Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-05-31
PREFERS TO WALK UP.
Drumn er's Experience In an Elevator
That Fell Thirteen Stories.

mo" said Charles A. Seel, a Boston
business man, as he started to climb up to
the fourth story, 81 never ride in eleva-
tors. suppose | am foolish, but had an
experience in Minneapolis once that makes
me afraid TO enter one. 1t was in 1880, and
| was a fresh young man travelling for a
house in Providence. In a large office
building in that city, which was being
built by friend of mine, there were two
elevator shafts, and in them were placed
the finest elevators that had been manu-
featured up to that date. With the ele-
vators was an air cushion device which
was newly patented and which had never
been tried. One day happened up into
the buildir z, and my friend asked me if
wanted to take fast trip in one of the ele-
vators.
II was game for anything those days,
and l said that | wouldn't mind. The man
who invent ed the air cushion was going to
give a practical demonstration of its value,
and had one of the elevator cars hauled up
to the top Of that thirteen story building.
He proposed to get in the car and let it
drop, and lie wanted some one to go down
with him. The car had been dropped two
or three times with nobody in it, and the
cushions had worked beautifully. That
afternoon the final test was to be made.
The inventor, a couple of reporters and
myself Were to go down with the car. !
had given my promise that | would take
the trip, and although l would have given
all that | possessed to stay out of the car
after ! found what was expected of me,
screwed my courage up to the sticking
point rather than be laughed at, and when
the inventor said everything was ready
got in.
THE door was locked a moment after ]
entered, and when l saw that there was
no escape l forced up a sickly sort of a
grin and looked around. ! was so scared
that my legs shook under me, and the re-
porters Were in exactly the same physical
condition. The inventor puttered around
fixing everything in shipshape and we sat
ON the seat and trembled in unison.
FINALLY everything was ready, and the
inventor gave the word. The rope that
held the car up was cut, and the trip be
gan. 1t is utterly impossible to describe
the horrible sensation that felt when that
car shot downward. Ny head swan and
black and red spots danced before my eyes
The swiftness with which it fell was in
credible. 1t actually fell so fast that oul
bodies could not keep up with it, and we
rose from the floor as if going in the oppo
site direction. l was faint and sick and
oppressed with the most abject fear anC
horror. The two reporters were in the
same shape, and the three of us were con
fidentthat We would be dashed to piece:
at the bottom of the shaft. The inventor
was calm, though very pale.
THE trip took but a few seconds ant
every foot that we fell the car increased
its momentu m. 1t seemed that we fell fo
a century and l prayed that the bottom
| would soon he reached so that we Nigh
| be relieved of our agony. As l said, wa
| perfectly confident that l would neve
| leave the Cal alive, and was almost willin!
| to die if the fearful falling motion woulC
only cease. was just about to faint whel
the speed of the car slackened gently, an,
finally it stopped at the bottom of tn
shaft so slowly and gently that the waite
in a glass that sat on the floor of the ca
was not disturbed or rippled.
1--WE got out hurriedly and the cushio
was pronounced a success. went to be
and staid there for a week before / recoy
cred my normal condition, and now whe
| get in an elevator that feeling of drea
comes over me and l can't help it. There
fore always walk. Buffalo Express.