The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-07-16
EARNEST OPERATORS.
MEN WHO USE THE TELEGRAPH
AS A MEANS OF EDUCATION.

Themselves fer other professions, while the
other twe-fhirds are continually thinking
Of doing 40. OF the 100 men working on
the regular night forcs n tho Western
Union main Office thirty-six Of them are
either studying or working at something g
| Slse days. They are dixfaed up as follows:
Doctors, s; lawyers,6s ministers. 8; brokers,
3; actors, 8; theafTica1 managers, 3; real
estate dealers, Q; inventors, Q; book agents,
l; manufacturers, 1; civil engineers, 1; au-
thorB, 1; commercial business, 1; electrical
supply agents, l; composers of music. I.
The method Of making the change Is diff
ferent from that employed by men in other
walks OF life. Operators never have fat
places thrust upon tAaLn. This il because
| they never come in contact with leaders In
the business world 81 If they ever ex-
| pect to get anything better they must
reach for 1t. Most Of the operators who
desire charge are men of families, conse-
euentIy they have to move discreetly and
do considerable economical tugglina Be-
ing without any capital except their own
energy and ambition they choose q pro-
| feSsicn- The two most m favor are medt-
cine ana Jaw. The next thing to be done
is to acquire It, But this isn't such an easy
| matter.
| FAVORABLE HOURS OF WoEK-
| The only thing in their favor is their
hours ofdRty. These are regular. Tele-
graph Offices have three separate forces.
| The day force reports for duty at 8. m.
and IS Off at $50 p. Ia; the regular night
| force relieves the dag force at that hour;
at 1:30 g. m, and is in turn relieved
| NJ q hv-f hn 40 lar
| night force Is the most avatlable and the
small army q aspirants for greatness in
other ranks struggle upon it They are
given no extra privileges by the companies,
but are subjected to the same stringent
rules and regulations that govern the rest
| of the men In fact, they have a harder
time of it than the majority Of the oper-
ators, because they are ordinarily strictly
first class, and are consequently compelled
TO do the hardest work.
| All these men who are striving to shake
loose from telegrapny were originally
country boys. The villages where they
went to school and where they afterward
learned telegraphy grew too small for
| them, and they came To New York. where
they could do better. Rtany countrymen,
| after spending several years in this city,
enter colleges and graduate with honoEs.
During the summer vacations they return
to the city and work day and night. In
this way they make enough money to run
them through the college year. Dozens of
such men Aock to the city every summer
after commencement and remain until tho
college opens is the fall again. As she
summer season Is the'tifne when the tele-
graph companies do their biggest business,
they don't have any trouble in getting all
the work they want.
The number Of telegraphers who drift
into newspaper work Is also large There
is scarcely paper of any Importance in
this country that doesn't number several
photographers upon its STAFF In New York
there are score or more. These men were
usually employed by the various press as-
sociations and newspapers as operators.
Probably the only man enszged In the
telegraph business who doesn't care to get
out Of it is John Brant, an operator at 1876
Broadway. He is q banker On quite an ex-
tensive scale. For twenty years he has
worked for the Western Onion In this city
and loaned money to the boys. The ma
jority of operators haze way of spending
their money long befsge pay days, which
occur On the 18th and 1st of egeTy month.
Brant is their benesaetor aafI his own He
loans them a certain sum, depending en-
tirely upon vhe the person is, for two
weeks at per cent, without security. 1t
is estimated that he loanB $500 in this way
a month, and be is said to- have accumu-
lated considerable fortune.
ATTITUDE OF THE COMPANIES
The higher officials Of the various CON-
panies are Sa46 to view Shs evolutionary
movement with disfsEof- This is not
strange, for the men who are working out
of the business are usually the companies
best men. The compazffcs do not put any
obstacles In the msa's wuy, neither do they
give them G helping kand. They consider
that the mem are uBfng the Telegraph as
stepping Stone to soEasSlnRg better, and
they sprinkle Just. enough eSnGRaled water
upon the steps TO make them slippery. II
the men mount them IL, ,ssfstY they take ii
good naturedty; II tlG men slide 20 the
bottom they arc satisfied Ole official,
whan asked wha6 aid the companies gave
their men who desired to better their
worldly condition, said:
1--WE give them no aid, because It
wouldn't do We look upon ell our men
alike and treat than al alike- The stu
dents are governed by the ssne rules that
govern The other men Theyyhaye no priv
neges over GUy one else. Il they want to
get off before them time is up they have to
put their names In the eaEiy hook and take
their chances with the rest of the men. II
we can spare them We let them got IL we
can't they kave TO work, na matter how
tired or sleepy they may be. We hire
them as operators, aad ea that we require
OF them is that theF viii do the work for
which they ware eznS&eysd- Ii they want
to attend conege 617EIEg shs day time they
can. That's mona ef our business But
because they do isn't Cuy reason why we
should show any psxtiafity. After they
have secured their diploma. however, we
usually arrange their hours in such a way
that they cAn havs the day to devote to
working up practice. But until then no
concessions are made. and they are not
even allowed 20 study in the oface, even If
they did have the TINA"
Notwithstanding she last statement the
men do study h the Office. But they do IL
ckandestineIy. They carry fistie volume
about N their pockets, and whenever there
Ia lun in business they take fs out and
rtsd its pages, which they screen with
messages The chiefs ef the various divis-
ions In which the men work know II, but
never interfere They are IA sympathy
with the men, and have disposition to
give them a Eft whenever they ean--NeT
York Sun.
SoIenan's 3 Temple Not Much.
Salornno,s ee-,rIa al described IN the