Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1891-08-21
A MILLION IN A CHEST.
AN ODD INCIDENT OF THE
GREAT FIRE OF l94o.
How joe Marshall Came Into Possession
of n Fortune and Held IL for Day
"A Brothers Crime and
Tragic Death.

l1C RN. l@Ohlo INtDIbllNt
called Caropdelet but which at one
time bore the very significant name of
Vide Poche (empty pocl1et). there re-
sides 5no of the early French settlers,
Joe MARSHALL by name.
Joe clings fondly to tho traditions
and superstitions of the early French,
and his stories of events that occurred
IN his early life about Carondelet are
marvellous in the extreme. Joe's lit
tie cabin on tho river bank near ELL
wood street is often filed with eager
listeners to his marvellous stories, and
none of his friends ever question the
veracity of his accounts; for the mo-
ment they do the Ancient Mariner, "
as he is sometimes called in conse-
quence of his knowledge of the rive,
will point significantly to the door Of
his cabin with the words:
you don't believe it, you-F
There's the door.
Joe is in the habit OF prefacing his
remarks by stating that he remembers
the time when the Mississippi was a
creek. 1t may not be generally known
that Joe was a millionaire for two
whole hours at one time, and the cir
cumstances Of his rise and fall are best
told in his own words:
1T was in the summer of 1871
was on the river then. The river was
| booming, and it was unsafe to go out
in it in small boat. That was in the
early steamboat days when every one
travelled 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 ut all, that they
formed wall along the river front,
and when a fire broke out on one boat
the others were so tightly wedged in
that escape was impossible. 1t had
been storming all day and in the even
ing the river was "a raging torrent
ready 10 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 ventured from
the bank out into midstream.
about nine o'clock that evening d
fire broke out on the levee among the
boats. There was q panic. Some of
the passengers who were spending the
night on the boats in order TO make
in the panic which followed and others
left their valuables. The loss was i'm
mense both in life and property. The
red glare OF the fire was distinctly Wis
ible in Vide Poche, and | and my part
per sat up and kept watch on the river
expecting TO see some of the passen-
gers 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
current 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 a man holding on to
raft which he had constructed of four
ed large chest which from the care
he had taken to place it in safety ut
the risk of his own life, we judged to
be very valuable. We resolved to save
him. If possible, and jumping out into
our skiff we pulled toward him. At
that moment the raft was caught in
one of the whirlpools below the ELL
wood 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 pre-
servers. which had separated, and in
picking up the second one found
rope attached to 1t. My partner want
ed to cut it, but / stopped him and
be useful He commenced pulling it
in, but before he had gotten much of
it in the boat he called me TO his
assistance and we worked away pull
ing in the dead weight at the other
end of the rope. Finally the task was
finished, and as a reward instead of
the body of the man whom we had
Just seen drown before our eyes, we
found we had the chest which he val
ued more than his life. We hauled it
ashore with more misglvings and | did
not open it. but put it carelessly be-
fore my shanty. The next day / had
plenty TO do picking up wreckage and
watching for the bodies of those who
had persisted on the boats About 5
o'clock in the evening a gentleman
drove down to the shanty. He seemed
greatly excited. He was accompanied
by constable. They asked me if
had seen chest floating down the
river. Well, TO make long story
short, the man was the owner OF the
chest which contained his whole for
tune-more than million. The man
who was drowned was his brother.
who had locked him in his state-room
TO perish and tried to make off with
the treasure in the way described
II told him OF his brothers death,
and he remarked: Poor fellow. /
forgive him, and shall not tell father
of his attempted crime He was a
a member of one of the best families
of the city at the time. and after taxi
ing me TO the nearest saloon, where
we had the best in the house, he gave
me S.. 600 to keep the whole affair quiet
and net let his name be known. What
did do with the s.. 000P lived like
q gentleman on it for year.
II tho ~,