The courier., 1902-08-30
famous Gold 6Mnfer
Dies Tn PoVerdp

A romance and tragedy were bound
up In the life Of Samuel H. Napier,
lately In charge Of one Of the lumber
supply stations Of Gilmour q Hugheson
OF Ottawa, Canada, which II situated
In the wilds Of the Gatineau district.
whose body. half eaten up by rats. was
found q few days ago. He died all
alone In the heart Of the Canadian pine
forest, with no other companion save
a faithful dog, who attracted the at
tention Of some visitors to the lonely
spot where the body Of his master lay.
Mr.. Napier was once q successful
gold miner and occupied important
public positions in this country. In
late years. however. misfortunes
crowded upon him and swept away his
wealth. forcing him in his old age to
seek q livelihood as a keeper Of stores
in lumber camp far beyond the limits
Of civilization In the Ottawa valley.
He was the discoverer Of the greatest
nugget Of pure gold that the world has
ever known. Travelling with 1t from
Australia. where he had found II, to
London, he became one Of the lions Of
that capital and the guest Of royalty.
Returning to New Brunswick. he was
soon elected q member Of the provin-
cial parliament for his native county
OF Gloucester. The story OF his great
find II one for the latter-day novelist.
but with the important feature that 1t
is strictly true and q matter Of history
in some respects.
In 1852 the world was stirred by the
reports Of great fortunes being won by
the pick in the gold fields Of Austria
liza. Napier was then a purser Of a
clipper sailing ship. plying between
Liverpool and Melbourne. He left sea-
faring life and Joined his brother at
the Kingowar diggings.
The brothers' claim was not large
one. only thirty-six feet square. but
in 1t was hidden a treasure that made
even the eyes of the queen Of Eng
land sparkle. On August II their ind
was made. which gave fortune to the
Napier brothers. and 1t was in the year
1857. The circumstances are best given
In Napier's own language. as related to
Mr.. Payne. secretary to the minister
Of railways in Ottawa by Napier be-
fore he went up to the lumber camps
last spring:
I'VE had got down to the pipe-clay
bottom. which marked the bed Of an
extinct river, and was the chief char
acteristic Of all alluvial diggings in
Australia. when my pick struck some
thing hard. I knew at once that It
was not a bowider. There was not the
same ring to 1t. 1t struck dead.
Scraping the dirt away. caught sight
Of the bright yellow color of pure gold.
/ knew at once that II was a nugget.
but its size could not estimate. This
happened about 10 o'clock in the morn
ing"
Were you excited?"
Excited? I cannot describe to you
how excited was. especially when the
nugget was at last got free. It was all
I could do to lift 1t, and 1 saw that
II was solid. pure gold. 1t was two
feet -FOUR inches long by ten inches
wide and from one and one-half inches
to three and three-quarters thick. 1t
weighed exactly lag pounds four ounces
and three pennyweights. and was act
uaily the largest and finest nugget Of
pure gold ever found anywhere IN the
world. One or two others were dis
covered that weighed as much, but
they were not solid or pure gold.
AT dusk we secretly Transferred the
precious lump to our tent, and at mid
night, when all was quiet we made a
hole six feet deep IN the middle of the