Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-04-09

A PECULIAR SUPERsTIT1oN-S0 Something
dJ0ut Tie "Lucky' Horseshoe. horse
shoe, now all the rage as an ornament, and
affected by men and women alike, has long
been considered token of good luck, espe-
cially by sailors. Few sailors would start on
a voyage in ship on which the potency of
the horseshoe was not acknowledged. 1t
must be kept in some conspicuous place as
sign of good luck. On western steamboats,.
not deck-hand could be induced to engage
himself on a steamer that did not have a part
ly-worn horseshoe nailed over the compan-
ion-way of the bow. Very often they are
placed near the fgure-head, at the stem of
the bow. How long this superstition has
prevailed it would be impossible to tell. 1t
is by no means Of recent origin. Horseshoes
and conjurers have long been allies To find
a whole horseshoe in the road that has been
cast from the animal and still retains five of
the nails in it, is considered a remarkable to-
ken of good luck. But should any one find
horseshoe with all the nails in it, he may con-
slider himself endowed with wonderful pow
ers Of magic. This cOnceit, no doubt had
its origin in the fact that it is almost impos-
sible for a horse TO cast a shoe while all the
nails are intact. There lived a man in Shen-
andoah county, Va, who claimed to have
found such horseshoe. His name was Con-
rad Gerst. He was German with little ed
ucation, but was considerable of knaye. He
professed TO be able TO work wonders and
was believed by many people to possess GER
tain powerful conjuring powers. Gerst was
n shoemaker and very poor for he was too
lazy TO work, and had large family of chill
dren. He could heal the sick, recover stolen
articles, cure diseased cattle, find under
ground streams of running water, make the
butter come for the dairy women and drive
OU witches A wotnan churnaJ oil dow O,yar
a churning of cream, but the butter would
not come. She sent for Gerst He told her
to get an old horseshoe, heat it red hot and
cast it in the churn. Then, after cleansing
the churn with boiling water, he guaranteed
that the butter would come with the next eff
fort. And more If the woman would in
quire carefully among her nelghbors she
would discover that some one of them ian en-
emy) would have a severe burn on some part
of her body. There were plenty of people
who believed in this. Another case wild
ow lady, living two miles from Gerst, had a
sum of money stolen from her. Instead of
giving the matter into the hands of the au-
thorities, she sent for Gerst He inquired
into the affair, and after performing a num-
Der of incantations with 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 sec
ond day thereafter the money would be found
at a certain place, with some other valuables
that had been lost. This conclusion of the
conjurer 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 solution was that
the thief, whoever he was, believed in Gerst's
pretended power, and returned the money
out of fear, The superstition that imputes
such virtues to the horseshoe gave birth to
the prevailing idea that makes it an emblem
of good luck