New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1880-05-05
{" District > Telegraph-Beys.

District /" Telegraph-Bsys.
The telegraph is now made to do 4
great many services In the large cities.
Instead of merely sending messages
from one person to another. Instruments
arr: placed in private. houses. and thu:
occupants, by merely pressing knob.
can summon a policeman. or give IN
alarm it, case of fire. or call Il i,,esscn-
ger to do any service that may he re-
CURED. Tic principal company il, New
York which controls such telegraph
system is the American District rcie-
grapI, Company. The boys in this
lcOmpany's employ have many duties to
perform which, are not required Of the
Western Union boys, and they there
fore have great many things to learn
before they Cal. be provided with work.
When the hirer Of = District Instrument
calls for a messenger, the boy can
never know what he may be wanted
for. He may be told to hurry for a
physician, lie may be given package
for delivery or bill to collect, or lie
may be sent by 4 broker to deliver
stock or to have a check certified. in
fine, his duties are too varied for me to
name them all. When it is remember
ed that about 4, 500 District instruments
are now in use in New York, and that
l,513, 265 messages were delivered by
the District boys in the year ended
September 80. 1877. some notion Of the
manifold services required Of them can
oe formed.
Il is easy to see that an inexperi-
. ced and unskillful messenger in such
. employment would only prove him.
o If nuisance to the public and an in.
Jury to the company. Every boy,
therefore, who is employed BY the
American District Telegraph Company
is put into training school, and this
school is very interesting one. .s
Tie school-room is provided with
WOO len benches, like those found in
old-;ashioncd country district schools,
out the instruction given is entirely in
regard to the business of the company.
Every candidate for q place must know
how to read and write before he can be
put into the school. 1t is, of course,
necessary for the boys to know the sit
uation of every street in the city. A
large map of the ci.J is therefore
placed before them, with the streets
marked on it, but without their names.
The teacher points out different streets
to his pupils, and they are required to
name them. In this way messenger
boy soon acquires q moro complete
knowledge of the city's thor0ughfares
than many an old resident can boast of.
In one part of the room are telegraph
instruments such as the company uses,
and the boys are taught how to send
and receive messages on them. Then
there is q miniature bank, where they
are taught about the use of checks, and
there is kind of make-believc brokers'
office, where they are taught how to
deliver stock, etc. Much attention is
given to the instruction in the bank
and in the brokers' Office, as bankers
and brokers use the messenger-boys
constantly. '.....-
there is, beside all this, great deal
for the boys to learn about the com.
pany's methods of business, which l
need not explain in detail. They must
make themselves familiar with the
"tariff-book." which tells them how
much boy must charge for going from
any one place in the city to any other.
They must learn the use of the differ
ent kinds of tickets, on which the tenn
porary record of their service is kept.
They must know when to charge for q
car or stage fare and when it is proper
for them to walk.
The American District Telegraph
Company employs on an average five
hundred and fifty boys, who are dis
tributed throughout the city among
twenty-three offices. Each office has
from five to eighty boys in attendance,
according to its location, and every boy
is expected Serve ten hours day.
In some of t.! :offices, constant employ
ment cannot Le found for Ill the bows
during this time, and one form of pro-
motion is to send q boy to an "easy
district
When a boy arrives at his Office in the
morning, he goes to the Sergeant, who
notes if he is on time or not. Then he
puts Oh his uniform and reports to the
manager, who ascertains whether or
not his hands are clean and his hair is
neatly brushed. If he. passes this ex-
animation successfully, he takes u scat
ready for duty. The boys respond to
'alls il the order of their numbers carly
IN the morning; aftcrward they tako
their turns. ....t ..r,. ..s
A faithful boy in the employ Of this
company is never discharged merely be-
cause business is dull, the designations
of boys who tire Of their duties or leave
for other causes, and the dismissal Of
boys who arc unsatisfactory. rapidly de-
crcasing the force when additions are
not made. 1t has required no little
skill so to arrange the service that in
efficient messengers may DC detected
among SO many; but this has been ac-
con,plishcd by IN admirable system of
records, and discipline is enforced by
means Of fines and cStla hours, which
soon lessen the wages, " prolong tho
period Of daily service. e those boys
who prove :cmiss.-W. A Linn, IN 81.
Nich0lns for December. LII