The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-10
NUGGETS OF GOLD.
Rich Finds in Australia-Luck of Some
 of the ProspectOrs.

wave of excitement and rusE lo the gold fields which were strongly re- miniscent of far off days in the his tory of Australia. North from the opulent mines of Ballarat is the Dun oily district, which for brief season fifty years ago was surely the most favored auriferous area that ever cheered the heartlof a Responding dig ger. About two miles from what is now the town of Tarnagulla, few prospectors in 1858, in searching for the precious metal, unearthed lump of pure gold. something like twenty pounds in weight. The ground was carefully gone over and nugget after nugget was disclosed.
 For the first few days" writes one of those who were present, fit was for all the world like digging potatoes, the gold being got. in slugs and nuggets varying in weight from one pound up to forty pounds" The majority of the specimens were found near the surface, often close to the roots of the grass. But the scene of these opera tions was comparatively small gully which within three weeks was fully exploited and the rich golden harvest was over.
 The heaviest nugget yet yielded by Australia, or, as far as known, by any part of the globe, was the Welcome Stranger found near Dunolly in 1869. It weighed 210 pounds, troy, Afterward came the Blanche Barkly, 1,74S ounces; the Canadian Gully nugget, 1'619 ounces; the Lany Hotham, 1,17S ounces and many more, all from the same part of Victoria. During recent years, however, there has been Hull in this form of gold getting, and the inactivity continued unbroken, says the Pail Mall Gazette, until shortly be- fore the Christmas of 1906, Then two small parties of miners, engaged on their claims at Poseidon, less than two miles distant from the still nota- ble Nuggety Gully, were able to an- nounce that nugget getting was not al- together q thing of the past. This particular field had been examined by experts years before, and though fine gold was known to be present, 1t was obtained in quantities so insignificant as to be entirely unpayable.
 But on the occasion referred to one party while busy upon surface work ings unexpectedly laid bare a piece of pure gold which weighted 300 ounces. Three days later and from the adjoin- ing claim two miners brought forth a handsome slug of 12O ounces. The well come news of these proceedings arous- ed keen interest on the field and throughout Victoria; but 1t was not until December IS that an approach to the interest and excitement of olden times was manifested. On that day a prospecting party-Woodall, Brooks, Condron and Eva-in opening up q small patch of new ground came across what to the time of writing is the premier nugget of Poseidon.
 It was lying within few inches of the surface, consisted almost entirely of pure gold, and sealed 96O ounces. Strange to say, fifteen minutes after ward two miners Williamson and Stephenson uncovered not more than thirty feet away nugget S7S ounces in weight. The fame of the Poseidon field immediately became great. From all parts of Australia men-old and young, well to do and penniless-hur- ried to the place, hoping that Dame Fortune would smile upon their enter prise. And toward many the field has been indulgent and generous. Poseidon in six weeks, the Victorian Mines Department estimates yielded gold in nuggets to the value of not less than 25,OOO pounds. The official records are known to be incomplete, but it is believed that during the last two weeks of December 2,500 ounces of gold were taken out of the ground There are men on the field who decline to furnish precise returns concerning the gold they win and the nuggets they secure The finders of two of the larger specimens-670 ounces and 502 ounces-kept their good luck secret for three weeks, and it is more than probable that many others have adopt |
 | ed similar policy of silence.
 Curious circumstances are related concerning the finding of some of the nuggets. A clerk from Melbourne vis- tied Poseidon during his holidays, and while lettering near hole which had been dug many years ago, while his stick turned up a fourteen ounce mug get of solid gold. It was lying within an inch of the surface.
 1 A remarkable experience is reported Eby a newspaper correspondent as hay ing happened recently. Two men, named Gascoyne and Hanno, reached the field a few days before in that con dition known to the miners as almost dead broke" They secured claim but it failed to respond to their aspira- tions. So low were their finances that
 on the Friday evening they spent theii Hast threepence for loaf of bread an6
 sent to Melbourne to borrow few
 shillings During Saturday morning
 they sunk hole In shallow groun( !. within their claim and to their joy un
 earthed nugget of almost pure golt
 weighing eighty seven ounces,
 The Poseidon nuggets are known al indicator gold. This gold was origin
 ally embedded in humps within thu
 quartz. The gradual denudation o
 the rocks freed the gold, which re
 mained in position after the reefs an
 rocks had disappeared. Several min
 CTS on the Poseidon in the short spac'
 of six weeks have won sufficient golt
 to maintain thm in comfort for life.