Using Word 2000 on XP.

I would like to merge the top 4 rows of each column in a table that has 4+
rows.

Tried this:

Dim t1 as Table
Dim r1 as Range

For i = 1 To t1.Columns.Count
  Set r1 = t1.Cell(1, i).Range
  r1.End = t1.Cell(4, i).Range.End
  r1.Cells.Merge
'   r1.Select
'   With Selection
'       .Cells.Merge
'   End With
Next i

It throws an error: Requested Member of the Collection does not exist.

Is r1 not returning a cells collection? This scheme works when I am merging
cells along a row.

If I comment out r1.Cells.Merge statement and uncomment
the selection commands, the code works. Why does that work?

I do not like using selection objects.
So I ended up with the following code that works (using cell objects with
Merge method):

Dim t1 as Table
Dim c1 as Column

For i = 1 To 3
  For Each c1 In t1.Columns
     c1.Cells(1).Merge MergeTo:=c1.Cells(2)
  Next c1
Next

Anyone have any insight range issue?

Best regards and thank you.