The Washington herald., 1910-03-27
a TeLEPRoTo or The
n scIToL DONE IN HAT
TRIrah1iNG SEASON. q

accomplished in any other method than
that Of scaling ladders. For sixty feet
before the very top of the statue is
reached. the assent must be made on lad
ders on the exterior of the statue. That
is when any one other than Al Porch
makes 1t.
This rigger has long made the very
pinnacle of the Capitol his playground
He has practically lived here for forty
two years. The upper dome of the Cap
itol has come to be a passion with him
A spry little man of sixty-four. he runs
about these great heights as the ordinary
man walks about the streets He is to
the Capitol building what the famous
hunchbacl was to old Notre Dame.
Once he fell from a position at the
foot of the goddess and was dashed
from projection TO projection down the
Btatue base Altogether he fell fifty
feet. and with one arm broken chung
with his legs dangling over the abyss
below. which would have meant certain
death If his hold gave way. Yet later
he climbed one after another of the pill
lars that support the statue in an at
tempt to capture an escaped canary bird,
and finally succeeded. Many times since
he has scaled the statue to its very top
without the help of ladder He does
this by working himself into the folds
of the garments of Liberty and so brac-
ing himself as to get inexpllcahle holds.
The only picture ever taken of the face
Of the goddess was gotten by a photog
rapher whom Al Porch virtually car
ried up the ladders TO this dizzy height
Four Names Placed There.
The very top of the bonnet of the
goddess boasts a sort of fiat topped ro-
settle. 1t is ten inches by twelve inches
in dimensions. On the face that 1t Of
fers to the sky are chiseled four names,
names that have not been read by half
a dozen persons since the day the statue
was put up.
The first of these is that of Abraham
Lincoln. President of the United States
at the time the statue was put in place.
Next to it is the name of NJ. G. Meiggs,
government architect and designer of
many public buildings Under this is
the name of Thomas Crawford. the mod
dler of the statue Then. finally, there
is roughly chiseled beneath this last
the name of A. D. Porch, rigger OF the
Capitol building.
This last name was not placed here
by the men who built the statue. and its
chiseling is somewhat crude and rough
But there was no one to prevent when
the little rigger sat on this narrow perch
and cut his name while the tiff-blowing
gales tugged at his clothing and the dizzy
distances below invited an attention that
he dared not give. Yet the height has
no terrors for Porch, and many a time
has he stood upright on this small pin
nacle while the blood of watchers below
ran cold at the sight.
It was Porch that led the way to the
bonnet of the goddess and helped in its
trimming This year ladders were slung
from one ledge to another and the ascent
facilitated. But climbing these while the
winds Of the upper air are blowing fifty
miles an hour is no mean task. The two
men spent two days aloft and pronounce
ed their task completed. Since that time
there has been no complaint as to the
method of their hat ornamentation. To
be sure, few connoisseurs have had an
opportunity to examine the technique
OF it, but the task Is reported a mas