Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-07-31
vELEeRAPHEas' PARALYSIS.
A New York Operators THEORY of the Caus
offhe nfaAnsa.

A Now York Operators Theory of h Cause
of the Disease.
A majority of telegraph operators
sooner or later become "paralyzed."
There seems to be no specific cause for
the complaint, though it is generally
attributed to overwork. 1t certainly
can not be due to dissipation alone, as
there are hundreds of cases where men
who have been hard drinkers for many
years still rank as experts in the pro-
f%ession. while on the other hand men
who have led a strictly moral and tenn
perate life have lost entire use of their
arms after a comparatively short expe-
rience in the business. Nor does dis
e~ase-nervous or otherwise-seem to be
the prime factor, as it is very common
to see a strong, robust man suffering
from it. 1t is a fact that many opera
tors have been troubled with it from
the moment they commenced to learn,
and there is no doubt that it has pre-
vented many from becoming ''irst-
class" operators. 1t has been said that
paralysis is the cause of many of the
blunders made by good men. To q GER
tain extent this is surely true. 1t must
be understood that the so-called paral-
| ysis from which operators suffer is
really a weakness of the muscles and
nerves generally from the elbow to the
ends of the fingers. In its early stages
it takes the form of cramps, causing
great pain in the wrist and hand, or a
numbness of feeling such as one feels
from bad circulation of the blood. 1t
| gradually develops until the fingers
seem to lose the ems of touch, and,
without warning, they will Flip up''
and utterly refuse to be governed by
the mind. Now, if these slips or
paroxysms should occur very often
while an operator is being crushed"
it is bound to cause him a great
deal of annoyance. He will get be-
hind, say ten or fifteen words, and
if he has the reputation of being q
good mar his pride will keep him at il
until the sender is finally so far ahead
that he is compelled to open the key.
In the meantime he has possibly left
out a word or ~half-spelled one, which,
if he is careful. can be corrected, but
the sender is impatient by the time he
has "caught up" and he casts but 9
rapid glance over his copy and com
mences the struggle once more. Thus,
through inability to form the letters
and words as fast as he formerly did
he makes errors unconsciously, through
getting behind, while at the same time
giving the work his entire attention
The only remedy for him is to .'break
break, break or take some second
class wire, with q reduction of wages
and a loss of his professional reputa
ton as a 'fast one." This is a hare
thing to do, and many a man is to-da.
called .iirst-class'' who has seen hi
best days as an operator.
There is another reason why first
class men make errors. Although tn
words are sent letter by letter, tn
operator receives them apparently il
their complete form only, frequentl
having several words in his head a
one time. Through the lose of sens:
t%iveness in his fingers he is unable t
form the characters with his forme
I ease and precision, and will very ofte
change the word entirely by the sui
: stitution or omission of a letter. Fc
instance. ching will be made to rea
"think," f'bough" for bought" an
other common errors. OF course, tn
m~isspelling of words is mostly cause
through ignorance, but eases of thi
kind occur where the men have ha
long experience and are well educated
The most common reason why first
class men make errors is that they AZ
generally overworked. After workin
hard for seven Or eight hours, if the
are partially paralyzed, their arms b.
come heavy and tired, and NJ dout
the brain is also affected. Every wor
is put down with an effort. and it is
wonder there are not more mistake
than usually .occur.-Cor. C&scog
NcWs.