The Nome nugget., 1902-05-17
From the "Nugget's" Cores
 pOndent at COldsOOt.
BIG HUGGET FOUND
Il Weighs Forty-eight ard Three fourths Ounces, and Is Worth $0zO.2 Picked Up on a Bench Claim OH HamrlOnd River.
Especial Correspondence).

COldfOOt. Alaska, FeD. -f.-COnSldcf- able interest has been manifested in Coldfoot and vicinity for the past three oays over the report that several large nuggets, one of which was more valu- able than that found last fall on the property of Gillespie & Watts on tnioI creek, had been picked up on the bench claim adjoining Sulivan's discovery, on the left limit, about three miles from the mouth of Hammond river, located on the 9th day of January of this year by Frisby brothers and Hanna, por- tion of which claim is embraced in the river bed proper.
 Veriiicalion of this report was had this evening, when the above named gentlemen arrived in ColdfoOt, bringing with them their valuable find, which was found on the claim mentioned above and at a point well within the river bed. The nugget in question, which was picked up on the l%tn of this month. and which weighs forty eight and three-fourths ounces. and havlnG d commercial valuation of S92623, is all the more remarkable by reason of be- ing of the purest gold and bearing absolutely no quartz. It is quite flat. about the size of an ordinary man $ hand and when found, within Q few inches of the surface, was but slightly tarnished on the exposed sides, having been wedged in between couple of boulders. And this was not the only find made, for on the day previous, the 18th, another nugget was picked up on the same property weighing in the neignborhood of S57. In addition to this. the owners have taken out close to $2, GOO since going on the property. the | fore part of last month. This. of course. necessilated the slow and tedious pro cess, so familiar to many Alaskans, of banning in the mud box in the cabin.
 1 have just returned from viewing the prize, which is on exhibition at the cabin of MT. Orbeck. and upon ar rival there l found it surrounded by d group of ardent admirers, consisting of the inhabitants of the town, who had been eager to inspect this latest find. I learned upon questioning the owners of the nugget that they should have remained on their claim and prosecuted their search to a further extent were 1t not for the fact that their supply of provisions had almost run out. and aS they could not very readily digest the l nuggets. they were compelled to come to town and replonish their stock of pork and beans and hardtack, although it is reasonable to assume that their valuable discovery of precious metal will permit of their indulging in some thing of more palatable Dature than the prospector's old standby.
 Right adjoining these boys, on the river claim, Sullivan's discovery, the owners have been taking out for the past few weeks as high as $40 to the pan, and report wel[detined pay streak of good proportions.
 We have it from the Indians that Hammond river is about l40 miles long, and, as no white man has yet heen to the head of it, this information is of necessity accepted as correct. It empties into the middle fork of the Koyukuk river at q point about IS miles above ColdfOot, and is being pros pected for distance of about four miles from the mouth, with varying results. A &250 nugget was recently picked up in Grand canyon, which is about seven miles from the mouth, and beyond this bar prospects yielded as high as 10 cents to the pan before the freeZeup last fall. There have been no
 holes sunk above the canyon. except on q bench about twelve miles from the
 mouth of the river when this was at
 tempted, but the water washed the
 prOspectOrs out. hence nothing of i'm
 pOrtance has yet been discovered in
 that locality up to the present time. Although q discovery and find of vast proportions has been made within a
 short distance of this town, yet no un-
 due excitement prevails, and even the
 owners themselves manifest no par ticular elation of spirits. However. il is plainly apparent that they are not rrieving. Nor has it occasioned a , stampede to that locality. Each new ] find here seems only to act as greater } incentive to the prospectors in the
 neishbOrhood in their search for tho
 elusive nuggets, and as good stimulus , for those who are inclined 10 be SlOth
 full.
 It is confidently predicted and be l]ieved that these finds are only of ; minor charater and the forerunners o discoveries that will far surpass al .. previous records within the near futui now that the time for d thorough ex , animation of the ground throughou the entire region is rapidly approach
 ing. r. X. G. NA311 Mot T1n AfNrnoA