The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-09-15
A TELEeRAPHER's WOES.
New York Graphic.

"And you imagine we fellows have slick time of it, eh?' said an operator at the Western Union Telegraph office
 yesterday. "Well, you are away off.
 An operators life, especially this sort of weather, isn't altogether a pleasant one, when he has got to use fan with one hand and pen with the other"
 "How many words do operators usually write a minute?"
 "An expert operator has to write on an average from thirty to forty. five words, and sometimes more, according to the ability of the transmitter at the other end of the wire. If the sender is hrst- class man he can make it very uncomfortable for the receiving oper- ator by sending so fast that he won't have time to dip his pen in the ink bottle, not if it were buttoned to his bosom. Then in thunder storm, such as we are having now, the lightning interferes good deal with the oper. ator's transmitting. The receiving operator, if his ability allows it, can readily get along hy guessing, but he has to be very careful, or any mistake that he may make will cause his sal- ary to be dimished at the end of the month, on account of having to pay the cost of the message, or a few hum dred dollars more. No, sir, an oper- ator's life is not one of pleasure, as is the general impression. It's one of continual worry, and is strictly busi- ness."
 "How do operators usually learn the business2"
 "A frst-class operator frequently starts out as messenger and through his own perseverance gradually learns the ropes and, if he is ambitious enough, he finally becomes an operator. He may not then be fully up to the standard. He's got to become accus- toned to different styles of messages, such as social business and scipber.' Any first-class operator can sit down and write cipher after cipher, with the experience he has had with this eco- homie and costly style of telegraph ing. For instance, in an everyday style like this Are melons ripe enough to pluckP or 'Cotton's easier, market steadier, cotton coming in lively is all easy enough, but when the mes sages get this way, 'Somnambulistic echu, buy hundred bales middlipg.' and it is mixed at the other end to read, summon an ambulance, try bounded pills, middling,' etc., or 'send me firfzig tollar, vas ousgaspeilt,' it's not quite so easy. The operator looks at such a message, turns it different ways, and either carries it back for 'reconstruction,' or lets it go as writ ten. Then again. T wasn't yez coom right doom on the wire no doubt means, wants him to reply by wire. When he gets such a message the oper- ator is in another pickle what to do.
 "In cipher and 'cables,' though, such risks cannot be taken, as it might | involve thousands of dollars. and as the operators finances are nominal, he cannot take the risk.
 "There are also stock quotations that are important, oftentimes more so than the cipher messages. A quotation comes along. The merchant does not intend to invest until he is certain that the quotation has been correctly re- ceived. An operator or the telegraph company cannot always be held re- sponsible for misspelled or badly writ ten messages"
 "How should message be written to insure prompt dispatch and quick aeliveryP"
 "lt should first be plainly written, svery word and figure spelled out. Paper is plentiful and can be gener- ously utilized for this important pur- pose.