Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-07-16
TIcKER's TALK.
The Wrongs and Rights Of Telegraph Opera
tors--oppression Of a Giant rfonOpciy
Method. Of Relief

NlEIhtlIrt llohottt AbrAt - IFfhtn.
that would more estectunlly discofn
mode the daily press % America moi
the bulls and bears Of Wall street thai
such an occurrence, and / respectfully
beg la the name ~ an old WesierI
Union operator the privileg'
Of acquainting the public
through the GAZETTE. with some fsct'
relative TO that stupendous monopoly
. the Western Union Telegraph Com
pany.
Its an established fact that during
the last few years M less than dozeT
opposition telegraph companies have
sprung into existence, each alternate
Is, according 10 magnitude. creating
an immediate DEMAND for operators.
And. as . general rule, these cpFpei.
ti0n COMPANIES havc endeAv-
oTed 10 procure firsi-class
talent, TayiDg therefor maximum sSi-
aries. Materially. the expert operators
exhausted by confinement aud seEN-i.
tude 10 the Western Union service
have eagerly accepted new fields OF
lNbnr with iI9crt aSed salaries.
However these stnck-iolbing com
p2nies have 4 Aiike proven catS-pAws
Ia the hands II Russell sage. Anson
>,ager, Sydney Dillon. Jsy Gould and
Others, gradually melting away 8;
the expense os iae duExd sgnAil-fry.
] venture 10 ssy that considering
their Responsibilities. and talent, there
j. no ciass Of lNb0ring men nor women
exfSut ~ Fs@0Tly TeInunerateG for their
services 81 the Western Union orera-
tors. A. an example 81 the greed and
inh0manity Of this compsny, we viii
take the New York or chicago ciiice
a. a criterion.
II has ever been the custom of the
Western Union company. wheu an
opposition company sprung Up 10 hire
any and everything that came along
that could sound the Morse aipha-
bet at the loves; possible salSries.
while the opposition companies invA-
Ti4biy employed hone bat FIRST class
men. and thus we readily account
Tor the rnyriads Of "hallsn and uuin-
ielligible copies turned ont bv that
great monopoly. The aInsleamaiion
of these shurt-!iyea companies with or
by The Western Union has in every
Case been marked by an outrageous
slashing and eating Il salaries. and
ii is done In this way. After the 80
called -o1nsoiidati0n" Of these yolHge!
companies, their operators have rs The
only recoGEse been forced 10 re-zpply
to The Western Union for positions
and aceept gor 20 hun
gryi The Insignificant salaries
paid the Blacksmith talent as the
GAZETTE expresses IT,
the Mutual Union, which has re-
Gently been goDbled up by Mr.. Gould
proved {fQsi-send 10 our fraternity a.
well a. 20 the commonwealth. That
company sought and procured the
be~t available ielegraphers and
paid them from IS 10 So
more per month than was
psid them BIZ the Western Union.
There j. no; decent operator in
Amesicsi who j. not familiar with the
names ~ these expert and skilled men,
such a. Gs7s. EiiemilieF, Of Pittsburg,
Patsy Ayre-, VI Cincinnati, Billy
West. If New Orleans, John Mcreland
Of New York, or Al. Babb, of Chicago
--uen who each have turned ont
some Of the most inteliisihi.s.
and tay....ssy HIIlten copy
tfat ever graeea an eiitor's
sanclum or a printers desk. Are the
services OF such men appreciated and
demanded? 1es; but for the same or
a pittance more recompense than that
of the army OF "blacksniths" who are
a disgrace 10 our fraternity.
There Is in the Western Union ser
vice {. fragrant lack Of classification of
salaries. | have myself worked In New,
York and Chicago at the same desk
with girls doing the same work as
myself, and they did equal If not bet
ter service, but We're drawing only
about half as much salary as myself
The Western Union have no opposi-
ton now, and from sheer force of habit
they have renewed their wholesale
shaving OF salaries. \ few days ago
the salary of nearly every operator i'm
Chicago was reduced from $40 10 SIS
each.
The GAZETTE chronicled few DAYS
ago the meeting of the Western Union
managers of this state mt Dallas. |
heartily trust that, in behalf of our
profession and the daily press of Texas,
that they made some effort 10 secure
for our Texas operators living incomes.
The GAZETTE nor any other
paper in Texas need ever
hope To receive legible and
reliable copy from an operator who
sits curled over table under a dim
light, welding stylus AT rapid rate
from five o'clock in the evening until
Two or three o'clock in the morning,
LOT Sto or $40 per month, as is now
p'tla IN Texas for such service.
lam notat liberty to state whether or
not the operators will strike. but such
a procedure has been discussed will
iavor frequently of late
The "felegraphcrs' Brutherhood'r i
now a very strong organization, EN-.
nfacing nearly every good Western
onlon operator and vast number of
railroad operators in America. Even
Texas is solid and should their adj.
ylsory committee fail to agree with the
Western Union In salaries and hours
OF duty "one world could be flashed
from North to South and from Past
To West ON the twinkling of an eve.
And unlike all other laboring classes
should the operators see fit to strike
their places cannot be filed by green
foreigners or negroes. In conclusion.
IL may be said that things are waxing
warm, and Geographic communication
IN America may be Mt n stand-still AT
an early day.