The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-09-27


that the sawdust was composed of
fine, white powder-in short, marble
dust. The workmen then split the
stump, using powder and axe, until
they reached the curiosity, which
proved to be a marble foot-stone. in
the very heart of the tree The fiber
or grain of the wood had grown
around it. and evidently had been too
powerful for the stone, for it had been
broken in two pieces, and the top
leaned considerably out of place. In
spite of the utmost care, so firmly was
it imbedded that it was found impossi-
BILE to remove it without breaking,
and the memento was consequently
not preserved
A curious discovery was made
about ten years ago in a tree near
Augusta, Ga. A civil engineer was
engaged in running and locating the
lines of a lot of land below the city,
using as assistance deed drawn up
one hundred and tweLty-one years
before. In one section of the deed it
was recorded that the line touched a
certain point where stood a beech
tree, upon which a cross-mark had
been made with an axe. The en-
gineer ran his line to an old beech
tree. and. concluding that this was
the point in question. looked for the
mark, but, of course, could not find
It Taking an axe, he cut into the
tree. and. TO his surprise, almost the
first block chipped out revealed the
Identical mark referred to in the
ancient dnerrrpa,t The
still perfect. but had long been COW
cred up, having been made some
years before the revolutionary war.
The date OF the deed was 1859.
a very interesting arch geological
discovery was made some years ago in
Norway. From a burial mound.
nearly 80 feet in diameter, was dug a
well-preserved viking ship, in which
some chieftain had been entombed
centuries ago. The craft is the largest
ancient vessel now known to exist, it
being "A feet long and 10 feet wide,
with twenty ribs Along its sides a
row of circular shields extends com
pletely around it The mound is now
nearly mile from the sea, but it is
evident that in olden times the waves
"ao4ASa - bcaoCt tic Ft6Sc4 was
drawn out of the water and buried at
its edge
A curious relic of one of the expedi-
tions which sailed TO the West Indies
under the command of Columbus was
discovered some twelve years ago. On
the 4th OF August, 149s. small squad
ron OF three vessels, under the orders
of Christopher Columbus, was an
chored of the southwestern extremity
OF the Island of Trinidad Late at
night Columbus, it IS related by Wash
ington Irving, suddenly saw wall of
water approaching toward the fleet
from the south HIS own vessel was
lifted so high by the incoming wave
that he feared it would be either sub
merged or dashed on shore, while
the cable of one of the other ships
parted under the strain to which it
was subjected The crews of the
vessels gave themselves up for
lost, but after a time the wave. which
must have been caused by an ex-
ceptionally large body of water COM
ing suddenly down one of the rivers
flowing into the Gulf of Haria, ebbed
back. This sudden rise of the waters
is mentioned by Columbus son, Ferdi-
nand, who adds that the feet suffered
no damage save the loss of one anchor
1t was this anchor that was found,
and, strangely enough, it was dug up
from depth of six feet below the
surface of the ground at a spot
three hundred and seventy-two feet
from the nearest point of the coast
line. The land, it is well known, has
gained considerably upon the sea
along the shores of Venezuela. so that,
where once ships rode at anchor
gardens are now planted. The anchor
itself was of simple form and com
paratively rude manufacture, the
stock being eight feet long and round.
with ring at one end a foot in diam
eter to which to make fast the cable,
and with fiukes five feetlong, the whole
weighing eleven hundred pounds.
The story of the discovery of gold in
North Carolina is somewhat curious
Near the close of the last century the
child of a poor settler, while roaming
along the banks of q small stream,
discovered a bright yellow stone,
which, with the assistance of his play
mates, he picked up and carried home
to his father. The old man, who had
evidently no knowledge of the appear
ance of gold in its native state. saw
nothing particularly remarkable in the
stone, but, not to disappoint the child,
bade him place it near the cabin door,
which 1t 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 posi-
bly, a mineral of value, although its
owner often showed it to his neigh
bors, bidding them mark its unusual
weight Finally he was induced by
some one to take it to goldsmith in
the neighboring town of Fayetteville,
who. upon testing it, at once pro-
nounced it to be gold So simple,
however, and so ign GRANT 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 four dol
lars Its true value was ascertained
to be not less than four thousand dol
lars. and the locality in which 1t was
found soon became rich field for gold
hunters This is claimed to have been
the first discovery of gold ever made in
the United States
The history of the finding of enor-
nous nuggets of gold in Australia
reads almost like a romance The
earliest discovery of this kind was in
1851. but few months after the open
ing of the mines near Bathurst This
was the celebrated .'one-hundred-
pound lump" which owed its discov-
cry to the following curious circum-
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