Year: 1867

EDITOR CHRONICLE For the past few
days we have had bright, beautiful weather !;
the sky has been clear, and the sun, for the
frs, time in several weeks, has once more
sent his smiling rays to enliven and cheer
the people of California. Never in the mem
orv of the .oldest inhabitant" have we had
so severe season; It is next to impossible to
travel in the interior, and for this reason I
suppose it is, that the city has been so dull
and dreary. We have been most emphati-
cally Iained in. and few have even dared to
venture out into the deluged country How
ever February is proverbially a pleasant
month, and the weather-wise say this will
be no exception to the rule. I sincerely hope
beats anything save the latest fashions in fe-
male apparel. San Francisco is gay town
on pleasant day. Montgomery street, the
Broadway of this city. is thronged from morn
till late at night with the beauty and fashion
of the Pacific coast. People come here from
all sections of the country. while every steam
er gives us fresh importations from the At
lantic States. When the Pacific Railroad is
completed, thousands of our countrymen will
come over h continent to enjoy the exquis-
ite climate Of San Francisco. Travellers pirate
3! Of Italian skies, the majestic mountains and
beautiful bays of Europe. but California can
eclipse the world in the grandeur of her
mountain scenery, the geniality of her eli
mate, and the magnitude of her harbor. The
Mammoth Grove of Calaveras, the Yosemite
Valley. the snowy mountains. and above all,
our warm, clear blue skies, will attract the
rich and adventurous to our shores, and make
this State the Eden in which will be found
all that can tempt the luxurious and console
the invalid. We have waited long and pa
tiently for the promised day, but the good
time" is surely coming. The railroad interests
of the State are rapidly progressing. Capt.
talists are beginning to discover that We are
behind the times in material prosperity, and
that, unless the country is netted with rails
it will be impossibl to develop the vast re-
sources of the State. The great West has
become populated and prosperous through
the energy of railroad men. Cities have
grown up along the track lands have sud-
denly increased in value, the products of the
soil are sold at the farmers door, and prices
are only less the freight from what is paid in
seaboard cities. Such a Winter as we are
now having ought to prove to the most skep-
teal how important it is that California
should foster the railroad interest; and yet a
few months ago it was almost as much as a
man S political life was worth to advocate in
ternal Improvements. While the war was
progressing capitalists were making so much
money out of the Government currency that
they had no time to devote to California but
now that source of profit is in measure cut
off, they are turning their attention to our
own unbounded resources, and find that
rapid and cheap transportation will enable
our farmers and miners to produce an almost
incredible amount of grain and gold. A rail-
road running from Stockton to Copperopolis
and Campo Seco would be the making of
iOnSl iuuSo VI COppCl VIC COulu
then be shipped, and thousands of dollars be
added to the taxable property in the county


a few prosperous years would enable our
people to wipe out the debt which hangs like
an incubus upon her, and place her among
the richest of our mining counties. l hear
your quartz mines often spoken Of and think
there will be quite rush there this Spring :;
few counties offer better inducements than
yours. You have mines of untold richness
which have scarcely been opened. much less
prospected. There is a new field for opera


tions, where enterprising men, with little
money, may secure fortune. Quartz min


ing, properly conducted, is not more hazard


Gus than any other kind of business. If men


would 90 into the mines and judge for them
selves, and prospect claim thoroughly be


fore thcy erect machinery, there would lie
fewer failures, and far more gold PRODUCED


Experience is a severe teacher, and the les
sons it has taught should warn our people
from sending their money abroad to be squan-
dercd by reckless spectators in distant and
barren regions, when we have more mines
within our own borders than can be worked
within the next century. Few of our mines
are more than two days pleasant travel from
San Francisco, and could thus be almost
constantly brought under the very eyes of
/ capitalists. Self-interest dictates that we
should develop our own wealth first, and
then we can go abroad in order to ge; rid Of
our surplus capital have sometimes tho't
1t would be a good idea for each of the quartz
mining counties to have an agency in San
Francisco, where specimens from the differ
ent mines could always be found and correct
and useful information be impaired. Few
counties but have representatives living here
who would cheerfully perform such services
as would be required of them. Perhaps it
would be well for the State to appoint a
Metallurgi>t, who should reside here, whose
business it would be to collect and preserve
minerals and thus We should soon get cab
met of metals which would be invaluable


and at the same time be able to show to cap
ltailStS anu stranSefs at glance, the immense
resources of the &C untry. Practical men are
beginning to see the necessity of developing
our quartz mines. They find that property
there is depreciating in value. and that our
population is decreasing. 1t is time tha,
Californians were turning their attention to
California. We should develop her resourc-
es and study her necessities. We should
elect to Congress and the Legislature those