Eyes Aloft

Through the quiet, ever-grey want-ad columns of the London Times rang a challenging voice last week. It called for "well-educated young men who are willing to take off their coats and learn an exciting trade. Work arduous, filthy; you will be frozen to death in winter and roasted in summer. But the pay is good, and those who make the grade will have a job for life, with every opportunity to climb to a good position. . . . There is no reason why we can't have men who talk like Socrates and work like Hercules."

Were there such men left in England? The advertiser, John Henry Eserin, managing director of a London steeplejack firm, doubted it. He had long been growing discouraged over the apathy of Britain's steeple jacks ; the good climbers were too old, and the young ones too unwilling to face the hazards of their calling. But within two days after the Times ad, Eserin received applications from 1,500 adventurers willing to scale the heights for $40-$60 weekly. They included a former submarine officer, David Lewis, who had tired of his sedentary office job (see cut), an archeologist, and a clutch of would-be steeple jills.

Said Russian-born Eserin: "The heart of England is still all right."

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