Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-07-26
OPERATORS TRIALS.
THE COUNTRY TElEcRAPHER'S LIFE
A GREAT BURDEN.
Personal Popularity Of the "Plu~"-A
Popular Fallacy-Customers Who Are
an Annoyance-The City visitor-Pecu-
liar Messages-The Old Fosy.


Popular FaIlacy-Customers Who Are
an Annoyance-The City visitor-Pecu-
liar Messases-The Old Fosy.
"Yes, am the telegraph operator, and
claim the honor of being the hardest worked
man in the business, even though do run
country Office and am called plug by tbs
city men | hold no less than twenty posi-
tons. am town clerk, justice of the peace,
real estate agent, insurance agent, posr-nas-
ter, stage agent, express agent and manager
Of the telegraph Office For the express com
pany l act as shipping clerk and delivery
clerk, and in the telegraph Office | an man.
eger, chief operator. night manager, cashier,
receiving clerk, delivery clerk, operator,
bookkeeper, batteryman and messenger. In
addition to those am president Of the village
debating club.
IL owe my popularity to my telsgraphic
abilities The Inhabitants Of tlis out Of the
way locality LOOK upon the telegraph as
wonderful and awe inspiring institution, and
they asc-ibs to mo an almost supertunlan
knowledge and power Only last week re-
ceived call from a victim Of chronic rheu-
matis-n, who had heard Of electric cures, and
thought must De SO charged with tho fuid
that | could make him a we'll man by the
mere laying on of hands l am frequently
asked If do not feel the injurious effects Of
electricity that the instruments give OF TO
the atmosphere.
A POPULAR FALLACY
"One Of the most popular fallacies in tho
country is that the passage Of messages
through the wire breaks the legs Of ali birds
that may be roosting thereon, and much time
Is annually wasted by curious people in
watching for this catastrophe The peculiar
tummingof the wires, especially noticeable
in frosty weather, which seems TO come d.
rectly from tae poles, IS q subject OF great
concern TO many people. The generally &C
cepted bel eff is that II is caused oy the pas
sage of messages-the louder the noise the
more important the MESA se-and | have
seen people try to read these dispatches by
listening with an ear against pole
For most of my customers it is a great
event to have any personal dealings with the
telegraph When q message is received the
entire neighborhood is given all the facts in
the case, and many OF the messages sent from
my office are composed with the help Of tae
community. Hence the privacy Of the teis-
grams is not believed in, and | have often
greatly offended my fellow citizens by refus
ing to tell them the contents OF certain mes
sages to which they had no right
The most wearing customer to the coun-
try operator is the party no sends message
requiring an answer He is generally q
farmer who arrives with his family early in
the morning. After beirg assured that he
should receive an answer in two or three
hours, if all goes well, the message is
written, after much consul, alton, and tho
family 60 out 'tradigg, leaving one Of their
number in the Office TO wal. for the reply.
An answer that is waited for never comes
is as true az a watched pot never bOilS.'
THE city visitor is frequently a terror.
He generally holds TO the opinion that no
one In the country can possibly know as
much as he does on any topic BE knows
much more about the tariff than the opcr-
aeor can ever hope TO. and he is never back
ward in accusing that person of incorl-
potency when answers to his messages do not
come as promptly as he thinks they should
1--WE operators have instructions to send
messages exactly as written If there are
any misspelled words the receiving clerk is
requested by the company TO politely call the
attention of the customer to them. tried
me that the average man cannot appreciate
the superior knowledge Of the telegraph op-
orator From my observation there is no
English word that is so often misspeiled. or
has SO great variety OF original FORMS as
'immediatsly,' although answer does not
come far behind ANGER amedatly' is one
combination that remember.
THE VILLAGE OLD FOGY.
Nearly every country town possesses an
old fogy who does not believe il the tele-
graph. This class was well represented in
one once knew who was principal investor,
though not an active member, ia a large iurn-
Ter firm Whenever any Of the active mem
bers found it necessary 10 use the telegraph
be held forth at great length u the eject that
when was in business the tee ran had not
been invented, tut sot along just as well,
and made as much nloley-tor you only CUT
down the profits By send ng messages, Bus
be was a great politician, ana one year he
Was very iItentiy watching the Cubcrnatorial
contest in OHIO. On the n sht OF TIA election
day in that state he sent for ne about 10
O'Clock and asked nae if | could not get some
news from there without is costing any
thing On that night the members q his
hou-ehold were allowed to SIT % later than
O'clock, the hour at which tae Old gentle
man usually insisted upon their retiring
Vt irea the daily paper published il the near
est city did not contain its customary quota
Of special dispatches be pronounced it
hardly worth reading
THE files Of country telegraph Offices are
rich in the matter Of peculiar messages. One
was handed in at my Office which read:
Mother is dying Funeral Thursday at
O'Clock The character Of the sender could
not have been more succinctly given
at is hardly necessary TO explain that the
was written by a German: Send
to Mr. Bryant. lie shall come 70 here 50
quick as possible
'One summer a Boston lady visited the
village, and she regularly received two mes
ages Gay from her husband In the morn
ns Re would say: Good morning, Hannah.
" Gather Am well In the evening he
,ent the same raessage, substituting the word
evening for morning The only variation
during the summer was the fifth word, which
ave the state Of the weather but this con-
Iiderably removed the nlonoSo-y, since ths
message came from Boston Halnah,s re-
,lies 70 these evidences OF devotion, II she
made any, did not GO by wire. At the cioss
II tie season &c came after bsr, and &c re-
>orted his progress from Boston, Worcester,
Springfield, PittsUurg aid Albany, using the
aule form that had oeco0e 50 ta-cIisr to
Hannah and maj Scott SAITH il Boston
Ilopa
Sheep Ger6inc in New Mexico.