Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1880-04-13

what an Old Eurekan Has 10 Say
About the Rush.

About the Rush.
An old Eurekan, who left for Colorado
some months ago, writes . private letter to
the editor of the SENTINEL, from which
the subjoined notes Of general interest are
taken:
As you know, l came to this country
with anything but favorable impressions Of
the mines Of Colorado. I had been all
over the then Territory ten years ago, and
it was my judgment at that time that Col
orado as q mining field would not do to tie
to. / must confess that l have experienced
q change since my arrival this time, and l
don't believe that / am in the least added
by the general excitement, not to say craze.
There are unquestionably q few good pay
ing mines and many fiattering prospects
here. The ~permanency OF the country,
however, depends on o second contact or
bed Of ore. There are q good many indi-
cations that this will be found, which l
need not stop to explain. But whether a
second is found or not this is going to be
q good mining center for two or three
years anyhow. It will take them that
long to completely exhaust the first hori-
zontal layer Of ore. 1t is old Chloride Flat
over again, only on q vastly more extern
sive scale. / am told that the ore bed has
been found from forty to eighty feet in
thickness at favored points. That's a great
deal better than anything we had on Chlor-
ide Flat.
The town, or I should say city of Lead
vile, is the rip roaringist mining camp
you ever heard Of. Nothing like it was
ever seen in any mining country in the
world. California in the early days never
had any place that would begin to hold q
candle to it. Virginia City from 1860 to
1864 was the nearest approach to it, only
Virginia never had at any time more than
one-half the population that has foated in
here. The population OF Leadville is now
estimated at 5 5000, and it is my opinion
that there are nearer $4,000 people here.
And they are still coming. The daily
arrivals run from 500 to 300. The spring
tide has just set in, and the Lord only
knows where or when it is to stop. From
ten to twenty stage coaches run daily be-
tween the end Of the railroad and Lead
vile. Besides these there areinnumerable
private ~conveyances, jerk waters and indie
pendent lines. The distance to the rail
road is but SO miles; short enough to ad-
nit Of a great many passengers by the
Foot d Walker line, which l assure you
is also well p~atronized by the tender feet.
There is the usual drinking, gambling
and ~carousing here, found in all new min
ing camps. There are not as many des-
perate men, however, as we used to have
in the flush days Of the Comstock. The
Eastern rough is not as much on the kill
as his Western brother. We nave an oc-
~casional man for breakfast, but it is not a
regular everyday thing, like it used to be
in Virginia when Sam Brown, and Farmer
Peel, and Sugar Foot Jack, and Ell Dorado
Johnny, and Joe MCGEE, and Jack Will
liams, and the rest Of the mild-mannered
men were in the humor to entertain the
boys. But Leadville is assuredly a won
derful place-the wonder Of the age as q
mining center and boom. 1t is confidently
believed here that it will double in size the
present year. There are too many here
now for the Of the place, but
still they come and continue to come.
Theaters, snd melodeons, and dance-houses
are numerous, and all we'll ~patronized.
Gunnison is drawing largely from our
surplus population. What the Gunnison
amounts to in the way of mines I mo
say, though 1 hear fabulous stories. To
get there q high summit must be crossed.
Men in their zeal to go south have shoyeled
the snow out of the road for miles, and
hundreds are pouring over headlong into
the new region. This gives vent to Lead
vile, and we may be able to stand the pres
sure. 1t is the general impression that
there is a good mining section all along
for two hundred miles south Of Leadville.
1t is my individual opinion that the
try round about here is going to afford the
grandest opportunities on earth for enter
prising, wide-awake men during the next
three or four years. The people East have
got this part Of the world on the brain, and
the man who can get hold of a fair mining
property is sure to get big money for it.
for the present. When the rush and ex-
element begin to slop over into Nevada,
Eureka will get a big share Of both. Until
then l shall take my chances with the ten
derfeet.