The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-06-02
BLACK HILLS LETTER.
Miners and m~lniss-uerk makss Iuck-
How some msA Succeed and 9TH
en Don'tHA Candid Re-
view Of Inc Stu.
alton.
CENTRAL CITY, d. T., |
MaY2l. 1873.

/. May 81, 1873.
To the Editor Of The Leader:
SIR:-We have often heard that one
swallow does not make a spring, but
can anyone tell ms how many SHOWS
make a winter? For here, on this date
we have from twelve to eighteen inches
Of snow, and with Miss Squeers. we
want to know ''if this is the h'end of
it?" Nothing could have been more
unfortunate during the last three
months than the state Of the weather.
Outside the camp prospecting has been
at a standstill, and within, the almost
bottomless roads have made 1t a, mat
ter Of great difficulty to haul ore to the
mills. 1t will clearly be the first of
June before matters have settled down
to their normal condition.
CROWDS Of NEW FACES
are already here, and more on the way,
and the question of their employment
during the coming season becomes an
important one.9 In the first place, let
no laboring man come here with the
expectation of striking a bonanza in a
week. 1t would surprise the outside
world to know how little luck there
really is in a mining country, after its
first year of discovery. And further,
how little ultimate good that same luck
does tn nine out Of ten men who have
had it. Truly, with the lucky "riches
take to themselves wings and fly
away" If a man comes with the mod
est expectation Of obtaining IA living,
he will not he disappointed. With
wages at 50 and 81 per day, and ''batch-
ing" at "a to IS per week, it is easy to
accumulate n few hundred dollars
against a rainy day, and such is the ex-
citement owe big strikes, that men
cannot always be had at these wages.
One fact is sometimes worth any num-
Der of bare assertions. i had recently
occasion to engage a hand for a mill.
| called upon three men, offering at
least a weeks work at SO per day, but
they all, with n consent, began to
make IL at was not steady
work." ''expect to take in Deadwood
tomorrow" ''would not work in a
mill at such wages" and so on.
l thought Of the struggling thousands
in the great cities, whose hearts would
have leaped at the prospect of earning
$21 In one week. And let it be remem-
bered there is no work in a mining
camp-milling, in quartz mines or
placer claims, that a man of ordinary
intelligence cannot become familiar
within a short time. And this 1 affirm
in bold defiance of the "old timer, who
has been In other camps, and Is sub
timely convinced that he holds the
monopoly Of mining wisdom, and whom
he shall have ''shufied off this mortal
coil, F" mining must cease.
I would strongly recommend all who
OBTAIN STEADY WORK
stick firmly by it and not be misled by
the Will-o-the-wisp excitement after
''big strikes" 1t is steady work that
counts in the end. I have seen too
many instances Of it to make me have
the least manner Of doubt in giving
this advice. I will give one example
among many: l see now before me a
young German who has been in one
position at $3.50 per day since last
June. He vas the owner Of a lot in
Central that sold recently for $500.
This, added to his wages, has brought
the amount of his earnings up to $500,
which are safely invested at 4 per cent.
per month. Thus within ten months
has he sufficient annuity for a life time,
were a man SO minded. But then. he
can only afford to wear patches on his
pants; his hair looks through the crown
Of his hat, and the interior of the
saloon does not know him-the latter
condition being indispensable to all
men who would succeed.
There are more dry diggings in this
country than in any mining camp ever
known, and in many places 81 to the
pan can be got on bedrock. To bring
water to these requires time and money,
and II the ditcD companies of Spear
fish, Whitewood, Bear creek, and
employing millions Of capital,
are once able to go to work vigorously.
there will not be a surplus laborer in
this country. Within a radius of fifty
miles there is a vast field of quarts to
be prospected, and with the coming of
summer there is room for hundreds of
men to do it. That many will be suc-
cessful there can be no doubt, for 1
have e specimens of gold bearing
rock, from all around, as rich as any
have in this vicinity. This is a gen.
eral field for the small capitalist who
afford to risk his living and labor
Tor three or four months against strik-
lng n bonanza.
TEAMrNG IS A FORTUNE HERE.
I know Of contracts for hauling ore
hat are worth $40 to s23 per day for
single team. Mere jobbers earn from
to S15 without trouble. a
For ~ranching, the prospects are most
Encouraging. The country is splen-
idly wooded and watered, and the
rrqeq ia auA4ciapt IN roon tho ofoeb In