Connecticut western news., 1909-03-11
Buried Treasure.
[copyright. 1908. by T. c. McClure.I

ISOpyElSul' 1SOo, py IL V. A1CCluIel
 The death of James Norris of the vii lage of CClville produced the first wave of excitement the place had expert enccd since the chimney Of the Metho- dist church had burned out seven years previously. Mir. Norris was an old bachelor. He was a crank and a miser. It was sure that he had plenty to live on, and yet he lived alone and in squalor. He lent money where any one would ray him 10 per cent inter- est. ard Ee was the owner of several pie CG of real estate. Among them We 0n cid cider mill. It was in the re2r cnd of this that the old man had hi; residence. In the fall he ground apples and made cider for all who would buy, and this was his only work
 It had been talked over hundred times by the villagers that Norris had his money buried where robbers could not get it ard that in case he died sud denly his heirs. if any came forward, would have great trouble in finding 1t. This was a real cause of worry to many citizens. Some of them evcE went so far as to advise the old man to tell them the exact spot so as to save time in digging. When he re- fused to do so 1t was taken as another evidence of his meanncss. On the morning that his death became known the village of Colville was as excited as if a circus had come to town. Now the disputed point as to how much he was worth and how much money he had buried would be known to all. There were some who would have gone hunting for that money right away had not the justice of the peace stepped in and taken charge.
 Men came from distance of fifty miles to help in that search. At one time the searchers numbered nearly thousand, and so many strangers had to be lodged and fed that Colville took on a boom. The first thing was to search the old mill Men fought each other as they crowded into it. Then the half acre of sterile soil around it must be explored, then the marsh and the piece of woods back of 1t. Most of the searchers gave up after a day or two, but some continued on for n fort night. At the end, however, nothing had been found.
 Five years passed. and then came the next brain storm. A tin peddIer drove into the village to remain over Sunday. On Sunday afternoon he wan dcred down to the old mill to have q look at the ruins. X high wind on Sat urday night had brought roof and frame to the earth. In "mousing" around his eye was caught by the flut- ter of piece of paper, and an hour later the village was seething. The pedGlcr was no hog. He had found q good thing. lut was ready to divvy with the public If he got S10.000 out of 1t the villagers might share the rest. That piece of paper was the key to the old miser's buried treasure. It must have been concealed in q hollow beam all the time. The writing on it ran as follows:
 "Oct. 1Tth, 1SSS.-B one E of c today 7p W of the O T."
 The town didn't think much of that peddler when he entered 1t. He was looked upon as just a common tin ped dler who took paper, rags, sheepskins
 
 such things in exchange for his tin pans and dippers. Before Sunday had passed, however, men were taking off their hats to him and wondering when he would be governor of the state. He was the only one that could make any sense of the paper, and he didn't give 1t away until after he had been invited to dinner by the justice. Then he read 1t off as:
 Buried one barrel of cash today seven paces west of the big oak tree" It was evening when the puzzle was solved. Lanterns were lit and bon fires built and the seven paces paced off. They struck at a spot where there had been no digging, and the justice appointed ten men to guard the place for the night. In the morn ing the ruins would be searched for ] more papers There must be others. When miser begins to bury barrels of cash he does not stop at one. He goes right ahead and buries five or six n~order to make the search after his death interesting.
 Nasty breakfasts or none at all were eaten next morning, and then the ruins were searched. Not an inch of beam or board escaped scrutiny twice over. Nothing further was found eX- cept an old tobacco box, and that was empty. X groan of despair followed the conclusion of the search. The miserable old man had buried only one barrel of cash, after all, and the tin peddler was to have $10,000 out of that. Four men began to dig at seven paces due west of the big oak tree. The ground had settled down as hard as asphalt, but had it been cast iron they would have stuck to the job. There were GOO people in a circle about them when the shout of dis covery went up. One of the picks had struck the barrel. There was a great rush, and it was a quarter of an hour before 1t could be cleared of dirt and lifted out Then there were more cheers and more rushes. The barrel