STEEPLEJACK AT WORK

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2344, 29 December 1914, Page 7

STEEPLEJACK AT WORK

ON THE POWER-HOUSE STACK A HAZARDOUS .CALLING During the past few days tho attention of ninny lias been attracted by the sight of men at work big|i up on (he trumwr.ys power-house chimney stuck, in Jorvois Quay! It was plain to, seo what they wore doing, ns below the prosont piano of thoir activities aro several steol bunds rpund th? 6tnc]s, indicating that tho City Corporation has dwined it tlcsirr.blo to make the staok as saw as possible. For souio time- past rather ugly cranks havo lined tho brick stack ou tho northern and southern sides, and an examination has proved that Hie cracks extend right through tho brickwork. Air. John Young, master steepleJack, who hails froni Nowcastle-on-Tyne, .iu England, informed a l)oiiJMO!» reporter yesterday that he can easily put his fingers into the crack on tho south s side, and that the opening extends right through tho brickwork to the inside of the chimney. Such oracks 'might exist for a loiig time without developing, providing nothing out of the way occurred, but their existence rendered the risk from damage by earthquake or lightning the more probable. Tho process of "strapping" a stack was the usual one adopted in case of cracked chimneys, and practically assured their rigidity. The power-house stack is 185 ft. high, and it was being strengthened by the encircling of the brickwork by fourteen steel straps (sis inches in width by half an inch in thickness) placed seven feet apart. The straps, which are affixed in three sections, vary in weight ,- according to their position on the stack. '. Thujt-was to say at the bottom where the circumference was 57ft." B'in., the strap weighed about 9 cwt., and at the iop, where the girth was 40ft. 6in., the weight was only about 5, cwt. , The straps, were being made by Mr. Sam Murray, of Newtowa. A Dangerous Chimney. 'A professional steeplejack, who tours the world seeking for employment above the heads of most people, cannot be in a city long without taking stock of the big aiid their condition. ■ Jiist as a sailor at leisure finds his way to the waterfront, the steeplejack looks round for the big smoke-stacks instinctively, and ae there have been days since Mr. Young's arrival in Wellington when no jack can work owing to tie heavy northerly gales, he has been taking stock of the looal products in his line. Mr. Young states that there is at least one stack that is dangerous in Wellington. He states that the top of the brickwork referred to has been shattered possibly by lightning, . and needed attention urgently. Effect of Lightning. ;. Most of tie work he has been called ■'.on to do consists of "strapping" or V-"pointing"'stacks. /The latter term 'y Bimply; meant filling up the oracks with • strong cement. In and around Bris- ;; lane he had recently done seven jobs ..of the kind, and he had also been concerned with like jobs in Sydney. ■ Occasionally a chimney would be ehat'tered at the top by lightning, and then his work consisted of removing ': the ; damaged brickwork and building it up to its original height. Some fours'teen months ago he was engaged on a "--job,at Hartlepool in.England, where a stack 150 ft. in height was found to be eighteen inches out of plumb 25ft. from the top. had to ' be taken dfFbrick by ■up- igain" to the true vertical. Last Christmas his work took him to Preston, in Lancashire, where the steeple of Old Church (the oldest church in Lancashire) had been struck by lightning, and was leaning over dangerously. This was one of the old, stonework

steeplea,--6tpne to the topmost point, which only consists of a stone with a hole bored through it to take the vane rod without, and which continued down for within, and stayed from the sides * was an aid to rigidity; The steeple was 2Osft. high, and the top 25ft. had to be removed —do light job when 6ome of the pieces of stone weighed .as, much as 6owt. In another caee lightning had etruok a big square Btackj and ihad run' down the stack to a point about 20 feet from" the ground, when the current, attracted no doubt by the 'dampness, had entered the brickwork, and cut out one corner altogether, leaving the stack standing, so to speak, "3U three legs instead of four, Accidents Easy. Mr.. Young said the only accident he Vd ever had , was to fall some 18 feet .from a chimney and the thought of an accident nerer entered his head. He felt just as much at home when working on a "chair" a hundred feet above the •ground as others do at .their, everyday occupations. High winds interfered with his work, as it. was difficult at times to keep still enough to work effectively. Wellington was not famous for steeplejack weather. He admitted, however, that where two or more men were working together on. a job that accidents were easy and not infrequent. They carried most of their tools in their belts, and in knocking. ,>against the "chair" (the flat board suspended in a ropo loop) or by catching in a rope,a tool might be displaced and fall to the ground. That is- what must have happened in England.the other day when one jack was knocked senseless by a falling hammer from above, and even then was rescued by the man who had lost Ills hammer.- One had to be very care, ful when working above another man, a. position that was generally, avoided when possible. A Perilous Bigness. At the present time a sectional ladder extends from the ground to the top of the power-house stack on the eastern .side. It waa surprising to learn by what simple means these ladders are erected. This is merelv by ascending to the top of the first ladder and driving a steel spike (with an upturned end) into a mortar joint as far up aa "the jack can reach. The spike only enters the mortar about an inch and a half, and is then tightened by driving a small wooden wedge under t'he spike-. The next section of the ladder is hung on to the spiko,' the''jack mounts and repeats the operation over and over again until he reaches the top. Further security is achieved by lashing the_ ladders together with rope. So secure is the hold of these spikes that block and tackle can be rigged on one for the hoisting up of tho steel strap?. To the onlooker the whole business is fraught with peril, and it < even makes one dizzy watching the jack at Vork on his lofty perch. :