The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1879-08-28
Letter From Colorado.
From our Washington Correspondent


search of health, though the number
of these seem to diminish rather than
increase. But this season the proper
ton of people who have come as pros
pective settlers-seekers after hidden
wealth, attracted by the Leadville ex-
citement-has been greater than ever
before, and probably in excess of all
the other classes. Some of these have
been successful, if not in finding rich
silver mines, in at least securing good
business openings yet how few are
they in comparison with the hundreds
of disappointed ones who have met not
alone Disappointment, but misery and
destitution. OF the few who have
'struck it rich," as they say in the
mines here, we hear great deal, as
the railroad companies and others,
whose object is gain, take special
pains to widely advertise them but
of the thousands who go back home
sadder and wiser men, and the hum
dreds who cannot get back, we hear
nothing. On all the lonely, barren
routes between here and Denver, aud
other mining districts, one daily meets
poor, sorry-looking fellows, to whom a
square meal and return ticket home
would bring unbounded joy.
All this by way of introduction, and
in illustration of the condition of fittings
most sure to attract attention here
now. The Leadville excitement,
which developed to its fullest late last
year, started the influx very early this
season, and spring had hardly opened
when the rush began. That there
has been so many disappointments
among the eager fortune-hunters is not
because mining here is humbug, for
there is silver here, plenty of it, and
the fortunate ones are rich. But the
uncetainty of prospecting is as great as
that of gambling or buying lottery
tickets. One man stumbles upon a
valuable claim almost without effort
turning up the ore with his first spade
full of dirt, as it were, while ten others
dig and delve all about him in every
direction till their last dollar is gone,
only to find nothing but weariness and
heartsickness. 1t is folly for men
without means, or even those with
small means, to come here now. If
half those who have come within the
last six months could have known
what they now know, or have forseen
what their own experience would be,
they would never have left their
homes.
Leadville itself is one of the wonders
of the world. The strangers first SEN
sation, on arrival, is surprise at the
existance of such city in such a place
With the vivid consciousness before
him of the long, rugged road over the
range by which he has just come, he
is scarcely prepared to find, here
among the rocks and gulches, at an
elevation of 0,000 feet, a city of 10000
inhabitants. And such a lively, bust
ling, busy place as it is! 1t every.
where shows.the evidence of haste in
construction, and the eagerness of the
inhabitants to get a place to shelter
them while they engage in the more
important object of their stay. The
streets are rugged and uneven, build
ings crude and unfinished, and the
sidewalks built on a dozen different
levels. Gambling is carried on openly
right on the ground floors, and low
dance houses and variety theatres
flourish in untold numbers. The eli
mate is worse than bad. The nights
are cold and damp, and severe colds,
catarrh, and a terrible rheumatism
prevails quite generally. One of the
most striking scenes in the vicinity is
the rude cemetery, short distance
away. Its appearance is suggestive of
many a tragedy in real life. OF the
several hundreds buried there, scores
died among strangers, leaving nothing
behind by which their friends in the
East might be found or notified OF
their fate. Persons with unsound
! lungs, or with any tendency to heart
disease, should not come to Leadville
The mining camp proper is in what
was once known as California Gulch
where, some years ago gold was dis
covered. A great excitement followed
but the vein was soon exhausted ant
abandoned. The very deposits of sill
yer now so eagerly sought were theI
trod under foot, undiscovered. 1t wa
only by accident, four years ago, tina
the existance here Of these rich car
Donates first came to be known. On
day man, who knew one stone from
another, picked up bit of minera
and handed it slyly and significant.
to his comrade, saying nothing. TIL
comrade, experienced in the ways q
mines, took it saying nothing, an
pocketed it. There were those work
ing by their sides to whom one wor
might be hint. Later, alone, the tw
comrades conversed with each othe
on the subject of this bit of stone
They took cautious and secret ramblt
over the mountain side. They sal
not one word to anybody for tw
years, but quietly possessed then
selves largely of lands. To-day, in on