Crawford avalanche., 1893-03-09

a Man VINO makes IT'S LIVING ~ ~ A-&o~
vited Calling.
His name is Wiggins-Alick Wig
gins. Not exactly an engaging name,
but the fellow himself Is an interest
ing chap, says the Chicago Herald.
Somebody had TO put up the flag
poles on all the Worlds Fair build
ings and paint them after rhey were
up Alick Virgins knew this, and
he struck across the country one day
from New York, and never stopped
until he reached Jackson Park. The
work is hazardous and nobody was
looking for the job. So when Alick
Virgins came along he got 1t. He is
a steeple climber, or, as he expressed
1t himself, -docs steeple work"
This steeple climber went to sea at
13 years. 1t came easy for him to
climb the ships rigging, and what
was more natural than that he should
do steeple work when he quit the
sea? He has been climbing flag poles
and steeples for twelve years, and
likes the work. The higher he gets
the better he likes it. A reporter
saw Virgins on the peak of one Of
the minarets of tall building at
Jackson Park the other day. The
steeple man was working away as
carelessly as though he were stand
ing down on the ground.
"This work here Is dead easy" he
said. THAT is, it's nothing like I'm
used to do. Oh, OF course, they have
few poles here as lis worth any
mans time, but most of them are
easy" ,.s
do you intend to climb those poles
out there?" he was asked, the ques-
tioner Indicating number of slender
rods along the cornice Of Electricity
Hall. te1
why, certainly, il they want it
done. That's what / call soft job.
I'll go right up that pole to the top,
paint it for them or hang out BAN
ner, and not feel that L have done
anything worth talking about. If 1
never had anything worse than that
I'd think myself in luck"
"Well, what do you call bad job,
them"
"Oh, well, when you strike some-
thing like the flag-pole on the Man
haitian Athletic Club in New York,
for instance, you've got bad job.
That was the riskiest work / ever
tackled. The pole is forty-five feet
long. It's on cupola forty feet high,
and the top of the pole is 300 feet
above Madison avenue. That makes
a man think he's climbing. l painted
it some time ago and got $25 for two
/ xuh C or A
boatswain's chair in going up. It's
board with rope through it. The
rope comes up and winds around the
pole. Then / have a strap down
under the chair for foot rest. This
strap goes around the pole, and / just
push myself up and then fasten the
rope that holds the boatswain's chair.
I've seen lots Of traps for going up
poles, but this beats them all.
Il make speciality Of editorial
work." Alick Virgins continued. Il
fixed the New York World flagpole
and also the New York Times. A
funny thing about this business Is
that feel nervous on scatfold, but
when get on pole / am at home.
My nerve steadies right down and I
never think about falling.
Liberty pole in Philadelphia was
good job. That is 1877 feet high
and the pole is only four inches
through at the top. L went up that,
and Logan Square was full of people
expecting to see Inc slip off, but I
fooled them. finished the job in
three days and got $75 for it.
"What do you get for risking your
neck in this fashion,"
"Oh, it all depends. On contract
work we aim to clean up about S15
day, but sometimes less. But on
regular work like this the wages are
low; not half that. / had a bad job
in Chicago on the Pullman Building.
/ painted the pole all right, and two
days later a wind came along and
broke it off at the base. The pole
was rotten. Now, that's what l call
a close shave. The big Catholic
Cathedral in New York was a good
one. It's the highest one in New
York.
"They's not many of us in the busi-
ness now," Virgins continued. "Old
Jimmy Ferguson was killed not long
ago. He slipped off the tower Of the
Albany Penitentiary and was mashed
on the ground. But Jim was too old
for this business. / say that when a
man gets to be fifty-six years old he
wants to quit climbing steeples.
Charley Shaw was another. He
dropped, too. He worked on the
stack of Clarks thread mill at New
ark, and the papers were full of it at
the time"
Virgins helper, Norwegian
painter, yelled for him to come up
and help get out flag, and the
steepleman went back to work.
THAT fellows a good climber" he
said, but l don't guess he'll ever
make boss steepleman."
ha Cnidar and the waan