Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-23

b. made for store rooms. Access is given
to the tower from the Railways of the diff
ferent floors, but above the roof of the
building proper there will be a staircase
leading to the upper part.
At present about the only way of reach
ing the top of the building is by tenn
porary wooden staircase which has been
built the 18th street side. There is a
handrail on the side, but even with that
the ascent seems very different to going up
an ordinary fight of stairs. There is so
much more chance for falling off and so lit
tie to stop ones fall. Looking down
| either side gives one the feeling that he is
standing on the ties of a railroad bridge,
where a misstep would be followed by I'M
pleasant consequences.
The View is Fine.
Slowly one rises higher and higher until
the roof is reached. when the first impress
sion one receives is of the magnificent view
that stretches out on all sides. While, of
course. not comparable with the views
from the Capitol or the monument, the
vista is extremely fine, especially up and
down Pennsylvania avenue. To a person
who is unaccustomed to such place it is
more satisfactory anyhow to look off
toward the horizon than it is TO look down
between the narrow boards on which he is
standing.
narrow pathway runs all around the
building, composed of two-inch planks laid
| across the iron beams, and the workmen
| trot around this and step across over the
| beams and around the columns calmly
and cooly as if they were walking on an
| asphalt street. In places platforms have
| Eeen built out and there are mortar, board
| and piles of sand lying about. just as they
| would be on the ground in front of an or
| binary building. But the most rema rk d BILE
| thing of all is tot see the ironworkers climb
| ing over the columns and beams which are
| to support the corttie trusses of the roof.
These are above The eighth floor proper
| A man climbed nip che of these as nimbly
MAJ ma X
| ing his way out across an l beam, sat down
on it astride and worked there over rivets
| and bolts in the most unconcerred manner
| possible. He hfud need of d hammer and
| workman standing below tossed it uo to
| him. 1t was not very good throw and in
order to catch il he was compelled to lean
| out as far as he could without actually
losing his balance. If he had failed to
catch the hammer 1t would have dropped
| the better part of couple of hundred feet
to the ground below, and a real ronworker
would rather take the chance of dropping
| himself. p n,
| - Result OF Carelessness.
| The construction of the post office has
not been free from fatalities. Four men
| have met their death while at work on the
| building. One was killed directly at the
| main entrance to the building by huge
piece of granite falling on him as a result
Of the breaking Of dog in the hoisting
| engine. This was, of course, a pure acct
| the result of sheer carelessness on the part
| of the men themselves. The man who fell
| from the seventh story last summer and
| was instantly killed was using an inch
| board as a platform to work on. He was
| repeatedly warned by his foreman and fell
| low-workmen. but refused to heed their
| advice. One day he stepped out on to the
| edge of the board, which overhung the
| beams. The other end naturally tipped up
| in the air and let him drop.
Said Mr.. Kinsey to The Star reporter in
discl ssing that accident:
How a man could possibly have done
| what he did, a man accustomed to that
! sort of work and in his right mind. is more
than 1 can possibly understand. 1t simply
| looks to me as though his time had come.
and that was all there was about it. How
| else can you account for man accustomed
| to such work stepping out on to the end of
an unsupported and unfastened plank? l
| may be wrong. but l am something of
| fatalist, and long lifetime in this business
| has led me to the conclusion that when it
Is a mans time to die. he is going to die,
and it is only question of how it hap
| pens"
Two Curious Cases.
| One of the most curious accidents tina:
| has happened since the building was begun
was that Of a colored man who fell from
the fifth story. He dropped down between
| the beams without striking any one of
| them, and fell on temporary flooring at
| the first story. He struck this in sitting
| posture, and went through to the basement
| beneath. Strange as 1t may seem, he was
not seriously hurt, and was back again at
| work the next day
| Another case was that Of man who fell
a cor siderable distance, but was not in
| stant!y killed. He was able to walk to the
Emergency Hospital, where he received
| medical treatment, and then came back
again, and in the course of a few hours
| expressed his willingness to go on with his
1 yIrty IL of nltr,p a
about the head. however. and said he
| thought he would go back to the hospital
again. He had been there but Il few min
utes when his condition changed for the
worse, and he died shortly after
| Some Massive Trusses.
Although the structure is SO near com
pletion. some of the most dangerous and
difficult work still remains to be done. The
progres of the work on the roof portion
| of the building has been considerably de
layed through the nsr-arrival of a number
of iron beams and trusses. These have
| been promised within the next SIX weeks
and if they arriYe as agreed upon. it may
! be possible to have the building under roof
| by the last of February.
| The building Of the great roof and glass
| skylisht above the main interior court will
be an extremely difficult task. The roof
| or sEylight will DE Supported by five cortile
| trusses stretching in the form of very
broad letter A Between the east and west
sides of the building. They will in turn be
| 'hipped" by trusseS springinS from the
north and south ends. These trusses will
all be put together. riveted and bolted be
| fore they are hoistel to the top They viii
be taken up from the inside and dropped
| into place by the great derricks.
| When it is understood that each of thes.
trusses weighs about fifteen tons, it will
readily be seen that the task of putting the
| five in position will be anything but child's
| play. They can be fastened and tied OH
| either side by men who will not be in any
| particular danger but when ii comes to
| climbing out en- them to put the cross
| beams in place, the Workmen will have a
| job from which A man might well be ex-
| cused for drawing back.
| Places for Sailors.
The foreman Of the irOnwork knows his
| men, and it Is said that there is not a man
under him who. when the time comes. will
not be perfectly willing TO work on those
| riGiculously narrow suspension bridges
! nearly two hundred feet above the ground.
| Thu worst Of it is. though. that the work
| will have 10 BE- done in cold weather, when
| the men are more or less rumbed and chill
1 and F.,r. ally, 49,,