Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 24.

[p. 7] pivot, with its interwoven branches closing the space below it. It was eight feet in length and over one hundred and fifty feet in the air, on the Methodist church on Salem street. The tall tower of this (its third house of worship) was rectangular, sixteen by twenty-two feet, and its slated spire (surmounting an open belfry), a wedge six feet in width at the top. It was the architect's design to have the iron spindle, on which the vane swung, at the front end of this ridge, but the builders suited their own convenience, placing it in the middle.

In 1885 the vane became damaged, the ‘butt of the log’ slanted downward and appeared likely to fall. To add to the danger, several slates near the apex had become loosened and hung by one nail in an angular position, one directly over the side entrance door. Being one of the ‘committee on repairs’ who could find none willing to undertake the job, the writer, with no previous experience as steeplejack, undertook its removal and repair himself. Building a scaffolding of two tiers on all sides, on timbers projecting from the belfry floor and about the clock dials, made a starting place for the upward climb of the eastern side of the wedge. Three stagings were made by bolting brackets on the spire, two men outside and two inside doing the work. The fourth depended on the strength of nails and skillful driving, to sustain the weight of two men and apparatus. Three feet higher was the ridge on which we stood. Clinging to the iron spindle, we sawed off an iron set-screw, releasing the four-branched cardinal, and lashed the vane to a stout pole by which it was lifted higher and off the supporting pivot.

It was our first experience ‘on the pinnacle of the temple’; strict attention to the business in hand allowed no inclination to cast ourselves down—there were two of us—and we had little time to admire the view. About a dozen ascents finished our work, and we got safely through it. The gilders that replaced the vane and cardinals left the latter in wrong position, and they never told the truth afterward.