St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-04-11
The Rush to Colorado.
A WARNING VOICE FROM A VICTIM.
IFrom the Boston Journal

From the Boston Journall
COLORADO SPRINGS, Col, Mar. "a, 79.
What is the cause of this great out
pouring of humanity from the East to
the West? 1t seems as though the
fOodgates were unlOOsed and the mass
of people in their maddened rush for
gold are leaving bright and happy
homes, loving friends, sundering the
ties of kindred, for that which is declar-
ed in words of Holy Writ to be the root
of all evil. (NOt the gold itself, but
the inordinate love of gold, proves to
be the root of all eviD. They come in
battalions, in regiments, in armies.
Denver cannot house the daily arrivals.
Every hotel and boarding house in Col
Orado Springs is full, and the cry is
still they come, and the usual summer
travel does not begin fol- two months,
and what shall we do then?
When l think that the greater part
of this army of gold hunters are head
ing for Leadville, Silver Cliff, Chalk
Creek and other carbonate sections, my
heart sinks within me, for | know they
expect gold, gold, gold, and 499 out of
500 will be disappointed. Thousands
will never again know or realize the
happiness of the homes they are now
leaving. Many will die alone with no
one to hand the cup of cold water to
cool the parched lips many will die on
the plains, their bones bleached by the
prairie sun; many will die with the
curse upon their lips, cursing the time
they wandered to this land in search OF
the perishable lucre, and cursing the
time they left the home of their boy
hood. Where one will become a mine
owner and roll in wealth, 499 will have
their hopes blasted, their lives shorten
ed, and find Il grave in the Potter's
field, unwept, unhonOred and unsung."
Men of the East, if you are making &
living don't go to Leadviile if you are
earning yOur bread and butter anG
have a sleeping place, stay where yer
are. The last few weeks have develop
ed great change in life at Leadville
Five hundred are daily added to it
population, and how do they live
How do they sleep? | will tell yoI
how hundreds sleep. Floors are cover
ed with saw-dust and they pay fifty
cents a night for the privilege of sleep
ing on it, Men wait hours at a restau
rant for place at table to procure ;
meal, and then pay an eXorbitant pric,
for the privilege. Water is fifty cent
per barrel flour is twenty-fOur dollar
per barrel. Fifty gambling saloons ar,
in full operation, and more liquor ST.
looms deal out the deadly fluid.
Don't take your wife to Leadville i
you will go yourself. Almost every
woman there is looked upon as impure
The capitalists of Leadville board thei
wives and families at Colorado Spring.
or Denver. They know too well the
impurity and pollution of the mining
city. Any man who goes to Leadvillt
at the present time with less than $500
in his pocket ought to be put in q
straight jacket. If you are experienced
and have money it may be possible you
Will strike it, but if you are inexperi-
enced and have but little money stay
where you are, put your money in gov
ernment bonds and avoid Leadville as
you would the plague. There is actu-
ally nothing TO draw people there but
the carbonate mines. When these are
exhausted, when all the claims are TAX
en- and held by some great consolidated
company of capitalists, as many OF
them now are, there will be but few
people needed to work the mines, and
the ''city of day" will flash out like a
candle by a gust of wind. One of eur
papers says: "AnotheI lot of men and
women passed through the city to-day
on their way to Leadville. 1t is sad to
see so many deluded, helpless people
daily pass on their way to starvation
and misery and perhaps DEATH" 1t is
true the yield of ore at Leadville is
100000 pounds, or about 600 tons
daily, but in the search for it you must
sacrifice home, health, happiness, all
the enjOyments of cultured life, and
then perhaps not get it.