Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1882-11-16
PERILs OF STERPLR-CLIMBING.
a Marrow Escape ofR Professional Climber
Ascending Tall Chimneys.

the steeple climber, u number Of
newspaper men lately. II had an ac-
cident lately which taught me some
thing 1t was "A curious one. You
see ] was on top Of ST. Paul's spire, In
Spring street. We had rugged ropes
To remove the planks of the scafold-
ing. The way we do that is 70 fasten
a block to post or tree on the other
side OF the street and another 10 the
steeple, and splice the ends Of the rope
together to make AN endless rope Of II.
! had tied the last plank 70 the rope.
and it was going down. / wore a
handkerchief tied loosely around my
throat. The wind blew out An end Of
IL and II caught on the removing rOp"
and wrapped around il. 1t was i'm
mediately caught up, first the hand
kerchicf and then my beard passing
into the block. Now, if had had an
assistant in the street below he would
have noticed the plank stop when /
was caught that way, and, as he could
not see anything wrong above, he
would have pulled the rope. Then !
should have been chokcd 20 death by
my handkerchief, and my beard and
part Of my face would have been torn
off. Persons in the street below would
have noticed, perhaps, that was very
quiet, but they would not have sus-
pected that was hanging by the neck
THAT pull stretched Inc eighteen
inches. AS soon as | realized the
trouble ] reached below, and taking
hold Of a rope pulled back on it until
my handkerchief came out Of the
sheeye. and dropped onto the hooks
Of the scaffold below. | could barely
touch them with my feet / called 10
'Frenchy,' who was on tho other side
Of the steeple, and when he came
around / told him how it occurred.
Neither Of us will wear handkerchicfs
around or necks again when We are
about such jobs. We were about 21O
feet above the street"
What is the highest you have ever
climbedf = asked hy,tander.
Three hundred feet. During the
Centennial was engaged to place a
streamer on the top of St. Paul's
church. in Fourth street. got a mast
up there about fifteen feet long, fast
cned It 10 the big hand and a flac 20
IT, had truck on top Of the pole,
and climbed up 20 that and stuck a
fishing pole in the truck and stood
on the top of the mast. ] was then
300 feet above The pavement In Fourth
street. By means Of the fishing pole
you can steady yourself anywhere you
can stand at all, If you can only put
your hand on something tolerably
steady. Even If you only touch your
finger to pole or something Of that
sort il viii help YOU"
"DO you only work in Cincinnati?"
NO, am sent for from different
parts of the country around here. The
way we have OF ascending tall chin
ncys would interest you. We put up
ladder and 90 up to the top, where
| fasten it by rope passed around
the chimney. In tying the rope /
leave a loop in II for the bottom Of the
next ladder. By this time my assist
ant has brought another ladder up.
which / pass through the loop until
the bottom rests firmly on the first
ladder. Then walk up that lad
der with the help Of another
rope passed around the CHM
ney. No matter If the lad
der leans away over from the chin
ney, or to either side, you must not
touch it. AsI lift my right foot TO
the next rung l lift my right hand.
working the rope up. Then the left
hand and foot, depending for steadi.
ness all the time on the rope. When !
reach the foot Of the ladder | draw II
close 10 the wall by pulling on the rope.
and tie itthere. By working the rope
up so that II is higher than the top Of
the ladder on the opposite side of the
chimney you are enabled to throw the
weight Of each lalder on the chimney.
aud any weight on the ladder is a
strain on the chimney. not on the lad
der below.
"Our men, when they are new TO
the work, never fall. They hold on
mighty tight The only trouble we
have with ther' ia about the tools
They are apt "a. lay them on projecting
cornices. or other such tempting places