The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-09-25
Telegraph Operators.

|
line. The youth Strengthened up an,
r replied:
, "'Bout five years."
( ;. Must know all the boys on tin
linep"
, eyes, know 'em over the wire if
, don't any other way. Lots OF lem
never saw, but when they take hold o
: the key and begin to call know wllt
they are.''
There Is no more interesting feature
!. or the telegaphic service than the
ability, acquired through practice, tc
distinguish between the different opera.
tors on line by the manner Of theil
sending. a corps Of operators. each
familiar with his fellows method OF
sending would scarcely need to waste
time to atllx their office signature to
their calls, the Office wanted being able
to judge what operator was working
the key. No operators in the city be-
come more thoroughly acquainted and
conversant with the men ON their wire
than those at the head of the great
railroad divisions, which extend in
almost every direction from the city.
The manners Of sending of their different
men become as familiar to them as
does the handwriting ofhis book Keeper
to the owner of a bank.
| During the conversation given at the
opening, a fiashily dressed "sub,' bent
over the table and transacted the bust
ness with All air of dignity that would
nave become bank clerk. a moment
later some office on the line began
calling the main Office, repeating tho
call dozen times without signing.
"Answcr f-w," said the operator to
! his assistant.
."But he hasn't signed yet," ventured
| The new man, suspiciously.
Eyes, but know him." explained
the operator, and just then the office
calling ended up with terse "f-w."
But can you tell all the operators
on the line by their method of making
Il single lctter?"
mo, not always by single letter;
Dut' there are very few men Oh my
wire that l cannot tell before they
have written a dozen words. just as
| one learns anOtler'S penmanship we
learn each others manner Of sending.
We have to get accustomed to all the
different styles. Some operators start
| off with Il hop-sl1ip-and-jump gait and
keep it up all the WAY through u mes
slowly and steadily, and, should he
have 5000 words to transmit, he will
| not increase his pace. Then there are
fellows who will rusll in message Of
six or eight words, sign, and close their
key before anything short of an expert
has time to get down the date. BY
| that we are able to distinguish between
| them.'
While the electricity jerker was de-
livering himself Of the above informa-
ton, his ear was keenly fixed on the
| business Of the line. He turned toward
| the instrument moment and said:
s"That isn't George working at.
| M-?n
"No." said his youthful assistant.
| "H-was sent down the line yester-
day"
| a moment later he heard another
| friend in an office in which he knew he
| was not working. lie reached over
to the key, called up the Office, and
then spelled out:
| "Ain't that you, F-?"
"Es," came back the answer, sleepily;
"been down to see my girl"
81 knew it was r." said the
operator, "you can never get ratified
OH his sendng."
Operators never tire in telling the
wonderful legends Of their craft and
the stories OF their skill and achieve
ments. One told yesterday is good and
worth relating.
1t was during the late war, when
everything was considered suspicious.
A confederate general, accompanied
by All expert in telegraphy, dashed open
the door Of little Office OH the MisSis-
sippi river, and placing revolver at
the operators head told him to ask
M -" 20 miles above, if there
were any gunboats there belonging to
the government. The operator was Il
Union man. He knew if ho received
a negative response the Confederate
would move upon the helpless town of
"M---." But there was no alterna-
tive. The other operator WAS watch
: ing him closely. SO he called
MI" and asked previously ii
there were amy gunboats III sight.
There were none within 81 miles, but
something III the operators manner
Of sending led the receiving operator
to suspect the truth. SO he answered
eyes; there are two in the bay, and
from my window 1 can sec tho smoke
from two others coming around tho
bend.n
"M---" was not molestcd. The
operators sagaciCy had saved the town
An interesting incident in direct
line with this subject occurred during
the recent telephone experiments be-
tween this city and Now York. While
one Of the Instruments was being tried
The wire became grounded. The
3 Noise instrument was cut and the
; words, "Y0u are u crank" "fou are
, a crank" we're heard over and Over
/ again. The Office men were tor a long
l time undetermined TO what cause tt
: attribute the breaks. No sooner would
an attempt be made TO use the tele
/ phone than the same breaks would Oc
| cur again, and the same message bt
8 sent, You are a crank" BY listening
, attentiyely, old operators concluded
!, that it was the work Of some operator
hired by All opposing company to thwar
t the experiments. Those who were
1 unacquainted with the circumstance,
| held to the belief that the sender was 8
1 student; but the opinion Of the opera
[ tors proved correct. The ''bridge'
was put on, the break located and foun(
| to occur between stations. 1t was af
[ terward traced down as the work OF al
: operator paid to hinder the working
. OF the telephone then being tried.