The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-10-08
SAILOR CLIMBS 800 FEET
PLACES ELECTRIC LIGHT ON TOP
OF INDIANAPOLIS SOLDIERS,
MONUMENT
FIGHT WITH YELLOW JACKETS
A PerilOus Piece of Work Attended
With Unexpected Danger, But
Finally Accomplished by
r. j. GaIarnO.

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct THE problem
of placing a bouquet of electric lights In
the hand of the bronze figure represent
ing Indiana, on top of the soldiers monu-
ment, 600 feet from terra firm, has been
accomplished, and the managers of the
carnival are breathing easy because it
was done without the loss of life
The trick was done yesterday by Peter
]. Galarno, the Chicago sailor, who vol
unteered to do the work three weeks ago
AT the time 1t was uncertain whether he
would. keep his promise to do The dam
gerous job, but he has been there and is
down again safe and sound.
He encountered an unexpected danger
while dangling in the air at the top of
the monument, for a colony of yellow
jackets disputed his right of way. BY
very promptly stuffing a Wad of rope into
the entrance to their nest he was spared
the added peril of lighting them at dis
advantage
It was shortly before o'clock when he
went to the monument lookout, accom-
panied by E. L. Moler and Irwin Smith,
employees of the District Telegraph COM
pany. A ball of tWine was thrown over
the left arm of the statue, and a half
inch rope was then drawn over it,
Attached to this rope were blocks and
a board swing, and after everything
had been made secure, Galarno placed
114AioO1L Ou luS DOdIQ ana WdS pulled TO
the shoulder of the statue He exhibited
no nervousness, of course, as he is ac-
customed to such things, but the men be-
low wondered what Galarno was going
to do when he got out of the swing.
WENT UP SQUIRREL FASHION,
The sailor lost no time. He released
himself from the swing, and, taking
with him small rope to which was tied
the electric bulbs and the necessary wire,
he hugged the arm of the statue and
started upward. Ward, the only man
who had ever gone to the torch, did what
steeple climbers call "hitching, that is,
put rope around his body, passed it
about the arm and moved himself up
ward by slowly working the rope toward
the top.
Galarno, however, astonished Moler and
Smith by starting up squirrel fashion,"
using nothing but his arms and legs.
Reaching the torch he discovered that two
of the bulbs had been broken by striking
against. the statue. Instead of placing
the other five othirty-two-cand lights
and letting it go at that, he slid down to
the shoulder, announced the accident to
Moler and Smith, told them to get two
new bulbs, and placed himself astride the
shoulders of the statue, while man was
sent to the District Telegraph company's
shop.
1t was fully half an hour before the
two bulbs came, and when they were pass
ed up to the sailor he again scaled the
arm. 1.-THE only thing I regret about the
whole business, said Galarno was the
fact that while going UP the arm the sec
ond time I scraped a little button picture
OF my boy baby from the front of my
breast. It fell somewhere around the
monument, and I would like to find IT.
BATTLE WITH YELL OW- IA OK FITS
When the work was well under way
Galarno encountered a fresh difficulty
that settled the question as TO whether
there was a hornets nest in the torch
After he had been hauling ait the rope
a few minutes one of the crawling things
came out, wondering what the scr&ping
and kicking noise was about at so early
an hour.
1t was yellow striped, Galarno says,
about an inch and half long, and he
classified it as a yellow jacket He killed
it with his cap, and the slap started an
omisssus buzzing inside the bowl of the
torch. A second one started out, but the
sailor knocked it back, and, hurriedly
plying the rope, filled the hole.
This hole was in the top of the frame of
the torch, probably the core of the cast
ing. The bowl of the torch and the arm,
as well as the body of the figure, are hol-
low, and If the yellow jackets have u
nest there is plenty of room for them.
Galarno saw that the pesky things
might make lot of trouble and he hast
ened with the work, which was completed
in about ten minutes Passing down the
arm to the shoulder, 1t was expected
that the sailor would again use the swing
in reaching the lockout, but such was
not the case He slid down the ropes and
landed safely within the coping.