The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1886-12-23
FIFTEEN MINUTES TO CALCUTTA
Wonderful Improvement in the
Transmission of Cable Messages.

Transmission of Cable Messages.
"How soon will this reach Calcutta?'
asked a white haired man as he slipped
a ten-word message through the receiv-
ing wicket of the downtown Office of
cable company.
Cant say exactly" said the receiv-
ing clerk, Its o'clock now. and
there's work enough on hand to keep
the wires red-hot till midnight Well
get it off by 2 A. NJ
"Tm sure you'll send it as soon as
possible, but that's not exactly what
mean. When will it reach Calcutta? /
retired from business many years ago
and have forgotten some things about
cable telegraphy with which was once
familiar"
"Why, if it leaves here at 2 it'll get
there before $50 anyway"
"You are joking, young fellow.
remember well enough waiting week
for message from India or Hong
Kong; no doubt the world moves faster
now"
II wonder what he would have
thought" said the clerk to a reporter,
''if 1 had told him that his message
would be in Calcutta in fifteen minutes
from the time it left here. And yet this
is not an underestimate of the time, if
no unusual delay occurs in transferring
it from one system to another. The
New York merchant of to-day does not
fully appreciate the wonderful system
of submarine ntercommunication which
is always at his service; but old city
men know we'll enough the annoyance
and losses on European and Asiatic
business caused by native operators
when messages had to be handed from
one government to another before they
reached their destination. Twenty
years ago, eight days delay on Indian
messages was quite common. Tele-
grams that had to pass through Tur-
key were thrust aside at Constantinople
until the turbaned operators had clear
ed their lines, and their work of mutt
lation often cost the merchant his mes
sage and the price of ''repeat" when
the receiver was unable to translate the
mangled English delivered to him in
Bombay or Calcutta.
"Now all this is changed. British
and American operators are to be found
in all parts of the globe. much to the
surprise of outsiders. who wonder why
natives can not be trained to take
charge of cable circuits. Our operators
proceed to foreign stations and in the
most unhealthy climates manfully dc
their duty. Mutilated messages are no
longer common, and the merchants OF
this country reap the benefit. The
other day / was asked why half-bred
Spaniards could not be trained to take
appointments at such places as Vera
Cruz and Panama. where Anglo-Saxons
can not live. The real Spaniard does
not make a model operator. What the
Mexican operator would be like I will
not venture to suggest. | have heard
on good authority that it is nothing un.
usual for Spanish operator to give M.
A. (wait while he saunters to neigh
boring restaurant to indulge in cigar
ette-returning to go on with his work
when he has finished his refreshments.
It ia no wonder that cable companies
are glad to secure English and Ameri-
can operators to do their work, for
they seldom forsake their posts while
they have leg to stand on,
"Do you remember when Iroquois
won the Derbyp The news was on the
streets here nineteen seconds after he
passed under the wire, and before they
knew it in London. Special arrange.
ments were made, of course, and all
other business laid aside. The time
has never been beaten, but down here
on the stock-exchange every day mes
sages are sent aud the answer received
from the London stock board inside o1
three minutes, without exciting any
COMMENT and if five minutes elapse
between messages and answer all man.
ner of maledictions is invoked upon the
head of the blameless operator. .-Ness
York Tribune.
Johann Strauss uses piano 20 made that
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