The Sedalia weekly bazoo., 1878-12-24

Gold Washing and Illicit Whis
key Making in the Hills.
Dahlouega, Ga. Dec. 9.-The gol,
mining Of this region would be NOR
properly described as ''gold washing.
fpr, although the work is not place.
washing but the crushing Of gold
bearing material found in deposits ans
veins in the bill sides and through tn,
masses Of the hills. it is all worked n
open cuts and washed. or. as the loca
term has il. "flnded." by means nj
water arti6c'ally taken tn the hill tops
from the cuts to. the respective mills
Another peculiari,y of this gol
washing is that poor material i
crushed here which would probably
not be worked elsewhere. and thai
rich material. which is here in abun
dance and would be worked elsewhere
is entirely Ignored. All that is work
ed here Is stuff containing ''free'
gold, and labor here is - cheap that
It paws to work ore containing even 4
dollar . ton. while su'phurets. ol
which there are many veins which
have assayed up to $3.50 and $500 d
ton, are not worked because there are
as vet no reduction works in the en-
tire belt.
Labor is in far greater supply than
can today be employed. Life in the
hills il cheap and the requirements
few. There is little or no agricultural
work to be done within q radius Of ten
or twelve miles Of Dahlonega. About
Gainesville one sees some cotton and
some corn, but that is left behind,
some six or eight miles out Of Gaines
vile, and from that point up to
Dsblouega the only signs Of human
labor are the unsightly vestiges of
gold hunting. in the shape Of piles Of
iaiIines on the banks Of every gully,
stream. or creek. through which
mounds. in many places. . second
growth Of trees has shot up and
partly hidden from sight the hideou,
made years ago on the face
Of fair nature.
Uuskilled labor in both white and
colored, and is paid by the railroad
company, and generally about Gaines.
villa NJ sixty.fve cents q day. The
regular rate paid at the mines =
eighty cents. Work is carried on oil
the year ronnd and every day sxcep,
and the hours Of labor an
from sunrise to sunset. There 10 such
a .uperabundauce Of unskilled labor
that the managers Of the mining
works are unable to select the mos'
Trustworthy. and this is generally
white labor. Colored men an6 whites
work together on . perfect equality,
but / am inclined from investigation
to believe that white labor is generally
preferred. This white labor 10 almost
entirely Of young men. and thu
writer was forcibly impressed with
the utter listless and almost hopeless
expression on the faces and in the de
meanor of this class of labor. Ii
him it spoke Of a self-consciOusness o.
degradation in being obliged. by dir
necessity, to consort with and work
aloneside Of what these young met
had been brought up to consider Al
inferior race. One day at the Pigeor
Roost, while waiting for Col. Hand
who was in the building planning the
location Of the turbine wheel for tb.
new mill on Mr.. Barlow's property
four laborers passed cut of the bed q
the canal close to the writer. They
were all Young men-two were white
two colored. Each had on hi'
shoulder . pick and . long handlet
shovel. They were oil dressed alike
dirty, unkempt. and almost in rags.
The sole difference between them wa'
in the color Of their skin. but - they
filed past the writer, on their returs
from their days work. the wbite'
raised their ewes to the writer ant
each Of them gave him . "How-ds'
the colored men made no sign. II ]
not customary there to return th'
salutation of . colored man, and they
consequently seldom venture one
One word about the condition Of th'
freedman as the opinion WAS forcet
umn the writer. He learned from
what he believes reliable authority
that the increase Of such diseases .
consumption. 6iphtheria. pneumonia
and others Of that class is enormou
among the colored race. The trutl
seems to be that. from having beeI
taken care Of in time Of slavery. thes
former slaves are totally unified 4
take care of themselves. They expos
themselves to the inclemency Of tn
weather and in other ways. with tn
inevitable results. As before state,
the demand for labor is small. and .
an old dsrkey-of whom the write
had asked his opinion Of the persona
result Of emancipation to him-said
'"Oh! masa, its mighty bodersom
at times to get de grub!" An uu
pleasant deduction from what hs -,
was forced upon the writer. hs foun
himself face to face with one Of th
results Of emancipation. and felt tha
the death Of slavery means extinctio
Of the colored race.
Another feature about Dahlopsg
and its vicinity i the Temperance prt
clivity Of the population. It 10 D
field for Mr.. Murphy or any othe
anti -bibulous apostle. Not only = th
sale Of al spirituous or malt liquo
strictly prohibited By municipal law
Dahlouega. but no liquor Of any %.
can b bought there. In the bill
there are still supposed to Be sou
illicit distillers. known there - "MooI
sinners" but the stuff they make is q
villainous that ~ one Of our part!
said after smelling it, IL have alway
L.. - = ~><2ss~NsNu nf th