Wichita eagle., 1888-08-03
SITTING OCEAN SAND.
THE OLD MAN WHO DIGS THE
BEACH FOR GOLD.

| Caty-P1tthg the Scashoro Sand Through
. Sieve. shovelhal By shovelful-Tho
| Articles Found.
"What in the nams Of common sense arc
you doingr
The long gray haired and long white
bearded old man thus addressed Strengthened
| up a. much as back bent with the weight
of three score'years and ban would permit
He raped the largo coarse sieve in bis lean
and ssun burned hand against ono Of tho
hundreds Of piles that support the bath
houses and other structures On the fine,
smooth beach. Out fell pieces Of clam shells
and oyster shells. . rusty nail, and a large
handful Of coarse gravel, which tho old man
q moment before had been turnlng over caro-
| fully With his fingers and looking at intently
through his silver bowed spsctaclea He
looked up at his questtoner, rolled tho quid
| Of tobacco buigfng out ono Of his cheeks into
tho other, threw down the sieve on the pile
Of sifted sand, took the shovel leaning against
the pile, and prepared to thrust it into the
hole hak full Of water that he had dug on
the seward side Of the pile. Then, and not
till then, did be dsign 30 reply.
| "SSiftin' sand, came from the lips, and tho
tobacco juice that trickled gently down on
his old shiny waistcoat the wind blow
ing upon his ragged coat exposed to view.
$50 SOC; but what arc You sitting forr
"Little Nv ev'rythinG," was the laeooio and
unenlightening reply.
do you find muchT
"Wau, no; not 80 very much. These ere
piles has been dug to death. Thar amt o
man In Atlantic City with an hour hangin'
on his hands but what comes down here and
digs round these ero piles It's . mighty
lucky feller that finds much Of anything
nowadays five been diggin' hero about all
the forenoon, and I ha'n't found . durn
thing that's with keeping 'oeptin' this ere-I
don't know what tbs. / never seed ono
afore. It looks like some kind NJ . coin.
P'rhaps You can tell"
He drew forth with solemn deliberation q
calfskin pocketbook, black with dirt and use,
and pulled out = piece Of brown paper care
fully folded up. He unwrapped it and held
out In his trembling hand . small, round
copper colored coin about the size Of a silver
three cent piece, only a little thicker. l took
it in my fingers and read on ono side: ''2
pfennigs."
"Oh, that's small German coin. It isn't
worth much, but it's quite interesting"
| handed it 10 one Of a group Of several
ladies that had been attracted to US The
coin passed through the dainty gloved fingers
of each Of the ladies. Their enthusiastic ex-
CARNATIONS and endless questions delighted
the old man. It made bis eyes glitter. tho
saliva TO run faster and his tongue more
agile.
AIS this what you find BY digging herer
mot ali find l told you that we find
| everything, and so we do-coins, china
dolls, nails, spectacles, eyeglasses, gold and
silver chains, gold rings and brass rings
and"-
| At this point the old man, who had taken
his shovel in hand again and had set it deep
In the hole, was stopped In his sentence by
the great exertion required to lift up the
shovel, held down by the ruction of the
water and its burden Of sand. He did not
resume his sentence. He turned his whole
attention and strength to the work before
him. He finally got tho shovel out Of the
water and emptied its contents into the sieve.
Rspetitions Of the operation soon filled tho
Eeve, which he lifted up and began to shake
with what strength long life Of hard work
and disappointment had left him. The fine
sand fell out and left refuse such az had be-
fore noticed. Placing ono side Of the sieve
on the little pile Of sand, he ran his fingers
through 1t carefully, picking up between his
thumb and fore6nger any particle that prom
Ised to be something Of value and bringing it
closer to his eyes, to make sure that be was
not throwing away anything that he should
keep. Just as be was about to give up tho
search and empty the sieve, his fingers
snatched quickly at glittering piece Of gold
that lay half buried among the baser mate
rails
"And watch charms" exclaimed tho old
man with glee, holding up round piece Of
jewelry, in the center Of which was q small
compass
"Well, that isn't 90 bad" he added, stoop-
Ing over to wash the sand of in the water.
''That ought to be worth IS, and it isn't every
old codger like me Is can make s. in two
hours. If this were new 1t would bring IS
or IS, but seein' it's been worn and lost,
don't expect TO get as much for it as would
Il it had come out OF the jewelry store BRAN
new"
You're not having such bad luck, sitter
all"
mo, not today But l tell you, young
man, Gnce this business was taken up by
everybody that could handle a shovel, it
amt what It used to be, he said, with a sigh.
'When first cum here and begun digging,
had great luck. didn't hav' ter do much
Of anything else 10 get . Twin. I've found
a good many pieces Of money, silver aud
gold, !" he continued, taking OF his old SLOUGH
hat, which let tho wind blow his white locks
over his wrinkled forehead. He turned up
the leather band and drew out piece Of
greasy brown paper He unfolded 1t as
though IL were of priceless value, and laying
it out in tho palm Of his hand placed the
watch charm in it, and folding it Is neatly
q his palled fingers would permit, hs drew
forth his caifsldn pocketbook and put his
latest find tn with the Two pfenning piece.
The departure Of the good old times seemed
to have made the old digger doubly careful Of
his treasures, and he guarded them agatnss
loss with q vigilance that increased with
their insignificance
1--WE found moro gold and silver dollars
than any other coin; some Of them have
been pocket pieces, suppose But I've
found a good many old eagles and half
eagles Once l found leather strap filed
with Spanish gold coins / think it must
have belonged to some Spanish sailor, or
somebody else who had been shipwrecked.
You know we have Shipwrecks OF the coast
here sometimes The sand bars hereabouts
are dangerous in bad weather, and you can't
alters see the Lighthouse over thar" be said,
pointing to the Absecom light not far away.
I've never heard Of the wreck Of any Span
ish vessel, but l suppose there must have
been one, or else this belt full Of coins would
never como ashore hero It had been in the
water for some time, for the leather was rotten
and would hardy bang together. There were
q good many of them; took 'em over to
Pheldsaphy and sold EN- How much did