The mountain Democrat., 1863-05-23
OUR 0oRREsPHDoB1Ers.
Letter from Reese Rivtr.
AUSTIN. IN. IT, May 18th. 1863.

AUSTIN, IN. IT, May l4th, 1858.
EDIroRs DEMocRAr: Since my last, have
been engaged in prospecting around the conn
| try and endeavOrinK to get q thorough knowl-
| edge of the extent Of the mines in this region,
and the probable future Of the various towns
and villages now projected.
This country is rapidly filling up and i'm
| proving, and the improvements now beng
made are of permanehtSind. Since | last
- 'ktt Uu there have been ten 6re-prOOf build
Tugs commenced in Austin, and six of them are
fine business buildings, aud are being pushed
ahead with all the energy Of u new mining
country. The town presents more the appear
ance Of an old country than Of place where,
two months ago, there were no buildings at all.
We have telegraph Office here, an Express and
POstOfiice at Clifton, which is really portion
of the same town; also, tri-weekly Express 10
the HUMBOLDT country.
. Large trains are constantly arriving from Salt
Lake, laden with all kinds Of produce, which
makes the costnf living much less than it is at
Virginia. FlOdg is plenty at y and cents,
eggs - cents, and all kinds of produce in pro-
portion | understand there are q hundred
wagons On the way now from Salt Lake, 50
there is no danger Of starving for the present.
We have printing office and the paper will be
;essaei 1iie present week. Next week there is
Apif J., 3yl Av- -gurir a<001se DPe8sd End several
mure gambling buuses so you see We five ike
u civilized, Christian community.
The mines are being worked in more sys-
tcmatic manner than at first, and MS far as test
ed have been found TO satisfy the most san
gnue. Many men come here expecting to
strike it rich, sell out for fortune right of and
leave. They located lodges and "cayOtied"
around little, and began to fear they had
made failure; and from their experiments
arose the cry that the mines were "a humbug.
Virginia, with u blind selhsbness, joined in de-
uouncng the mines to frighten people from
cuuaing any farther, but those who came here
t" wuIk, have prrspected them more fully and
, being richly repaid for it. Many leads
which had the appearance of pinching out are
found - widen On sinking down On them. The
"Mrtropplitan,' which was only twelve inches
wide al The top and narrowed for some distance
down, Is now, ~ the depth of forty feet, over
SiN feet idc aud rapidly increasing; and this
Is tic with ali which have been followed
doAu. The mines have an advantage here over
any others that have been disc0vered-the leads
are rich from the very top; so that the miner
can ,et the means from the leads TO prospect
and work Ihcn. aud thus avoid the necessity Of
waiting ~ foreign capitol tu develop them and
freeze out poor men. All that is wanted now
Is mills io work the rock, and two or three are
conIus us-une from Pixies Peak, and one from
Caiiioi H!4, belonging 10 Messrs. Buel Dorsey,
formerly ui PlacervlIe. Several arastras are
at work doing good business, and great deal
# rock is being shipped to Virginia, to be
crushed there.
The mineral is here. and all the attacks Of
selhshneSs aud Jealousy cannot njnre the cuun-
Try. We are not dependent on foreign capitol
- work the mines, and when developed We
AA4l! nut be tributary 10 Montgomery street.
Ma wUI were frightened q short time ago at
The cry that ali the leads were going 10 run out
u, rUN i"O.ih- confidently ahead TO fortunes.
Ii Is ia,hiun.A,u 10 laugh at as insanity the
=; ',E.t.uHs 10 tcti, but can hardly conceive
- Possible Chance TO make losing invest
.....f e E, thrrc is any ledge.
S-v,r,.i parties have just returned from Smo-
kv (ai,v, and also IRON duwn Beese River
N.'c:. T"cy are getting their rock assAyed
ai.I IN my next | viii give you the result Of
tueir discoveries. They represent the country
-, b,;u- trr;,,r, we'll watcrcd and pleasan,.-
I.,. l.rt.cs al" reliable men several Of them
igrl.i ...c,iy,!.-.
Tn.rc are a great number Of families here,
aud n.-y have de'trulned on locating perIna-
Lcully. Nn,,h gives a stability 10 society seldom
sen .AurAiy tI,ed countries. i soon as the
-crv.ce> %. a competent teacher can be secured
.,.L.J. m..i Le opened here.
AUSTIN.