The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-01

HARRY SMITHS CURIOUS ACCIDENT
AND MARVELLOUS ESCAPE.
Crashed Through a FOurth-StOry Win
dow and Hung to the Broken
Glass Until Pulled Back,

CHICAGO, July S1.-The Times-Herald
says: The Northern office building, Lake
and La Sale streets, in which Senator
Masons law firm has quarters, was the
scene early yesterday morning of mirac-
ulous escape from a high dive to death.
Four stories above the stone sidewalk, a
distance of probably seventy-five or eighty
feet swaying and struggling on the sharp
edge of a broken pane of glass, Harry d.
Smith, jr. had an experience that he will
not soon forget. He gave up all hope of
rescue during the moment he was dangling
there between life and death, and closed his
eyes for the fatal plunge, when strong and
friendly hand gripped and snatched him
back to safety 1t was one of those curious
accidents that seem inexplicable Scores of
persons passing along the street to work
saw the terrible struggles of the young man
suspended as it were, in midair and shud-
dered in momentary expectation of seeing
him dashed to destruction.
Young Smith, who resides at AZ Aldine
square, is a clerk employed in Room 403,
directly under Senator Masons offices. His
room fronts La Sale street, and has big
bay windows filled with big panes of plate
glass. When he came to his daily work as
usual, between and o'clock in the morn
ing, he noticed that the shade on one of
the windows was rolled up to the top and
that the string by which it was raised and
lowered was gone. This allowed the
scorching rays of the morning sun to shine
through upon him, to his great discomfort
and he Immediately took steps to get the
window shade lowered. He took the high
stool with revolving top, which he occu-
pies st his desk when al work. Climbing
upon this he endeavored to reach the shade
but found it just few inches too high for
his fingers. Raising himself up on his tip
toes, he gave little jump to catch the
shade, but missed it. At the same instant
the revolving top of the stool whirled
around and the young man was suddenly
shot through the glass, feet foremost.
There was a loud crash of falling pieces,
and the next moment young Smith was
half way through. his thighs resting on the
broken edge of the pane his feet waving
In the air and his hands clhtching wildly
without success at the window casing on
either side. He did not scream or cry out.
He felt his body sliding forward, and the
few seconds during which he was under
most an l'i age to him. He made up his mind
that he was lost and his whole life passed
in review before his minds eye like pan
Drama, as is said to be the case when a
man is drowning
when I felt that I was going for good :"
he said, telling of his experience, Il made
how far 1 was to fall and where I would
strike. Almost my last thought was that
death had me in his grip; then as l gaZed
below 1 directly beneath the window
where I hung the stand Of an Italian fruit
peddler and beside it the peddler himself
preparing, for his morTi3g, sales. 7 will be
killed and kill him, too l thought Then
just as my body was losing balance for
the plunge I shut my eyes, gave up trying
to catch hold of the window casing and
felt two strong hands grip my arms and
pull me back into the room. 1t all hap
pened in a few seconds. but it seemed a
very long time to me, 1 assure you, and
/ thought of some things in my past life
that / would rather have left buried
Charles e. Kinds, connected with a lum-
Der firm in an adjoining room. heard the
crash of glass and rescued Smith in the
nick of time. Kinds is an athlete, six feet
tall, while Smith is young man of slight
build and medium height. The young man
was taken in cab to the office of DR..
Liston H. Montgomery, at State and Wash
ington streets where his wounds were
dressed The broken glass had cut a cash
in his right thigh five inches long and over
an inch deep, and several stitches were
taken in this wound. Had the cut been a
little deeper, the doctor said, it would have
severed the femoral artery or the sciatic
nerve and Smith would have bed to death
His hands were also badly lacerated. Mr.
Smith is about twenty-five years old and
unmarried.