The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-09-11
LETTER FROM COLORADO.
LrRoM OUR wAsHISGToS CORRESPONDENT

years annually flows into this Rocky
Mountain State has been much larger
/ this wear than ever before. Thousands
come here every Summer as pleasure
I tourists, aud many come In search OF
health, though the number of these
seems 10 diminish rather than increase
But this season the proportion Of people
who have come as prospective settlers
I seekers after hidden wealth, attracted
I by the Leadvilie excitement-has been
greater than ever b.fore, and probably
/ in excess of all the other classes. Some
of these have been successful, if not in
I finding rich silver mines, in at least So
curing 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 restitution. OF the few who
I have "struck il rich," as they say in
I the mines here, We hear great deal, as
I the railroad companies aud others,
whose object is gain, take special pains
to widely advertise them but Of the
I thousands who 90 back home sadder
and wiser men, and the hundreds who
cannot get back, we hear nothing. On
all the lonely, barren routes between
I here aud Denver, aud other mining dis
tricts, one daily meets poor, sorry Look
I ing fellows, to whom a square meal and
return ticket home would bring uu-
bounded joy.
1 All this by way of introduction, aud
| in illustration of the condition Of things
most sure to attract attention here now.
The Leadville excitement, which de-
veloped to its fullest late last year,
started the influx very early this sea-
son, aud Spring had hardly opened
when tie rush began. That there have
been so many disappointments among
the eager fortune-hunters Is not because
mining here is a humbug, for there is
silver here, plenty Of il, aud the furlu-
nate ones are rich. But the uncertainty
Of prospecting Is "a great as that Of
gambling or buying I";irry rckels
/ One man stumbles up"n valuabi.
claim almost without tluGt, turning up
the ore with his first spadeiul OF dirt, a.
| il were, while ten others dig aud delve
all about him in every direction till
their last dollar il gone, only To find
nothing but WEAKNESS aud heartsick-
ness / is folly for men without means,
or even those with small means, TO
i 4. II 1. Fsl. l.. a.
come within the last six months could
/ have known what they now know, or
have foreseen what their own expert
ence 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 ex-
istence Of such a 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
O,OOO feet, a city Of 10000 inhabitants.
And such a lively, bustliug, busy place
as IL is : IL everywhere shows the evil
dences Of haste in construction, aud the
eagerness Of the inhabitants 10 get a
place to shelter them while they engage
in the more important object of their
stay. The streets are rugged and un-
even, buildings crude and unfinished,
and the sidewalks built on a dozen diff
ferent levels. Gambling is carried on
openly right on the ground floors, and
low dance-houses and variety theatre:
flourish in untold numbers. The eli.
mate is worse than bad. The nights are
cold and damp, and severe colds, ca.
tarrh and terrible rheumatism prevail
quite generally. One of the most strik.
ing scenes in the vicinity is the rude
cemetery, a short distance away. Itl
appearance is suggestive of many 6
tragedy in real life. OF the severa
hundreds buried there, scores dieC
among strangers, leaving nothing be.
hind by which their friends in the East
might be found or notified of their fate
Persons with unsOund lungs, or will
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 anC
abandoned The very deposits Of silver
now so eagerly sought were then trod
under foot, undiscovered. IL was only
by accident, four years ago, that tn,
existence here Of these rich carbonate.
first came TO he known. One day man
who knew one stone from another, qui.
| etly picked up q bit of mineral ant
handed it slyly and significantly TO hi'
comrade, saying nothing. The comrade
experienced in the ways Of mines, tool
. il, saying nothing, and poeketed IL
There were those working by their sid'
to whom one word might be a hint
. Later, alone, the two comrades con
yersed with each other on the subjec
of this bit of stone. They took cautioul
and secret rambles over the mountain
side. They said not one word to any
body for two years, but quistly pos
sessed themselves largely Of lands. To
, day, in one mine which these two mei
! own, you may see, il Is said, six mil