Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1853-06-18
Mining Prospects. &c.

|
vades the mercantile community, it gives US
much pleasure to be able to state that we
can recall no time in our experience Of Cal
ifornia, in which the mines were yielding
more beautifully than at present. or the mi
ners gene'a ally doing better. The copious
rains ofthe past winter have in degree con-
tributed to this result, as has their extraordi-
nary prolorgation into what should naturally,
according to American experience of Cali
fornia, be termed our dry season The
principal reasons of the increased product
Of the mines, however, and the one which
affords the most cheering hope for contil-
uance OF the same, is the Improvement in the
methods of washing, the advantages natural
ly accrulng from the experience of the last
four years in mining operations, and the ex-
tension and completion of the numerous long
lines of canals and bitches, which now inter
sect, in almost every direction, the mining
regions from Shasta Butte to Mariposa.
The California miner has in the last four
years passed through the experience Of al
most as4many centuries in any other country
From the time when, at the old mill at Colo
ma, he washed his dirt in a piece of tin, in
log rocker, or picked the {" nuggets :" from
the native matrix with his jack-kniie, to the
present day, when, from the first moment in
the morning that the superintendent turns on
the water from the ditch, to the setting OF the
sun, ton after ton of aurilerous earth passes
through suice and fl ime, leaving its prec-
ious deposit behind, as much knowledge of
mining has been acquired as would have suf-
feed hall dozen generations a century ago.
Four years since, the American became a
miner, perfectly ignorant of every thing con-
nected with the business; he knew that the
gold was in the soil before him and that per-
severance and ingenuity would not fail to ex-
tract IT. He quaiIed not at the unaccustom-
ed labor, and with what success he toiled,
the shipments of the last three years will tes-
tify
Great, however, as has been heretofore The
product OF urInInes, we are satisfied that
for the next few years an increase is to be
looked for. There is no telling to what ex-
tent the introdution of water by the numerous
canal companies will carry the production of
gold. Districts Of large extent, which have
hitherto been considered as utterly unworka-
BILE, are now being occupied by an a~tve
and untiring set Of miners, and our capital
lists are beginning to look upon water stock
as among the most profitable investments the
country affords; while the very tact of our
merchants becoming interested in the canals
which supply the miners with water for wash
ing, will ensure selection of competent and
reliable persons IN the management thereof,
which is all that can be required to make
them most profitable undertakings to the pro-
jectors, TO the miners, and TO the State at
large.
| The majority of the water companies at
present organized throughout the mining dis
, trict, commenced operations during the past
year, and were surprised at the early winter
rains. before they had fair opportunity of
being tested as to utility and profit. The
novelty of the project, and th'' fact that the
parties engaged in the prosecution of the
works were generally unknown to our mer-
camille community, being engaged actively
in mining, operated strongly against the ad-
vancement of their interests, but we believe
there are few now who do not appreciate the
importance of encouraging the system of wa
ter works, and Of affording those engaged in
them every facility for carrying out their de-
signs ,e is
That to the production of the precious
metal we are for some years to come to look
for the maintenance OF the footing we have
obtained in the commercial world, no one
SdH oO"pt' hc SOoSt P'SitiOu VI
California renders it impossible for her not
to fill, ultimately a prominent place in the
commercial chart, but until'ih great over
land railroad is completed, and the Asiatc
trade, which must set in this way, is fully es-
tablished, we must depend upon our mines
for commercial and political prosperity. 1t
is therefore matter of primary importance
afforded to parties the object of whose labors
is tho development Of the mineral resources
Of the State, and we trust that before
the adjournment of the Legislature, some
steps will he taken to put mining claims on a
more permanent footing than they now have.
The rapid growth of an agricultural inter
est, both in the vicinity of the mining towns
and the State generally, is another most
cheering sign Of the advance of permdnency
i in California, and snch, not to be lightly
passed over. The truth is, that our people,
while retaining strong attachment for their
old homes and the Lares and Penates OF their
| fathers roofs, are after all more reconciled
to foreign scenes and new habitations, than
almost any other in the world. This is es-
pecially the case when they can carry their
own institutions with them; and thus our cit-
lzens are beginning very generally TO consid-
Ter California. not merely as an abiding place
for term of years, but as permanent
home. They calculate to return TO the east
ern border Of the continent and see their