The Trinity journal., 1856-11-22

RIVER MINING.-During the season, now
about to close, the river mines Of California
have paid better than at any previous time
The reason Of this is obvious it is because
capital and labor have not been applied use
lcssly, but companies have been formed, and
a REGULAR system Of working adopted. For
mcry number Of men would get together,
form a company, cXpend what money they
had in purchasing a Hume and digging a race
get ready, as they called it for work, and
before thcy could realize a dollar, ircshct
would comc weep away their dam aul their
aume, Generally siuice-bOXes OF about twelve
by sixteen inches, ana away would 90 their
al-moncy and time and they would haze
to seek some other locality where they could
make a living. Hence river mining fell into
disrcpute-the cost was more than the pro-
duce the difficulties of opening claims in
surmountable, and in short it would not pay.
But, after Il while, a few quiet and obsery-
ing men who had watched the failures of
their predecessors, and traced out the causes,
organized into companies, and commenced a
regular system OF riyer-Workmg upon a per
monent basis They built solid stone dams,
fixed and immoyablc they dug wide and
deep races that could not be chokcd up
they buit large and expensive fumes and
placed them upon sure foundation. The
first year they made nothing and everybody
laughed at them the second year they
made living, nothing more and the know
ing ones grinned again. This season they
have made fortunes in numerous instances,
and now, those.Who laughed once laugh nc
more, but are trying to do likewise. This
is the result Of steady perseverance and in
domtabo energy, OF cool planning and
steady carrying out. Now, We see that
river mining is important, and will become
more so every year. We begin to find out
that. in the beds and on the bars Of nearly
all the rivers in the interior, golden haryests
are to be feaped by the steady laborer.-
/ Shiftless men, who are baulkcd by trihcs it
is true, work a day, make nothing, curse
their luck, and leave, to try some other
place, with the same result, These men de-
serve neither more nor less than they get, for
they are worthless But the working man
the man Of muscle and sinCW, Of energy
and determination, finds his place now, and
! ,
! times uulucky. but on the whole, successful
/ These are tie men to work river diggings
where labor patience and perseverance are
required. The other class we have described
will undoubtedly find employment about the
rim rock in placer diggngS creycng with
a shell, and "panning out for grub How
ever, it is an undeniable fact, that during the
last two years river mining has vastly in
creased in Importance, and a vast amount Of
capital and labor are now being laid out up
on interior rivers, and we hear Of large rivers
that are to be turned from their beds and
conducted in fumes of sufficient capacity to
carry the water during the entire year. If
this can be accomplished the rivers will be
worked winter and summer. The most
magnificent schemes have been projected
and with fair prospect of realization, SO
that it is pretty safe to consider the river
mines as one of the most permanent and i'm
portant contributors to the wealth of the
State. - S. r. ChrOniae.