Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-03-12
Some Famous NuggeHs.
(Chambers'J Journal.)

Our first example is a representation OF
the emperor of all pure nuggets ever
found tho champion lump OF luck OF
the world. This gorgeous ueasure-uOVe'
known an the Welcome Stranger Mug
get" was got on the 9Th OF February
1869. by TWO men named John Deason ana
Richard Oates in fossicking the margin
of A patch of alluvium near DunoNy, VIC
tora, almost on the surface OF the
ground. 1t was resting on a bed OF sim
red clay, just above the bedrock, barely
covered with a loose gravelly ioam- II
was about u inches long, width not given
and ~ inches thick. with htue quartz
iron oxide, and mullock IN II; pul NC
great body Of ii was solid gold; SO 1 sup
pose neither John DeaSOn nor klchdIu
oates felt much aggrived on the score
OF the foreign substances IN TINS mos
"Welcome Stranger" 1t contained z,SoC
ounces OF gold; or, altgr sIhel.lII5, 80
ounces Of ine gold, and was valued at
the Bank OF England at SyJ3l. It's gross
weight as 1t came from the ground was
about 20S pounds. GU will agree with me-
j feel sure, that his was q Ntiy uug
mornings work for Messrs. DedsOh ana
Oates. ,,.
Our next example shows the welcome
nugget. which runs the champion very
close for weight and even beats II III lhe
price il brought its lucky finders. IL was
got on Bakery Hill, Ballarat, by a party
OF twenty-fOur, at depth OF leV Ieet, on
the 10Th of June, 1900, ana measured -
inches long. II inchH wide, ana lhches
thick In il there was some 10 pounds
of ouartz mullock, etc, and into the
bargain 22l7 ounces 10 pennyWelght OF me
gOld or lA pounds ounces 10 penny
Weight troy. 1t was bought on spec.
i'm Ballarat for G1OOJO, taken TO Mel
hourne and exhibited there for some
weeks. bringing in large sums Oh money.
II was then sold Tor $3.50, taken 10 Lon
don and smelted. il assaNed JJ'%O tqudI
To % karats, 3 Is karat grains oil pure
gold With reference 10 hhdlhs thIs
splendid lump of luck, the authority
/ am quoting from casually remarks thdi
'the same party the week BEFORE Iouhd
some smaller nuggets IRON Il ounces 10
40 ounces each mere Is SUM SUN inns ri
freshingly vague and oif-hand IN thls
"sOme", perhaps IL was a score OF 81
but in those golden days such niue ulhes'
worth only, say, from &4o TO &loo each'
| must now pass from the trst class TO
some celebrated nuggets Of which unIOr-
tunately there are 10 models suCA @s
the Blanche Barkly' nugget, FOUND on
the 9th of August, 1891, only Is ieet from
the surface 1T was - inches long ana
10 inches wide; no thickness gwen II
weighed 1,7i3 ounces Is penhyWeishl' VIII
pounds of clay and oXlue OF iron III ~:
/ II was melted in London FOR u return OF
] 90 gO5 lbs Sd Before that II was eNhlDlt-
! ed i'm Melbourne and at the crystal fal-
| ace Sydenham, where IL excited great IN
! terest: its lucky owners neitlhs Ior
! considerable time as much as a0V poi
! week A great nameless nugget was uh-
| earthed on the 3lst OF January 100, a.
| Canadian Gully, Ballarat by party Od
! four al a depth OF 90 ISel' Wels"'ns ~ ~
! ounces; and Immediately after. Oh the
| same day they struck announcer OF 10
| ounces 1.-TWO of this party had only peeh
| three months in the colony from thsiahu,
| and at once returned there with 9 nen
.-t..
! nuggets were melted in London Tor LOIS
| ounces II pennyweight u grains me solu,
value e5532 Is. 4d." These TWO gentlemen
must certainly have looked on thelr tllp
10 Australia as a very rosy picnic indeed.
Then come two specimens got side by
side i'm a rust-colored matrix al Dunolly,
Victoria, early in 1851 Weighing toselher
2e52 ounces. When melted IN Melbourne,
however they only gave lobS ounces 10
uenuyWeicht gold of the value OF to,1O.
THE II ady Hotham' vas found on inc oth
of September, 1854 at Canadlah Guiy'
Ballarat. at 1856 feet. II weighed at nrst'
!. III ounces II pennywclsht, put ,hele was
much quartz and sulphuret OF iron IN H.
and il only turned out 735 ounces OF solu.
This painful disappointment was some
what toned down by the same party
taking 30 pounds weight Of smaller mug
qets ont of the same hole, the total OF the
gold being worth Gl3,WV Canadian
Gully had evidently been on Its mettle-
no pun intended-for some time past, ior'
on the 10Th of January, 1893, III gave Two
miners very pleasant surprise at
depth OF 50 feet. Brkmyre's description
is delicious: he says that 1.-THE very first
blow of the pick led the miner to suspect
gold; with the second the PICK stuck last
in the mass"-a trifie that only weighed
i,ll7 ounces II pennywelght and measured
% inches by 81 inches But this liberal
gully had rot done with them yet, pos
slbly 70 make up Tor any injury the miner
might have done to the point of his pick.
Two days after. and within 10 feet OF
the first one his mate got another piece
u inches long, inches wide, and Giz
inches thick, weighing l.0ll ounces Is
pCnnyweight the value Of the two being
1880. These men also got 100 ounces of
smaller gold. and then sold the claim for
80 guineas." In the middle of 1855 a mug
get unnamed was turned up In feet Of
ground at Blackmans Lead. Marybo-
rough. which weighed 1904 ounces was
sold in Melbourne, and melted there for
1920