The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-02-11
cOLDIN THE STREET.
Lots of Gold Lying Around Loose in
New York.
rCorrespondenco Of the Pres. !

lying AROUND loose IN Inc streets of New
York;
81 do most seriously, and if | could
have found the source from which they
came, | would today lie twenty times a
millionaire"
The speaker was an old and well known
resident of the city, and the facts men
toned by him in the following narrative
are familiar to n number of persons.
Give or six years ago." he continued,
81 lived on one of the up town streets
near Central park, between Fifth and
Sixth avenues. Repairs to the roadway
being necessary, portion of it had been
removed preparatory to laying a new
foundation, the base of which was 10
consist of pebbles and crushed stones
mixed with species of composition.
Day after day carloads of this material
were brought there and dumped in piles
while the process Of improvement went
on.
zone morning young son coming in
from play his mother discovered that his
pockets were filled with these pebbles,
which, boy like, he had gathered because,
as he said, they were pretty. You
must throw those things away instantly,
she exclaimed, because l don't want
the house numbered up with such trash,
and besides, it will ruin your trousers.
The lad obeyed, but obtained permission
from his mother to reserve a few that he
particularly fancied by reason of their
shape and attractiveness. Among the
latter were bits of quartz containing
crystals, a number of small round stones
that evidently had been subjected to the
action of running water, and olher speci-
mems such as 10-year-old geologist
would naturally select for place in his
cabinet On returning from business
that evening, my attention was called by
the boy to his 'find,' and particularly
totwo or three irregular fragments about
the size of Brazil nuts, because, as he
said, they were so bright and yellow and
looked just like gold To me, however,
they were only bits of quartz containing
iron pyrites presenting the usual yellow
ish metallic luster, and l read to him
from an encyclopedia description of
the manner in which they are employed
IN the manufacture of sulphurous acid.
Gin order to satisfy him still further |
cracked a specimen in a number of
pieces, but rich, glistening fakes fen in
such abundance upon the hearthstone
where the demonstration had taken place
that even my own curiosity was now
aroused, and determined the next morn
ing to investigate further. On going
down town / showed the fragments to a
number of friends, among others the late
F. B. Wallace, the Broad street banker,
and explained the circumstances under
which they had been found. All agreed
that they presented such q remarkable
appearance as to warrant an examination
by an expert, and they were accordingly
carried to the United States assay office
in Wall street. To the official there,
however, nothing was said as to the To-
cality from which they had SO recently
been taken. CHANGING at them for mo-
ment, he said: 1T isn't necessary to test
these specimens; they are simply samples
of California ore, very rich in gold. |
have handled thousands of pounds, but
very rarely ore so valuable as this
"'If this is gold, it never saw Califor-
nia,' was the reply. 1T was picked up
in a pile of paving stones in the upper
part of New York city by boy 10 years
old only yesterday morning.
IF that is true, it is either an accident
or a revelation returned the official;
but in order to be sure I'll make a test,
and thereupon he retired to q rear room.
When he came back it was with q look
of surprise on his face and the remark:
Just as told you, sir; that is free bear
ing gold quartz of the richest quality.
As nearly as can calculate from q cur
sorry examination, it would assay from
twenty-five hundred to three thousand
dollars ton. Under the microscope,
however, the quartz presents different
appearance from that which is most
common in California. 1t more closely
resembles that which has been found in
Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia.
If such specimen is n native of this
neighborhood, it viii be a marvel Yet
the discoveries of gold in Califor-
mia and Australia were also marxels.
We come upon it when it is least ex-
pected. Marshall found it originally
while digging in a mill race on the estate
Of Capt. Su.or, on the Sacramento river.
1t was found in digging a well at San
Francisco, and then again q hundred
miles off, where it was dropping from
cliffs into the sea and slowly settling
through the sands of the shore. Seven
Mexicans discovered gold in soft clay
and slate that could be crushed between
the fingers, and keeping their secret
eight days. made in that short time S217,-
900. The Blue Ridge region has yielded
solid specimen weighing twenty
pounds. If we could easily lay our hands
upon gold, we might all be rich, but it is
fact well known among miners that the
noble metal is not generally found in the
position in which it was originally de-
posted. For these reasons, l say again
that the finding of these specimens is
revelation if not an accident, for they in
dictate not distant source Of supply. If
that can be discovered you may make
yourself q rich man in forty eight hours
"These suggestions by an expert were
naturally exciting" continued the mar
rator, "and to none more than to Mr. F.
B. Wallace, who promptly declared he
would invest million of dollars in the
event of the discovery to begin with, and
as much more as might be necessary.
No grass grew under my feet while hur-
rying home after that interview at the
assay office for the purpose of further in
vestigatinG the pebble piles in the street,
but you may fancy my dismay on find
ing that not vestige of them remained.
The repairs had been completed, and
carts, contractors and tar kettles had
alike disappeared. Not a clew was left
to work upon.
"Then began a fortnight's search for
thread. visited all the dumping places
Of such material in and around the city,
talked with the agents who supplied it
and the men who bought it, talked with
captains Of the boats and, in short, with
every body connected with the business,
but the result was nil No one knew
where rock of that peculiar color was
obtained. 1t might come from anywhere
or everywhere. Many of the pebbles
were found along the shores of New
York, New Jersey, Staten Island and
Long Island; some were found in the
beds of streams, and much Of the ma
terial was the result of crushing by ma
chinery. One of the contractors at last
suggested that 1 might be rewarded for
my geological researches by making a
trip up the Hudson and inspecting the
outlets of the streams sweeping down
from the mountains, for, as he observed,