The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-11-01

breaks 1t amt nobody's fault but mine
When n fellows q dangling between
heaven and earth, and all hes got 10 hold
him there Is on inch, or inch and q quar-.
ter rope, he Is fool II he don't take bis
precautions.
It's not an unpleasant kind OF work 10
be up ever 80 high Of 0 Summers day. Il
may be swelterlng on the pavement, but
up on the steeple, q working, comes most
~ q cool breeze, blowing all tho time.
Then, 10 them undisturbed places, there
arc little bits Of grasses and moses that
don't grow down below. Then irs 60
quiet for the noise of the street cries, and
tho rumbling Of the vehicles comes 10 10
you IN hushed and sollened kind OF way.
lis good pay, Sir, for the riSks-and
there arc riskS-for there amt none Of the
steeple climbers as hasn't had their
shocks now and then. It's only Summer
| WORK, Tor when the cold comes the chill
would freeze all the strength out Of you,
and whenit blows hard we don't try Il on
neither. I've been ketched hall dozen
times in regular Summer storm, when
I've been hanging from a steeple without
9 scatFold, and 1t amt nice to take. Yes +;
lhave had some narrow shaves. Once Il
was q sCaitold. Just as I had finished the
Job-it was the setting up Of o cross on a
new church-and l had screwed the bolts
all well In, l was getting my tools to.
gether. It's kind Of habit l have, when.
ever amt working up very high, to pass
slpknot OF thin rope around my waist,
which | secure 10 something which /
know can't give way. It being an easy
job, this ere cross, 1 hadn't used nv rope
much. There was wrench I had mia.
laid, which put just at the iurthest end
OF tho scatfold. walked out to get It
rather careless. The stuff must have
been rotten, for 1t went all to splinters
under me, and l thought ! was gone, and
the TACT Is did say amen. The first
thing l knowed I was hitched up under
the arms by my own rope and was
hanging quite comfortable. When l
and put the rope round me l
never knew; 1t was force of habit, sup.
pose. got a scare, but it was overagain
IN moment and | haven't given It
thought since that day. But once, sir, I
was frightened, and I amt afraid 10 &C.
knowledge It. l was working on church,
which had spire Of shape which amt
common. What kind Of ar chitecture 1t Is
l have been told, but forgotten. Il goes
up ever so straight, and ends with kind
OF swell, like IN onion or turnip, and l
had to work on the Under side. The par.
ty0 rs was repairing the church wasn't paid
what the Job was worth, by the congrega.
ton, mud things was being pared down
fine. l wanted scaff0ld, but they
wouldn't stand the two or three extra
days work 1t would have cost to rig it, so
l thought I'd do 1t with only a rope. 1t
wcs the stating as had been badly done,
and the wind was ripping them of, so
that the work had TO be patched up at
once. II was mighty high up, and as
tough job as ! most ever worked on. l
studied 1t 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 quarter rope, aud getting my Ieet
against the largest part of the round,
pushed of little, lowering myself some
six feet, SO that when swung In should
get TO tho under part, when would get
clutch and hold on TO couple OF big iron
bands aud get secure footing. Though
ticklish job, had done the same before,
and so got all right after the first trial.
Well, l worked away steady, taking out
tue old slate and putting in new, and nail.
ing down those that were loose. I must
have been two hours at work when l
wanted to 60 up for more nails, so COM
menced 10 haul away, kicking myself from
time to time clear of the swell of the
dome So far SO good. When I was al.
most halfway up thought I'd stop just
minute to take breath, as it was ahot, sui
try day, and warm even up as high as l
was. My toe was on level with one lay
er of slate, when l thought noticed l was
lowering an inch or so, when 1t stopped;
then 1t began again, and l went down most
eight inches; then stopped again for
minute, and lower / went by hall
course OF slate. l was thor
Oughly alarmed. or course, I rea-
sOued, 1t could only arise from one of
four things-either the rope was stretch
ing, and that wasn't possible, or the double
hitch had given to the rope round the
head oil a stair. case 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 I settled on that watched
TO notice if there was any inclination to
twist in the rope, but couldn't sec 1t.
Now, l know that II / made any violent
motion, might increase the damage. l
Clutched all l could TO the sides Of the
states, trying to take advantage Of even a
nail that might be sticking up, but l
couldn't get more hold than agin glass. I
was now under the larger part of the
swell of the dome, with hundred feet
clean under me. To get below to where
had been working was impossible. I
was afraid to swing out on the rope now,
which would have caused jerk. II was
no use to boiler, 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 l
must go, and may be, l thought, if the
rope will hold, may get up yet Slowly
went up, with quiet steady pull. It
was about shutdown, aud as got up, inch
by inch, saw the sun shine on q bit OF
Jagged tin, about 20 feet above me, and l
saw il was that which had been cutting
slowly but surely into my rope. With
the strain l had given 1t, three or four Of
the strands looked as II they had been cut
through with q sharp knife, and was
hanging now by may be a strand. All
along l had held fast TO my tools; now
let so my hammer first, and then some
twenty states, and 1'heard them smash
with clatter below on the tombstones.
Slowly crept up; nearing the point little
where the rope was cutting. Just then l
got my head over the top Of the round. I
| Ind q nrcltY strong knife In nv nncknt