The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-10-16
A MILLION ADRlFT
The Strange Story of a Missf.-.
River Flood.
How "a Poor Trcncit sfs...-
millionaire fpr Two
without f1-.ug .....
of tt

In the south end oi q
" called Carondclet. bu, ,.i...
time bore the very signiGcaat Liam.
Vide Poche (empty porke.. ra.-..
sides one Of the early r... .-r
Joe Marshall 10y name. -..- rl.
Louis Republic. "Old Jo..~ I'd. n.
called 10y everyone. is one of ,f.....
fortunate Frcnchmcn VINO e,fr.a-
Carondelct while IL was get A. l,..-..
some six or seven houses. De-. a.....
a great deal OF property. a.t.. an ..
old creoles, and when "a Nor. .,..
civilization encroachcd upon Ola.
trict and the property n,..a tot.
worth something he lost r. $40 'l-...
carelessness and bad mann .n.r,
NAV not be generally know. tb.t D.
was a millionaire for two whole b..
at one time, and the circula taUr...
his rise and fall are best told iu his .,.-
words:
''It was in the summer uf lsig-T ,,-.
on the river then. The river r.... b..
ing and it was unsafe o. r. auf IN D..
small boat That was u ta. ....
steamboat times when cyyrvunr .-.-
eled by river. and the wharf f1 !.
Louis was lined with boats which ,.-r.
their bows 50 close togDtU,r fu ...-
to get TO the wharf at aII ta.t ..-
formed a wall along the river fr.
and when a fire broke ollt ON ono f....
the others were so tightly wcdr.F-
that cscaps was impos-ibe Do fas
been storming all day. and u tH.sr.-
ing the river was "a racing tgr-s-,
ready to tear away it, bauis~ OF t.al.
the huge trees that had bceu u.r...-
by il in its mad course tLroU-. tn.fr
of the steamer that ycutur.4 from t.
bank out into mid-strcam.
About nine o'clock tHat evening
fire broke Ont on the lcyoc among ..
boats. There was panic som. F
the passcu.er who were spending ra
night on the boats In orfDr to maxi.
sure Of their staterooms lost their fr..
in the panic which followed. and other
left their valuables. The loss uas ir.
mcnsc, both of life and of prop.rr
The red glare Of the fire was Gi,,-gr..
visible in Vide Pochc, and ! and r.
/ partner sat up and kept watch on a.
river. expecting 10 see some Of the B.-
scngers Of the burning boat. drift tr
! and 70 rescue them If possible M.
waited long. but no victims Of the t-
came At last as we were about tofr,
! mp the watch. we saw out in the cr-
rent dark object that appeared % Be
raft. II shot swiftly into yi.w. and
a. II passed us we could see tap Wilt
face Of man holding on % a rt
which he had constructed of fom a-
l sal. d..
large chest. which, from the carr
had taken 70 place il in safety az tu
risk of his own life, we ju3 I'D o. De-
very valuable. We resolved % e-.
him If possible, and, jumping into 0-
sliff. we pulled toward him. Al Old.
time the raft was caught III one q. n
whirlpools below the Eiwood stree.
dixie and was broken 10 pieces. the
man lost his hold and was swallowed 10
the vortex, while the chest too, var
down. We rowed about the sps, %
pick up the life preservers Ul.ic. L-l
been separated, and in picking nap tt
second one found "A rope attached 90 g.
My partner wanted 10 cut H. Dot !
stopped him and told him 20 save tas
rope. as II might bc useful Tie aaz.
mcuced pulling il in, but before Do Dad
gotten much Of II in the boat hc called
me TO his assistance, and we worked
away pulling in the dead weight u The
other end of the rope.
Finally the task was finished. and
as a reward. instead Of the body Of thl
man whom we had just seen drown Je
fore our eyes, we found the ,.les.
I 4. 1. .
hauled it ashore with many misr.rls
and | did not open it. hut put ir .-rs
lessly before my shauty.
The next day / had plenty 90 DO
picking MP wreckage and watching ia-
! the bodies Of those who had peri>ledd-
the boats. About five O'Clock in th
evening a gentleman drove down 20 Oh
shantv. He seemed greatly excited
He was accompanied by constable
They asked me if ! had seen cas'
floating down the river. Well, i0 l4a
long story short, the man "as .-
owner of the chest. which contained Do
whole fortune-mOre than M..-'
The man who was drowned wa, h
brother. who had locked him Do 1
stateroom 10 perish and tied 3" i4-
off with the treasure in tae "af a
scribed.
Il told him of his brothers death l1
he remarked: Poor fellow, J i'T-F
him and shall not tel father oi -ls a
tempted crime lie WAS mrm.e. .
one of the best families of t.- .''. \
the time, and after taking m- q" -
nearest saloon. where we haa %. ..
in the house. he gave me five taol-.a
dollars 10 keep the whole affair our
and not let his name be known ha-
did do with the five Thousand l'..-''
lived like a gentleman on il i'
year.
Did ] ever see the gentleman a---
Yes, quite often. lie is one Of the -1-