The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-04-17

tucked away among the mountains
in Sonoma county, California, Is
a queer character Of the name of
James Rippey, who has Kept q halfway
house and been postmaster for the express
company at Los Guilicos for thirty years.
This man was one day one of the luckiest
and wealthiest men in the mines.
In the early sos Rippey was knocking
about San Francisco doing odd jobs. There
was great demand for carpenters in the
towns about that time, and, possessing con-
siderable mechanical ingenuity. Rippey con
cluded to try his hand at house building.
He got hold of a few carpenters tools and
started out. He had no trouble in securing
work, and was soon earning $40 a day lay
ing plank sidewalks. He lived extremely
close, and in a few months he managed TO
lay up several hundred dollars. One morn
ing RiDpey read in newspaper OF the
arrival at San Francisco of an English ship
with q cargo of miners tools and general
hardware, which was to be sold at auction
on the wharves. He concluded to specu-
late q little, and he attended the auction
sale for several days. The pickaxes, show
els, washpans, etc., were quickly bought up
by the hardware dealers and spectators at
prices that discouraged Rippey from making
a bid.
Finally several hundred pounds OF hob
nails-a short nail with a large head-were
put up. The SPECTATORS didn't seem to
want them. and the bidding was low. Rip
pey thought be saw his opportunity. and he
bid off 300 pounds OF the nails, paying for
them 5000.
When be had paid for the nails he had
about $500 left With this money he bought
two mules, a camp outfit, and some provis-
ions. Packing the nails and the other stuff
on one of the mules he started for the
mountains.
The Sierras were alive with prospectors,
and at the end of the first week out RippeY
rode iuto a camp known as Good Run, up in
| Placer county. Rippey Joined the camp
| and offered to hobnail the miners boots
with imported nails. For each nail he got
a bit-l215 cents.
Money was easier to get at Gold Run than
shoes, and, as the nails protected the soles
of their boots from the gravel, the miners
readily fell in with Rippey's plan. For q
month he had all the work he could do, and
at the end of that time he found that he
had accumulated gold dust to the amount
| OF about 81, 900. He still had more than
200 pounds of nails. and. satisfied with the
| scheme that he had adopted, he moved his
| oobbling outfit to another camp, where the
same prosperity attended him.
| 1t was eight months before Rippey's sup
ply of nails played out As they grew
scarce he increased his price, until, during
| EQ0 lABB LQOOb0, Gu6 ullu6Tb dI L lhO5I NJES6h
were taxed four bits 80 cents each for hob
nails. 10 eight months Rippey cleaned up
S25, 900. BY this time he had become thor
| oughly imbued with the gold fever, and in
company with a prospector named Henly
| he set out on prospecting tour going over
into the western edge of Alpine county.
Henly was a young EnRllshman who had
reached the mountains with quite sum OF
money 10 his pockets, but he had met with
hard luck, aud when picked up by Rippey
he was, TO use a common expression in that
country, dead broke.
For six months the men prospeoted the
gulches with but little success. They
finally pulled up stakes and moved into
Nevada county, where they mined with
good success. Early in the fall of 1858
Rippey was taken sick with fever. Henly
had studied medicine, but before complet-
| ing his education in that line he got the
| gold craze and came to California, He
nursed Rppey as best he could but the
man grew worse steadily. Henly knew an
hero that he had noticed growing couple
| of miles up the ravine that, if stepped
! would perhaps help the sick man.
| One morning he left the cabin to get some
| of this herb. While away a terrific thun-
| der storm came up and the little stream
| that ran through the guleh began to rise.
| Knowing how rapidly these mountain
| streams rise in storm Of rain and fearing
| for the safety of Rippey, as the cabin stood
| on the bank of the creek. Henly hurried
| back. The water rose very rapidly and
| though Henly ran as fast as the nature OF
the ground would permit, the flood OUT
| stripped him. When he came within sight
| of the cabin it was half under water and
the torrent threatened every instant to
GARY it away. One end of the building
| stood against an immense oak tree, the
| limbs of which spread out many feet.
oil TY,h HanlU D1anaprad RI eyaf
into the oak About two feet above the
roof of the cabin strong limb grew out.
| From this limb Henly descended to the
| roof, and as it was composed OF brush and
dirt he quickly stamped hole through it..
| The water had risen inside the house aud
nearly to the bottom of the bunk in which
! Rippey lay. Henly dropped inside, and,
with the water up to his armpits, wrapped
Rippey in blankets, and fastening a rope
| securely around his body he threw the other
| end over the limb and hauled him up. He
W as a strong man, and as Rippey had been
greatly emaciated by the fever it was not q
hard job to haul him up TO the limb and
| secure him at a safe hight, In fork OF the
| tree above the flood.
Lashed to the tree the sick man stood out
the storm. The cabin, protected by the
| trunk of the oak, held its own, but a
bowlder, set loose by the food ,Iroiled down
! the side Of the gulch and crashed through
| the side of the building. When the storm
had exhausted its force the creek fell to its
normal proportions, and Henly got Rippey
| to the ground, where he made him as COM
! Portable as possible.
| Contrary to Henly's expectations. who
| thought that the shock would kill Rippey,
| the sick mao in couple of days showed
signs OF mending, and in two weeks he was
| once more fairly on his feet. The hole
! knocked in the side of the cabin by the
| bowlder had let in sand and gravel, so that
the building was half full Of debris when
! the water subsidized. A good many tools,
cooking utensils, and other things were
! covered by the sand, and when Rippey
was well enough the men began the work of
! digging out their property. The peculiar ap-
| pearance OF some Of the dirt attracted
! Rippey's attention, and ne 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 nugget Of gold quartz that weighed
| over twenty ounces. Rippey concluded
that there must be rich spot up the gulch
| somewhere, aud he set about prospecting
for it. In three days he uncovered the
placer that became well known as The Flat
| Iron and which was sold for 100000.
Rippey and Henly dividing it, share and
! share alike.
Henlv, two years after, went to Austria
! lfa. Rippey went to San Francisco, where
he Rambled in stock with varying success,
| until he finally lost every dollar.