Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-04-30
NATURE.
v,rious Ways in Which 1t Is Displayed
INC - In Telegraph Offices.

-.;o,s WAYS in Which 1t Is Displayed
the in Telegraph Offices.
Ono Of the busiest places in this city
:. ,be office of the Western Union Tele-
~.anb Company. Its visitors during
ite dav are many, and from morning
until midnight the throng continues to
oomc and go, and the street door closes
With a lively clatter every few minutes.
Tbev come in all styles, the old, the
Young and middle-aged. They come in
garments of wealth, in the rags of pow
srtv and in the seediness of hard luck,
which soon may change. Faces pale
with sadness, furrowed with care, bright
with anticipation or radiant with happi-
ness: all 90 through the not overwide
Mortal. and all upon the same sort Of
brand. either to get or send away mes
saacs. Hope and despair jostle with
ccaTclessness and selfish JOY, and each
seldom notes the other. Often the face
which comes smiling goes away dark
with trouble, and many times the dull
look bcgotten of hope deferred becomes
transformed. and the owner goes away
with Il buoyant step and a peace which
has not been experienced for a long
time.
A glance around the Office will give
+he student of human nature a good
chance to guess at what is being written
by those who prepare their messages
riolt on the spot. and the n of the
writer's will often show something ofthe
characters and business habits of them.
Acommercial drummer will run into a
telegraph office, slamming the door and
making the papers tiutter all over the
place. He will push his way to the desk,
seize a blank, dive a pen into the ink,
and write a message in just thirty sec
onds. Before he begins he will push
his hat high upon his brow, and turn
his head to one side. Then he win stride
up to the desk, and, looking Familiarity
at the clerk, will push the dispatchand
biz silver dollar toward that junction.
arv, rcmarking:: "Send that away
quickly" A man who has not been ac-
customed to sending kilograms will take
more time about it, sometimes taking
as much time as it would take a book
keeper to balance q cash account. He
will carefully count the words, and
study and rcstudy the message in order
to decide that he hasn't got too many
words. and to be sure that the message
will be clearly understood.
Ladies generally write their messages
at home and then take them carefully
folded to the office, where they will ask
many questions. They will want to
know how much the dispatch is going
to cost, and her if the address and sig-
nature are to be included in the cost of
the transmission. Then they will want
to know how 0 O it will reach its des-
tnation. Then they will carefully lay
down their parasols OF sachels and
lmndkerchiefs and count the price for
the message. and when the cash is about
half counted they will stop to look
around and smile at whoever is stand
ing behind them waiting for chance to
talk with the clerk. Finally, when the
money is paid and the clerk has been
Gsetully made to promise to send the
message Immediately, they will then
gather up their property and depart.
After they get out upon the sidewalk
they will frequently return to ask the
clerk if he can read the dispatch, as
they wrote it quite hurriedly. When a
lady happens to write the message in
The office the process is doubled, as q
similar style Of performance is carried
on at the desk, where she will want lots
Of elbow room.
OF those who enter or send away the
announcement of death to relatives
far away their manner is always quiet,
and 4 new father coming in to let the
grandparents know that a baby has ar
rived, will go in smiling all over his
face. Not infrequently the sender will
60 to the extra expense of a dime or SO
to add a sentence which is intended as
aJoke. People sending for remittances
generally look anxious, and not lnfre-
qaently write with Il rush, and spread
the ink on thick and black, as though to
mus express the exlgency which COM
PEELED the sending of a telegraph request
for funds.
And 50 they go. Unconscious panto-
1mlmists, all of them, making, without
showing it, a mimic, sketchy picture of
the lights and shadows, the tleetingjoys
or the sudden and more lasting griefs
winch go to make up the dream called
llle'-Denrcr Emancipation.