Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1870-10-13
A Perilous Adventure.

The Newark -4iuertiser tells this
startling story of an adventure in that
place:
''St. Patrick's Cathedral has stee-
pie surmountcd BY ball, on which is
= cross. The top OF the cross is two
hundred and fifteen feet above the SUR
faee of the ground the height being but
I'VE feet short of that of Bunker Hill
Monument. The steeple is of wood.
square at the base aad tapering TO Il
Poi"~- ''--e- ---'. an1la from the
base u the point. are nailed at the dis
tance Of four feet apart ornamental
knobs Of wood.
"All this wood work, being weather
beaten in the course of time rots cs-
pecially the knobs and the cross, which
present many small angles 50 that IL
becomes necessary 10 attend now and
tncn to the repairing OF these parts.
10 erect staging for the purpose
when man OF sufficient daring and
coolness might climb and do the work
would not be the most economical
method. Such men are rare, but they
are ID be found The price charged
for each assent Is usually twenty-five
dollars. The risk does not consist
merely in the danger of becoming gid
dy and demoralized while clinging in
mid air TO the outside Of a steeple and
whIlI the neighbors and passers-by are
collecting in groups below and gazing
upward with bated breath and trem-
bling knees at the climber. He must
20 up by climbing foot and hand to
what he finds; and what he must cling
TO are these very knobs, rottening and
weakening in the weather, and finally,
to the cross already decayed and rea-
dy to drop. The man who does this
sort Of work in Newark is Frank Ja-
cobus.
Last month he was engaged to
make an ascent Of the cathedral stee-
pie for the purpose of removing the
old one and replacing it with new
one. Going up inside the steeple to
the highest admissible point. he reach
ed out from the narrow window and
felt one ofthe knobs TO test its strength. i.
Judging it to be strong enough he
swung himself out BY it, and scram-
bling up caught hold Of the next high
er knob aad rested his feet on the low
er one. So far all right. He glanced
around him and then looked up along
the line Of knobs that reached far up
to the ball and the cross marking his
hazardous way. 1t was something OF
an experiment. Were other knobs,
too, strong enough? Carefully and
quickly he scrambled up and felt Of the
knob mex: higher 1t seemed - have
sufficient strength. He pulled upon it.
1t bore his weight. and up he went.
Gathering confidence, he made his
tests and drew his conclusions rapidly.
He went up more and more quickly,
at last scarcely caring to try the
strength of the knobs before trusting
his weight to them. Already two thirds
Of the steeple were climbed. A few
more efforts and his hand would be
clinging to the cross.
'sHe reached forth to raise himself.
A slight grating sound reaching his
keen ear, even in the breeze blowing
strongly about his ears. The knob
had moved under his pull-was giving
away. A mist spread before his eyes.
He felt himself falling backward. With
a convulsive effort that lamed his back,
he clutched at something and brought
himself forward again and down he
slid. His presence of mind had not
once left him. He even tested the
knobs as he slid over them, to stop
himself from the momentum of his
falling. Gradually he even .lessened
the momentum. Then be fastened his
grip upon q knob. 1t held him, and
he was safe. The sigh that went up
from the observers la the street below
almost reached his quickened ear, and
it grew into q shout. He was not de-
moralized. He might have come down
and given up the job. Not 30. His