The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-09-26

10 perform an act or justice at last.
And the jar of wild plums, with its
train of associations, had been the most
eloquent special pleading of all.
A Virginia Gold Mine.
Thirty odd years ago Mr.. Martin
Nelson was carrying on thriving bust
ness in New York city. This business
occupied most OF his time, but what
leisure he had Mr.. Nelson devoted to
the study of mineralogy and the inves-
tigation of spiritualism and clairvoyance.
What influence his fondness for the lat
ter study had upon his pursuit of the
former it is difficult to say, but Mr..
Nelson soon directed the attention of
the clairvoyants and mediums whom he
consulted toward search for precious
metals, and many and marvellous were
the stories told by the visitors from the
spirit land and by mesmerized "profes-
sors," of concealed treasure in various
parts of the country. The account
which impressed him the most was the
description by a female clairvoyant of
rich vein of gold-bearing rock in Vir
ginia, but she was unable to give all the
particulars necessary to finding of the
hidden wealth. She informed him, how
ever, that one Miller in Newark, N. J.,
could supply the missing links, and
Mr.. Nelson lost no time in looking up
the man. He also was clairvoyant
of superior power and medium of the
first water. Nelson was greatly de-
lighted to hear him describe with
great accuracy of detail the vein, which
appeared in Buckingham county, and
which could be traced to Charlotte
county, where it had its beginning in a
knoll near Charlotte Court House. In
this knoll, at the head of the vein, as
Miller assured Nelson, was "pocket," F"
containing about two million dollars
worth of pure nuggets, some of them as
large as mans head. To make assur-
ance doubly sure, there now appeared a
spirit, who said that in life century
or two ago he had accompanied party
of geologists through that part of the
country, and had discovered this vein,
"pocket" and all, and had marked the
spot with a stone bearing on its surface
some letters. The party, with the sim
gle exception of himself, had afterward
been scalped by the contemporaries of
Pocahontas, and he had never dared to
venture tl-s.t --A,- oso;-,
Nelson was so much impressed by the
narrative of the spirit and the clairvoy-
ants "pocket," that he determined to
visit the locality, and in company with
Miller went to Charlotte Court House.
Though neither had been in the State
before, they experienced no difficulty
in finding the exact spot, and at the
foot of large pine tree unearthed a
peculiar rock, bearing upon its face
some natural formations closely resem-
bling letters. They did not investigate
further, but at once sought the owner
of the land, Deacon Morrison, and bar
gained for five acres at 500 per acre,
paying 81 to close the bargain, with the
privilege of paying the remainder any
time within year. Miller and Nelson
then visited Cumberland county, where
the infalliable sight of clairvoyant led
him to the spot where the vein again
cropped out, and where they found the
finest surface indications. They also
bought this land, ostensibly for its tim
Der, upon the same conditions, and
then returned to New York, and that,
for many years, was the last seen Of
them in Virginia.
All this was thirty years ago. The
vein in buckingham county has been
opened by other parties and successfully
worked. Old Deacon Morrison is dead,
and his property has passed into other
hands. The knoll, containing the
'pocket," is now owned by colored
man, who has unsuccessfully tried to
induce it to grow corn, all unconscious
of the vast wealth beneath. Nearly all
the old citizens who used to speak of
Nelson's visit thirty years ago have died,
and when the stage from the railroad
station, five miles away, stopped in
front of one of the hotels and bent
old man hobbled to the ground there
were none who recognized him as the
spruce young man who had acted SO
mysteriously years before, and had never
been heard of since.
But the bent old man was Nelson,
returned for the first time to look after
the nuggets. Business troubles, rail-
road smash up, sickness, and many
causes had prevented him during all
these years from coming back. The
medium was now a translated spirit, but
Nelson had come, in his old age, alone,
and almost penniless, to test the truth
of the strange story. He commenced
his search for the golden treasure, but
the big pine had been felled, and he is
unable to identify the exact spot, al
though he is certain he can come close
to it. The colored man who owns the
land is intensely interested in the SUBJ
ject, and he is digging with might and
main, having first taken the precautior
to secure legal counsel in order to pro-
tect his rights should gold be discovered.
The majority of the villagers are exceed
ingly skeptical about the matter, but
Nelson insists that the gold is there, and
that digging will find it. Nelson asserts
that the hill is full of gold-bearing
quartz, but he does not want the trouble
of handling this himself. He merely
wishes a small share of the nuggets,
enough to enable him to visit Las Vegas
N. M. The people of the village may
have the remainder, and he will not resi-
satisfied until cut is made.
D@One of the simplest and readies
ways of loosening rusted screw is tc
apply heat to the head of the screw