National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1880-06-12
ARIZONA FEVER.
Another Letter from the tombstone Dis
triCt.
Some Account of tho New Cnmp-Its Sur
roundinEs and Its People.
TOMBSTONE. A. T.. May Il. 1880.

ellie coast-befOre the mines can be well
proven town or city will grow up noar by TO
draw its support therefrom. All arc not
minors, mine operators or mine SPECTATORS,
who rush to new camps upon the first news
of rich ores being found. With new min
ing camp invariably comes anew town, and
in our case the town is overshadowing tho
camp. Tombstone has already become the
great objective point of the large njority
who arc travelling toward this territory. or
course, the town grows rapidly. 1t Is but
one short year ago since Tucson, an old Next
can pueblo, was the only known place In all
this land. But now that passengers and
freight for both Tombstone aud Patagonia aro
landed at Fantano, nnd soon will be at Ben
son, now town TO be built on the San Pedro
river where the Southern Pacific railroad
crosses, the word Tucson drops OF and Tomb
stone becomes the substitute in every passen-
gers mouth. Tombstone has now more two.
story buildings than Tucson, and many
moro are being erected. Town-buildng is be-
ing carried on with n rush, a boom. On
every lot some one is putting up some kind Of
q structure in anticipation of the value it will
obtain when this becomes the great city,
Hopes and expectations are high, aud there is
no lack of confidence in the ultimate result.
The population of Tombstone may now be put
down at 2,0oo and is very rapidly increasing,
and beyond a doubt will within the space of
few months have more white residents
thau any place in Arizona. Besides the
residents the people actually living here
there are hundreds who daily find
temporary sojourning place within
the city limits for lengths Of time ranging
from two days to two weeks. OF this class is
the prospector, who comes in from his tour,
camps at the town, has his "jamboree,' lays in
his supplies and is then of for the mountains
again. Every night in tho week a crowd of
men can be seen upon our streets, at the hotels
and gambling houses that forcihly remind
one of the flush times of 40 TO '53 in tho gold
camps of early California. All the concomi-
tants of q rushing camp are now to be found
in this place, save only tho rows, the fights
and hOmicdes. The heavy Quitting stores,
the long file OF men at the postoflice when
mails arrive, the crowd of men that throng
the large gambling houses, the number aud
variety of frail humanity male aud female,
MI TO he daily and nightly'seen carrying ones
thoughts back to other days, to other camps in
other places. Speaking of the exceptions of
homicides, we must claim much credit for our
peaceable, orderly town, where the police
| court is unknown. and the Justice of the peace
| is about as much interviewed us in sober Now
/ England or the rural western states.
| Our merchants already can sum up their
trade to million. All branches of business
are fully represented, from couple of whole
sale jobbing-houses in all lines of goods, down
| to nearly dozen Chinese wagll-houses. Two
daily lines of siX-horse coaches run to the end
OF tho railroad, besides two-horse hack line,
| ana INES oil stages 10 Charieston, fatagona
| ana other places. schools ana churches arc
now being looked after, and theatre is talked
| oil. The Nugget VIII issue lis daily next week,
| which, with the EPHaph, VIII give us one
4 daily and two weekly newspapers. Our
hotels now nearly completed, will be the
| most commodous and best furnished in the
\ territory. All these things have been nc.
| complished i'll less than one year. What
will the future beP Faith in the mines has
| done all THIS and the beginning is but now.
! The great country for hundred miles in each
! direction lies before us; an almost uncxplored
| country, now being penetrated by tho ubiqui-
| tous prospcctor, whose pick, shovel, hammer
| and drill aided by that wonderful nBsnt dyna.
| mite will soon add untold millions to tho
already wonderful wealth Of Arizona Was
not this dynamite the article meant but once
called faith, by the use Of which it was said q
| long time ago. TINT mountains could be
moved? If there were mines beneath, the
| miner with his dynamite would move the
mountain to get at them A new feature, of
| great Importance in this country, is the now
TOWN OF BENSON
| the location of which has boon selected on
| the western side of the San Pedro river, at
the point where the Southern Pacific rail-
| road will cross. The site is on a mesa or
plateau of land, a beautiful location, giving
a fine view up and down tho river. From
| this point no less than three branch railroads
are already projected to Tombstone, while one
| has Mexico for an objective point, aud the
| main line of the Southern Pacific railroad will
pass about twenty miles to the north of us.
On one of these branch roads the grading has
already commenced, and the other two have
corps of engineers in the field. The one that
proposes to strike into to old Mexico has a
charter to the boundary line, and is now
negotiating with the Mexican authorities
| for n like franchise to carry the road on to
Guaymas, Mazatlan, or some other object.
i've point. If the sister republic should be
like Barkis, possessed Of u willing DISPOSE
ton, we may expect soon to SEQ q railroad ex.
| tended up the San Pedro into that benighted
land, where no progress has been made in ag-
| riculture or commerce, save only by throwing
aside shekels and cubits, and selling their
whisky by the pound and their meat by the
yard From my own observations having
travelled over much of Northern Sonora, I
| think that this route is the most feasible for
rniIroad of any that has been suggested. 1t
passes up the San Pedro to its head, all the
| way on wide bottom lands, thence down the
| Sonora rivnr with LIGHT grades and thrOuUh