, 1888-03-08
AMONG THE TELEeRAPHERs.

Busy Hours in a Great Temple of EieO-
tricity-Swift Operators.
A busy scene was revealed when the
door opcrcd. 1t WAS, indeed, a small vii
LACE, for 500 operators were tapping away
mt racing speed, while 1870 clerks and mes
seGgers swiftly fitted - and fro.
SThis is our day force said Mr.. Bren-
nan. the assistant manager. Ninety
others take their places ut night. The
fifty you see up there i'll the gallery attend
to the commercial news, ticker service,
stock reports, etc They use the Morse
instruments.
'What proportion OF the force Is COM
posed of ladies'
stAbout one-fourth."
care they as efficient as men?"
Not quite Still they are very expert.
We have three married ladies. Most of
the WheatstOne operators are women.
''Have you any colored operatOrs?'
mot one. And so far as my know
ledge extends there is not n colored opera
tor in the United States At any rate, l
never heard Of one"
sWho are the veterans of the services'
ssNYpu. there aru two that have been at
work for the company for quarter of Il
century. You see, we have but very few
gray or bald heads. The operators begin
work when they are about 10 or IL years
old.
'.Wherc are your operator nurseries?''
.In the country. Nearly the entre
force took their first lessons IN the offices
along the Erie, Pennsylvania and Hudson
River railroads, and in the eastern states
Their ambition brings them here. They
get from 500 to $S5 per month, according
to length of service, efficiency and ex-
perience.
"What are those curious instruments on
which they are pounding with what look
like pegs?"
s.Those are the Wheatstone automatic
machines. 1t works St Louis, Chicago
and New Orleans, and averages each cir
cult ., 500 to 1900 messages per day. The
Deculiarity Of the Wheatstone instrument
is that the message il first punched for
transmission, and then these punched slips
are passed through transmitting ma
chine, which records each dot, dash and
space in the corresponding machine ut the
other terminus. Each stroke of the pegs
represents a dot, dash or space. The mes
sages received are printed on chemically
prepared paper and are translated and
printed by type writer's The Wheat
stone machine has been in use about four
years. The operators average about the
same as the Morse operators"
''What teams turn out the most ples-
sagesY'
1.-THE operators on the broker wires.
The Chicago board Of trade and the New
York produce exchange handle 600 mes
sages, while only 800 are handled on the
main wires between tSe same cities. Il
broker firm cuts its message as short ns
possible and sign the name of Brown,
Bates & Brown, B. B. & j., while the full
name is given IN general messages. The
cable messages are like those of brokers,
and more can be handled than Of ordinary
messages because of their shortness. p"
Elbow fast do the cables worllf'
s'They go Just about as fast rs IN aver
age wire. We send q message and get an
answer from London in seven minutes.
The cables to England and the land line to
San Francisco are just about the same
length, $3.50 miles"
''You make both ends meet here, don't
yous''
"Oh, yes Tho operator on tho right
works with Hearts Content, 1,100 miles
east, and the operator next to him talks
with Omaha, / 800 miles west. We have
d circuit with Jacksonville of !. 100 miles,
and one with Galveston OF ] 500 miles ~
"Are any of the operators affected by
the work."
Eyes Some of them get the teIeg-
rapher's cranlp from holding the pen in
one position for length Of time A large
number thus affected in their right hands
have learned to use their left instead"
do they get over it''
''Not thoroughly. The doctors have
just begun Investigating it, Operators
can prevent it by proper exercise. New
York Sun