“Human Fly will entertain Ames audience Tuesday.”  That was the caption on a Tribune front page story on July 28, 1924.  Just a few years ago, you will recall the story about some dare devil who climbed the Empire State building in New York City.  He had failed to get any advanced permission to make the climb.  That fellow used some sophisticated equipment in accomplishing his feat; also, he was in trouble with the law when he got to the top. 

Billy Brine, as announced in the Tribune, did climb the Sheldon-Munn and he had everyone’s permission at the time.  I was in the crowd that day, and remember it well.

Fifteen years earlier, Brine had worked on farms near Marshalltown.  In 1924, while visiting in Marshalltown, he took the assignment to climb the Sheldon-Munn at his brother’s request. 

A big crowd filled the street in front of the hotel.  The climb was made on the Main Street side.  Brine went right up the side of the building at a point above the hotel entrance.  He engaged in a lot of  “fanfare” and some theatrics.  He used no equipment of any kind – but he did have an accomplice on the inside of the hotel.  Climbing from window to window, Brine was able to climb to an open window on each floor as he moved upward.  His accomplice was kept busy opening and closing windows.  By pulling both window panes of each window into the down position after Brine had reached still another window sill, he could then thrust himself upward by climbing onto the tops of the respective frames.

When you are next down on Main Street, take a look at the hotel and see just how hard it would be for an ordinary man to do what he did that day.  He must have had exceptional strength in his arm and leg muscles; once he got his hand on the brick window sill above him, he would literally lift himself to a point where he could wiggle into the open window space. 

Brine shook the crowd up several times by pretending to slip – each time catching himself just in time.  Attaining the top of the building, he proceeded then, to climb the flag pole, where he balanced himself on the gilded ball at the top.  As the crowd hushed, he shouted out the name of his usual sponsor, the Chevrolet Company.  “Chevrolet!  Chevrolet!”, he called out.  I presume that it was the Chevrolet Company that had sponsored his climb that day.

We don’t hear of “Human Flies” today, but in 1924, the Tribune story explained that Brine was one of six in the “business” at the time.  Brine had been climbing for 11 years by 1924.  His record had been 161 building climbs in 1921.