Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-16

solid and easily-grasped hand-rails to aid
the climber. The steps are naturally Of
iron. studded with rivets that give a good
foothold in dry weather. In wet weather
they become bit slippery
Well. 1t was wet weather of the nastiest
kind they had for their first trial yesterday /;
and out of the 212 starters there were at
least 200 who explained their bad time up
as due to swinging those corners on the
slippery wet iron stairs The dress re-
hearsai came off in a drizzling rain driven
by tremendous gusts of wind-weather SO
bad that you might have imagined the
whole thing a failure in advance. Never
theless, out of the $40 professionals and
amateurs who had entered for the trial, PIP
actually made the race; and the Edffel
Tower was simply packed with spectators.
The Dress Rehearsal.
They particularly crowded the first plat
form, massing in every available spot in
view of the stairway. Minute after min
ute-each minute apart-the contestants
started, some In full running race costume.
some In gymnasium rig, some in bicycle
racing toys and many in ordinary suits
with their coats off. One among them a
Monsieur Wachora. accomplished the 729
steps carrying on his shoulders a bag of
cement weighing 40 pounds. His time was
nine minutes and twenty-five seconds The
winner, Forester. made the 100 steps in
three minutes and twelve seconds After
him came one Lepage in three minutes and
sixteen seconds while the third was Pre-
Vost IN three minutes and seventeen Sec
onds Duplicating the result of the Feya-
tier Staircase Event, Forester is a one
time champion cyclist, now in the milk
business. Very curiously Lepage Is also
milk man.
Among the "also ran" were the ceIe
prated pedestrians Piel and Tignez, the
Italian champion Volpati and the Belgian
champion Veistracken; but even among the
younger fry of the State Francais,' and
the cycle clubs not a single one tainted
nor was overcome, nor even suffered mo-
mentarily from the heart; and 1T was mat
ter for surprise and general comment
among the organizers, athletes and general
public how quickly the contestants recoy-
cred themselves. Within a few minutes
after doing their 729 steps they Were as
tonishfngly fresh. Many boosted on the
spot of their ability ITO go on up"-they
did not specify how far; but 1t became un-
derstood, as the day went on that the race
on to the top of the tower is perfectly
practical and that its coming off is now
only matter of time and organization.
On to the top. There will be serious
money prizes to attract Americans and
others On to the top! There are 800
steps instead of TO.
There is no such other stairway In the
world, nor has ever been. The greatest of
antiquity is said to have been that run
nlhS up mount MORAN TO the Temple Of
Jerusalem. The walls of Babylon were
11S yards high by thirty yards wide. The
stairways leading to them had 600 steps
The stairway of the Propyles leading to
the Parthenon, was one of the marveIs of
Athens. That of st. Peters at Rome has
40 steps-so easy that 1t can be mounted
by horse and wagon.
The Eiffel tower has 1880 steps to the
third platform. The next greatest stair
way existing today is-where do you sup
pose? 1t belongs to the almost unknown
Greek town of Nauplia; and 1t leads. to the
citadel of Palameda, some PIG yards high
1t is said to have 1,16S steps
STERLING HETLIG