The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1903-09-12
THE HIDDEN DOOR

years old Burchard, az everybody
called him, had opened his shop for
business six days of the week at 7
o'clock I'm the morning He had never
taken n business day off or lost one
through sickness.
The belief was when the shop was
found closed that the old man had
died in his bed, and about $50 O'Clock
the police came to pick the lock OF the
door ana effect an entrance. All doors
and windows were found securely fas-
tened, and there were no tracks to be
found in the shop of intruders. The
officers fully expected to find the dead
body Of the old man I'm his bedroom,
but much to their surprise no grew.
some spectacle met their gaze. As a
matter Of fact, old Burchard could not
be found about the place either living
or dead.
After n thorough search 1t was rea.
soned that he had been called away on
business and that the police had been
of'lpiii' 'ii' vi titIi IHblbtl
was therefore left to guard the shop
until the proprietor should return and
the excitement subsidized
old Burchard did not return. After
n week the case was taken mp again,
and parties were found who had seen
him put up his shutters and lock his
door at 8 O'Clock Monday night. He
had said nothing of going away, and
he had left no message within the
shop. All the watches and clocks be-
longing to his customers were there as
also about $1,000 worth of goods. and
among his papers were two note. fall,
ing due on the day after his strange
disappearance. lie owed no man
dollar and the Idea that he had run
away was absurd. The city was
searched and the man advertised for,
bet the week went by and no clew was
secured.
One Of the strange features of the
case was that no money could be
found. The old man never did busl
ness with the banks. and no one had
ever seen safe In his shop. He han
died thousands of dollars yearly, but
where did he keep 1t? He often loaned
money on diamonds and plate, but
where ne deposited them for safe
keeping no one had ever learned Tn
less he had gone away aud taken his
cash with him there ought To be
fortune hidden away In that old shop
somewhere. People to the number OF
a dozen who had raised cash on per
sonal property came forward TO say
so, but hunt as they did the searchers
could find nothing outside the regular
stock
The next of Kin was brother, liv-
ing thousand miles away He came
on and renewed the search When it
panned out nothing he hired men TO
rae the building 10 the ground, aud
every brace and beam was tested ns 1t
was removed, The work went on until
only the cellar walls were left, ana
stone masons tested these with their
hammers and found no hollow spots
The bottom Of the cellar was dug up
to a depth of three feet, but no cavi.
ties or Iron bound boxes were disc0v-
cred, That ended the search and
then defective was employed to take
the case up as n whole.
lie was shrcwd fellow but what
could he do \ man locks himself
into his shop at night. He Is missing
next morning, with all the doors still
locked ana the keys on the inside lie
owes no man u cent. but leaves thou
sands of dollars worth of property be-
hind him. Two hundred newspapers
give the affair publicity, and million
people perhaps are on the watch for
man described so and So, but not the
slightest trace can be discovered
What was there for detective TO
work ou2
Years went by and the cellar re.
manned open, No one wanted 10 buy
the site In time the Burchard mys
terry ceased TO be talked about. and
new generation of boys grew up 10
play hide aud seek in the cellar Ten
years had gone 10y when three or
four boys jumped into the cavity one
day after football which had been
kicked there In the struggle for the
ball II was kicked here aud there, and
finally fell into hole nj the base OF
the crumbllng west wall In trying
TO recover il the boys pulled away n
stone, and minute later they had
discovered a hidden door aud solved
the veXatious mystery.
old BurChard had constructed
stone vault under the back yard, with
an opening from the cellar He was Il
cunning worker, and in making the
door hc had bolted thin slabs of stone
TO planks and hung the hinges on the
inside. The keyhole looked like a frnc-
ture in one OF the stones, and the whole
was so artfully arranged that of the
hundreds of men who had searched
not one had suspected the location OF
the door. In their tests TIE stone
masons probably missed that partic-
ular spot
You are prepared 70 learn that old
Burchard's bones were found within.
The door had swung on him ms he en-,
tered the vault TO put away his money
for the night and had become Jammod.
The foul air had Killed him within an
hour. In that vault We're found up
ward OF $4,000 In cash aud all the
property he had loans on, and of the
body there were only bones and dust
OF course everybody said that a
secret door should have been suspect,