Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1890-12-12
AN ELECTRIC THRILL.
SINGULAR STATEMENT OF AN txPt-
R,eNCeD OPERATOR.

SINGULAR STATEMENT OF AN exPe.
RieNceD OPERATOR.
he Receives from Some Men a Sense OF
Dreamy Pleasure in Taking Their Mes,
sages-Others Have the Same Feeling
When Taking His Morse"
am not a man. / nave never
stuuleu PHYSIOLOGY. 1 know little OF the
theoretical science OF electricity. Notwltn.
stanuln the last concession 1 am a tele-
graph operator, anu nave Deen one tor the
last elgnteen years.
" nat / nave Undertaken to 40 Is SIMPLY
to MAKE a pam, unvarnlsneu statement OF
certain lacts growing out OF my knowleuge
OF practical Topography when appear to me
Observation-Disclosures 1ncreulple-anu to asH
an explanation OF them.
Larry IN my experience as a relegrapnel
! came to notice tnat at certain perlous 2
pccull:n1 .h. u ~s.tcouHUesolc ueaisnt accom-
panleu the performances OF my WORK, wnlie,
generally speaking, 1t was lrksome enough
TO me, a young operator. 30 frequently
n so suuuenly ulu THESE remarkable tran
0ApAoLo " AAooA w SAASch oAANN PAhSN
That i pegan to ask myseil Tor an explana-
Eon OF the mystery.
lne most plausloie theory appeared to oe
either tnat / was leelng particularly well
wnen.l lounu my work a source OF so mucn
pleasure, anu the contrary wnen 1t became
nksomc, or That al uepenueu upon the enl-
cheney or uellclency OF the operator at the
other emu o. the wire. 15ut soon tne nrst
nVnOfnpSIS wlS nrOVan tO no "a lSa ana nor
long alUerwaru the lastly OF tine seconu was
also estaDllsneu.
A PECULIAR DISCOv ERA.
One Jay / lay on d cot Ill my ONCE, III
with country lever. hearing the >alce call
Istaggereu to the instruments n answered.
Inc ctort Almost causeu me to lalhr. IVY
puIse Dounueu ant my neau tnroDDeu WIFI
acute pam. Duu, to my utter astonlsnment,
, lett wonuerlully better the instant i oe-
gan receiving the message. l was even
tempteu after taxing the tram oruer TO
senu Oil NAH a dozen messages accumu.
lateu since morning, n wnlcn nau not
been transmitted because OF my lllness; out
again, to my amazemcnt, i u no sooner
touched the Key tnan l became utterly in
capacltateu. IMy neau tnroDoeu worse Jnar
ever, anu again l ieiJ mysell ABOUT to laint
Thus vanished my lirst ineory.
Not long alter tine incident just related
l discovered THESE facts: First, it invari
ably filled me with delignr to receive IRON
that particular operator whose "Morse''
had temporarily cured me OF the lever, but
to send to MIN or to any oJner operator
was to experience only a UNIFORM amour,
OF labor, diminished or increased by ordi
nary circumstances.
SacODI1U tho 0parotor in uuaSrion ',pos
by no means u good one. In TACT ne wa.
quite new to the business anu was wnat i
known us u plug" AS compared with
older and better ~telegrapners on the sam
circuit mis- writing was aoominaDie. HI
sent viciously fast, did no spacing, formed
his letters badly, and lacked that 1irmnes.
and s~teadiuess of stroke so essential in care
full and Intelligent work. Thus I, in com
mon with all VINO worked with him, was
obliged to guess at mucn that ne sent
while it never failed to put ne to my
trumps to keep up with his lightning speed
And yet there invariably came over M
that sense of dreamy pleasure, so delight
full, so strange, SO opposed to every atten
dant condition or circumstance, whenever
it became my fortune to receive from him
And so vanished my second theory.
One day I said to him over the wire, II;
always makes me glad to take YOU"
"Do you mean it," said he.
! answered a1firmatively.
RECIPROCAL PLEASURE.
! ''The more am I pleased" he replica
''since ail the others curse me. And dt
you know ne continued, THAT | find
peculiar and u~naccountable pleasure il
taking from you? | nave been on Sn'
ynint Of fal,ipr WI, c n NOVA 7 nnp oppa -
That night i wrote to him, describin!
my feelings when receiving from him, an,
asking LII exchange of confidence. In hi
reply, which was promptly received, b
said: "When you are sending l tingle al
over. 1t is as if l were electrified"
Some fifteen years have passed since then
and I nave during that time worked il
many Offices and with hundreds Of opera
tors. 1 have learned that my early friend
"the plug" is not the only man, by many
whom it has "made me glad to take.
Whenever I experience shat subtle senss
ton of pleasure and stimulus it is Will
receiving, never while sending, and fror
an operator who invariably feels q CORE
spending sensation while receiving fro1
nc.
began by confessing that l had no theor
Or theories to offer in explanation of tn
ticts stated above, but I MAY be permitte
to ask of better informed psychologists an
psychologists two questions: Is that atlinit
which attracts people to each other and in
simultaneously makes friends of them, caus
ing them to thrill with pleasure wheneve
their hands clasp and they look each othe
in the eye, due in any degree to the pre-
encesof an abnormal quantity of electricit
in their respective bodies? Is it possibI
under these circumstance for one ind
vidual to communicate to another all
4 those influences which his presence an
contact with him would inspire, over
telegraph wire any distance in length, /
means of a key whose handle or knob
insulated, and while the person absorbin
those mysterious influences is remove
from contact with the wire transmittin
them? r -
1t is evident to those who nave thus ia
followed me that I, at least, would answe
the latter interrogatory in the affirmative
To do otherwise would be to doubt the ey
dence of my own ems
If the editor should desire it / will, wit
out loss of time, furnish him with an
reasonable number of afidavits tendin
to prove the absolute truthfulness Of evel
statement above made, and these affidavit
shall be collected from old, experience
trustworthy and we'll known telegraI
operators.-W. B. Seabrook in New Yor
Sun.