Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-09-26
CONYERSING BY TELEGRAPH.
An Operator says He is Not Conscious of the
Click of the instrument.
New York Tribune.

New York Tribune.
EDO l hear the click of my instru-
ment?" said a telegraph operator when
asked what was the sensation of receiv-
ing a message and writing it out at the
same time. "'Well, 1 suppose I do, else
1 could not take the message, but the
sound does not make noticeable i'm
preston on my ear. In fact, l am
never conscious OF the fact that there
is a click. I do not associate the ac-
tual dot or dash with the letter. To me
it is q letter itself. So when I am
receiving it is precisely the same
as if some one was talking to me-
Most of the messages come along
so rapidly, you know, that they make
running conversation. 1t is not precisely
as if you were talking to me here, but
rather as if you sat in one corner of a
room and spoke to me. This is so true
that when a question is asked an operator
fancies that he hears the rising of the
voice at the end of the sentence. This
prevents one from being. overcome by
terrible mouOtOny of the: thing, for l
often get interested in the messages.
When am receiving graphic news
paper account OF any incident l feel as If
some one was telling it to me. Perhaps
it is more real to me than TO one who
reads it afterward.
"SOmetime when my wire is not at
work lie back in my chair and dose off
When another operator begins to call me
TIE effect is the same as if he spoke my
name in my ear, repeating it over and
over again. I do not associate the call
with anything but the idea it represents.
That is why the little pleasantries which
two operators exchange do not seem so
unsympathetic to us as peo-
pie think they are. 1 have
had men laugh at me when l told them
that 1 had just greeted a fellow operator
after getting him. The thing struck
them as being Iudicrous. He heard
nothing but the metallic snap. 1t often
happens that you lose track of a man for
a long time. Some day he hobs up again
at the other end of wire. You don
discover who it is until the message is
over the wire, perhaps. Then you say
Hello, where have you been? How are
you? just about as you would if You met
him in the street.
'Then you get to know some man
whom you have never seen. You talk
with him, say hulIo' and good by and
get well acquainted with him in time.
You wonder what he looks like, whether
he Is tall or short, and such things.
Some day he changes or you change, for
operators are always moving around, you
meet MIN and you are friends on the spot.
OF course, when you know q man person.
ally and talk with him, the conversation
is all the more natural. But you mnstu t
get the idea that operators say much over
the wires at one time. They don t often
have the time. When work is pressing
we jump from one message to another
without wasting much time.
''Can I recognize certain men by their
touch on the key? No, / can t say that
I can. But there are some men who are
like lightning, and / usually find ont
pretty soon whether or not the Eastman
of an office is on the other end Then
there are men who are terrible slow, so
that l feel as if | was listening to q draw
ling voice. I can tell when I have taken
two words whether the sender is good
OF q poor operator. -