The sun., 1900-11-18
sySRgy DRAHSHs.
How IN. NJ Tnem w." orsnsd Afs' s"
N.usy Wss-osi..

! I,se bs Nsv Osisrns Irrs' Dc Horrif
what d. yor rink ~ tbi. fot cIfnsiy IN
| tho limo oi doctor. bIia,' asked NOval sfroot
! dealer IN antique. Nrs'etdny, pfoduoiha sllp
NJ rorer FROM h.. po,k"ibpoh u bore ~"
headns of q prominent S"s orleans surgeon
and frtd ~ iOioNs
~ r. -. ,.' Die, m rendered to an. n.bo,
'"r'" ,,tt"I d'.s 'ns.sI 80
> '"''' pc'd nmr i SMfru, Collector
.u.ro ~, o,pInct 10 rc'ort TO-" continued
,ho dealer. roirtiug out a lfllr o-t1'" ii".'
of furpittrc in the foopon style You viii "h-
serve. II You hook closely nat tho rlpb which
fnrius tho b,j'im II tho upper compartments
l. .rortilnato'y thick. in fIc', Ia fullN thr"o
inches through The front sd", ~ sou s'",
Il covered with intricate rei"f carving. ava
that DISCUSSES its heavncs - som" extent;
Inn, there /. ,,s,lu'cly no apparent reason why
such n massive piece of wnod should bn rm-
poyed merely az II partition between two SOC
,,ors and care 70 tho conclusion Immediately
that IL c,n,Iire ed a secret drawer tn" lIdy from
whom bought II assured me positively that sho
hat no knowledge Of anything of the kind bnt
fol, Ccr,a,n Ivas correct and set to work to
locato tho controlling mech lnlsm. That Was
nhout siN month. ago. md soon saw had no
/ easy lob Oh my hands. | knew thlt wh'' /
wanted must be hidden somewhere in the bas-
reliefs on the front panel. but the carving Is So
complicated that Il WAS Ike looking for a needle
In n hoyst,ek Time and again I searched for
plnholcs. slides, springs and all the other con-
I ,rlyanc.s usually employed IN such work, and
! al last gave II up In despair
"A week or so ago however. 1t suddenly oo-
! CURED to me tl.1t the lock might be located
! by the y-ray There was certainly sonIe metal
about il that would betray ~ presence. argued,
a.. al IL RON la aFnn N
whose hill you have just seen. He was greatly
Interested. and last Sunday he brought down
/ nj. apparatus and made tho eHucrment l'e
r. s,enaj q rhoto grr phic plato directly under
/ the parel laid the electric bulb on the bottom
! OF the compartment above ana gave u a 'Weii'N.
,t''.''y' Wal yerv crions or roursa tho ravs went
J through the MAHOGANY Ike glass, ana all 30
! about tNo and onc-hllf inches from the l"lt-
! hand side there were lot OF S'nAl black MARKS.
! like p character IN Chinese writing lhey W re
made as II turned ont. by the wards oi the lock.
/ and ~ they -hoUrd me cSacilv where 10 l.oE
Tor tho secret foIad 4 In less th1n ten minutes
! See here The dealer STEPPED over to the
! cabnet and, laying hold ol small ornamental
protection. urscrewed II Ike nut In In bolt:
| revealing a minute hole in the wood lie thrust
| in an ordinary rin, there was sharp clck. and
/ out sprang narrow drawer the Fl ont olcverly
This dl-coverv increases the value Of the
cahlnet q least s25 " he rerlgrked, 20 consider
the doctor t!Il money Vel Ne. ,sn nysS'sd rr,sr,t,b
/ of tho Old Quarter tells a story that IL well
worth repeetlng number of wears ago.
/ no sn1e Il was cnlloi IN to oI"n private cont
" psrtInent in one of he side walls Of an immense
/ oak bookcase In house near - john haNon;
i had been bought at sale IN saran' van ll,, d
/ nv pushing a wire into small hole in the wood
work. but for some, reason tho mechanlsin
/ stuck and couldn't he made 20 operate !
/ worked at the thing for whole dav, bat made
no progress The wire woult so IN ior a Ger Ger
tain distance and thor" T. seemed to encounter
~, bn
/ and there were evidently no AUXILIARY srTlngs
or slides SO | came 70 the con'luaon 'I,1t ne
he removed by taking out the whole sid" OF
the case The gentleman was ui"llilng Tor
me 70 do that, and the matter was accordingly
"Same time later IN hired an old Belria1
who came 70 the shop looking for WORK, ana
ono day ! Ch1nced to mention The n"oEc1so
/ and nv failure TO ge' out the drawer. lie
. listened nttentivelv. asked a number OF Ques.
lions about the construction Of the case ard
Nnallv surprised me bv declaring that he could
/ solve tie problem He was 30 earnest about
T. that I wrote the R"ntl"m1" a note, ara he
/ The moment the old Belgian saw thc bookcase
b" bcgnn 20 chucHe. hen he rglled a smali
nns Of the less on spot about half an inch
nhove the litte hole In the panel ~ the saino
tine he Shef b IN Tre ws Tna rreS,I GGS 'e s
lle II seemed there vas lttla steel eaton
inside thnt "h-tructcd the wire ~heG ! wns ~
q card and the wire thereuron released the
sprinc that controlled the drawer
The Belgian told Inc that the 'ma ~n"'in
lock as il was called. was invented by man
in Lyons and NJ the outset good many OF
,Le,n wore nut into different pieces Of Iur"-
'rre They were soon d iscarded however:
hocau,e hey were 80 liable TO get out or
order Moreover, they could ALWAYS be orrned
Nv -urung the article upside down. but that,
. rT coI.r.n waa impTa ctical Ia the case have
descrihei I hnve run ccrosS good many
,ru.rr ron'riyanNe- for fastening secret drawers
f., M lie hut | always thought that one do,
served ne palm for combined Ingenuity and
simplicity