The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1889-12-25
CAPTURED THE GANG.
An Old-Tirne Telegrapher's Re-
markable Exploit.
A Combination of Morphine and Whisky
Too Much for the Robbers-A
Big Lesson to the
Narrator.

The itinerant telegrapher is essential
Iva story-teller. A roamer and rover
by bent of natural disposition long
enough to refurnish wardrobe and put
little money in his pocket for lncldent-
ii expenses; then he fits to some other
scene; and every change of location ADDS
to a fund of Renaissance and 'shop-
talk" on which he is ever ready to draw
for the entertainment of an appreciative
listener.
One of these migratory gentlemen was
observed few days ago engaged in sup
porting the iron frame of the door lead
ing into the Washington street entrance
of the Western Union office, and his
store-house of recollections was prompt
ly tapped.
EYES," he said, 81 am telegrapher.
Not one of the kind who hold forth in
the corner drug store at fifteen dollars
month, live on one meal a day and
secreted cans of Liebig 'pinched' when
the drug clerk is out and the operator Is
running the shop, but gilt-edged re-
ceiver and fast-sending 'rusher.' 1have
had a varied experience in getting to
what l consider the top round OF the
ladder in the 'perfesh.'
81 started out as an apprentice to a
man with cork leg This man had
various outside duties to perform, such
as swinging a ponderous gate over one
right of way when trains on the other
wanted to go by; cleaning, lighting, and
getting out the switch-lamps at night,
talking shop, and answering % calls
signal sent out by the neutrality-suspicious.
every half hour. Every operator was
supposed to answer this or get credit for
being asleep--the one answering the
most in month getting five dollars
from the company. Well, was this
mans STUDENT and to pay him for
teaching me the mystery of the dots
and dashes 1 relieved him of all of his
outside duties and nearly all Of those
inside, very soon after | had mastered
the alphabet.
SLOW stuck-up was when I could sit
in and answer those q callsI And what
a snap it was for my mutilated-in-the-
cause friend! can see myself now sit
ting in his chair, watching first the in
strument and then the clock and when
the half-hour came around grabbing the
key and swapping out y in what would
appear to me now to be a very 'ladylike'
mo II fh,t, t;,,,n thn al
was in the back part of the office snor-
ing away, and only getting up when /
called him to get orders for an out
going train.
first condition and entered the second.
My! my! but what nuisance kid is in
the second one. He has acquired the
alphabet and can get a word or two here
and there in sentence and straight
way imagineS he is an operator, and
with little more practice says he can
take an office out on the road. That is
the time when trouble begins for the
old ones on the line. He commences
at one end and goes through the entire
string of offices, asking them in his
jerly student style if there is any one
there that wants to 6rastis' this is the
word the average student generally
makes when he tries to write 'prac-
tice). With what glee he says pa, pa
when he discovers an Office where there
is another student, always ready to re-
spond 'pi, pi' to his pa, pa. This dis
play of emotion and response, so IA
miliar to the telegrapher, is the unsuc-
cessful attempt of the novice to make
the letters ii and "a in saying 'ha, ha.
II don't like to think of the heart.
rending experiences of that time. im-
agined myself equal to the task of tax
Ing train order and let the old man
sleep one night, and tackled it. I never
dsdknow how much that train-dispatcher
swore at me until got to be a dispatcher
myself. The order started: TO Condr.
and Engr. Train No. - The dis.
patcher got as far as No when l trem.
blingly opened the key and said: sc
ahead, condr.' Again he started: 'Condr
and engr. once more opened and said
Please go ahead, con- An exclama
ton point from the dispatcher and an
other start. By this time / was so rat
tied that l could not have received it il
my slow-sending student friend had beer
transmitting it. l broke him again
and, tearing up the order, asked him tt
please repeat it slowly.
"The answer came slow, but it was
not the train order 1t sounded some.
thing like this: who are you, anyway
where is the operator? Get him and tel
him to keep his plug student off Of
this wire.' / awoke the old man and got
'laeked-up' again by him for not having
called him in the first place.
This little experience took all of the
conceit out of me and really was good
thing in its way, for it spurred me OF
TO renewed exertion. I got the oper.
ator to put an instrument on repor
wire and nfactined far h,,,,a - a 49,.