The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-08-30
A periIous Atlventure-sAifhoahk !"
<nurcsa stecpie-A Taaioring hob at

A FserfIuns AuFehtWFo-SAA
Cnurch stccple-A TaalOring JOB az
the Summit.
The Newark Advertiser tells this STARTLING
story OF an adventure Ia that place: ).
"St. Patrick's cathedral has a stecpie
surrnount.,d by bail, on which is cross
The TOP Of the cross Is two nundred AM
f;fteen feet above the surface Of the ground
the height being but five feet short OF tna'
Of Bunker Hin monument. The steepls
Of wood. square at the base. ana Iap ~ t,ee
to point. Along each angie ron 'l.,n nne
base 20 the point are naiied at thJ ; u nj
Of four feet apart ornaments" ""''' "
wood. ha;no weather
,,asfan IN the course OF time. rots esp So
n;aiiv Tho knobs and the cross. wh,cn p,~
.o,,t .r,anv small angles. so that II ptI ha rn-
sonS NOW and then to attend 10 Tue
noir;no of these parts. To erect, q suficienf
tor the purpose, when q I nH,,h and do the
daring and GOODNESS mign. , ,,,nst economical
WORK, "os Smch men are rare, but Iney are
metnoss. ,,nd The price charged fof eacn
10 DC iou Usually about twenty-five dollars.
ascent lie = does not consist merely in the dan.
inc ~ hecoming giddy and demorailzeo
sI,,,s c,inging in mid-air to the outside OF
staan,e and while the neighbors and pass,
orc .by are collecting i'll groups pelo" anu
tr,zinc upwards, with batcd breath anu
Trembling knees, ut the climber. ne mus
On M bv clineing foot and hand 10 "nat ne
finds; and what he must cling 70 are .u rs.
.nrv knons. rotting and weakening In the
,yesther. and finally to the cross, already
Gecayed and almost ready to drop. The man
who does this sort Of work in Newark Is
Mr.. Frank Jacobus. -
sci One day last month he was engaged 10
.,,oLo ON ascent of the cathedral steeple LOT
the nurDose Of removing the old cross anu
renlacirg it with new one; GolhS up IN
s;de the sleeple to the highest admissible
point he reached out rom Inc - 1 tasf its
strength. Judging II to be strong enough.
ba SWING himself opt by 1t, and scrambhng
nm caught hold of the next higher hnoo
ard rested his feet upon the lower one. 30
far all right, He glanced arouno MN, aug
then looked ND along the line OF KNOBS that
cached far np to the ball and the cross,
marking his hazardous way. lt was some
thing Of an experiment. We're the otnef
knobs. too. strong enough? Careiuily ana
quickly he scrambled up ana lelt OF Tue
Gent Strength. He pulled upon 1t. IL pore
his weight and up he went. Gathering
conf;dence. he made his tests and drew MS
conclnsions rapidly. He went up more ana
t,,ora n,,ickly. at last scarcely caring to try
tho STRENGTH of the knobs before TRUSTING
his weight TO them. Already TWO thlrds OF
The steenle were climbed. A few more ell
snrts and his hand would be clinglng 10 tne
cross. ,;,,,,o,r
slight scraping sound reached nus Keen eur,
even in the breeze blowing strongly ABOUT
his ears. The knob had moved uhoer us
pull-was giving way. 4 mist Sl'Ieau Se-
fore his ewes. He felt himself falling back-
ward With q conyulsiye effort that lamed
nts back he clutched ut something ana
brought himself forward again, and down
he slid. His presence of mind had not once
left him. He even tested the knobs as ne
slid over them to see where he might trust
TO stop himself with the momentum OF MS
falling. Gradually he even lesSened the
momentum. Then he fastened his grip
unon knob. 1t held him and he was safe.
The sigh that went up from the observers
in the street below almost reached MS
0uickened ears, and 1t grew into shout.
5fa was not demoralized. lie might have
come down and given up the JOB. MOI 30,
His purpose to 90 up to the cross was not
changed. But he could no longer trust
himself to the knobs on that angle OF the
steeple. He must get across to the next
angle. He tried to reach, but the KNOB
was just beyond his utmost stretch OF foot
"The observers below were looking on
in breathless suspense. They saw MN 90
uD higher, almost to the very spot whence
he had fallen, and then ut last reach out
and swing himself across. tie was now
on another angle, clinging to an untrleu
place. and looking up ut the long line OF
SIntested knobs. He went up more care
fully, less rapidly than before, trying every
knob well before trusting his weight TO 1t.
Soon he was ut the ball. Grasping that,
he Slid himself up over it and sat himself
down on it, with his feet Oh either side Of
the cross. There he waited awhile, though
he seemed still to be busy. Then, rising
himself to his feet, he stood beside the
cross. With his hand he broke it piece
meal and threw the pieces down, and they
Sru into fragments as they touched the
stone walk. Then he descended, and in a
few minutes was on the ground again, to
be surrounded by some of the observers.
ga little frightened, Ell, Frank quizzed
one of them, swhen you slipped there!'
"'Not bit. just as cool as ! am mere
now at this minute
"'Risky though, wasn't it,
"Well, yes; it was risky; But the WORST
of itYas tore re- my y pansal0ohS'
n.But mended Them
"'While you were sitting on the ball
thereT
"sYes; / wasn't coming down with such
a rent as that in them. The wind was blow
ing hard and things tapped, but | hap
nened to have self-threader Billy Withers
had given me this very morning, and had
stuck it in my vest. / threaded the needle
without looking at it, and sewed up the
tear in hurry
"'WeH, Frank, you're cool one.'
"'I have to be- he said, and he glanced
around ut some ladies' who were grouped
a few yards off looking at him."
One of the best things in his book is