Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-08-07
GOLD IN NUGGETS.
A RECORD OF CONCENTRATED
WEALTH.

| ANSeeshCCS SOhDhCb
Riches Found in the Worlds
Great Gold Diggings.
One of the curious things about the
present methods and condition of gold
mining on the coast is that, while the ag-
gregate output is larger than it ever was,
the day of big nuggets seems to be over.
Occasionally the local columns of the
papers published insthe mining districts
contain an item concerning the digging
out of "hefty lump" Of the precious
metal, but the examples of concentrated
wealth are not what they used to be. One
OF the last discovered nuggets was dug
cut few weeks ago in the Spring Gulch
creek, above Rodding, in Shasta county,
by two men while washing gravel The
lump was irregular in shape, being about
four inches long by two in diameter and
yielded trifle over $500 worth of pure
metal.
The Prescott Courier of recent date
presented its readers with u cut of a
pretty, welldeveloped lump of gold that
had been found in Big Bug district by a
Mexican named Jesus Sazueta. When
taken to the Bank of Arizona the cashier
informed Jesus Sazueta that its weight
was just thirty-seven ounces and that its
value was $670. 1t was five inches long
and three and one-half inches in its
widest part. A number of Mexicans
were working at Big Bug and one of them
named Tio Cafias, an old Gambussino,
told Sazueta to try a certain spot
sazueta, in climbing to the place, placed
his foot on projecting rock, it broke
away with him and when he picked him
self up he was worth more than half a
thousand dollars.
According to the Spokane Falls Review
a mysterious prospector returned very
quietly few days ago from the Ceur
dAlene reservation with an odd-shaped
bag of bacon, which, however, broke
while being moved around and disclosed
q nugget of gold, extremely heavy and
nearly six inches in diameter. 1t was
calculated to be worth about $3.50.
Compared with some of the nuggets found
ip California in the early days, however,
these nuggets are but as pebbles to a
bowlder. According to a writer in the
Virginia (Nev.) Chronicle, the largest
piece of gold ever found in this State
was taken out of Carson hill, Calaveras
county, in November, 1854. 1t weighed
1875 pounds troy, or 2340 ounces.
Several other nuggets, weighing from
Six to seven pounds-that is, from
seventy-two to eighty-four ounces-were
found in the same locality.
The next largest was taken from the
Monumental quartz mine, Sierra county,
August 1S, 1860. 1t weighed 1890
ounces troy, and was purchased by r. B.
Woodward for s21, 1886. SO. He exhibited
it for a long time and then had it melted
down, realizing however, only ST., 7,664.
81 from the bullion.
The third largest nugget was found by
Ira A. Willard ON the west branch of the
V Feather river, August 4, 1858. II
a weighed fifty-four pounds avoirdupois,
| that is 1854 ounces before and forty nine
4 and one half pounds after melting.
l Fourth in size, though not in value,
g was large, slab-sided quartz nugget
s found by Mr. Strain near Knapp ranch,
| Toulumne county, which weighed fifty
pounds avoirdupois, and which after
7 crushing and melting yielded $500
: worth of gold. This was in 1851, and in
the same year a nugget was found at
, French ravine, Sierra county, the gold
from which was valued at $4,000. Five
, years after another nugget was found in
, the same place which had considerable
t quartz in it, but which yielded $40, 600.
The first nugget of any great import
5 ance was found by young soldier OF
Stevenson's regiment in the Mokelumme
e river, while drinking from that stream.
He hastened to San Francisco and placed
} his prize in the hands of Colonel Mason
D for safety, after which it found its way
! to New York, where it famed the
, smoldering flame and caused the nations
to realize the importance of California
as producing territory. The mug
: get was of pure gold and weighed be-
/. tween twenty and twenty-five pounds
3 Another nugget about which there is
D good deal of romance was found by
( Frenchman in Spring Gulch, near Co
lumbia, Tuolumne County. 1t was o.
D nearly pure gold and was worth more
than $4,000. The finder became insane
S over his good fortune and was the next
e day sent to Stockton. The French Con
n sui at San Francisco recovered the mug
get, realized the value, and sent the
, money to the finders family in France
California, however cannot claim the
y honor of having produced the largest
nugget in the world. That, according
to Phillips, was the great Australian
: lump, known as the "Sarah Sands" II
: weighed 233 pounds A ounces troy, Oh
s 2,797 ounces, as against the 9, $40 ounces
I of that taken out of Carson hill, Calaveras
a county, in November, 1854 Another
f mass, according to the same authority, was
exhibited in London in 1871 as the pro-
/ duct of one of the Victoria mines, which
e weighed 146 pounds, or 1, ,752 troy ounces
e while a still larger but not so valuable
Y mass was found at Ballarat in the same
t year which weighed 2,217 ounces. Ac-
b, cording to the Annual Statisticion. how.
: ever, the largest solid nugget ever found
s was discovered in Australia, in 1869,
( which weighed g $50 ounces and was
9 valued at $4,000; while the largest
: piece of ore and rock was found in New
South Wales in 1872, weighed GAO pounds
that is, 1850 ounces-and was valued
at $14S, 600.
To come back to this country, Montana
has added one or two fair-sided nuggets
e to the list. The largest of all was found
r in Deadwood gulch, twenty-five miles
e north of Deer Lodge, in the county OF
t that name, October 10, 1865. 1t weighed
: 13t pounds, or 159 ounces, was nine
e inches long, four inches wide and two
Y inches thick, and was sold in Helena for
!. ~, 224. 80, at the rate of $40 per ounce.
e The finder was Ed Rising, and the
O story of how it was found he gives in
. the following way: II had five partners
q when | found it and we were working
. the urounI topathpr We first SINK n