Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1879-11-28
THE WONDROUs WEST.
And a Wo1drous Portion Of IL The Mar
velous Development Of 2 Years Grub
Stakes" and Donanzas -TopOgrah-
ical, Social and other Features.
tNr,. c. w. Ronnoy in Boston Po,t.l

Mrs. G. W. HOnuey IN boston Post
LEADviLLr, CoL,, Sept. 5, 1879.
The Arkansas Valley, OF which the
town plot lorms portion, is bounded by
mountain rengcs on either hand, but few
miles distant from the river; those on the
west being real cloud.piercers, The princi-
pal peaks averaging in height fourteen
thousand feet above the sen level and
those on the cast not much less; but as
the city is located 80 near the eastern
range the foothills obstruct the vision, so
that iiom the town the Saguache or west.
ern range, which is IN fact the Sierra Mad
re or Continental divide, ,presentsallogcther
the grander aspect, although from the
center OF the valley there is little apprecia-
BILE difference.
The eastern fork Of the Arkansas and the
Tennessee Park fork uate a little below
town, the eastern or main branch rising
some dozen miles farther north or north
east, and starting on its grand march TO
the sea, which not even great mountain
ranges have been able to arrest or interrupt,
as witness the Royal George" and the
Grand Canyon hundred miles be.
low. Here it is little more than u
H'""t"lh olOOhi bi"NliHS ONti iN5 lbthN
bottOtu.
The town Is unique, fully hall Of the
houses being made ui hewn pine lugs, aud
they are dotted thick as spatter work over
almost every block in town. The business
streets are beginning 10 show Il sprinklig
Of brick and stone. Al! of the houses are
packed TO their full capacity with human
beings, so that the number OF people here
must he immense, Ms the town plat is 4
large one. On Saturday mig lat and Sunday
there were probably not less than $4,000
people here, all the ueighbDriug camps
being represented, and the same il true ev-
cry week. There IN already II large ele-
ment OF the better classes ui society pcrma.
nentIy located here, and | find that people
can, and do live as doccutly and in order
in Leadyille rs elsewhere. There i. also Il
liberal manifestation of the neither side
OF existence, but ! viii leave that for
others to chronicle.
Business is good and no signs of the bot
tom having fallen ont OF Leadville, or any
| likelihood OF any such catastrophe, SO lar
as | can learn; but everyone is perfectly
enthusiastic about the future Of the camp,
the enthusiasm being fed by constant new
discoveries, The lat n and the one mos. full
oil promise for the camp, however, is the
| reaching OF II second contact in 10 less
than three distinct mines, proving all for
mer theories incorrect, and opening up a
| future Of the most brilliant promise, show
ing hat the apparent breaks in strata,
| constituting the out crops Of mineral, OF
which no less than nine have been distinct
! ly traced, ut different levels down the
mountain sides, are not Successive breaks
! OF the same stratum, as heretofore believed
| 6ltlprPnt rut ut
other; so that when the bottom OF the ore
bed falls oui, one has only to keep on sink
ing through the barren rock, and sooner OF
later he will be pretty certain to strike an
other bed of ore. 1t will be remembered
that these carbonate VEINS extend indein
itely i'm the direction OF all their dimen
slons, except their thickness, like tru,
fSsure vein as it were, thrown either fla
on its side, or at a moderately inclined an
gle, in fact like regular strata, more or les
titled, instead oil being disposed in Il verti
cal crevice. They are generally found be
tween everything porphyry and under
lying Limestone, although not univers
ally so, and they are denominated con
tact veins"
Leadvile is unquestionably TO day tn
lvelisst town in America. There is a fas
cinalion in the very atmosphere Of 81
much wealth, as this camp has been an,
is producing, which brings and holds peo
pie here. The fortunes made here in
brief space of time, inspire everyone to II,
his luck as we'll, and no matter " hat occu
patton he is sure to be more or less inter
ested in mines. If he does not prospec
himself he furnishes a "grub-s5ake, rs i
is called, Tor some one else to prospect, i. {
furnishes him certain amount Of prOvIs
= ions and other accoutremeuls for siar
| in what he may find. Even the ladic
have caught the fever, aud many forum
large or small, has been founded in
"grub-stake." Gov. Tabol's original one
} third interest in the Little Pittsburg
t mine was acquired through "grub-stake,
and cost him but Sl7. The same is tru
OF Mr.. Loyeland's big bonanza, on Buck
skin Mountain, the Fanny Barrett,
= which bids fair to prove rs rich as tn
Little Pittsburg" / need scarcely adj
+ that my 'gruh-stakers 3" are already seowe
. ing over the hills and mountains; for " hc
with spark ol enthusiasm in his or he
nature could resist the infection oi th
, Mountain fever, the thirst for the scare
after gold and silver?
| went down into Il mine the other da
where there were no less than four mi
1 lions in sight, all blocked off by under
e ground streets and alleys, timbered by in
I mense columns, from foot 10 foot and
, half through, and in places two or thrC
stories in height, divided from each otht
e by crOss-timbers, the vein matter, in place
? being fully forty feet through, aud all e
standing, solid blocks of ore, to he take
out at some future time, the ore now take
{ out being only what is necessary to CT
$ these streets and alleys, or, IN mimi
h parlance, levels, aud yet paying immeni
. dividends TO the stockholders. SeeiI
one such mine is enough TO turn anyone
head.
5 | had to descend about eighty feet
c reach the levels, which | did in Gag
with bated breath, having first essnyed Il
ladders aud beaten an ignominous relrea
= the fact that the cage itself having swur
d askew stuck in the shaft a few days pre-
e ious, for some time before it could BE- e
n tricated, not being reassuring one, ho'
? ever. AS ! took my seat in this crude el
i vator, shaped very much like coffin S
II Oh end, to descend the narrow channel,
i congratulated myself that the skull al
l. cross bones, which would have added
1t the suggestiyeness of the apparatus we
J.! wanting. Although saying who's afraid
II to keep my courage mp, | went down mo-
's dead than alive but once having reachG
1t the underground city, Richard was hin
! self again, and as the air was good and COT
Is the thermometer marking 43 degrees al
'. the surroundings full OF interest, spent
, hour most proftably and pleasantly in e
h amnins the development OF the min
B? and the peculiarities OF the ore, and chi
al ping specimens enough TO pay at least
rs weeks board, even IN extravagant Lea
r, Vile, And then | began to faint with a
J.? prehension again as | thought oil Tia
b. dreadful narrow passngeway, which alo
ID afforded access to the outer world The
Of subterrameun halls were all well enoug
OF but this climbing chimney, as it wei
l. was horrible. But il was accomplishe
Id after great summoning OF resolution
vs. my part, and found myself once more
al terra hrnIn with n pranIlY HANGED rnsnl