The Lamar register. [volume] (Lamar, Colo.) 1889-1952, 1907-05-15

tention to Lammert. He was near the
completion OF his inspection of the ia
BILE. when a gust of wind suddenly
swept the paper on which he had been
verifying the results and testing them
according to the office rules, and blew
1t out of the window.
Lammert made grab for the pre-
cious paper which represented per-
haps two hours work. but 1t eluded
him and fluttered over the sill. The
wind caught it. lifted 1t as In a chin
ney, higher and higher. and then a
current of air drove it downward and
It fell easily on ledge only few
feet from the window, where 1t re-
manned.
crawled After Paper.
No one else saw this. Being young
and light. Lammert decided at once
that he would crawl out and get the
paper. The ledge ran for eight feet
straight along the wall. then there was
a projection. perhaps 10 inches. around
which Lammert supposed. was another
window. The ledge was Of stone and
about ten inches wide. and, although
over 100 feet from the ground, Lam
inert thought he could get the paper
without trouble.
Instead of calling one OF the other
men to his assistance, he took the
window pole used for opening and
shutting the heavy windows, and
reached for the paper, leaning out of
the window and trying to draw 1t to-
ward him. After several attempts he
succeeded In poking 1t into the angle
made by the projection eight feet
away. In his anxiety to recover the pa
per he forgot caution and. hooking the
window pole on the ledge OF the floor
above. he tested 1t to see II 1t would
bear weight. and then started to walk
along the ledge. steadying himself
with the window pole hooked onto the
upper ledge.
1t was a foolhardy attempt. but he
got along well until he came to the
corner and had to stoop down to get
the paper. To do this he was forced
to kneel on the ledge. letting go his.
hold on the pole. which swung back
perhaps a foot when he released 1t,
and hung there.
In Awful Predieament.
Triumphant over recovering the pa
per. Lammert started to stand up
and discovered. to his horror. that any
movement toward Strengthening up
would overbalance him and throw him
down into the street. Also he realized
that the pole which had insured his
balance was behind him. II he could
get hold Of that he could straighten
up with safety. He tried reaching up
ward with his left hand. but could not
reach.
For ten minutes. he says. he kne!t
there on the ledge. dizzy with fright
and was forced to shut his eyes and
hang on with both hands to the ledge
to overcome his desire to throw him
self into the street. Finally. made
cooler by the desperate nature of his
position. he began to think.
He remembered that there was an
other window Just beyond the ledge.
He could crawl forward, even II he did
not dare go back along the ledge. He
steadied himself across the angle OF
the lodges and felt around the pro-
lection. To his delight 1t was only
about a foot wide. and on the other
side he found handhold-a small
iron pipe.
His hand clenched around the pipe
gave him renewed courage. and. al
though dripping wet from the nervous
horror OF the situation. he chung to 1t
while, with infinite effort and caution,
he edged his way, inch by inch. out
until he stood on the ledge a foot
wide. sheer over the street With
sudden movement he got both hands
gripped on to the pipe and swung his
body around to the other side of the
projection. and sat down on the ledge.
gripping the pipe tight with both
hands and almost exhausted by his
efforts.
Seemed Like Death Trap.
The full horror of the situation did
not dawn on him for perhaps min
ute. He says he thought he was with
in few feet OF a window. Then,
after recovering a bit from his exer-
lions. he suddenly realized that, in
stead of rounding projection and ar
irving at window. he had rounded
one projection and sat in a space
three feet wide between two such pro-
jections. 1t was as II he were on a
shelf in a chimney which had one side
open.
Lammert says 1t was half an hour
before he was conscious again. He
sat as II dazed, his feet braced across