Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1850-03-28


as usual, there will lie a grent scarcity oI
provisions. Although the rain in the mines,
renders it very unpleasant To work out ui
doors, and prevents large yield, sill COM
ioratatle lng cabin, with plenty To eat, gen.
erous inl,alnl ion ot the pure invgorat ting
mountain ar-sucII AS you in Boston never
can appreciate, together with plen.fuI liba-
tions OF pure mountain water, all tend to i'm
| part degree of health aud elasticity of
spirits aud mind, which will require grea,
ieprlvations 10 impair or disturb. Believe
me, when SAY that the quiet valley which !
left three weeks since on one of tine head
walters of the SIanislaus, containing not over
| $50 souls, shut out almost entirely from com
| muucati0n with the rest OF the world is a
paradise, compared with this filthy sink oI
mud. gambling and corruption called San
| Francisco.
My experience in the mines (the Southern
DislrirI) is as follows: One u,an in fi,y,
uIakes $4,000 in one season ; five others mai ke
| Sl500 iutIr make S400, thirty make out u
| living, and ten live upon the rest. This is \
brief summary OF The best Information | can
get. The Northern mines give more gem
| orally reasonable recompense for Labor.
This place. San Francisco, is the most 81.
| thy aud muddy place ever saw or heard oi.
| Picture Ia yourself Sea street and its vicini>
~. covered with d. ok mud, resting on a
clayey alluvial soil 2 feet deep, cut up by
the constant passing of 10000 mules, horse
carts. &c, during Two weeks of ince>sunl
rain, without sewers to streets or houses
the cenlIe Of the streets being substit utsd
for that purpose, with here and there n few
| feet of barrel-stave on brush sidewalks, and
| you can form some idea Of the condition oil
! San Francisco. Boots OF leather or lrdia
rubber, reaching TO the thighs, IRE almost
Indispensable articles.
Money commands S. 8 and 10 per cent.
| per month, and any amount can be loaned.
Yet real estate is advancing in price. Ii has
gone up or per cent. since the Inst steam.
er arrived. Many capitalists who came ouI
in her, invested in real estnte iinmediately III
anticipation ofrhe great emigration expect
ed here next summer and oil the arrival Of
some 200 or 300 large houses known TO be
on their way 10 this port. The state of busi
ness here, ! conceive To be about as unheal-
| thy as the streets are muddy. There is al
least 1900, 600 Squire feet OF land within one
mile of the centre of the city, held anu sold
al he least average price, $3.50 per foot-
besides double that amount bult over the
past season. You cannot get decent
building lot within a half mile of the post
office at II less price, and in sOlne cases SIT
and Sl2 FER foot is asked.
hear of some firms here paying two pei
cent per day for money. Many fear thai
heGe must he a crash, runOus TO many u
our enstern houses who lave SO largely ship
ped and consigned goods 10 their care. I'M
ulense quantities of goods were sacrificed n
auction last summer, belng put into the mar
ket and bid off by The very person who torced
them into the market.
Wages are constantly decreasing-carpen'
ters averaging $40 12 per day, and unly
| about one halt OF them beiug able 10 Obtain
employment. Mann, looking npon the brig,
side of the picture, believe that spring vii
give business lively and healthy START
May il he so, and my fears prove unfounded
As the population increases les is SAT-
and known of murders aud robheries, which
are on the increase. Theft is also beconiin.
quite frequent aud dsIrtI>t and setishnes are
last displacing confidence and iiberali'y.-
An election for ciIy officers, held this day
and carried on with much spirit, has result
et IN the recollection OF the old town officers
! recognized among The most noisy and ac
tive vols dist ihurers, several familiar tuce'
from old Boston. They seemed 10 be at at
old business, and were very efficient.
The weatheri is warmer than few week,
since. have not YET seen. even al The ele
vaIion OF the head waters of the San Joaquin
amy ice exceeding the thirkness of good win
dow glass. /, is thought that nine>ten,lls o
the overland expeditions have anived-tho
The last. (embracing MANY families being
over,nken by the snow. were relieved by the
party sent out by governuient,wilh whose
aid MANY would have perished. Among
other incidents attendant upon the crossing
Of the plains lnsr season, young man from
Cincinnati tells me that he passed in the des
ert. in going thirty miles,-where there is nc
wafer for iorty-fve miles, ,-betwern l2OC
and 1900 dead oxen. They cnnnot travel SC
fast as men or mules, and thus perish.
Yours, &c, SHAWMUT, Jr.