The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1883-09-06
Where He Hid his Money.

sI had curious case two years ago.
A wealthy man had been attacked with
partial paralysis, and his speech and
the greater part of his memory had left
him. He wrote out the question, Where
did put my money! The amount was
large, 1872, 900. in bonds, which he had
been about to take to a safe deposit
building. The heirs were wild. i
stopped all the tearing up and cushion
pricking business, for the man WAS not
a 'eoncealer.' though it was supposed
by the doctors that he had felt the
attack coming on and had put the money
in some out-of-the way place. just how
or in what spot in his library he had
fallen could not be made out. After
days reflection my partner and had
to conclude that he had been robbed.
Two courses were open to us; we could
make sudden arrests without any real
evidence, always hateful course for q
good detective to take, or we must find
the exact spot where the man fell, and
sline' up from that The doctors helped
us here: You had better examine the
gentleman's body they said. We did
so. and found a long horizontal mark
on the hip, and blue marks on the knee
over an object not over sixteen inches
high, aud having a narrow, rounded
edoe of metal, for an iron mark was
found on the clothing. Every piece OF
furniture in the house was inspected,
hut to no purpose. The heirs apparent
mcre in despair. But my partner and
I began to be hopeful. In detective
work, whenever you come upon somo
detail that seems utterly inexplicable,
thaL is the thing which Of all others
must be explained: and you feel, more
over, that in solving the difficulty you
will come nearer in some unknoN>a
way to your point. We took all night
to think the matter over. Then my
partner said. How about the cellarp
That's where the household metal is
They all laughed. HE hasn't been
there in year, they said. We Went
down. My partner glanced quickly
around, and then gave me a look that L
can almost feel running through my
| nerves to this day. He had discovered
some common household articles which
| had not been used since the family had
been searching the fireplaces. He was.
in fact, looking over lot of coal hods.
There is our metallic edge he said.
He turned the hods over carefully, and
/ from out mass of waste paper there
rolled at last the $32, 900 worth OF
bonds. The paralytic had fallen over
the hod, and the money had dropped
into it among his waste papers. Be
fore the general search was made, all
rubbish had been taken to the cellar.
Our friends had sought too deeply for
what they had supposed to be concealed
money, and had grossly neglected the
science of the obvious. Some detec-
tives do precisely the same thing. My
partner and divided 5000 between US
that night.
.sYes, they hide money in queer
enough places. 1 have found it in the
covers of old family Bibles, behind
mirrors, in the bored-out legs of chairs,
behind cupboards nailed tightly to the
| walls, in false ceilings, balusters, pin
cushions, in the lining of old hats, in
clocks, stoves and bronze images, in
vases with the bottoms covered inside
with plaster of Paris, in black bottles
weighted with mercury and marked
poison, in canes, shoes, and vest lin
inos, in tomato cans and tea canisters,
in cracked walls covered with wall
paper, in all sorts of bedding and up
hoIstery, and in almost every conceiy.
able place.
s.What is the best way to conceal
money! 1 can't say; but will tell you
about man whose method was 8 good
deal talked about at the time among
the detectives. He was bachelor
and well known as a 'concealer. dc
died of heart disease, in Broome Street
some years ago. Many attempts hao
been made to rob him, but without sue
cess. Thieves ran of one night with
all his clothing, and ripped it to pieces,
only to be disappointed. When he
: died, everything was broken up to tino
his money. The cellar had been dug
out to the extent of three feet, the roo1
broken apart, and the caves examined
to no purpose. When they were clear
ing out the rubbish, just after Iarrived
some one knocked down ricketJ
,helf above the mantlepiece, which was
covered with old letters, medicine
phials, dusty newspaper scraps, ane
other worthless rubbish. A quarter o
! an hour later one of the heirs, girl o
six wears, was found seated on the Hoo
in pile of bank notes, to which sh'
had vainly attempted to call he
mothers attention on account OF theI
pretty pictures. :,
THAT 'concealer' was che only reall.
) deep one 1 ever knew. The lady pait
8 high compliment to the gentleman
acuteness when she remarked: why
; no one would ever have thought
: looking up there for money Inter
, ute,0 Nth Detective, in N. T. San.
L