A clever wife

Several men were at work at the top of a tall factory chimney, more than a hundred feet from the ground. When they had finished the work, they prepared to descend. A pulley was fastened at the top of the chimney, and through it ran a long heavy rope. One end of the rope was held by a number of men on the ground.
Each of the men on the chimney in turn tied the other end around his body. Then swinging out, he was slowly lowered to the ground, the men below allowing the rope to pass through their hands with the greatest care. All the men but one had been brought down when, by accident, the rope slipped through the pulley and came tumbling to the ground.

It was an alarming situation. A workman at the top of a chimney a hundred feet above the earth, with apparently no means of getting down! No ladder was half long enough to reach him. If he attempted to jump, he would meet certain death. It seemed as if he must stay there until he died of starvation or exposure.

An excited crowd soon gathered about the chimney. Several plans were proposed to release the man, but all were impossible or absurd. The case seemed hopeless.
In the midst of the excitement the man's wife appeared, for somebody had hurried to break the bad news to her.
She was the coolest member of all the excited company. She took in the situation at a glance and knew just what to do.

"John,, ravel your stocking, begin at the foe," she shouted to her husband.
The man did as he was directed. He took off his stocking, and, cutting the toe with his knife he began to ravel. By the time the yarn reached the ground the stocking was almost gone.
"Stop," the wife shouted again.
Then she tied the end of the yarn to a strong twine, a ball of which she had secured in the meantime.
"Pull the yarn up again," she called.

When one end of the twine reached her husband, the woman tied the rope to the other end.
"Now pull up the rope and put it through the pulley," she ordered. "Be careful not to let it slip through again."
Following his wife's directions, the man soon had the. end of the rope through the pulley. He tied it around his body, and in a few moments was safely lowered to the ground. He owed his escape from his unpleasant position to the coolness and quick thought of his clever wife.