The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1851-01-05


the interest Of all other ship owners and OF the pub
Tic generally is now disrepntably held IN aoey-
ance, and as unworthy consideration, engines ana
boilers may be constructed, that will not explode,
and be in every respect OF such superior efficiency,
OF less weight and cost yet OF greater value, and
perform equal voyages in equal time, with less than
one-tourth the fuel now unnecessarily, Ignorant
ly, and wastefully consumed by both these lines of
steamers. That equal voyages may be made in
half the time, with only one half the fuel now 80
unnecessarily wasted, and with perfect security
against explosions, and the stowage occupied by
useless fuel would afford equal space for rapid and
most profitable freight The passengers would be-
come more profitable at half the present rates, and
every locomotive or stationary engine may be pro-
p0rti0naly improved, by substituting this newly
discovered, much more efficient, safe, and ecoaom-
ical element, stsme for steam. ENGINEER
The CALIFORNIA; Bubble In Europe.
SHIPMENT OF FRENCH uoops AND woRKMEN TO THE
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. IN ENGLAND OF THE QUARTZ
ROCK.
There is portion of the French newspapers
which, at the present moment, is considerably more
entertainng-we venture to add, considerably more
insructve-than the reports OF debates from which
the stagnation of party spirit has banished the aa
NATION of tumult, and, the excitement Of suspense
II we turn by chance to the scanty advertisement
sheet, the eye lights upon colossal capitals, dispos
ed in graceful combinations, which prove, upon
nearer scrutiny, TO be neither more nor less than
the business advertisements of the Californian
mining compares. close analogy il observed
between the form and the matter of these notices.
immensely is their characteristic. The size Of the
print is adequately matched by the inilion OF the
language aud the bigness OF The promises. The
English reader, whose lot has been cast in these
evil days of exploded Hudsonsm, fatieues him
self with con occurring the extent of the gulliblty
to which they appeal Is it possible that there ex-
Isis a civilized European people OF whom char
latanism IS so sure that II permits the hook 10
peep thus sbanelessly from behind the bait! How
is il that the geaius which reigned over Capel
Court IN its worst days, has found refuge in Paris
from its English bankruptcy? The secret IL not
remote. trrachmen always hoard. Observers OF
menetaly phenomenal describe their couatry as
bottCntss siAk vi bullion. Al periods OF political
CONFUSION the precious metals are more extern
sively secTeted than ever; aud it is oae conse-
Guence a the crash Of 1913 that some thousands
OF money bags in France are just now swollen to
bursting temporary Stimulus As thus admiGis-
tered 10 The slender enterprise OF the nation, and
men take advantage OF returning tranquility TO
glance about tmi1iy for secure little investments.
IL is strange no DOUBT that people should choose,
under the circumstances, To bestow their capital in
Californian adventure. Bat they slili nlstrus the
permaneDce Of everything French perhaps OF
every thing European and there is bssIds5 fasei-
nation in these promises of golden ingots, which
Enelishm a, aith their large experience and ia
stIGCtiye perspic3city IL mercantile matters, can
scarcely compe bend. The same ignorance OF the
INST principles OF commercial economy which cones
out III the French Assembly every time IL debatcS
a railway or tariff quesiian-and which seems TO
be shared by every tienchmdn, high or tow, who
is not practically trader-is now blindng these
purchasers IT Californian shlres to the most OBJ
vous elements of fiss, and To the pa,nest aasttcta
of swildiing. As ia the .,-f-ncy of commerce,
they are taking god to be q. fNes of investments,
simply because II Is gold; aud we recognize, la
their eagerness TO send their boarded capital hall
across the world, the same deluslon which made
Raleigh waste his life IN the quest of Eliorado,
and which enpendered the balance OF trade still
surviving imposture.
The interest created by the spsculation5 of the
tac htah ehi pahn ia aud
French wofkmen vast scale for the Pa
cifc, is causing France to overflow with sort of
California literature. We have before 10 a COM
plete host OF pamphlets upoa the resources OF the
lunferous 5tae and perpetual dissertations on the
eame subject may be read IN the French ewspi-
pers The s'latest intelligence from theatre
Of gold seeking, seems 20 be greedy sought for,
and plenty oft is accordingly supplied. A good
deal is evidently CttrG mare r0iun; and II my
fairly be doubted whether it, authors were ever
70 much as sea sick. Part, however, Of the resi-
due strikes us as more trustworthy, and Is certda-
ly much later in its date than anything which has
yet bee given 10 the world by English or Aneri-
can hands. We are disposed to point in particular
10 the letters of Nj. Derbec, which ore extensively
read IN France, as wearing all the marks OF the
most scrupulous accuracy. From these aud other
sources OF the same character, we have gathered
the information on the present prospects OF Cali
fornia mining, which we are about TO lay before
our readers IN form as condensed as possible.
~. Dcrbec, we may premise. was formerly
Lebgfs, to.whch his communications are now al
DIRE serd, ard the conductors of that respectable
journal undertake 10 vouch for his strict veracity.
The last OF these letteis was written 80 recently
ss The end OF last July, and is dated from pass
in the Sierra Nevada,
The principal inference which we draw from the
matter we have collected Is, that the chances OF sue
&C ssful adventure in California are rapidly add
sibly diminishing. II IL necessary both 10 make this
statement distinctly, aud 10 explain its grounds,
because such warnings, having been offered be-
fore, and having failed 10 81 the culren OF emit
grafton are very generally regarded as ebulliions
OF pessinism or rimidity. Oar readers may recol-
leci that they were heard on all sides about year
and three quarters ago, but that, just when they
seemed to be taking ELECT, they suddenly ceased,
and the rush To California he came more v,0leat
than ever These phenomena were, doubtless,
produced by change in the character OF the Ia.
formation which reached Us from TIE Pacific, but
such Information htraied TO Europe through dis
persed and private channels, go that the general
newspaper reading public were obliged 10 consider
the variations which it caused az an unin'e'ligible
anomaly. We are nov, no Seyer, enabled to descry
an epoch in the history OF gold aiming which ex.
plains its ebb and relax. This point IN time - the
discovery Of the placers-aunierous strips of land
in the more elevated regions Of the province, and
particularly on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada.
Up TO the period when the existence oil trea-
sures in the higher country became generally
known, the labor of the immigrants had been
exclusively applied TO the banks Of the rivers
near the coast; and IA the almost complete
Exhaustion OF the lower regions, we nave
the true explanation of those d,she gardening
accounts, and of that great reaction OF feeling
on the subject Of California, which distinguished
the early mining season OF 1919 But want, hope,
and the pre- OF constant arrivals, drove a sue
cession OF working parties TO explore the untrodien
Tavines OF the inland slcrrss, and very shortly
afterwards the multitudes clustered round San
Francisco were gladdened by the intelligence that
inexhausrble stores al metal had been discovered
about the upper waters of the Yuba, the S!ans-
Iaue. and the Aqua FRO. general move nent to-
wards the mountains commenced; news OF ion
mcnse successes followed, and IL was not very
long before Eastern America and the European
continent weIe again astir with the wholesale de-
parture Of adveniurers for California. The I'M
pulse communicated 10 emigration al this eroch Is
sn operating, and IL 10 probable that every one OF
the uncounted thousands nov on their way to the
Pacific commenced his journey under its Influence.
Unfortunately, II Is but too well established that
an enormous mistake was committed in assuming
that the iIcasnres OF The nnnntninswere 20 be won