James Mason Hutchings, an English-born author
and editor, published in 1853 a gold-rush letter sheet called "The
Miner's Ten Commandments." A letter sheet is a type of illustrated
stationery that can be folded to form a self-made envelope. Hutchings
sold more than one hundred thousand copies of his "Commandments" in
just one year.
The First Commandment was simple and direct. It reflected
a stipulation found in many actual mining codes: "Thou shalt
have no other claim than one."
The Sixth Commandment was a bit
more complex but just as important: "Thou
shalt not kill thy body by working in the rain.... Neither shalt
thou kill thy neighbor's body in a duel.... Neither shalt thou suck
through a straw...nor gurgle from a bottle...."
The Eighth Commandment was the toughest: "Thou
shall not steal a pick, or a pan, or a shovel, from thy fellow miner,
nor take away his tools without his leave...for he will be sure to
discover what thou hast done, and will straightaway call his fellow
miners together, and if the law hinder them not they will hang thee,
or give thee fifty lashes, or shave thy head and brand thee like
a horse thief with 'R' upon thy cheek."
