Weekly Trinity journal., 1865-12-02
The Miner of 40 in ,6J.

The old miner Of 40 is q peculiar individ-
ual, differing in many respects from the settler
Of later years. Enter his cabin, and there
are always the indubitable evidences of a
miserable life of single male blessedness. The
Handicapped cot the little rough table, with
its scanty array of crockery the old battered
stove, or fire place the inevitable sack of flour,
half-sack Of potatoes, ana chunk Of pork; the
old clothes. and old boots, and few books and
papers, 60 far in making out the extent OF the
miners worldly possession. \ little patch of
cultivated ground, enclosed by old sluice lum
Der, is sometimes an accompaniment, as well as
Il dog and few fowls. The iuhabitant of this
cabin is often in appearance rough, gray, and
grizzly He came out sixteen years ago, and his
residence has always been on the gulch where
find him. Probably it rejoices in the
cuphonious name of Jackass Gulch, Shirt-tail
Bar or Mad-Mule Canon. lie does his trading
at a store at Diggerburgh. Fortified with few
dollars in dust accumulated by the hardest toll
through the week, there he betakes himself on
Sunday, and purchases-what? few pounds
Of -four, little tea, coffee and sugar, and the
balance goes for whiskey Yes it does. True,
he did mt mean to spend it that way but he
gets stuck, game after game, by his crones, so
that when he leaves for home with his supply of
provisions, he is not always perfect specimen OF
'c0npos n.eaiis" He can tell where all the rich
spots have been in the rivers bars, gulches and
flats but that was in the glorious, wicked,
lie can't tell where there any rich spots now.
He is certain that there is rich quartz ledge in
the mountain yonder, and if he could get water
on the fiat there, he is sure it would pay good
wages. Excess of fortune spoiled him in 40.
Economy to him is a myth, and cheerfully he
entertains half-a-dozen friends, though his mag
azine of provisions well as money, be in the
last stage OF exhaustion. His supper cooked he
thinks of home-that is, the home of sixteen
years ago. To him there is realization that
time has taken such a flight his head. In
reality he has no home. Mentally, he sees the
faces of his youth, fresh and blooming, but
many of those features are old and withered
now. Some have long since turned to dust. |
Were he even to return to the Eastern shores, he
would find himself stranger in strange land.
He thinks he'll go back g some time or other.
Fortune sometimes fayors him trife more than
usual, he may make trip to the Bay. He stops
at the What Cheer House. He may be seen
there by hundreds. Poor fellow ! He came
here to enjoy himself; but the fact is he don t
know how. The novelty Of the city wears off in
day or two. Without occupation, his routine
of life broken, he becomes the victim of dis |
for which the French only could invent a
name, 9 eanu" At night, he go to the
theatre but by day, sits in rows in tho halls of
the hotel, crowds the entrance, and sometimes
blocks up the street. His face is expression
of wild bewiderment, and intense weariness
Unaccnstomed to the hurry and hustle of the
city, he cOllidcs ircquently with the denlZens OF
the metropolis. The spruce, fdshicnably dressed,
frizzle-hcaded clerks, who fit by, excite in him
feelings of contemptaudindignation The honest
miner is down on airs. Mentally he calls them
squrts. The swarms Of youthful females in the
streets astonish, delight, and tantalize him. But
the digger of the auriterous soil often leaves the
city with the knowledge that the world has gone |
far ahead of him during his lonly residence in
the mountains.-Golden Era