The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1910-11-03
WHEN FACING DEATH
ST. LOUIS ARcHiTEcT'sehE
TELLs HOW IT FEELa
ODD Things Came 70 His Mind 80 He
Thought He Would Surely Pail
From Tall Building.

10 you Know WIFI II means ~ ~
confronted BY the grim destroyer.
what great peril viii do 70 your ner-
Vous system7 Probably you have had
some close calls 10 your day and know
something Of the emotions Of q per
son who thinks his time has come.
II not. the following incident related
BY George Bush OF this city may give
you an idea Of the thril Of facing
death:
Being an architects assistant. II
was my duty to measure buildings
which were to be altered or enlarged,
and one windy day went 20 see one,
Of these. which was q thressyory and
basement brick house with me usual
area and railings IN front Of t. Ad-
Joining this was q little higher build
ing and Il was necessary for me 70 get
the exact dimensions Of the brick
wall and chimney that projected above
the roof Of the house was measuring.
7 found q very large and heavy
skylighf IN the attic. which required
all ny strength 70 push up and out 20
open Il was held open BY piyoted
stick Of wood and By climbing through
the opening saw that ! could stretch
myself out on the roof and By holding
fast 70 the edge Of the skylight open
Ing with ny right hand could reach
out with my left and measure the
gable wan With my six-foot foldins
rule.
4 was sprRwled out IN this manner.
face down on the slate roof. With my
left arm and the rule extended e.
full length. when I suddenly became
conscious that the wind had shaken
the skylight loose from the stick that
held Il open and that It was falling
shut II I did not withdraw my hand
instantly Il would catch and crush Il
II pulled my hand out would fall
When ! first noticed that the sup
port had given way the skylight had
already begun It's descent and Il had
not more than four feet TO fall Dur
ing the time that Il fen those four feet
I had ample time 70 review the c0nse-
quences Of losing my right hand n
held on and the result Of falling three
stories Il let 60. There was nothing
az the edge Of the roof but q little
half-round gutter held up By . few
holdfasfs.
It occurred 70 me that Il might be
possible 70 pull out my right hand and
insert my left. as It would be better
to lose my left hand than ny right
also discussed with myself the posi-
bilify q being able TO hold my place
II withdrew two or three fingers and
sacrificed the others: but concluded
that they would probably be cut clean
on BY the edge OF such heavy sky
light and that should slide down 70
the street anyway.
This idea Of the insufBciency Of
mangled fingers to support my weight
on such q slipping roof suggested that
Il might be better to stick my arm
into the opening and that perhaps the
injury to Il might not be 50 severe as
to require amputation. ! distinctly
trying to recall whether
the muscles should be irm or relaxed.
and thought Il best to hold them firm.
AS well as I can remember. the
outcome OF my deliberations Was a de-
termination to change hands and to
sacrifice the left instead Of the right
I had no sooner come TO this conclu-
sion than Il struck me that there
would not be time to make the change
and that might lose my hold alto
gether. II seemed to me that had
already changed my opinion as to the
respective merits OF the two hands AZ
least a dozen times.
-Ali this time. remember. the sky |
light was FALLING shut As look back /
at Il Il seems incredible that I did not /
spend At least half an hour thinking |
over the pros and cons OF the situa-
ton. but Il must have been less than /
a ffth OF a second. Ny final resolve
was a determination 70 hold on. Is
there was no time 10 change hands.
and to trust to the shreds Of my man.
gied fingers TO- hold me on the roof.
But when the crash came and the
skyiight actually fell shut my hand
was not IN the opening. I was sliding
down the roof on my way to the street
below.
The edge was at least ten feet be.
low me and was gaining speed at
every foot
7 distinctly remember the railing
around the area and also the absence
OF any cornice on the cave Of the
roof-nothing but . rusty old drip
gutter. The thing I could not remem-
Der, although made desperate efforts
70 do 20. was whether OF not that area
railing had spikes IN A.
4 knew I should fall directly upon
those ratings and the spikes bothered
me. The uainuteness with which 70
called everything about the house-its
number. the alterations that were
made In Il. the sketches We had pre-
pared. the new ideas We had talked
overall these things were reviewed
In the efforf to recall IN connection
with one or other OF them something
that would answer the question. Were
there spikes on that railing or notf
Il suddenly became conscious that
I was no longer sliding down the roof
Il was exactly like waking out Of
dream. then realised that my toes,