The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1880-06-09
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"A CHUNK. OF GOLD.

Am Americans F:xperteince tHl Australia.
One day while / was at work in the
drift, one of our party, who was bailng
in the shaft, said: g..asF sai - .is.a
There's something big happened a9
above, Tom; 1 hear a great buzzing and
BhoutlngsIlss 1907 asza3 u0v svaH
Perhaps it's fight" | suggested, as
] struck my pick in the soil and u115
earthsd q niigget al. big as d walnut 8
sfSPerhaps it's fine, ," suggested my
1TRerejs q find here,'' said, as !
tfa%led 6ut of tie drift afid exhibited
the nugget T had Just taken out. Then
Iheard Interchangeable; it was. like the
ntufnitir of distant, waves We shook
the f6pe, and, receiving no answer to our
Signal; concluded that something impor-
tant had happened, as our mates above
had eVidehtly .1eftythe Windiass. A ff1os
menJ later a shadow appeared above; and
/ lBilPsvoiee was heard shouting: sa
( ."Cbnie Up, boys, aid see the big fitid."
"Where is itY'I / asked, on reaching
the surface; but I scarcely needed to
ask, for it must be where the crowd was
collected, sonic fifty yards distant FROM
our claim. The crowd was large, and
HfGiY T. EHlOI1GtltT l1CIGd61llGsa4 JlAt .DGlll2
brawny and bfdad=shotildefed, / pushed
my way through it, and was almost over
whelmed with astonishment at the sight
that greeted my vision; it wasn't a mug
get; it was a bowlder. No wonder that
the miners were excited. The spectacle
was enough to excite the most phleg-
matte individual that ever breathed.
1t was solid mass Of gold as large OF
larger than aleg of mutton, and not un-
like one in shape. This was the mass
which bias since been widely known as
the "WclcOme Nugget" A facsimile of
it may now be seen in the mineral de-
partment of the Boston Museum of Nat
ilral History, where the weight is given
at 3, 165 ounces, and the value at SILL
822.70; the further. Information is Inn
parted that the nugget is the largest
piece of gold ever found. This is an
error. A larger nugget was found at
Bendlgo lead OH February 9, 1863. 1t
weighed 189 pounds one ounce Troy, or
?, ,260 ounces. se r..f.e-. .... .....r
| had been mentally Congratdlating
myself OH The. discovery of a nugget as
large as a walnut,-bu the sight Of all
this mass of gold took all the conceit out
Of me. Nevertheless, I was glad the
nugget had been found, for the claim
from which It was taken was right in the
direction in which we were Working and
our claim wassdaily growing richer in
ore alBasgqn 20 .a'1afA .sfuRd97sH
1.-The welcome Nugget, as large as it
was, did not enrich its finders, for there
were twelve, shareholders in it. and it
brought them less than $1,000 apiece.
It would have been a lucky find for a
couple of mates, The man who dug it
out tainted dead away before he In
earthed it, When his pick first struck
it, he reached out his hand to pick up
the lump; the light from his candle
shone upon it and revealed its nature.
To his surprise it did, not yield to his
touch. Then be began to feel around it
with his hands, and, it grew in size un-
der his exploring Adigits: He gave it a
wrench, but it did not bulge Selling
his pick; he began to dig around it, and
as its proportions grew under his eye the
spectacle overcame- him, and he tainted
for iOysssiy4sa 8uivfb on srsv srsE7T