The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1877-06-07
garb, whs visiAsd the island yestes-
day, presented q lln. Crapo . rubber
coat New Redlford Mass. .Nandord,
24sh.


Virginia City now has . population
Of about twenty 1--we thousand, includ-
ing one half the whole population Of
the State of Nevada. Few pictures Of
II give correct idea Of it, position.
In photographs It appears to be at the
foot ofa mountain. while II Ii In fact
built across the mountains face, and
the peak that rises two Thousand feet
above IL also extends two thousand
feet below II. 1t Is 80 environed and
confined by mountains that the rail-
way which connects IL with the Gen.
trail Pacific at Reno has curves enough
to describe circle Of three hundred
and sixty degrees seventeen times; the
distance to Reno in bee-line il six
teen miles, and the distance by the
railway, which cost two million dol
lars, is fifty two miles.
The pitch of the ground Is such that
what Is the first story Of house be-
comes the second or third story In the
rear, and looking eastward, ncrthgard
or southwark the eye meets an unvari.
ed prospect of chain after chain Of in
terloeked peaks.
The people are ultra-C California In
their nature and habits, excessively
fond Of display, lavishly hospitable.
impetuous In business, and irrepressi-
BILE in speculativeness. On October.
26, 1875, fire swept the city from end
to end, and ten million dollan' worth
ofproperty, including all the mining
works on the surface. went up In the
flames. Within sixty days the most
important mines had renewed their
buildings and machinery, and within
six months the whole city had been
rebuilt.
To guard against o recurrence Of the
disaster, a system Of reservoirs and
hydrants was established, and it would
be easier now to flood the city than to
burn it, The Nirginians are proud Of
the quality and abundance Of their
water supply. The works cost over
two million dollars, and the water Ii
brought a distance Of thirty-one and a
half miles from Marlette's Lake, In
the Sierras.
What is most surprising to the stran-
ger is the proportions of the constant
rushing crowd on G Street, the princi-
pal thoroughfare, and cosmopolitan
character Of its elements. Piute and
Washoe Indians in picturesque rags,
Cinnamon in blue and black blouses,
brawney Cornishmen, vehement Mex
leans, and many other people from far
apart countries mingle and surge along
in the stream. There Is nothing prov
incial or shabby. The stores are well
stocked. and the show-windows glitter
with the attractiveness of their wares.
The men around you are men Of the
world, who have travelled, and In ma
ny instances made money.
The restaurants are not the least
among the marvels of Virginia City.
While everything else Is frightfully
dear, and the storekeepers seem to
consider all purchasers the happy pos
pessors Of Fortunatus purse, food Ii
uncommonly cheap, and an excellent
dinner of four courses can be had for
fifty cents, or n more elaborate dinner,
with game, poultry, and halfa bottle
of fair wine, for dollar. Every deli
cacy In season finds Its way from San
Francisco aud New York, and two
oceans contribute their produce to the
marbled and mirrored lunch counteEs.
Another development Of the luxuri.
Gus character Of the citizens Il n clanb
after the metropolitan pattern, with
richly furnished billiard. rooms and
reading rooms, where the bachelor
may smoke the pipe Of celibacy In
peace.
They are nearly all bachelors in Vir.
ginia; the atmosphere Of the place is
by no means favorable to wives and
children; the feminine element Is
very decoiletc in manners as well a.
In dress, and yet there are good and
affectionate women in the town, es-
pecially among the miners' wives, and
we see them to advantage In times Of
trouble, when some wounded creature
Is brought to the surface from below.
There are few boarding-houses; the
upper parts Of the stores and other
buildings are let out as lodgings, and
the meals are supplied at the many
excellent restaurants.
While night has fallen on the visible
town, the invisible town underground
is glimmering with a thousand lights,
just as it has been glimmering through
all the summer days that have shown
and all the winter nights that have
lowered ever since the Comstock lode
was first penetrated by shaft. There
is no repose in that mysterious region;
none of the endless changes and re-
newals of season that sweeten exist.
ence on the earth; no relapse of day
into night, or night into day; no sum.
mer, no winter, and no Sunday. The
journey possible on thesurfAcs
could not take the traveller to Q coun.
try half so miraculous as that which
lies less than mile below the paral-
lels of familiar stores on G Street; 1t Is
as with physiognomist, who, travel
ling in the interior of Africa, and
the strangest human faces
among the natives, would not see any
thing half so strange as the heart Of
his nearest neighbor, had he the pow
er to probe the little depth of flesh that
seals it and its innermost secrets.
Nearly one-fourth of the whole popu-
lation Is hidden In the mines, and
when We see how Over-crowded the
superficial area Is, and realize how
many more streets and people are out
of sight, how the crest Of the noun
tain is the roof Of seventeen-story
building which Is constantly sinking
deeper into the earth, we are prepared
to agree with the proud citizens who
assures US that Virginia is pretty
place. ."-WILLIAx H.
RIDING, in Harper's Magazine for