Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-02-02
Eow Re Losr THE MONEY.

Many have been the strange repositories
men have chosen in which to conceal their
treasures. An old stocking cast carelessly
beneath the he'd; boot pitched into the
corner a hollow log in the wood-pile; the
cavity behind a loose brick in the chimney
corner; the -four barrel; the bunch of sage
hanging back of the kitchen stove the vase
upon the mantel; each has been favored
hiding place, and each in turn have proved
broken reeds. But 1t remained for L. Il.
Wick of this city, an old and respected citi-
zen, to establish bank which had neither
bolts nor bars to its vault, paid no interest 10
depositors, and held pass books in unutterable
contempt; bank Of which he was the sole
ofhcer and the only creditor, and vet there
came time when run broke it bCrsted
It ito use the unpardonabie slang of the
day)--when one who was not depositor, had
no claim on the general fund, and not the
slightest interest in the reserve. called :"
upon the bank, and with a pronptness re-
markable In this day and age it responded.
Mr.. Wick keeps storage near the corner of
Tenth and j streets. He does business
which might with advantage engage much
capital here; he stores grain and makes adj
vances thereon. Not long since he had use
TOR quite large sum of money, and began to
call in his loaGs. 1t was then Mr.. Wick con-
celved the idea of opening bank " all to
himself" Accordingly, instead OF putting
all his money in his safe in the store, he took
advantage of the cavity in pile of barley,
sacked and stacked upon the floor of his
storage-room. Here, in two large sacks, he
deposited 50, 547, and replacing the sacks in
order, declared the bank closed, though, as the
sequel proved. it had not suspended payment.
OF this deposit-which, by the way, was rot
the first, for he had sometime used the hid
ing place for like purpose little over
81 800 was his own. ABOUT S400 belonged to
John Miller. and some 5000 to an Odd Eel
lows lodge, the sums being in Mr.. Wich's
hands for safe keeping. On Saturday, Janu-
airy 9th. the money was on deposit in the
barley bank. OF that Mr.. Wick had occu-
lar evidence. AG > P. NJ. on that day he
passed through the storage house, and the
bank was o. X, at least there was no evil
dence apparent of any call having been
made. for the barley was piled up in apple
pie order. On Sunday Mr.. Wick, vino lives
over his store-room, went down to let the cat
out, which is imprisoned there nightly to
keep the rats and mice company. Thomas
heard his master coming, and was ready for
him, so that when the door was opened
he bounced" himself out ut once,
and thus Mr.. Wick was relieved OF
the necessity of going into the stor-
age house and enticing with pet calls
the sometime perverse Thomas from the
society of his rodent friends, and hence it
cannot with certainty be assumed that the
bank was still intact, for It's chief stakeholder
did not pay it visit, which but for the readi-
ness of the cat he would have done, but it is
entirely probable the money was, at that time,
still on deposit. Mr. Wick's son George visits
him and dimes with HIM every Sunday About
p. NJ. George left the rooms up stairs and
went down into the store-rooms to crack a
dishful of walnuts, delicacy of which the
family is fond and which led to the discovery
about to be related. In a few moments Mr..
Wick followed George to the store for the
purpose of ;placing the cat upon the nightly
duty to which he was regularly assigned, and
which deprived Thomas of nocturnal rambles
beyond the four walls of the store-house. AS
MIR. Wick entered the store George remarked
many of the barley sacks had fallen
over and he supposed he would want
them put up again. A glance
showed that there had been run p" on the
bank, and an instant examination disclosed
the fact that the run had resulted in a total
removal Of the deposits. The key to the
outer door had been left in it on tie outside
all that day, from the time the cat sprang ont
in the morning. The money must have been
taken on Sunday. 1t was there Saturday
evening; had the theft taken place at night,
the thief, it is reasonable to presume, would
have piled the sacks up again in order to have
delayed discovery. But as the miscreant
stole the bags by day, he had no time to spare
in which to replace the barley sacks in their
order. MIR. Wick says he had never told
any person. about the hiding-place,
not even his WIFE But he has learned, and
every person ought to remember, that when
q thief sets about to rob house he carefully
studies the habits of the inmates, and fce-
quently takes observations for weeks before
he cracks the crib" So soon as the loss of
the money was discovered the theft was re-
ported to the police department, but as there
is not the slightest clue to The thief it is en-
tirely improbable that the officers will be able
to enable Mr.. Wick to restore his deposits to
his rifed barley Lank.