Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1846-02-05
The Longest Ladder in The World,

Go approaching The roads of James Town,
Ia the Island Of 81. Helena, your attention
~ attracted by IN enormous ladder, that eX-
tends from the town beneath to fort dl-
rer,y over lhe town. on the summit OF hill
500 feet high. On inquiry, found that sen.
ilncIs were placed bolh below uud above,
i,r The purpose of preventing any onc as
rcndlng or descending without an order from
The town major This regulation was adopt
I'd ~ cons, ouence of the number Of ncc'.
dents, attended with fatal con-cqnences,
lha, had occurred. Together WIN ron.
prnirn, after dInurr, rouhcd down 10 the
pnnrd house, aud having found The town ma
jpr here, We obtained hu order 10 peruit our
ASCENT,
The ladder IL composed nf steps more than
,inre feet IA width, and some four inches in
breadth, firmly fastened III side OF greoi
strength. On either side Is a hand .a.i, OF
such width that yen cnD conveniently lay
hand on either side. The steps are up.
ward Of IL inches apart, and great numbers
at them murh decnyed. Al regular distances
are small seats tor resting places. On one
side, without The ladder. description of slide
mas been formed, along winch polli"s are
fixed, for The purpose, n would seem, OF rails
,rInp from the fort above The iuce of the
hIll against which The ladder is erected. Is
.strrnriy steep, 50 as utterly 10 preclude The
llra VI any ascent without artificial means ~
some places there are perfect precPlccs, the
rocks completely ovcrhanging.
Al the b"r'r,;, We iound 40 sentry. and go
proceeded 10 ascend al once, but had MOI at
iainrd over The height Of one hundred feet
wh'n we heard voice halng u, aud per-
crivrd II sentry calling on Us 10 return, whom
III his walk had been concealed from us
when below by an intervening projection.
Down wc had To go. aud having shown uur
pas. aud satisfied the CcrebuS, Commenced
oar a,rctt again. Al first We proceeded
rapidly, bat ,uun found that not to answer.
the height OF each step causing considerable
cx. .i,lnn. More slowly then we moved
along. attaining the third resting place, when
we seated ourselves, and turned 10 view the
town beneath with lis narrow streets and
confined sItuotlun, covering as II were be.
tween the mighty hills that seem TO press II
Oh either si -.
Alon we turned our eyes, nnxiously wish
ing ourselves nj the top, but we had the best
part Of the ascent yet 10 accomplish, and to
our task we once NOR" went. As we attain.
cd greater height we found The steps get.
ting more and more out Of repair, IN some
places two or three steps together were brok.
en-, So that We had 10 Chamber up the best
way we could. On. on we went with al
ternhte rests, the town, 'he bay, aud 'hC snip
pinv hep"Hlb, grhdualiy became more ml.
nUte, the mov'ng bodies seeming almost mites.
Whpn we reached within a hundred feet OF
the top the unusual fatigue almost overpOweT
ed IT, /; the Dizzy heIgh, so affected Us that
we icll as If we could scarcely preserve our.
selves from iailIng-yel we persevcrcd, and
did succeed in reaching the top.
A moment later one human being would
have passed INTO another world. Aly com
panlon who was before me, had scarce passed
the gate Mt the top when he tainted, com
pletrly overcome, aud he afterwards de-
clarcd TO me. that for The last hundred feet
or ~, nothing prevented his physical cner.
ges from being overcome by the fatigue
and position he was in, but the immediate
prospcc, OF reaching the place OF safety
Many lives have been lost on this ladder,
particularly those of passengers, whom curl
osiiy induced them To ascend. The artillery.
men aud garrison ol the fort are not, how.
ever, uscd 30 gong up and down, exempt
from casualties, aud I; was only the very
week bcfot" IVY yi-li to st. Helena that an
suilleryman wns killed in attempting TO
descend the ladder against time for a wager,
Ladder lllll tori completely hangs over The
hay It - OF great strength, and commands
The ruadstead bpu"ath.
~ "a" batteries are mounted generally 1S
twenty four aud thIny-two Founders. bn,
there arc sOup few guns Of larger calbre.
A singular acCidrnt Happened lew years
pt"gious on TIA, battery. A passenger from
one nf the Sims ~ the bay had ascerded- to
ihe init. aud lacking ltom the ramparts o.
one oi The batteries, perceived his vessel be-
meath. aud thought h. could reach her with
n stone, hut ~ his altrmp, 10 do so over
balanced himself md tell from the awful
height. beng dashed literally to pieces Ia The
fall. Amer passing az hour at the fort, we
drscendod, but by the road, which is cut
m zig-zng manner m the SIDE Of the hill
Fjop "Rsmipisccnces NJ n .Nir Kars Irdu.
,L ~ The LircrpJi 1imo