The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1850-01-24
!. Life ard Business In California.

Nv e tdhe tiit iOiiOh lu0 tAlTiCtS from
one of Bayard Taylor's letters to the Nev
York Tribune, dated San Francisco, Dec.
l, lS49: ..--.
Prices are higher than ever, and there
is eo;probability of their falling before
sPrings at least. provisions, OF, all kinds, l
ain informed, are more expensive than
they were at this time last year, notwith-
standing the supplies constantly coming
in from Chill, Mexico. and the Sandwich
Islands. There is no variation in the cost
Of living, except that lodgings may be had
attn cheaper rate. Houses are fitted up
now ship-fashion, with estate-rooms. each
Of hich conteins four ber,hs. In this
way an ordinary room will lodge twenty
or thirty persons. The cost of lodging
in this style is SO per week, Boarding
Of plain kind may be had at 3 IA and Sl6
per week, bat almost of the eating hou
ses it is $40 and S25. see no prohabil,
ty Of much reduction IN prices for year
to come In view Of the enormous ex
pense Of living, even in the simplest way,
by the General Government for the pro-
per remuneration and support Of the ar
my, navy, and all the civil offices.
Laborers' wages have slightly deer ca
sed since L fast wrote. The carpenters
have had strike here, as we'll as in Sac
ramento City, and gained their point
Walters get $50 per month. Many
persons have come down from the mines,
seeking employment for the winter. |
have no doubt there will be cases of want
and destltution here, as everywhere.-
Several suicides have been committed.
through disappointment and desponden-
oy. Physicians who are connected with
the hospitals here, inform me that they
have frequent cases Of lunacy under their
charge some caused by the sudden.'a .'accu-
mutation of gold, and others by the lack
oft. Poor human nature!
The amount Of business transacted here
would astonisn our New York merchants.
The commerce Of the place, entirely ex-
elusive of the vessels from the Atlantic,
IS already very important. During the
month just closed there weIe seventy de-
partures from this port, two Of which on
ly were for Atlantic ports. The COM
nierce ofthe Pac6 6c, reaching to Australia,
India, and China. is already concentrating
10 this metropolis of western America.
left here for the Sacramento country
on the Sd uIt., aud returned on the 9th,
yet in that interval the city was so
changed tina; no longer recognized the
streets. The small, one story wooden
bulldogs which replaced the tents stand
ing when | first landed in August had
beeng moved to the suburbs, and spacious
three and four story houses built up in
their stead. The vacant spaces had been
filled up; fronts OF brick began TO make
their appearance; large hotels and restau-
rants, showily furnished, stared at me in
unaccustomed places; the throng in the
streets seemed doubled; and all the hurry
confusion, and noise of a great city was
we'll initiated.
MORMON COIN.
The monetary notions ofthc Mormons
at their Great Salt Lake settlement are no
less peculiar, Ii appears, than their ideas
of society and religion. We have very
curious coin in our possession, which is
manufactured and extensively circu lated
among that remarkable people, and quite
20 the disparagement,t travellers tell US, OF
every other species Of gold currency. OF
all the fanciful forms into which our gol
den wealth is wrought, this sainted shape
excels in singulartty. Its weigh is about
Is pwt.. Troy; its current worth among
the Mormons, twenty dollars. Its circum
ference is that of Spanish half doub-
loon. One side bears the inscription
Holiness TO the Lord,' with the All-sec
ing Eye, surmounted by the prophets
cap; on the reverse appear the initials
C.S.L Pc, the grasp Of fellowship
with the date (IS49) and value of the
piece. Il is clumsy, and in execution,
without merit.
SOCIETY," AND MORALITY IN CALIFORNIA.
One who has "seen the elephant"
writes home to the Tribune: "San Fran
c isco is God -forsaken place, nearly given
over to gamblers, professional iders and
tipplers. They seem "a band of outcasts,
met in brotherhood Of woe Daily arrl-
walls of fancy and sporting men, pugilsts,
penteel loafers, and abandoned women
from the states, are rapidly swelling their
ranks"
This is another one of those absurd
statements, says The Alta California, GULL
ed from "California corresponds
which we are repeatedly called upon TO
contradict, and which cannot even aspire
TO the proprley ofa sober, one-slded view
of the subject which 1t processes to eluci-
date. A man may imbIbe prejudices & en-
tertaln false perceptions, or he may express
an opinion detrimental 10 the truth, for all
of which there are palliatIng circumstan-
ces; but for so wanton a perversion the
author deserves to be heldup to ridicule by
the ..rise auain'' of truth, pointed at by