The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1890-10-26
WARNING FROM A SPIRIT
A Strange Message That Came to an
Operator at a Way Station in Illinois.
Danger on q Railway POretold and in q Few
H0Rrs the Receivers Fears We're Real
lied in News of Disaster.

A telegraph operator. who in the prime of
life takes reports night after night for the
Associated Prees wires, is fond of recalling
his early experience in ~telegraphy. They
occurred long before the typewriter came
in to expedite the work of receiving. and
when the service in which he is engaged
was far away from the vast system of which
he is now a part. 1t is after the last report
in the early hours of the morning he be-
comes communicative and relates his ex-
periences. I'm 1868 / was employed on the
Indianapolis * St Louis railroad as a tele-
graph operator" said he the other morning
to o group of reporters who were lunching
with him. II had al experience then that
will always remain fresh in my men,
Dry. 1t was an experience, at once
so startling. so out of the usual happenings
of ordinary lite. and withal SO terrible in
its consequences, that although more than
e score of years have passed since then. tine
incidents remain as fresh in my mind. even
to the smallest detail, as though it hap
pened but yesterday. l have never ceased
to try to harmonic the cause and effect,
yet / am as completely without q con-
clusion as / was the day it happened"
Go on with the story" said the report
ers in q chorus.
my first office on that road" he replied,
as if giving no attention to the request.
was at o small station not far distant from
Pana, Ill, ard it was while employed as
night operator at this place that / made
the acquaintance of q young Erenchman
who was also the night operator at Pana.
Our duties were not very arduOus, as only
a few fralna naGGan Our stations At night
and, having no other duties to perform
han. to report their arrival and departure,
We had frequent opportunities OF INDUCING
in q nap sutf cient to enable US to spend
much OF our time together the following
day by an exchange of visits. My young
French friend was one of the most COM
panionable fellows l ever met. He had
travelled in almost every country, and his
varied experiences aud hair breadth es-
capes would eclipse anything ever written
in any dime novel. He had been captured
by cannibals in Patagonia, and was spared
the usual fate because OF his acrObatic
feats and q knowledge of sleight-of-hand
tricks. which produced on the minds of bis
captors q su perstitious awe. The quick
witted Frenchman was not slow to take
advantage of his accomplishments, and in
stead of serving them as q feast he in a
short time became a sort of king
living with them for over a year, escaped
finally, reaching Peru, South America.
Here he took a prominent part in the insur-
~rection. was arrested, tried and sentenced
TO death. but, together with q few others.
though under q he avy fire from the guards.
succeeded In again escaping by making .
bold dash for liberty. He had married, a
short time before i met him. a charming
French lady, and their little cottage was a
delightful place to visit. In making our
trips back and forth we frequently rode on
the engine, and it was during these trips
we became acquainted with Jack McFar;
land, Jack Mack as we Familiarity called
him. The engineers ruiz was then with the
local passenger train. and in o short time
we three became very warm friends"
Now for the Incidents" suggested the
listeners.
Late in the spring. the operator con-
tinued. Il was promoted to be night man
in the superintendent office. b at Litch-
field. and Jack was promoted to the fast ex-
press, 30 our pleasant association were
partially severed. as L only saw Jack when
the express stopped at headquarters long
enough for orders. and my only
cation with Napoleon as we called the
young Frenchman. was over the wire.
However, even this satisfaction was soon
denied me, for poor Napoleon was stricken
down with fever, and one night when /
came on duty / found a MESSAGE from his
wife saying he was dead. / rode over with
Jack the following day. and we laid him
to rest in the cemetery at Pana.
"AIl railroad operators are inveterate
Et.J 80 - AOAooAo
time, yet are required to keep within call of
their instruments, and as most offices are
situated in the smaller town 9 they naturally
become something of idlers' resorts, and
nothing seems to take the place of the quiet
game to while away the otherwise tedious
hours of duty. The operators or this road
were no exception to the rule, as not only
was the game carried On during the day be-
tween the operators and their fellOw-tOwns-
men, but at night some enthusiast would
call out over the wire and challenge some
brother operator, perhaps 100 miles distant,
to try conclusions with him In his ~favorite
game. Checkers can be as easily and COM
prehensively played by telegraph as though
squares are numbered exactly alike on each
board, and each move is licked off over the
wire. giving the number of the square or
squares as each move is made. Thus the
player in ct. Louis would say to his oppo-
rent in Terre Haute: Twenty-Five to 49,
Terre Haute would reply, IL to 49, ST.
Louis would then have q jump on the
board, and would reply, Is to H. and pick
up the man from the board which repre-
sented the Terre Haute's side. and so on
throughout the game. Every operator
along the line could get out his board and
arrange his men, and follow the game of
any two contestants anywhere on the cir
cult, and many q hOtly-cOntested game
have / witnessed in the still hours of the
night, although the principals to the game
were many miles distant, and perhaps
more than one hundre miles apart. / was
sitting by my instrument one dark, rainy
night, and, having become somewhat
weary of following the play of a game that
was going on over the wires, l piled mp the
chair cushions around me and fixed myself
for q doze, as / noticed / had nearly an
hour yet before the New York express was
due from st. Louis. Somehow L felt I'M
usually drowsy; my eyeiids would close in
spite of my best efforts TO keep them open.
/ laid my head against the high back of
the chair and closed my eyes. / heard the
games going on at a lively rate. with an oc-
suggestion, or make some remark
concerning the game. Suddenly there came
to my ears a sound from a strange instru-
ment. q sound entirely different from the
instrument on the table. 1t fiuttered an
instant and then licked of the MESSAGE:
Robinson creek dangerous / sprang to
my feet. There was no other instrument
in the house except the one on the table,
which was still busy clicking away on the
checker game, and that one had not been
touched.
There was another u~naccountable thing.
for IN ticking of this strange message from
this strange instrument 1 recognized the
sending or Napoleon whose funeral /
had attended only a few weeks before.
Every operator has a style of sending
as peculiar to himself as his facial express
sion. or bis tone of voice, n an operator
Is as readily recognized by his maniDula-
tion OF the KEY as by his penmanship, and
some have a popularity or style of making
the telegraph characters which. although
perfectly legible, are beyond all possibility
of imitation. Napoleon's sending was that