Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1888-12-08
A TALE OF THE TELEGRAPH.

| was standing upon the roof OF one or
the leading hotels in the city,
had been examining the telephone
wires ON the roof, on which we had lately
! placed new patent arrangement for
/ the purpose OF overcoming induction
from the neighboring telegraph wires.
stood holding on with one hand to
standard for telephone wires for several
minutes lost in thought.
had stood thus for perhaps five min
utes, when / was brought back to the
realization of my senses by q sound
which, coming upon me so suddenly,
seemed to freeze the blood in my veins,
| send chill down my back, and ner-
| vous tremor through my entire system
| IL was the unmlstakaDle cry OF maniacl
Turning quickly towards the direc-
ton from which the sound came, saw
| the author of it with his head Just above
the opening for the trap-door, through
which | had gained access to the roof,
and the door of which / had left swung
back upon its hinges.
recognized at once that the man was
mad. His wild expression showed it
| quite plainly.
For an instant stood motionless, not
knowing what to do, when again that
laugh rang out upon the air, and I no.
tlced that he was ascending to the roof.
| Quick as Tightening my mind took in
| the situation, and / rushed desperately
| towards the man intending to strike
| him with all my force, and knock him
backward down the flight of stairs to
| the floor below. He saw my intention,
and tried to gain the roof before / could
reach him; but the distance between us
was only few feet, and he had not
risen above the roof higher than his
waist when l forced him back
| | stood unOn the doop q short firna
| expecting every moment that he would
renew the attack, when suddenly /
heard the report Of pistol from be-
low, and was conscious of whizzing
noise in the air.
| Looking down, / noticed small hole
| in the trap-door, and that the bullet
| had passed uncomfortably near my leg
| in its upward flight
/ did not relish the idea of being
| shot at in this manner and stepped i'm
medately off the door.
| | had scarcely done so when there was
| another report, and another hole in the
| door, directly upon the spot where / had
| been standing.
| What was to be done?
| All at once | noticed that the ends
| of the staple used for fastening the door
| on the inside projected through the
| thin boards for some distance.
Quickly passing a rope | had around
| the knob and under the sharp ends of
| the staple, | took two turns round Them
which was all there was room for, and
drawing the rope tightly, fastened thu
ends as securely as possible.
This whole performance lasted but
few seconds, but the pistol shots con-
tinued in rapid succession, and | judged
that by this time he had emptied the
seven chambers of his revolver
The firing had ceased, and l noticed the
door moving slightly, as though force
was being brought to bear uron it from
below.
took hold of the door with my hands,
and held it down as hard as l could. The
mailman seemed to be pushing against 1T
with q tremendous force. What was to
| be done?
The rope was weak thing at the
| best, and l felt that it could not long
| hold out against the efforts of strong
man.
| All at once the thought of calling help
| by telegraph came into my mind. 1
| had heard of cases of kilograms being
sent without instruments from the scene
of railway accidents and l determined
TO try for myself if the mailman could
| only be kept within bonds long enough
| to allow me the opportunity.
| / was an expert telcgraphist, having
| spent a number of years in that business
| before entering the telephone field. AL
though L was an old telegraphist, l had
| never attempted the feat of telegraphlng
| without an instrument.
| But the situation called for a des-
| perate act, and after looking at the
| fastenings on the door to see that they
! were secure as possible, / went quickly
to the edge of the building, where num-
| Der of wires were strung on brackets.
These wires / knew to lead to the -
Postoffice.
l had small pair of pliers in my
| pocket and seizing wire l cut into
it with the pliers, and then bent the
wire in order to break it. The pliers
| were small, and it required strong eff
fort to slap the wire, but / accom-
| plished the feat in a few seconds. Now
came the difficult part. / was tremb~
ling with merry Gus excitement. Putting
the ends to my tongue, / felt the cir
cult close through it and all was still
No one was using the wire
l now took the wires in each hand
and, as well as the wires would allow
i called b several times. This was done
by holding the ends of the wire together
to form the dash, then separating them
and striking quickly three times to
form the Morse letter b. Placing the
but | felt no signals. | again repeated
the call, and placing the ends again in
position, | distinctly felt the shocks,
which said plainly, l. /. b."
Taking hold OF the wires again, l
sent the following message slowly, and
OF without blunders: Send help to
roof of - Hotel Mailman trying to get
on roof Am in great danger. Work
quicl1!"
Telegraphists are generally quick of
perception, and the operator grasped the
situation at once.
Placing the wires again to my tongue,
/ felt him answer slowly and several
times over o. X"
/ wrote back /" o. X" that he might
know | understood And now my mes
sage was sent, | hastily dropped the
wires and ran to the trap-door.
/ was none too soon The slender rope
was giving way under the powerful
strain, and I threw myself upon the dool
Just in time to prevent it Swapping.
| could hear the man below breathing
l..o....il.- III ola Ln nnttlni