St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1891-09-26
ALIVE AT EIGHTY.
Only Through His Remarkable Presence
of Mind.

Only through dlB ncfDaThADle AioSohOo
of Mind.
While not suspecting he had more
than attained mans allotted three
score and ten, yet remarking his mar
yelous activity and vigor for a man OF |
that age, your correspondent to-day
found An ootogenarisn still following his
vocation of life, who, in recountlng |
several incidents ofhis long career, told |
of one that will certainly linger in the
minds OF not few Old Cincinnatians.
The speaker was Samuel Barnett.
who was born April 2, 1911, and the IN
cident referred to dates back nearly
half q century, and occurred IN the
erection OF the Catholic Cathedral, GIN
cinnati, on Plum, between Seventh
and Eighth, and running back to Nes'
tern Row Central svenue), as he tells
it. He, bricklayer, had enjoyed the
distinction Of having laid up the first
corner" in the wall, and was now dele
gated to do the finishing touch IN put
ting the great cross in place when the
incident occurred.
The cross itself was twentv-four feel
tall, and its attitude was 298 feet.
There the great strain on the block
and tackle by which it was being ma
nipulatcd may we'll be imagined, Ne
one is wont to say; yet it Was not cor.
rectIy imagined or precausion would
have been taken against what hap
nened, The tackle hook was not
strong enough to withstand the awful
strain, broke, and the heavy rope and
blocks carried the derrick away, lcav-
ing Mr. Barnett up there, nsilcd to tie
cross as it were, surprised, soroly Ter
picked. painfully gricved, 275 feet from
terra hrna and sixty feet from the der
rick.
There was one choice left for him
and that was a hazardous one, yet he
was probably not as much excited by
his rerilous predicament as most OF
those in the gaping crowd that looked
up to him, or: he could not have nam
tanned his equilibrium and ayailed him.
; self Of this one chance as well as he
did, in a manner corroborated by
William S. Birdsill, also Of this city,
who, then q very young man, witnessed
it, aud gives substantially the same
narritiye This one chance OF escape
was in a guy rope that still remained
attatcled some ways off from Mr. Bar
nett, and running to the ground, be-
tween three and four blocks away.
But the thought OF riding that guy rope
all that distance, or nearly all that dis
lance until near enough the ground to
drop from it with safety was anything
save consoling and pleasant. However,
that was not the worst Of 1t. The first
thing was to reach it alive and get the
chance to ride it all the way. When
mans lie is in the balance ho will
gladly embrace an opportunity to en-
dure punishment with the chance OF
saving it, but when he is on solid
footing, even if be is 275 feet up in the
air. and must quit that footing on tho
chance of catch, at rope, to get out
of suoh predicament, he is slow to
make the catch. Most men would risk
getting giddy-headed and falling, while
waiting for scsfolding to be build up
to them.
Making up his mind to reach thst
guy rope aud. riding it, if he could, MIR.
Barnett only deliberated as to how best
to do it. One way, was to make leap
for it, catch-as-catch,c can, and the other
| was to drop astride it. By the first
way it was not certain he could get a
firm hand hold, and if be did the re-
! bound might be so great he could not
maintain the hold. By the other way.
straddling it, he was sure Of getting the
rope between his legs, yet not 80 sure
of locking his feet in time to hold
against the rebound of the rope until
he could swing up and also get hold
with his hands. But it was a large
rope, Of an inch and half diameter,
and he concluded to chance holding
with ole leg ct the knee point If he
could not ges both locked about in
making the drop, perhaps ak Or eight
feet IS be thought. But, realizing that
the nearer he was to the rope when he
dropped the less would be the force
of the rebound, he decided to let him
self down from the coping at the base
of the GROSS, aud found to his Joy thai
he would touch the rope with his feet
Then suspending his weight by his
very fingers the rope touched his ankles
above the shoe tops, and assured Of
locking his feet the moment he let &C
his hand holds he squande red none Of
his strength in longer holding on, but
instantly let go.
The excited throng that looked or
all this time with bated breath now
Jumped themselves, but were not so ex
cited that they lost their heads; they
were alive to the danger of the sltua
ton, and ran with beds they had pro
vided to catch the whirling form of Mr.
| Barnett should he be unable to main
tain his hold. But, as he is still here
to tell the tale, it is evident that he die
not drop and was born to die natura
death at ripe old age. He huggec
that rope with his legs and feet like {
cub bear until he reached sag in i
that allowed him to swing up and als<
catch with his hands, which by thl:
time was becoming absolutely neces
sary, as he had been swinging heac
down until the blood, SO badly needed
to circulate in his fast becoming be
numbed legs, was all rushing into hi
fast becoming bewildered head. Then
too bv the aid of his hands he was able
to 80 readiust himself as to let the ROPE
play upon his shoes instead of hi
barked shine and lacerated calves
which was to him more than the differ
ence between riding on 81 freight trall
and q vestibule limited
AGood Bite.
A nine-foot shark in the hacbor ol
Charleston, bit at a dead horse floating