The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-12-09
Acouaintanees Made by Telegraph
Operators Are Nevertheless to
Memory Very Dear.
Long-Range Friendships Between
Parties who Never Have
Met Face to Face.
v..,,;or Me.bods of Authorization Used In
Talking-Thc Fighting eirc"t
Peouliarities of Sending.


,,;obt do over n dl,Iner table, says the New
york Times. They tell of their hopes and
fears and ambitious and impart very con-
Rdentlal information to men they hnve
never seen. OF course, all these exchanges
take place between those VINO nave been IN
communication constantly for some time.
There are pairs of men who nave been IN
daily communication with each other over
the same telegraph wire for years. and who
have never seen each other. Each IS well
ACQUAINTED with the others temperament,
his modes, his disposition, and MS seht-
ments. Telegraph instruments ana teie-
Graph wires are 1nfeellng and stolld-
looking things Yet, through them a man
ia able to convey emotions of sorrow or JOY |
almost as plainly as they may be expressed
facially, The fact is perfectly palpable 10
the man At one end of the wire, while he is
RECEIVING dispatches that the man who is
sanding them is i'll or well. or-though the |
Gender nav make use of no terms OF friend |
l;neas or Of swear words-that he is III good
temper or bad. ..o, +1v, o,or,+or,
In two cities, instead of being that OF gentle
affection, is that OF strong dislike, Inc 1act
can be made Just as apparent as though |
thew were withina few feet OF each other.
No personal collision can occur, OF course. |
mat IA one of.the drawbacks But man can
call names and make threats over wire
with almost the same facility as by word OF
mouth. One of the tavorlte resorts Wnen
two operators are guarreling is that pro
REASONABLY known as lighting circuit.
Not much is accomplished by this, however,
for when two operators strive AT the same
time to call names over wire, neither can
succeed.
Telegraphers have an old story about
''fichting circuit 1t is SO very old, in
deed. that it is doubtful if it is ever told
nowadays. 1t is of ono man who. for in.
stance. was in Syracuse. After successful
exchange of uncomplmentary remarks
they began to flight circuit, that 49, they
both tried to send epithets over the wire at
once. They fought for some time. Neither
would Weld. The man at Albany, who was
old and astute, saw that the man at SYRIA
cuse, who was Young and stubborn. was in
for an all-night struggle. The Albany man
looked around for proxy. He found 1t in
the clock wire, which was wire attached
to the clocks pendulum, the swaying of
which acted to open and close the circuit
He connected the Syracuse wire with the
clock and went home to bed leaving the
Syracuse man vigorously battling with the
tick-tick, tick of the clock. The old
story concludes with the veracious state
ment thai when the Albany man reached
the Office the next morning he heard the
Syracuse man still fighting the clock, and
that when the former disconnected the
clock wire and closed the circuit the latter
snapped out triumphantly, IL downed yoc,
at last, did ~
Fighting circuit is probably the most
annoying occupation there is. The very
impotency, the very futillty, of it is mad
dening. Here is man VINO has offered
Rrievous insult. Yet the insultee cannot
get at the insulter to kick him. They may
be separated by thousands of miles--the
= practice of calling hard names IS not infre-
quent, possibly. for that reason. lighting
circuit has several times driven men to
the verge of frenzy. There is on record, in
the archives of the Western Union office of
this city, the tale of an eXcitable operator.
who, after long and unsuccessful struggle
to say something mean to a man i'll Buffalo
whom he hated. and who at the same time
was trying to say something mean to him,
suddenly rose from his chair and darted
from the operating room down to the street.
CChis was in the old office at l45 BrOadway.)
There he gazed wildly around, looking for
some object on which to vent his anger
Near him peaceable, mild-mannered gen.
tleman was having his boots polished. The
unhappy operator rushed at him. struck
him in the face, and shouted. ''Blank,
blank you. you're always getting your boots
BACKED" But that was i'll the old days
Not always, however. have differences
arising over a wire been without a bloodlesa
termination. It has been the ease on a
number of occasions that the insultee has
boarded train for the town of the insulter
and that upon the insulter being pointed
out to him, the two have come together in
an ARRAY. But such instances are excep.
tions. Even though man may board Z
train full of the thought of vengeance, 1t Ii
likely to ooze out after q few hours ride
and the visit. instead of being sanguinary
may be one of harmonious peace and goot
feeling. 1t may be stated positively tina
no quarrel begun over telegraph wire ha
ever resulted fatally.
In their conversations telegraphers use
system of authorizations which enables then
to say considerable more in q certain perio'
1 of time than they otherwise could. Thei
morning greeting to a friend in distan
city is usually ''g. m.." and the farewell TO
the evening e. NJ the letters of cours
standing for good morning and good night
The salutation may be accompanied by a.
inquiry by one as to the health of tn
other, which would be expressed thus: IA,
IA ts mng2'' And the answer would bt
ppm PITY wi; INV u?'' or "Tm Mt fig w "
fraid I've ct mlaria."
By the time these courtesies have ia
ken place some early messages have com
from the receiving department or frol
some other wire, and the man before whol
miles away: "Wl hrs a fu: Col hang to 9,
erlastin grind wish VS. RICH" And tt
other man says: mo rest fc wickd, mi
pen.n the last two words indicating that
wants the sender to wait minute while
adjusts and tests his pen. Presently
clicks ont .g a. meaning go ahead,o ar
the days work has begun. If the sender
Viii Old II the business he will take stead
even gait, and the fact that the messag
arc piling mp faster than he gets rid
them won't worry him. When the pile sc
too big he will notify the chief operate
" and that important individual will prob
hlv take portion of them away and ha
fhem sent by another wire. But, il the Sc
ar = Young and ambitious, he will, as sot
- Che messages begin to accumulate, dee
it His duty to .swhoop 'em up" and unle
Els uther man is ambitious too there "
s. trouble pretty quick.
The receiver will .'break"' good de
ma directly he will observe. "Oh, DIT b
scl 4 hloomin hurry. u won't ct ur sala
rafaed Il way" And the sender, pei
vonna and .sfresh.' - will reply that the
Ssiver n 4 s.ham'' and will advise him
ssGst rms, which means that he ought
Il - un and Let competent receiver ia
Eis ntace. Then he will snap out the
~ t1s' peremptorily, which is the ar
s srsrv aian stapding for ''Where shall I
aheedfS But although he may hurry a
1oFsusira. he won't send AZ many messal
~ ~ steady old fellow during the day.
N ~ kWo opeyatOrs send alike. The cl
sl& ~ fhe r. rnment is always the same to
E $50 81 = nam Who does not understand
Il \ ssA1f GO 00DKatOr recognizes the sending
EAs 49, q ~ has ever heard it before
aSIV' lHk 81 f3ms. Just as familiar face
sHS Operator Tommy" SnaS
& 50 - ~ York. and. after roaming II,