She
writes: "I never felt so lonesome in my life; I never worked so hard,
but have never been so happy; money comes in so fast that we do not know
what to do with it. At first, when there was no bank, we were obliged to
hide the money in all parts of the house, and we were in constant
terror. We had paper money, silver money, gold money, gold dust, and
every form of currency that can be imagined hidden all over the house;
and as the town was full of people who were without money, and who would
not hesitate to cut one's throat for a dollar, we did not have a single
moment free from anxiety. Early in the winter we did succeed in sending
a number of thousands of dollars to Seattle, and were very much relieved
when we received a receipt from the bank.
"The transportation companies are swindlers. They are persuading
thousands of people to come to this awful country who will never be able
to go back, and all for the sake of making the profit on
transportation.
[Illustration]
"Flour that we had shipped from Seattle, and which cost over $5 per
barrel, cost as much more for freight to this place. But as we sold it
for over $40 a barrel before it left the dock, we had nothing to
complain of; and it was very poor flour at that, not fit for bread, and
hardly suitable for the plainest kind of cooking.
"As for our restaurant, we started it with the idea of giving people
good home cooking, and we can hardly serve the people, they come so
fast.
Pages:
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36