Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1907-04-05
A RESCUE IN .N!|l)A|R.
I Peri|ouss Feat o,fl 4 Ginning Up
!. Skyscraper Frame. q
n u. N. = -:IEE. --1Tfx - :.
A LIFE WAS In THE BALANCE.

- :--- u
Quick Wit and Strong Nerves at a
Critical ao,nsnt In "A Building Acct,
'dett-vNhy One Man Has a Warm
Spot In His HeartfFor Our Sailors. y
II was working on a steel framed
AkyscEaper in one, Of our large coast
cities on July day some years ago."
said the man who told Of the exciting,
almost tragic incident. 1--WE had reach
ed the eighth story, and, 30 the floors
were somewhat more than ten feet:
apart, the top beams. were well up in
the air. ,4->
Zone forenoon I was inside an ele-
vator well between the seventh and
eighth stories fastening the guide to
the sheet steel wall. One of the other
sides was also covered with steel. lbut
the other mo we're open. -.
eat II go We: reached a set of holes
six feet above the seventh floor. To
get at these 1 was obliged to sit upon
a hoard supported by two tall wooden
horses standing on planks laid across
the shaft and formingia loose sca1old
ing. Through Its openings I COULD
look down clear to the basement, more
than seventy feet below. Behind me,
on the opposite side of the shaft, were
dashed short perpendicular ladders, up
and down which the men were con-
stantly passing, for the elevator well
was the main thoroughfare of the huge
steel skeleton. 49,.
Moon struck. In less than q minute
the ladders were covered with men
CHM ing down. There were a lot Of IL
o'clock fellows on the job who would
rather leave q bolt half driven than
work second overtime. A gang right
over me had just put heavy steel
header in place on the edge Of the
shaft. Two or three bolts had been
driven into one end, but the other was
as get nnfastened.5 It would have. TAX
en- only a few minutes at the most to
make everything secure, but at the
first stroke of the hour they dropped
their tools and hurried to dinner. g
=, "A sudden strong hot wind swept
through the frame, making the loose
planks rattle Something grated above
my head. looked up and for amoment
my blood stopped running. The gust
had struck the nicely balanced header
with just enough force to make it tot
ter. Slowly it's loose end swung down
ward; then it lurched quickly and slid
into the well. IA f%%ss.F: - = 5;H 4
LAS it dropped itssjust|cleared my
head. 1t sheared through the middle
of the scaffolding as il the thick planks
were rotten paper. Down it shot, gain
ling momentum with every foot, its
lower; end making the opposite wall
clean of ladders. ~ ts5
Smash! Bang! Grind! All was
over in few seconds. Dust rose, and
when the turmoil had subsidized; there
was sitting on my board with seven
ty-fve feet of empty air. between me
land the debris at the bottom of the
well. -!.:T, . ! .;.'@ al H., 81:
aThe falling header had taken out the pe.
middle of the, scafrolding, leaving only
the side planks on which the horses
stood. The shock had moved one l5of
these plank two or three inches, so
that a leg of the horse upon at Just
overhung the edge. A little more and
the horse would topple into the shaft,
taking its support from the board on
which sat and hurling me down to d
fright ul death 4 ss4
Y II knew that r had ihaer s,pan AMI