The Osceola times., 1882-02-18
Social Use. of the Telegraph.
New Yofk sun


New Yufk sun
"Qucer messages pass through our
hands continually" said the Western
Union telegraph superintendent, but
We do not of en- recollect their contents.
message may cause a sim,e at the time,
blt is sen. and then forgotten. Opera
tors do their worh mechanically. The
words are ticked oil at their finger ends,
and are forgotten at once"
DO You ever get regular social letters
for telegr9 phich Transmission.
"That has become a matter Of frequent
daily occurrence. and often they come 10
a.. IN regular epistolary shape, beginning
with Your. truly OF c1ursa the tele-
graph company is quite willing to adhere
TO cpis'olary forms, for they make SO
many more words to charge for. Some
time ago we had regular, down right
love letter by telegraph. 1t was from
some fellow travelling in the sOuth-a
drummer, gues5-t1 his sweet heart at
home, and It began with My Daling
Lizzie and went on TO say that this
wonld show t. her how feryenuy and
devJutiy beloved her when he could not
even wait for the mail to tell her how
she was i'm his thoughts night and day,
and 80 on for several hundred words.
That sort Of thing is unusual, OF course.
II was q regular way OF lovers, We might
find ourselves called into court OCCASION
aly as witnesses in breach OF promise
cases, because the originals Of the letters
are in cur custody.
1T is common thing for us to send
out te,egraphlc announcements Of a be-
trothal. and get flood Of congratulatory
telelrams in reply. Tolegraphic birth
day cOngrdtulatiOns are also Of frequent
occurrence, and the Purim festival al
ways brings out a crop Of kilograms be-
tween friends and relatives. Sometimes
a message will simply read, I drink your
health We yet such even for cable
trausm ssi0n.
"Ihe uses of the telegraph for social
purpo es have become very large, how
ever among people generally the tele-
graph man went on. 1T constitutes
about twenty per cent Of our domestic
business, and about seven per cent Of our
cable business. Most Of our half rate
night messages are Of that character
How is Ida his morning. a man win
ask his relatives in some other city.
Every day ,elegrapic queries OF similar
mature 70 across the ocean. The tele-
gr pA brings people into one community,
and aside from the expense, there is no
more trouble in makiug such inquiries
than in sending around T. a neighbur's
house tu find how q sick friend IL getting
along. Sometimes man visiting here
on business will send shor letter 10 his
wife by telegraph every night. Want Of
form and ceremony is eNcIsable in tele
.,rtt.b Lratr a u y
tue expense Is no consideration are get
ting more and more in the habit Of pre-
ferring the telegraph To mails, even when
there Is no necessity in the world for such
expedition. Fellows who come to town
on larks sometimes can't wait till they
get home to tell their comrads of the
good times they are having. Their
messages have high flavor at times, but
We rarely make any objections Even
profanity goes 10y wire sometimes.
"Sincc the introduction Of cipher codes
the amount Of business correspondence
transferred from the mails 10 the wires is
very great. About sixty per cent of our
business kilograms are now in cipher,
and by no means Of the codes in use
great deal can be conds lsed into a little.
Where a business man used TO send by
man ne VIII now Nflle cipher letter u
get at halfrates at night. lie can write
al the close of one days business and the
telegraph puts his letter on his cores
pruteuts desk before business hours Of
thcuext day. In fact, the transfer To- the
telegraph of matter that used b. 60 by
mail has been 50 great since the ddDp
ton Of the half rate night system six or
seven wears ago that the amount of bu,i.
mes increases faster than facilities can
be provided. Business tclegrlms hu5-
tuale IN quantity from day tD day, but
taking the year 10y seasons. the amount
Of work remains pretty steady But in
summer when people are travelling about
'Or pleasure the increase Of social com
notifications is Tremendous. We have to
increase our staff Of operators along the
coast watering places fully twenty per
cent Lots Of little offices are opened
that there is no demand for in the win
ter months. People send gossip, love,
congratulations, regrets, jokes, condol-
ences. appeals, and money by tele-
graph