The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1907-11-02
PLAYS WITH DEATH
FEARFUL RISKS TAKEN BY
SsTEEPLE JACK"
No height from the Ground Toe
Great for Him to Attain in the
Pursuit OF His Hazardous
Occupation.

II, In the pursuit of your LIES vo.
cation, you had seen i've men drop
from your side at dizzy height to .
terrible death below, would You con-
tinue in that vocation? If you did
persist in 1t, would you have sufficient
confidence in yourself to retain your
nerve" under all circumstances for
thi-ty-five years.
That has been brief part Of the
many exciting experiences in the life
OF H. F. (''Risky") Evans. "Steeple
Jack"
Risky" Evans is type of the dare
devils that are growing scarcer each
year. The inventions Of modern
times have eliminated much Of the
necessity for risk which was run in
necessary climbing of steeples and
high buildings in the earlier days. He
himself has been one Of the foremost
in making the business of those who
must work at high attitudes as safe
and easy as il they had solid ground
beneath their feet. But still, every
once in q while risky" finds 1t nee
essary to go to great height to car
ry up . rope on which to swing q
scaffold. or to attach block and pull
ley that his men, less versed in the
art of climbing. may perform their du-
ties with safety.
There are plenty of men who work
at great heights as nonchalantly a.
does the average person on the
ground. Carpenters. masons and 9TH
er builders must have the same con-
tempt for the dizziness that affects
the average person who looks down
from q great height. But even the
work of such men as these pales be-
fore the accomplishment of the few
left in the country Of the caliber Of
Risky" Evans.
On a wager he once climbed at
night, without ropes, ladders, or any
other paraphernalia, the steeple Of
st. Joseph's church, in Cincinnati,
stod erect on the topmost part of the
cross surrounding the steeple, set
fire to two newspapers he had carried
with him in his pocket, and dropped
them blazing on either side of the
steeple, to prove to the man with
whom he had made the wager that
he was at the top of the steeple. The
wager was for $50, and the time allot-
ted him to accomplish the feat was
half an hour.
He is the same man who, q few
years ago. slid twice daily from the
roof garden of the Masonic Temple
at Chicago down a rope the entire
twenty stories to the ground, attract
ing at each performance crowds that
congested the streets, making them
impossible.
He Is one of the men who are often
seen painting fiagpoles many feet
above the tops of the highest of down
town skyscrapers. He has climbed
practically every steeple of any prom
inence in Chicago, but he considers
Chicago steeples nothing. for in New
York he has gone with only the aid
or his hands, shoulders and toes, to
the top Of old Trinity, a height of
S25 feet.
risky" Evans first real expert
ence at any great height from the
earth was in the early '70s. He was
a boy who loved all sorts of adven-
lures. A balloonist of then national
reputation came to the city which was
"Risky's" home. He needed someone
to go with the balloon, in which he
was taking up several passengers, to
go down the rope on which was fast.
ened the anchor to make 1t fast when
q landing was made. This was to
"Risky's" liking. He took the lob.
When the professor" wanted to land
Risky" swas hoisted over the side of
the car. Down the swinging rope he
slid, legs gripped tight around it, hand
over hand.
When / got to the end of the rome
and sat down a-straddie Of the anchor
felt pretty good" Evans said in. tell
Ing the story. Then began to
watch for a tree top to grab the an
Choir in. We went through one or
two. and ! had my clothes torn into
shreds and got all scratched up. But
l hung on. and finally got the ancho,
around limb, signaled to the "pro-
fessor," and the landing was made /.
Bound to Stop Them.