Los Angeles daily herald., 1873-10-31
goa An9eles Aerald.
LETTER FROM SOLEDAD.

EDITOR HERALD:-The permanent
population of this town is quite limit
ed--not more than 80 in all. About 20
are native Californians-men,w women
and children. OF the 10 Americans,
eight are men and two are women.
But there Is almost daily an accession
of travellers, prospectors, miners, hunt
ers, laborers or teamsters, some Of
whom manage to tarry few days and
keep the hotel table reasonably well
filled. So far, there seems to have
been no breach of the laws, and no
necessity for expensive municipal gov
ernment There is
No Town COuncil...NO Judiciary...NO
Police.
1t is neither commercial nor man.
ufacturing town, although there are
two quartz mills in the vicinity, that
were used for crushing ores from the
neighboring mountains. Expensive
labor-high rates of transportation,
and only moderate yield of mineral,
place balance on the wrong side, and
work was suspended until more fav-
orable auspices would warrant re-
sumption. Agriculture in it's true
sense, has not dawned Oh the minds
of the people of the Pass. There is a
kind of infantile resemblance to it, in
the manner of gardening adopted,
partial cultivation being the most
fashionable. Were care and labor be-
slowed literally, the yield would be
remunerative in corn, barley, potatoes,
squashes, and most vegetables in COM
mon use. There has been no success
full effort, so far, in developing its
capacity for producing fruit. AS other
trees flourish in most localities, it is
reasonable to believe that ordinary
fruits would succeed.
The most important business of
the principal citizens, Of both races, is
stock raising. Although not extern
sively carried on, yet there are several
bands of horses and mules, and also Of
cattle owned here. They feed in the
Pass during spring and early summer,
when pasturage becomes scarce, they
are driven up the caflons that open on
the Pass from among the foot hills,
where feed is more abundant and water
in good supply. But few sheep are own.
ed here, large bands frequently pass
from the lower pastures ofthe coast, to
the fresh mountain districts and plains
beyond.
The chief reliance of the population
that will gather around the springs,
and along the pure streams OF this
Pass. will be on
The Mineral Wealth
OF the mountains that border it. Gold
has been found in several localities.
Copper has been much sought after,
and unfinished tunnels that penetrate
far into the mountains, only await the
stimulating influences Of cheap labor
and transportation, to be continued
until the rich mass of ore shall have
been reached, that is believed to lie
few hundred feet In advance of their
present termination. Lead Is also
known to exist, but has never been
mined as a speciality.
While these more attractive min
erals engage the attention of those
who are struggling for sudden wealth,
there are in these mountains others OF
great intrinsic value; that require
more patience and labor to utilize,
but that as surely lead to wealth-per-
haps by little longer road-tbat is
far more likely to endure
Commercial shocks,
Than that acquired on elective princi-
Piles. These are the iron and granite
found here. The former will be in
demand as long as steamships and
railroads continue to be useful to man,
and the question is one of doubt
whether the iron interest in all its
departments of usefulness, is not the
leading one of the age. The various
industries engaged in its development
and utilization are most astonishing
when one undertakes to trace them.
While cities, public edifices, aque-
ducts and bridges continue to be USE
full or ornamental, granite will be
sought, especially for permanency and
durability. A people employed in
developing these two products OF the
soIedad Pass
Would accumulate a competency in
many instances, and often wealth.
Let not the traveller who halls from
the wheat regions of the upper Miss
issippi valley or the cornfields of the
Missouri river, as he looks out on the
bald mountains of Southern California
or plains of sand and sage over which
he rides for long and weary miles, ex-
claims "Get me out of this God-for-
saken country" once, and will prom
ise to never set foot in it again. Per-
haps his wheat and corn may furnish
food to large and thriving popula-
ton, within the next ten years, while
it is developing treasures from beneath
the barren sands, he little dreamed of
when passing.
1t is true that this remote portion of
Los Angeles county, has not the at
fractions presented by the immediate
surroundings of your city, but it may
surprise your Assessors and Collectors
some of these days, by the wealth that
will roll from its foothills and noun
tains. The people are asking that
their highways may be improved so
as to encourage travel. 1t might be
well to encourage them in this respect.
A SUBSCRIBER.
WHY THE TELEGRAPH RATES ARE
HIGH.-A recent number of the North