Muscatine journal. [volume] (Bloomington, Iowa) 1849-185?, 1854-03-24
California Correspondence.

California Correspondence.
PLAcERviLLE, CAL, Feb. 1lth, 1854.
EpiroRs MUscArrsE Journal: As sill
ruminating over number Of your valuable
and interesting journal, which recently
found its way to the foot hills of the Sicr.
ras, 1 arm led into = train Of reflections
which awakens in my mind many happy re-
membranes Of old times and friends,
"though lost to sight to memory dear"
Icannot help contrasting our craggy hills
and yawnlng gulches with the rolling prai-
ries and gently undulating plains of yonr
beautiful and growing State. Nor yet with
out sigh can muse upon the dissimilitLds
OF their social privileges and enjoyments.-
inclination has got the better Of my judg-
mcnt, AID ut the risk Of taxing your pa
thence, l am led to dot down For your peru
sh few Of my humble but im.artial
thoughts concerning our mountain home.--
eon6ne myself exclusively to Placcrville,
a. you are no doubt ~ well posted up upon
the general features and sharactsristics OF
Cslifsrnia ~ myself SO much has been
said and written about her mineral and ag-
ricultural resources her rapidly advancing
prosperity, and her political snd CONNER.
eial impcftanss. Our town is situated in
the midst of perhaps the richest mineral
districts in the State. Tha facilities for
working her mines are as good, if not bet
ter, than exists in any other region Of Ell
Dorado county.
NY we'll directed efforts, combined with per-
severence and economy, miner can in nine
cases out Of ten, in course Of twelve months
return to "the loved ones at homo" with q
"pocket full of rocks" and heart full Of
content. Yet, with all these incentives held
forth for the exercise Of little physical ex-
ertien - with all these fair prospects of
speedily and honestly acquiring compe-
tency, responsibility, and inhuence-still,
strange ~ it may appear, there are those in
our midst who, forsooth because their cog
nomens happen to be decorated with pig
tail appendage, set themselves up as a SORT
of California ar;stocracy, whose sensitive
ness is 8, delicate that they would blush to
appear in the plain livery Of a common mi
ner; who with upturned noses and scornfnl
lips, s.untsr along our sidewalks, or with
asealy-mouthed hypocrisy insinuats them
sslvss into the society of honest men.
The rendezvous Of these bipcds is gene
rally to be found in some gambling hell
where they may be seen engaged in the
manly enjoyment of cheating victim out
Of his hard weeks earnings, or rolling ten
pins for the liquor. A great Characteristic
of these ioiIor-.igns is that they all aim to
be witty, brilliant and sarcastic in their
conversation but which produce no other
effect upon the minds of those not belonging
to their own crew, but nausea and contempt.
Those things laugh At all virtue. By dirty
inuendoes they endcavor to cast reproach
upon every institution hold sacred aDd di-
vine; and from their foul mouths and
shallow brains issue torrent of slang and
nonsense, which they fattsr themselves is a
stream OF wit and sarcasm. But, thank
Heaven! this class now constitutes bat a
small portion Of our inhabitants. They are
beginning to be looked upon with distrust,
and are gradually becoming necessitated to
Law by their she p skin. and die ,, and tulR
out into the gulches and ravincs of our
mountains.
blemen:o men whom no reverses of fortune
can unman; men who carry in their bosoms
souls large enough to centain the whole
vnsA nf ~
are not to be frightened by rattling reeds;
men who procure not thoir living from the
pockets of their friends, but dig their for
tunss cut Of tho ersviccs OF our hills men
whose patriotism is not bounded by avarice
and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. philanthropy is
not imprisoned in . suit Of unpaid-for
hroadol0sh, and whose sphere of influence
il not souEped to the bar-room or ten-pin
allsy; men whose hands, though hard, are
ever ready to shield the weak, assist the
needy and uphold the right, and through
vhoss industry and perseverance will be
developed our vast resources, and render
Placsrvills the third place Of Importance in
our Eureka State. Door. NJ. BAKER.
Tas ToBAcco PLANT 10 indigenous to
tropical America and was introduced
linte Spnin and France in the beginning
af thu l6 h century None was used in
England until after its introduction by
Sir Francis Drake in 1888. AT the
present time it is cultivated IN nearly
every part Of the Americas continent
and has been raised successfully in
almost every country OF Europe !; in
Aries, il is cultivated in Egypt. Alge,ia.
the Cape Of Gopd Hope, aud at various
locations on The wesern coast; and
its use aud culture have. even spread 10
,hc FAR of realms Of the East-to Tur-
key, Pc ,sia, India. China, Australia. the
Philli pine lslsnds and Japan. The Turks
and P-rsians are ;he greatest smokers
in the world; and in India and China
all classes and both sexes smoke. 1t is
deemed with them an indisp nsable
luxury.
Tas PUDLIc DoxAix. Il tue Hous II p 20 t.
ativss, the speaker laid hcfo-s that b dy communi
tion fr the Secretary Of the Interior, in r.py
asoluti IN, 10 which Il appears the amount, in round
ninbrs, OF public land donated By Coagres for va.
isas purp KS ~ f,llow'
AcRss