CLIMBING SKYWARDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 142, 17 June 1926, Page 10

CLIMBING SKYWARDS.

STEEPLEJACK ADVENTURES. A "STUNT CIiXTB" IN LONDON. SCOPE FOR WORK HERE. A few years back a steeplejack was imported to New Zealand and toured the country doing amazing stunts while working on many high structures throughout the Dominion. Probably that was the only time New Zealand has seen a steeplejack at work, except, of course, when they have seen some clever fakes in the films. Poised in mid-air, with a sheer drop of 300 feet below him, and standing en only a frail scaffold, the steeplejack thinks little of the awe-inspired onlookers in the streets below, and whistles a popular music hall ditty while he works away at a clock face, a church spire, or a chimney stack. It is a perilous adventure each time he climbs skywards, and it is a matter for little wonder that the steeplejack trade has but few followers. "Looking only casually round the city I-would say that there is at least two years' work in Auckland for a firstclass steeplejack," said Mr. J. Batchelor, a "stunt" steeplejack of fifteen years' standing in England, who is now living in this city. "If people have a good -look round they will see quite a number of church spires, chimney stacks and clock faces that urgently need attention."

Recognised always as an eminently perilous career, the life of a steeplejack is in no way an envious one, and only men with nerves of iron can entertain the thought of entering the occupation, no' matter how attractive the financial possibilities may seem. It has always been a conception that the steeplejack is a man who drinks to some extent before tackling his job; but few of the present day dare-devil chimney climbers touch a drop of liquor before they climb skywards on a single rope. "Of course, a few say that they could not face the dangers unless they were saturated With 'Dutch, courage' infused by alcohol," Mr. Batchelor told a "Star" reporter. "When a man get? on the top of a chimney stack a couple of hundred feet above the ground and sees a crack spreading in breadth with every little tap of his hammer he certainly needs some sort of stimulant, and a few steeplejacks think they overcome any fear by drink. For my part, I very rarely touch a drink before I tackle a job. Not even when I washed the face of Big Ben in Westminster and looked down from a height of 330 feet did I have a drink before I went on top." "Oh, yes, that is the highest I have ever been," he answered with a laugh. Jack of all Trades. To be a first-class steeplejack a man must have a thorough knowledge of nine different trades. His forte must, of course, be bricklaying. Then he must be qualified to do expert work in painting, shingling, gilding, lead sheetfng, and he is often called upon to show a knowledge of stonemasonry. Many and varied are the jobs undertaken by steeplejacks in the Old Country; and, although there is much work of this sort, there are.only a few men in England who follow the calling, and it is by no means an overcrowded one. It is understandable that these men, who tempt Providence, and place their lives at the feet of Fate, ask for big money. The work must be done, and the man who is prepared to face all dangers certainly deserves high pay as some sort of recognition of his daredevil nature^

A "Stunt Club." Clubs of all sorts have been formed all over the world, but the one that stands unique for its originality, perhaps for its foolhardiness, is the Steeplejacks' Stunt Club, in London. Comprised only of steeplejacks of repute and outstanding nerve, the club, strangely enough, has a fixed membership of thirteen. Whether any significance can be attached to this somewhat dreaded number it is hard to say, but certain it is that no steepeljack with the slightest strain of superstition in his nature would attempt to join the club. It is one of the rules of the club that a stunt done by any one member must be carried out by the other dozen before the stunt becomes recognised as one of the club tricks. Members of the club are often asked by picture producers to do "stunt" work for them to lend real colour to their productions. Quite often these tricksters have been cinematographed when doing one of their amazing feats. Mr. Batchelor was a prominent member of the Stunt Club before he came to New Zealand just a year. ago. His most noted feat was to stand on his head on a 7 x 2 plank at a height of just on 200 feet. The oldest steeplejack living is Mr. J. J. Blackburn, aged ,80, of Nottingham, England. It was not until the age of 69 that he retired from the game. He came into prominence some years ago in England when he invented a socket ladder. With experience of steeplejack work over 15 years, Mr. Batchelor is soon to start work in this city, and Aucklanders will no doubt have an opportunity of seeing this little man with the iron nerves stunting on some of the city's highest structures. J