The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-04-30

people.
Gold coin was abundant and varied. II
consisted of Mexican and South American
doubloons and half doubloons, passing at
SIC and SIS respectively; Engligh sovereigns.
rated at So; 2o-frane pieces. valued at 81;
Mormon eagles and half eagles. 20 per cent
light, but accepted at their face value;
United States double, single, half and quar-
ter eagles. and a large amount of the pri-
vae coinage Of Sehultze, Baldw Moffat
and others, authorized by the Government
and embracing fifty (octagonaD, twenty.
ten ana five dollar pieces without alloy. A
few hundred dollar disks we're coined. but
they were too pOndeTOus for the pocketand
never got into general circulation. The $50
Octagonal slug, however, was in common
use and is SIN Obtainable. 1t is OCCASION
ally to be met with in the windows of money!
brokers in the East as well as in San Fran
cisco, and may be had for four or five dol
lars above its gold value.
TIE silver coinage consisted of the mint
ages OF almost every prominent nation of
Europe and the Americas. Nor little the
wonder since English snillngs French
francs and debased German and Austrian
coins, intrnscally worth from IL to II
cents, were accepted as the equivalent of
the American quarter of a dollar. They
were even received at the banks at their
popular value, and it was not until two or
three years later, when they began 10 be
shipped to California in large quantities,
that the worst OF them were finally discred.
tied.
But. light and overyalued, as the most of
the silver coin was, it suddenly became in
conveniently scarce in the spring of 1850
The gamblers found it difficult to keen
their tables supplied with it, and the
pinch of gold dust again came into vogue
in many OF the mining towns in satisfaction
81 Decent obligations. The effects of the
silver famine were felt in San Francisco,
but were somewhat less observable there
IMAM IN SACRAMENTO, stockton, MarySyiIle
and other interior localities, where mer-
chants were, in some instances, compelled
to open accounts with their cash CUSTOM
ers, being unable to furnish change where
small purchases were made.
Nv hat has become of the silver ?" was
q general question which no one seemed TO
be able TO satisfactorily answer Some as
serted That the miners were boarding it.
others that the banks we're sequesteripr in
their vaults, and still others that The gam
0ters we're secrettng it with the view of
compelling the use Of gold alone at their
table. But the real cause of the disappear
ance OF very considerable portion of the
silver that had been in circulation remained
n secret with few miners and their friends
Tor number of years. and has never 10 nv
knowledge been given to the public How
the writer became possessed of it will be re-
lated farther on.
The originator and principal promoter of
the silver famine referred to was Amos
Dalrymple-- lie had been veterinary sur
geOn IN Pennsylvania, the State of his
nativity, and was sometimes known as DR..
Dalrymple. He was tall, raW-boned and
muscular with arms isproportiOnatelv
long, aud legs that seemed TO have been
warned or violently wrencheQ ont of shane
His face was rugged. with square Jaws,
high cheek bones, and large, restles gray
eyes. These bits OF personal description
cannot well ba dovetailed into a handsome
man, but when he spoke people were ant to
forget his ungainly shape. He was well
educated and possessed a large fund of gen.
rTM Information, which he was able to i'm
part effectively. But he was better talker
than listener, and too intolerant OF contra
dietion 10 be at all times agreeable.
He was among the earlier Of the Califor-
MIA pioneers Of 1S49, landing in San Fran
cisco in July of that year from around Cane
Horn. He was nearly 90 years Of age when
lie reached the Pacific Coast, but few
younger men were harder or better pre-
pared 10 encounter the hardships of an out
door life. Strong inducements were offered
him TO remain In San Francisco, but he had
theories of his own in regard to the origin
and deposition of gold and resoluteIY pro-
ceeded up the Sacramento River and thence
tu the mines.
He went first TO the American River and
then 10 the Yuba, mining on both streams
Exactly where he found the most of his
gold l am unable to say, but when be
visited Sacramento and San Francisco
cary IN the spring OF 1850 he certainly had
~ las possession or at his command a very
large amount of gold dust-how much NAV
be approximately inferred from what he
succeeded in accomplishing with il.
Whatever may have been his purpose on
leaving the mountains, whether to return
10 the Atlantic States with his treasure or
convert 1t into some other commodity GER
tan It is that his sudden acquisition of
wealth had strangely affected his reason.
and that when he arrived in Sacramento he
was a monomaniae on the subject Of gold.
lie had probably found 1t in such large
quantities and secured il with so little
labor that he was LED to the wild conclusion
nat the metal could not long maintain its
~ sting value in relation TO silver.
1T may be remarked that many miners
believed at that time, and later, that the
gold found so abundantIy in the beds and
bars OF the streams had been washed down
from immense deposits higher up in the
nils, and that when these mother veins or
supply sources we're discovered the pur-
chasing power of the yellow metal would
be very greatly diminished
ms opinion was entertained In an ex-
aG9erated form by Dalrymple Having Sc
cured large amount of gold speedily and
without great effort he not only believed
that the placer mines would yield the metal
eXtraFagantly with the increase in mining
population promised by the immigration of
that year, but was insanely sure that some
where near the summit of the mountains it
would be found in quantities as plentiful as
IRON, and that silver would become the more
valuable metal of the two
lie gave full credence to the Gold Lake
fiction. which was then taking many hun
creds OF miners northward, all of whom ex-
leeted to return in few months with their
animals packed with gold dust. The story
was TO the effect that somewhere near the
head waters of the Klamath, or some other
stream IN the extreme northern part OF Cal
llornla, a lake had been discovered the
sands on the shores of which were almost
ciean gold ready for sackiug 1t is thought
mat the story originated with one Thomas
Stoddard, an erratic miner, who gath
cred some vague information concerning
the mythical lake from conversation over
heard by him through a tent on BidweiIs
bar. II is not improbable that the imagin-
airy deposit was described for the benefit of
StoddaTd alone, but so many lives we're lost
IN searching for it that the authors Of
me hoax never deemed ii advisable to ae-
knowledge their share in the unfortunate
deception. l met StOddard for the first and
last time in 1854, when he had on exhibition
at the Mechanics Fair in San Francisco a
model of mountain hOWitZer screwed TO-
gelner In sections. He had lost none of his
lalth m Gold Lake. and was about to re-
sumo his search for il among the several
mountain sources Of Pitt River.
Although Dalrymple was a firm believer
Ntu VI 9tOuuHiu 5IOTY OIL tJUl0
Lake and the thousands of tons Of gold
laved oy Its waters, he had no desire to
snare ~ the spoil OF the amazing discovery.
lie mad gold enough. What he wanted was
silver, ana on reaching Sacramento ne be-
gan 10 quietly and adrOtly acquire it by
every means On the pretense of being a
mountain merchant he first secured ali the
silver the banks would consent 10 exchange
Tor gold, Offering a premium for it when
otherwise unattainable. He next anniied
10 the gam bling-tabes, but silver could be
had there only by winning it, he know
nothing about gambling, but it was not DIM
cult TO find others To play for him. The
story has frequently been told OF The FREAK
Of drunken sailor who in the course Of a
few hours won and carried off nearly all the
silver on the Sacramento ganbing-tables.
He had fair run of luck He made his
bets ID gold. but would accept nothing but
silver IN their payment He was hunnred,
and went from table to table, winning
all the silver in sight, until he finally
required the assistance Of two men in carry
ing it. 1t was generally thought that the
silver with which be retired represented his