The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1910-09-30

~ days OF Australian gold mining.
which Ssnt thrill around tAs world.
Samuel Napier, G oailor, with his
brother Charles and one Robert Am
oroAs. their cook and general handy
man. had beon digging for gold for
ak months st Hangover, about forty
miles from Bendigo, without discov-
eriag as much Of tho precious metal
a" would Ply thair living expenses,
when ons Au9uet Day, 70 tell the
ntexy In sIepiey'D own words: eve
Nod aug down about fourteen fost
vs. tao pipe slay stratum and were
rsefGing :-cuns IL the bottom Of tho
Ehaft nere dead than slirs from the
Scat. Old Anbroas lit his pipe and
loaned sEaiaxt tho aids Of the hole to
rest. Jg9< tkoG ! Etruek somothing
WITH my Fte,s. I turned it up 30 tbs
llghs could strike 1t, and, by Jimmy,
it wsc 8 chunk Of sold 40 big as G.
hubbard rxnDlt!" Tho nugget solS
FIR seg.ooe.
Among the thousands who foeked
&c tho Victorian cold folds In the
oGrly ATTIC, wcro two Cornish min
orr. Jchn Deacon &nd Richard Oxteg,
who Etatod G. claim near tho village
OF kolisQuN. They set to work with
vigor. soaadoRt that In q few months
tEey would oe eblo to retire to their
native Cornwall rich men. but their
expectations wore doomed to cruel
disappointment. hot only months,
but many yoarc, passed and found
tkoE will &c far removed from for
tuao a. at tie beginning. and by
1855. 2ftoen years after they began
their sssreh for gold. they worO re-
dueed to the last straits. Starva-
ton ctarod them in tho face.
In despair the miner seized his
pick and wandered away to the out
skirts OF Che gold field, and as he
wandered, downcast and heavy
hearted, ae noticed CLEAN OF yell
low in q rut made by pedGlers
cart. Lifting his pick, with a few
frantic blows he brought to light an
enormous nugget, which, With all
his strength, he could barely raise
An inch from the ground. The mug
get, which was soon xaown the
world ovey is the Welcome Strang-
er," actually weighed two hundred
| weight and was sold for nearly $780,
900.
And these were but few of the
many similar blocks Of gold discov-
cred in Australia under equally dra-
| matte conditions. While q native
shepherd named Kerr was tending
his sheep one day his attention was
arrested by yellow rock projecting
few inches above the soil. In his
excitment at the discovery he ran to
fetch his master. The rock was I'M
earthed and proved to be anugget Of
two hundredweight, from which 100
pounds of pure gold were extracted.
A few years later another monster
nugget made its appearance at Balla-
rat. A party of miners had worked
claim to z depth of sixty yards
when one Of them struck with his
pickaz hard, irregularly shaped
mass, which on being unearthed
proved to be a block Of almost pure
gold twenty inches long, foot wide
and seven inches deep. It weight
was almost one hundredweight and
quarter Of it's value Sz6,S25.
1t was the periodical discovery at
Ballarat OF these monster nuggets
WHICH hrst fred the blood Of The en-
tire world in the faraway fffties. But
even Ballarat has no other romance
to rival that Of the diseoverer OF two
hugo nuggets within q few days in
the Same claim. The story runs that
four miners had worked their claim
down to about sixty feet when one
OF them brought to light q nugget
Weighing nearly one hundredweight
and worth $27,500. In their Joy at
such rich treasure trove the men
abandoned the diggings and took
their nugget with them to England.
They had scarcely left Ballarat when
their successors in the claim, with
almost the first stroke Of a pick.
turned over another nugget heavier
than the first and valued at more
than $4,000.
OF all the romantic stories told Of
gold discoveries in California not
one is more remarkable than that of
which Oliver Martin and compan-
ion named Flower had been pros
pecting for gold to no purpose. Worn
out by hardships and half dead from
starvation, they were on the point
OF abandoning the quest in despair
when fate administered her last
crushing blow.
They were overtaken by a terrible