THE LOWER CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH.

Otago Witness, Issue 956, 16 May 1889, Page 11

THE LOWER CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH.

The Lower Californiau gold excitement still continues, and hundreds of people are now on the road there to add to the numbers already on the ground." ; 'The f steamers from San Diego are crowded with gold-hunters and the 'road from TTa Juana.is lined with team's loaded with pro.vistons men on their way to the mines. The trains from' Los gouthward are crowded, and the excitement seems to have been imparted 'Jo^all'blasßes'orpe^pleJp the southern part 0$ t 'Knowri!!&s fh^.is 1 fi6r»,^^ma£:s M Ciamp, as, .prcfvMibns and' all nebe&arj& ) ' v are; y^ry high 'in < 'ffice.' 1 ; p'eWsfi?oin t^etewarna pootmen

is said, last but a' few* weeks, 'and, though cqtißiderable gold tias beerLtakeii Mb, many persons agree that, tHe' account haye 1 ' been much eiafcgerated. Threie qua^t'z mine?, 'with good prospects, have .been foon'd f Vithin six, or eight fafiek of the placers. The Mexicans arid fliidiahis^ are not 'working wiih'water; bat; are scraping Around in, the crevices in the rock. They dig bat a large hole 'to bedrock, then scratch in the dirt with spoony Jornaggeta.' On the 'dther hancl, the Americans use a rocker and gold-pan, or in the. absence 1 of a rocker,' the pan alone. Water is not , plentiful/ and before long dry washers' will have to be used. t Mr F. J. Shemler, who visited the oamp recently, says that the gulches are nothing more than ' watercourses, which are perfectly dry in the summer, but in the winter are /often raging torrents; " The beds of these streams" are composed,of black sand", gravel, and boulders washed down' from the mountain's.' The mod) successful'miners are Mexicans, , jwhp* 1 'simply work among the boulders, gathering the Cqarsa gold, and the majority are mSking money!.. The gold found ia^he 1 gulches is either float or scale cold, and there, is every indication that it has been washed from the mountains at the heiad ef the gulches. A number of quartz claims have been located on either tide of the creeks, but the most important ledge hWbeen discovered at the head of American gulch, and located by miners in the employ of a San Francisco mining com- . pany. 'Eight fine specimens show good samples of wire gold, while the remaining ones are finemilling tire. The veins thus far opened up show good milling ore to a depth of 10ft, the ledge baying a pitch, of 42£deg. The camp is fast filling up with a class of men. who 1 have just about money enough to get into camp with, and as they know nothing about mining, 1 they soon become discouraged. In his opinion, there are good mines in the new district; but the precious metal will be found in the mountains in goldbearing rock, which it will take capital to work. The first money spent must be for water, and after thte is' done stamp-mills will have to be erected. He expects to return to the mines at once, secure a water-right for his company, and then erect a mill and commence work. Mr Shemler advises all poor men and those not practical miners to remain away, at least for the present^ as proyiaiipns are scarce, and every inch of ground is taken where there is the least prospect of securing gold in the placer diggings. A party which returned Ensenada to Los Angeles recently say that the whole excitement has been arranged by colonisation and railroad companies. There is no doubt, however, about gold having been found in both placers and quartz. There is little doubt, too, that the richness of the district has been exaggerated. Miners who have returned bring disoouraging reports, and say that in a short time the homeward pilgrimage will commence.