The Washington times., 1905-12-21
No CLIMB DAUNTS
HUMAN MONKEY
"Steeplejack" Kelley Does
Perilous Stunts.
MOTHER TREMBLES Dali?
Fears He VIII Not Return from Deeds
Like Painting Tires
Flag Pole.
MOTHER TREMBLES DAILY

Good-hs'. mother. II this is my last
d1y alive. may God he with You
These words spring Fundamentally to
shr lips Of John Kelley each day in an
aHectionaie parting TO q devoted mother.
Nao is sending him off TO engage in one
the most precarious calIings known
tc man-that OF a steerIejacx. While
lack leaves homo light hearted and care
i'cc. eTch day TO the anxious mother is
Hearly an eternity. for she knows that
''Ehtfall may bring her the fatefu,
ilewS that this daring son has been
hurled Go death and that the smiling
rs OF The morning are scaled forever.
Veritable Monkey.
Kelley is known to- his craft as the
Human Monkey He is literally all that
his Sobriquet implies. veriiable phvsi-
eai monkey, equipped by nature with a
skill to climb to dizzy heights with ease
AID daring. apparently qefying the laws
of gravitation
Mounting hand over hand 10 The top
"i some lofty flag pole or church, spire
with nothing TO aid him but the grip OF
his powerful fingers and a pair of
strongly knit and supple legs he works
suspended between earth ard sky. while
ene false step or weakening nerve would
alsa hin into eternity. There he lashee
himself with rope supporting him like
cradle and wielcs his paint brush as
q lmlE as If seated al liis-own table
The Human Monkey began as
s,eeplejack ten years ago During
tins time he has tempted fate in all the
big cities Of the East and West, and
las never net with the slightest acci-
dent.
Up Times Pole.
The latest feat of pole climbing done
By the Monkey was to scale five
slender and lofty fiagstaff on the new
Times building. from which the stars
and Stripes VIII soon float in the
breeze The finishing touches had been
put on the structure. and nothing
waited bat TO stve the pole 4ts final coat !
~ white paint. The Monkey. wa.
engaged for this risky task. and armed |
with the toois Of his trade. stout rome |
ana bucket Of paint. he started his |
rerilous climb.
Hand over hand he mounted. using his
famous hand and toe grip" as he /
calls ii. while crowds watched below |
hreathless- Nearer and nearer he
climbed. until at last he reached the
tcpmost point, suspended more than 200
feet in the air. There he sway ed back
ward and forward for nearly half an |
hoNr, plying his brush with vigor and
skill every fresh gust of wind threat /
enins TO tear him from his perch and |
dash him 20 the ground below.
He gradually worked his way down /
ward until safe on the roof again. when
the crowd cheered.
Never Daunted.
In the last ten years the ..Monkev,'
has never failed to accomplish a climb.
no matter how high or risky. No build
Ing. he says, is too tall. no flag pole
church splre, or chimney too steep tol
scale. and the air and the clouds hold
fcrih no terrors 10 him. He has sue
cessfully painted the hagpoIes on the
New Willard. the Raleigh. and the
Shoreham Hotels, and many others ir
this city which loom into the air overj
200 feet
The Monkey is confirmed fatalist.
believing firmly that mans span Of life
is m;Bked. and that no hand other than
That OF Fate VIII reach out for us until
The end OF our allotted term This belief
he Says, has carried him through MANY
an anxious stretch.