Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-07-25
THE .1UcKY" HORSESHOE.

The horseshoe, now all the rage as ma
ornament, and affected by men and
women alike, has long been considered
a token of good luck, especially by
sailors. Few sailors would start on a
voyage in a ship on which the potency
of the horseshoe was not acknowledged.
It must be kept at some conspicuous
place as sign Of good luck. On West
ern steamboats, not deck-hand could
be induced to engage himself on a
steamer that did not have partly-worn
horseshoe nailed over the companion
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. It is by no means Of recent origin.
Horseshoes and conjurers have been
allies To find whole horseshoe in the
road that has been cast from the animal
and still retains five of the nails in it is
considered remarkable token of good
luck. But should any one find a horse
shoe with all the nails in it he may con-
slider himself endowed with wonderful
powers of magic. This conceit, no
doubt, had its origin in the fact that it
is almost impossible for horse to cast
a shoe while all the nails are intact.
There lived man in Shenandoah coun-
| ty, Va, who claimed to have found such
a horseshoe. His name was Conrad
| Gerst. He was German, with little
education, but was considerable of a
knave. He protested to,be able to work
wonders, and was believed by many
people to possess certain powerful con-
| occurring powers. Gerst was shoe
maker, and very poor, for he was
too lazy to work, and had large
family of children. He could heal
the sick, recover stolen articles, cure
diseased cattle, find underground streams
| of running water, make the butter come
for the dairy women and drive off
witches. Awoman churned all day over
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 at the next effort.
And more IF the woman would inquire
carefully among her neighbors she would
discover that some one of them Gan
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 sum of money
stolen from her. Instead Of giving the
| matter into the hands of the authorities
she sent for Gerst. He inquired into
the affair, and, after performing num-
Der of incantations with stick that he
carried, and placing his horseshoe in
| the fire and cooling it in the spring, he
announced confidently that on the morn
ing of the second day thereafter the
money would be found at certain place.
This conclusion of the conjurer was
widely circulated, and, on the morning
indicated, quite a number of people as
sembled at the widows house to see the
prediction verified. The money was
found at the place indicated. The solu-
ton 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 prevail
| ing idea that makes it the emblem of
good luck.