Daily national Democrat., 1861-04-13
News from Silverland.
FROM OUR TRAVELLING CORRESPONDENT.
The Desert made Proftable--De cription
OF Steamboat Springs---LangtOn's En-
fprnrisa. efc..

| y
rians. Every thing which can be made to
serve the use and purposes of man, is by them
turned into account. Even the miseries and
sufferings Of the earlier immigration, are by
them converted into source of industry and
profit. The iron belonging to the wagons
which were from time to time abandoned
upon the Plains, have been gathered up and
brought into the different blacksmith shops,
and sold for good round sum. And during
last winter this was the only stock of iron in
the Territory. My friend Sewell, who has
shop here, pointed out a small heap of old
iron, which to me seemed almost valueless,
and said that he had paid one hundred and
fifty dollars for it, He had laid out over six
hundred dollars in that kind of material. AT
Virginia. Gold Hill and Silver City saw
several large piles of old tires, which had
been brought IN from the Carson and the
Desert, and would soon be turned into horse
shoes, harrow teeth. and many other articles
of domestic economy. Every patch of dried
grass which is burned over by the farmer, re
Hc"io ITO tic"oulc VI JiitSi IiuSNb OOito anu
OK chains, which are boarded up until a load
is acquired, and then brought to town and
traded for return cargo of provisions and
| other nece1saries.
| Nor are these all the remnants Of those ear
ly misfortunes which will be thus utilised /
have seen the skulls of the dead oxen, whose
bones almost whiten the black soil of the
rivers bank, used AS foundation for the
bank in the ditch fences of the farmers along
the Truckee bottoms And they serve an ex-
cellent purpose, for when set up, they have
the proper slope for the outside of the bank,
and in Il country where good timber ia SO
scare, ditching must furnish the farmers with
their enclosures. But even the bones which
now lie bleaching upon the Desert sands. will
be in a short time brought in and used for
the purpose of cupellation by the assayers and
mine owners. at Virginia and other places.
at is an i'll wind that blows nobody any
good" and thus the losses of some in 40 and /
80 become source of gain to others, in go |
and '6l.
Just after sealing my last letter | concluded
to take a stroll up to Steamboat Springs
which are situated at the southern end of this |
valley, and see the curious works of Nature !
there displayed These springs cover an area
of about half nile in length, by two hun
dred yards in breadth. The boiling water
issues from an hundred holes and fssures,
scattered irregularly over that space of
ground, and depositing as it flows away
calcarious substance, which has raised the
surface by its accumulations to height of
from thirty TO forty feet above the surround
ing plain. Each spring appears to possess a
peculiar Characteristic; some being clear and
transparent as crystal, while others are quite
thick and turbid; some are as sulphurous as
hell, Others apparently pure; some deposit an
oily looking substance, while others again
leave no sediment behind There are two
assures which extend the entire length ofthe
plat of ground covered by the springs, from
which issue at frequent intervals puffs of
steam, followed by small streams of hot water,
while deep down you can hear the constant
boiling and roaring of the steam in its efforts
to escape. Some of the openings are sur
mounted by an oven-shaped mass of the ca
careous matter, which is covered in places
with pure yellow sulphur, any quantity Of
which might be gathered from the vapor
arising from some of the apertures. Over one
of the holes DR.. Ellis, formerly of your coun-
4 " has plnoaJ a hafh hnnsp md htr hos
erected large and commodous building
which he occupies as hospital; and from
appearance, should judge was doing good
business, for there were quite number of his
use of the water, both in drinking and bath
ing, is said to be a overeign remedy for rheu
matte and mercurial diseases. The bath most
used is the vapor arising from the spring, in
which the patient stops for from six to eight
minutes. | stuck my head inside the door,
but a single puff sufficed for me. One of the
springs has an irregular ebb and flow, some
times sinking more than ten feet below the
surface, and then slowly rising until it over
flows. All the ground covered by the springs
now active, is enclosed 10y fence, and the
entire property has been given to Dr. Ellis
IL Co. by the Probate Court of this (Carson)
county, which Court appears to arrogate to
itself executive and legislative as we'll as iu-
dial powers
The ground around or rather upon one
side and end, warrants one in supposing that
the springs are either dying out or are shift.
ing their locality, for to the north and west
they once extended more than mile, and
nut pine trees Of a foot in diameter are now
growing upon what was once covered with
sheets of hot, and boiling water.
Sam Langton, the energetic Expressman,
passed down yesterday and returued to-day
lie intends to put a Pony line upon the
.Eoute, and make daily trips as soon as the
the season will permit, cannecing after the
middle of June with the Pony and mail route
across the Plains. If energy, enterprise and
perseverance will avail, Sam Langton will
have an express line second to none which
crosses the Sierra Nevada.
But having spun this ont to wearisome
length, will lay aside the pen, after suit
scribing myself Yours, ALroru.
SILVER GREY FOXES AND WHITE RABBITS
Ichabod V. Withey, an old hunter and trap
per in the Sierras was in Red Bluff, Tuesday.
says the Beacon, with a lot of rare furs,
among which were several fox skins, resem.