A HIDDEN NUGGET.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13241, 22 March 1907, Page 3

A HIDDEN NUGGET.

GREED AND CURIOSITY: , As- :i " hidden nugget" game lis Hi 1 lie plave:! in Wonderland .i[ the? Clirislchurch .Exhibition, iljre following account of a. similar game; at Sydney will be appropriately reprinted: — : Mr William Anderson,, who. builded himself a little fairy cily beside the blue sea , (savs the Sydney " Daily Telegraph), has made great .outcryings in the. land thi't- he would • bury a nugget of gold wci\li £2O in the white 'sand 'beach • his fairv' city,: and that whoever found it, should keep it. He pronounced one condition, that- all' who should seek the nugget must, tirst pay to his servants 6d fo " a «pade. He called to his aid in the "burial of the treasure a committee consisting -of Major Crane and Mr T. Klvy, who planted the nugge':. '.l ho . mtiniigeincnl had ransacked all the wholesale and rciail shops for spades—small spader uicd bv children as play lhings---and succeeded in obtaining' only ICOQ. A\hen last (Saturday night-' came long streams of people hurried to Wonderland City—thousands upon thousands, until more than 16,000 liU'd gathered round the beach where Ihe treasure was. XtMi by was the selling pl-ie-i of the -spn.de.-r and round, it crowds cliiuioured that there be given iheni quickly the wherewithal to. dig. Having obtained the spades, which: were ycry little oue< such as the babies make sand castles with, they . grouped in a gieat body at Hie fence until lliey should gel the r signal to start, upon their . search. High above hem on platform and adjacent cliff, were thousands and thousands of people, who had come I o see Ihe struggle of the diggers-.i pageant of greed and curiosity. . Suddenly there clambered a servant of the owner of the i airy city upon the. higlc broad back of an old elephant, and in a loud voice lie made known the will of his master . His words told the, subtlety of that, worthy. There had been buried, lie said, 36 boxes, and in 35 of lhcm were messages of derision or advice, but in one was the prize. Iwo guns'would be tired —one to denote " (jet ready," and the , other to denote "Rush." Almost immediately the first report exploded on the ears of the inipatienJ sswaving ..mass at the barricade, and . a. broken cheer gave vent to some of the excitement. The crowd packed itself .tighter,, and waved its thousand spades. 1 lien came the; second gun. / 'lhe barricade was opened : the crowd fought for passage way at the narrow entrance to tJie beach: shrieks went up from women and' children ; cries were raised to break the fence down , ■ .while-; dozens leaped over. At thv feci of Ihe crowd a woman went down, overpowered in. tlis s!niggle.■ ■ but . I lie cro\vd ::s\vept "l<v the beach and fell to .digging . juriiously., for- ; the. buried nugget. Every .part, .was covered with men women and children, sitting, standing, or kneeling. Here, was, a giey-headel woman on lier knees villi. her kip full ot sand , and her- arms workina: i convulsively ;. there was -,a lather 'and two small sons digging- in a triangle : yonder, and yonder,' and yonder.: were fashionablydressed 'ladies. .-delving. ; and.' scratching, and fossicking ,be!o\v the 'surface:' Some walked quietly, and, steadily ; others ran from place l to place; many .broke their spades in their excitement.ln five minutes the beach wasilike a -buffalo wallow ; but the sand : had not given . up its t-rear sure. Every now and ■-, then i a . digger .-would-/.leap up from a crouched position as if. stung* by a reptile, and,-it would be seen bv those -near. liiiir. that lie had a box -in hi*!- hand. - Instantly lie would be surrounded and jostled until it, was known thai the box : was -the covering for a. jest., and then the crowd would give a ,relieved laugh and set to ils hunting again; Anon,- there would be raised front some point or another a cheer. and there would be a great hurrying to 'discover its meanings,' ■ but always it was a mockery or a. preconcerted tug uib the tense feelings of the crowd. ■ At the end of the three-quar!Grs of an hour many hadv grown tired of their occupat ion, and disettnsohitely , left the beach,, but there were hundreds who .worked .oil with an earnestness of purpose tliat rose .superior to disappointment, aching, arms, 'and sore • 'batik".) They dug on, going over old ground and new ground, selecting likely and unlikely spots, scraping* prodding. ■ and burrowing. Ail to no purpose. And that, is- where the -story ends, because nobody found the nugget. M,r Anderson was--disappointed' tliat .none had been successful-; and he decided to give .£2O. ■■the woi fh of: the nugget to the Children's Aid Societv. ■ " ■ -