The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-22

weighed twenty pounds Eight pounds
or TINS he sold at SIG an ounce, or ST.
$50, while the remaining twelve pounds
were sold for $12 and ounce, or 81 ,72S,
making $S,246 for the nugget. The same
man, many years later, discovered in
the same mine another very valuable
nugget. 1t was ten inches long, from
Chree to seventeen inches wide and
over an inch thick. The gold was i'm
DeQded In mass of crystaliZed quartz.
with clear-cut corners. the sides Of
winch Shone with great brilliancy.
When thoroughly cleaned it weighed
AT ounces, and was sent to the San
francisco mint, where it brought 81
S52 In 1854, 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
$1,000 worth of gold.
ROMANCE OF A BIG LUMP.
Among the exhibits i'm the mining
department at the worlds fair was q
nugget of pure gold that was found
IN Alpine caunty by young woman.
The history of the discovery of this
chunk is unique in mining, and is
cherished by every woman in the gold
mining regions in California Harry E.
In 1874 from Philadelphia, because of
the formers serious lung trouble They
went to live up in the mountains of
Alpine county, remote from civilization
and several miles from any neighbor.
The couple got their livlihood by hunt
ing, and cultivating a few acres of
land about their lonly cabin. GriZzIed
Old gold miners with their jackasses
laden with grimy camp outfits and
NV no
QuentIy. One of the men lay i'll there
Tor several weeks, while he was nursed
10 health and vigor, by Mr.. and Mrs.
Ellis. The miner rewarded them for
their Kindness by stating how they
might find recreation and profit in
hunting through the canyons and foot
hills in that region for pay dirt" He
showed them where he believed there
were indications of gold bearing
gravel, that he himself would work,
but that he had better prospects a
hundred miles further up the coast. For
Gays at time the yong husband and
wife tramped up and down the gulches
in Alpine county looking for specks OF
gold, but all without avail They
abandoned seeking riches in the plac-
ers and confined their attention to
their little ranch.
One afternoon ~as Mrs. Ellis was
driving home the family COW she was
seeking stones to throw for the amuse-
ment of the dog. She saw in the coarse
gravel dark, dull yellow stone and
picked it Up. Il knew from the mo-
ment L picked it up" says she, that
l had found gold, because it was 50
heavy, but as l had never seen a real
nugget | was afraid my husband would
laugh at me- The nugget has never
been utilized in gold working, and is
probably kept for exhibition purpose
1t is phenOmenally clear. The chunk
was the size of a croquet ball. but very
rough and battered by rolling and
tumbling in water for ages. Mrs. Ellis
got $3.50 for that find She and her
husband lost no time in looking for
more mineral treasure in Alpine
county, but such luck comes but once
to ninety-nine people out Of 100
In FL Dorado county in 1853 a 105-
ounce nugget of gold was discovered
that was valued at $780, Another
was found near Kelsey, in the same
county, which sold for 81, 700 In 1857
at Pilot Hill a bOwlder of gold quartz
was found which yielded $4,000. This
with several smaller nuggets was taken
fl ON the Bowlder gravel claim near the
Pilot Hill postotfice. Several large and
valuable gold nuggets were discovered
in Tuolumne county. In 1853 a mass
of gold weighing $50 ounces was found
at Columbus. This was valued at So
625. At Gold Hill, in the same county,
a Mr.. Virgin found one Weighing $50
ounces and valued at $500. A French
man in Spring gulch, near Columbia,
in the same county, found one Of al
most pure gold which was worth
$4,000. 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.
FINDS OF LATE YEARS.
N the last decade several nuggets
have been found in the mining regions
of California that have brought over
81, 600 each. In October, 1889, 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 crystallized
quartz. They were suspected of hav-
ing murdered miner to get their gold.
They, however, proved that while go
ing about in the dry bed of an ancient
stream of water two miles from the
Bealeville placer mining camp for fag-
OTIS for fire they had stumbled upon
their lucky find. They had offered the
Caliente for $40. but he, suspecting
fraud, would not bargain with the
strangers. Subsequently the nugget
was sold in Los Angeles for 81, 750 1t
weighed ZIG ounces. In less than
week after the find there were over 100
men from all parts of Southern Cali
fornia hunting daily up and down that
old river bed for gold nuggets, but
beyond a few SO or 81 finds there was
M hn T,,
uary, 1891, a nugget of pure gold that
weighed 40 ounces was found in a drift
of coarse gravel in the Goler district,
north of the Mojave desert. The very
next day another nugget Of pure gold
about the size Of a goose's egg was
found. Both were bought by a manu-
featuring jeweler in Pomona. The for
mer brought $2,120 and the latter
1915.
Several months ago nugget that
sold for about 81, 400 was brought into
San Diego by poor, weak consump-
tive from New Jersey, who had been
rOughing it up in the mountains with
some sheep ranchmen. In his long
daily walks for health and exercise,
he amused himself in looking for Indian
relics in canyon. He found the mug
get among 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 more astonished a person than
he at the value placed upon his find
" hen he offered it for sale in San
Diego. Experienced gold miners visit
ed the place where the chunk was pick
ed up, but none of them has yet found
another sign Of gold there. 1t is one
of the perplexities and aggravations
of hunting for new gold fields
The largest nugget ever found in
North Carolina weighed eighty pounds
The largest ever found in Siberia
weighed ninety-four pounds and four
ounces The largest piece of gold ever
found in Colorado wei ohad thirtonr,