Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1850-11-21

mart OF these C'Hsrd otate-. No
& california ours than he~
Mns- ,,es,urss are
the lnn ) than the wealth Of
-, or the coveted gold Of Peru
us at cur feet. 1t is even thought by
Isomc that the long lost Ophir Of the
lancients is rediscovered, and that the
Flmines to which tile glorious Temple Of
Judea owed its splendor are ours. The
! world, by this discovery, in day, is
, thrown forward century. Fortunes
are made in day, cities are founded in
month, State is matured in year.
The shores of the Pacific are no longer
] desolate. The smiling bay Of San Fran
: cisco is suddenly covered with the flags
of every nation, and our newly acquired
California is at once the Ell Dorado of
THE world. The summit of the Sierra
Nevada is traversed by the feet of the
ladventurer from the North, the dells of
the Cordilleras are threaded by the gold
hunters Of the South. They come, too,
,lfrom the South American States and from
1.-THE islands of the Caribbean seattle
semi barbarous hordes from the Pacific
. and India Islands, and even the staid
}, Mandarins from the hitherto sealed re-
treats of the celestial Empire are here.
! Rivers are turned from their beds, hills
are leveled down, valleys are filled up,
mountains are perforated, and still there
is no end to the gold. Ships come from
; there freighted with the precious dust
! the receipts at our minis are counted by
millions, and from Maine to Georgia,
from the Atlantic to the extreme settle
ment here in the great West, is heard
from ten thousand tongues, "This is a
great country!'
Forthwith the Divine leaves his desk,
: the Lawyer his office, the Physician his
/ drugs and medicine, the Artizan his shop,
, the Mechanic his workbench, for this
. land of gold. In every city, town and
: village in our land, the note of prepare
|tion is heard. Ships are chartered to
: take some by water, while others go by
5 land. The long, weary journey has nc
terrors for the Anglo Saxon. Gold is
the stake! Yes, Gold! which, in its
last analysis may be defined to be the
: coined sweat and lilc-blood OF The toiline
! millions, rafting and clinking in the col-
Ifers of the rich. More than this. 1t.
I character is anomalous. 1t is a deity
r and demon--an angel Of light and al
4 angel of darkness, a minister of mercy
: and the sullcn executioner of wrath. Il
G brings life TO the dying and death to the
$ living-it letters the free and unfetter:
r the captive--it imprisons the innocent
9 and unlocks the bolts and sets at liberty
/ the guilty. 1t corrupts morals, yet il
q protects virtue it feeds vice and breed.
# iniquity, yet il supports the preacher o
the Gospel and sends the Bible to The
n heather. 1t is the light and life Of thu
saloon and the choicest Wand on the gam
I bling table---yet it builds churches ant
: endows colleges and theological semin'
5 aries. In short, gold is reality and {
f phantom, a truth and lie, good ant
an evil. And yet California gold is tn,
' great stake to be played for in the las
4 half of the nineteenth century. In it
4 pursuit by sea, all the terrors of oceai
G tempcsts and storms are bravely met
r the six months perls that are to be en-
a durcd in doubling Cape Horn, are insig
r nificant in the eyes Of the gold hunter
: or that lurking place of disease and death
!. the lsthmus Of Panama, IS boldly thread
G ed, as il the life of the adventurer wer,
G insured by the Almighty. In its pursui
= by land, there are deserts to be crossed
h where, for days, the eye can look OF
S nothing green and refreshing, nor the
e parohed tongue be cooled with drop o.
il pure water. There are deep and broad
: rivers TO be crossed, rugged valleys Il
n be passed through, mountains TO b
climbed, and savage men and wild beasts
TO be met, and more than all, disease anc
: pestilence may hover over them-whal
5 matter? There is gold there--fortunes
a are made in year, why toll here for Q
/ lifetime And in a few months $4,000
3 sturdy men are there from the States
5 hunting gold. A year passes by, it is
| found richer than ever; again vast
multitude by sea and by land wend their
, way thither. Our friends, our neigh
; lbors, our acquaintance and relatives are
, there from Old Grant; she has sent a
, delegation of which she need not be a
shamed. And last, but far from the
, least of the many wonders of the day,
we meet here at Waterloo, on the banks
OF little Grant river, two thousand miles
from the sea, to witness the launching of
this schooner, that is about to start on
her pilgrimage, constructed here in our
midst, by men who have lived here with
us. do not believe there is present
one whose bosom does not heave with
pride at the sight Of this beautiful wit
ness of the skill and ingenuity of our
citizens, ! do not believe there is pres
ent one who does not wish the bold con-
ceivers and executors of this design, the