Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-07-18
WIGHT WITH THE WIRES.

the Clicking saunders Heard
mn Nm darkness Relgns on the Face OF the
BARN isil D.,miny of the dawn of this time of
ks a wonderful transformation
yea. n that hive of industry, the big
scene - room of the Western UnioD
oPs.--anh Company, at Broadway ard
st-eet By the time the hrst gay
20! sts appear in the east the bulk OF the
s'sa1 f,r the night has been finished. The
"'o+-A,isl.p for the newspapers East, West
S,1tb have all been cleared from the
anu a. the "reds," or half-rate night
e.,s.,ss are flashing over their routes
Liant destinations. 1t is the one
- in the twsnty-fOur hours of the
P.nan there is a lull in the rush of
Tbs EASTERN light grows brighter each
.l,,spt. stealing over the bay, across the
If of great buildings and into the
1,o1ops of the operating room on the
w. Aoor of the small structure of the
.Yyia,-snb company. The incsndescent
,r1s which CLEANED brightly during
TO- darkness of the night, now become as
...ilov and sickly of hue under the APP
Zach of sunlight as jets of gas within
tebrilliant radius of an arc lamps rays.
Here and there throughout the room
.-.orv operators are seen With their heads
howed upon their arms, and their arms
ss-tirg uron their little tables. Some are
stsaling BRET but sweet bits of slumber,
ho+ most of them are simply resting.
0tbsrs lean back with folded arms, con-
tsntedy putting their pipes, coHtem plat
in, nossibly the amount of energy ex
ended upon the nights work, and
yorderipg what the same expenditure in
,o,rs other field of labor wonld have
h,onyht them in. Others still may be
seen in groups, quietly talking shop"
narhaps. but most likely exchanging the
s,sedotes and tales of adventure of which
the craft seems to possess an ine1haust-
iblesupply. The wire railways which con-
vey messages from one part of the room
70 another with lightning like swiftGess
are still. The clicking of the instruments
becomes less irritating to the ear as
wire after wire is cleared and the sound
era cease tb cir monotohous metallic jab
Der. Finally, as the san appears the
room is uulet scve for the occasional
clicking OF an instrument with a rush"
message.
Sitting in any part of the room one
can hear an occasional message as it is
flashed to its destination. At this boar
the rush" messages nearly always bear
tales of woe. Listening closely, one can
hear, away Fl in the distance, the mes
sage of a wife to her parents, telling them
that her husband is dead and praying
them-to come to her; again, it is the
81 h.
who informs father that their child is
dead
As the sun rises higher, sending shafts
of light into the great room, the clicking
ceases almost entirely for a while. Then
the NOISE begins again with a rush that
does not end until another down. The
first messages handled cash day are those
TO and from the markets. From Fulton
and Washington marketmen 60 out every
morning thousands of messages to points
within half days walk from tine city,
asking dealers their needs for the day, or
announcing that orders have been or will
be shipped. From hotelmep at the sea
shore and in the country come innumer.
bic orders for delicscies TO be forwarded
On the first train from the city. The
business for the day is not in full blast
until TO O'Clock, when the rush from the
stock, produce aud other exchanges be
gins THIS Is kept up at frantic gait
until after O'Clock in the afternoon,
when there is a lull again until $50. At
this hour the night force comes on DUTY,
and work is begun on the night-rate
business and press dispatches.
There is no cessation in the rush from
thai hour tilt the papers have gone to
press, bat at o'clock a. m. all night force
comes on TO finish the work and to
relieve some OF those who have worked
steadily since 5:30.-New York Tribune.