dollars, and fine frock coats fetched one
hundred dollars, readily. Mr.. Atherton, him
self, sold coat which he had worn at intervals
le for two years at eighty dollars. Liquors sold al
= twenty-five cents per glass, and champagne was
u worth four dollars a bottle at San Francisco.
II Real estate, too, was selling at enormous prices
G. lots in San Francisco, containing % yards
square, selling for ten thousand dollars. Provi
,s sions were very plenty at San Francisco anc
Il the dggings. Flour poured in in great quanti
70 ties from Chill and Oregon, and came down il
price from twenty-five dollars per barrel to six
teen at San Francisco. The probability is, tina
" the article has fallen still further-perhOps tt
eu ten dollars per barrel. Board in San Francisc,
IL was $40 per week.
Great as the discoveries Of gold are, they ar
40 equalled by those of qucksilvers. That meta
a is found in various parts of California, and tn
quanty is as abundant as it is in the mines G
- Spain. Mr.. Forbes, the proprietor Of the mine
, had thirty thousand dollars worth of the articl
ne on hand at Tepec, ready for market. 1t
no found within three miles of the civ of Sa