The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1883-11-17
How ople Hide Money.

II have been sent for very Often In
my time," said an elderly detective, ito
search for money concealed by eccen-
trio people. There was more Of this
hiding away of each forty years ago
than there is now, owing probably to
the doubtful character OF some of the
old savings banks. Still, there is more
of it now than most people suppose, and
whenever bank breaks the teapots and
old stockings come into use again.
Then, too, there are persons who have
delight in concealing money in such
way that they can get sight of it now
and then or at the place in which it is
concealed
"What is my method of searchp
Well, / can hardly say; in detective
work set methods are only too apt to
defeat tho ends for which they are put
in operation. Our proceedings depend
wholly upon circumstances. The char
acter, habits and surroundings of the
concealer have to be considered. A
knowledge of human nature and an
aptitude for perceiving the significance
of certain classes of facts are especially
needful.
'Scme fifteen years ago went up to
farm house in Orange County, at the
request of the heirs, to look for money.
The deceased had no striking charac-
teristics for my purpose, and, aftel
trying several lines of search for three
days | grew doubtful. His riding sad
die had been ripped open, his bOotheels
knocked off for diamonds,h his soles split
up and his upholstery pulled to pieces.
Bricks had been taken out, the hearth
torn up, and the wain-scotings pulled
down. Even the backboards of picture
| frames had been taken out, and the
boys had dug around the roots Of every
tree in the orchard, but still no money
had been found. The reward was too
large to be lost, but | was nearly at my
Wits end. Fianally asked for horse
and wagon. wanted to drive about a
bit and settle my mind. AS rode of, &,
the brother of the deceased said, You'll
find the farm well laid of, he surveyed
it himself.
"Those words kept coming to my
mind. The man hadn't concealed the
money in the house, that was evident;
nor in the barn, for he seldom went
there. Why should he use the roots Of
tiees or stones if lie knew how to sur
yey2 the thought came like flash.
Where was the old gentleman in the
habit Of sittipg2' asked. oh, he al
most always sat by that window said
tie brother, but we've pullOd eyery=
thing TO pieces around there Sit
down JUST as he did The man sat
down. In which direction was he
; most apt to lookp' Nowhere in par.
ticular; out of the window generally.
Toward the barn?' No. this way
followed the look; is was in the line OF
an old, used-pp pump. (which way
did he walk when he went out to the
ieldY Over to the pump, and then
. maoe bee line for the pondY' These
answers had u certain significance. MeI
like to have the place OF concealment
in sight, and it is well known that they
will often walk over money they have
buried to see that the sod is undisturb
ed. had the pump taken up and ex
caYatiOps made-nQ money. The pumI
WIS replaced. ! entered the room once
, more, and stood by the window. Sud
denly ! saw a faint but peculiar looking
5 point. ] lined it up to the pump
+ measured ont TO the exact centre of til,
0 line, and the digging began. 4 two
inch steam-pipe was struck at deptl
of four feet. The end was plugged;
I, !, took home $500 bill that night,
l II had curious case two years ago
y A wealthy man had been attacked witt
partial paralysis, and his speech anC
!. the greater part Of his memory had lef
Y him. He wrote out the question
!, Where did / put my money! TIL
amount was large, $4,000 in bonds
0 which he had been about 10 take to ;
6 safe deposit building. The heirs wer
e wild. / stopped all the tearing up AM
/, Gushion=pricklng business, for the In.al
was not 2 'concealer,' though it wa
:, supposed by the doctors that he hat
, felt the attack coming on and had pq
y the money in some oqt-of-the-Wa
place, just how or in what spot in hi
$ library he had fallen could not be mad
n out. After u days reflection my part
!, ner and had to conclude that ha ha'
; been robbed. Two courses were ope
to us; we could make sudden arrest
without any real evidence, always
o hateful course for good detective t
Q take, or we must find the exact spo
;, where the man fell, and line up fror
that. The doctors helped us here
u You had better examine the gentle
" mans body they said. We did so an
o found D long horizontal mark on th
2 hip, and blue marks on the knee an
elbow. He had fallen sidewise oyer a
object not oyer sixteen inches high ,a4
10 having narrow, rounded edge {
ID metal, for an iron mark was found o
)t the clothing. Every piece of turnitul
1t in the house was inspected, but to i
purpose. The heirs were in despai
= But my partner and began to be hop
- full. In detective work, whenever yo
's come upon some detail that seems u
lg terly inexplicable, that is the thiI
in which of all others must be eXplainet
an and you feel, moreover, that in solyiI
the difficulty you will come nearer
some unknown way to your point. v
took all night to think the matter oye
-. Then my partner saidi How about Il
"a cellar2 That's where the househo
ie metal is They all laughed, I
% hasn't been there in year, they sal
. We went down. My partner glanc'
~ ~ quickly around. and then gave me
- look that l can almost feel runnil
- through my nerves to this day. !
10 had discovered some common hous
y hold articles which had not been us
',r ~ since the family had been searching t
Nv tireplaces. He wRs, in fact, lookil
ll Ia over a lot of coal hods, There is o
'aI metallic edge.' he said. He turned t
re hods over carefully, and from out
yS mass of waste paper there rolled. at Ia
ne the 49,, 900 worth of bonds. The pa
RS alytic had fallen over the hod, and t
of money had dropped into it among
ed waste papers. Before the gener
ter search was made. all rubbish had be
70 taken to the cellar. Our friends h
on sought too deeply for what they b
th supposed to be concealed money, a
Id had grossly neglected the science Of t
70 obvious. Some detectives do precise