Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1895-08-16

among his cabbage and parsnips, on
the outskirts of the town, would i'm
agine that forty years ago he was ia
nous among the gold seekers and for
tune makers in the Eldorado in cen :
trail California for his luck and riches.
In those days he was known among
miners in that State as Hobnail Gill
bert.
Homer Gilbert came to the Pacific
coast from Brooklyn in 1851. He was
young man, full of vigor and vim,
but had not dollar to his name and
no trade or profession. For several
weeks he knocked about San Fran
cisco at odd jobs. backing shoes, ped
ding fruit, working in eating houses
and along the docks in the city. Every
body was wild over the news OF the
wonderful wealth that was washed
from the earth in the canons and
mountains. All who could get away
to the mines had left the city, and
there was great demand for mechan-
les, especially carpenters. Gilbert
had no money for mining, SO he be-
came carpenter without days pre-
vious experience. In few days he
had got SO far in his new trade as to
buy tools, and in O month he was
earning $12 day as q woodwalk
builder among the sand hills, which is
now the centre of business in San
Francisco.
One morning Gilbert read in news
paper of the arrival at Gan Francisco
OF an English ship with cargo of
miners tools and general hardware,
which was to be sold at auction on the
wharves. He decided to speculate a
little, and he attended the auction for
several drys. The pickaxes, shovels,
and washpans were bought quickly by
the hardware dealers and spectators
at prices that discouraged Gilbert
from making bid. Finally a great
quantity of hobnails was put up. The
speculators did not seem to want
them, and the bidding was low. Gill
bert thought he saw his opportunity
and he bid off 800 pounds Of the nails
for $500. When he had paid for the
nails he had about $4OO left. With
this money he bought two mules, a
camp outfit, and some provisions.
Packing the nails and the other stuff
on one of the mules, he started fol
the mountains.
The Sierras were alive with prospec
tors and at the end of the first weel
out Gilbert rode into q camp known
as Little Jim. Gilbert joined The
camp, and offered to sole and heel the
miners boots with imported nails,
For each nail he got one bit or ~
cents. Money was easier to get o.
Little Jim than shoes those days, and
as the nails protected the soles of the
boots from the gravel, the miners
readily fell in with Gilbert's plan
For a mouth he had all the work he
could do, and at the end of that time
he found he had accumulated gold
dust worth $4,000. He still had more
than 200 pounds of nails, and, salts
fed with the scheme he adopted, he
moved his cobbling outfit to another
camp. where the same prosperity at
tended him. 1t was eight months be-
fore Gilbert's nails gave out. As they
grew scarce he increased the price un,
til during the last month the miners
were paying so cents each for hob
nails. In eight months Gilbert hai
S26, 900. BY this time he had become
thoroughly imbued with the gold
fever. and in company with a prospec
tor named Hendricks he set out ON ,
prospecting tour, going over into tn.
western edge of Alpine County. Hen
dricks was Q young Englishman VIII,