The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-30

GREETED anywhere about the house. but
that in some place about his person he
had hidden the property, and perhaps hid
den in his clothing I would find it, i asked
Tor his clothing and was informed that IL
was of the oldest possible kind, and his
wife remarked that she could not get him
TO wear anything new or decent. When
asked TO see his old clothing the family
told me that they had been all through
II with knitting-needles, torn out the lin
ings, and finding nothing after what they
considered a thorough search. they had
given the rags away. But 1 had formed
my theory of the case from two facts,
namely, that of his having been a sailor
and able to use needle and thread. and
that he chung so tenaciously to his old
clothing, not being a miser. l insisted
upon the clothes being brought back. and
to the establishment of the family when ]
ripped off the wide bindings of the coat
and vest l showed them the wealth they
had searched for in vain, neatly folded
and securely hidden. There were four
$4,000 bonds tightly creased and wrapped
around with oiled silk.
q would give more for a good guess
than for any systematic method or cut
and-dried plan to work on. 1t is a prac-
tice with criminals to hide their money
and valuables as far away from their
homes and persons as possible, and it Of
ten happens that young people and mid
dle-aged countrymen do the same-but
when a man arrives at the sere and yell
low of age he always Conceals his valua-
bles near his abiding place. ! will tell you
of another instance in proof of the latter
assertion.
More than thirty years ago 1 was called
to a house in Orange county, n. Y, at the
request of the heirs, too look for the
money of a deceased man. l could not
find any distinguishing characteristics
oil he nd nf rir,gr rial
clews for a week and failing all through,
I grew tired of the search and began to
doubt his having left after him anything
of value. We had ripped open his saddle
split open the soles and heels of his boots,
and pulled all to pieces his clothing and
the upholstering of the furniture. We had
torn up the stone of the hearth and ripped
down the wainscoting and even the back
boards of all the picture frames had been
taken out by us. There was not a tree on
the place which had not suffered from
digging completely round it's roots There
was a large reward and l could not afford
to lose it, although I was at my wits end.
in order to settle my mind at this june
ture l took a horse and wagon and as l
started upon a drive the brother of the de-
ceased said to me that I would find the
place well laid out, for his dead brother
had surveyed it. This remark opened my
eyes and led me to believe that after all,
the man had not secreted his money in the
house. nor in the barn. to which he sell
dom had gone. I concluded that he would
not have used roots of trees or even stones
for hiding places if he knew how to sur
vey. l deferred my drive and went into
the house and asked where the deceased
had been in the habit of sitting. l learned
that, like all old men, he had favorite
chair, 1 learned also that this chair was
always placed by him at a certain win
preached the window, that they had pulled
it all to pieces and found nothing there.
81 got the brother to sit down in the
chair and looked in the direction which
the deceased generally took, and found
that he had constantly kept in sight of
an old, used-up pump. l learned that
when he walked out he went straight to
the pump and then made a bee line for
the pond. I had the pump taken up and
we dug down deep beside it, but found
nothing ! then returned to the room and
stood at the window. 1t was happy
thought to search the window sill care
fully, for 1 found there a faint and pc
culiar mark. 1t was a serveyor's point.
lined it up to the pump and measured
the exact center of the line At a. depth
of four feet we found a two-inch steam
pipe. Both ends were plugged, and con-
Cealed within was the fortune of that man
in bonds and certificates of stocks and
bills to a great amount. + OF my Sel %
vices in that case l carried away a $500
bill
This case was soon followed by
search for S32, 900, which a paralytc had
| in his hand a few moments before his
| death, which had occurred like a stroke
| of lightning" continued the detective. Be
| fore was called in the family, as usual
| had made a thorough and exhaustive
! search, as they supposed, and left me only
| the house turned upside down and all
/ traces destroyed. In this dilemma
| l sought the doctor, and told him my
| trouble. He suggested an examination
of the body 1 did this and found a mark
on his hip which had been made by the
metal edge of some household utensil,
an indentation from the edge being plainly
marked There was also bruise upon
his knee I concluded that he had fallen,
clutc hing the money, over some metal
vessel, and expired, as he was found upon
the floor.
but there was no article fitting the
theory in the room. The people who had
preceded me in the search declared that
there was nothing of the kind in the
room at the time of death. Still, l felt
that I was on the right track, and after
a look around the house I found an old
coal hod in the cellar, and among the
rubbish in it was the prize l was in
search of. This simple job netted me
! e. GOO