Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1880-05-14
A HORSESHOE FOR LUCK.
Universal Superstition Regarding
the Subject.


The horseshoe, now all the rage as an
ornament, and affected by men and women
alike, has long been considered a token OF
good luck, especially by sailors. Few sail
ors would start on a voyage in a ship on
which the potency of the horseshoe was
not acknowledged. 1t must be kept in a
conspicuous place as a sign of good luck.
On Western steamboats, not a deckhand
could be induced to engage himself on a
steamer that did not have a partly-worn
horseshoe nailed over the companion-way
Of the bow. How long this superstition
has prevailed it would be impossible to tell.
1t is by no means Of recent origin. Horse
shoes and conjurors have long been allied.
To find a whole horseshoe in the road that
has been cast from the animal and still re-
tains five of the nails in it, is considered a
remarkable token OF good luck. But should
anyone find a horseshoe with all the nails
in it, he may consider himself endowed
with wonderful oowers Of magic. This
%conceit, no doubt had its origin in the fact
that it is almost impossible for a horse to
cast a shoe while all the nails are intact.
There lived a man in Shenandoah county,
Va, who claimed to have found such a
horseshoe. His name was Conrad Gerst.
He was a German with little education, but
considerable Of a knave. He professed to
be able to work wonders, and was believed
by many people to possess certain wonder
full conjuring powers. Gerst was a shoe
maker, and very poor, for he was too lazy to
work, and had a large family Of children.
He could heal the sick, recover stolen arti-
cles, cure diseased cattle, find underground
streams Of water, and make the butter
come for the dairy-woman and drive off
the witches. A woman churped all day
over a churning Of cream, butsthe butter
would not come. She sent for Gerst. He
told her to get an old horseshoe, heat it
red hot and cast it into the churn. Then,
after cleansing the churn with boiling
water. he guaranteed that the butter would
come at the next effort. And more, if the
woman would inquire carefully among her
~neighbors she would discover that some
one Of them ian enemy would have a
severe burn on some part of her body.
There were plenty Of people who believed
in this. Another case. A widow lady,
living two miles from Gerst, had a sum of
money stolen from her. Instead OF giving
the matter into the hands of the authori-
ties, she sent for Gerst. He inquired into
the affair, and after performing a number
OF incantations with a stick that he car
ried, and placing his horseshoe in the fire
and cooling it in the spring, he announced
confidently that on the morning OF the
second day thereafter the money would be
found at a certain place, with some other
articles that had been lost. This conclu-
sion Of the conjuror was widely circulated,
and on the morning indicated quite a
number of people assembled at the widows
house to see the prediction verified. The
money was found at the place indicated.
The conclusion was that the thief, whoever
he was. believed in Gerst's pretended pow
er, and returned the money out of fear.
The superstition that imputes such virtues
to the horseshoe gave birth to the prevail
ing idea that makes it an emblem OF good
luck.