Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1870-11-18
A MINING Town AND IT'S EHvr

A MINING TOWN AND ITS ENvL
CENTRAL CRY, Col, Nov. I.
Central City bears a remarkable re-
semblance to a Swiss village. AT least,
| SO say those who are posted on Swiss
villages. Its site is simply a narrow.
unsightly gulch, between two precipit-
Gus mountains. Its buildings are perched
on the lodges or lodged in inches and
crannies. ike drove of mountain
sheep. The view from our hotel win
dow IS entirely obstructed by the wall of
rock caused by cutting down the noun
tain to make room for the building
To get a rear view it is necessary to 90
up stairs: No other town has SO many
ups and downs. In no other is high life
so common.
Yet even here, where nature has done
| all she reasonably could to make a town
site impracticable, are large mills, ele-
CANT stores and dwellings. comfortable
hotels, and fourishing schools and
churches. Central City has a more
brisk and busy aspect even than Den
yer. and claims an equal population
The county seat of Gilpin county, it has
| a substantial Court House, with other
public buildings. The public school
! edifice would be a credit to any Ohio
town of ike population. The place sup
| ports two daily newspapers, and has a
| literary institution known as the Miners
and Mechanics Institute, devoted TO
higher instruction. In its mines and
mills large amount of capital is invest
| ed, and in its banks are over a million
| dollars in individual deposits. Yet the
town IS scarcely a dozen years old, its
first foundation being laid during the
mining excitement of 1859.
Central City is the headquarters of
the Colorado gold mining interest, as
| Georgetown IS for that of silver mining.
| On every hand the mountains are tun
neled and pitted by the eager crowd
who have come here in search of sudden
fortune. The great majority of the dig
glngs are now abandoned, and tell
| gloomiIy of tens of thousands uselesslv
| squandered in the frantic hunt for pre-
| clous ore, Where one has been success
| full, hundred have gone empty awav.
cursing the fate which brought them
here. Yet there is undoubtedly vast
wealth IN these mountains awaiting those
who have the means, skill and patience
to get at it. But mining is a profession
to be learned, and not a mere game of
chance to be won or lost at the caprice
of fortune. Disregard of this wholesome
truth has been the ruin of thousands
and its inculcation has been the slow
and costly, but useful work of experi-
ence. The insane crowd having come
and gone, the Central City mines are
now receiving the attention of intelligent
capital, and, there is great reason to be-
lleve, are just beginning to be fairly de-
veloped. Some of the most profitable
shafts -,rc
500 to 300 feet, and furnish constant en-
Ployment to several large mills and re-
duction works. Labor is very high, and
the expense of working the deeper mines
OF course very great. The cry for cheap
laborers is loud, and it cannot be long
until John Chinaman will be introduced
into these shafts and tunnels.
The gold fever, though abated, is bv
no means extinct, and the talk of new
discoveries and great expectations is in
cessant. There is enough truth in cur
rent reports to keep the residents and
| floating population constantly on the
Q1tt 0l7'e, for some poor miner will occa-
sionally stumble upon a fortune, and
some speCulator now and then makes a
! successful venture. Gulch mining is fol-
lowed with greater or less success, and
! affords the small capitalist the better op-
portunity. The washings of Clear Creek
yield well, but for the most part the bed
| of the stream seems to have been work
ed over pretty thoroughly.
'All that glistens is not gold" is very
true OF this country. The very dust that
gathers on ones clothing glistens, rocks
by the roadside sparkle in the sunlight,
and piles Of rubbish from the excava-
tons are wondrously bespangled. But
the bright substance which thus mani
tests itself is neither argentine nor auri-
ferrous. 1t is only mica, or fools gold,
and like many other things of fascina-
ting appearance, has often misled the
unsophisticated, and has been frequently
boarded by the unpractised miner for
precious metal,