National Affairs: Rich Rubble

Recently, the bosses of a WPA project to provide San Francisco with an aquatic park were first puzzled, then incredulous, finally fascinated by the strange behavior of the men working for them. The WPA laborers were really swinging their picks, digging in with their shovels, working unasked during their lunch hour and overtime at night. Last week, after the flurry of activity was over, the story of it was finally told. In the rubble where they were digging, one of the men turned up a $20 gold piece. Another found a diamond stud. Coins, baubles, silverware were discovered—to an estimated value of $20,000 before the vein was worked out. The men were digging on a site that had been filled in with debris from the San Francisco fire-earthquake of 1906.