Weekly Trinity journal., 1872-01-13
CORRESPONDENTS.
DOUGLAS CITY, Jan. 9. 70.

Chinese New Year comes on my birth
dag. Won't we Celestials have a fes-
tive time Well kill the fatted calf,
yes, and milk the old COW, too, and have
cream in our coffee and milk in our rice.
You patriotic b'hoys can jollify on the
Twenty-Second of February all YOU
like I'll run with the Johns. In 1854,
was in large fuming company on the
American River, we had sold some of
the ground to company of Cinnamon
which proved to be rich, whereupon the
Johns gave supper and invited our COM
pany, only four Of us accepting the invi-
tation. The first course was cold ham
with warm chicken blood for gravy Sec
ond course China brandy and cigorftos,
third course, cold chicken with warm
blood gravy, again. We saw nothing
more to laugh at, three of us commenced
casting up accounts" " and the fourth
course was prescribed by an American
physician. l thought the jig was up
with us all for an hour or so my stom-
ach never did come to its right senses un-
til the doctor had poured down me about
a pint of old kentucky Cutter" 1t
may be that my stomach has forgot about
that however, can find out as | have
an invitation to dine with them on New
Year.
The Portuguese miners on Smiths Flat
are all busy at work, and as their claims
are fitted up in good shape, l have no
doubt they will do well. There is no
knowing what Cinnamon make in the
mines, but when one company can afford
to pay eighteen hundred dollars a year
for water, they must have something
pretty good-this claim is on the West
tern side of Readings Creek, near its
mouth. The first white man at work
above them is Jesse, who is making good
use Of the high water sluicing away his
top dirt. Jesse has invented dirt exca-
tor, which (though l saw iD, can hard
ly describe. 1t is neither mattock,
grubbing-hoe nor bull-tongued plough,
but rather a bination of the three
Our Douglas City blacksmith made it,
but Jesse is the inventor. l have not
learned as yet how it works. 1t may be
that Jesse is afraid to try it; but you can
never make me believe that Bill Weaver
would secrete giant-powdcr in the eye Of
it expressly to kill off Jesse, and secure
the patent to himself. AS L said, Bill is
too good a man for that, but then you
can hear some pretty tough stories now-a-
days, about some mighty good men such
as secreting giant-powder in the tube Of
a gun, for the purpose of securing the
patent to center-tire" and "balloon-
bullets :" good one on somebody. Still
further up Readings Creek, Butcher &
Stigger are making fair wages on the
West side. Above, Butts & Abbott have
enlarged and extended the old Treat
Ditch" and are almost ready for work.
From prospects and work done on their
claim heretofore, they will average four
or five dollars a day. In Clements
Ranch are located the celebrated claims
Of Smith & Wallace. Should the season
continue as it has set in, those boys will
take out all the money they will ever
want ; that is if it pays as it did last
Winter.
OF the mines on Indian Creek know
but little and will leave them to some cor
respondent from that place. On branch
of Readings Creek my old friend George
Sears is located, and is said to have Il
good-paying claim. Whether he is ready
for operations or not | cannot say. If he
as, that's the first miner that / ever knew
to be, and | have been in the mines n
long time.
The lower dam on Weaver Creek,
known as the Cape Horn DAM" is just
about going the way of all earth sec
ton of about twenty-five feet is already
gone, and the least raise sweeps the re-
mainder. This dam and ditch are, | be-
lieve, the oldest water-works in the coun-
ty that has been constantly kept in run
ming order. Those works were built by
the Danes and Prussians in the year 80
of the Christian era, repaired and enlarg-
ed about the third year of the first Doug
las City A. ID. Subsequently it was cap
tured by All Gooey, vice-agent of the
Hop Lee branch of His Celestial High
ness, the Emperor of China, and by him
held and kept in repair ever since. But
good bye, Old Dam. You have with
stood many freshet, and like the old
stoves, the coffee-mills and the miners of
Trinity, have taken squint at your best
days.
Are you Weaver-vilains making any
arrangements for the reception of Alex
is? Guess he'll come if you write him.
l wish had halfas good thing as he