The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-06-30
-Four Hundred Niles Upstairs

Reading about electricity, light
ming, and the telegraph, the othel
day." said Uncle Peter, "reminded me
of u curious story / once heard, wher
1 was in England"
] 1t seems there was IL newspaper in
the city of Glasgow, in Scotland
which employed a London cOrrespOn,
dent. The correspondent made it his
duty to gather the news every day
and send it to Glasgow every night
by telegraph.
He made an arrangement with tho
/ operator at a certain office, by which
news was sent to Glasgow at a reduc,
ton by the year.
One night he arrived mt the lower
door, at the foot of the stairs leading
up into the telegraph office. The door
was locked, and he could not open it
The telegraph office was way up to
! the top of the building, in the sixth
story. The operator Lad a bed there,
to which he retired promptly at three
o'clock, and it was now half-past two.
The operator up stairs yawned and
looked at his watch. "Jinkins won't
come tonight" said he; al may as
well go to bed" And there was poor
Jinkins all the time pounding away
on the door at the foot of the long
stairs, unable to get i'm.
"HillO, up there :" he cried, looking
at the window of the telegraph office,
that glOwed with light. "Hillo Jones!
/ Somebody has locked the outside door,
and | can't get in"
"What's the row ?' said a police
man coming along.
'I'm locked out" said Jinkins.-
"Here pve got batch of the most
important news for my papeF-a
murder, three fires, and a fiOt-and
the door locked in my face, and |
can't get in. What will do >"
So the policeman began banging
the door, but Jones, the operator, up
in his office, was as unconscious of the
tumult rs if it had been in the moon.
lie was whistling to himself and
yawning prOdigiOusly.
"Why don't you go to some other
Oflice?" asken the policeman.
mo authority to use any other
line" said the correspondent. "Ah
I've got itr' he added, and before the
policeman could ask what it was, the
excited Jinkins dashed off down the
street as if a mad dog was after him.
Jinkins rushed breathlessly into an
other telegraph office, six blocks off.
"I say" said he to the operator,
'I'm i'm a fix. Got news to go off i'll
side of half an hour, and the stupid
operator ut nay office has gone to
sleep, and l can't get in-and-and-
and@'
"Well, that is a fix"
"Tell you what | want" said jim
kin's, endeavOring to catch his breath;
81 want you to telegraph down to
Glasgow, and ask the operator there
To telegraph up here to Jones, and bid
him come down stairs and let me in."
The operator rOared with laughter
ut this, but went at once TO his instru-
ment, and began rattling away at a
great Elte.
This is the message he sent:
Glasgow. Wake up Jones, sta
ton y. Tell him Jinkins, at the foot
of the stairs, can't get in"
Jones was looking at his watch
again, and concluded that he had bet
ter put out the lights and go to his
little bedroom across the hallway,
when clatter, clatter, went his instru-
ment.
'"There's Glasgow calling me-" said
Jones, and he hurried to his instru-
ment and ticked off:
"What's wanting?'
Back came the answer:
Jenkins down stairs-dOor f;Ist-
let him inn
Off went Jones down stairs with a
rush and at last the anxious Jinkins
got up and sent off his-news.
So YOU see how i man sent mes
sage through a solid door. and up
stairs, four hundred miles around,
and by way of Glasgow, and all with
i'm twenty minutes.
Wasn't that four hundr Ell miles up
stairs ~