The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-02-08

Many Found in California that Were Worth
 Fortune-The Biggest Weighed I51
 Pounds 6 Ounces, and was Worth ss36,-
 s7O-Lots of Nuggets Worth More Than
 S5,OOO.
 From the New York Sum-
 That story in the Sun about the find- ing of gold nugget in the mining reg ions of Patagoni worth $5,OOo," said Colonel T. P. Brooks, who has been a gold miner in California and Arizona for forty-five years, "seems to have made great commotion among those miners down i'm South America, but that was only boy of nugget by the side of many that have been taken out of the earth and rocks in California. Dan- iel Hill, vino died of delirium tremens in jail i'm Los Angeles several years ago, was the luekiest man I ever knew or heard of in getting suddenly rich twice. He dug two chunks of gold out of the gravel as simply and easily as a man rolls stone out of the hillside The first nugget was found in June, 1S6G, in the Ruby Belle claim, north of Plumas. 1t was as large as a mans head and was combined with Water-stained quartz. c. P. Huntington's brother in Sacramento bought it for $17,OO0 cash down. In the fall of 1871, TIill was plac- CT mining on his own account in Dutch Flats, and, by hunky, he washed out another nugget of gold about the size and shape of a horses hoof. He quit work and went right down to Frisco, where he got $14,20O for his lucky find. He had spent every dime of his little fortune in six months, and went back to hard work in the mountains again. But that ended his streak of luck, and he never made over $10 in any one day after that; more often $2 or $3 a day, and sometimes not dime"
 The Miners association of California has among its great mass of literature connected with the gold industry and the development of mining operations in this state many interesting facts con- corning big nuggets of gold. The larg- est nugget ever found In this state was that known as the Oliver Martin chunk. It weighed 151 pounds ounces. The precious ore was mixed with white quartz, and it was sold after having been converted into bullion for $36,270. Hundreds of pictures have been made of the golden mass, and all the schoolboys in California are expected to know the weight, size, and value of the famous nugget. There are bronze fac-similes of the chunk in many mineral collections in museums in Europe and America. The nugget was found near Camp Ca roma in Tuolumna county, in central California. The date of the finding was November 1S,1S54 Martin, poor min CT, who had not even the proverbial dollar to his name, and companion named John Flower, were tramping on their way up country to new diggings. | They camped one night in a mountain canon, when sudden and terrific rain | storm came up in the darkness. The | water in the canon stream suddenly | rose. The miners attempted to climb | the I1il1 but the flood overlook them and | both were carried down stream. Flow CT was drowned, but Martin, though se- verely injured, escaped. While trying | to bury his companions body by the | roots of an upturned tree, Martin dis covered the rich nugget that bears his name. He was too weak to move 1t. He attempted to reach some neighbor-
  ton, and was found on the trail by them. When able to walk, some weeks later Martin took them to the spot and the nugget was removed. Martin made the nugget the basis of a large fortune that he accumulated in the next two decades.
 In August, 1869, w. A. Parish, A. Wood, J. Winstead, F. N. L. Clevering, and Harry Warner were partners in the Monumental claim, near Sierra Buttes, in Sierra county. In the last week of that month they discovered a gold nugget which weighed 1,593 ounces troy. It was sold to R. B. Woodward of San Francisco, who paid for it $21, 636. 52 for exhibition purposes. It was after ward melted and $17654.94 was real ized from 1t.
 The biggest nugget of gold ever found in Shasta county was discovered in the spring of 1876. One day three two of whom were named Oliver Longchamp and Fred Rechon, drove into the old town of Shasta in search of spot to mine. They hap pened to have some business with A. Coleman, a dealer in hardware and notions. The three asked him where was good place to mine. He careless ly pointed In northerly direction and said, "Go over to Spring Creek" They took his advice, located a claim on the creek some eight miles north of Red ding and few days later one of the Frenchmen picked up a nugget of gold valued at $6,200. Ten years later a | miner named Dent Young found $520 nugget on Flat creek, near where the Frenchmen found their famous chunk. Plumas, though one of the richest mining counties in California, has yielded few valuable nuggets. The I argest was found by Chinaman near he mouth of Nelson creek, and was [ worth $2,S00. A miner at Elizabeth own, named Archie Little, discovered 4 l $2,600 nugget and Messrs. Hays and 5teadman found one above Mohawk 1alley, near the county line, that weigh Il d 420 ounces, and was worth $6,70O. r Sierra is justly famed for its valuable !, masses of gold, found both pure and mixed with quartz, George H. Norman a tnd Frank Aman found near Gibson il lille in 1867 a nugget that weighed V ,ver 100 ounces and was worth $1, ,700 :