The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-11-21
Liability OF q telegraph Company.

A cipher dispatch Iegibly written was
sent from Charleston to New York, the
word .'humor" being used to mean one
hundred bales Of cotton. The word
"hump," meaning four hundred bales Of
cotton, was written by the New York ope-
rator. Thesender sued the Western Union
Telegraph Company for the resulting loss.
The company pleaded due care; that "hu-
NOR" had been sent from the Charleston
Office and received in New York as "hump,"
owing to an error which sometimes oc-
CURED, namely, in the detting and
spacing OF which telegraphic words
are composed. The telegraph COM
pany got judgment below, and the
judgment was affirmed by the su-
preme Cont OF South Carolina. The chief
Justice said: Telegraph companies are
not common caniers; they are professional
employees and bailees. Whilst there Is
reason for holding them responsible for the
qualifications necessary for the proper per-
formauce Of tho work which they propose
to de, there is no reason for holding them
as insurers like common carriers. We do
not think that these companies are bound
to explain how mistakes like this com.
p.ained Of have occurred. The very nature
OF the subtle agent made use Of makes this
often impossible, and the law does not re-
quire impossibilitie,." There was but one
Of two parssns who could know that the
mistake was not the result Of an operators
negligence, for which the company would
eliable, and these persons were the oper'
ator who sent and the operator wko re-
ceiyed the message. Either operator
may have made a mistake. OF each
word tie first the, letters are
the same, hum; is expressed by two
dots, and by dot, space and two
dots. ..lh.u.m.o.E P Is expressed by
five dots, .....; now II the spaces or
pauscs were omitted in and there would
be five consecutive dots without a break,
and "humor" would be transformed into
"hump," hundred bales Of cotton into
four hundred bales. Such mistake is a
possible result from the bad working OF the
wire, but the possibility is not great. The
curt gems to have strained point to let
the company out.
II Is true that the law never requires i'm
possibilities, but 1t is pertinent question
whether the accurate transmission
OF messages by telegraph ia generally i'm
possible, or whether it can not be known
by the company whether its apparatus is
in order to do accurate work. In either
case the telegraph is not only robbed OF
large measure Of its usefulness in the rapid
transaction Of business affairs, but it be-
comes delusion and positive danger.
In this day speed is great consideration,
but accuracy Is vital.
A large part OF the commercial messages
are in cipher, so that neither the sender
nor the Receiver can be guided by sense;
the one must go by sight and touch, the
other by sound. II the message be plainly
written las many arc mott there is no ex-
cuse for mistake in sending; and since
sound is the basis Of the telegraph alphabet
a competent man should not err in receiv-
ing. Now, II tho wire, or any part Of the
apparatus can play pranks 80 that 1t is i'm.
possible to detect arrangement, and il the
telegraph company is not liable, 1t results
that an immense volume Of business is en-.
trusted to an unreliable servant. II bust.
ness men are content to go ahead on this
basis they are not hard to please.
1t may be that the decision Of the South
Carolina court Is good law; IL 80 the law is
bad and there Is need OF legislation. There
are times when messages cannot be trans.
mined at all, as when the wires are down
or the companies are without operators.
Here the plea OF impos,ibility would stand
on different ground as justifying a refusal
to accept a message except as subject to
delays. But when the affairs Of a company
are In normal condition, and meesage Ia
accepted in the usual course Of business,
there ought to be reasonable guarantee
Of accuracy backed by the liability Of the
company.