The New York herald., 1921-08-15
MANIAC, 365 FEET UP,
FIGHTS z POLICEMEN
atop BRIDGETOWER
Thousands See Capture on
Williamsburg Span Over
East River.
CHEER PERILOUS FEAT
Kelly and Quealy Straddle
Girder to Get Youth
Screaming in Air.
DEMENTED OVER CORNET
Dragged $50 Feet Down Lad
der With Aid Of Two Other
Members Of Force.
DEMENTED OVER CORNET

Two traffic policemen fought for
their lives with a maniac on a narrow
girder of the Williamsburg Bridge 3s5
feet above the East River yesterday
afternoon.
| Thousands of persons. powerless to
render aid, watched the two as they
dragged the madman to the top of the
tower on the Manhattan end Of the
structure and took him safely down
1o0 feet on a narrow ladder at an angle
of forty degrees to the roadway of the
bridge.
The man squirmed and struggled
during their slow progress downward
and it seemed to the watchers below
that the three, with two other police
men who went to the aid of their COM
rades, must momentarily pitch from
the dizzy height to their deaths.
When at length they reached the
broad roadway OF the bridge scores of
automobile horns and the hoarse
whistles of tugboats in the river set
up roar of exultation, joined in by
the voices Of onlookers from nearby
housetops, streets and even the Man
haitian Bridge a short distance down.
river.
Traffic Policeman Michael j. Kelly Of
1877 Winter avenue, West Brighton.
Staten Island. and John Quealy of 2185
Silver street. Glendale, Queens, were
on duty near the Manhattan terminal
Of the bridge at / o'clock in the after
noon when they saw a man dancing
upon the top of the nearby tower which
reaching the top Is on twelve inch lad
ders erected for painters on either side
of the cables.
The two policemen had about a quar-
| ter OF mile to cover along the bridge
approach before they reached the foot
OF the cables and both were out of
breath when they started their climb.
Man Crawls to Girder.
Kelly reached the top first. He found
he would have to crawl through a mar
row opening to reach the fiagpole plat
form surmounting the tower. from where
the man was continuing to dance.
screaming incoherently. The policemen
wormed their way through the little
aperture. but could see no one and
believed at first that the man must
have jumped and that they were too late
after all.
Lying fat on his chest the lunatic
had climbed out on one of the steel
girders stretching into nothingness over
the river. His arms and legs were
swinging like fails and he was hitching
/ inch by inch further over the abyss be-
| low. The man was young-19 II de-
veloped later-and was without hat,
coat or waistcoat
'T want my cornet. Where's my cor
netw he kept screaming.
Realizing he soon would be beyond
reach, Kelly and Quealy worked their
way out to the towers edge. Support
ing themselves, each with one hand on
the girder. they leaned out and sought
to grasp the man on the Sirder.
Below on the roadway and in the
streets ashore thousands gasped and held
their breaths tensely as they saw one OF
4 the policemen miss his hold and topple,
only to recover his baance-iylike. IL
seemed to the anxious watchers-and
make second attempt to reach the
wriggling, squirming figure on the girder.
This time the policemen were success
full. SEEKING him by the legs, the two
dragged the man toward them until one
got grip on his shoulders.
Then began a battle In the air. Twice
before the police pulled the man in on
the tower all three seemed lost. But
each time the officers recovered their
balance without losing their hold on the
youth. Towboats and other harbor
| craft in the river below slowed their
engines and hovered under the bridge,
ready to attempt n quick rescue from
the water in-case OF need
For several minutes after they hauled
the young mcn from the girder to the
comparative safety OF the tower top the
trio lay almost brcathless The mad
man was the frst to renew the struggle.
with a sudden cry. he attempted to free
himself and leap. Kelly and Quealy
rrappIed with him, and the three once
more were swaying over the towers
edge Back and forth on the open stone
nlatform above the river they fought
until the superior weight of the police
men began to tell and the man was
overpowered.
Announced Intention to Leap.
At this juncture Sergeant Hurley and
| Patrick Curran OF the Bridge Traffic
SQUAD arrived. They helped Kelly and
Quealy lower the young man through
the narrow opening which led to the lad
ders fianking the cable and aided them
in taking him down the $50 feet to the
/ bridge roadway.
When the roadway was reached Or.
Berman was waiting with an ambulance
from Gouverneur Hospital. The young
man. who was identified as John Hersog.
an Austrian buss boy. living at 422 East
Fifteenth street, was taken to the psy-
| chopathic ward at Bellevue for observa-
tion. Rudolph Hersog. who said he was
the lads uncle. told the police the boy
came to America about fifteen months
ago and had recently confided TO neigh
bors that he intended jumping from the
bridge.
Policeman Kelly. reporting the rescue
to his spperlors. wrote
AT r. M. saw a man on the tap OF
the New York tower OF the Williams
burg bridge waving his arms and act
ing In an insane manner. Immediately
proceeded to top Of the tower with Po-
lIceman Quealy and brought him down