Clarksville evening tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1890, 1890-03-11

A PERlLous JOURNEY MADE BY A
NEWSPAPER REPORTER.

FOggy Night Selected for the grip-Hs
Walks from the New York Anchorage
to the Center OF the Big Structure on q
16-Inch CabIe-Above the River 27s Feet.
Hundreds of people while crossing the
Brooklyn bridge have looked at the Triggers
and painters who, in the performance Of
duty, climb up into the network of wires or
walk along the big cables from which the
great structure is suspended, and they won
der how these men hold on, or why they do
not get dizzy and fall
Desiring to know something of these men
who spend their time away up among those
slender wires, Star reporter endeavored to
( get some of them to tell their experience, but
( 1t was found that they had become so accus-
toned to whatever sensations they might ex-
perience that they had grown unconscious of
anything remarkable in the fact that they
walked on slender thread between the river
and the sky, except that they earned good
llvings for their families and were very well
pleased with their vocations. Still determined
to learn how it feels to walk in midair on SO
slender footpath as a 16-inch cylinder, the
reporter concluded to walk on one Of the
cables from the New York anchorage to the
top of the tower, and on down the asrial
pathway to the center of the bridge It was
useless to seek permission to make the trip, SO
1t was decided that it should be made under
cover Of the darkness of night
CLIMBING UP.
But an opportunity came eventually, and
the trip was made and experiences noted
On the night of Friday heavy fog hung
over the river, and the bridge was lost in
q ba IF I,a =
powerful glow of the electric lights could
not penetrate the mist for any considerable
distance. The four big cables of the bridge
rising from the anchorage and ascending
above the promenade were lost in the fog a
few feet beyond, and it was only necessary
to avoid being seen at the start to escape de-
lection 1t was decided to make the trip on
this dark night
And so, dressed in ordinary clothes and
street shoes, with an overcoat buttoned
tightly about his throat, the reporter walked
out from Park row along the promenade to
the anchorage. A policeman doomed up in the
fog just where the cable rises, passed along,
and in minute was lost sight Of Now was
the chance, and tossing his umbrella to
companion, the searcher after new expert
ences vaulted the railing and stood erect on
the l6-inch cable. On either side was a half
inch guy rope for handrail Grasping each
rope, he began to walk onward and upward
into the darkness and mist A few steps for
ward, and he was apparently out Of the
world and alone, his whereabouts known
only to one human being. For time the
lights below were visible, but soon these dis
from view, and the illumination
from them, although it penetrated the fog,
looked like the dim light Of daybreak
The top of the tower was reached and as
the cable passes under the coping stone anx- ,
ety as to getting across the tower and to the
other side to complete the journey occupied !
The attention of the adventurer He found
space enough between the top of the cable c
and the roof Of the opening through which
ihe cable passed for him to crawl along But
he space lessened, and he could go no fur q
her, He had not thought Of turning back.
md by feeling about in the inky darkness it =
vas found that if there was no space above q
he cable there was plenty below. But to
cave the straight and narrow path was q o.
natter Of some moment The darkness was q
o intense that nothing could be seen, and it
vas known that somewhere in that tower a y
veil hole descended through the masonry to .
he bottom of the foundation, 1865 feet below,
nd the necessity for caution asserted itself
n a most pronounced manner. 3,
After feeling about gingerly with hands @
nd feet it was found that there was a solid n
few feet below, and the reporter II II
ropped Off the cable to find that he was on fl
flooring Of smaller wire cables, formed of o.
he numerous guys which steady the bridge, a.
nd which help to make the network of wire OF
opeS under the four big cables. These guys
ass through the opening at the top of the -
over, and when he had dropped to them the !.
eporter found through the medium of the
enses of smelling and feeling that these H
ables were laid in a bed of fresh paint. II
here was nothing to do but push on toward II
ne river side Of the tower, This was done II
18th great care and disregard of the paint II
LAYING passed through the tunnel and ar L
wed safely at the river front of the tower, &C.,
was found that the cable was several feet
bove.
A SAFE DESCENT.
At height of 27S feet above the surface
the river one would want sure footing
nd firm grip for the hand to climb IN