Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1909-02-10


many citizens. Some Of them even
went so far as TO advise the old man
to tell them the exact spot so ms to
save time IN digging When he re-
fused TO do soft was taken rs another
evidence OF his meanness. ON the
morning that bis death became known
the village Of Coiyille was as excited
AS II circus had come to town. Now
the disputed point Ms 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 tile peace
stepped IN and taken charge.
Men came from a distance Of fifty
miles TO help In that search At one
time the searrhers numbered nearly
thousand. and so many strangers had
to be lodged and fed that Colville took
on boom The frst thing was TO
search the old mill Men fought each
other as they crowded into II. 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 Il day or
two, but some continued on for 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 10 remain over
Sunday On sunday afternoon he wan.
dered down TO the old mill 20 have
look at the ruins. A high wind ON Sat
urday night had brought roof and
frame TO the earth. In "mouslng"
around his eye was caught by the hut-
ter Of piece Of paper. and an hour
later the village was seethlng, The
peddleT was no hog He had found a
good thing but was ready to dlyvy
with the public, II he got $4,000 out
Of II the villagers might share the rest
That piece Of paper was the key to the
old miser's buried treasure 1t must
have been concealed In hollow beam
all the time. The writing ON it ran as
follows:
oct 18th. 1888 -B one b Of G today
y W Of the b o IT,
The town didn't think much OF that |
peddler when he entered It. He was
looked upon rs just a common tin ped
der who took paper rags sheepskins.
old Iron, beeswax, butter and eggs and |
such things Ia exchange for his tin
pans and clippers. Before Sunday had |
passed however, men were taking on |
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 /
It away until after he had been invited
10 dinner by the justice, Then he read
II on as:
Buried ono barrel of cash today
seven PAGES west OF the big oak tree"
II was evening when the puzzle was
solved, Lanterns were liz and bon.
tires built aud the seven PAGES paced
or They struck at spot where 1
there had been no digging. and the
Justice appointed ten men to guard
the place for the night. In the morn
ing the rufus would be searched foe
more papers. There must be others.
When nIlser begins to bury barrels
OF cash he does not stop at one. lie
goes right ahead and buries ave or
six In order to make the search after
his death interesting.
Hasty 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. aud that was
empty A groan OF despair followed
the conclusion of the search The
miserable old man had buried only
one barrel OF cash. after all. aud the
TIN peddler was to have $4,000 out OF
that -Four men began TO dig at seven
PAGES due west OF the big oak tree.
The ground had settled down as hard
IS asphalt, but had Il been cast iron
they would have stuck 10 the Job.
There were 600 people In a circle
about them when the shout OF dis
'overy went up, One OF the picks had
truck the barrel There was great
'ush, and Il was Il quarter OF AN hour
lefOre Il could be cleared Of dirt and
fitted out Then there were more
'heers and more rUshes The barrel
vas up ended at last. aud as the head
vas knocked In the price of real es.
ate IN C0lNille SCARED TO the clouds
Sext uOment Il fell with thud ike
hat OF brick house coming down.
he 81 Of C. was a barrel OF cider IN
eead Of barrel Of cash. The old
laa had buried Il as an experiment
. see what the taste would be years
ence. Two minutes ~ awful sus-
ense, half a dozen terrible yells In
horas, aud then the peddler went 6y.
~ Tor his life and the Villagers called
ach other fools and Weat home.