The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1860-09-01
reL1sRApm,c LsTraarraE.

TELEGRApNtC LITER ATC89.
Mp.rs. T,cks"r 4 Field, II Boston, hsse
ius. psl,li.hsd work on the History. The
orr, and Praesice, Of the Electro Telegraph.
Il il from the pen Of George B. Prescott,
Superintendent Of the Electric Telegraph
Lines, whose esperiencs enables hin -
write inteIiigens'y and interestingly on the
subject. From the mi.cellsneous parts Of
the book, We take the following
saEvrrY Is pI.PArcuxs.
The dispatches which paAs over tele-
graph line in the course Of . year, II c"i-
irc,-d together, would present . very curi-
nns and interesting w ume of eorrerpond-
ence. The price of the traa-mi..son Of .
message depending upon the number Of
word. il contains, of course renders the
construction of it necessarily ~ brief n
pa..ibIe. M,ss dispatches are contained
IN less than ten words (s1c!us,ve Of aidr-ss
and signature, winch are MT charged fnrl.
and n i surprising haw much matter is cnn-
tanned ln this brief numbeS. Amo,g the
b.., eI imples Of brevisy which We have
met with, how~ver, sve she following
A tsdv IN . urfyhbrrinw city. dv~t'uas #
a.cer,a.n,us when her husband would re-
turn home, sent him message making the
,nau,ry to which he responded, that in
o,r,.n, bs.insss dytaincd him. aud that he
could no. leave fhr sone days.
| Tn. lady Immediately replied by seniinc
him another dispatch in The following
! lac mic manner:
AT tlnns, August 1o, 1859.
ToF. C. r. :-Ui.pafch received. D.u.
,er.npmy XXX. 5. (Sisned,) NATE.
Thr yenli.in IN TO whom this was address,
ed, upon referring to the pas.sge in the
) .riptures alluded to, obtained the follow
| IN. suggestive epist'e
| .Whrn man has taken new wife he
shall M, 60 GU, 10 war, neither shall he he
harged With any business; hn. he .hnli be
| ire at home one year, and cheer up hi-
wifi. which h. hath taken"
The SECOND exampl. il the reply sent to
a person in distant city. who, having COIN
mItted soms affep.- against the laws, and
| run away, was desirous Of nscerta,nins iflt
| would be prudent for him to return. lie
therefor. ,rlesraphed in the following
| Iaconc style:
New YaRx. Jnly 4, 1859.
.Tn p. C. NJ. PhiIad.iptia:
IL everything OK7 u. I. ~"
! To which he obtained the following brief
reply: -
PHILADELPHIA. July 4, 1859.
"To u. T. NJ. New York
"Proverb-, chapt. xvii. II. d, c. NJ
Upon references TO tn. passage indicated.
the inauiring Individual ob'aned the fol-
iaxins valuable advice, which, It - to b-
| presumed, h. followed
| az pru,irn, man forsceth the evil and
hidr,h him.rf, but the simple pass on and
are punished"
| SEEING THE ELEPHANT.
Some year. ago there was jske passing
AROUND upon ths different telegraph lines,
xhaa WAS played "T upon n good many
nn.u-psctins individuals, in the Following
manner:
BosrcS, April lat, 1855.
sTo l.. E. rh.nt, at some hotel in Bed
| ford:
"ln leavin, this morning yon neglected to
take your trunk. What shall be dome with
| lR? Adam Gn0d'eil.
| Ey rronnuncing the name Of the party
addressed, quickly, and III" signature slow.
iy, u solution Of the ''selt',s nhinined, and
you get u view Of the elephant ut the same
time.
| RHAptN6 ny SHOCKS.
There il another mode of rece. wing intel
Iiy-nce IN connection with the M'rss i'"es,
besides those alrenhy described namely,
hy means Of the passage Of shocks thr"ngh
the -y.tem. TINS, we presume, has "ft-"
BEEN accomplished by different persons,
although W. have not been knowing To the
fact. Mr.. MlIikrn, Of the American Tele-
graph Office in Boston, assures ~ that be
once read the greater part pf Dispatch rs
il was passing over the wires between Bos
ton and P,r,l md, and that he heard the
Portland operator respond k' (all right J
10 il, while he was seated q" the draw ut
Nestle River bridge, and held the end OF /"
wire IN each hand, thus hass,ng the current
tbroush :hr body. and enabling him to read
IN. letters bv the number and duration of
shock. which he received.
". have .ns s.ceeded, upon several occa-
sions, in receiving messages IN this manner,
when ". h,v. been a. a distance from nm
Office and wished to obtain info' nation in
regard 10 the state Of the line.
| NJ, long since re had been annoyed upon
one Of our wire.. bv II very bad enr'h-cnr-
rent, and noae Of the repa'rcrs being able
to find tn. d ,fEcuItv, We instituted a search
for Il. Finally, upon arriving ut Nrpnnset.
We opened the circuit nj the draw, anu M
auired sf the Boston operator. by touching
the end. Of the wirs together in the proper
time. il the earth-currsnt Was between u'
and the Bas,on oiice. or beynnd Thi, he
could u, oace tell, by my opening the CIR
Eeuit-tiscnnnecting tho wires It he got
any magnetism when the wires we're dlscan.
aected, then the earth current was between
u, AMI the ufkca II be got none. then the
trouble was beyond. This Vas important
far us ta know. lls replied that h. did get
an earth current when We opened the err
cult. W. asked il il Was very strong
"ys.," he replied, "nearly as strong AS
when ynu close"
All this, the reader will understand. We
received through aur system, and inserpre.
ted bv the duration and number Of the
.hacts.
"There il t-ouh,e also upnn tho New
Bedford wirr." said he 81 have not had any
circuit fur nearly half An hour.
We then sen, IN order for hne repsircr
TO 60 out =. once and repair that line, and
then r.. commenced our Investigations inta
into the location nf the earth-enrrens, ~hieh
us shortly af,erwards succeeded IN Ind
ins.
/ PRACTICAL JOKING Dr rELrcsAru.
Il Som. ten wears or more ago there Was
upon the Nsw York and Washington sele-
graph line. At the Ph,lsdelrhia station, an
operator named Thayer. uno. besides being
an adept at the business. was a gentleman
Of culture and wi,, and exceedingly lind "s
j,s-. NJ matter Mt whose expense. At
the New York terminus ef the line there vas.
apan the contrary. u steady, ms,,er-of-fsc,
sars Of mn. Who VAS no appreciation OF
iass., and never prac,isr.i them. The fre-i-
dent nt the line ~ss Han. b. B. French.
fer many years Clerk "f the iisass Of Rep
Ir~.enta,,ves At Washington wit, poet.
and hamar,s,. Of c,urse. he appreciated
humos whenever he came across il.
Thayer took il into his head one day. to
s~nd = Dispatch TO acme fictitious name in
N.s York. for the purpose Of eni,yins a
laugh ~ the expense of tne operator 81
New York. Accordingly be composed aud