Sketcher.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 409, 10 March 1904, Page 2

Sketcher.

HIDDEN TBEASUEE. e*#C? CLEBK who had long been ®Mz) numbered amongst the unMTMg employed was informed by his landlord that he could wait'no more for rent, and that failing the payment of the £4O due the bailiffs would distrain. The money was not forthcoming, and prompt to time the bailiffs appeared.,? Thej Beized the whole of the poor tenant's furniture. It, was an old and motley collection, for all bufc essential articles had been already sold for bread. The penniless clerk stared across the empty room to his wife and babes as the men brought the last article down the narrow stairs. It was a dingy old chest of drawers. Clumsily carried, it was jerked against a wall corner, and the whole thing collapsed like a pack of cards. In the debris of wood lay an old leather bag, which, on being opened, revealed 114 guineas of the reign of George 111. The bunting of the chest had broken a secret drawer, in which this money had lain horded since it hai been placed there by the clerk's great-grandfather. Now in the very nick of time it revealed itself for the clerk to pay his rent on the spot and have the furniture brought into the house again to start life anew. Even more devious was the fortune which fell to one of the foremost actors of the day in his youth. He had a rich aunt from whom he had expectations. He assiduously cultivated his relative. He even went to the length of petting her favourite blaok cat, and on the decease of this feline he called in a new black suit to offer his condolences.

He found, however, that his aunt waa having the cat staffed. When his aunt died he was disgusted to find tfcat her sole legacy to him was this said stuffed cat; the rest; of her fortune was bequeathed to the Hame for Strayed Cats. The young fellow's chagrin reas immense. With the death of his aunt duns -began to press him sore. He used to sit down before that stuffed cat and curse it steadily for hours at a time. In doing so on one occasion he sotioed that one of its eyes was loose. He picked out the glass optic, and from the interior drew forth some hundreds of sovereigns, each wrapped up separately in £5 and £lO Bank of England notes. Even in the stern mandate of the County Council there is sometimes fortuae. A few years ago a Woolwich butcher was ordered to demolish the slaughterhouse at the rear of his premises. He asked for an extension of time in vain. Greatly troubled by the compulsory alterations, the butcher dreamt one Bight that he found a bag of money between the outer wall of the slaughterhouse and the matchboarding. The next c|ay he set to work, and pulling down the wood pannelling, discovered a worm-eaten bag with 210 sovereigns ' The Crown has so heavy a claim on treasure-trove that it is good to hear of the Crown cheaply selling its rights. Just two years ago certain lands and houses in Belfast lapsed to the Crown and were sold by auction, together with their furniture. Two of the purchasers were ladies, who bought an old spindle-legged piano. On examining their purchase they found that the keys gave forth no sound when struck. The piano was actually stuffed with gold! From time to time such hidden treasures are brought to light. In alterations at Trevor Hall, Llangollen, the residence of Mr J. C. Edwards, the workmen found in the roof 160 £5 notes and a Lank-book showing deposits to the amount of £1,200. This money had lain there for seventy-two years. Each find of this kind must have its story, but none could be more romantic than that attached to a recent case at Liverpool. In sweeping a chimney the man of soot discovered a bag containing £4O in coin; Instead of showing pleasure at the find, the lady of the house burst into tears and fainted.