Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-10-09
THE FLOATING PIRATE.
Arrest of One of the Crew and re
cOveFy of Stolen Property.

Arrest of One OF the Crew and Re.
cOveFy of Stolen Property.
About two years ago aatboat hoated
past this city aud touched at the wharf
on the Arkansas side. which was desig-
mated in police circles as the Floating
Pirate" The commander Of this cruiser,
Captain Joe Corville, it is said, would
stop at the small landings along the
river and decoy young girls on to his
boat and lure them away from their
hsmes for the purpose of making mer-
chandise of their charms. Some half
dozen frail sisters were of his household,
or boathold, when the gay commander
of the Floating Pirate was arrested
in this city and confined in Jail for
few hours. Those who saw the Captain
then will remember him as being as
mild hammered man as ever scuttled a
ship or cut throat" and scarcely any
student of human nature would have
thought true all the bad things that have
since been said of the piratical COM
mander.
HIS EXPLOITS
along the river were not unnoticed, but
somehow or other he generally managed
to escape punishment. 1t is reported
that he committed the boldest sort of
robberies in some of the towns below
here, and that the regular business of the
female portion of the family was to drug
those whom they induced to come aboard
the ship and then rob them. That Cor
will was an expert and generally covered
up his tracks well is seen in the manner
in which he conducted
THE AFFAIR AT HELENA.
The Floating Pirate" had goods for
sale, and Capt. ,Corville induced Messrs.
Straub & Lehman to purchase some of
these goods. When they were delivered
by the Captain in person he eyed his
customers safe very closely, and espe-
cially so when the door was opened.
That night this same safe was robbed of
$2500 in Arkansas State warrants and
eight-per cent. bonds, two or three hun
bred dollars in fractional currency, fifty
dollars in coin and a shot-bag full of
nickels, besides gold watch, three sets
of silverware and a number of other
articles. Suspicion rested uponlCorville,
and he was arrested, but clearly proved
an alibi, having spent almost the entire
night with the City Marshal.
RUsE.
1t is evident that he had kept Mr..
Fishers company until the wee sma'
hours for that very purpose, having &C.
completes to do the work of robbing the
safe. A few days after this occurrence
the Floating Pirate and her shrewd COM
mander moved away, and gradually the
affair was partially forgotten, until four
or FIVE days ago, when some negro boys
were noticed digging industriously on
the river bank by the pale light Of the
stars. They were watched but developed
nothing. On Saturday the two negroes
exposed some silver-ware for sale in that
city with the initials ]. W. T., the same
that had been stolen and buried two
years before. One of them was imme-
diately arrested, but the other escaped
and came to Memphis. The police were
on the lookout for him, however, and he
had scarcely reached the city before he
was nabbed. Yesterday he agreed to 60
back to Helena without any requisition,
and promised to divulge the whole plot
when his trial comes up. The nickels
and silver.ware is all that has been re-
covered thus far, and it is supposed the
man Corville took the balance as his
share. The negro Mullins, arrested
here, had some money in his possession.