Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-11-23
Publisher and Proprietor.
STORY OF A sTEEpLE.CLIMBER.


amt afraid to acknowledge it. / was
working ON a church which had a
spire of a shape which amt common.
What kind of architecture it is / have
been told, but forgotten. 1t goes up
ever so straight, and ends with kind of
swell like an onion or turnip, and | had
to work on the under side. The party as
was repairing the church wasn't paid
what the job was worth by the congrega-
ton, and things was being pared down
fine. | wanted a scaffold, but they
wouldn't stand the two or three extra
days work it would have cost to rig it,
so / thought I'd do it with only rope.
1t was the stating as had been badly
done, and the wind was ripping them off,
so that the work had to be patched up
at once. 1t was mighty high up, and as
tough job as / most ever worked on. l
studied it up, as / mostly does all the jobs
have, and was obliged to work from
the top down, and crawl under the lower
part. / let myself down with new
inch-and.a-quarter rope, and, getting my
feet against the largest part of the
round, pushed off a little, lowering my
self some six feet, so that when l swung
in / should get to the under part,
when | would get clutch and hold
on to a couple of big iron bands
and get a secure footing. Though
a ticklish job, | had done the same
before, and so | got all right after the
first trial. Well, worked away steady
taking out the old slate and putting in
new, and mailing down those that were
loose. / must have been two hours at
work, when | wanted to go up for more
nails. | commenced to haul away,
kicking myself from time to time clear
of the swell of the dome. So far so good.
When | was almost halfway up thought
| d stop Just minute to take breath, as
il was a hot, sultry day, and warm even
up as high as | was. Ny toe was on a
level with one layer OF slate, when !
thought that | noticed it was lowering
an inch or so, when it stopped; then it
began again, and / went down most
eight inches; then stopped again for a
minute, and lower | went by halt a
course of slate. / was thoroughly
alarmed. OF course, | reasoned, it
could only arise from one of four things
either the rope was stretching, and
that wasn't possible, or the double hitch
had given to the rope round the head
of the staircase was slipping, which,
again, too, wasn't possible, it being con-
trary to the rule of knots, or the stair
case was getting pulled out, which wasn't
likely, or, what was worse, and which
struck me must be the fact, the
rope was cutting, and settled
on that. | watched to notice
if there was any inclination to
twist the rope but couldn't see it. Now,
knew that if made any violent mo-
ton | might increase the, damage, l
clutched allI could to sides of the states,
trying to take advantage of even a nail
that might be sticking up, but | couldn't
get more hold than again glass. was
now under the larger part of the swell
of the dome, with a hundred feet clean
under me. To get below to where ! had
been working was impossible. | was
afraid to swing out on the rope now,
which would have caused jerk. 1t
was no use to halo, for no one could
have heard me- and there was no use
of making signs, as / was on the side
away from the street, and nobody could
see me. Up must 60, and may be, l
thought, if the rope will hold, / may get
up yet. Slowly went up, with quiet,
steady pull It was about sundown, and
as / got up, inch by inch, | saw the sun
shine on bit of jagged tin, about twenty
five feet above me, and saw it was that
which had been cutting slowly but surely
into my rope. With the strain | had
given it, three or four strands looked as
if they had been cut with sharp knife,
and | was hanging now maybe by a
strand All along had held fast to my
tools. Now let go my hammer first,
and then some twenty states, and heard
them smash with clatter below on the
tombstones. Slowly crept up, nearing
the point little where the rope was
cutting. just then got my head over
the top of the round. / had a pretty
strong knife in my pocket, so ! Jabbed It
in between the edges of the slate until
it took hold in the wood work, and l
braced my heel against 1t. 1t L had
had two knives l could have managed
irst-rate, using one for one foot and the
other for the other, so as to take the
strain off the rope. / tried all could
to throw the rope of the tin, but seeing
it was still under q strain, with my hett
to il. / couldn't bulge it. Well, never
should have known to this day how /
would have pulled through il It hadn't
been for a woman who just then stuck
her blessed old head out of a little win
dow in the church below me. Mister, "