Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican/Volume 2/Book 6/Appendix 1 and 2

 

APPENDIX.

 

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METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN CALIFORNIA

Mr. T. Butler King was furnished by Surgeon General Lawson, United States Army, with the following thermometrical observations:

At San Francisco, by Assistant Surgeon W. U. Parker, for six months, embracing the first quarter of 1847, and the first quarter of 1848. The monthly mean temperature was as follows: October, 57°; November, 49°; December, 50°; January, 49°; February, 50°; March, 51°.

At Monterey, in latitude 36° 38' north, and longitude 121° west, on the coast, about one degree and a half south of San Francisco, by Assistant Surgeon W. S. King, for seven months, from May to November inclusive. The monthly mean temperature was: May, 56°; June, 59°; July, 62°; August, 59°;• September, 58°; October, 60°; November, 56°.

At Los Angeles, latitude 34° 7', longitude west 118° 7', by Assistant Surgeon John S. Griffin, for ten months, from June, 184?-, to March, 1848, inclusive. The monthly mean temperature was: June, 73°; July, 74°; August, 75°; September, 75°; October, 69°; November, 59°; December 60°; January, 58°; February, 55°; March, 58°. This place is about forty miles from the coast.

At San Diego, latitude 32° 45', longitude west 117° 11', by Assistant Surgeon J. D. Summers, for the following three months of 1849, viz: July, monthly mean temperature, 71°; August, 75°; September, 70°.

At Suttersville, on the Sacramento river, latitude 38° 32' north, longitude west 121° 34', by Assistant Surgeon R. Murray, for the following months of 1849. July, monthly mean temperature 73°; August, 70°; September, 65°; October, 65°. These observations show a remarkably high temperature at San Francisco during the six months from October to March, inclusive; a variation of only eight degrees in the monthly mean, and a mean temperature for the six months of fifty-one degrees. At Monterey we find the mean monthly temperature from May to November, inclusive, varying only six degrees, and the mean temperature of the seven months to have been 58°. If we take the three summer months the mean heat was 60°. The mean of the three winter months was a little over 49°; showing a mean difference, on that part of the coast, of only 11° between summer and winter.

The mean temperature of San Francisco, for the three winter months, was precisely the same as at Monterey—a little over 49°.

As these cities are only about one degree and a half distant from each other, and both situated near the ocean, the temperature at both, in summer, may very reasonably be supposed to be as nearly similar as the thermometer shows it to be in winter. The mean temperature of July, August, and September, at San Diego, only 3° 53' south of Monterey, was 72°. The mean temperature of the same months at Monterey was a little over 59°; showing a mean difference of 13°.

At Los Angeles, 40 miles distant from the coast, mean temperature for the three summer months was 74°; of the three autumn months, 67°; and three winter months, 57°. At Suttersville, 130 miles from the sea, and 4° north of Los Angeles, mean temperature of August, September and October, was 67°. Mean temperature of same months at Monterey, 59°; making a difference of 8° between the coast and the interior, on nearly the same parallel of latitude.

 

APPENDIX No. 2.

 

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The following statement of the amount of California gold deposited at all the United States Mints, comprising those of Philadelphia, New Orleans, Charlotte, and Dahlonega, from the opening of the mines, or discovery of the metal, until the 30th of the month of September, 1851, is taken from the memoranda of Robt. Patterson Esq., of Philadelphia, son of the late Director of the Mint.

 

	Philadelphia.	New Orleans.	Charlotte.	Dahlonega.	Total.
For the year1848	44,177	1,124			45,301
””1849	5,481,439	669,921			6,151,360
””1850	31,667,505	4,575,567		30,025	36,273,097
9 months of1851	31,300,105	6,310,462	12,805	70,925	37,694,297
Totals	$68,493,226	$11,557,074	$12,805	$100,950	$80,164,055

The total production of California gold since its discovery is doubtless over one hundred millions of dollars in value, which, according to official data in my possession, is equal to nearly one half the total coinage of this country in gold, silver, and copper, since its separation from Great Britain. To the $80,164,055 received at the U. S. Mints, as shown above, must be added large amounts received here, and consumed by jewellers, dentists, &c.; considerable amounts shipped from San Francisco directly to other countries; the gold coinage and circulation in California itself, including the $50 pieces stamped by the U. S. Assayer; the shipments received here since the 1st of October, amounting, in New York alone, to about $5,000,000, and all the gold dust now in the hands of miners and merchants on the Pacific side. It will be a fair estimate, therefore, to set down the entire production, up to the close of 1851, at $120,000,000, at least.