The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-08-15
Telegrabhic Dispatches.

Mr.. George Is. Prescott, superin tendent o
an electric telegraph line between Boston ant
New York, has just pu ublished a very interest.
ing book in relation to the telegraph and tele
graphing. Subjoined are few extracts
PRACTICAL JOKING BY TELEGRAPH
Some ten years or more ago. there was upor
the New York and Washington telegraph line
at the Philadelphia station, an operator name
Thayer, who, besides tNing an adept at tha
business. was a gentleman of culture and wit
and exceedingly fond of joke, no matter a.
whose expense. Al the New York terminus O
the line there was, upon the contrary, a s. .ady
matte -of fact sort of man, who was no appre.
ciator of jokes. and never practiced them. The
President of the line was Hon. b. b. French
for many years clerk of the House of Repre-.
sentatives at Westinghouse Wi, poet, and
humorist, of course he appreciated humoI
wherever he came acros I 1t.
Thayer took it into his hea d one day to send
a dispatch to some fictitious name in New
York, for the purpose OF enjoying laugh al
the expense of the operator at New York =
Accordingly he composed and forwarded the
following:
PHILADELPHIA, April /. 1916.
"To. Mr.. JONES. New York
Send me ten dollars at once, so that can
get my clothes. (Signed,) JULIA,
"13 words-collect3 81 cents"
The operator at New York, not suspectinr
any joke asked the Philadelphia operator for
the address.
The Philadelphia operator replied that "the
young lady didn t leave any =, and asked h i'm
to look in the directory for it."
The New York operator replied that he chad
already done so, but as there were over fifty
Joneses in the directory, he was at loss to
know which one to send it ton
Z" If that is the casen saws Thayer "vou had
better send copy to each of them, and charge
thirty four cents apiece"
The New York operator did so, and 1 will
give the result of the arrangement in the
whom few days after this affair Mr. Thayer
received the following letter:
NEW YORK, April 6, 1916.
Mr.. Thayer-Sir: a few days since Won
sent dispatch purporting to be from one
Julia, addressed 10 MIR. Jones. New York
The New York operator informed Won that he
desired an address, as there We're upwards of
fifty Joneses In the direc tory, and was at q
loss TO know which one of them it was de-
signed tor. \ GU replied, that in that case he
must send a copy to eyery one of them and
charge upon each; and the opera tor at New
York, in the innocence of his heart. did So
Some twenty of the .Toneses paid for their dis
patches, but there was one sent To the resi-
dence OF an elderly merchant by that name,
Who being away from home when it arrived
1t was opened by his WIFE, and was the occa.
sion OF very unplea SAINT domes tic scene Mr.
Jones mas been to see me in relation to the mat
Ter, anu threatens TO sue the company for dam
ages, taking the thing very much to heart
NOW, TINS is all very funny, ana n good
joke, and / have laughed at il as heartily as
any BODY; 6utyou mad not letter try it again,
or any of the rest of the operators upon the
line, il you value your situations"
MISTAKES OF THE TELEGRAPH
Some zen years since, there was very ludi-
crous, and at the same time natural bluuder
perpetrated upon the line between Boston and
New York. gentleman sent dispatch re-
questing parties in New York TO g forward
sample forks by express" When the message
was delivered, 1t read thus: Forward sam.
pie for X. S"
The parties who received il repliei by ask
ing what samples X. 5. wanted
VI course the gentleman came to the office
and complained that the dispatch had been
transmitted wrong, and the operator promised
TO repeat ii. Accordingly he telegraphed the
New York operator that the dispatch should
have read, Forward sample forks" The New
YORK operator, having read it wrong in the
nrst instance could not decipher it differently
now. He replied, that he did read it Sample
Tor X. y, and SO delivered it,
But" returned the Boston operator "I did
not say for X. 5 but f-o-r-k-si"
What stupid that fellow is in Bos ston. 81
exclaimed the New York operator, in a rage
HE says he didn't say for K. s. but for K s ~
The Boston operator tried for an hour To
make the New ork operator read it forks ;,
but not succeeding, he wrote the dispatch upon
slip OF paper, and forwarded it by mail and
1t remained Il standing Joke upon the line for
many months afterwards
Since the paper has been abolished upon the
Morse lines, errors like the above rarely occur
The ear is found TO be a much more reliable
organ for the telegrapher than the eye We dc
not think we should overshoot the mark if we
said there is not one error made in reading by
sound where there We're ten formerly in read
ing from the long slips of paper
One reason is, as we remarked in a previous
chapter, that the operator i'll reading by sound
has his eyes at liberty, and can write down his
dispatch as he reads it by the tick with all the
iacliity win winch an expert reporter can fol-
low and note down accurately all the words
spoken in debate The feat seems an extraor-
dlnary one, but prac tice will accomplish won
ders,