St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-21

tallized quartz, with clear-cut corners,
the sides of which shone with great
brilliancy. When thoroughly cleaned
it weighed 147 ounces, and was sent to
the San Francisco mint, where it
brought s2,S52. In 1864, near Michigan
Bluff,
A NUGGET OF PURE GOLD.
weighing 226 ounces, and valued at
$4,204, was found. In July, 1876, J. B.
Colgrove, of Dutch Flat found a white
quartz bowlder in the Polar Star mine
which contained $500 worth Of gold.0
In Eldorado county, in 1858, a 105r
ounce nugget of gold was discovered
that was valued at $1,000. Another
was found near Kelsey, in the same
county, which sold for 81, 700. In 1867,
at Pilot Hill, bowlder of gold quartz
was found which yielded $4,000. This,
with several smaller nuggets, was
taken from the Bowlder Gravel claim,
near the Pilot Hill postofice. Several
large and valuable gold nuggets were
discovered in Tuolumne county. Ia
1858 a mass of gold weighing $50
ounces was found at Columbus. This
was valued at $685.. At Gold Hill, in
the same county, a Mr.. Virgin found
one weighing $50 ounces, and valued
at $500. A Frenchman in Spring
Gulch, near Columbia, in the same
county, found one of almost pure gold
which was orth $1,000. The rich mass
of gold rendered the miner insane on
the following day, and he was sent to
the Stockton asylum. The nugget was
sold, and the money for it was sent to
his family in France.
Near the Knapp ranch, half a mile
east of Columbia, a Mr.. Strain discov-
cred a large gold quartz nugget which
weighed fifty pounds. After the quartz
was crushed and the gold melted the
amount obtained was $500. On Sulli-
vans creek, in the same county, in
18i9, a twenty eight-pound nugget was
picked up by one of the pioneers. 1t
was sold for $7,16S.
Near Magalia, in Butte county, on
Aug. IA, 1859, Ira A. Willard found, on
the west branch of the Feather, mug
get that weighed fifty-four pounds
avoirdupois, and was worth $10,690. On
finding this the miners quit work for
the day and celebrated the event by
grand jollification.
In the last decade several nuggets
have been found in the mining re-
gions of California that have brought
over 5000 each. In October, 1885, two
men who were tramping up the coast
were put off a Southern Pacific freight
train at the little station of Caliente,
and started off to walk to Bakersfield.
Two days later they came back to
Caliente with lump of gold and crys-
tallized quartz.
THEY WE'RE SUSPECTED
Of having robbed a mining camp, and
even of having murdered miner to
get their gold. They, however, proved
that while going about in the dry bed
of an ancient stream of water, two
miles from the BelIeville placer min,
ing camp, for fagots for a fire, they
had stumbled upon their lucky find.
They had offered the gold for sale to
railroad man at Caliente for $40, but
he, suSpecting fraud, would not bar
gain with the strangers. Subsequently
the nugget was sold in Los Angeles
for 81, $50. 1t weighed ZIG ounces. In
less than a week after the find there
were over 100 men from all parts of
Southern California hunting daily up
and down that old river bed for gold
nuggets, but beyond few So or 81
finds there was nothing worthy the
search. -
In January, 1891 a nugget of pure
in drift of coarse gravel in the Golef
district, north of the Mojave desert.
The very next day another nugget OF
pure gold about the size of a gooSe'a
egg was found. Both were bought by
a manufacturing jeweler in Pomona.
The former brought S2,120 and the lat.i
ter 1915. Several months ago a nugget
that sold for about 81, 400 was brought
into San Diego by a poor, weak con-
Sumptive from New Jersey, who lad
been roughing it up in the mountains
with some sheep ranchmen. In his
long daily walks for health and exer-
else he amused himself In |, okirg for
Indian relics in a canyon. He found
the nugget among a lot of rocks one
day after a heavy rain storm had
washed down immense masses of
gravel and earth from the side of the
canyon. There was no one more as
tonished than he at the value placed
upon his find when he offered it for
sale in San Diego. Experienced gold
miners visited the locality where the
chunk was picked up, but not one of
them has yet found another sign OF
gold there. 1t is one of the perplex--
tiles and aggravati tons of hunting for
new gold fields
North Carolina weighed eighty pounds.
The largest ever found in Siberia
weighed ninety-siX pounds and four
ounces. The largest piece of gold ever
found in Colorado weighed thirteen
pounds, and this was by no means pure
gold. The largest ever discovered in
the world was discovered in Austria
liza In 1852, and was known as the King
OF the Water Moon nugget 1t weighed
223 pounds and 4 ounces, and was
worth about $45, 600.