Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1890-11-21
AN ELECTRIC THRILL.
SINGULAR STATEMENT Or AN txPE-
RitNctD OPERATOR.

SINGULAR STATEMENT Or AN txPE-
RitNCtD OPERATOR.
he Receives from Some EIen Sense OF
Dreamy Pleasure in Taking Their Mes
sages-Others Have the Same Feeling
When Taking His "IIorse."
am not a ScIentlnc man. 1 nave Eever
stuuleu pnysiology. l know little OIL the
theoretical science OIL electricity. NotWltn-
stanulng the last CONCESSION L am teIe-
graph operator, anu nave Deen one tor the
last eighteen years.
', nat l nave Undertaken to 40 IS SIMPLY
to MAKE pam, unvarnlsneu statement Oh
certain 1acts growing out OIL my KnowIeuge
OIL practical teIegrapny when appear to me
Observation-Disclosures reulple-anu to ask
m explanation OF them.
Early IN my experience as a JeIegrapnel
came to notice tnat at certain porous
peculiar anu unaccOuntabIe uengnt accom-
pan1eu tne peri ormance OF my WORK, WINE,
generauy speaking, 1t was 1rksome enough
TO me, a young operator. 30 frequently
anu so suuueniy uIu these remarKaDIe tran
sltlons from Iapor to ueIlgnt take pace
tnat began to ask mySe1 1Or an eXplanar
ton OF the mystery.
ine most piausl ole theory appeared to Oe
either that was Ieeung particularly well
wnen i Iound my WORK source Oh so mucn
pleasure, and the contrary wnen 1t became
irNsome, or that all uepenueu upon the ELI
cheney OR GeIc1ency OF the operator at the
otner end Oh the WIRE. But soon tne nrst
hypothesis was proven to De false, anu not
long alUeryyaru the lastly OF the seconu was
also eStaDnsGeu.
A PECULIAR DISCOVERY.
One Gay ! lay on cot IN my oiIice, Iii
with country lever. hearing the Office call
staggered to the instrument anu answered.
The enort almost caused me to laInt. EIy
pulse bounded anu my neau tnroDocu with
acute pam. But, to my utter aStonIsnment,
/ lett wonderfully better the instant oe-
gan receiving the message i was even
tempted after taxing the tram oruer TO
send OH hail dozen messages accumu-
lated since morning, anu winch nau not
been transmitted because Oh my Illness; but
again, to my amazement, mad no sooner
touched the key than became utterly in
capacitateu. Ny head Jnroooeu worse tnan
ever, anu again | IeiG myseil about to faint.
Thus vanished my first theory.
Not long alter the incident just related
/ discovered these facts First, 1t lnvarl-
ABLY filled me with delight to receive from
mat particular operator whose Morse
,lad temporarily cured me OF the lever, but
TO send to MIN or to any oJner operator
was to experience only Uniform amount
OF LABOR. diminished or increased Dy orui-
nary circumstances
Secondly, the operator in question was
by no means good one. in TACT he was
quite new to the business and was what Is
known as q plug" AS compared With
older and better teiegrapners on the same
circuit his writing was aDonllnaDIe. lie
sent vicously fast, did no spacing, formed
mis- letters badly, and lacked that firmness
and SteadiHess OF stroke SO essential IN care
lui and intelligent work. Thus l, in com
mon with all who worked with him, was
obliged to guess at much that he sent
Wniie it never failed to put me to my
trumps to keep up with his lightning speed
And yet there invariably came over mt
That sense of dreamy pleasure, so delight
ful, 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 / said to him over the wire, 81
always makes me glad to take YOU"
''Do you mean lt?" said he.
answered affirmatively.
RECIPROCAL PLEASURE.
"The more am I pleased" he replied
since all the others curse me. And d.
YOU know" he continued, Sthat I find
peculiar and unaccountable pleasure il
taking from you? l have been on tht
point CT telling you SO more than once.''
That night I wrote to him, describing
my feelings when receiving from him, ant
asking an exchange of confidence. In hi!
reply, which was promptly received, hi
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 have during that time worked ii
many offices and with hundreds OF opera
tors. l 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 that subtle sensa
| ion Of pleasure and stimulus it is whil
receiving, never while sending, and from
| N operator who invariably feels CORE
| spending sensation while receiving from
| me.
began by confessing that had no theor,
| Or theories to offer in explanation OF tht
acts stated above, but may be permitted
10 ask of better informed psychologists ant
| psychologists two questions: Is that affinit.
| which attracts people to each other and in
simultaneously makes friends Of them, caus
ing them to thrill with pleasure whenever
their hands clasp and they look each othel
in the eye, due in any degree to the pres
ence Of an abnormal quantity of electricit.
in their respective bodies? Is it possible
under these circumstances for one indi
| vidual to communicate to another all 0
| those influences which his presence ano
contact with him would inspire, over ;
telegraph wire any distance in length, b,
means Of key whose handle or knob il
insulated, and while the person absorbing
those mysterious influences is removed
| from contact with the wire transmitting
| them?
| It is evident to those who have thus fal
! followed me that |, at least, would answer
the latter interrogatory in the affirmative
| To do otherwise would be to doubt the evi
dence Of my own senses.
If the editor should desire it will, with
| out loss of time, furnish him with any
reasonable number of affidavits tending
| to prove the absolute truthfulness of ever.
statement above made, and these affidavit:
shall be collected from old, experienced
trustworthy and we'll known telegraph
operators.-W. B. Seabrook in New York
| Sun.