The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-03-01
THE DAILY NTELLIGENCER.
Thursday, March /, 1877.

Foa TIE COLD Dio0ia1s-Fron
Tue Victoria papers We learn that the
usaA! eager fortune seeker. are
rushing of for the Cassiar gold nine.
in pres, numbers. The current If mi
era,ion set in very strongly that way
some weeks ago, AMI will continue 70
head northward for a mouth or two to
come. The miners all leave fairly in
,oxica,ed with extravagant expecta-
tons; each one hoping. at least, if not
sincerely believing that be is 70 b.
reckoned among the especial fayorite,
Of the fckle Goddess OF Fortune. Bu.
a few months will have passed, how.
ever. when the cold blasts and driving
SHOWS Of an arctic winter will have
closed the theatre Of their operations,
and then We shall witness the weary,
soiI-worn miners crowding back IN
great numbers to the less rig
ia and more Southern latitudes.
4 few Of them. as 10 always the case.
will return crowned ia . moderate de.
gree with success. while the majority
will come back bankrupt in pocket ana
broken down ia health from the expos
use and toll which falls To the 10. If
The gold miner. There are hundreds
Of young men hereahouts. strong, hale
and hearty. now the fortunate posses-
soFs Of tew hundred dollars, saved
from their hard earnings. who. fred
with the spirit nf adventure. and slim.
ula,ed by On inordinate craving for sud-
den riches. which is bego,tsn Of discon-
tent and III unhealthy distaste for the
common industries Of life, will hazard
their last dollar GU the chances
Of success. aud follow the miners to the
gold diggings. Through the short
summer months Of that no<thern lati-
tude they will toll on with an un.iring
zeal Some will invest = portion of
their means in claims and work them
with commendablc energy; others will
prospect along the courses Of the north
ern rivers until the cold blasts Of winter
render such work no longer possible
there. Then they return, and, with but
few exceptions, worn out physically,
and completely bankrupt financially.
find themselves 1t the lowest round
OF the ladder, and obliged to CON-
mence life over again with their smbi-
tions chilled by the consciousness Of
poverty and disappointment. This is
the fate Of nine -tenths OF the northern
gold hunters. A year ago we remember
of meeting . number Of young men
who came here from the East with q
Iotl a..
sion. They came like many young men
Of their class from the East, with an
ambition TO become the possessors Of .
hundred aud sixty acres each Of our
rich lands. But they caught the gold
fever. which was quite epidemic here
Just at tha: time, and were soon among
the crowd Of adventures bound for the
northern gold fields. In the fall they
returned. however, and as one of them
informed lis dead broke" Their
money had gone. and ,heirshopes had
been completely demoralixed. Had
they have remained here, as they had
originally intended, and expended their
energy and capital ON the purchase,
and in the improvement of = hundred
aud sixty acres Of our rich government
land. they might have laid the founda-
ton of moderate fortune. One of the
wealthiest farmers in the San joaquin
valley. California. remarked to US that
his success was wholly attributable 70
his determination, on arriving in Cali
fornis. to have nothing to do with gold
mines. and TO devote himself to agricul-
tnre. He arrived in Stockton, be said,
when the mining excitement was at its
height, aud instead of following the
multitude to the gold mines. with two
or three others located q claim Of wild
land: and. said he. others who were more
ambitious laughed a. me then, but now
I don't know Of bat one ar two Of all
those 40 miners" that are worth any
thing to-day; they are on the whole the
poorest men in tho State, while those
who applied themselves to the tame
avocat,on Of farming are among the
wealthiest. SO it will bc here-those
young men who now strike out on the
government land awaiting claimants,
aud put it under cultivation. will be
counted among the lucky and opulent in
the future.