Year: 1869

DEAR JOURNAL As preface to NV letter
suffer me to describe this ancient aud honorable
Institution known as the pest-house. together
with its inmates: The building was formerly
used as dollhouse secondly as a place where
the employees OF Mr.. McGilliyray were wont to
congregrate at evening, after the days toll, to
smoke, chew tobacco and gas. For the last four
months We have been running it as a pest-house
We opened with six cases discharged several
and admitted four new ones up to this date
The life of the concern left us about three weeks
ago. We nailed guide-board on his head and
started him for home. He says he will cross the
plains next summer bringing with him drove
of bottle-nose whales, provided the Mississippi
river is low enough to ford. The inmates of the
pest-house are composed of men who dare bet
their last copper on any assertion they may
make. Holy writ and the constitution are their
strong suits Yes, they wond stop Eternity S
log-cart in a mud-hole and dispute with Paul,
the Apostle on the constitutionality of the great
plan of salvation then bet him box of cigars
that be would be in Stockton unatic asylum in
less than month, | am the only Christian OF
the lot Of course, you tell one of them so and
he would guffaw right in your face. But the
coming generation those Juveniles that are
going to approve and applaud the administra-
tion of Andy Johnson will do me the credit to
say as much, if they do not slaughter themselves
trying to be born big. Gas point and Macky gulch
have furnished the nurses, and must say, the
boys have been kind and good. had almost
forgotten to say Uncle Gideon, of Parks bar,
never failed to come down once q week. The
attaches of the institution one old hen with
six chickens, and a pet lamb shat buns his liv-
ing by sucking every COW on the ranch.


Now for the mines McGillivray's ditch is
full of water, night and day, and every drop in
steady use, and still the supply deficient. H. c.
Wilt is mining night and day, and says his claim
will pay better than it did last season, and then
it was admitted to be the best claim ir this sec
ton. He has not cleaned up yet. Below him,
on the same bar, Brown Berber are opening a
claim, with fair, very fair, prospects.
They are working time about, Brown Berber
work davtimes, and Berber 4 Brown work
nights Thus with what they do at odd spells,
and on Sundays, they manage to put through
considerable dirt. Brown says painful of
muddy water, boiled down and well skinned,
will Weld three dolars-and Brown never exag-
gerates; no, sir, he is too good Republican
for that. Somebody tell him he lies-if they
want their head to come in contact with a swing
ing limb. should like very much to see Brown
do we'll if it were only to see how many black
cats he would sport at a time. Charles Whit
lock mot Whitmore) is prospecting on the same
bench where your humble servant is at work.
The claim in which am at work (the Humbug-
rightly named. no doubt is located on Poriu-
gesr fiat, Il few hundred yards above McGilliv-
rav'S house We have not done enough work
vet, to know how our diggings will pay but
grub diegings, with no divorce suits hanging
over vour carcass are not to he sneezed at these
times. The Blow hard claim, Gas point
fnow the individual individuals who gave
that locality its name must have known what
they were about) is all that it has been repre-
sc1ied-a rur of eleven days paving 5000 This
claim consumes the last of the water from Nc
-: I ..i, 7
what know-there is not one claim in the Red
hill country but what is Yielding largely. The
Northfork country has suffered for want of water
thus far, with but little hope for supply this
as0n in fact. it is, sea son 5 mining, lost TO
most of the BOYS.


Speaking of bitches, is there not enterprise
enough in Wcaverville to supply that basin with
water from some source? Cannot the water of
Canyon creek he brought in to Weaver basin
cheaper than the Stewards fork water? do not
know, but think the Flowers fiume would
almost reach the Oregon gulch divide. Only
think of the diggiugs it would cover on the
route aud then II branch could be extended up
to Evans bar, covering some of the best mining
ground in the comfy say. why cannot Wea-
vervle the county-as every individual in
the county must he more or less interested in
the mafter-do what one man alone has done :?
There is McGilivray, without any particular
srlurrc about it has completed his uitch at cost
of $50 900 or S25, 900 and cannot that it
has affected his health happiness; in fact
every thing glides along as smoothly as usual
Politically he may be getting worse, but for the


life Of me | cannot that the ditch had any
thing TO do with it.


Like my old friend Uncle Snort's locality, the
small pox has completely wiped out the last
vestige of politics. The great calamity has that
far done good Not a word politically and not
an aspirant for Office down this way, that know
of


1t has been n long time since have had a
chat with the readers of the Journal, and this
being my first squb under the new dispensaton,
shall close my letter by volunteering little
advice to all of you, individually and collect


lively: Never quarrel with any body, never get
angry and dispute over small matters with any
mnn-its cheaper to keep your internal mouths
shut! "JAcINTo."