Georgetown weekly news., 1855-02-08
True Condition of the Mines.

Newspapers may cry peace peace -
but in the language of PATR1o HENRY
"there is no peace" There is no peace Tor
the great mass of the miners now IN the
country, in consequence of the hard times
occasoned by the delay of the rains.-
There is no use in misrepresenting, the truth
is, there are hundreds of miners laying idle
oil over the entire mining regions, who are
unable to pay their board bills, and yet, are
actually in possession of claims worth hun:
dreds and thousands OF dollars; but in con-
sequence of the impossibility of getting wa
ter for washing, are left entirely without
any resources for support. This class of
people will embrace large majority of the
mining population Of the country. For al
though in many portions of the mountains,
as it is in Ell Dorado county, gold washing
is greatly facilitated by large and numer-
Gus Canals and Water bitches. Yet, these
bitches and water privileges, great as they
ore, are entirely inadequate to meet the
wants of the great majority Of our miners.
There are hundreds of mountain gulches
and dry diggings that our fumes and ditch
es have never yet reached, and these claims,
numerous as they are are the ones that fur
nish labor and gold for the great masses of
the people who come up i'll the mountains
to mine during the 'rainy season" These
are the men from whom We get our surplus
cash! The mines, dependent upon bitches
and fumes as they now exist, may and
would support o prosperous community
but they will not meet the expected and
surplus demands that "rainy season" is
expected to require, and a lack of these
rains, and consequently q limited number
of laborers, as well as the limited demand
for merchandise, is one of the principal
causes Of the present stringent circumstan-
ces amoung our traders. Here then are the
manifold evils which a delay of expected
rain occasion. 1t first limits the number of
miners in the mines; and secondly, it breaks
large majority Of those really among US.
This not only embarrasses the miners, but
it breaks into all the calculations Of the
trader-it limits the amount of his sales,
and delays payment even upon those that
are made, and these same evils extend to all
classes of people both in and out of the
Mines It is true that mines like ours, or
those in various portions Of the country,
may support, and prosper0usly, too, large
and growing community without their reg
ular rains. But even this must have its
limits. Only certain number of miners
can find a profitable employment, only a
limited amount of merchandise is wanted,
and in fact, the population, trade and ev-
erything belonging to community, must
have its proper limits, otherwise all will be
overdone, and hard times will be the newt
able consequences. But when we have our
regular rains, not only laborers but trade
of all kinds is accordingly almost unlimit-
ed. Thousands Of men can then work and
proftably too, where otherwise only hun
dreds can find employment. The necessity
of rain can, therefore, at once be seen; and,
SO long as this is withheld, it is useless for
men to boast of either this or that section
of the mines We are pretty well acquaint-
ed with the various mining portions of the
country, and we know of none that will ex-
ceed Georgetown in her resources during
dry seasons; and yet, we would think it
criminal to deny that Georgetown is at the
present time, most miserably dull.
NeceSsftu IF tho GI 0n0 KYR1I