St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-08
DANGLING AMID WIRES.
The Terrible and Remarkable Expert
ence Of a Lineman.
THE EFFECT OF A SHOCK
For Fifteen Minutes he Was Miracu-
lousy Suspended in Mass Of
Tangled Wires.

Robert Archibald, a Bell telephone
hneman, had miraculous escape from
terrible death about o'clock yeSter-
day afternoon, and though alive now, it
Is not at all certain that he will recover
from the effects of the terrible ordeal he
passed through, says the st. Louis Re
publican. The accident was peculiar
one, and the circumstances attending it
were more so. Archibald is young
man about twenty-six years of age,
strong and well built, and was consid-
cred one of the best pOle-climberS and
general utility men in the employ of the
telephone company. About half-past
4o'clOck Chief Operator Casey, at the
central Office, noticed that certain of the
wires leading to the office were
out of repair, and at once notified
the repairers of the trouble. Archi-
bald was assigned to locate the cause,
and he started out at once with sup
ply of tools. When he reached the pole
at the northwest corner of Broadway
and Pine street he concluded to ascend
it and examine the box containing the
lightning arreSter, which is located on
the pole about thirty-five feet from the
ground. The pole at that corner is
about sixty feet in height, and supports
several hundred wires, run Singly and
in heavy cables. The wires nearest the
ground are about thirty feet below the
top of the pole, and the box which he
undertook to examine is about five feet
above the lower wires. When he was
about twenty feet from the sidewalk
passers-by noticed that he was
TREMBLING FROM HEAD TO FOOT,
and they paused to see what he was do
ing. When he was within one or two
steps from the box he took his plyerS
from his pocket, and before he had a
chance to use them he fell backward, at
the same time dropping the instrument
pavement with sharp ring. A cry of
horror burst from the people on the
sidewalk. who thought that he would
surely break through the wires below
him and fall head foremost to the street.
He struck the wires with considerable
force, breaking several of them, but
bounded few feet upward and again
struck the remaining stretches of wire
with less momentum than before. 1t
was then that miracle prevented him
from falling to the ground. When he
struck the wires the second time his
head and right shoulder slipped over the
edge of the outer wire and the rest of
his body was following when his legs
became entangled in several of the
wires, holding him fast. BY this time
large crowd had collected and
everybody had plan to suggest toward
rescuing the unfortunate lineman. The
force of linemen at the central office
hurried to the scene and one of their
number attempted to ascend the water
logged pole, but had not moved up ten
feet before he made hasty descent and
announced that it was too heavily
charged with electricity to permit him
to make further progress. 1t was suS-
pected before this that an electric wire
was responsible for
ARCHIBALD's PREDICAMENT,
but when it was seen that the pole was
charged it became a certainty. The
wires were still swaying back and
forth, threatening to give way every
minute and thus dispose of its human
weight. Archibald'S head was hanging
down, his face looking upward. There
was no sign of life apparent in the man.
The crowd believed him dead, and
that opinion was shared by several of
the ljnemen, who rushed back and forth
horror-stricken. The bright idea sud-
denly struck Officer Doyle to call out
one of the truck companies of the fire
department. A still alarm was given at
once to the No. 8 truck company, which
responded with cOmmendable haste.
The swaying body was still suspended,
but no one knew how much longer the
wires could stand the strain. The eX-
tension ladder was raised in few sec
ends, and as promptly assembled by
three pompier-men, wearing heavy
gloves and carrying ropes. One of
them seized Archibald by the head and
insulated shears, and the third assisted
in carrying the lineman to the sidewalk,
where he was deposited on a stretcher
amid loud applause in appreciation of
the work of the truckmen. A hurried
examination showed
lie WAS STILL ALIVE.
He was in a'comatOSe state, and all eff
forts to arouse him were futile. An
ambulance removed him to the diSpen-
sary, where Drs. Priest and jackson
made an examination, and found that
Archibald's left foot, right side and leg
were terribly burned, showing the
strength of the electric shock that
passed through his body. After making
him as comfortable as his condition
would permit, Dispensary Physician
Priest had him removed to his home, at
No. 2301 Wash street, where he has re-
sided for some time with his mother, he
being unmarried. Several physicians
took charge of his case, and were at first
unable to state whether or not he had
any hope of recovery. Later in the
evening it was announced that he was
improving, and that he stood good
chance for his life.
An investigation indicated that Arch
ibald III ascending the pole had touched
one of the Brush electric light wires,
which had dropped some distance down
the pole. having become loosened from
above. The shock rendered him un-
conscious in an instant, and when he re-
covered his senses a few hours later at
his home he said that he had no recol-
lection of what had happened since he
received the charge. Fully fifteen min
utes elapsed from the time he received
the shock until he was taken down.
Not II GfvIa