Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1865-01-05
RETROSPECTIVE AND PRoepEc-

view, on the American continent. The
excitement upon the subject of Wild
Cat was at its very height. The whole
chain of mountains upon which the far
famed Comstock ledge is situated, wert
"located" from their submits to theil
base, and In hundreds of instances tn,
same ground was claimed by multitude
of owners. Wherever one cast his eyes
they fell on the stakes" notices" anc
signs of the "lueky locators. Not only
the Washoe Range, whereon lies the Com
stock, but every other throughout thu
length and breadth Of the vast Territory
was explored, staked, located, and re-
corded, and earnest prospectors were still
pursuing the greedy hunt. We have ne
idea of the number of companies tina
were incorporated, even in Storey county
but the books Of the County Clerk would
undoubtedly tell wondrous tale on tina
subject. Half dozen stock books day
was not an uncommon work for THU
printing Office alone. GOOD times those
for us.) The recent dry season in Cali.
fornia had caused heavy emigration from
that State, and large proportion of il
sought the near, accessible and promising
silver mines of Washoe. Our street.
were crowded with busy multitudes O
people; the Woodworking miners, thu
gassy curb-stone brokers, the gambling
fraternity, and the lockers on in Vienna
Our hotels, almost every other house wa.
hotel, were filed to overlooking, and the
lucky tenant of bed was an envied man,
Those were the flush times of Washoe
Every man counted his "feet" by hun
dreds, and in those days "feet" were
good collateral" The veriest "cat u
in the world would sell for something, and
no questions asked. Three stock boards
hardly suf6ced to carry on the vast trans
actions that daily took place, in stocks,
while the name Of those who carried on a
really extensive and bona tide trade, upon
the outside, was legion. Hundreds Of
thousands Of dollars changed hands daily
in these stock transactions. Where it all
came from, and where it all went to, is a
matter not worth while to speculate upon.
It is decidedly invisible at the date Of
these presents-of that we'll take our
corporal oath. Early in the Summer the
crash came. 1t came like fash Of light
ming, and did its work as suddenly and
efectually. Divers theories as to the
primal cause of the thunder-clap were
advanced, but as to the effect there was no
room for argument. The wildcat was
dead; and the manner of his taking of
was so sudden and effectual that the
feline scarcely kicked. The real, genuine,
unmitigated Get died instanter, and many
of the breed were stll-bom. Two OF
three of the abortions lie on our shelf in
the shape of uncalled for stock books.
We forbear mentioning their names out OF
respect for the feelings Of the progenitors.
In the grand crash, it happened that many
companies, which were not and are not
properly within the category of wildcat
claims, were made to suffer. The compa-
nies to which we refer. are those which
from their location and the indications
given by the extensive explorations made
in good faith, leave little room for doub,
that due prosecution of the work will de-
velop valuable lodges. Vast amounts o.
money and labor have been expended
on these claims. and still farther heavy
expenditures will be demanded before
they can be fully developed. The great
crash which exposed and exploded tht
grand wildcat humbug, so shook the
public confidence in all silver-mining thai
stockholders at distance dropped the
whole speculation in disgust, and aban,
doned their stock in claims which are
really valuable. Resident stockholders,
those who have been working in or able
to visit their mines, and so have unabated
confidence in their ultimate value, are un,
able. for want Of means, to prosecute the
work, and as consequence, great mum
bers of these really good claims are neces
sarily lying idle. awaiting return o.
public confidence. Meanwhile. thos'
mines which, before the crash came. haG
been fully opened. have been taking on
ore which, has yielded unprecedented
amounts of bullion. The steady and in
neasins shipments Of bullion, and the
demand for new mills shows this fact be.
yond question. That the whole minera
region Aas been opened up, and that thost
mines wAickszsnow paying 50 remunera'
lively constit11a the whols Of the silvel
mines Of washos. nnbody who has ever
glanced at the country suppose for 9 mo
ment. There are { large number q com
panies which, Notwithstanding the tstri
bic depression. have kept steadily ani
manfully at work, and several Of thes'
have succeeded in striking good ore
Many others, and we believe all Of thost
whose location. ever did justify bsfef IL
their value. are making calculationa upon
ItnawinG aeiive operations: Il The Spring
I'VE do not box for . repetition q The wili
sxciten4l q Aysar ago; neither would
tn vslazs q tenss be advanced B!
sush ! stits q . But we do lOOl
for. and conG Ind lpecs : healthy, ju
dicious lnd i snaii S1sissi Of bushes
IN 6Osd ~ mining. irs . snfEi
Ecient number Of really - aahle mine