The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1859-08-25

by regions on which little or no rain falls
in Summer, so that food, and almost eve.
necessary of life, will here be permanent
ly dearer than in California; 3. So eleva.
ted 10000 feet and over above tidewa.
ter) that little can be done at mining for
full half Of each year; and 4. So much
of the gold as has been broken down and
washed out of the veins by water courses
has been so swept along and dispersed by
the fierce mountain torrents that very lit :
tie of it can be pro6tabIs washed out;
hence, mining here must be mainly con-
fined to the veins. and will thus involve
blasting, raising by windlass, &c., &C.,
and so require large investments of capi-
tai for its energetic and successful prose-
cution. While, therefore, believe that
these Mountains will soon be yielding
gold at the rate of many Millions per an
NUN, say most emphatically to the poor
men who want gold and are willing to
work for it, This is not the country for
you! Far better seek wealth further
East through growing Wheat, or Corn, or
Cattle, or by any kind of manual labor,
than come here to dig gold. One man
may possibly acquire wealth faster in this
gold lottery than in New. England or
Kansas; but let one thousand poor men
come hither to mine, while the same num-
Der resolve to win competence by emf
nent industry and frugality in the East.
and the latter will assuredly have more
wealth at FIVE years end than the former
and will have acquired it with far less
sacrifice Of comfort, health and life.
And here let me say, in closing up
the subject, that think the Report made
by Messrs Richardson, Willard and my
self, of what We saw and learned at Greg
ory's Diggings, is fully justified by more
recent results. For example; we gave the
first four days's product of w. Defrees &
Co from Indiana (running one sluice) at
sec, $50, sos, and S305 respectively
the four following days not returned. l
as follows: S257. $2Sl, 5000. sl93-or
S3S5 more than those of the four days for
which We gave the returns. This Com
pany then sold out their claim for 81 600,
and on the Sth of June opened sluice
on another. which 10 four days produced
as follows: S3l, S205, $l5l, s2l3. An
other Indiana Company, miscalled Sopris,
Henderson & Co. in our Report, ran two
sluices on the 9th and 10th, realizing a.
bout $3.50 per day, and on the llth had
three siuices in operation for the first,
and cleaned up 81 900 (really worth a.
bout $1,000 from the product of that days
labor of twelve men. Some scores are
doing well, though few quite as we'll as
this; but Of the thousands who are doing
nothing-at least, realizing nothing
who shall report? Some of these issue
daily from the mountains, out Of means,
out of heart; and, between this and snow
fall, thousands like them will come out,
still more hungry, weary, forlorn, and
take their way down the Platte as guant
and disconsoate as men ever need be-
But this, and much more, will not dis
suade new thousands from rushing to take
their places. so long as it is known that
the Rocky Mountains contain gold.
p. S.-A friend just in from the Noun
tains, who had narrow escape from the
flames, confirms our worst rumors of dis.
aster and death. He says not less than
Gieen* men have fallen victims to the
coufagration, which is still raging. and
threatens even the dense crowd of tents
and cabins at Gregory's. My friend in.
forms me that the fire began very near
where we camped during my first weary
night in the Mountains, and would seem
to have been purposely set by reckless
simpietons curious to see the woods in a
blaze !! He thinks the victims were gen.
orally, il not uniformly, smothered before
the fire reached tbem-the dense, pitoby
smoke at once sbrouding the vision and
obstructing respiration.
He says the flames swept through the
pines and above their tops to hight of
two hundred feet, with roar and rush
appalling even to look on. He was o.
biged to run his mule to her utmost speed
for two or three miles in order to effect
bis escape. If this drouth continues-as
it is likely to do for months-tbe noun.
tains this side of the snowy range will be
nearly burned over for at least fifty miles
north and south of the Gregory trail, dri-
wing out all that is left of game, killing
much of the Der, and rendering the
country every way mole inhospitable-a
most superauous proceeding.
| hear still further discoveries further
up 10 the Mountains some of them of
gulch OF water course diggings, which are
said to pay very we'll They have just
begun to work the sand of Clear Creek
at the poibt where it issues from the
mountains. Another friend just from
Gregorys says he fears the victims of the
lires now raging in that quarter will num-
Der one huad.ett! The limbs of the green
pines are burned off close to the trunks,
and the columns of roaring fame seem to
fill the sky. The Gregory settlement
was in some danger when my informants
left yesterday.
*Another friend just arrived says cer-
tainly ScUcnteen.