The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1881-06-17
A Man Jumps from the Big Bridge at St.
LOuis-His Remarkable Escape.

OE I'LL lu0 dUScutuTeS TcldCcu, (U6C VI JO
seph Smell takes the rag off the BUSH" Or
Sunday night, at few minutes before dusk
Smell walked up to Jacob Cox, the bridge-coL
lector on the east end Of the great structure.
Said Smell to him: I'm dead-broke. Eve been
over to East St. Louis, and got away with 500.
Let me get over the bridge free, won't you:
I'll pay you some other time" 81 can't do
that" said Cox. "It's against tho rules. Z"
"Tnen take my coat and keep it, but
let me over" said Smell. NJ don't want
your coat" said Cox. Snell seeing there
was no use trying to do anything with
the bridge-tender, turned on his heel and
walked back toward East St. Louis again.
After continuing his journey east few
yards he met stranger, and offered to sell
him the coat for nickel. The stranger re-
fused to buy, but gave Smell a nickel. Smell
took it and walked up on the bridge again.
This time as he came up to Cox he handed
him the nickel, and, as he passed him, he
said: " Here goes Little joe" This remark
caused the bridge-collector to wonder. and as
Smell walked on he watched him. He
saw him walking a little way, sit
down on bench, and in a deliber.
ate way take of his shoes. then his pants
and other clothing. There was nothing
left upon his body but his Undertaking,
when he climbed onto the bridge railing and
stood there ready to take the long jump. As
he remained in this position, several persons
who had witnessed his previous movements,
and who imagined that he was disrObing on ac-
count of the heat, ran toward him. As they
reached him they heard him say, "Good-by,
Lassie Jane" and then descend like an arrow
into the rushing water below. Those on the
bridge who saw him take the jump peered
over the railing, and wondered whether no
would over como up. AS they watched they
saw the mans head rise. It bobbed up and
down like cork in the water. 1t was hard to
tell whether the man was swimming or merely
whrled to the surface by the current. As
they watched the dusk changed to darkness,
and the dot in tho water was lost sight Of No
enc Of all the crowd on the bridge who saw the
man 60 down imagined he would ever sec
earth again. But here they were mistaken.
for last evening Little Joe Smell turned up safe
and sound, although hungry as bear and a
trifie sunburned. Two old men sailing down
the river in q skiff, when near the Meier Iron
Furnace, heard some one shouting for help.
The cry came from Arsenal Island They
looked and saw Little Joe on shore in his
underclothing. He begged them to come
in and take him on board their boat
and pilot him to this side. SHOW is 1t
you were not drowned?" they aske d
Smell, when he told them he was
the man who jumped from the bridge Sunday
night. SWELL" said he, IS I'll tell you. The
minute l struck the water realized what 1
had done. 1t seemed to me that 1 touched
bottom in the river, but the moment l got on
top again stopped there. 1 struck cut for
shore at first, but the current was SO swift
found couldn't get there, and so just float
ed down with it until was washed clean upon
Arsenal Island Smell is Swiss by birth,
thirty-six years of age, and lives with his
mother at SO st. Charles street. He says he
had been drinking steadily for two or three
days prior to bis adventure, and thinks that il
he had not made the jump he would have had
the jimrjams or something else.-St. Louis
June y Special to Chicago Tribune.