Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1863-10-24
"SALTING."

among the first Of the occult sciences IN
trodueed into California, after the dis
eovery Of gold and the occupation Of the
mines by the ingenious and eminently
inventive American people. 1t came in
vogue simultaneously with three card
monte and "prick the loop" and the
professors of the several arts operated for
a time with distinguished skill and with
brilliant success. The victims Of these
unholy arts were generally individuals of
vast gullibility and verdancy, and I'M
limited confidence in the integrity of their
fellow men; and an uncomfortable i'm
pulse to put their foot on every "dead
thing" that offered. The eye-teeth OF
these unfortunates were speedily worn
through the gums in gnawins the hard
bread of impecunosity, the bean of NOR
tifcation, and the slap-jack of repentance.
The doleful wall Of their sad experience
was as the sound of fcg-ben warning
their succers from Scylla of the ''sharps"
and the Charrybdis of the "salter," till
none save the Chinaman who sable "
not the voice of the "sucker " fell into
the snare. These foolish ones were more
over generally supplied with but limit
ed capital of cash as well as brain, and the
occupation of the gobblers-up of unsus-
pecting innocence ceased to pay, and the
professors took to the highway. Another
field for the practice of their crafty art
has now opened, and the business has
commenced on grander and more mag
nifcent scale, and its professors are found
in another and higher rank in the social
scale than moved the lonely Galileos and
Fulton's of the science. A few stray
ounces of gold dust, or an occasional
doubloon was the extent of their opera
tons and an octaganal "slug" was a
koh-i-noor. The practitioners of this
latter day, and the wider field of Washoe
are to humble inventors of the sailing"
art as the Comstock ledge to a worked
out river claim; as the half million mill
of the Gould and Curry to the dlap-
idated rocker of pauper Chinaman.
Instead of stealthily casting the coiling
"strap" or the greasy "deck" upon the
wayside box or barrel head, they proudly
stalk and loudly spout on c street or
Montgomery. Instead of the seedy garb
of the vagrant sport, behold them arrayed
in gorgeous apparel. Verify, Solomon,
King of all the Jews, was never arrayed
like unto these. The loaded dice, the
greasy card, the filthy strap are cast among
the rubbish, and the implements of the
trade are the gaudy certificates of mining
stock, the putting broker and the sub
sidized newspaper. Their victims are no
longer the recently arrived sucker of slen-
der purse and green in knowledge of this
worlds wickedness. The food of the
avid cat" is of different meat. The
old and experience-calloused Californian,
with the memory of the thousand and one
fzzles and humbugs from the day of Gold
Lake to the latest Roorback, bellies the
adage of the burnt child and dabs his fin
gers into the blaze of the latest "hurrah"
as eagerly as ever man from Pike thrust
his into the inviting loop of the treacher-
Gus strap. We are led into the foregoing
homily on swindles from reports which
have reached US, first as mere hints, sur
misses and rumors, but which have lately
come to us in a manner that leaves no
room to doubt that mining swindles are
being conducted in this Territory to an
extent and on a scale that is hardly
dreamed of. One instance in particular,
we will mention, which points sufficiently
the moral of our effusion, and illustrates
the nsod,ss operandi of these wildcat vend-
ing thieves. A few days ago, teamster
loaded upon his wagon a cargo of huge
and heavy boxes destined for Reese River,
said to contain " mining machinery" As
fate ordained, before he had proceeded
many miles upon his journey he came in
collision with another team, and in the
muss smashing one of the boxes when
To-! and behold! out rolled the mining
machinery" in the shape of several hun
dred weight of rock, readily recognizable
as the well known and strongly marked
one of the Comstock ledge.
Our story is told-and that is all the
good it will do.
GRANITE Mills, FoIsoM.-The enter
prising proprietors of these mills had