The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-05-15
THE COLD EXCITEMENT o. .4y.
Haw fsnrnufn, the shoniaB, Prspossd to
Use 1t to H.s Advantage.

General }. IT, h. Marshall eontrib-
ttes to the department Of California;
In The Century Magazi,,s the following
incident which occurred to the Hon.
q. ID. Gilman, now n member OF the
General Court OF Massachusetts.
With the news of the discovery of
gold in California in 1s4s United States
army officers stationed there sent speci-
mems home to their friends and TO the
War Department us curiosities. But, to
the best Of MIR, Gilman's knowledge,
the first California gold exhibited and
sold In Wall street was taken there by
himself on the first day OF March, 1s49.
Mr.. Gilman was the first passenger TO
reach New York from San Francisco
after the discovery. aud brought with
him II quantity of the ore, finding II n
more profitable remittance than the
coin which he had brought from Hon
olulu, aud for which the miners gladly
exchanged their dust mt liberal dis
count. Mr.. Gilman tells the follow
ing story of his first day in New York.
Il reached New York very early in
the morning. and. being au entire
stranger. accepted the friendly Offices
of the purser of the steamer. who took
me to The Clinton Hotel. then kept by
Simeon LELAND, afterward OF the Me-
tropolitan Hotel.
after breakfast Mr.. LELAND kindly
took me In Charge. to assist me In pro-
curing a costume more befitting an ap-
pearance in New York than my Cali
fornia outfit Among the places visit
ed ia this tour of reconstruction was
Loyejoy's Embarrassing rooms at the
corner of Beekman street and Park
Row. Here. as everywhere, the talk
was of the wonderful news from Cali
fornia.
while still under the hands of the
barber. and sleepilv listening to his
| freely given views upon the exciting
topic of the day. | saw Mr. Leland
approaching me, accompanied by
| fine looking, frank, open-faeed man,
J who advanced buttoning on his collar,
with his giugham neektie hanging over
his arm. rs If he had no time TO lose.
MIR. LELAND introduced him to me by a
name which at first had no Significance
for me. though its fame had already
reached the Islands of the sea as that
of the great Moral Snowman. Said
| he courteously;
81 hear that you are just from Cali
fornia. the first passenger to arrive
from the land of gold. This is very
Interesting. You can tell US all about
| II. May ask IL you have had any
conversation with any one on the sub
/ ject since your arrisasp | replied that
| | had only just landed. and had had
no opportunity to talk about the mat
ter; 'Ab. very good. very goodr said
he. Then please don't. let me beg of
you. till you have seen me again. MIR.
Leland has kindly promised to call
with yon at my Office. II you will
write California on your card. the
door-keeper will admit you at once
/ He hOtrs.ti and fooE hfa loare.
"Engressed by my own interesting
concerns. ] did not think to ask any
/ questions of MIR. Leland about my in-
/ terrogator. and learnel nothing more
of him till we found ourselves at the
door of Barnum's Museum. We were
conducted TO the private Office of the
redoubtable proprietor. who. politely
seating Us. proceeded at once to busi-
ness.
We'll. sir. you know we all want to
know the way to California nowadays.
| BY what route did you Gomez
Across the Isthnus.'
''-Ah. very goodi Then you can tell
US all about mule travelling. A very
interesting route. Cuts the journey
short. Some danger. of course. Did
you go by the same routeP'
IL went out around the Horn. sirp'
..Ab. that's goodi Many of our
people will want to go that way.
Cheaper route. OF course you know
about mininga'
81 have not been TO the mines my
self. replied.
''Ohi Ali Well. you understand the
process. no doubt. aud know all about
the life there. You've heard il talked
aboutP
81 replied that l had not heard
much else talked about for the last six
months.
'''I thought sol l thought sol You
are just the man we want. siri just
the very mani Now here's my plan.
sir. I've got plan. sir which cannot
fail of success. and will prove highly
remunerative to both of us. sir. This
city is wild with excitement, as you
know; jnst crazy with the idea of gold
in California. Thousands are seeking
for information about how 10 get there.
what to do. where to find the gold.
Now for my plan. I've had q speci-
men lump of gold prepared. weighing
twenty-five pounds. No sham. sir
real gold. You can depend upon IL;
can bring you all the certificates you
want to convince you of the fact
But. interrupted. twenty-five
poundsi ] never heard of so large
piece being found
aback at this and asked what was the
largest piece had heard of. replied.
Seven ounces; but ii had not reached
San francisco when left
"'Seyen ouncesr exclaimed he
Why. that is too small. Every man
who is going out expects 10 pick up
rocks of i'll Seven ouncesl Welt.
wellr
He looked confounded for mo-
ment; then throwing back his shoul-
ders as If TO shake of his disappoint-
ment he rallied to his well-nrrauged
plan. Well. sir. I'll tell you what we
can do. You prepare n short lecture
on the subject, to be delivered in my
lecture room. not over fifteen min-
utes long. better ten. and then be
prepared to answer questions (they'il
be sure to come thick and fasD about
the different routes. the mining. wages.
means and cost " of living; just how TO
do it. you understand. We will have
small table on the stage. with my
twenty-five-pound lump of gold on it.
AS you are talking you can handle it;
just pass your hand over it now and
then-and-and-I wouldn't have you
tell a lie about it for anything. Mr..
Gilman-but if-you see-they get the
idea that that's the kind of Jumps they
A - Il