The St. Charles herald., 1885-11-28
GOLD DIGGING.


Uneducated Men Who Received More Harm
Than Good from the Acquisition OF
Wealth.
The more the element of chance
enters into the acquisition of money,
the greater is the harm it does the man
who gains 1t. This probably is the
reasonably gold-digging seldom ele-
vates,9 either morally or materially,
those who follow it. 1t demands of
the digger enterprise, perseverance,
toll and indifference to hardship, quail
tiles the exercise of which should
make a man Of him. Yet the ''luck"
associated with the business seems fatal
to manly virtues and permanent pros
perlty.
The digger may toll for weeks with
ont "raising the color" and all the
time he sees his neighbor of the next
.'claim" washing out an ounce of gold
to the pan. The view is not likely to
eradicate his natural envy or covetous-
ness. On the other hand, he may, by
few days of prospecting, wander
ing over the barren hills, with dom
key for companion and BURDEN
bearer, stumble upon fortune. In
most cases the find tempts the finder
to add another to the thousands of
illustrations of the fact that that which
is gained without labor is spent with
out thought.
A gentleman of large experience in
the Australian gold fields says that al
most the only instance he ever knew
where an uneducated man did not re-
ceive more harm than good from find
ing gold. was the following:
A man who, had been a few months
in the colony, and had supported HIM
self by digging in a garden, went up to
the 'diggings." He knew nothing OF
mining, and could hardly tell quartz
from common rock. Within two weeks
he stumbled upon a nugget Of pure
gold, weighing seventy ounces. That
very day he started back to the coast,
as il in q hurry TO get away from the
mining district. On reaching a sea-
port. he engaged passage for England
son the first boat. and went home to
enjoy the profits Of his brief mining ex-
pedition.
AS an Offset to this rare case, the
gentleman mentions several cases in
which men were ruined by their sud-
denly acquired wealth. -Four sober,
industrious men worked claim in
partnership. They struck gold. and in
few weeks took out one hundred
thousand dollars apiece. But in two
years three out of the four died drunk
ards, and the fourth lost every penny
Of his fortune by prospecting for gold
and buying Improbable claims.
A blacksmith dabbled in mining, and
got into debt One day he struck gold.
He worked on. and was soon in the re-
ceipt Of twenty-five hundred dollars a
day. His claim cont nued to ''pan
OUT better and better, until no one,
not even himself, knew how much he
was worth The man had the stuff in
him out of which noble character
might have been formed. He taught
himself to read and write, and for a
season went onward fitting himself to
become good citizen and safe man
| of business.
But madness was in his blood. He
took to wild speculation in gold mines,
set up a racing stud, "bulled' or
cleared the wheat market. and went
into every thing which admitted OF
gambling. The nervous styain tempted
him to brace himself with stimulants.
He became drunkard, and in few
years was gazetted as bankrupt
The young man who by industry
and sclf-denial saves his first one
thousand dollars-John Jacob Astor
said it cost him more to gain that sum
than it did to acquire the rest of his
fortune--is prepared to carry steadily,
without losing his head, the ten or
twenty thousand which he may get
afterward.
A few years ago a young man of
Boston was the marvel of his friends
His mercantile ventures turned out q
large profit. Whatever he touched,
stocks or merchandise, turned into
gold. Young men pointed him out as
the envied one, and crafty mothers
with marriageable daughters viewed
him as ''catch' to be worked for.
But old merchants shook their heads.
Knowing that it requires as much self
control and wisdom to keep fortune
as to gain one, they looked to see il
this young Napoleon of the street was
moved by mercantile head or a
gamblers rashness. Within four years
from the time that his name was a
synonym for success, he was bank
rupk -Y0utts Companion.
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