New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-08-17
CALIFORNIA.
The Dark side O III Dorado.

IL
more widely serve those for whose benefit it was writ
Ton so. GLEssos, NJ. d.
GRASS VALLEY, Cal, Tuesday, June q, 1883
Thus much for matters oil personal interest,". Anu
now am going 10 tell you honestly what think Of Oal
frnia and the prospects OF adventures 10 this country
for YOU NAV meet with some who contemplate the az
venture and are DESTROYS Of information upon the su0,
iect and If plain and truthful statement from me VIII
hinder any from coming here shall thereby DO SUM
thing tow ard fulfilling the great commisson GI'o
otbtrs as We would that they should do unto you lou
cav that Mr. and Mrs M think OF coming here ltInay
be well enough for them, for Mr. NJ, suppose, mas
property and the climate might prove a'olaoe W M
M health There are plenty oil 9pPoreun'les ne.e
for man Of good business caPaciy' "ho can 0o'o WI
SIO 600 In bis pOcket make money much more rapd
lv than he could ordinarily do It at home though mO
fnd Of business carried on at much greater hsz1rd
here than Mt home If a man has money enough 20 Duy
h;,n farm fence stock IT, and get II under cultivation,
he Il sImo,t sure TO do WELL provided he selects good
location and manages well and he can at the same time
erioy the comforts Of home and civilization. But TINS
will require | think in most cases from SoOJO 10
$4,000. ,,.
Toapy Door man who must come empty halded, or can
hiring only 500 or $500 would say, If you can pos
siby earn an honest livelihood at home IN any occuPa-
ton whatever do not by any means come 10 Caiior-
MIA" Such an may succeed, but the chances are
thousand 10 one against him. There 10 not country
in the world where business OF every kind Is so thorough
ly overdOne a. here. .,.o1
80 for thenthere rch surface diggngs IN the rivers,
baIs and rayines more than enough for all ina ca ne
and any man Of health, energy and prudence VINO coud
make his way 10 the mines almost sure 70 MAKE ms
nile and the general rush to the mines rendered every
other Kind OF business good by preventing competition
Thoussnds In the States doubtless at TINS DAY tnu-
lated 10 emgrate to TINS country D! the succo's :" ~
early adventures.
fredueLtly heard the remark made last wlnter, DC
fore left home that better time now TO 20 TO
California than in 40 and 80 for the hardshP' 70 De
Lac nd 0I
equal Such persons know nothing about It,
II must be borne in mind that from that time To TINS
there has been a constant and rapidly increasing lmm
grafton 10 this State from all parts OF the world an lm-
migration which has now reached probably not less than
eight thousand persons per month Ofhese multtudes
come with no intention of mining for living. Many
come for the purpose Of speculation and trade; many
with the intention OF pursuing the various mechanical 0c
equations to which they have been bred at home and
st larger number with the Yankee notion OF turning
their hands anything that may turn up, aud nearly all
perhaps with the idea Of digging gold as last and sure
resort il nothing else turns up TO suit them better
They have all read in the papers OF the heavy shipments
OF gold from here and they have heard OF the high prices
Of labor which prevail here and they Imagine that they
can once be landed shores they sure to lind
some business in which they can make more money thdh
they could at home
MANY are deceived before leaving home as to the
amount of money needed for crossing the lsthmus, and
reach San Francisco without money to go farther
The first thing Of course, is to seek employment.
Among
business Of any kind and such Is the competition, tat
they are very much at the mercy OF employers whether
they are mechanics or common labOrers, the case Is
nearly the same for the city now thronged with me
ebanics of every grade.
Ii is true those who are lucky enough 10 find employ
ment get higher wages than they could obtain at the
States as they must do they could not live but they
do not get as much more as is commonly reported.
There are always some, ever! where "h0' Dy superior
skill or management, or good luck, will obtain much
higher wages than others and these are reported
as showing the standard of wages
think II will be found true general rule, that if
laboring will 90 to good boarding house and
live comfortably be is accustomed to do q h1me
larger surplus than he would have from his ordinary
wages at bone.
Whatever is gained, is done by hiring a miserable
ROOM cooking his food, and putting up with poor
fare
Those who do not succeed in getting into business in
San Francisco if they make the effort in the cities
If the interior will meet with the same difficulties aud
the same success or rather failure The great ina Ory
will be driven at last to the mines. Here they have
vast but most discOuraging field open before them
Gold scattered broad cast country many thoH-
sands of square miles in extent They liberty to
"prospect' whenever they like, but 90 where they will
they must follow in the track OF hundreds who have
prospeced the same ground before them
Any ground that is known to be good is sure TO be
taken up, and the chances very slim, indeed, OF a
conner making valuable discoveries which others
have missed lfone gets tired of prospecting there are
plenty of claims be bought in he has money 10
buy them. But very likely he will have to pay more
for the claim than he will get out of It, At best, a
man who buys a claim buys a ticket in lottery He
may do well out of it, and he may not get his money
back Some one in thousand perhaps, are max ug
money very rapidly in minng-makDg fifty, a hundred
some even two hundred dollars in day; but alter
deducting these few of extraordinary success,
taking into account the amount of time and labor ex
pended both in searching for the gold aud digging it
out and the amount of time lost for of water the
of and other there class of la
borers IN the United States poorly paid the gold
miners of California none, who II class, are able to
little above their necessary expenses and there
are certainly who suffer 1.-THE Of the haTdshps aud
pryatons that they do On this matter speak advised
iy, and utter believe. the sober convictions of almost
every intelligent miner in California for have conycTs-
ed with great numbers upon the subject
But IL will be asked, How is II that S5O0O,O00 in
"gold are shipped from California every month p
l answer, people in the Unlted States have con
eepuon OF the immense number ot men employed IN
obtaining this geld. Again, il is asked How is It that
We constantly lind in the papers such aterng reports
from different mining sections new and rich diggngs
found-large humps iOund-minerS in this aud that
"localiy, all doing we'll &c. ?" | answer-tbese re-
ports, when true, only and isoated cases bat
in majority of instances they lies In all these
localities class OF who have claims 10
sell another who have goods 70 sell another STILL who
Keep and boarding houses and II is for the in
teiest of such 10 create rush . their places These
stories are got up and sent 10 the papers Tor this pur
pese The miners all understand the game aud nobody
takes pains 20 contradict the reports. The papers
publish them without inquiry perhaps are paid by the
steamship companies, who wish 70 keep up the gen raj
excitement; and the NeW-lOfk papers very nuecenty
copy them as items of news from California After ALL
What is the in making known the facts 81 long
in 5000 makes splendid fortune by gold digging,