The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1889-10-10
WORKING THE WIRES.
A Telegraph Operators Interesting Ac-
count of his Work.

do I hear the click of my instru-
ment?" said telegraph operator when
asked what was the sensation of re-
ceiying message and writing it out
at the same time. "SYen, | suppose i
do, else / could not take the message,
but the sound does not make notice
able impression on my ear. In fact,
am never conscious Of the fact that
there is a click. L do not associate the
actual dot or dash with a letter. To
me il is a letter itself So when I am
receiving it is precisely the Same as if
someone was talking to me. Most of
the messages come along SO rapidly,
you know, that they make a running
conversation. 1t is not precisely rs il
you were talking to me here, but
rather as if you sat in one corner of
room and spoke to me. This is so true
that when a question is asked an oper-
ator fancies that he hears the rising of
the voice ut the end OF the sentence.
This prevents one from being over
come by the terrible mOnOtOny of the
thing, for | often get interested in the
messages. When | am receiving
graphic newspaper account of any Incl
dent | feel as if someone was telling
it to me. Perhaps it is more real to
me than to one who reads it after
ward.
Sometimes when my wire is not at
work | lie back in my chair and doze
off. When another operator begins to
call me the effect is the same as if he
spoke my name in my ear, repeating it
over and over again. | do not asso-
ciate the call with anything but the
idea it represents. That is why the
little pleasantries which two operators
exchange do not seem so unsympa-
thetic to us as people think they are.
| have had men laugh at me when !
told them that | had just greeted a fel-
low operator after getting him The
think struck them IS being ludicrous.
He heard nothing but the metallic
snap. 1t often happens that when YOU
lose track of a man for a long time,
some day he bobs up again at the
other end of wire. You don't dis
cover who it is until the message is
over the wire, perhaps. Then You say:
'Hulio, where have yOu been: how are
you?' just about rs you would if you
met him in the street.
iutH .NOu get 10 KNOW some man
whom you have never seen. You
talk with him, say 'huIlo, and good
by and get well acquainted with him
in time. IOu wonder what he looks
like, whether he is tail or short, and
such things. Some day he changes, or
you change. for operators are always
moving around, YOU meet him and you
are friends on the spot. OF course,
when you know a man personally and
talk with him, the conversation is all
the more natural. But You mustn'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 l recognize certain men by
their touch on the keys? No, can't
say that | can. But there are some
men who are like lightning, and /
usually find out pretty soon whether or
not the fast man Of an office is on the
other end Then there are men who
are terribly slow. so that | feel as if |
was listening 10 drawling voice. l
can tell when have taken two words
whether the sender is a good or poor
operator. "-NeJG York Tribune