The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-09-04

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,,opr. !, .SsERous rEAFs PERFORMED By THE
- woRKsEN YESTERDAY.
Yesterday work tponthe Brooklyn bridge
,,n,,,ied fbe completion of the second OF
,.artha,., q frnyeller,s Ono half OF tine wire
s.s,,o rnnnosinr it was carried across on
cotp,,rssv and has since been put In posi-
ssn,,a mon ff,c rniieys rugged on the north
ado,a 81 the turner's. The work OF carrying
over fhe other hail was accomplished yes
feriay in the same manner IS with the first
section, except that it was brought from
the New York. side, while the other.
rol,cs have been taken from Brooklyn.
The coil OF ee-qlarters-inch rope
was placed upon the New York an
caorage. The length OF rope in, She coll was
3,400 feet, and its weight 1900 pounds.
The free end having been lashed securely to
the g traveller already in use, the flag sig
al the Brooklyn anchorage, and at $40 the
rope began Its outward journey, slowly uri-
winding from the hinge reel AS ft was paid
out &c was lashed to the " travellers at In
tervals OF fifty or sixty feet with pieces OF
smasl rome. The object OF this was to pre-
vent the rope from running out too slack.
at l1:15, an hour and three-quarters from
the time OF starting, the end reached the
BROOKLYN anchorage, and was secured with
about the same tension as that OF the rope
which brought, it over. No accident oc-
cured during the operation.
s. -: =. rHE journey across THE ROPES. ..1
The work OF cuttinglthe lashing was per-
formed In the aftern DON, Superintendent +.
A. Harrington making the perilons Journey
between the Brooklyn tower and anchorage
Tor that purpose. Charles Miller was arr-
Dointed to the section between the New
York tower and anchorage, and Fred. Ar
nald and James O'Niel did the. work on the
river span. All used the, common stboat-
swain's CHAIR u vehicle Which presents
rather dangerous appearance to q lands-
man. It consists -of a pine plank an inch
and hali in thickness. about two
feet long, and ten ., twelve Inches
broad Through holes in. each corner are
fastened inch ropes, the ends knotted upon
the lower side. The amount OF slack let in
the ropes running from corner to corner
depends upon the physique and taste Of the
occupant. It. is preferable, however, TO
have them of such 10 length that the occal-
pant can easily throw his body oWertheIope
from which he is suspended. rs Those used
on the bridge are attached by small, stout
/. shackle. which runs along the Wie1rope.
!, The use Of pulleys would alloy t0oygr
speed on the down grades, and make the
work OF pulling back very difficult. At 2:0S
Mir. harrington seated hsmseH' in his chair,
to which a rope-back was attached,
seeming to. lash him to it: With formlda-
bic knife tied to his right hand to perform
his work he ordered his assistant to let him
down and. ghdeds quickly to the frstkno
cut it, did the Same to the secoAd,S bu6 drop
ped his KNIFE at. the third knot. he con-
tinued, however, unloosing the, 1ashings
-.xt, - hon mo a m
!. trip considerably, for instead OF making
the Journey in the.scustomary ten minutes,
he was full half an hour. The end Of. the
rope was then carried several feet north to
Its permanent position and spliced with the
section already in place. This work con-
sumed about an hour.
SUSPENDED IN MID-AIR.
In the mean time Miller made his descen
from the New York tower, but not without
considerable difficulty. The engineer in
charge mistook the old working rope for
the one in course Of construction, lifted it
from the pulieys where the two were lying
side by side, and insisted upon Miller
placing his chair upon the new rope. AS 1t
fell slack rapidly as fast as the lashings were
cut, he soon experienced difficulty in doing
his work. The mistake, however, did not
affect him so seriously as 0'Niel, who
went down the river span from the
New York tower to meet Arnold from
the Brooklyn side. Both men started at
the same minute-S:44. Arnold, to avoid
AIR. Farrington's misfortune, held his knife
firmly in his teeth. He glided down the
cable very swiftly, hardly seeming to stop
to cut the lashings. Three minutes after
starting he had cut sixteen OF the lashlngs
and was ut the centre Of the span. O'Neil
in the mean time had cut only four OF five
and become stationary. Arnold therefore
began pulling himself up the New York
side to assist O'Neil, and after he had cut
six more lashings they met. ONeil was
then seen to leave his chair and perform
some dangerous movements upon the ropes.
It was evident that one cause OF this diff
ticulty lay in the fact that the two ropes were
twisted, which would interfere with their
being drawn to the Brooklyn tower by the
workng-rope, according to the plan. This
difficulty vanished, however, when the last
lashing was cut, the newrope dropping sew
eral feet, leaving the twist between the men
and New York The great difficulty was
that O'Neil, like Miller, had started on the
wrong rope, and had to- change from one to
the other in the middle of the span. When
the transfer had been safely made the men
lashed their chairs together, and waved
their hats to he drawn ashore. This was
speedily done, and they landed at 4:2S.
None Of the men showed any signs OF ner-
yousness either before or after going out.
To-day the last rope will be spliced and
placed in position. There will then be two
r-ss travellers - in working condition, and the
work on the foetebridge will be undertaken
at once. A telegraph wire will also be put
up soon for signal purposes Neac- Yorh
World, 30tA. :lts,..