Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1889-10-24
GOLD IN IRELAN
a Disc overy Which Lights Up
Hope for the Old Sod.

a Discovery Which Lights Ur
Hope for the Old Sod.
The rumor having reached town tina,
large discovery OF gold had been
made in the County Wicklow, pro.
ceeded by the 2 O'clock train TO
Adghrim- village on the Shillelagh
branch OF the Dublin, Wicklow aud
wexford railway. found consider,l-
bic excitement existing among the
people, and | did not mt for guide
to conduct me to the spot where it was
alleged that the valuable discovery had
been made. Close to the village,
which is one OF the prettiest and clean
est OF its size that is to be found in the
country, runs the river Derry, IA sire m
that passes through one OF the best
wooded and most picturesque portions
OF the County Wicklow The locality
has been always noted for the indica-
tons o. gold which are from time to
time apparent, but the main difficulty
mas been to pitch upon the particular
spot whore it lies. On reaching the
bank of the river, close to town, I
found n man with a shovel po,ling at
the stones and rubbish by the side of
the stream. lie was an old
digger, having spent the earlier
years OF his life in the gold fields OF
Australia and New Zealand. He
was native of the locality, and though
now living at home for many years he
had not forgotten his digging expert
ence, and manifestly knew we'll what
he was about | learned from him the
true history of the excitement Tn It had
taken possession of the people within
the past few days about the fading of
gold. 1t appears that two gentlemen
had come down TO the village "a few
days ago to ascertain the gold yielding
properties OF the place. One was Mr..
7. A. Byrne, of Dublin, and the other
was Dir, McNally, who. having spent
many years in the gold fields of the
colonies. naturally takes a deep inter-
est in the subject. They fell in with
the man whom | found working by the
side OF the river, whose name is Foley.
Without delay they then procee led TO
make experiments, and the first spot
they struck on by the river side thoy
found considerable qG lntitie5 of float
ing gold. They experimental over
and over again with equally satisfac-
tory results, finding upon euch occa-
sion the color OF gold, which in dirginr
phraseology is the proper term to be
applied to floating gold obtained by
the method they pursued Foley made
two or three experiments in my pres
ence. He had the small tin pan which
he filled with stones and rubbish dupont
OF the river bank. Putting his feet on
two stones in the river he proceeded
to wash the rubbish. The operation
occupied sometime, and by degrees he
reduced the quantity OF stuff in the pan
to small mass OF sand in the bottom.
As the water came into the pan he
pushed the sand out rather roughly
with his hand and | remarked to him
that II there was any gold in it he was
putting it out. He replied, with a
smile, that that was what every one
thought who had never seen the opera
ton performed before, and explained
That as gold was heavier than the
sand he contrive1 to leave il ut the
bottom OF the W ter while he got the
sand to the sides. Finally. reducing the
sand to about a thimbleful, he held up !
the pan, and there, true enough, ! saw )
from fifteen to twenty particles Of gold. .
he repeated the operation with the :
same result Foley did this with all }
.he execution of an old worker Apply ;
ng the rough terms OF the diggers to !
'ach branch OF the operation. Picking E
up glittering stone he handed it 10 :
ne and asked me did | think it was .
'old. | replied that it bore the
color and certainly looked as il
t did contain some quantity of
he precious metal That" said he. o
lis what we call new chum gold. be- !,
ause all the new chums at the diggings
'elteve that they have gold when they W
ind stone like that. Bat it is not a
old. | then asked Foley what he h
hought o. the symptoms. His reply O
1as that he had often known prospact- cl
We claims TO have been obtained in the W
olonie5 for indications far less salts h
lctorily, with the result of larre dis tr
overies of gold. or course the method m
procedure would be to take several 81
arts OF the stream aud experiment up- h,
n them and thereby feel the wav TO fir
here the main body OF the cold prob 81
Oily lies. The operation which | wit hi
essed on Friday would not WELD sh
nough to pay all the parties who W
'ould have claim upon the produc- W
on, but ii a laborer could disDense ar
18th the charge attaching to the dig- II
ing OF gold he could, in Foley's opin- tn
IN, make enough TO repay him. The le
arl OF Meath Is the landlord. and for FIJI
le digging purposes Mr.. Prichard oil
Iorgan, NJ p, is the lessee of the IN
miles OF the River Derry. a
is to be hoped that Mr.. Morgan. an
no Is gentleman OF enterprise hi
I'd experience in mining mat mi
re-. will be induced by the expert oi
onts that have been made to test the m,
sources OF the River Derry. M,
q Freeman's Journal.