Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1892-08-04
A FLOOD MYSTERY.
TRAGIC FATE or A COUPLE ABOUT
WHOM LITTLE WAS KNOWN.

NEON IL L. NH9 FiNONfiN.
One incident OEIy 81 the Terrible De-
struction OF Property and Loss Of Life
by the Rise Of Water in western Rivers.
EieroI-m ana Death.
During tile floods Ut the Mississippi
ind Missouri rivers and their tributa-
lies the daily papers chronicled hun
dreds IF cases, humorous, tragic and
pathetic. which occurred along the
banks of these streams from the juno
ton Of the two great bodies Of water Ia
points below ST. Louis But while hun
dreds Of cases have been described, thers
have been also hundreds of cases that
have not been mentioned.
Homes have been swept away, pros
porous men made paupers within few
hours and poor dumb brutes drowned
while pleading iii their pitiful way for
aid. Among TINY inciflents VI the food,
too. have been a few instances OF gen-
uine heroism which stand out as a vel
come relief to the usual somber hues Of
life.
Among the strangers recently located
in this locality just above 1T. Louis was
a man from Iowa. He had settled in
little cabin Gar the river, and knowing
no one was unaware III his danger till
he found himself i'll the center Of y sheet
Of water five miles wide and rapidly ris-
ing Unable 70 escape he was step BIZ
step driven with his few effects to tue
fiat roof of his cabin, and prepared his
frugal meals there for two days. Two
men who saw him finally risked their
lives to save him, ard succeeded In
bringing him safe to dry land.
Other similar cases have occurred. in
striking contrast with those numerous
instances whore tile possessors of small
boats and skiffs have compelled I'M
happy wrctches to give them almost
their entire possessions for merely pas
sage to land
a pathetic and mysterious incident
occurred in southern suburb Of st.
Louis. known as Happy Hollow,
where poverty and squalor usually
reign, which embodied iii itself very
evidently the elements Ut an interesting
romance. Happy Hollow on one side Of
the street or alley or creek (River Du
Peres) doesn't know Happy Hollow On
the other side, and doesn't desire to.
The poverty ana misery, and usually
the crime, of each Individual is surly
and desires no colnpanionship. Hence
when gray haired gentleman and
young girl moved into tile neighbor-
hood ana took a little shanty down on
the leyee no one asked any questions,
for no one cared anything about them.
They attracted ITO attention except for
their neat appearance Their clothes
were clean ID spite VI their manifest
poverty, rs were also their hands and
faces. After Happy Hollow recovered
from it, shock Of surprise at this phe-
n0mcnal cleanliness, it went its way
without another thought cf THE
strangers.
The new residents Of Happy Hollow
had not been there long when the food
came By TIL cnd of a second daT they
are cnt of from escape and Oh the third
their little shanty was swaying to and
fro. The few rough spectators who
cared enough to note their distress were
Indifferent One w two who had boats
called over ana asked how much money
he had, and when the old man shook his
head sadly, they turned off with a laugh
and Went tO the nearest saloon
One man. less brutal than tile others.
sprang into a slzif and started over. hnt
he was drunk and, capsizing the little
boat, he went TO the bottom like lumu
Of lead The skiH rghted itself and
foated along on the water, ana tile old
man saw the only chance for escape
drifting away. Springing into the mud
dy, scething waters. he succeeded by al
most superhuman efforts lib reaching the
little boat, only to find that the oars had
been lost out. Just as lie became aware
Of this fact he turned and saw the little
shanty, washed from its foundations.
come drifting down the resistless stream,
while tile Young girI stood in the door
way.
Casting a look Of regret behind him,
he sprang from his boat. which was a
haven Of safety, into the water once
more ana caught the edge of lii shanty
as II came past Climbing into the rick
ETY. doorway, he had just clasped bis
companion in his arms when a pile OF
driftwood struck the little building. tore
IL To pieces like \ child's playhouse and
the muddy. roaring waters swallowed
up forever two human lives
A reporter for a morning paper found
among the debris washed ashore next
day several books with other things
from the little shanty. Among them
were -IIistcire de Ia Poesie Provenrale. y
by Fsnrieli Kant's "Kritik der Keinen
Venuft. ana well thumhed copies III
Homer and Shakespeare Each work
was in it's original tongue. and had evil
IDENTIFY been read before. The name Of
the owner on the fly leaves OF inner
cover hal been carefully cut out, ana
the secret Of their lives. III there was
one. was buried with tile owners III the
muddy and turbulent waters Of the
great Mississippi. ~ Detroit Free Press.