Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1890-10-25
TELEGRAPHEt.S' BLUNDERS.
Odd and Amusing Mistakes Are Some
times Made by Operators.

tunes haue ny opeTa'ois.
Considering the noise of New York's
great room and the fact that the opera
tors have to jump from theology to
stocks. often sending off long reports
upon subjects of which they know moth
inc, it is surprising that the blunders are
so few. The most amusing of such err
rors seem to be due not to carelessneSS or
inattention upon the part of the opera
tor. but to similarity of certain letters
in the Geographic alphabet, and to the
inability of the receiver to write down
as fast as the instrument clicks out Its
me sage.
There are very good reasons, no doubt,
for many of the mistakes recorded
against telegraph o. orators. There are
no excuses for others. Some are the re-
suit of sheer stupid V, ignorant orpera-
tors being put Mt work requiringnot alone
skill in manipulating a key, but intelli-
reads h"arse for horse may have had his
copy written by the same reporter who
dashed off a criticism on "Glrot1c Giro
fla" and who was dumfounded to find
that the telegraph made it "Snitfle Snof-
file. " Yet it does not always follow that
this is the case, for a telegram has been
known to be transmitted "Yes" when
the copy made it No" with copper plate
distinctness. One of the most curious
blunders l remember occurred over a
cable circuit of the Associated Press,
the message as received being as follows:
LONDON, March %.
Two Americans were arrested here to-day
for attempting to shave the queen.
The message gave the names of the
persons, together with other details, but
| nothing in it accounted for the eXtraor-
binary statement that the men had at
tempted to "shave the queen. No one
in the office where the dispatch was re-
| ceived could understand why any Ameri-
cans should undertake such an unheard
of feat OF why the queen should need
shaving. The more the cablegram was
studied the more perpleNing it grew,
until at last it was decided to ask for ex-
plantations from the other side of the
water Very PROM tIy the operator on
the other side sent lack tine correction
that the Americans referred to had been
arrested for "attempting to shove the
queer.
YES, indeed. Send horse and car
riage to depot, was the innocent mes
sage which went to a lady in Utica from
this city not long ago. She was married
and her husband, usually called Joe, had
been away from home for several weeks.
The wife had telegraphed lady mem
Der of the family to come up and spend
a few weeks with her and the answer
was sent as above The Utica lady was
Frustrated with grief when she received
| a dispatch reading: Joe is dead. Send
hearse and carriage to depot. Ar
rangements were made in hurry, and
the hearse and carriage were in waiting
when Joe and the lady stepped out of
the train.
Long circuits and weak electrical cur
rents frequently play the mischief with
dots and dashes They fall out, -" as
the operators say, vanish or mingle I'M
til two or three letters are mixed to-
gether So many kilograms are sent in
cipher, or according to a code. that the
receiver does not hesitate to write down
the most absurd nonsense if he thinks
the writer intends it, Thus the simple
message, "Come home; James is not
well," has been metamorphosed into
"Coghog; Jags is not l00." The receiv-
ing operator probably committed the
old error of reading (by sounD 6 forme,
the signs of which are similar while
swell, " if not carefully read, is liable to
be transformed into 100. 1t must have
been the same telegrapher who trans
formed John Howard Payne's beautiful
lines into Hog, swot hog, there's nc
place like hog. y New York Letter.