The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1890-08-14
! EARNEST 0PERAHORS,
nRN WHO use THE TELEGRAPH
AS A MEANS or EDUCATION,

Onethlrd 0f tho telegraph operators pi
the country arc continually preparing
themselyea Tor other professions, while the
Uther twothirds are continually thinking
OF doing 30, OF tho 100 men working %
the regular night force Ia the Western
Union main nhioe thlrty'hiE uf them Hre
hthfr studying or working ~ something
fife days They are divided up ~ follows
DQetUua, o, lawyers, VI mlnlstela, ., brokers,
b Aet0n. g, theatrical managers, 81 real
RNte dealers, g, Inventors, II book agents,
II manufacturers, 1, OiVil engineers, / au'
thorl, Il commercial business, Il electrical
supply agents, I composers OF music, l.
Tho method Of making the change 10 dif'
furent from that employed by men In other
walks OF life, Operators never have tat
places thrust upon them, This Il because
they never come la contact with leaders IN
the business world, 10 II they ever en-
peot 10 get anything better they must
reach for it Most Of the operators who
desire change are men Of families, oonse,
quently they have 20 move dlacreetly ana
do considerable economical juggling, 10
ing without any capital except their own
energy aud ambition they choose a pro
feaaOn. The two most ia favor are medi'
cine and law, The next thing 10 be done
IA 70 acquire H. But this isn't such AN easy
matter,
FAVORABLE HOURS of WORK
The only thing Ia their favor ID their
hbum Of duty, These are regular, rele'
graph Offices have three separate forces,
The day force reports for duty at Va, m,
and Ia Oh at 5HO p m,l the regular night
force relieves the day force NJ chat hour
the all night force relieves the night force
at 1850 ~ M, and h Ia turn relieved
At 0 by the day force again, The regular
night force ID the most available, and the
small army Of asplrants Tor greatness In
other ranks atftggle upon H. They are
given no extra privileges by the companies,
but are subjected 10 the same stringent
rules aud regulations that govern the rest
OF the men. In fact, they have harder
time Of II than tho majority OF the oper7
atorE, because they are ordinarily strictly
first elaAs, and arc consequently compelled
~ aQ the hardest work
! All these men who Gse striving 10 shake
loose from telogJaphy were originally
country boys, The Villages whore they
went 70 school and whore they atterward
learned telegraphy grew too small for
them, aud they came 10 New York, where
they could do hotter Many couutrymen,
after spending several years Ia this city,
0nter colleges aud graduate with honorh
During the summer vacations they return
W the city and work day aud night In
this way they make enough money 10 run
them through the college year Dozens Of
such meA Cock 10 the city every summer
after commencement and remain until the
college opens In the fall again, A. the
summer season IN the time when the tele'
graph companies do their biggest business
they don't have any trouble Ia getting all
the work they want,
The number Of Wlcgrapheu who drift
Into newspaper work ~ also large, There
~ scarcely a paper OF any importance In
this country that doesn't number several
ox.tclegraphoH upon la stan Ia New York
there aro score or more, These men were
usually employed by the various press a.
soolRtions and newspapers "a operators
Probably the only man engaged In tho
telegraph business who doesn't care 10 SET
out u 70 IL John Brant, an operator at 1905
Broadway, lie II a banker on quite an or'
tongiyo scale, For twenty years h0 has
worked for tho Western Union Ia this city
and loaned money 10 the boys, The ma
jority OF operators have way Of spending
their money long before pay days, which
occur on the 18TH aud lat Of every month.
Brant IA their benoiactor and his own, llo
loans them certain sum, depending en-
tirely upon who the person IA, for two
weeks at per cent, without security II
~ estimated that hO loans 5000 In this way
month and no " said 70 have accumu.
lated a considerable fortune,
ATTITUDE oF TIE COMPANIES
The higher officials OF the various com.
panicg arc said 70 Wow the evolutionary
movement with dlsiayor This IN not
strange, for the men who are working out
OF the business are usually the companies
best men, The companies do not put any
obstacles Ia the mems way, neither do they
give them aholping hand. They consider
that the men aro using the telegraph ~ q
stepping stone 10 something better, and
they sprinkle just enough eongoaled water
upon the steps 10 make them slippery II
the men mount thom Ia safety they take II
good nhturodly, II the men slide 10 the
bottom they nro satisfied, ono official,
when asked what aid the companies gave
their men who desired 10 better their
worldly condition, saidi
"Wo give them no aid, because II
wouldn't do. We look upon all our men
alike and treat them all alike, The stu
dents are governed by the same rules that
govern the other men They have no priv
ilogos over any one else, II they want 10
Rot Off before their time Ia up they have 10
put their names In the early book and take
their chances with the rest Of the men. II
we can spare them wo let them 60; II we
amt they have to work, no matter how
tired or sleepy they may be- We hire
them M operators, and all that we require
Of them IL that they will do the work for
which they were employed II they want
10 attend college during the day time they
can. Thats none OF our business, But
because they do isn't any reason why we
should show any Partially. After they
have secured their diploma, however, we
usually arrange their hours IN such way
that they can have the day 10 devote 20
working up practice But until then no
concessions are made, and they are not
even allowed 10 study In the Office, even II
they did have the time
Notwithstanding the last statement the
mon do study in the office But they do "
olandestinely. They carry little volume
about Ia their pockets, and whenever there
isAl lull In business they take " out and
read its pngen, which they screen with
mosaaRea. Who cblefs OF the various diyis.
ions In which the men work know IL, but
nevor Interfere. They are In sympathy
with the men, and have n disposition To
Rvo thom lift whenever they can, New
York Sun.
soiomon's Temple Not Much.