The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-07-31

OIL CLIHBING UNTlINS.
hundrcds of Barrels LoSt--.ycts Of Oil Fly
q 80 Ing Twenty Feet High. ~

| ahS IWchtS Feet High. ~
;, IFrom the clinton Dcmocrat]
John Ward. one OF the Watchmcn on
duty during the filling Of the now oil
pipe line, gives the following account
Of what nc saw: The line Gro osscs
liinor's run, or is head waters, at II
place called McClurc's Springs. Here
there is Il hollow or depression in the
ground. From this place to the resi-
dcncc of Mr.. Holding, son,o six miles
beyond, there is gradual rise; this
the oil had to climb after passing the
hollow at the spring. | was. told to
watch well this hollow, as tho oil had
assembled tho Kettle Greek Mountain
and was coming. l repaired to tho
hollow and lay some hours there, when
| heard a sound like 4 heavy wind,
and presently heard tho oil gurgling
past. waited some time. There was
no leakage, and all seemed perfect. l
left my position and passed along to
sec If II was all right ahead. | had
gone about two miles when | received
a. despatch TO watch well the hollow,
and not to leave it for some time; SO
|, hastcncd back. Imagine my aston
ishment when | saw the place / had
left Il short time before now Kissing at
ten thousand points. Jets OF oil were
flying twenty feet high, and hundreds
of barrels flowing down liners Run,
never to see market. :
l thought the pipe was DESTROYED.
At first was afraid to approach it, but
soon grew boldcr, and set to work to
stop the leak. made poor hcatlway.
1t was a dark night, and | dared have
no light. ! had taken Off my coat, the
whizzing oil carried away my hat, and
L very soon became thoroughly drcnch-
ed with oil. My pockets and my hair
and eyes were full. ut length grow
sick, and supposed l would have to
give up, and that all would be lost,
when all at once the whizzing stopped,
and, instead OF an out-pressure,
could hear an in-drawing-a suction
of air. now realized the fact that tho
oil had all this time been climbing the
up grade to Mr.. holdings, but was
now on the descent for Pine Bottom
Run. This caused suction, and rc-
lievcd the hollow at the springs.
again waited some time, when
received a despatch to hasten to Iancy-
vile, as the pipe was bursting. / got
II horse and went with all speed.
When arrived the people there were
greatly excited. The pipe was throb-
bing and whizzing ut every pore. The
oil was spouting from the pipe for
miles. l made no attempt to calk. |
knew from my experience at McClurc's
Springs that the oil had reached and
was climbing the high mountain be-
fore Pine Creek, bit the pressure was
so great that | feared every moment
the pipes would burst.
Here was a force against which
him
we only stood and looked on, when
suddenly, as qui TX as though, MI
commotion ceased, except Il sucking
rapidly along the pipc, and knew it
was speeding on it's way to Williams
climb.
FIND1Na Il BIa CHtNK OF GOLD.
An Americans Experience In Australia.
One day while I was at work in the
drift one Of our party who was baling
i'll the shaft said
"There's something big happened up
above, Tom; hear Il great buZzing an'
shouting" '.
"pcrhaps it is fight" suggested
as stuck my pick into the soil and un-
carthcd nugget as large as q walnut.
"Perhaps it is q find, ,'suggcstcd my
mate.
"rhcrc is a find herc," 1 said as, I
crawlcd out of the drift and exhibited
the nugget had just taken out. Then
L heard the clamor also; it was like the
murmW of distant waves. We shook
the rope, and rccciI us no answer to
our signal concluded that something
important had happened as our mates
above had evidently left the windlass.
a moment later a shadow appeared
above and Bills voice was heard shout
ing:
"Come up, boys, and sec the big
find"
"Nhcrc is it?' asked on reaching
the surface; but scarcely needed to
ask, for it must be where the crowd
was collected, some fifty miles distant
from our claim. The crowd was large
and every moment e"sing, but be-
ing brawny and broad shouldercd |
pushed my way through it, and was
almost overwhelmed with astonish-
mcnt with the sight which greeted my
vision; il wasnta nugget, it was Il
bowldcr. No wonder that the miners
| "StC CACltCu. IIlc SpCCttClC WAS
enough to excite the most phclgmatic
individual that ever brcathcd.
1t wasa solid mass Of goldas large or
larger than q leg Of mutton, and not
unlike one in shape. This was the
mass which has since =, como widely
known us the welcome nugget. a .tac
$'mite oft may now be seen in the min
cral department. Of the Boston Museum
Of Natural History, where the weight
is given as 2, ,166 or. and the value as
$ll .S12.70; the further information is
impaired that the nugget was the lnrg-
est piece of gold ever found. This is
an error. n larger nugget was found
at Bcndigo lead Oh February 8, 1869 !;
it weighed 1S9lbs. 1 o., Troy, or o.
269 on.
lhad been mentally congratulatiGSs
myself on tho discovery Of a nugget rs
large as a walnut; but the sight Of this
mass ofgold took all the conccit out of
me. Nevertheless, | was glad that the
nugget had been found, for The claim
from which it was taken was right in
| fhn f1trnnf ;np ~, >,,l,;,I, ,,,o ..xo,o