The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-09-03

to the wreck about him, much OF II
fragments Of rock which the explo-
sion had detached from the wall. He
kicked over a shining. something and
muttered, I'D pirate yes!-pyrites'
He picked one up and held it at all
angles to the sun. Then his breast
heavy, the brave light flashed back to
the gray eyes, and he called out.
My Cod Gold, and four nOughts
to the tom"
And so by blind chance Captain
Wells had come upon one of the Hast
mines which about the middle of the
sixteenth century had enriched the
VicerOys Of New Spain, as the present
New Mexico was then called.
In every land where gold is found in
cidents like those just given might be
multiplied. Australia has had her
share, one of the most amusing being
the following:
An Irishman named Whalen, who
had been in the British army. went
TO Victoria in the middle seventies,
and, with the savings 1Of his wife,
bought, not far from BallaTat, a few
acres of ground, valuable because OF
water pool and a sluggish spring.
With mud and gravel taken from the
bottom of the pool Whalen made sun
dried bricks and built a cabin for his
family. Not far away there were pros
porous gold mines. and the Irishman.
whose army life had untitled him for
ordinary work, started a bar for the
convenience of men who did ordinary
work.
Near by there was a little colony Of
Chinese, who conducted laundries and
raised vegetables for the miners. Con
trary to their habit, these Chinese soon
became regular patrons of Whaleus
bar. and the fact that their visits were
always made at night did not excite
suspicion. At length Mrs. Whalen dis
covered that some one had carried off
the mud pigpen and its surrounding
wall. but the work had been done so
regularly that it was nearly ali gone
before she noticed it. Soon after this
the chimney and the corners of the
cabin walls began TO vanish, and
watch was set to find the thieves whs
could find any value in dry clay. At
length the wife discovered that while
one band of Cinnamon was keeping
Whalen busy at the bar, another band
was loading scrapings from the chin
ney and walls into sOiled clothes bags.
When Mrs. Whalen made her report
Whalen passed a local Chinese exciU-
sion act. and enforced it with a big
stick He had learned to respect the
intelligence Of the Celestials, but why
should they steal dry mud from his
cabin when the hills were full Of it.
'Mehbe there's goold in it," sug-
gested Mrs. Whalen.
Her husband acted on the hint. He
"sthole a painful of mud from the back
of the chimney and washed it out. He
had solved the mystery. The bottom
of the pan was covered with seeds and
scales of gold,
Whalen ordered tents for his family
D1ff at nj To
pan out that afterward became ia
nous in the song and story Of the
land as The Golden Shanty." The
house washed away, the bottoms Of
the pool and spring were attacked. with
the result that the owner soon became
a rich man.
In May, 1859, two years after the
first discovery of diamonds in South
Africa, a poor herder, who was tend
ing his cattle near SandfOntein. on the
Orange river. picked UP a bright peb-
BILE. which he carried home for the
baby to play with" Up to this time
his highest ambition had not extended
beyond doubling the few score cows
and sheep he had inherited from his
father.
A month after this Shalk Niekerk. A.
stOrekeeper, CHANGED in at the cabin
of SwatbOrg-that was the herder's
name-and seeing the child playing
with a bright stone he became inter-
ested. Niekerks offer for the stone of
500 sheep and ten head Of cattle and
a horse was at once accepted.
Niekerk sold the stone to Tielenfeld
Brothers for $3.50, 1000. II again
changed hands to an English firm. who
paid twice the second price for it.
When cut this same stone weighed S315
carats. 1t is now known among the
worlds famous diamonds as THE Star
Of South Africa