Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial402dodg).pdf/228

736 ing process. The steel wire was about half the size of a lead-pencil, but it was strong enough to lift forty men. It was wound on enormous reels weighing four tons each, and with 80,000 feet of wire to the reel. When the cables were finished, they would be nearly two feet in diameter, 21&frac14; inches, to be exact. Each cable was made up of 9472 wires, strung in thirty-seven separate strands of 256 wires each. Altogether, in the four cables there would be 23,132 miles of wire, or enough to go nine tenths of the way around the earth.

The wire in a strand, he said, was looped around “shoes” at each end of the bridge, and ran in a continuous length, like a skein of silk. When the strand was completed, the ends were spliced together. When the strand was started, the wire was temporarily fastened at one end and passed around the shoe. Then it was slipped over the carrier, a signal was given, the cable started, and the carrier proceeded merrily on its way across the river. When it reached the top of the first tower, the lower reach of wire was gripped and hauled up until adjusted as to tension, so that the sag would correspond with a standard guide wire. Then it was clamped, and the signal was sent to the next tower, where it was similarly gripped and adjusted. This done, a signal was sent on to the anchorage, where the final adjustment took place. As soon as the carrier released this wire, it took back with it a pair of wires of another skein, which gave time for adjusting the upper reach of wire just strung. The wires were laid at one side of the position they were to occupy in the final cable, and when the strand was completed, it was moved out of the temporary rollers upon permanent shoes, The work of splicing the ends of the strand together usually took about five minutes. The shoes on which the strands were built up were horizontal. When a strand was completed, the shoes had to be drawn back by a hydraulic jack, turned on edge, and pulled back between a pair of steel eye-bars. Here they were made fast by a cross-pin. As the carriers strung two wires at a time, it took only six days to complete a strand. The wire was drawn through heavy oil and graphite, to prevent rusting while the cable was being made up.

We spent many hours on the bridge, examining the work, just how many I do not know; but it did not seem long before we heard several factory whistles, which warned us that it was five o’clock, and quitting time. We followed Mr. Blanchard down to the wash-room, and began to wash up. We were on the Brooklyn side, and as I was washing my hands, I looked over across the water to the tall bridge-tower on the New York side. A thin wisp of smoke was curling up from the very top of the structure.

“That tower looks just like a factory chimney,” I remarked to Mr. Blanchard.

“Eh, how ’s that?”

“Don’t you see the smoke coming out of the top of it? It seems to be getting thicker.”

Mr. Blanchard took one look at the tower, then rushed to the telephone and rang up the office on the other side; but could get no answer, He rattled the receiver hook wildly, growing more excited every moment. Finally, he threw the instrument down violently, and tore out of the room without a word to us. We did n’t stop to replace the receiver on the hook, but followed him as fast as we could up to the top of the Brooklyn tower, and then along the foot-bridge to the other side, The smoke was pouring in dense volumes from the tower now, and we could see the flames that were eating up the woodwork. It seemed like an endless run across that long foot-bridge. I had n't time to think of getting dizzy now, My eyes were on the blazing tower, that seemed miles away. Down below us a fire-boat was screaming, and the clang of fire apparatus showed us that the fire-department had responded promptly. I could see that quite a crowd of men had collected and were trying to put out the fire.

We were on the north foot-bridge, and just as we neared the burning tower, a gang of men rushed down the foot-bridge and across the small connecting bridge to the south foot-bridge. They had tools with them, and apparently their idea was to cut off enough of the timber to prevent the fire from creeping across the bridge to the Brooklyn side.

“Come back here, you,” yelled Mr, Blanchard, when he saw what they were up to. They were so intent on their work that they did n’t hear him, At any rate, they did n't heed, but started right in chopping off the planks. Mr. Blanchard did n’t stop for argument, but ran across the bridge and began hauling them back by main force. He was so excited he could scarcely speak, “What is the matter with you?” he cried; “don't you know the fire will burn through the cables and drop you, foot-bridge and all, into the river?”

It finally dawned on them what he was after, and they scampered back, Mr. Blanchard bringing up the rear. Just as he was half-way between the two footwalks, the cables gave way. and down crashed the south bridge. The connecting cross-walks gave our bridge a yank that sent us all sprawling. Will, who was near the edge,