Omaha daily bee., 1883-01-04

cepted,' or similar words. The came
may be said Of social messages. But
much news that Is not really secret
finds its way to the public by the
method you mention"
can office boy, standing outside of
a closed office, caught the news OF Til.
den's nomination as it sped on tts way
from st. Louis to Washington City,
and unintentiopslly gave a sporting
man AN opportunity to place a num-.
Der of bets that won. Many years ago,
before reading by sound was 40 nri
vers VI az now, a messenger boy in the
Western Union office in Chillicothe
startled the operator and several prom.
inent gentlemen present by e2claim
ing: "The Neil house is burning |"
For tina: offense he was promptly dis.
missed, but his quick ear could not
be dispensed with, and he was rein.
stated, and now occupies an ofhcial
position in a rival company"
"ATe there many errors made in
the trspsmis,i sion or receiving of dis.
patchesl"
"Not many, considering the num-
Der Of dispatches that are sent. More
errors are made in receiving than
transmitting, and more By old opera.
tors than by beginners. The latter
are extra cautious and seldom make a
mistake. A messenger boy was sit
tir g in an office while the operator
wal at supper. Tho Office was called
and he answered that the operator was
away. Who are your the answer
came back. "The Office boy Can
you take a mt = ,ageY Il am afraid to
try it; l never did 'Teyit;' and the
message came slowly and distinctly on
an importont matter pertaining to the
road, and was signed by the superin-
tendent. The boy repeated 1t as he
had taken it, and the response came
back, "Bully." A calamity was
averted, and o month later the boy had
a night office on the road, and is now
an expert operator In the northern
part of the stale.
'Give me some Incident which you
happen to remember, taken as it
passed over the line"
TT is difficult to recall them at will,
but one incident made such an I'M
precision on me at the time that I have
never forgotten it. I was the night
operator at a little station on one of
the roads leading into Cincinnati.
There was little to be done except re.
porting trains, and on that evening
there was nothing to break the mo-
notony. The Cincinnati operator had
announced the departure of No. 5,
and for three hours all l had heard
was the regular report as the train
passed, reporting stations. Then
there was a press dispatch giving the
state Of the river at one ortwo points,
when my attention was attracted by q
call from an Office which is usually
closed earlier in the evening. To my
surprise, the call was answered, and
q message was announced for O
little town some distance from the tel.
egraph Office, with instructions to de.
liver OF once, regardless of cost. The
message was brief and in these words.
Mamie is dying; coine at once;
! signed with a single name. Who Ma,
mie was I had no idea, but I pictured
her in my mind as a little girl, and the
message as from her mother to hel
father. I found myself watching fol
a return dispatch, and as the nigh
wore away l became anxious. Tit
train by which the father could reach
: his dying child would soon pass thai
station. Would the operator remain
J, IN the Office to send the answer which
s 1 knew would be expected2 About
o'clock in the morning I called hi
l. Office and received no answer I knew
then thatthe operator had gone home
As the hour approached for my
relief I became more anxious, an,
asked the day operator to watch TO
10 the return dispatch. I wont to tn
office earlier than usual that evening
9 and was given the dispatch for whicl
l had been waiting. 1t announces
the inability of the father to start be
y fore that night, and asked for news.
j. then knew instinctively that he woul,
be too late, and would never see hi
child alive again. But / watched tn
wires, and was rewarded early in tn
o evening with the expected intelligence
that Mamie was dead. That was all
r ever knew of the circumstances, but i
made a ~last'ng impression on my mind
o l am not much on sentiment, an,
r would not have related this incident i
a you had not asked for something, AM
l could remember nothing else, Som
other time l may give you somethin
q better. Call and see me often, and
l can give you anything interesting
will he Glad m do M