The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-06-14
IT CAUSED rHRRR MURDERS.

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olina Nugget Of Gold
Long before gold was discovered in
California there was both placer and
quartz mining in North Carolina and
Northern Georgia, and the Chatta.
hoochee river bed is yet worked by
steam dredges for fiat and placer
gold, while q dozen new plants have
beenerected in Hall and Harrison coUn
ties, Ga, Cherokee and other counties
I'm North Carolina since the Atlanta Elk
position. This revived attention to an
old gold field lends interest to a story
told by z. A. Barns, of Yates county,
N. z.
'some years ago." said Mr.. Barnes,
II read in q newspaper something
which recalled to me a visit I had
made to Cherokee county, North Caro-
lima, forty years ago. This newspaper
account was to the effect that the di,
rectors of the Philadelphia Mint was
anxious to find an owner for gold
minted from q nugget weighing 1876
pounds sent to the mint by j. J..
Burnes, Of PineIand Township, Chero-
kee county, North Carolina years be.
fore and never claimed.
Gas / have been through that town
ship, and knew it to be some forty
miles from q railroad, and as / was
going to made another trip through the
State, the idea occurred to me to look
into the case. I did so. and learned
the history of The Red Greek Mug
get and Of the three murders it caused.
John Farrell was a Equstter on Red
Greek, Cherokee county. Ole day he
had visitors-tWo men he had known
long years before. For their enter.
tainment he went into his bedroom
and rolled out q large ball Of some
thing the color of bronze, and ga heavy
as lead. G .ntlemen,' he said, here is
something / found while looking for
my COW. 1t is mighty heavy, and I
thought 1t might be something more
than iron His visitors, who we're
miners, pronounced his find almost
pure gold. They proposed to help him
carry the nugget to where it could be
shipped to the mint. He accepted
their offer, and the next morning the
party started with their prize for the
railroad, some forty miles distant.
Meanwhile the two miners had con-
ceived the idea of numbering Farrell
and securing the nugget for themselves.
So, while Farrell was carrying the
from end to the pole on which the mug
get was suspended, he was Drained
with q hatchet and his body was hid.
den i'm the woods. But when they
again took up their march, the man
at the front end Of the pole began to
doubt the man behind him, and stop
ping suddenly, he said: I say, Mike,
Farrell ia sleeping behind in the bush,
and as / don't want TO sleep here, we
had better cut that lump of gold in two
and each man take his half and go
with it.
This suggestion was agreed to, and
Nike took the Ratchet from his belt
and cut the nugget in two. Then, still
kneeling, he asked: Which half will
you takeG' and as he spoke he looked
down at the split nugget. This was
the opportune moment for his partner,
and the next instant Nike lay dead
in the trail with a Ratchet cash in his
head. His body was dragged into the
woods and his half of the nugget was
hidden Around the other half it was
fastened q strap, a stick was run
through it swung yer the should Of
the surviving murderer, and so it final
ly reached the mint. The other half
was also shipped to the mint, both in
the name Of J. J. Burnes. Then the
murderer conceived the biz IRE idea OF
going back to Pineland Township to
try 20 gain the affections of Mrs. Far