The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1897-02-11

Il away In little swlrla. That taxes on
one layer. The "comber" hurries
around after the swirls and picks M
whatever IL exposed 10 sight. Layer
after layer Of sand Is removed. un-
covering more and more coins ana
trinkets for the scavengers OF the sea-
shore On the day Of the last great
storm one man picked a. $50, which
r. the best days work remembered
by any OF the men talked with. This
storm-chasing IL pretty hard labor.
The men have 10 run around from place
10 place after the blows Of sand" and
the wind soon begins To lift and throw
In big waves. which. with the tide. pour
In shore and cover the beach. 80 profit
able IL Il. however. that the combers
Fearch an the water la over their boot
tops.
The most profitable work Of all is
the hardest That Ia digging around
the base Of the piles Of the iron pier.
The pier In simmer is n promenade as
we'll 40 waiting room. From Il all sorts
OF things drop. and. sinking In the
water. are given up by the owner as
lost The comber knows othersise. He
has learned that the ebb and now Of
the tide washes little eddy holes around
every pile. and that everything that
comes anywhere near these holes IL
deposited In them. He h aware. more
over. 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 fow OF the tide. All
things worth recovering So when the
beaches are left BY the summer crowds
and the hucksters. the oomberu 30 out
with their big shovels and sleeves and
dig up the sand In the holes They
say that the finds are Of good value
and very miscellaneous. Most numerous
are the plckings from the surfaoe Of
the hard pan" from two or three feet
down through the surface sand.
Upon this hard food the coins stand
on edge In a position 10 penetrate "a
the safe regions below. But the eomber
understanding this. shovels down three
or four feet further. and though Il Il
heavy work and oxhausting aiterward
when the sieve has 10 be used 10 re-
lease the sand the patient placer miner
makes sure be has reaped the summer
harvest before he leaves on his task.
There are two rich places which have
DOT been explored. one Il defended By
man and his wife Who own th'
ground. Il IL line Of poles set up fol
the bathing patrons -Four years ag'
young man went into the water ther'
with two SO sold pieces around hll
neck. He was about 10 be married and
was saving up the money for the event
Il was too precious TO be left In the
hath house keepers safe. 20 he kept
Il in the little leather bag AZ his neck
When he came out OF the water the
bag and the gold were gone. He wepl
and cursed aud made such a noise about
his loss that everybody "on Coney'
knew Of Il. The combers were not alone
IN the search for u. but Il was MOI
found during the season and In the fal
he winter men prepared TO dig around
the lifeline poles. Gebbard was afraid
they would dig up the poles or loOser
them and he forbade them TO worn
there. The police assisted him wheI
they were within call. but wheneyel
they and Gebbard were a-ay dow
swooped the comberu 70 search for M
gold. The owner found Il necessary 4
leave his wife 10 watch while be wa
away and The eombers have been kep
% ever since. But they mean TO hav
those double eagles yet; tAsy know the,
are IN the psle holes. and Dave Stew
MT, the negro oomber. said recently:
-rse goln' TO have them Eold-bug
In Il takes an Gabriel biova"
The other untouched spots are als
lifeline poles. those that once carrie
a line from the pier 10 the Seenle Rail
road. when the bathing houses ther
we're torn down the poles were left an
the eombers are welcome 70 delvs b
side them. But every year they hav
been passed over because there ver
enough other places equally rich 10 La
through the winter. and nov the I'D
and sands drift are gradually riaing owe
the tops Of the poles. They will 800
b. buried and their location win be fol
soften. unless some energetic combc
attacks them.
"Oh. we'll get around 10 EN- yet,
said GIN. but the cap'n anlled. an
when ON was gone said They nevs
work long after they've got enough Z,
a beei-siew n Il wasn't for my bae
and being comfortable. fd-hut. afi'
an. I've taken out enough a-slfting
the sand"
. n.nrr... - - Naaua4 49,