, 1890-11-25
NEWS OF uNcouN,s ASSASSINATION.
How It Was Received Over the Wire At
osvego, \. Y, by = Messenger BOY.

How 1t Was Received Over the Wire At
oswego, n. Y, by = Messenger BOY.
THE assassination of Lincoln, " read
Henry n. Garland, passenger agent of
the Wabash, as he spread out a copy of
The New York Herald, dated April 10,
1865, and which contained an account
of the murder of the president
Il remember that event most vivid
ly," said Mr.. Garland, ''and it is i'm
printed on my memory through a part
l played the lei morning in conneo-
ton with it, was a boy living in Os.
wego, n. Y, at that time, and was a
messenger for what was known as the
United States Branch Telegraph com
pany.' 1t was a Canadian line and we
were fighting the Western Union for all
VIC were worth In Oswego the Western
Union Office and our office were sep
Rrated only by a partition. The rivalry
and jealousy was bitter, and we ines
senger boys followed h example of
our superiOrs in working business.
Whenever we'd deliver a message we'd
ask for an answer, and if the fellow
would say there was none we'd wait
until he read the message and then ask
him ii he was sure there was nothing
TO 60 back.
1t vas my business to open up the
Office in the mornings, and the day
after Lincoln was shot / was down at
the Office at half-past z o'clock get
ting ready for the days work. There
were no night offices then, and no one
in Oswcgo had heard OF the assassina-
rion. As | opened the door | heard the
instrument ticking our office call l
was Just learning then, and knew moth
ing beyond the Office call, %. s. and
the alphabet, which l could figure out
l wondered why the thing was going
on so early, and let 1t go for a while.
The call was kept up for so long l be-
came convinced that it was something
big. We used the old wheel and the
paper in those days, something like a
bucket shop ticker, and l walked owe
to the instrument two OF three times,
undecided what to do. There would
be no one around for an hour or two,
and at last l went to the key and broke
m with I L. the signal that all was
ready for the message. The instant /
did so my hair began to rise, as the
thing went of like an engine as the
operator on the other end, relieving
the regular man was on, began to send
in a big message. / was frightened
half to death and hardly knew what
TO do.
The blamed ticker kept a-golng
though, and after had pranced around
tho office a while it began giving the
office call again. l surmised what the
operator wanted this time, and l gave
him the %. X and signed. This was
all he wanted, and he let me alone. L
took the strip of paper and pencil and
sat down to figure out the message. 1t
was pretty cold, but | was wet with
perspiration and so l could
hardly hold the pencil In my fingers.
Il finally managed to find out what
it meant. Abraham Lincoln was shot,
and our office had got II first Irushed
out to the door and saw that the West
ern Union had no bulletin out, and
then l began to work. l got a big
sheet of paper, and with plenty of ink
managed to fl up a bulletin that drew
a crowd About half-past o o'clock the
manager came rushing in and asked me
what | meant told him what | had
done and he nearly had a fit. 1t was a
great scoop on the Western Union and
a big 'ad' for our company, and the
boss predicted that l would be the big
gest operator and telegraph man in the
rountry-but l guess l let down too
soon."-Memphis Commercial.