High Rescue

High in the gusty November sky, painting the top of the 165-ft. smokestack of the Wagner Brewery at Granite City, Ill., Steeplejack Bert Bareiter looked down and saw that the wind had fouled his hoist rope around a guy wire 60 ft. below. He climbed down hand over hand to untangle the rope. At this point occurred a horrifying industrial accident, followed by a notable act of industrial heroism.

Just as he was about to reach the tangle Bareiter lost his grip, spun out into space. There was a grinding wrench as the hoist rope caught around his ankle, flung him head down. Then the rushing wind and the force of his fall carried Bareiter in a hair-raising arc. Three times he was swung out in the air, three times crashed against the stack before he could seize the guy wire, lash himself to it with his belt.

After Bareiter had hung in the gusty air for something like half an hour, his helpers, John Rogers and Charles Hahne, climbed up a fire ladder and, by means of a long pole, got a pulley and rope up to him which he hitched to the guy wire. Helper Rogers then snaked up the rope, cut the tangled rope from Bareiter's ankle, lowered him from his blowy height to the roof and safety.

Newshawks found bruised Steeplejack Bareiter at his St. Louis home, asked what an inverted steeplejack thinks about. "About how to get down," he answered.

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