Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-11-26
News OF LlNcoLNs ASSASSINATION.
How II Wa Received Over the Wire at
OsMc.n. y. 4. by a Mrs.rnrer RnN.

Now IL Was Received Over the Wire at
Oswe"o. y. ", by q Messenger Roy.
''The assassination of Lincoln" read
Henry n, Garland, passenger agent of
tho Wabash, Us he spread out copy Of
TIE New York Herald, dated April Is,
1866, and which contained an account
of the murder Of the president.
II remember that event most vivid
ly," said Mr.. Garland, ''and il is i'm.
printed on my memory through n part
Ipla.ed the next morning in conncc-
ton with il. was "A boy living in Os-
wego, y. Y, at that time, and was a
messenger for what was known rs the
united States Branch Telegraph COM
pany.' IL was a Canadian line and we
were fighting the Western Union for all
we were worth. In Oswego the Western
Union Office and our office were sep
arated only 10y a partition. The rivalry
and jealousy was bitter, and We ines
senger boys followed the example Of
our superiors in working business.
Whenever we'd deliver a message we'd
ask for an answer, and il the fellow
would say there was none we'd wait
until he read the message and then ask
him IL he vas sure there wa nothing
TO 60 back.
at was my business TO open up the
ONCE in the mornings, and the day
after Lincoln was shot ! was down at
the Office at half.past Z o'clock get
ting ready for the days work. There
were no night offices then, and no one
In 0swego had heard If the assassina-
ton. As opened the door | heard the
instrument ticking our Office call. l
was just learning then, and knew moth
ing beyond the Office call. -. s. and
the alphabet, which | could figure out.
] wondered why the thing was going
ON SO early, and let il 90 for a while.
The call WAS kept up for SO long | be-
came convinced that il was something
big. We used the old wheel and the
paper in those days, something like a
bucket shop ticker, and | walked over
TO the instrument two or three times,
undecided what TO do. There would
be nc one around for an hour or two,
and at last | went 10 the key and broke
IN with L L. the signal that all was
ready for the message. The instant l
did SO my hair began TO rise, as the
thing went of like an engine as the
operator on the other end. believing
the regular man was on, began To send
n big message. | was frightened
III to death and hardly knew what
Sdo.
a .The blamed ticker kept a-going
though. and after | had pranced around
the office a while il began giving the
oflce call again. | surmised what the
operator wanted this time, and | gave
him the %. X and signed. This was
all he wanted. and he let me alone. l
took the strip Of paper and pencil and
sat down to figure out the message. 1t
wa pretty cold, but ! was wet with
perspiration and so nervous | could
hardly hold the pencil in my fingers.
IL finally managed to find out what
II meant. Abraham Lincoln was shot,
and our Office had got il first. l rushed
out 10 the door and saw that the West
en- Union had no bulletin out. and
then | began TO work. | got a big
sheet Of paper, and with plenty of ink
managed to fix up a bulletin that drew
. crowd. About half past . O'Clock the
manager came rushIngin and asked me
what | meant. told him what had
done and lac nearly had a tit. IL was a
great scoop IN the Western Onion and
a big 'ad' for our company. and the
boss predicted that ] would be the big
gest operator and telegraph man in the
county but ! gue.s lrt down TOO
soon Memphis Commercial.