Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1889-07-18

!, into the Gulf of Harla, ebbed back again,
This sudden rise of the waters is men
toned by Columbus son, Ferdinand.
who adds that the fleet suffered no
damage save the loss of one anchor. 1t
was this anchor which was found, and
strangely enough, it was dug up from II
depth of six feet below the surface of
the ground, ut spot 372 feet from tho
nearest point of the coast line. The
land, it is well known, has gained con-
siderably upon the sea along the shores
of Venezuela, SO that, where once ships
rode Mt anchor, gardens are now planted.
The anchor itself was of simple form
and comparatively rude manufacture,
the stock being eight feet long and
round, with ring at one end foot IN
diameter to which to make fast the
cable, and with fukes five feet long, the
whole weighing l. 100 pounds.
The story of the discovery OF gold IN
North Carolina is somewhat curious.
Near the close of the last century the
child of poor settler, roamingalong the
banks of small stream, discovered
bright yellow stone, which, with the as
sistance of his playmates, lie picked up
and carried to his father. The old man,
who had evidently no knowledge OF the
appearance of gold in its native state,
saw nothing particularly remarkable IN
the stone, but, not to disappoint the
child, babe him place it near the cabin
door, which it would serve to keep open
or shut at pleasure. AS the stone was
quite heavy, weighing nearly fifteen
pounds, it was found of considerable
use for that purpose. Several years
elapsed before any one thought of the
stones being possibly mineral of value,
although the owner often showed 1T to
his neighbors, bidding them mark its
unusual weight. Finally ho was induced
by some one to take it to n goldsmith i'll
the neighboring town of Fayetteville,
who, upon testing it, ut once pronounced
it to be gold. So simple, however, and
so ignorant of the value of the precious
metal was the old farmer that he even
then allowed the dishonest goldsmith to
buy the nugget of him for the paltry
sum of 81. Its true value was ascertaincd
to be not less than $1,000, and the
locality in which it was found soon be-
came rich field for gold hunters. This
is claimed to have been the first discov-
cry OF gold ever made in the United
States.
The history of the finding of enormous
nuggets OF gold i'll Australia reads almost
like n romance. The earliest discovery
of this kind was in 1851, but a few
months after the opening of the mines
near Bathurst. This was the celebrated
900 pound lump" which owed its dis
covery to the following curious circum-
stances: A native in the employ of one
DIR. Kerr was lounglng along, hatchet i'll
hand, through sheep run, where he
had walked 100 times before. His eyes
caught something yellow upon the sur
face of block of quartz, and blow from
his hatchet disclosed a mass of gold. He
fastened back to his master, who took
his horse and rode to the spot The
largest block weighed seventy-five
pounds and by its side were two frag-
ments. each of about half its weight,
which had apparently originally formed
part of it. Lost in amazement, the
doctor was mt loss to dispose of his
prize. At last he concluded to break it
up, put it in n pair of saddle bags and
convey it home on horseback, n ride of
many hours. AS he was compelled to stop
Mt some human habitation for refresh
ment, he would lift tho saddle bags
with forced indifference and fling them
carelessly over Il rail fence. "lt seems
heavy" some suspicious looking by
stander, perhaps bush anger, would re-
mark interogatively. "Oh, yes" the
doctor would answer, endeavoring to
allay suspicion by an apparent jest,
"full of gold, of course I" When the
gigantic nuggets came to be weighed
they were found to contain q little more
than 100 pounds of pure gold, worth, as
metal, more than $4,000 But now
the thought flashed upon the doctor
4 4
have been worth much more as n spec
linen, and fortune might have been
made by exhibiting it. With the ;;..-ual
perversity of human nature, the poor
practitioner began to look upon himself,
and to be looked on by his neighbors,
not as the lucky man who had made
$40, 900 by single days ride, but as
the unfortunate Individual who had lost
ten times as much by few blows of the
hatchet.
Among several nuggets of extraordin-
ary size found many years later in the
Victoria mines, the most famous is the
"Welcome Stranger" which was I'M
earthed by two Cornishmen named
Deeson and Oates, who had for fifteen
On the morning of February 5, 1869,
they had reached the very depth of their
long continued ill-fortune. For the
first time in their lives they went hun
CRY to their work, the storekeeper hay
ing refused to trust them any longer for
the necessities of life. But their pa
tienca and perseverance were destined
at last to be amply rewarded. As with
feelings of gloom and depression they
set about their daily task, the pick of
one of them suddenly rebounded, hav-
ing evidently struck some hard sub
stance. On removing the surrounding
clay, there was revealed to their aston
ished gaze solid lump of gold foot
long and foot broad, and so heavy
that their united strength was scarcely
able to move it, The poverty stricken
miners had become in moment tho
possessors of the largest mass of virgin
gold ever discovered A dray was pro
cured, and the monster nugget, escorted
by an admiring crowd, was taken into
the town of Dunolly, where it was
weighed and found to contain 2,26Sl
ounces of gold. 1t was Immediately
purchased by the bank for S47,670
which sum the fortunate finders divided
equally between them. Globe Demo
crat.
All for an Old Umbrella.
SgDn won Ennu yvbv Enyornnr Gnr1pn