Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1861-03-08
From Our Utah Correspondent.

mountain region, are dclving in the rock,
hills for mineral wealth; sometimes sanguin
Of success and again respondent, never know
ing from one day to the next how soon on
most flatterins prospects may be blightcd
one day We are, in imagination, worth thous
ands, the nextall of our bright visions are dis
PEELED, our lead gives out or is lost Hundred
Of men having snug little homes in tn,
Western States are annually selling out O.
mortgaging their property to seek a fortune
in the mines-bartcring sure thing for Al
uncertainty, for Of all barterings, mining op
crations are the most uncertain. Even though
man own what is called . good mine, h
does not know in the morning that he viii
not lose 1t before nights man owning .
farm can 60 to bed at night feeling prett,
sure that it will not disappear before morn
ing; and in working farm every fence bull
or ditch dug brings not only profit for thu
time being but is also Of permanent value
whereas in working mine every dollar ia
ken out leaves it so much the poorer, and al
last his mine is exhausted and he has or
hand, tunnels, fumes and . vast amount OIL
works, costing an immense sum of money,
which are dead loss. In great rich claim
these things do not matter 50 much, for the
owners are likely to have saved enough
money to buy new claim or start in some
other business, but there are hundreds Of
families in California whose sole dependence
is on claim which barely yields them liv.
ing and to make it do even this, are often
obliged to stint themselves to keep the works
inrepair, and when at last it is worked out
they have nothing-the expensive works
wherein they have laid out hundreds Of dol.
lars yearly, are useless-they are in the same
situation that farmer would be if his farm
suddenly dropped down to the centre Of the
earth. But must get on to other matters.
We have had some pretty severe weather,
the snow being At one time two feet deep,
with very high winds; but At present the
hills are bare and the weather more mild, yet
it freezes hard every night. There has been
storm on the mountains and the road has
been blocked up with snow, so that We have
not had mail for several days until las
night when it arrived about two o'clock. A.
there arc dark storm-clouds lowering ovel
the peaks Of the Sirras, l fear the road vii
again be rendered impossible.
There arc eight quartz mills in operation
in this place, which give the town a bust
ness look, but money is scarce; the gold ia
ken out here being Immediately shipped t
San Francisco, to pay debts incurred 70
machinery &c. Some building is being dom
and great deal Of mining, or rather prospect
ing. for but few leads are opened sufficient,
to be mined.
A new lead and very rich one has bee,
struck near the Devils Gate; it is though
it will pay at least $500 per ton. The gol'
is found in decomposed sulphurets Of iron
and is coarse for this region. but there ar
already five different parties claiming it, an,
At one time ono Of these parties took posses
sion by force Of arms and held it until dis
possessed by the sheriff who now has il il
charge and keeps guard on the ground da.
and night 1t is hoped that the legal SQUAD
bic will soon be ended and the mine worked
Tor the world needs al tho gold that can b
got At, and particularly the United States q
this time.
Since my last there has been several puz
dsss, committed in this region, and one Q
the snurderers after being sentenced escapes
on the same evening. He was lodged in
log house which i used q Jail, hcavil
ironcd, and two men stationed - guards owe
lhim--one n the sasrds vert into town On q