The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1849-11-23
CALIFORNIA CORRESPONDENCE.
SACRAMENTO CITY, Upper California, !
September 18th. 1919

ny lear eT:-InHeaIdteiy alteI ny
arrival here wrote you letter, which BY
the polteness of a gentleman leaving for the
States" was to be mailed either at Sai
Francisco or New York, as my arrival was
not in time 20 enable me to have it mailed IN
tir2e to 90 by the steamer Of the 1st inst
And now alter lapse Of some II days, du
ring which time l have had an opportunity Of
looking about me, shall be enabled 10 give
on a great deal o. information which only
can be procured by actual observation. Be-
lore proceeding further, will remark, thai
the arrangement which now exists for the
transmission of letters TO and from San Fran
cisco is of such character that no reliance
can be placed on il whateYer A branch Of
flee has been established by the P. o. Agent,
Rev. Mr. Allen) Dat l presume that the
Department not fully comprehending the
state of affairs out here, have not given full
discretion TO the agent for the payment of
salaries to the Postmaster correpoading with
the prices of other things, and the conse-
quence is that the office here us well as at
other points is left chiefly to take care Of it
self. As soon as Iarrved went to the of
fee and directed my letters and papers to be
tor warded from San Francisco. 1 his course
the emigrants were invited TO do by IA circular
from the p. .. Agent; yet Notwithstanding
no heed has been paid to this call and per-
SONS have awaited TWO months, yet we can
get ITO letters through the Office. However,
anticipating this tardy action of officers, about
| 10 days since | sent down TO San Francisco
by gentleman of my acquaintance, and
this morning upon his return | was rejorced
to receive ii letter from Sister of June 18th,
being the only news from home since the let
tiers received at ST. Josephs prior to leaving
there. Brother. you can but flintly conceive
the joyful emotiCus it created TO hear once
more from ome-my dear parents, brother
and sister-and to know that they were all
in the enjoyment of lies best blessing, health.
while the pestilential destroyer, the cholera,
was making such fearful ravages in the COM
inunity where they lived l had seen the
New York Tribune of June Seth, end
f ON lis columns CLEANED the distressing news
that the CHOLERA W rs making sadhuvoc among
the inhabitants of the South and Wes'. and
which served to create the alarm which could
only be aliayed by some certain and reliable
news from home.
The first inquiry which presents itself to
your mind, doubtless; is TO know what am
doing and intend doing oT the future. Imam
swer to the first have TO say am not par
ticuIary engaged at anything-yet whenev-
eran opportunity presents Itself of a specu-
laiion in horses, mules, &c, | am on hdnd
and by those means since have been here,
Notwithstanding expenses are very great
! 6 to 81 per day) have cleared on AN aver
age $40 per day, and this too while engaged
! i'll looking around to see what was best to en-
gage in. For the future my plans are more
definite. MIR. Grier, merch ut from Keo-
kuk, and myself have made an arrangement
Z to establish IA trading house out in the dig
gins" and as soon as he returns-being now
gone out 10 select po.t-wIll load up Il
. team with provisions. goods, &c, adapted to
the trade and rdmoSe from here, as the ma
tves would say. This operation will Pay
much better than my profession at the present
time, and as for digging gold it combines two
very opposite and at the same time Disagree
able feti:ures-a great deal OF very hard
work with much uncertainty and dcubi as to
the result. OF this tact, However, there can
j b. no doubt-gold exists in Calilotuia to an
extent almost boundless, anI men by rare
good fortune may become by striking good
: lead independent in short tln,; yet such
are rare instances while it is of frequent oc-
lcurrence for men to be seen who will labor
for weeks without max ng more than their
living This morning | conversed with some
men Just from their recent scene Corporations,
where for three or four months some thirty of
them had been engaged in erecting dam at
great expense, Tor the purpose of turning
the river, with sauguine hopes Of pulling up
not drowned honors by the locks" but
weirhty masses Of the shining metal; and it,
proved complete fdilure-no gold was found
10 reward their expense and labor, and the
Door fellows are left to lament their folly in|
un lertlking d work of character so often
before proving a failure. From what | have
seen and heard froIc Il reliable source, man
who will keep steadily at work with simply
his pick and wash-pan. can N Ike from SIC to
S24 per day-tllat is from l 10 II ounces of