The Savannah morning news., 1902-12-11

was nothing in the outward appear
ance OF the mountain to distinguish 1t
from the other mountains of the range;
it had the same rugged slopes and gull
lies, and the same scrubby vegetation
covered its surface as could be seen for
miles around. The farming settler and
the shepherd wandering over this hilly
region little dreamed Of the treasure
stored beneath. They would sometimes
find alluvial gold in the ravines and
creeks, and pick up a bowlder heavily
weighted with the precious metal; but
that there was a whole mountain or
auriferous ore waiting to be exploited
by men of energy and enterprise never
entered their minds. The gold was
carefully hidden in stone which, in out
ward appearance, differed slightly from
the ordinary metallic structure OF the
| soil around.
The discovery was made almost ac-
| cidentally. In the early DAYS of set
Element in Central Queensland.
Scotch family named Gordon took up
a selection on the slopes of the Razor
Back, and by additional purchases ex-
tended their run down across creek
which divided the slopes from this
mountain. and partly up one of its
sides They stocked their land with
sheep and cattle. and endeavored to
success. Among other misfortunes. a
la rye number of their cattle died
through eating a poisonous weed which
grew abundantly in the neighborhood,
and so their sons were obliged to leave
the homestead for work elsewhere. One
of the SONS, Alexander Gordon. found
ernployment with the Morgans mining
SPECTATORS living at Mount Wheeler,
a few miles from Rockhampton. Mrs.
Alexander Gordon was the daughter of
a stockman who had often driven his
cattle over the district, and watered
them at the streams flowing at the
base of the mountain; and she had re-
ceived from her father a piece of gold
bearing stone picked up in a creek
there. Gordon showed this stone to the
Morgans, who at once saw its worth,
and offered him EGO If he would show
them the spot where 1t was found.
This he promised to do. and the two
Morgans, after equipping themselves
in Rockha mpton with horses and tools
for a prospecting tour. started under
the guidance of Gordon to find this
modern Pactolus.
After journeying over the ranges
they reached a creek where the gold
was supposed to be: but their first
days Investigations were very discour-
aging, for the stone they crushed yield
ed little gold. At night tropical down
pour Of rain set in, and all the gullies
md creeks became flooded and ran in
torrents, so they had to seek a place
of safety on the mountain. Next
morning. as the rain continued. they
were in such a soddened and disheart-
ened condition that they decided to
make their way back: but this was
difficult because of the floods. There
fore they moved to higher ground,
swimming across creeks and climbing
up the steep sides of ravines. and at
last reached a spur Of the mountain.
where they made a fire. dried their
clothes, and ate a hearty meal.
After the rain had cleared off, one of
the brothers, accompanied by Gordon,
determined to prospect around the
neighborhood to see II any gold could
be found there When they had gone
about two miles-Gordon being some
distance off-Morgan saw big black
bowder which he thought had some
gold in 1T, so he broke piece off and
put II in his pocket. He also noticed
that all along reef there were similar
stones; and without telling Gordon of
his discovery, he broke pieces off, and
on his return showed them to his
brother, who was still resting in the
hut.
Leaving Gordon in the hut. the two
Morgans went down to the nearest wa
ter hole, where they crushed and wash
ed the ore, and TO their surprise and
immense qualification found that these
pieces OF bowlder yielded. as they said,
''more gold than stone" On exploring
the country around, they found that
the whole mountainsde appeared 20
be OF the same kind Of gold bearing
stone. The discovery was kept from
Gordon, as his family still owned some
Of the land: and after having the ore
assayed fn Northampton. the Morgans
bought the Gordons' land for the pal
try sum of 81 an acre, and afterward
secured the rest OF the land on similar
~ easy terms. Thus the Morgans be-
came the owners OF this famous nat
ural tunuus OF buried wealth, this
wonderful Australian NJ Dorado.
The mountain, which was formerly
named the Ir0nstone Mountain, was
now called Mount Morgan, after is
discoyereF Soon a small company WIS
formed and regfeteredi ana the broth
ers Morgan, with One o. two others
who had secured shares. began mining
oUerauOns. The richness ~ the stone
!, ~ unparalleled, and the news " this
discovery Ass soon wired over fbe
Wofq, Spectators ~ many eountTies