The mountain Democrat., 1864-02-06
Letter from Reese River.
ArsrIN, January %, 1864.

-AlSIIN'O"" 49, I-Ot'
ED1rnRs DEMocRAr: In the stereotype lam
gunEc Of the modern lrtcr-writcr. " take my
pen in'hand," not So much for the purpose ui
enlghlening you or your readers, as to ease nv
conscience by fulfilling promise made to YOU
several months ago, in which agreed, upon NV
arrival in tins UrSeutteruuS district, To give
you INV views OF matters and things as they
came within the scope of my observation and
experience; aud having become sufficiently ac
climatrd ly u three months residence to be
enublrd cunscrutOuSly to assure Won and vuur
readers that am not suffering from the effects
of that disease which attacks all new corners,
/ known as "quUr;L on the BRAIN" but that |
will be enabled 10 write rs nationally and with
as little prejudice rs though | were seated IN
the Orleans AT Pacervillc, and had never been
Il resident OF this land Of sage brush and silver
| bricks.
II you follow the example Of my acquaint-
anceS aud almost all of those whu have written
to me from California, YOU will ask me very
c0ntdenliallv il, after all, do not think the
whole thing a hunibug: aud the only money
made here Will be by those who get hold Of feet
and sell cut while the excitement lasts? We'll,
il II Is hunlbug all here are lis victims, for
do not believe there are ten intelligent men III
this entire district ho have had auv experience
IN quartz mining. and an opportunity Of jndg-
ing of It's resources, who are not ct the opinion
llLl lllS Is tue ICipNl StCl!Nl III SILVER Vel
discovered on the Pacific slope. Ii is true, no
lode in extent has Yet bccn developed like the
Cumstuck, in Virginia, but there are hundreds,
VARYING in width from ten inches IL seven feet,
which will averaged Larger weld per luu than
anv claim on the Cou>tock has vet done
When vuu remember Labor here is ilve dollars
per day, and the mills charge from Scvtnty-iivr
10 a hundred dollars per tun for crashing that
you cannot employ 4 four arse team, With a
Il a.; ! l. 81. - 4.
per ddy--aud yet, u1tN outstanding these high
prices. several coLlpIn;r> &rc having crock haul.
ed from Two to sevrI miles to be Crushed, and
are making money by TIE UieIptluu Nv hen thS
is done IN i country OF but one wears growth
what may You not expect w.eh it bee nrs
more thoroughly developed when Labor is
cheaper and there Is a tar cumpttlIon among
the mill men, which will force them To lc,luce
their prices TOR crushing ioa STANDARD Irnpnr-
tomato to that III present charged in Virginia
Civ?
No, Messrs. Editors. 1t viii be very hard to
convince The people here, who have had an up.
portlnjty If judgng tor themselves, that Reese
River INNING district is humbug, unless yuu
% back To first principles and convince them
that gold and silver themselves and the art Of
acquiring them are hUmbugS; tor it Onc-ieuth
part oI the clumS which have been opened pay
aS well aS they promise at present, the result
p:uverb in rcgud to the vendor Of Esh, who
never mentioned the fact that his own had an
offensive smell perhaps YOU will surmise that
my opinion Of things here are somewhat inhu.
enced bv the number of fleet" | NAV have to
sell. ltiS true am the p0sSeSsor of divers and
sundry feet, but | have none that desire to
dispose Of ut present, or until they are sulli-
cently developed to arrive somew here near
their intrinsic value. In short, | am playing
ln E,r n raal lify and M far G,,I,
1t is true there has been. and doubtless will
be, great many persons in California taken in
on Reese River STOCKS and that is the greatest
draw back we will have To contend with. Wild.
cat has proved the curse of Esmerada and il
Is to be feared will, for time, prove equally
detrimental TO this district, for people will come
over here, spend u few days or perhaps weeks,
locate claims where they do not know whether
there are lodges or not, fill their packets with
wildcat certificates. return to California, and
perhaps upon the strength Of reputation for
truth and honorable dealing gained BY years Of
straightforward business relations, succeed IN
palmng them off upon their acquaintances at
exorbitant rates. For some reason or other.
which have never yet been able to solve, men
of integrity in all other respects, do not seem
to Scruple nr hesitate for moment to resort to
any kind of misrepfC tation in regard 10 mi
ming ground or stocks. They seem to think all
means are fair and legitimate which will effect
the sale Of worthless stock. This, uf course
tends to weaken the confidence of people in the
permanency Of our mines The-time however
is not distant when wildcat operations will be
"played ont" and when the reputation of n
claim will depend upon ITS Development by
labor and capital instead Of the blowing of un-
Scrupulnus SPECTATORS. Then, and not until
then will this section be duly appreciated.
The Amadnr District, situated about seven
miles from AnStin has tOr tho In ost tu., v,,,,ths
attracted the principal share Of the attention of
the mining community in this vicinity. Some
of the most extensive and richest odes in this
section are in Amad"r district Among them
NAV mention the Coral, Davenport Amadnr.
Old Hickory and Rough and Ready The Coral
was the first one located and takes the lead up
tn the present time. The ledge is about six feet
wide and very rich. Two h0uriShug towns
Coral and Amador City-have already sprung
up in that vicinity. A majority of the proprie-
tors Of both by the BY, are Placervilans-
Mckinney, Chapman, Wren, Dennis L Co. Of
the former, and Bowe, Matheney, Chase and
HINT of the latter. 4
Speaking of Placervillians ia there any one
left in Placerville? About every third person !
meet here is from that place or some part of
FL Dorado Co. In the Democratic County Con.
venticn, out of less than forty delegates. |
counted fifteen old residents of FL Dorado Co. |
am proud to say was one of them. Bv the
by, | see in the Sacramento Union that the
"people's ticket" was elected in this county. |
That certainly is news to us here, who never i
beard of such aticket being in the field. TAeFe !
were but two tickets-the Abolition aud the |
Democratic, and the latter was elected by more |
than four hundred majority in the county. and !
we did not poll the whole strength of our vote
either, rs great many Democrats merely voted |
against the Constitution and would not vote for
any person running for an office under il. We |
made the fight without attempting to concili.
ate any element opposed to ~, and the result
shows the political status of Lander County,
Long may she wave.
Speaking Of the Constitution, Of course you