The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-07-31
SITTING OCEAN SAND.
THE OLD MAN WHO DIGS TIE
BEACH FOR GOLD.


5 City-Putting the seasliore Sand Throug
= Sieve. sbovelful by shoveiful-Th
Articles Found.
"What in the name Of common sense ar
you doingf'
The long gray haired and long whit
bearded old man thus addressed straightene,
up as much as back bent with the weigh
Of three score years and ten would permit
He raped the large coarse sieve in his leaI
and sun burned hand against one of tn,
hundreds OF piles that support the batf
houses and other structures on the fine
smooth beach. Out fell pieces Of clan shell.
and oyster shells. a rusty nail, and large
handful OF coarse gravel, which the old mar
a moment before had been turning over care
fully with his fingers and looking Mt intently
through his silver bowed spectacles He
looked up at his questioner, rolled the quid
of tobacco bullying out one Of his checks into
the other, threw down the sieve on the pile
| OF siftei sand, took the shovel leanisg asains:
the pile, and prepared to thrust it into the
hole half full of water that he had dug on
the seward side Of the pile Then, and not
till then, did he deign to reply.
"Siftin' sand, came from the lips, and the
tobacco juice that trickled gently down on
his old shiny waistcoat the wind blow
ing upon his ragged coat exposed to view
$50 see; but what are you sitting forl"
"Little NV evrything," was the laconic and
manufacturing reply.
"Do you find muchr'
"Wall, no; not so very much. These ere
mill hnu hnn 1t1rr 20,
man in Atlantic City with an hour hangin'
on his hands but what comes down here and
digs round these ere piles It's a mighty
lucky feller that finds much Of ANYTHING
nowadays I've been diggin' here about all
the forenoon, and / ha'n't found durn
thing that's wutn keeping 'ceptin' this ere-I
don't know what It's. | never seed ono
afore. 1t looks like some kind NV coin.
Prhaps you can tell"
He drew forth with solemn deliberation n
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, rounai-
copper colored 9bin about the size of a silver
three cent piece, only little thicker. took
II III liy fingers and read on one side: ~
'stHulbS
"Oh, that's a small German coin. 1t isn't
worth much, but it's quite interesting"
! handed it to one of group of several
aides that had been attracted to us. Tho
DIN passed through the dainty gloved fingers
II each of the ladies' Their enthusiastic ex-
lamations and endless questions delighted
he old man. 1t made his eyes glitter, the
allva to run faster and his tongue more
eile.
us this what you find by digging herer
mot all | find. | told you that we find
verything, and SO we do-coins, china
oils, nails, spectacles, eyeglasses, gold and
liver chains, gold rings and brass rings
ndn- {
At this point the old man, who had taken
is shovel in hand again and had set it deep c
the hole, was stopped in his sentence by v
le great exertion required to lift up the D
ovel, held down by the suction of the
ater and its burden of sand. He did not
sumo his sentence. He turned his whole r.
tention and strength to the work before W
m. He finally got the shovel out Of the =
ater and emptied its contents into the sieve
'petltions Of the operation soon filled the
we, which he lifted up and began to shake h
tn what strength long life of hard work 81
ID disappointment had left him. The fine 81
nd fell out and left refuse such as had be- Ii
re noticed. Placing one side of the sieve
the little pile Of sand, he ran his fingers Z
rough 1t carefully, picking up between his
uinD ana Ioreilnger any particle that prom
to be something Of value and bringing it
ser to his eyes, to make sure that he was 10
throwing away anything that he should fu
ep. Just as he was about to give I'D the m
rch and empty the sieve, his fingers
'tched quickly at gittering piece of gold la
1t lay half buried among the baser mate If
IS p
And watch charms" exclaimed the old
n with glee, holding up a round piece Of gi
'elry, in the center Of which was a small
npass. n,
Well, that isn't SO bad, he added. stoop- it
over to wash the sand off in the water -
hat ought to be worth So and 1t isn't every
codger like me as can make So in two
IFS. If this were new it would bring Is
50, but SEEM it's been worn and lost. | ho,
It expect to get as much for it as would os
had come out of the jewelry store bran oa
T." Us
You're not having such bad luck. after -
No, not today But l tell you, Young ~,
D, since this business was taken up by ~
rybody that could handle a shovel. it We ""
what it used to be-" he said, with q sigh. ~
hen first cum here and begun digging. ''N
ID great luck. didn't hav' ter do much
'nything else to get a livin'. I've found
God manv pieces of money, silver aud
J." he continued, taking off his old SLOUGH
which let the wind blow his white locks
his wrinkled forehead He turned LID
leather band and drew out a piece of
sy brown paper He unfolded it as :.
Ign 1t were OF priceless value and LAYING
ut i'll the palm Of his hand placed the
ID charm III it, and folding it as neatly
IS palsied fingers would permit, he drew
bis calfskin pocketbook and put his
t find in with the two pfenning piece {
departure of the good old times seemed !
I'VE made the old digger doubly careful Of
treasures, and lie guarded them against
with vigilance that increased with
insigniii canoe
We found more gold and silver dollars
any other coin; some of them have =
pocket pieces, l suppose But I've IL
good many old eagles and half orar
s. dice l found leather strap filled IL