The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1916-10-04

the Lucky |aoi3ent That Enabled
Merri.l t. Cvercon1e tie Cunning
Lurat,. in fi;s loath Grapp!e.
II 'Hev",ai!d MoTett's Careers Of
Danger and lfdt.a- Is this incident of
real life that Naf tod % Nj Moffett
by Merrill. the ta;lDuS steepleiack. to
whom it Occurred.
did you ev,g .s." an impulse to
jump Of q Scoops: | questioned, re-
calling the se3.a..,...,..; Of many people
i'll luoai.,.r down even from a housetop.
i've kg!I pretty free from that"
said he. but there, i.o doubt climbing
steci,cs does tell on q mans nerves.
Now. there was Diu U'Iig!en. He mad
an impulse to jump off steeple one
day and strong impulse too. He
went mad on one Of the tallest spires
in Cincinnati, right at the top of it"
Went mad?"
Yes. sir. raving mad, and l was by
him when it happened l forget wheth-
err the church was Baptist or Presby-
terrain, but | know il stood on Sixth
street. near Vine. and there was big
hand OH top of the steeple with the
forcfnger pointing to heaven.
1--WE were putting fresh gliding on
this hand WaS working on the
thumb side and O'Brien on the little
finger side. both Of Us standing on tiny
sta@ings about the size of a chair seat
and both of us made fast to the steeple
by life lines under our arms. That's
an absolute rulr in climbing steeples-
never 20 do the smallest thing unless
you're secured hy a life line.
1T was coming on dark. and l was
hurrying to get the gold leaf on, be-
cause we'd given the hand fresh
coat OF sizing that would be dry before
morning. We hadn't spoken for some
time. when Suddenly l heard laugh
from O'Drcn's side that sent a shiver
down my sI;.re Lid YOU ever hear a
cray man laugh? Well, if ever you
do you'll remember it l looked at him
and saw by his face that something
was wrong.
"'What are you doingT said l.
He answered very polite and steady
like. but his tone was queer. I'm try
ing to figure out how long it would
take a man to get down if he went the
fastest way
Il thought | had better keep him In
a good humor, so | said. III tell you
what. Dan you brace UP and get this
gold on, and then Wen race to the
ground In our saddles
----.--:ffn ,rrs AIR idsaa. sid hei :
shrill voice. but I've got better one.
Wen race down without any saddles;
yes. sir, without any lines. without a
blamed thing
Don't be fool. Dan. What you
want TO do is to get that gold on
quick | tried to speak sharp.
".No. sir: I'm going to jump. and so
are YOU
81 caught his eye just thnr xnd saw
it wasn't any time to bother about
gold leaf I reached up and eased Che
hitch Of my line around the hand So
could swing toward him. l knew il
once got my grip on him he WOULDN'T
make any more trouble. But I'd never
had a crazy man to deal with, and
didn't realize how tricky and quick
they are. While | was working around
to his side and thinking he didn't no.
tice it he W2s laying fer me out OF
the corner Of his eye, and the first
thing knew he had me by the throat
and everything was turning black.
let go of the line and dropped back
on my saddle board helpless. and it 1t
hadn't been for blind luck | guess the
people down below would have got
their moneys worth in about a min
ute But my hand struck the tool box
as be pressed He back, and | had just
strong h enough Jeff to shut my fingers
on the first tool | touched and strike
at him with it. The tool happened to
be monkey wrench. and when man
gets a clip on the head with thing
like that he's pretty apt to keep still
for awhile And that's what O'Brien
did. He kcelel over and lay there,
and | did too. until my head got
steady. Even then | guess we'd both
have fallen if it hadn't been for the
life lines.
The rest was simple enough after
| got my senses back. Dan was I'm.
conscious. and all | had to do was
fasten a rope 10 him and lower away.
They took care Of him down below
until the ambulance came. and he
spent that night in hospital. And
he's spent most OF his years since then
in all asylum, his mind all gone except
for short periods, when he comes to
himself again, and then he always
starts out to pat an end to me. That
last impulse to destroy me has never
left him