Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1849-09-06
California In a New Coloring.

ing picture Of the state Of things in Cali
fornia. That thousands will be disaproin-
ted aud wish themselves in the comfortable
place, which they left at home, is by this
time apparen, to every body. We copy
what follows from his letter:
The miners are at present very healthy,
and most Of the sickness may be surely
traced TO over-toii or other abuses Of the
system. However, as the sultry season
advances, there will be fevers, such as
prevail in most Of our newly settled States.
| will volunteer few lines Of advice to
snch rs may be fitting for California: Bring
out no machinery from the Sta,>s, as it will
be added 10 the heaps of rubbish that now
crowd the store-huu>es at San Francisco
or lie in useless masses at the principal
depots Of the mines-no machinery will
work as well as the common rocker or
Long Tom used in the Georgia mines,
and these may be made at the mines.
Get nothing Of India rubber, except per-
haps light oyercoat. The tents willnone
of them bear the heai-tl'e boots will bis
ter The feet in four hours !; indeed, almos,
every thing Of India rubber will prove
valuele>s. Bring no tents, for you may
purchase them here full as low as in the
States. Bring no adventure, as it will
only delay you from the mines and involve
you in serious losses. Bring no extra
baggage. as clothing is at leas, 80 per cent
lower than at home; and if you are in a
fair living business do not come your
selves, If you desire to avert signal fall
ure.
NV ground for this last advice is foun-
ded GA close observation and daily expe-
rience. If you were here now, you might
realize from eight to twelve dollars per
day. but when You begin to see the soil
dug over twice when yon see thousands
pouring in upon yen from every quarter
OF the globe, you might with me donbt the
continuance of such golden harves,s as
have been pictured out by interested and
designing men. In conveying this insin-
,,a,ion l desire to state that when in San
Francisco. a>certained that nearly every
person. including government officers.
whose letters to the United States created
this gold excitement, were deeply inter-
ested in land specnlations here, and are
now reaping golden harvests blythe rise in
real estate. do not mean To say that
there is no, gold here. There is much
gold and there are tens Of thousands TO
CLEAN it, bnt as 10 the general impression
created by those letters. pronounce them
fabricati ons put tor'h by interested men
for speculative purposes, and my word for
il, they will prove the ruin Of thousands
of welI-to-do people, who have embarked
in mining or trading enterprises within a
twelve month. Land specnlations are
rife here. and the arrivals of lSi9 in CAL
iiornia bid fair TO rival those of 1886 in
the States. A, San Francisco all is bus
tie and confusion. There are far more
tents than houses in the town, but houses
(such as they are) are going up rapidly,
and gambling as we'll as drinking saloons
| are keeping up vigorous march with the
daily aggregating population.
The town is becoming Anericanized
by such signs as Centre Market, Wash
ineton Market, New York Store, which
together with the Numerous friends you
meet from home, makes one forget that he
is many thousand miles away from his
father-land. The shores Of the harbor are
heaped with merchandise, and there are
not store houses sufficient To hold mole
ty Of what has already arrived. As to
the general appearance of the town, it may
be Ilkened toa resurrection of Jew shops,
all kinds of old and new dunnage is being
hawked at stands on the walk, and in tents
temporarily leased for the purpose, and,
without exciting the Imagination, the pas.
ser by might fancy himself in Chatham
street, where "every article on the board
is only four cents - auction shops are
open day and night, and the goods of adj
venturers are sacrificed at mos, ruinous
prices. Below | append a list of mer-
; chandise sold at auction, as also the gene
raj prices OF produce and staple articles.
There is no stability in the market, even
for day, and The arrival of one vessel
may depress prices 50 per cent.
GOODS AT AUCTION PRICES.
Beef, per barrel 81 so; calicoes, per
yard, 2 cents shir,ing, per yard. cents !;
pan,aloon~, so cents; shirts, 40 cents
w"olIen shirts, ST. thread, per h., 80 els.
All clothing and dry goods in proportion.
Provisions General Prices. -
Beef, per barrel, So; pork per barrel,
SIG; flour, per barrel, $4 butter, per h.,
ST. %; cheese. per h., IS cents lard,
per TO-, 30 cents hams, per TO-, Is cents !;
rice, penlb., 6 cents /; sugar, per h., 10
cents coffee, per h., Is cents. Teas, no
value.
There are no piers for shipping, and
the numerous shipping in the bay presents
most imposing appearance. Sailors do
not desert as much as formerly. owing to
the discouraging reports from the mines,
and | should Judge that there would be
but slight difficulty in obtaining crews to
leave at $500 10 $3.50 per month. Still
there are very many vessels whose crews
have abandoned them and gone 10 the
mines, or stopped on shore at Tightening.
The crew Of the United States steamer
Edith locked the captain and mate in the
cabin, lowered the quarter boat, put in
thier donnage, and deliberately went on
shore. They lief, behind six months wa
ges, and their pay had been raised from
500 10 1925 per month to induce them
to remain. The newspaper mail brought
nv the Panama has nroved a total c,;ln<a