Goldfield Romances.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10737, 7 November 1928, Page 9

Goldfield Romances.

DISCOVERIES IN VICTORIA

‘WELCOME’ NUGGET RECALLED OTHER, FAMOUS SPECIMENS. . ; ■ ‘ SYDNEY, Oct. IS. Tho romances of tho Australian goldfields are no yet dead. So much was made clear the. other day when a Mr.' John Ford and his party deposited certain gold specimens in a bank at Dunolly,, a small township. Those were estimated to contain 200/„ of. pure . gold, valued at niorq, than LICO9. ‘ , , . ‘ v \ .Just before the discovery the men were engaged -in a road contract t and they noticed traces of gold. VWlien they had completed -their contract they, returned to. the spot,, and not far 'from, wlidre the famous come Stranger” nugget was fourrd in 1869 they unearthed from a depth of sft. a pocket of rieh nuggets estimated to be worth thousands' of pounds. The discovery was made at the township of Moliagul. One would have thought that the whole of the auriferous region in this vicinity had been 'thoroughly turned over years ago. Three towns, Dunolly, Tarnagulla and Moliagul dorm the three points of a rough triangle each “leg” of which is about ten'miles long.’ Very rich finds have been made in this area. The Dunolly goldfield in the early days was enormously prolific in nuggets, and in 1854-56 as many ns 80.000 miners were at work turning over the alluvial deposits - existing from Burnt Crock, to Moliagul;

“WELCOME STRANGER’S” HISTORY. The. tiny town of Miliagul has fewer than 20 householders to-day. An obelisk at the Black Reef Gullv marks the spot where, on February 5, 1859,' two miners names Gates arid Deason found the “Welcome Stranger.’’ This marvellous mass of gold weighed' 2284 ox. and was valued at £9584. Another nugget—in two pieces—was found at Dunolly in 1857, and it- realised £5500. The “Welcome Stranger” was the' biggest nugget Australia had produced until tli© £12,000 nugget was found at Hill End, New South Wales in 1872. That nugget weighed.7s6o, oz. gross.* it was near Tarnagulla that the famous Posieden gold rush occurred. That was in 1902 and the name dates the discovery for it was in that year that the famous horse Posieden won the Melbourne Cup. it is com sidered that the .present find by Mr. lord and his party is likely to cause quite as much excitement among miners as did the discovery of the Posieden nugget.* Every old fossiker, miner' or prospector firmly believes in his heart that he will some day “strike it. rich,’,’ and this latest discovery will only go to strengthen this belief. To-day the sleepy old town, of Dunolly rejoices because of the latest development in its history. A REMARKABLE LETTER. A curious letter from a man in Melbourne that was published in the “Times” in London in 1852 is recalled. “In my opinion” said the writer, “this place (Victoria) is inevitably and irretrievably mined. -The o-oldfiolds arc inexhaustible. Last hi<dit two men arrived" from Cipp’s Land with the intelligence that new goldfields were ■ discovered there which leave tlio Mount - Alexander (Castlomaine) fields in the shade. “With these facts before us how can the place be other than ruined. What is. to be done for labor ?. Supposing 100 000 laborers came out hero during the next year, wilk any of them remnin in tho city or farms at a few shillings -when they can make £SO a week on the goldfields r