Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-20

and buckled ON safety belt. With a pickup
line, pair of pliers and wrench hooked to
his belt, he went to the roof of the church and
began to scale the spire. This was done by
inserting his fingers and toes in the cracks be-
tween tho boards and drawing himself up hand
over hand.
1t was not particularly difficult feat for a
good fly" The real danger lay in the spire
ornament breaking loose and falling on him.
As it was impossible for him to watch the orna-
n1ent and climb at the same time, we had ar
ranged in advance that I would warn him with
a sharp blast on the whistle at the first sign
that the ornament was starting to fall.
You may be sure kept my glasses glued on
that sagging mass of metal. AS stealthily as a
cat stalking bird, Charley wormed his way I'D
the spire. Every few feet he stopped dead and
waited for signal from me to proceed. The
slightest jar would have been fatal
Finally he was two-thirds of the way to the
top. The spire was rapidly decreasing In diam
eter and the danger increased in the same pro-
portion. As he neared the apex he scarcely
dared move at all. As soon as detected the
least movement in the ornament, / blew INV
whistle and Charley nattened himself against
the spire, holding his breath until it steadied
itself again.
After what seemed hours of suspense. his
hand reached the spire apex and he wriggled
and squHn1ed until his left leg was over the
top. IL was stin necessary to be cautious be-
cause II the ornament had fallen it would have
carried away the top Of the spire. and Charley
would have gone with it.. STRENGTHENING the
rod with its half-ton load of copper and iron.
wasn't going to be picnic. either
WHEN he had recovered his wind charles
unioosed his pickup line and let II t'rnn
we attached circular steel band measured n
mt the top Of the spire, with take-up screw ~
that 1t could be adjusted and locked aro,nd the
spne feet from the apex This band was q
inches wide and slotted
After it had been hauled I'M and mt In ,loc.
the pickup line was again dropped and = cir.
GUAR platform was sent up In four SECTIONS
Inese were hooked into the slots in the hand
forming scaffold II inches wide. Next Charley
nauied up saw, an auger and a heavy chain
WIN grab clamp at one end and q ring at the
Otner. In the center of the chain was welded
nat strip Of steel, to which reel co,,la =.
bolted. Oo4NA Oe
FIRST small round hole was made In the
spne, large enough for Charley to put his arm
through: then the chain was clamped to the
spIe rod feet below the apex. Next a sne-
clai conTiVance called spire stool was sent
up. Now the most dangerous moment ~ tI,e
whole job had arrived
spire stool is about the height of an ol6
fashioned bookkeeper's stool when IL 4 nee
essary for steeplejack to elevate himself
or rect above the apex, he uses spire stool,
- AA@AAA WAsu u Sbe2Qy nerve 20 stand
On TINS precarious perch, particularly when. a.
IN TINS case still breeze Is blowing.
Once more Charley lowered his pick-un lsne
and drew up short block and fan. HOLDING
TINS m one hand, he climbed on the stool ana
$1,000 erect. Raising his left leg to balance
himself, he leaned out into space and hooked
the block into the ring Of the dropping orna-
ment. Another inch and he couldn't have
made 1t. We gave sigh Of relief as he slid
on and regained the comparative safety OF the
platform
With his rigging set, Charley attached the
reel to the chain and began hauling in the
slack ON the draw line of the block and fan