The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-11-26
A MILLION ADRIFT.
Tho Strange Story of a Mississippi
River Flood
How Poor French Settler Became a
Millionaire for Two Hours and
Without Being Aware
of 1t.

Vide Pochc (empty pocket), there re-
sides one of the early French settlers,
Joe Marshall by name, says the st.
Louis Republic. ''Old Joe," as lie is
called by everyone, is one of those I'M
fortunate Frenchmcn who settled in
Carondclet while it was yet burg of
some six or seven houses. He acquired
n great deal of property, as did all the
old creoles, and when Il more active
civilization encroached upon the dis
trict and the property began to be
worth something, he lost it all through
carelessness and bad management. 1t
may not be generally known that Joe
was millionaire for two whole hours
at one time. and the circumstances of
his rise and fall are best told in his own
words:
1T was in the summer of 1891 was
on the river then. The river was boom
ing and it was unsafe to go out in a
small boat. That was in the early
steamboat times when everyone tray
.elcd by river, and the wharf in st.
Louis was lined with boats which stuck
their bows SO close together in order
to get to the wharf at all, that they
formed wall along the river front,
w
the others were so tightly wcdged in
that cscaps was impossible. 1t had
been storning all day, and in the even
ing the river was raging torrent,
ready to tear away its banks or to dash
the huge trees that had been uprooted
by it in its mad course through the hull
of the steamer that vcnturcd from the
bank out into mid-strcam.
fire broke out on the lcvec among the
boats. There was a panic. Some of
the passengers who were spending the
might on the boats in order to make
sure of their staterooms lost their lives
lin the panic which followed, and others
left their valuables. The loss was i'm
lmense, both of life and of property.
The red glare of the fire was distinctly
Visible IL Vide Pochc, and 1 and my
partner sat up and kept watch on the
river, expecting to see some of the pas
lscngcrs of the burning boats drift by.
and to rescue them if possible. We
WAITED long, but no victims of the fire
came. AT last as we were about to give
up the watch, we saw out in the cur
rent dark object that appeared to be
a raft. 1t shot swiftly into view, and
as it passed us we could see the white
face of man holding on to raft
which he had constructed of four life
prcservcrs, and on which he floated q
large chest, which, from the care he
had taken to place it in safety at the
risk of his own life, we judged to be
very valuable. We resolved to save
him if possible, and, jumping into our
skiff, we pulled toward him. At that
time the raft was caught in one of the
whirlpools below the Elwood street
dixie and was broken to pieces. The
man lost his hold and was swallowed in
the vortex, while the chest, too, went
down. We rowed about the spot to
pick up the life preservers, which had
been separated, and in picking up the
second one found rope attached to it.
My partner wanted to cut it, but 1
stopped him and told him to save the
rope, as it might be useful He COM
menced pulling it in, but before he had
gotten much of it in the boat he called
me to his assistance, and we worked
away pulling in the dead weight at the
other end of the rope.
Finally the task was finished and,
as reward, instead of the body of the
man whom we had just seen drown be-
fore our eyes, we found the chest
Which he valued more than his life. We
hauled it ashore with many misgivings,
and did not open it, but put it care.
1essly before my shanty.
''The next day l had plenty to do
picking up wreckage and watching for
the bodies of those who had persisted on
the boats. About five o'clock in the
pvnninr q frant1arpop Jro-o .lox-..
shanty. He seemed greatly excited.
He was accompanied by n constable.
They asked me if had seen chest
floating down the river. Well, to make
a long story short, the man was the
owner of the chest, which contained his
whole fortune-mOre than million.
The man who was drowned was his
brother, who had locked him in his
statcroom to perish and tried to make
off with the treasure in the way de-
scribetl
Il told him of his brothers death. and
he remarked: Poor fellow, / forgive
him and shall not tell father of his at
tempted crime He was a member of
one of the best families of the city at
the time, and after taking me to the
nearest saloon, where we had the best
IN the house, lie gave me five thousand
dollars to keep the whole affair quiet
and not let his name be known. What
did do with the five thousand dollars?
l lived like n gentleman on it for a
year.
did ever see the gentleman again?
Yes, quite often. He is one of the lead
ing men of ST. Louis to-day
Sublime Assurance.
rlhc nerYieSt man In Amcrinn l,as