Evening star., 1896-12-15
SITTING THE SANDS.

SITTING THE SANDS.
Combing the Beach for Lest Valuab bles
at cohey Idslana.
From the New York Post. -.
storm is just good as a fire though
When the beach combers' see one com
ing across the wn6ersA they pull on thelr
rubber boots and oil SINS and forth they
sally. The first wind picks up the light
dry sand and blows it away in little swirls
That takes off oHe layer. The "ccmber''
hurries around after the swirls and picks
up whatever is ,sxpossn to sight. Layer
after layer of sahd is femoved. uncovering
more and more coins and trinkets for tie
scavengers of the, seashore. On the day
Of the last great, storm one man picked
up S'2, which Is the best days work re-
membered by any of the men talked with.
This storm-chasihg is pretty hard labor.
The men have to run around from place
to place after the elbows Off sand! and
the wind soon begins to lift and throw in
big waves which with the tide pour in
shore and cover the beach, SO profitable
Is 1t. however. tina t. the combers search till
the water is over their boot tops
The nost profitable work of all Is the
hardest That is digging around the base
of the piles Of the iron pier. The pier in
summer is promenade as well as waiting
room. From it all sorts of thirgs drop
and, sinking in the water, are given up
by the owner as lost. The comber knows
otherwise. He has learned that the ebb
and flow of the tide washes little eddy
holes around every pile. and that every
thing that comes. anywhere near these
holes Is deposited in them. He is aware
moreover. that even heavy objects are
borne backward and forward by the waves
and that consequently the chances are
In favor of the pile hole receiving on some
in and out flow of the tide, all things
worth recovering. So when the beaches
are left by the summer crowds and the
hucksters. the combers so out with their
big shovels and sieveS and dig up the
sand in the holes. They say that the
finds are of good value and very misceIla-
neous. M st numerous are the pickings
from the surface Of the hard pan" from
two to three feet down through the sur
face sand. Upon this hard floor the coins
stand on edge in a position to penetrate
to the safe regions below. But the comb
er, understanding this, shovels down three
or four feet further. and though it is
heavy work and exhausting afterward
when the sieve has to be used to release
the sand, the patient placer miner makes
sure he has reaped the summer harvest
before he leaves off his task.
There are two rich places which have
not Eeen explored. One Is defended by a
man and his wife who own the ground
1t Is line of poles set up for tie bathing
patrons of Gebbard's. Four years ago d
young man went into the water there with
two twenty-dollar gold pieces around his
neck. He was about to be married and
was Saving up the money for the event
II was. too precious to be left in the bath
house keepers safe, so he kept 1t in the lit
tie leather bag at his neck. When he
came out of the water the bag and the
gold were gone. He wept and cursed and
made such a noise about his loss that
everybody 'on Coney'' knew of 1t. The
combers were not alone in the search for
1t. but 1t was not found during the season,
and In the fall the winter men prepared
to dig around Gebbard's lifeline poles
Gebbard was afraid they would dig up the
poles or loosen them, and he forbade them
to work there. The police assisted him
when they were within call, but whenever
they and Gebbsrd were away down swoop-
ed the combers to search for the gold.
The owner found 1t necessary to leave his
wife to watch while he was away, and the
combefs have been kept Off ever since.
But they mean to haye those double-eagles
yet: they know they are in the pole holes.
and Dave Stewart, the ,pegro' oomber, said
yesterday:
Use goin' to have them gold-bugs if it
takes till Gabriel blows"
The other untouched spots are also life
line; poles, those that once carried a line
from the pier to thA Scfnic faiifoad. When
the bathing housesp pthefe were torn down,
the poles were left, and the combers are
year they have been passed over because
there were enough other places equally rich
to last through the winter. and now the
tide and the sand.drift1s gradually rising
over the tops of the poies. They will soon
beoburied and thsih@losatiea WIN be- for
gotten unless some energetic comber at
'ae1s aoS 'nem we.n set I'll .e,, v., =. ..,,
Gill yesterday. busG the ncapn sniled,% and
when Gill was gone. Said: They never
work long after tkey'W got enough FOR
beef-stew. II II wasn't for my back
and being comfortable, Fd-but. after all.
: Eve, taken out enough a-sifting Of the
sand" r--,