Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1903-01-24

ers by smashing his machine, not
merely at the risk but at the almost
certain sacrifice of his own life.
The soldier fights with the encour-
agement and support of his comrades;
the policeman oftenest fights alone,
but it is not always in fighting that
the bluecoat takes his life in his
bonds. He goes within the fre-ines
and helps the fireman to rescue wom-
en- and children from burning houses.
Let a team of fear-crazed horses come
careering down park drive, scatter
ing nurse maids and sending pedes-
TRANS scurrying for shelter, and
moment later mounted policeman
will be seen galloping in pursuit. He
gains on the flying runaways, and as
he creeps past them inch by inch he
leans over, and reaches for bit. I'm
less he is dragged out of the saddle
and trampled under the hoofs of the
frightened brutes his tally of lives
saved receives some additions.
Sometimes it is not a mounted po-
liceman, but a sbike-cop" who per-
forms this feat. AS he reaches the
head of the runaway he rises on his
pedals, kicks his machine away from
him, and hangs dragging on the bit
it's high-water mark 1t is hard to i'm
agine what could be beyond it.
The steeple-jack leads a merry life,
and sometimes a short one. He likes
to play with death, and sometimes for
the amusement of the spectators be-
low he will stand on his head or ex-
tend himself by his arms at two hun
dred feet from the ground, but he is
not quite as careless as he looks.
He never moves a hand or foot with
out knowing exactly where he is 60
ing to put it. Long habit has dis
ciplined every muscle. An ordinary
man is subject to involuntary move
ments-the unconscious reflections of
external stimuli. When he hears q
noise he starts; if anything drops on
his fingers he jerks them away. That
would be fatal in the business of
steeple-climbing If the steeple-jack
should jump when he heard a noise, or
snatch away the hand that supported
him if a hammer fell on it, he would
make his next trip in an ambulance.
With him every movement is under
control of his will. He knows the
strength of every bolt and every rope
to which he is to trust his weight, and
still with all his precautions he is
continually in the shadow of death.
While some men hunt for danger on
the heights others look for it in the
depths. The naked native who dives
for pearls in the Vermilion sea or on
the banks of Ceylon is in peril from
sharks, devil-fish and the revolt of
outraged nature, that sends the blood
gushing from ears to nose when the
limit of endurance is crowded too far.
But his risks are trivial compared
with those taken by the civilized diver
who penetrates the abysses of the sea
for day-wages. His life is absolutely
dependent upon uninterrupted COM
munication with his helpers above Not
only the shark and the devil-fish, but
the smallest creature that can cut his
air-hose may sentence him to a death
winds through the tortuous recesses
of sunken hulks, trailing his life line
and air-hose behind him, and if one of
them tangles itself about splinter or
a clump of c1inging seaweed the diver
may join the CHASTITY company of skel-
etons, grinning at him in the cabin OF
the wreck. There is no chance for him
to save himself by swimming if any
thing goes wrong. Anchored down by
his copper helmet and eighty pounds
of lead in his shoes, he must wait for
the last judgment where his broken
air-pipe leaves him.
Sinkiewiez found the climax of one
of mis- greatest scenes in a wrestling
match. in Rome, between a man and