Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1885-08-08
NUGGET.HUNTING.'

oolA
NUGGET.HUNTING,
Persistency and Luck-Each Has Its Share
In the Success.
An old miner who followed the gold
excitement in its devious wandering in
Australia. California. Mexico, and
British Columbia, related to II San
Francisco CAL reporter a few days ago
several instances Of lucky discoveries.
IAN old Dutchman brought tho
plodding method OF his race to the
work Of gold-digging in Australia. All
of his companions had boldness and
dash; but few had the stolid persistence
in the face OF bad luck that this Dutch
man possessed. Ike had been plodding
along for several months digging a
tunnel. Heavy dull clay was all about
him. Not Il promising sign bcckoned
him on. He seemed to get more set
tied in his determination to work the
tunnel to the end the morc unpromising
it looked. He had been working on in
the face of Encouragement for several
months. One morning he was making
his way into his tunnel, and before no
had gone fourteen feet his heart sank
within him. There in front Of him was
his tunnel caved! The path that he
had labociously dug into the hill was
clocged with tons of earth. But tho
quality of his character asserted itself.
Most men would have vollcycd oaths
at his i'll luck. and packed their kit and
lett. The miner moved more slowly
than before, but he started to work
again in the same tunnel. He crawled
into his tunnel. and with his pick and
shovel set to clearing away the hill OF
earth that blocked his path. He had
not struck more than a dozen blows
with his pick before the sharp iron
point struck something solid. Me-
chemically he bent forward and cleared
away the earth, and there before him
was a big nugget, as nuggets 60, weigh
ing fourteen ounces. He crept out Of
the tunnel, bringing his precious mug
get with him. aud when he got into
the fresh air and heard tho birds sing
ing, he sat down and wcpt. No one
beyrudgcd the Dutchman his luck.
only partially worked is just as good
a field as virgin SOIL" continued the
miner. ''Thc spots that have not been
touched may be the very nests of the
precious metal. 1t is dangerous to
leave a single foot of ground unwork-
ed. The fortune of u lifetime might
thus be passed and lost forever. There
was a poor, shiftlcss fellow, with q
wife in rags and children in squalor.
The whole family used to go into the
diggings together and shift about till
they had got enough to buy something
to eat. They kept sinking lower and
lower. But one day they struggled in
to the digglngs, not having energy
enough to push on abreast OF the
workers. They fell to picking II little
pillar that had been lett landing in
the miss. oi the di1-insS, al about it
could be more than three feet across,
and certainly not more than six. 1t
was 4 spot that had been neglected rs
the diggers had pushed their drifts
ancad. The squalid family began work
on this solitary pillar; all they hoped
was for a few grains to feed them for
the day. AS the man continued list
lesslv, the sunlight WAS caught up by a
spcck in the pillar that glistcncd and
flashed. The eyes Of the poor fellow
saw il; he thought his work for the
day was done. He knclt down to clean
away the dirt from the bright spot. AS
he d.1 So 80 sh!ning metal Kew to
larger proportions. Immediately the
whole iamity was around it in eager
haste to u"cover it. The further they
cleared the soil away about i, the fur
Their it seemed to rnccdc. After work
ing two tou.s with growing ~:.stonisil-
mcnt they saw the full outline of their
prize one uI the largest Jumps OF gold
ever fonnl. That WAS the luck:"st
find ever made.
The Mount MoIiagul nugget was
found III Il most peculiar place, re-
suine,! tMn nliilur. "Ihare wa. IN UNI
usually ii j, ,.icginrs III the vicinity OF
Mount 80 t.ul. Victoria. that made a
hundred men .ic!!. T. had been thor
ing on a pillar Of earth that had not
been cut away by the gold-hunters be-
cause of the old roots of the tree tina,
spread through the soil. 1t was not
more than ten feet in circumference
that had been left by the diggers. One
OdJ t"O IulIlclS CtIuc W luc ucSci Icu
camp, and stopped oycr night OF tho
site of the old camp. The STUMP
struck one of them as Il singular feat
ure of the old diggings, and, being a
skillful miner, he knew that one parl
of a nuggcty country was as likely t.
hide the precious metal as another. Ii
occurred to him that the ground under
the stump was as likely to prove rich
as the portions of the neighborine
fields that had yielded SO much gold.
He resolved to work the little mound
the next day. His companion, howev
or, was anxious to be off to the lates'
diggings, where the excitement was
at the highest pitch. But the frs
miner who had resolved to explore the
solitary patch Of the deserted diggings,
persuaded his partner. and together
they set to work on the old stump
They began by undermining n side
of the stump, but before they had dug
in three feet they discovered an enor
nous nugget, one of the most valuable
that had been found in the whole dig
gings. They continued their labor!
and uprooted the stump, but did moi
find another Grain of gold.'