, 1862-01-25
Letter from Florence.

FLORENCE, Jan. q 1862.
EDS. STATESMAN thinking a communica-
ton from this locality might be of interest to
your readers, | am willing to do my best at rep
resenting this country as it is: The mines in
the immediate vicinity Of this town are the best
yet discovered, the richest portion Of which does
not exceed two miles in extent No important
dggings have been found beyond this range; yet
in my opinion there are far richer and better
mines and they will be found so soon as the
snow disappears which will probably not be be-
fore May or June. These mines were discov-
cred TOO late last fall for thorough researches,
and in consequence OF the inclement weather, the
most of the prospecting has been confined to a
very limited extent No thorough prospecting
can be done at present, the snow being full four
feet in depth.
A description of some of the pecuiarties of
these mines may not be uninteresting to your
readers. Although on the mountain-top, we are
not out Of the swamps or " low, marshy ground"
and most Of the diggings are located in these
marshy places. a very heavy turf or sward
grows upon these places and it is often found to
{ from one to four feet in depth To remove
this, very stiff and sharp spade is required.
This is the most difficult and tedious of the work
This done, you come to several diferen, stratas
Of clay then sand, then gravel and gold. The
latter Is not found in all instances but in many
places II is found in such great quantities that |
fear a statement Of the amount would appear
like fabulous tale. There are many miners
here who are making from $50 to 500 per day !;
others again doing much better, max
! ing from $500 to $1,000 per day. 1t must be
borne III mind that all this is done with a rocker,
the nature Of the country forbidding The intro
duction Of the more effective appliances for min
| ing.
Ttie to he ,.,o,rot+od tLo+ +lo-o oo 4 ,,,,
traders and merchants here, as they could not
fail to do well, and greatly benefit the miners
here. Everything in the provision line, also,
gum boots, long and short handled spades camp
kettles, and in fact tools Of all kinds are much
needed. The business in this line is principally
done by two or three houses, and they ask a
price to suit themselves and the miner is com
PEELED to pay it, A larger number of traders
would serve to protect the miners against these
exrayagant prices The miner should be pro-
teced; for it is he that is spreading civilization
throughout this country. How soon the tide of
emigration follows in his wake. Towns and
cities spring up around him as if by magic, and
the whistle Of the steamer is heard to resound
from hill to mountan-top, speeding her way on
ward up rivers that but few years since were al
most entirely unknown
To the southwark of this place, in The Snake
country different parties have been out prospect
ing, and report says they have found good mines.
[ think these reports may be relied on Miners
have recently left this place, with from fifty to
eighty pounds upon their backs, for the late dis
covered mines on the south fork of Salmon river.
Some Of them have returned here procured
fresh supplies and gone back. There is but lit
tie snow in that locality, which renders it far
better than this for the time being. The ingress
or egrc,s to this place however, has not as yet
been intertered with by the depth of snow. The
There is but little doing here at present in the
way Of mining, in consequence of the severe cold;
yet gold dust seems to circulate freely, showing
that there IS plenty of it here, and much more in
the ground. Yours truly,
JOHN w. DAVIS.