Los Angeles herald., 1890-06-16
Interesting Letter From
Alamo District.
The Gambling Fever Taken
Once a Year.
The Stage Robbed By a Single Man
Recently.
Only One Fertile Valley Three Miles Wide
in Distance of Seventy-Five Miles
Traveled-Other Notes.

The following letter was received by a
gentleman day or two ago, concerning
the Alamo district in Lower California /:
We left San Diego on the steamer
Manuel Dublan Thursday night at 9
O'Clock. The steamer makes her trips
always at night to keep from feeding the
passengers. Reached Ensenada at
the next morning. Here l stayed until
10 o'clock, and then left by stage for
Alamo. Alamo is seventy-fve miles
from Ensenada, over mountainous
country. The mountains have the same
appearance that those have near Los An
geles. 1t takes two days to make the
journey over as rough road as ever a
four-wheeled vehicle travelled. On the
return trip it takes but one day, as
it is all down grade. In making the en-
tire seventy-fve miles we passed through
but one fertile valley, about three miles
across. This valley the International
Company has almost entirely fenced in,
and most of it is planted. in barley, as
the hay sells from $50 to 500 per ton in
Alamo.
The country is well watered, almost
every ravine having running water in it.
AT no time in the journey could | fail to
see quail by looking on either side of
the road There are few live-oak trees
in one gulch, and in every tree that had
hollow there was a swarm OF bees hard
at work. Frequently the como will be
projecting from the hollow. Then, in a
number of holes in the rock we saw the
bees making honey. This wild honey
has an excellent flavor, though not quite
so sweet as the honey we are accustomed
to.
In the papers of Los Angeles these
mines were always called the Santa
Clara mines. They are in the Santa
Clara district, but the mines are called
=" Alamo'
I reached there Saturday about p.
M, and as the miners were being paid
off, the camp had a lively appearance.
The miners live mostly in tents and
bush houses. Everyone has to take
their own blankets, as there are no
sleeping accommodations, though they
say that if some one were to put up a
respectable hotel that he would be
wealthy in short time.
Twelve business houses constitute the
camps mercantile firms. Some of the
houses in which business is done are
brush, some tents and some adobes.
They all have dirt floors All of these
fnans sell liquor, but two of them carry
a stack of general merchandise as we'll.
The receipts of one of the general mer-
chants last Sunday were: Liquors,
$76.45; groceries, $50; making a total of
S136. As off of a stock of $4,000.
There is very little drunkenness in the
camp and no gambling, as the Mexican
government is very strict. The govern
ment keeps some soldiers there all the
time. and they march through camp
about sundown every evening. Then
there are some mounted police. The
government sets aside fifteen days out of
4 each year for gambling, and sells the
privilege of running the gambling tables
to the highest bidder. During these fiji
teen days every one seems to go crazy
on the gambling question from the
avidity with which they stick to it.
There are about 500 miners in camp,
about equally divided between Mexicans
and Americans, with perhaps fifty
Cinnamon thrown in. The Cinnamon
are mostly engaged in placer mining.
There are very few white men and Mex
leans placer mining, as the average
made at it is less than $40 per week. A
few make more than this, and one man
had his gold weighed out before me
Sunday morning, and between him and
his partner they had nearly four ounces,
(which was worth in American money
about $685. This represented week s
work for the two.
There are six quartz mills running
now, most of them day and night. The
mills have capacity of ten to as much
as twenty-five tons per day each. When
1 was there every mill visited claimed to
be working on ore that would yield from
$35 to $40 per ton, though they say that
the average for the ore worked is about
500 per ton. The miners are paid Sc
to 81 per day.
The stage was robbed few weeks age
by single man, although it contained
nine passengers. The robber searched
no one, and was contented to make them
throw out their money. He got but $1S
although there was being carried from
the mines between seven and eight thou
sand dollars. Ten thousand dollars more
were carried to San Diego last week
which makes an output of nearly $4,000
in the last few weeks.
They have mills enough now to handle
all the ore from the mines that are devel
oped, and they are not begging capital
lists to come in and put up mills ant
- develop their mines.
A. S. O'NEIL.