Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1879-05-24

staSle OF pig stt than. y rail- car. r.
Finally the most Of us can loOl
back and see many follies which W,
have committed to our deep anG
lasting regret, and which might
have been avoided by that prudence
of which the wise man so frequent.
ly speaks. VERD MONT.
~ Orange Co., Vermont. .,
From the Philadelphia Times,l
"Turn Down for Richmond"
HOW THE TELEGRAPH BROUGHT
THE NEWS OF THE FALL AT RICH
MOND. ' ah"""t
1t is safe to say that no message
ever sent by telegraph was of such
National interest as the one which
Mr.. William Z. Kettles, then an op.
orator in the service Of the Govern
ment at the War Department in
Washington, received from Rich
mond on the morning of the 3rd of
April, 1866. Mr.. Kettles, then a
mere boy of 15, but an expert tele-
graph operator, was working the
Fortress Monroe and City Point
wire at Washington. Shortly at
ter $3.50 the Washington and Cher
rystone operators were engaged on
long message, when suddenly both
men were taken aback by what
seemed to be most foolish demand
from Fortress Monroe: "Turn down
for Richmond, quick " Had a
flash of lightning struck through
the walls at that moment the shock
could not have been greater than it
was Oh the part ofevery man in that
room.
There was great alacrity in turn
ing down the adjustment. There
were trembling fneesrs kvhilo- u NJ as
being done, and there was a gath
ering around of many operators
with curiosity, suspense, and i'm
patience combined to see what it
meant. Sure enough the signals
Of the operator in Richmond to the
operator in Washington were bound
ing along the line. No signal was
ever answered more promptly.
Then came the question
"Do you get me well 7"
81 do; 60 ahead" "
"All right. Here's the firsE mes
sage for four years."
"RICHMoND, VA. April 8, 1865
"Hon. Il. n. Stanton, Secretaryof War:
I'VE entered Richmond at 8 o'clock this
morning. &c. WEITzEL,
"Brigadier General Commanding"
Mr.. Kettles comedies that he
copied the message, but he could,
never tell how. He remembers
starting up from his chair dup.
setting inkstand and instrument,
Of kicking over tin that sat at the
fireplace, in order to make a noise
of rushing for Gen. Eckert's room,
where sat President Lincoln and
Mr.. Tinker, the cipher clerk, talk
ing in low tone. AS Kettles was
about to hand the message to Mr..
Tinker, the President caught sight
of the body words, and with one
motion and two strides, message
and President were out of sight on
the way to Secretary Stanton's
room. Mr.. Tinker and everybody
else were dum-founded. Kettles
quietly returned to his instrument,
walking like one in a dream; pro-
ceeding mechanically to turn the
inkstand right side up. and to
straighten up his overturned ma
chine. Then he sat down i'm his
chair and stared straight before him
in blank amazement. Around him
were the other operators, every man
alike flustered and unable to get
their minds back to their work or
to utter connected words.
In less than One-quarter of the
time it takes to write this, the oper-
ating room was filed with officers
and sub-officers. President Lincoln
and Secretary Stanton came in and
shook hands with every one in the
room, and then every one in the
room shook hands with one anoth-
er, and then with the President
and Secretary again. Then they
all crowded around the Fortress
Monroe instrument, hungry for
more news. Kettles sat at his in-
strument while questions were
shOwered in on him from every
mouth. He was asked more ques-
tions in those ten minutes than he
will be likely TO be ever asked again
in that space of time. AT last the
information came that Richmond
had disconnected itself for the pres
ent. All retired to Gen. Eckert's
room except Mr.. Tinker and Ket.
ties. who stood by the window en-.