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CAREERS OF DANGER AND DARING

[Illustration: "DIVERS AT WORK NEAR A WRECK."]




CAREERS OF DANGER AND DARING

BY

CLEVELAND MOFFETT

          WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
          JAY HAMBIDGE AND GEORGE VARIAN
          AND OTHERS

[Illustration]

          NEW YORK
          THE CENTURY CO.
          1903




          Copyright, 1900, 1901, by
          THE CENTURY CO.

          Copyright, 1898, by
          S. S. MCCLURE CO.

          Copyright, 1901, by
          CLEVELAND MOFFETT.

       *       *       *       *       *

          _Published October, 1901_

          THE DEVINNE PRESS.




Dedication


          I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO
          MY TWO LITTLE CHILDREN
          ANNE EUNICE
          AND
          CLEVELAND LUSK
          IN LOVE AND THE HOPE THAT
          IT MAY HELP THEM, AS THEY
          GROW UP, TO FORM HABITS OF
          COURAGE AND USEFULNESS.
          AUGUST, 1901.       C. M.




CONTENTS


    THE STEEPLE-CLIMBER                                        PAGE
      I In Which We Make the Acquaintance of "Steeple Bob"        3
     II How They Blew Off the Top of a Steeple with Dynamite     14
    III The Greatest Danger to a Steeple-Climber Lies in Being
          Startled                                               21
     IV Experience of an Amateur Climbing to a Steeple-top       29


    THE DEEP-SEA DIVER
      I Some First Impressions of Men Who Go Down Under the Sea  40
     II A Visit to the Burying-ground of Wrecks                  54
    III An Afternoon of Story-telling on the Steam-pump
          _Dunderberg_                                           63
     IV Wherein We Meet Sharks, Alligators, and a Very Tough
          Problem in Wrecking                                    71
      V In Which the Author Puts on a Diving-suit and Goes
          Down to a Wreck                                        78


    THE BALLOONIST
      I Here We Visit a Balloon Farm and Talk with the Man
          Who Runs It                                            87
     II Which Treats of Experiments in Steering Balloons         99
    III Something About Explosive Balloons and the Wonders of
          Hydrogen                                              110
     IV The Story of a Boy Who Ran Away in a Big Balloon        117


    THE PILOT
      I Some Stirring Tales of the Sea Heard at the Pilot's
          Club                                                  130
     II Which Shows How Pilots on the St. Lawrence Fight the
          Ice-floes                                             141
    III Now We Watch the Men Who Shoot the Furious Rapids at
          Lachine                                               148
     IV What Canadian Pilots Did in the Cataracts of the Nile   160


    THE BRIDGE-BUILDER
      I In Which We Visit a Place of Unusual Fears and Perils   173
     II The Experience of Two Novices in Balancing Along
          Narrow Girders and Watching the "Traveler" Gang       182
    III Which Tells of Men Who Have Fallen from Great Heights   197


    THE FIREMAN
      I Wherein We See a Sleeping Village Swept by a River of
          Fire and the Burning of a Famous Hotel                209
     II What Bill Brown Did in the Great Tarrant Fire           222
    III Here We Visit an Engine-house at Night and Chat with
          the Driver                                            233
     IV Famous Rescues by New York Fire-boats from Red-hot
          Ocean Liners                                          241


    THE AERIAL ACROBAT
      I Showing That it Takes More Than Muscle and Skill to
          Work on the High Bars                                 255
     II About Double and Triple Somersaults and the Danger of
          Losing Heart                                          264
    III In Which the Author Tries His Hand with Professional
          Trapeze Performers                                    272
      IV Some Remarkable Falls and Narrow Escapes of Famous
          Athletes                                              284


    THE WILD-BEAST TAMER
      I We Visit a Queer Resort for Circus People and Talk
          with a Trainer of Elephants                           293
     II Methods of Lion-tamers and the Story of Brutus's
          Attack on Mr. Bostock                                 304
    III Bonavita Describes His Fight with Seven Lions and
          George Arstingstall Tells How He Conquered a Mad
          Elephant                                              317
     IV We See Mr. Bostock Matched Against a Wild Lion and
          Hear About the Tiger Rajah                            328
      V We Spend a Night Among Wild Beasts and See the
          Dangerous Lion Black Prince                           339


    THE DYNAMITE WORKER
      I The Story of Some Millionaire Heroes and the World's
          Greatest Powder Explosion                             348
     II We Visit a Dynamite-factory and Meet a Man Who Thinks
          Courage is an Accident                                358
    III How Joshua Plumstead Stuck to His Nitro-Glycerin-Vat
          in an Explosion and Saved the Works                   367


    THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER
      I How it Feels to Ride at Night on a Locomotive Going
          Ninety Miles an Hour                                  377
     II We Pick Up Some Engine Lore and Hear About the Death
          of Giddings                                           388
    III Some Memories of the Great Record-breaking Run from
          Chicago to Buffalo                                    395
     IV We Hear Some Thrilling Stories at a Round-house and
          Reach the End of the Book                             406


ACKNOWLEDGMENT

          About one half the chapters in this book appeared
          serially in "St. Nicholas Magazine," the other
          half in the "New York Herald," and two chapters on
          the Locomotive Engineer, and one on the Wild-Beast
          Tamer appeared in "McClure's Magazine." Thanks are
          extended to all these for permission to republish.




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                               PAGE

    DIVERS AT WORK NEAR A WRECK                        _Frontispiece_

    "I HAD TO CRAWL AROUND AND OVER IT"                           5

    AT THE TOP OF ST. PAUL'S, NEW YORK                           10

    "THEN MY PARTNER STOOD ON MY SHOULDERS"                      12

    "SOMETIMES IN HARD PLACES YOU HAVE TO THROW YOUR NOOSES
          AROUND THE SHAFT"                                      16

    PICTURE OF THE FALLING STEEPLE, PHOTOGRAPHED JUST AFTER
          THE DYNAMITE EXPLODED. THE FALLING SECTION WAS 35
          FEET IN LENGTH AND WEIGHED 35 TONS                     20

    LOOKING FROM THE GROUND UPWARD AT ST. PAUL'S SPIRE,
          BROADWAY, NEW YORK CITY                                25

    GILDING A CHURCH CROSS, ABOVE NEW YORK CITY                  30

    HOW THE STEEPLE-CLIMBER GOES UP A FLAGPOLE                   37

    PORTRAIT OF A DIVER. DRAWN FROM LIFE                         43

    "THE DIVER'S HELMET SHOWED LIKE THE BACK OF A BIG TURTLE"    46

    DIVER STANDING ON SUNKEN COAL BARGE                          51

    THE MEN AT WORK WITH THE AIR-PUMP                            57

    "I STAYED DOWN UNTIL THAT CHAIN WAS UNDER THE SHAFT"         60

    THE MAN WHO ATTENDS TO THE DIVER'S SIGNALS                   65

    A DIVER AT WORK ON A STEAMBOAT'S