The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-02-14
Death DefyiHg Stunts Appear
as Mere GhiId's Play TO
Barney 9hee.

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There's no such thing IS d coin
pensation law for met.
Il Is Barney alePhee. professional
stunt man. : who admits It. McPhe1
does an average Of one stunt 4 week
for the benefit OF mogine plctuFe su.
EdieacesE Once aswetk he risks life
aua Iltab In q dtea Gi:om High bridge,
. leap from q telegraph pole to. the
roof Of fast moving train. nr from
The saddle OF 4 mctDfcyc 10 the rear
platform OF a car bowling along at
forty miles an hour. And Ia dneA 1t
laughingly. thinking It the Iperest
pchilG's play. - si,-s
He IL somewhere oyer S. feet tall,
broad ehORldfreds sim Of waist. His
face. very young and handsome, Is al
ways wreathed in smiles. He Tolls
back in leather chair and tells Of
the linetystCuf times when he has
SNAPPED his Ringers IN the face OF
death, and sprung, somersauited, div
ed or climbed a periio1s way to the
weekly stipend.
Planned 70 Enter Yale.
No. 1 wasn't born in the profess
sion or anything like that. he said
with f1sIliade Of chnckies. .sEsney-
err thought Of befngsa lecture actor.
Instead went to q good preparatory
school In my home town, sBrifigepors,
Conn was planning to enter-Yale
and never dreamed Of doing anything
more pertIous than qualifying for the
gymnasium team
-One summer ! was camping with
some isotiier fellows at Sfeepfechase
island, IN Bridgeport. There was a
professional high diver there by the
name OF Sailor Harry, Who was bill
ed to leap from sixty I'VE foot pole.
He did it Just once and landed on
his stomach. He was done for.
thought l could do It, though. There
was the usual 'dares' and wagers.
went to Captain. Boynton, who was
running the show, and asked for .
chance. Al first he was afraid. and
! went up and diyed without his per-
mission. When ne saw i wasn't the
dizzy kind he took me on to do the
stunt every day. I'm ashamed to tell
You what he paid me to risk my life
like that. !. It's little different now.
You know 'stunting' isn't such Q bad
game for the pccketbook.
But guess We do give the man
ayers their moneys worth. I've been
At It now for year and half. There
was a bit OF financial trouble ct home
and-weli,y had fallen I'M love and !
wanted TO get married. McPhee's
cheeks turned red. $50 made up mJ
mind to take up the sort Of work that
came easy to me and to 90 into stunt.
ing as a life profession.
/ The first jobsI tackled. 4 Eemetn-
Der was nand-oyer-hand climb over
q steel wire, four stories up from the
street. i was green, and didn't know
enough to test the wire before letting
It lave the full burden Of my weight.
i had swung about INTO the middle
when the strands gave way. went
crashing down to the pavement q good
fifty feet sdown-an6 I can thank 81
very gracious goddess OF fortune for
having twisted me up In the coils Of
broken wire before landed. Tha|
steel loops cut my legs deeply. but
they were a sheath to my bones as I
hit the gutter, and certainly saved
my life. i
.sHhe only other accident I've ever
had was when leaped from high
bridge into the Harlem river. You
know. when came to New York more
than year ago. the first thing i. did
was challenge Rodman Law to a ser
les Of stunts. The first one ] offered
was the jumping Oh Washington
bridge. II did thiS-aud Mt. Law did
mt. dts one thing to- use q parachute
and anotherlto swoop right down with
the impactio your own weight ~
Police Stop Jump.
Bridges don't only depend upon
their height for difficulty. High
bridge is the hardest Of The lot which
/ have jumped. was planning to dol
BROOKLYN bridge. but the police would.
mt, lot me Brooklyn bridge would
have been easy compared to High
bridge It Is thirteen feet lower and
has NO abutments, and no deep tides
81 = 3 !, z szs5 ga