The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1849-10-10
SAN FnAECIsCd
Upper California, July 8, 40.

Upper California, July 8, 40.
FRIEND JONES:
cannot think of leaving this city with
out dropping you few lines, although it is
the second or third letter have written to
you without any thing in reply wrote
you before left Dubuque and when at st.
Louis, but suppose the public interest Is
to be served, before private and humble In
dividuais like myself, SO be i'll an, too
good democrat to complain. sss
Iarrived in the Isthlnus the 18th of Feb
ruary, left there the lst Of May. and after
passage Of sixty five days. on the whale ship
Mantle, landed in this mushroom CITY on,
the 9Th of July. ! have had along and GER
tanly q very tedious jou.ney-sexpe nsive
and agravating. But am reioicsd 10 in,,
form you, that reports from this gold region
cannot be exaggerated. This whole coun-
try is a perfect mine of gold, If the state
ments Of fair spoken men are to be relied
upon. One thing is certain, that every man
who has been here any length Of time, is
loaded down with money-the observation
that "gold is the Cheapest article in town,
has become pcrfectlystereotyped. Men have
so much money, with go few opportunities
for spending it iegitmatcly. that they throw
it away upon gambling tables, ii, pror shops.
and useles merchandise that they p,lrposely
destroy in fits OF drunkenness, One n !,
will buy n basket Of champaign, 90 into the
street and deliberately brake the bottles q
pieces-an other will buy dozen boxes of
fine crackrs, and burn them Iii fact tile
facilities for spending money are entirely
too contracted for their menna and their in
hated mnds. Goods are remarkably cheap
and labor enormously high. The City Ho-
tel rents for $l44, 600 per year. and other
buildings in proportion. This know to be
true. Whatthis state Of things will super
induce, am unable to divine, In the
course ofa year or eighteen months, ! opine
great suffering, from the absence Of law
and the scarcity of provisions. Provisions
are now cheap, too much 90 to bear trans ~
portation from the States. when we calcu-
late the certain loss, or at least detention of
vessels, when they arrive here-and law is
thing unknown, except in it's rudest form.
!, Foreigners are thronging this couDtry by
thousands. and load themselves with gold
for foreign market. Unless the Govern
mcnt speedily take some steps to correct
this evil, war to the knife, and from the
knife to the hilt, will be tho result. Grent
uneasihess and jealousy begins to prevail
already among the Americans, but the IRA
LOO "Cbh w u'oSO VIII uiIy uEgTCS5 OF EuC.a
success. The foreigners are at least ten 10 y
one. The English. our natona, enemies.
are among the first to curse our country and
steal our treasures. lfan affinity has here I.
tofora existed between them and the animal
with horns, it now exists to still greater
Z degree between them and the brussels gen.
try ;; in this country they are as proyerbiai
for Aogishness, as in their own for beef eat.
ing and ale tipling. confidently trust that
some measures will be speedily adopted BY
our government to prevent the expectation
Of gold to Europe.
liet,me enquire whatright the Post Mas.
ter at this place has, to charge ten cents for
advertising a letter, or to shave gold by only
allowing $4,75 for English severcigns.-
This is his custom, and is one which no
Jaw contemplates to my knowledge.
About $50 vessels are in this port desti.
tute of hands, and more arriving every day,
leave for the mines day after to NOR.
row. 1
Haste and bluntness. Write soon.
Your devoted friend,
4. II. MERRITT.
Hon. Geo. Jones.