Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-06-04
Policeman Talks Soldier Out Hotel Ledge Until Two Others Seize Him

A policeman's rapid-f1re mono
logue talked f9-year-old soldier
out of a nine-story death plunge
yesterday until he could be pulled
off a balcony railing of the Willard
Hotel.
The rescue. high above Four
tenth street and Pennsylvania
avenue NV, left the soldier semi
conscious. the poiiceTlan sweating
and a crowd of hundreds gasping.
Still refusing to talk and to eat,
the soldier, Pvt. Paul j. McDuff.
was in Gallinger Hospital today.
Doctors there described him as be-
ing in good condition physically,
but very depressed mentally" He
won't talk and he won't eat" one
of them reported.
The soldier was removed from
Gallinger and taken to the hos
pital at Boiling Air Force Base
this afternoon.
The high drama. reminiscent of
John Wards delayed death plunge
from New York's Gotham Hotel
several years ago. began when
Pvt. McDuff climbed out a hall
window onto the balcony above the
ninth floor.
Crowds passing below saw him
crawl over the chest-high railing
and stand with his elbows hooked
over the top of the balustrade.
Telephone calls began pouring
into the hotel switchboard.
Windows Crowded.
The soldier, moving infre-
quently. stared stonily at the
gathering crowd. AS traffic con-
gealed in the wide plaza of
Pennsylvania avenue and E street,
auto horns blared and the crowd
talked nervously. Hotel employees
and guests crowded nearby win
dows and people stared from other
buildings.
The rescue started when Police
Pvt. L. A. Wallace Of the Traffic
Department crawled out a window
on the balcony and inched toward
the silent soldier.
Pvt. Wallace could remember
his monologue only sketchily
afterward.
His words came rapid-flre. He
didn't wait for answers.
Let's talk 1t over. Mac" he
said. I'VE got a lot to talk about"
From then on, in fast, persuasive
words. he tried reasoning, cajoling
and promises.
That's a long way down there.
You've been in the Air Force.
You know that's a long way down
there. Don't Jump. Take 1t easy"
Offers Whisky Bottle.
The policeman even tried to
tempt him with a bottle of whisky
brough up from the bar.
Meanwhile. Pvts. K. M. Trundle
and L. M. johnson of the first
precinct arrived, crawled out on
the balcony and began edging to-
ward the soldier as Pvt. Wallace
talked.
An aerial ladder truck pulled
up on Fourteenth street and
started raising the 100-foot ladder
Firemen hauled out q canvas
jumping net.
Pvt. McDuff warned ominously:
Stay away. Don't come closer
or I'll jump"
AS the soldier watched the aerial
ladder preparations, Policemen
Trundle and johnson bounced on
him and dragged him quickly
back over the railing. Then he
collapsed, either from shock or
the force of the grab.
Took Less Than 80 Minutes.
The episode had taken less than
80 minutes.
The firemen's aerial ladder
wouldn't have reached him by at
least 10 feet. they said. The net
is considered safe for jumps of
less than so feet. On a ledge above
McDuff's perch, another reScuer
had tried to- drop moose around
him.
The crowd still damned the
Willard entrance after the suicide
attempt had been thwarted and
it took a flying wedge of police
men to make space for stretcher
bearers to get Pvt. McDuff to an
ambulance.