SECRET DRAWERS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XV, Issue XI, 14 September 1895, Page 335

SECRET DRAWERS.

‘ Most of the ingenious contrivances in furniture came into fashion during the latter part of the eighteenth century,’ said the dealer. ‘Those were the days of secret drawers, which answered the purpose of the modern safe. We sometimes find them in old desks and cabinets. There is one in this bureau. You might have the thing in your possession a lifetime and never suspect it. Take out this little drawer. Now put your hand inside and see if you feel anything. No ? There is nothing unusual to be felt. But just press hard against the back.’ Click ! A strip of wood flew forward, and disclosed an opening in a part of the bureau that had previously appeared to be quite solid. It was so ingeniously and accurately put together that one would never have detected it with the eye. ‘ This cabinet has also its secret drawer. It is operated by a pin which, when thrust into an almost invisible hole, presses against a spring, and the drawer Hies open. Sometimes the secret compartments are concealed with so much ingenuity that we cannot find them. One in a small cupboard completely baffled us ; we had to break it open, find out how it was worked, and then restore it to its original condition.’ 1 Have you ever had any treasure-trove ?’ ‘ Some years ago my father, who conducted this business before me, had a curious case. He bought a bureau from a gentleman, in whose family it had been for a long period, and sent it straight to an outside cabinet-maker to fix up. The fellow found a secret drawer, and in it about /50 in English banknotes and a paper. He kept the lot, and said nothing about it! but one night, when intoxicated, he told the whole story, and my father chanced to hear it. Soon after the gentleman who had sold the bureau came into the shop on other business, and my father told him exactly what he had heard. The gentleman became very much excited, and said he hadn’t a doubt that the paper was his late father’s missing will. What they did in the end was this. They told the cabinetmaker that he could keep the money if he produced the will, which he did ; and it turned out to be just what the gentleman expected.’