The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-12-25
MANNING n shaGf-A Thrilling Sketch

Toppins n shart-A Thrilling sRe'ch'
AS was leaving the yard one evening W
trudre back 10 the bits OF rooms we vert
obliged to put up with since l came 10 Lon,
don in order to get better wages l was caileu
into the office by the foreman. MAJ u
your present job, Lindsay?" he ASKED ana
"Hu,ni,h That can stand over for Gay
ar two can't it? Stubs has fallen Ill again,
and YOU must take his place" ,
didn't care to be shifted before Ia nh-
ished what was about. but lourncyman
hr;clIayer. with wife and children LOOKING
70 him for bread. cannot afford to be paftlc'l-
lar. and 50 l held my tongue.
"You must go to Coots brewery Io,,hu'-
ROY; morning and finish that chimney" Tue
foreman told me. He gave me few more
directions besides, and then went his way:
and went mine, not very well pleased aI
the prospect before me. .-rs
7 supDose never ought to have followed
the trade, for, though had gained mysel1
rood character as a steady workman, nau
never been able TO overcome horror at
bcine perched at any great height. In the
country, where the buildings were low,
managed well enough, but in this great CITY
there were roofs on which L could not stana
without this dread depressing me, nor look
down without feeling as though something
below was tempting me to flluS mySelf over
and end ut once the miserable sensation
which no effort of mine could possibly shake
off.
This huge chimney the foreman had Or
fcrcd me to finish was reckoned one OF me
HIGHEST and best-Guiit shafts in London. we
were all proud OF the job, which had been
carried on so far without single mishap;
buS had earnestly been hoping that mlghs
not be sent to il, and 1t wasn't Till the WORK
men had got almost the top that began
70 breathe lit more freely and trust that
it would be finished without any heip OF
mine.
Once at home. with the yougstcrs' merry
nrott,c sounding in my ears, forgot my
uneasy feeling about the morrow's job, but
the moment that dozed OF to sleep it came
| hack upon me in hidcolls drcam. thought
| was falling down, down, down! and just
rs the crash of my body striking the earth
seemed inevitable | woke up with start to
find myself l,athcd in cold perspration, and
trembling in every limb.
| No more settled sleep visited my pillow
that night, and it was relief when the
boomiuc Of the clocks dispclled my irightful
visions. and warned me that il was now time
| to face Il reality.
THE morning was bitterly cold and bois-
ferrous: scarcely soul was to be seen in the
deserted streets at TINT early hour, ana the
dull thud of my footsteps sounded mourn
fully in the stiffness rcignin% around. At
last the great chimney doomed in sight, and,
Gazing ,p ut its immense height. shivcred
! nj the thought Of being OH top OF II aud
forced TO look down in the sickcnnS depth
! below.
! Fit had not been for the shame of the thing
7 should have gone back; but the thought oil
Bessie and the children spurrcd me on; so,
huttoniny my JACKET tightly around me, l
BEGAN to ascend the staging. In my Journey
inward passed many costly-curtained Win
dows, and remember thinking, rather envl-
| oilsly, how nice it must be TO be rlch, ana
sheltered on such morning from the biting
cold in a warmly.furnsbed bedroom.
Some fellows wouldn't mind the least bit
if they were pcrched on the top of st. PauPS
ON the coolest OF mornings provided you sup
piicd them well with beer; but wasn't over
strong limbcd, and more than | could pre-
tend to be strong-mindcd; so what to them
was nothing, to me was almost death itself.
The higher / went the more intense the
cold appeared to be, and my fingers became
quite nlmbed by the boar frost that was
c|iuoing to the sides and spokes of the lad
dcrS. After a while | stood on the few
boards forming the stage OH The summit OF
| the shaft. and giving one glance downward,
| nv blood turned colder than it was already,
rs [ realized the immense depth to the yard
| below.
| Giving myself shake to get rid of the
dizzy sensation that came over me, and ull-
hooking from the pulley the tub of mortar
which my mate, waiting below, had sent up,
| at once began my solitary work.
I had been hard ut it for more than IN
hour, and was getting bit more reconcl!ed
to my position. cheering myself as whistlcd
and worked, with the thought that each
brick ! laid was bringing Inc nearer to Il
finish, when all at once tierccr and colder
blast than before came shrieking and tearing
| round the chimney. 1t was nearly over
thrown, and in the endeavor to recover my
self | tilted the board Of mortar from Off the
edge of the shaft on to my frail Standing
| place.
In a second, TO MY intense horror, felt
| .hc boards and i'll that were on them gliding
away with me from the chimney, ana III Il
| few moments I should have been lying 4
| manclcd corpse below il had not succeeded
| in tlinging my arm over and into the holl0"
| of the shaft, where, Us the scatfoldlng and lis
| load of bricks crushed downward, was lelt
hanging, with certain death awaiting me
| the moment / ioosened my hold.
Ny first impulse was to throw my OTHER
hand over and draw my body up, so that |
could lie partially across the top OF the shaft.
In this | was successful, and continued to
| bal, ,,,-solf half in tba pbinpnr nnd bal
out.
| There for some time l could only cling
with frenzied desperation, praying earnestly
to be saved from the horrible death threat
euing me; but at last l summoned courage
| to peer cautiously over the outside Of the
shalt.
| Not bit of scaffolding remained within
many yards of me-and that but the poles,
with few boards dangling to t!lcm--and
there was nothing to break my fall should
| quit my hold.
Shudderinsly l drew my head over the
shaft. for there the darkness hid my danger,
while to gaze Old the scene without brought
tic old feeling Of being dragged down back
to ne in full force.
| Then | began to think Of the wife and lit
tie ones whom | had left snug in bed, and
bitter tears came into my eyes as wondered
how they would live ii were taken from
them. The thought brought me back to
more selfish ones, and kept asking myself,
Must die? How long can hold on with
this fierce wind begettiag meS Is there no
hope? Will no Que, seeing how am placed,
| strive TO rescue meI"
Aguin I turned my eyes downward. In
| the courtyard Of the brewery and in tue
streets below people were fast collecting !;
windows were being thrown open, and wo-
| men and children shriekinm aud Snhbing