Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1869-08-27


breath you enhzle. The atmosphere Is
densely charged with electricity, and the
altitude is 81 great as 10 cause many PEG.
pie TO bleed ct tie lungs OF lose, and make
1t a terrible task 10 climb up hill which
would only afford exhilarating exercise for
few minutes in the lower country.
How THE PIoNEERE LIVED.
The people who rushed here were lodged
10 tents OF crowded together by hundreds
10 hastily constructed and III ventilated
lodging houses, i'll fed and clothed, aud
drank snOw-water, or we're pOis med by
derry liquors. They, of course, were at
tackled with pneumonia, mountain ftvers,
and rheumatism, and to this smallpox was
added as the long Winter advanced. The
mOl tality was great. IL costs rs cents per
pound to lay down every article required
here for any purpose from San Francisco,
The country around produced hothiDg to
support life. There was small supply of
barley raised In Rocky Valley and other
rAnching l"cs les, 60 to $50 miles away,
aud som good p 'tatoes came from the same
$ URGE. Beef, mntton, and pork were driv-
On here on loot, and, therefore sold at com.
parati,ely moderate rates; say 80 to 65
cents per pound in coin. Eggs from Salt
Lake, 400 miles away, sold at 81 so to So
per dozen, coin, and butter, ETC., at proper.
dona;e rates. Board was 81 per meal, and
bunk in a crowded lodging-house 81 per
night. Lumber was 500 to 5000 per ! 900
feet, and not to be had in any quantity
hay Of inferior quality II TO % cents per
pound, CONT is worth but cents Low
barley, 20 to 80 cents; wood, sl8 to $50
per cord : water, made e. ON snow, melted
in boxes over fires in the open ali, the oni,
source Of supply on Tressu Hill, 20 to
81 x cents per pailGull; II .ur, els to $50
per 100 pounds, aud every thing ere in pro-
portion. Tue stage stock between Hami!-
ion and Exc, on the Psc dc Railroad, be-
came worn out from hard labor aud poor
fare, and the stage owners, ia self defense,
raised the fare To $50 In gold. Most OF the
time no work could be done out Of doors,
aud even the richest MINES would hardly
pay far working, ss the m'lls charged $500
to 5000, coin, per tuu Tor wo, king the ere,
and only agreed to return 81 per cent of the
amount realized even then. With all these
draw backs the excitement continued, and
building went on Increasingly. By June |,
1869, eight thOuSand claims ha d been lnca-
ted aud recoId ed in the office OF the ID s.
trict Recorder. Meantime, real estate
merely pos'essory title-hsd been iun up to
taIulo Is prices, lots costing S25 in Septem-
her, 1868, selling in many cases as high as
$4,000. Gamblers, prostitutes. and bpgu>,
or 'wild-ca ,'stock operators crowded here
by thousands, and held high carnival. For.
tunes were made in day by lucky strikes
10 the mines and sales to new corners, and
ost at the gambling-tables, which were
found in every saloon. Such a saturnalia
the world has seldom seen. Summer came,
aud work was resumed with vigor on a
great number of mines, the cost OF the
necessarics of life was reduced so 1t rs per
cent, and miners wages, which had been
50 to 81 per day, were reduced to 50 and IS.
The wild cat stock excitement had already
eliminated in Stn Francisco, producing a
momentary crisis, and almost panic aud
"claims" which had been selling at tGbu-
lous figures bee ime utterly uusalsble unless
well deve'o ped, aud demonstrated to be of
real value. Building went on, however,
md the three transatlantic on at the en-
trance OF the district at The upper eud OF
org can tel minatiny at the loot OF Treas
ure iI,ll, Treasure City on its summit, aud
Shermantown or Silver Springs in a canon
on the southern slope Of the hill 1000 ieet
lover down grew as if 10y magic into pop
ulOus cities, each with a separate municipal
organization of the most exp, nsiye charac-
rer. Licenses and taxes were enormous,
but the merchants aud property. h. lie,S
grnned aud bore it, wagon 70 IDS were laid
out and graded at INN use expense, streets
graded, public buildings, banks, and express
Offices erected, and mills put up aud set to
work. The bullion prod uct steadily increas
ed, but the depression in real estate in
creased at the same time, trade fell off, and
in July things began to look gloomy.
REACTION,
The value of the mines Of the district is
becoming every day more and more appar-
emit, but the first flash Of excitement being
over, stocks in the best Incorporated com
panies dr., pped lower and lower, day by
day, in the San Francisco Stock Exchange,
and to crown all, aud bring things down
20 the bed rock"-as they say Ia California
the miners, or a portion Of them, mostly
Irish AMI Cornish men, formed "UnioD,"
or "Lrsgue," and struck against the wages,
in the latter part of July. They demanded
s. per day, coin. and eight hours work.
The mine owners offered 81 for eight hours,
aud 80 cents per hour for longea time
The worst Of the Lesgures, though only
numbering loo TO 200 active men, by band
ing together, and rssortirg TO Intimidation
aud and personal violence, cempellt d nearly
all the rest TO suspend work. The mine
owners were united aud determined not to
lus
The idle miners for the necessares of life to
the extent of dollar, in spite Of threats Of
violence and hints that they did not intend
10 go hungry whether they had money or
not.
WHITE PINE AZ IT NOW IS.
White Pine County now contains from
5000 to &c, 900 4 asbitants Of all ages ana
naiionAlities, and the population is, if not
stationary, slightly decreasing. The Guy OF
Hamilton, which may have contained 200
people year ego, has now population OF
4. 600 TO 4 500, Or abut one half of the en-
tire population of the district. IL contains
$50 houses of wood sni cloth, $50 tents or
cabins of canvass, and half dozen substAn-
tial brick and stone buildings. the county
buildings Of stone are commodi1us there
Ia n bublic schOt lhouse, truck-huuse, aud
number Of other public buildings 10 course
of erection. The tax list shows valation
of e.. 000, 900 OF property within the cit,
limits. There are ia this district 10 mills,
with an aggregate OF 1874 stamps ut each,
and three more, with u total OF so stamps,
will be at WO,k within month. The White
Pine Water Company are spending some.
thing like a quarter Of million dollars in
the erection OF waterwOlks, which will lift
the water from an immese spring some four
miles from Hamilton, over the crest OF the
Moke MOke Mountain on the eastward,
aud force Il 500 feet perpendicularly up
to the summit OF Treasure Hill. This will
supply Treasure City with water, Of which
Il has not drop at present save such as Is
formed by melting snow, or hauled up the
steep mountain in wagk Gus; and peddled
around by the bucketfull. Hamilton, now
poorly supplied, will receive an abundant
supply from these works. And all this in
a single year Did Eastern magician ever
accomplish such feat OF Treasure City
and Snerinantown, aud the leading miaes
aud mills, will write hereafter.
CdIhO un, Jackson aud Ue6Ster.