The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-04-09
n ,ray,s Luck.
How Jamrs ni,pcy discovered - riaccr
Mine aud Hem ~" yYenithv.

N'N
frps,U III, y. Lons G,,-. Den,~raL
san FEhNc-l CO. March 2h-in the little o
OF Los Guilicos. tucked away among the
mountains in Sonoma county. Gal. is u queer
character OF the name Of james Hippey. who
has kept n halfway house and been Postmas-
ter for tho cNprcss company Mt Los Guiticos
for thirty ycaiS. This man was ono dav one OF
the luc, lest ara wca!thiest mel: In tho mines.
In tbs early sos liipIey was Knocking about
San Francisco doing old Jobs. Thorc was .
great demand for cnrpcntrrs in the towns
about that time. and. possess In. considerable
mechanical ingenuity. liirpey concluded to
try his hand ut house building. He got hold
of a few carpenters tools and started out. He
had no trouble N securing work. and was soon
earning so n day laying plank sidewalks. He
lived extremely close. and IN II few months he
managed TO lay IN several hundred dollars.
One morning liippcy read In n newspaper OF
the arrival ut san Francisco Of an English ship
with d cargr nf miners tools and general hard
War;; wn''I waT To Il. ia At asgti1n : on ,hs
and he attended the auction, salo tor several
dealers aud %speenN ators at prices that dis.
cosnraged kipn"y from making a lid; ,,.,.
- short nail with a large head wero put np
The siecu, at"rs didn't seem to want them.
oi.sn 81 n9 yhs,v layins for item SOU. '0u"''
siOO lett. With this money he bought two
mules, a camr, outiit. and some provisions:
the niuies he started for the mountains.
The Sicrras We're alivo with prospectors, and
into a camp known rs Good Run, IN In Placer
county. lirhey Joined the rhmn and oIore!
mills. For onch mali he got n bit !2iis cents.
Money was easier to get ut Gold Run than
their boots from til" gravel. tho miners rad.
ily Tell in with Riri"y's plan. FOR a month he
n'd nii me new Work |, ne ,"I'd no. nm e. the END
lated gold dust to tnr amount OF ab.ut $1,000:
he .till had more than tw" hundred pounds Of
adopted. hi moved his cubbling outfit tn an
Other camp. where tho same prosperity ut
ii Was eight months before Rirpey's supply
Of nails paved out. As tney grew scarce he
month. tho miners ut Placer Creek were taxed
four bits 40 cents! Zach for ho!nails. In eight
time he lad Gcron,e. ,hor"uEhiy im6uei with
the gold fever. and in company with ~ 1 pros.
rroslcctlngl Jour. goin. oyer into the western
edge Of Anime county. Henly was n young
with Iai,c a sum II money in his pockets. rut
he had met with hard'luck. aud when picked
PRESTON M'f Ia that to c], Wnti dead broke 'kSe"n'H oA-
pn nST six wit 1,9 mt i,, tie sm,sssnp roSsrSS st ;ina ths
Hs;,lsS in the fall ii 2i isS$ Ripley Mas taken sief
but before, completing his education in that
line no had go: the gold craze and came to
hat. The man = :,"w worse ' steadily iii heniy Knew
an herb that lie ha,! noticed growing = couple
OF miles w the rhvine that. If STEPPED. would
One morning be left the cabin to get some Of
came IN AMI tho little stream that ran through
TIE gulsh hcghn to rise. knowing how rapidly
rain and i"arinG for ,'t the safety itsS Of hi H,Oes as y.
the cabin stood on tho bank Of tho creek. Hen
il. and. ti%ush Henly y" ran f as fast as .sp the
nature Of the Eroun.i would permit; the flood
Of oiIttfh, e aanin i Il Vas ia ain u ne ea% Water Wi." and f'f she
torrent threatened every instant to carry it
away. One end Of tho building stood against
spread out many feet.
by flimninE z tree IIenly, MANAGED to ret
limb HenIy descended TO the roof. and az it
sS!amfpsedd r u Go1o 81 th %t"SH n it, 1 IFS We Water aalfhs aa
risen inside tho house, nearly to the bottom
dropped inside. and. with the water up to Ills
armpits. wrapped Iiippey in blankets. aud
.hss% ths Q o, here e sSdf1 oy.y a she Iiab h and PH Sasl I'd
him np; fe was a strong nun. ana as
fh evss I m Ras n Sse a ns srGa ioS to nsni lin 0y Up to 70
the limb and secure him ut II snfe height. in y
f" Eas "1 shG to 5T Is: ssSyf ih the s t1Sed man stood out
the storm, Tho cabin. protested By the trunE
Of the or: he'd its gym; but 2 boulder. sst
'NN' ~ ttfS 's'e CAAS VI wv
gnlch and crashed through the side Of the
building. When the storm had exhausted Its
force the creek fell TO it's normal proportions.
and Henly got ltinpey to the ground. where he
Contrary to Henly's expectations. who
thought that the shock would kill kippey. the
sick man in q couple Of days showed signs Of
fairly on his feet. The hole Knocked in the
side Of the cabin by the boulder lad lot In
sand and gravel. so that the building was half
full Of debris when the winter subsided. good
mnny tools. cooking utensils. and other thinGs
were covered by the sand. and when Rippey
was well enough tho men began the work OF
ponrance OF some OF the dirt nttracted Kippey's
attention. and he washed out some OF It. 1t
proved to be rich with gold. and from the dirt
In the cabin several. thousand dollars' worth
OF dust was found and a nugget OF gold quartz
that weighed over twenty-three ounces. Rip
pey concluded that there must be a rich spot
up the g9lch somewhere. and he set out pros:
the placer that became well known as the Flat
Iron and which was sold for Sl00,0 900. kippey
and Henly dividing It. share and share alike.
Henly. two yenrs after. went to Australia.
Rippey went to san francisco. where he gam.
bled in stock with. varying success. until he
finally lost every dollar.