Amos Beebe Eaton

San Francisco, Cal, Nov. 15th 1852

My very dear Love.

By this time I suppose you are fully at work in the scientific pursuits of the Neusselau Institute; & I hope you find there as much to your taste, and yourself as much adapted to their ready acquisition, as was the prospect that you would be the case when in your earlier boyhood you were there.

I trust you executed successfully & handsomely the pleasant task of taking your cousin Louise to Clarkson, & that you had a pleasant visit among your friends in that quarter.

I, a few days since, visited the quicksilver mine & works at New Almaden near San Jose (pronounced Hosay) about 62 miles south of San Francisco. The cinnabar is found near the top of a mountain in entirely irregular veins, beds, wasses [washes] & leads, there are about 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 miles of shafts, chambers, adits, tunnels & other subterranean passages, running up & down, hither & thither, in all possible directions, cutting up the interior of the mountain into a honey-comb char-

[written sideways in left margin and a the top of the page] I shall endeavor to Write Eva by evry [every] mail. My mind is fully made up to have Auther & Ellen join me, if nothing inhertant [inherent] shall prevent their coming. I hope mother will find all right with you & Hacassy – that you & he may not prevent her coming

minus the regularity. A railroad has been recently constructed from the side of the mountain about 900 feet straight into the heart of the mine, by which the ore is brought out to a landing place where it is packed in sacks, in which, on the backs of mules, it is carried down a zigzag road about a mile to the works. The mining is done entirely by Mexican laborers, about thirty of whom we found scattered about in the various parts of the mine, blasting, drilling, carrying the ore to the rail road cars, &c. &c. [etc. etc.] The ore is not pulverised [pulverized] & smelted, but is put into the furnace in large pieces & by the heat the quicksilver is driven off by sublimation, or in a gaseous state, & by being passed through cooling tubes lain in cold water is condensed, running out in a constant stream. The works are now being enlarged & soon these works will be able to turn out a vast amount of metal.

During my absence I visited the San José Mission, where a gentleman named Beard cultivates a very large farm & very large potatoes. The day I dined with him, his wife cooked only one potato for dinner. There were nine (9) grown

people at dinner, & all had as much potato as they wanted & actually ate as much of that vegetable as people usually do, & yet there was enough left for two more persons! That potato was "some pumpkins" if not a Cucurbita. The same gentleman has acres of potatoes whence he is deriving 400 bushels or 24000 pounds per each acre – for them he is now getting 6 cents a pound, or $1440. per acre. I suppose that should you tell this to a farmer about Troy & quote your father as your authority for the facts, he would pity you as being the son of a man who "draws a long bow"

Let me impress upon you, my son, the importance of you taking care to avoid today any those bad colds you so frequently are troubled with – The [they] can be avoided by a little precaution & fine thoughtfulness, & I beg of you take the weaponry care – Use an umbrella, good thick boots, overshoes, overcoats, woolen socks; have the means at hand always of building quickly a good fire. Let these & other means be properly used to keep off those debilitating, eye-weakening, study unfitting colds. Now dont [don't] fail in this – Pray learn to think of all such weaponry every-day, practical, salutary & sanitary things.

I wish very much that you would tell me with considerable minuteness of detail, all about the Institute, your own studies, situation, acquaintances, &c &c [etc. etc.] – Everything concerning you, bear in mind, interests your father; & more that I have nothing to look for but a more protracted absence from you, I do really greatly to be that you will try & make it a point of conscientious duty to keep me fully advised of everything – I have but one son, & he has always been to me, since the day of his birth most preciously dear to my heart I make very great personal sacrifices of happiness in having you so much away from me. But I trust the time will yet come when my heart & life will be every day gladdened by your presence – Be a good man, my son – Listen to the whisperings of conscience, for there is the council-chamber when God meets the man.

Give my respects to Prof. Greene, & Uncle O. & family. Your very loving father

A. B. Eaton

Daniel Cady Eaton

[in right margin] Father. San Francisco Nov. 15th 1852

[in left margin] Recd. [Received] Troy. Dec 13th 1892