Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-10-03
Chinese Enterprise.

they once fairly settle down to bust
l,-- in the coll diE-ings. Year,
ago. white men rushed to the Frazer
river mines. AID. rs they thought,
Exhausted thea. Cinnamon followed
lard after them. - usual, and found
rooi ra,iug h-g.nSs where white
miners could not or would not live
- characteristic q the the race. they
are ~..!l 20; IT, business. They are
iulm- Possession Of nearly all the
lenrEc- II Frazer liver from Cot
t-Lwoui Canyon 20 Hope, II distance
If se..ls. hundred miles. Around
tie %. ! mining town Of Liiloct thew
81. operating on "a scale which would
do credit 20 white men. They have
caused water L. lie brought in ditch
from long distance, at cost of at
least $50 600 BY means of this
water. a long line of benches is TO be
slulccd of aud the precious metal
saved. All these benches are known
To- be more or less rich in coarse and
fine gold. While white miners will
not stoop so low as to work the rich
est of these benches, the Chinese are
growing wealthy in washing the
poorer ones. Cinnamon invariably
prospect high up in the bills, and if
they want for water, they search till
they find it and utilize it by cutting
bitches. In word, the Chinaman
goes to work as if he believed the
earth contained gold; he despises
not the day of small beginnings, but
pushes ahead, overcomes every diff
ticulty and is sure to win at last.
White men may raise hue and cry
about Chinese interference with the
labor interests of The country, but
the truth of the matter is that their
low prices are not to be half go much
feared as the persistent tenacity with
which they stick to good thing
when they once get hold of it.
There is scarcely river bar or
quartz ledge on this coast, ostensi-
bly, worked out" years ago by
white miners, that is not now in
profitable possession of the linger-
ing and patient ChiLaman. True,
he expends but very little for his
keeping, and yet he is good liver.
Were it otherwise his power of en-
durance would not be what it proves
itself to be. Long experience has
rendered the Chinese, in all mining
tactics, wholly independent of their
white brethren. Their assayers ore
finished chemists, while their min
ing engineers stand at the head of
their profession as experts. From
the old abandoned gold fields of CAL
ifornia to the icy streams of CARR.
boo, they are literally taking the
country. The fact that they are con-
tent to re-prospect and work over
again the diggings which Americans
und Englisbmen have, years ago,
given up as pro6tless, leads to the
belief that their gains must be ex-
ceedingly small, and their liability
TO make new discoveries is never
thought of by the great majority Of
white men. Instances are not
wanting to show that the Chinese
have often found brilliant bonanzas
upon worn out bars, although they
themselves, are the last persons to
give publicity to such facts. When
rallied on the subject of his persist
ency in working old diggings, the
willy celestial adroitly plays the
Yankee dodge of pleading hard
times, and to the majority of his un-
sophisticated interviewers, his dress.
his living and general surroundings
are the best evidences in his favor.
Now the gist OF the whole matter
is that the average white miner stands
in need of thorough anu searching
reconstruction. He needs to come
back to first principles and content
himself with being the Independent
recipient of small returns. Small
returns are the surest returns in
every pursuit. Education and expe-
rience, and above all, pride and self
conceit, have tended to make the
American l4borer forget these inval-
liable truths. While the white min