The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-09-07
cs.E-pssGs... = IL. Hs.s..l. Ds-s.rs-
VIaoINIA Cir. Aue. 81. 1885,

ASAASNo Oe4SS1AA NAheGt = NFotNgHNS
in this Territory Of fourteen months, du.
ring which time have been extensively
engaged In mining, l do not assume too
much when | say | am pretty we'll posted
in the business affairs of Virginia City,
Gold Hill and Silver City; hence feel al
liberty to speak from the book. might
do in this case as many Others have done
claim the right to 60 before the public
as . monitor; but l owe a duty to my
friends in California, and to the public at
large, to submit few irrefragible facts
for their consideration before they make
up their minds to visit this Territory for
the purpose Of improving their condition
in life.
That millions ofreal wealth lie beneath
the barren mountains that surround Us, is
an ifdisputable fact That scientific and
practical explorations in search Of it have
only just begun, is also unquestionably
true. In the incipiency Of mining opera
tons here, the parties engaged were as
ignorant Of the business they had under
taken, as were the masses Of those who
made their first efforts at mining in Cali
fornia, in 1940. The accidental discov.
cry Of that portion Of the "COInstOck
Lode" now worked by the OPhir, the
Spanish, the Central and California Min.
ing Companies, all Of which are within
the space Of few hundred feet, and all
adjoining each other, the discovery Of the
"Chimeny," known as Gold Hill, through
parties who were working the surface for
loose gold, and the subsequent discovery
Of many surface" and 4 few permanent
quartz lodges in and around Silver City,
containing rich pockets" Of precious
metals, tended to lead inexperienced min
ers into the fatal belief, that all quartz
lodges, from the Groupings" of which
fine results had been obtained by assay
ers, could not fail to unbosom their
wealth to any party who would incur the
expense Of sinking shaft a few feet deep,
or run tunnel to "cut" the ledge q few
feet beneath the surface Of their claims
Before this error could be exposed, three.
fifths Of the labor and money expended
in prospecting for silver, to say nothing
Of gold, was completely thrown away.
Not meeting with a realization Of their
sanguine hopes, and having exhausted
their means in purchasing their necessary
supplies for the length Of time in which
they were engaged, but comparatively
few OF the earlier prospectors we're in a
condition to renew their labors upon their
claims. Hungry spectators throngcd
the country for the purpose Of awaiting
themselves Of the earliest opportunity to
invest their money in some new discovery,
in anticipation that it would place them
in point Of wealth, by the side Of those
lucky parties who had invested in the
claims first above mentioned. For reasons
before stated, they were disappointed,
and 1t became a Fixed object with them
to recover their losses incurred in their
vain search, through the means Of the
grosScst receptions and barefaced frauds.
These latter remarks are not intended
to apply to every fortune hunter in
Washoe ut that tim, for there were hon.
orable exceptions.
The citizens Of California, Of San Fran.
CISCO, particularly, were the principal suf-
fercrs, while many outside of her limits
have been made to shudder at big names
and rich eroppings. Just a sufficient
amount Of success was attained, by the
energy and labor Of our mining popula.
ton, to encourage people to come here,
impressed with hopes never to be realized
And now we have not less than fourteen
or fifteen thousand inhabitants, in men,
women and children. to be supported, not
from our agricultural resources, but such
only As California may be able to supply.
Hence, we have swarns Of spectators in
the necessaries Of life, all of whom de.
Inand cash for their commodities and
hence we are 10 perpetual strain for
means to live upon, and to prosecute our
mining enterprises. But this is not all.
When We find means to open claim. and
are lucky enough to get any return from
our labor, it is handed to US in bullion.
UpoH-this weAre mmde to pay, through
the avarice Of hcartless spectators and
relentless necessity, from six to six and
a-half per cent for coin advanced on our
bars. although they are Of ascertained in
trinsic value. These bars, once in San
Francisco, never return here, but are
boarded up by capitalists, and . meager
sum in coin il only permitted to reach us
from that quarter, when large losses are
submitted to by applicants who are com.
PEELED to have it, or abandOuNlI they have
invested in the mines Of the country.
But letter.writers, often in the pay of
spectators, or in order to subserve their
own private ends, speak in high-wrought
terms Of the rapid Improvements going
on, without once attending to the fact
that much Of it is done on credit, at ruin.
Gus interest," Or by men Of capital below
whose business here, in the way of trade,
returns every dollar to their strong box,
and great deal more. So, between mer.
chants and spectators, the labOring poor
are daily being made poorer, by SAyIOck
operations Of the kind specified, and
therefore unable to work their claims,
hundreds Of which are sufficiently dsvel-
Oped to enable their owners to know they
are immensely valuable, but cannot be
made available for the want Of means to