Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1850-03-15
From california The Juniata tom,an,.

Esq, of this place, wili be read with general
Interests:
SAX FR4EcIsco, January 4. 1850
DEAn Sra Your very welcome letters Of
Nav and June last were received by me al the
Mine. some time during the month Of Sep,en,.
ber and although the contents were some three
or four months old, yet they did not afford me
the less pleasure on that account. To Inc tbey
came as messengers bearing glad tidings for they
told me the news of home. The mines where
was at work are some two hundred miles from
this city; and in new country you are aware
that this is no short journey to the post Office
especially as the Express to and from the roin.
is, for at least eighty miles, an OK team. This
in a great measure, accounts for the delav in
getting letters from the States ! readily ADM,
that have too long delayed answering your lei
ters. and would attempt to apologize for the an
parent neglect were it not that by 50 doing
should consume a greater portion Of my letter
with excuses uninteresting to you The truth
of the matter, however, is that had intended 10
be in San Francisco two or three months ago.
and had purposeIy deferred writing until NV ar
rival here.
In the month Of July myself and companions
left this city Tor the mines near the Stanislaus
river, one of the tributaries of the San Joaquin
We first went to Woods Diggngs, situated soma
ten miles south Of that river, and were there
about one month, but had poor luck as we did
not realize more than 50 or "a per day for each
person Owing to dissatisfaction on the part Of
some members of the company, they seeded
from it and, like every other one that has come
to California, the Juniata Company died ma
tural death, and each member went to work for
himself Being dissatisfied with Woods Dig
gings, every member of the Company went TO
what is called 6 Murphy New Diggings, situ-
ated about thirteen miles from the Stanislaus,
and on the north side of that river. At these
diggings Messrs. Salisbury, Scott, Campbell,
Vandling and Morrow, (the first four being those
who seeded from the Company worked to-
gether, and had collected at the time left the
mines Nov 90, l849) about $500 piece--at
least they gave me to understand that they had
got about that amount. They are still at those
diggings, and have a stock of goods TO sell to
the miners in the neighborhood Duncan and
Hays worked together until about the middle of
November, and made, presume, $500 or $1,000
each. Duncan is now here, and Hays was here
also, until week ago, when he went up 10 Sac
! ramento city Beck got perfectly sick of hard
digging. and abandoned it in disgust in the month
of August He came down here and got situ-
alton in the police department lhe's iocofoco
| now that pays him $4,000 or $4,000 per annum
and pickings. Levy also sickened at " de storsI
and de hoe,' and sloped for San Francisco about
| the same time that Beck went. He is now en-
gagged in saving lumber with the whip saw,
about eight miles from this city, and has been so
engaged for some months saw him since |
came here, and he told that he likes it better
than any business he has ever been engaged in.
| He saws that while boards keep their present
value $500 per thousand feet) he and his part
ner can each make 5000 per week F. j. Smith
was not very well during part Of the time
he was in the mines, and was not at all success
| full. lie is now in the city, and has situation
| in the police department, which yields him S2l0
| per month. This is certainly low wages in Cali
| fornia but presume Smith will retain it until
hat offar H. L..
! small store in Murphy's Diggings for about two
months, and made 500 or $500. He is now
| clerk in the Office Of the State Treasurer, at a
/ salary Of $500 per month. James G.. Smith,
! the quondam barber, of Lewistown. or " jim
the jspel we used to call him, was but short
time in the mines, and has again taken TO the
| audable occupation OF scraping countenances
and cropping hair, at fifty cents shave and one
dollar for cutting hair He is up at San Jose,
/ pronounced Sas Hosdu the letter in Spanish
being always sounded like the English letter H.
the capital Of the State. hope Jim will do well,
although always thought he acted imprudently
| in leaving a comfortable home in Lewistown.
Now let NE come 10 the last, but BY no means
the least parsonage in that famous company from
the " blue Juniata." | mean no other person
| than myself. After the final dissolution of the
company, my brother and myself worked to-
gether three months. when | left for this city.
During that time realized, by hard, homes! labor,
between $1,000 and Sl7O0 over aud above all ex-
penses of living, and nv brother about the same.
Upon the whole, | think we have been the most
! lucky Of any of the company in the mines, al
though cannot say that any Of US have done ID
well expected before we left the States.
My brother thought it best TO stay at the dig
gings during the winter. He is living in a COM
Portable log house with Salisbury, Scott et al
AS for myself, have come TO the conclusion 10
try ms old profession (the law once more; and
have accordingly rented an Office about 10 by II
feet in the back part of building in the public
square of the city The office is by no means
! as good and comfortable as my old one in Lew
/ istown-and what do you think ! pay for this
Office WAY, only $500 per month. or $4,000
! year! and then it is to be paid quarterly in ad-
vance. | rented only for three months from the
! lst January, and paid $500 for that time Front
! Offices in the same building rent for $500 per
month. By-the-by, when men here talk about
rents, and say that such and such building rents
for $500 or $500 $1,000, they mean that it rents
/ for that sum per m0Rh. and not per anHIttn q;
| you say in the States. There are many houses
in this city that rent for more than $l0O, 600 per
! annum, although the same houses and lots mi ghi
perhaps be bought for $500, 0,000, or at most for
| $500, ,000-houses that by no means as good
/ as some in Lewistown Thus you viii perceive
that landlords calculate upon their rents paying
for the price of house and lot in or two years
! These exorbitant rents must however, come
! down, as a great many new houses have beea
built in the city and are now offered for rent
These things may appear incredible to you sober
minded men IN the States but they are true
nevertheless
You would, of course, conclude that money
here is Yery abundant and so il is-and that, too,
in nothing but silver and gold and yet the usual
rates of interest for borrowed money is ten per
I cent per month, or hundred and twenty per
cent per annum. This state OF things cannon
last, however, as / believe that there must DC
Al. tam rNf IN To-
lion and gambling. Some things at one time can
be bought at lower prices than in the States, and
then again they will go up out of all reason
For instance flour one month ago it was worth
$40 per barrel-now it is not worth more than
So or IS. Just SO everything goes. The de-
mand regulates everything, and men will give
almost anything for an article they want. Thick
! snled hnots hefnre the rninY season. sold for So