The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1884-04-12

deceased, and to determine in what par
ticular part of the grounds surrounding
the house he was most in the habit OF
walking, for it is an established fact
that a person who has every thought
concentrated upon certain place will
he very likely to visit it as often as pos
sible. The deceased had kept one SER
want. a very deaf old woman, who had
been with him number of years, and
she was questioned about the habits OF
her late master. She said that he rare
" left the house, but would SIT all day
long in his library, q large room on the
ground floor containing fair assort-
ment of books. This upset the theory
of the money being buried, and the
detective returned rather disconnected.
to take fresh inventory of the library.
The relatives had given their attention
to tn 8 room at an early stage OF the
search. The bookcases bad been
moved out from the wall. every volume
had been opened and every drawer M
spect d, SO that no fresh place OF con-
cealment suggested itself to the detec-
tive. Pondering upon the MYSTERIOUS
matter he fixed his eyes abstractediy
upon the ceiling, where he saw some
thing that made his heart thump. Inc
ceiling was of the usual height, but was
made of wood, put in long stips about
o uht inches wide. 1t evidently had not
been swept off for years ana layer Oh
grimy dirt chung to the boards. na'
attracted the detect els attention, how
ever. was a spot near The center of the
ceiling, on viii h the dust did not .ap-
pear to be as thick as on the rest OF the
boards. The difference in the color Oh
this spot was so slight that My an ex-
perienced eye could have dete ted it,
and on getting under this particular
spot, the detective noticed marks in the
dust as though made by the tips OF
human fingers. There was solid old
table standing in one corner of the room,
which. though used pretty roughly in
the general ransacking, was still able
to bear the off er weight
Drawing this to the middle of the
room, he found slight abrasion of the
veneering near the center of the table,
like the marks that would be left by the
feet of a chair. This additional proof
that he was on the right scent was
strengthened when the detective placed
q chair upon the table, and the feet
exactly fitted the scratches on the sur
face of it. Getting up on The chair, the
searcher pressed the tips of his fingers
in the faint tracks in the dust, and a
part of board yielded to the touch like
magic, leaving hole about eight inches
square. Inserting his hand through the
opening TIE detective felt around and
drew for. b long, narrow tin box. In
this was discovered many thousands of
dollars in United Sta: es bonds and
greenbacks. The detective pocketed q
snug reward.
idea of seereting money is more preva-
lent than here, there are number OF
detectives who make a lucrative income
searching for these missing treasures.
One of these men relates case where
the deceased had put the money into a
piece of old steam-pipe, and after plug
ging up the ends of the pipe had buried
It in his garden. The place was discovered
by the shrewdness of the detective. who
ascertained thas the deceased, when go-
ing out anywhere on the farm, would
always walk in one path, toward an old,
used-up pump, and, after reaching the
pump, start for the field. The pump
was taken up and the old well searched.
but the money was not there. On re-
turning to the house the detective went
to the window looking out upon the
pump. and noted Q small surveyors
point on the sill. He 'slined" it up to
the pump, measured out the exact CEN
ter of the line. and began digging The
treasure laden steam pipe was struck at
depth of four feet.
The old armchair was favorite
place for the secretion of money, and
this piece of furnit, re is generally
selected by story writers as the recep-
tacle for the fortune OF the peculiar old
grandfather and grandmother. which is
bequeathed to the worthy young couple.
When stern adversely SEXES the young
pair they are compelled to sacrifice the
old arm chair. But, tesore it is dis
posed Of, by some mysterious inte' posi-
ton of Providence, the chair falls asun-
der and reveals the treasure it has SO
long and faithfully guarded. So extern
sive was this mania for hiding money
in old pie es of furniture that the career
of an armchair bequeathed to any I'M
pecunious person by an eccentric and
rich relative was of brief duration
after coming into the possession of its
new owner. The Spanish inquisit;on
wes nothing to the fortunes that that
old chair was subjected to by the gold
seekers, but this simple concealment is
not in favor now, and it requires long
head to ferret out the hiding place Of
the modern miser's money.-lhittcaukee
Sentinel.