THE WELCOME STRANGER

South Canterbury Times, Issue 3787, 27 May 1885, Page 2

THE WELCOME STRANGER

The death of Peter White recalls the strange story of the founding of Victoria, Australia. In an Australian mining camp at one of the tents sat four men-r-June 10,1858— talking earnestly of the future and bemoaning the past. For several months these four men bad worked together in the same claim, sometime* getting barely sufficient for daily wants, sometimes not even that. For several weeks, indeed, they had laboured without any result. After a long discussion they decided to abandon the slaim. Down the mine the three looked gloomily around, with a kind of sulky regret at haring to leave a place of so much useless toil. “ Good-bye,” said one, “I’ll give you a farewell blow,” and raising his pick be struck the quartz, making splinters fly in all directions. Qis practised eye caught a glimmering speck on one of the bits at his feet. He examined it and the place he had struck, when, with a loud exclamation, he knelt and satisfied himself that it was gold. He then commenced picking vigorously. His mates caught the meaning and followed his example. In dead silence they worked on: they had discovered a monster nnggot. Then a wild, glad shout sounded in (he ears of the man at the windlass, who bad sunk in a half doze, feeling probably the want of breakfast. To his enquiry what was going on, the cry came,“ Wind up,” and as he di there arose to the surface a huge mass of virgin gold. When fully_ exposed to view the men were almost insane with joy. After watching it through the day and live-long night they had it conveyed in safety to the bank. It was named “The Welcome Stranger,” and yielded the fortunate discoverers of it £6OOO. On the site of that spot the forest and the scrub have all disappeared and their place is .occupied by the finest city on the celebrated goldfield of Victoria.