A ROMANCE OF THE GOLDFIELDS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1509, 31 January 1901, Page 58

A ROMANCE OF THE GOLDFIELDS

“There is an exciting incident connected with the finding of the Oliver Martin nugget, the largest ever found in California, which ©old for .£5500, after it had earned £5500 from exhibition in various parts of the country. Although a young man Oliver Martin was little better than a tramp. He spent his time in doing odd jobs and drinking whisky around the mining camps of Yuba, Toulume, El Dorado and Cala--verea Counties. He didn’t even own a pan, much less a rocker or long tom. One of his boon companions was John Fowler, who was equally shiftless and dissipated. One night in November, 1354, the two were on their way from Benton’s Bar over the Grizzley Mountains to Camp Carona, the spot made famous in literature- by Bret Harte. The fall rains had begun and the streams were running high. On the night of the 17th, almost stupid with drink, the two- sought refuge in a deserted minor’s hut. , . During the night a heavy ram, peculiar to the mountain ranges, set in. The water fell in torrents and came pouring down the precipitous mountain sides. The narrow canon where Martin and Fowler lay asleep and drunk was soon filled with rushing waters, which threatened to siveep away the old shack of a building. They were awakened by the wa/tex* pouring liito the cabin, and sought to escape by climbing the steep side® of the canon. Both

men were swept back into the flood and were carried down the stream in the darkness. Martin wa3 washed into a clump of live oaks and managed to ledge, clinging to the branches until morning, but Fowler was drowned. Next day, November 18, toward noon, when the waters had subsided, Martin secured a pick and shovel and started to bury his dead companion. He selected a sandy spot at tho base of th 9 cliff, and had not dug down two feet when he icame upon the nugget. He made several tests before he could convince himself that it was i*eally gold. The chunk was bigger than a bulbs head, and too heavy for Martin to carry. He hurried to camp Carona to secure help. He had some difficulty in persuading any one to go with him. At last a miner consented, but carefully made the statement that he was going to help to bury Fowler and not to carry nuggests, as he. like others in the camp, placed no confidence in Martin's story. The chunk weighed 801bs, and required the combined efforts of Oln *r and his assistant to get it to the camp. “Before starting both men staked claims, Martin, of course, claiming his where he bad unearthed the big nugget. xYs soon ai the news of the great find spread, miners flocked in by hundreds, but although ;l.e stream was carefully prospected for mi 1 .-* nothing of any great value was found. Martin considered that hi 3 find, in view of the peculiar circumstances attending it, was an act of Providence, and he never touched intoxicants thereafter. With the mouey he got from the sale of hi 3 nugget he went to mining in a businesslike manner. Later he was'attracted to Yucatan, where he made over half a million in quartz mining. He- died in New Orleans a few vears ago, leaving a fortune of over £1, 000,000." “Two years ago a man was literally kicked into a fortune. Louis Roderigo was discharged by the superintendent of the Mistle Shaft Mine. Every day for week 3 he hung around the- mine imploring to be taken back. Finally he was kicked off the grounds. He procured a pick and Bhovel and grub enough to last him for a -week or two, and started off prospecting in Bear Creek, on the Punv Ridge, some 75 miles north-east of 'Frisco, ffnree weeks later he returned with <£2ooo in gold dust, which was panned out in less than a fortnight's actual work. “Among the mining exhibits in the mining department of the World's Fair at Chicago was a nugget of pure gold found in Alpine County bv a young woman. One afternoon as Mrs Elli 3 wa.3 driving home the family cow she was seeking stones to throw for the amusement of the dog. She saw in the coarse gravel a dark, dull yellow stone and pickd it up. r I knew from the moment I kicked it up/ says she. That I had found gold, because it was so heavy. She got <£soo for it."