GOLD.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3133, 4 September 1922, Page 8

GOLD.

Nuggets of gold, so plentiful that they may be picked up by handfullg, are lying around in the! bed of a certain interesting stream vs\ the he&srt of. Africa. The place is 600 miles from civilisation, in the jungles of the Belgian Congo to be exactxor at least as exact as anyone outside thlei seclret can be under the present circumstances. Nine men, "including substantial citizens, regarded as hard-headed buisiness men," have sailed away from New York in order to visit the gold-bearing stream and gather the nuggets that are awaiting the first-comer. At least this is the theory told; with a wealth of euibstatntii.ted detail, by a reporter for the NewYork Times. The party of gold-diggers, or perhaps gold-gatherers is more descriptive since they do: not expect even to have to go to the trouble of digging, k so well equipped! that it inoludes a lawyer, who> will try to get Belgian concessions while others 1 trace the nuggetpaved stream. The existence- of thffie El Dorado, we arc informed', is vouched for by the supposed discoverer, who ie the guide of the party. According to the Times he is- Julius J. Dolgosi, a. chemi'cal engineer, who* has Jived at Golden's Bridge, near Katonah, since the War. Serving in Africa in mounted forces during the war, his horse tumbled 1 with him down a deep ravine, landing him by the side of a gold-paved brook. He picked up several hiandfuils of the precious metal, kept the secret after rejoining his fellow troopers and sold the nuggets after the war to a; jeweller for £ll2O, according to his story. The expedition of nine members, backed by their own money and that of small capitalists in New York State, New York City and Connecticut, was

arranged for after many long conferences in the office of Supervisor Edward P. Barrett of the Town of Bedford, near Katonah, Mr Barrett is a lawyer and a man of substance. He investigated and pinned entire faith in. the story of Doigos. He interested neighbors and they interested friends. The plan to" send a party of Argonauts deep into Africa on a pioneering mission far more dangerous and difficult than that of crossing the plains or rounding the Cape in '49 has been seething for months in conferences in Katonah, in this city and in Connecticut. Capital of unknown amount has been raised and on Saturday off went the gold-seekers. The secret has passed by whispers under the seal of confidence to scores, if not hundreds. It has been will kept, as such things go, but some one "sprang a leak" at Katonah after the expedition had departed on Saturday. Almost the whole countryside in that part of New York State has been admitted to some part or all of the secret. Relatives of the adventurous men and their backers expressed great indignation yesterday when they learned that the plans of the gold-seeking expedition had become public. Mr Barrett is going to Brussels to seek a concession from the Belgian Government for the right to mine, if they find gold. The others, it is supposed, are going to the Belgian Congo at once to equip their expedition into the interior, where Doigos believes he will be able: to lead them to the mountain torrent whose bottom was a mosaic of nuggets. How their plants will bo aifected by publicity is not known. News of a gold strike has generally brought adventurers in swarms on the track of those believed to hold the secret of the place where the treasure was to be found. The discovery by Doigos is said to have been made in 1917. Operating with cavalrymen in the Belgian Congo, he became lost in a jungle, according to the story told at Katonah. The vegetation was so thick as to conceal the ground from both horse and man, and the horse stepped out into space and tumbled with the rider, rolling over and over again down the sides of a slope, their fall being broken by the thick growth, so that both escaped serious injury. After readjusting his saddle and looking around, Dologos walked his horse along the ravine. At first the ravine was dry, but he came upon a spring of water rising from a small basm. It llowed a short distance and then disappeared into another basin. The thirsty trooper lay prone and drank. He noticed, as he told the story to people at Katonah, that the bottom of the basin, was paved' with yellow pebbles. Picking one up, he found it heavy and metallic. On being scratched it shone like gold. Dologos filled his pockets. Being lost in a, wilderness and in danger of starvation, his wealth was of little immediate benefit to the soldier. He took his bearings carefully, however, and studied the landmarks, having the purpose then in mind of returning to make his fortune some time after the war. Doigos wandered for days, huisbainding scant rations. Finally ho got on the trail of the cavalry and rejoined them. He said nothing to his Companions about the find. He kept the nuggets concealed until after the wtar, when he had them assayed and sold them to the jeweller.

Dolgus. it was said, has lived' at Gulden's Bridge for two or three years. Whether he made previous attempts to interest capitalists before taking up the* matter with Mr Barrett i« not known. It is understood 1 that Mr Barrett thoroughly cheeked up the story of Bolgos' _ service in the Belgian Congo, of his hecoining lost, of his return to his column and of the sale of the nuggets to the jeweller. In what country the gate was made to the jeweller has not been disclosed.

The apparently complete pixxxf that » Dolgot* picked up £320 worth of nuggets which lay in plain view in a spring was considered evidence sufficient to warrant the belief that millions more wove to lie picked up from the. etreanibeds in the vicinity, and possibly millions more by mining the rock from which the gold was washed. The deliberate organisation of a: large (syndicate to exploit a secret gold discovery in a new Iwirt of the world is said' to stand' practically alone in the history of gold dfacoverV.