The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-11-07
E59le
AN ELECTRIC THRILL.
SINGULAR STATEMENT Or AN tXPt-
RIENceD OPERATOR.


ne Receives from Soms Men . Sense o
Dreamy Pleasure In Taking Their Mes
sages-Others Have the Same Feeling
When Taking his Morse"
am not sclentlnc man. 1 nave never
stuuled pnysloIogy. 1 know little Oh the
theoretical sueDce oil eIectncIty. NotwItn-
ssanNlng the last confession 1 am tete-
grapn operator, ana nave oeen one Tor the
last eighteen years.
" nat 1 nave unaertaRen to 90 Is Simply
70 maze pam, unvsrnIsneu statement Oh
certain lacts growing out OF my KnowIeoge
o. practical teiegrapny whlcn appear to me
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Incremole-anu to ask
an explanation OF them
narIy In my experience as a reiegrapner
/ came TO notice that at certain perlotis ?
peculiar anu unaccountaDIe ueu0nt accom-
panied toe performance OF my WORK, wnlre.
generally speaking, II was lrKsome enough
70 me, young operator. 20 frequently
anO 30 suouenIy ma these remarKaoIe tran
sltIons IRON Iaool to uengnt taKe pace
tnat 4 began to ask mysen LOT an expIana-
uon OF the mystery
Inc most piausl oie theory appeared TO oe
eltner That was Ieeung particularly wei
wnen found myworK a source o. so mucn
pleasure, ana the contrary wnen It became
nksome or tnat aII uepenueu upon toe eili-
Cheney or uelIcIency OF the operator at the
otner emu On toe WIRE nut soon toe nrst
hypothesis was proven to oe lalse, anu not
long aIterwaru the raIsIty oil the seconu was
Also estaousneu.
A PECULIAR DISCOVERY.
One Gay / lay on cot In my Office. i'll
with country never. hearing the once call
lstaggereu TO the instrument anu answered.
Inc enort Almost causeu me TO lalnt NV
purse Oounoeu anu my neau tnropoeu with
acute pam. DuU, to my utter astonlsnment,
L lett wonuenuIIy better the instant 1 Oe-
gan receiving the message. 4 was even
tempteo after taxing the tram oruer 10
send oil nan uozen messages accumu-
Iateu since morning, auu wnlcn nau not
been transmitted because OF my Illness; put
again, to my amaZement, 4 nau no sooner
touched the Key tnan 4 became utterly IN
capacitateo- Ny neau tnrooOeu worse tnan
ever, anu again l leIU myseu ABOUT to IaInt.
mus vanIsneu my lrst theory.
Not long after tne Incluent Just related
discovered THESE IacJs: rIrst, 1T Invari-
aoiy nIIeo me WITH ueAgnG TO receive from
That particular operator wnose morse"
had Temporarily cureu me OF the fever, out
to SEM TO MN or to any oUner operator
was TO experience only UNIFORM amount
Oh labor, diminished or increased by orul-
nary circumstances.
secondly, the operator in question was
by no means a goou one. in TACT ne was
quite new TO toe business anu was what is
known as plug" AS compared with
older and better teiegrapners on the same
circuit ms writing was aOominaoie lie
sent vlclousiy last, uid no spacing, formed
his letters badly, and lacked that iirmness
ana steadlneSs OF stroke so essential in care
iuI and intelligent WORK. lnus 4, in COM
mon with all VINO worked with him, was
obhged TO guess at mucn That he sent,
Wnlie 1t never taIIed to put me to my
trumps 10 keep up with his lightning speed.
And yet there invariably came over me
that sense of dreamy pleasure, so delight
tuI, so strange, so opposed to every atten- |
Aant condition or circumstance, whenever /
II became my fortune To receive from MIN.
And so vanished my second theory.
One dsy said to INN over the wire, sit
always makes me glau TO take you"
do you mean IT." said ne.
answered anlrmatlvely.
RECIPROCAL PLEASURE.
1.-THE more am 4 pleased" ne replied,
''since all the others curse me- And DO
you know" he continued, "tnat / ind
peculiar and unaccountable pleasure in
taking from your 1 have been on the
point OF telling you so more Jnan once"
That night / wrote to him, describing
my feelings when receiving from him, and
asking an exchange OF confidence In his
reply, which was promptly received, he
said: when you are senuing Jingle all
over. Ii is as If were electrified"
some fifteen years have passed since then,
Ind have during That time worked in
many offices and with hundreds of opera
tors. have learned that my early friend,
the plus" Is not the only man, by many,
whom 1t has made me glad TO take"
" henever / experience that subtle sensa-
ion of pleasure and stimulus it is while
-ecelvlng, never while sending, and from
In operator VINO invariably feels a CORE
ponding sensation while receiving from
ne.
/ began by confessing that had no theory
n theories to offer in explanation of the
acts stated above, but may be permitted
o ask OF better informed psychologists and ,
psychologists two questiOns Is that affinity
which attracts people TO each other and in
makes friends Of them, caus-
ng them to thrill with pleasure whenever
heir hands clasp ana they look each other
D the eye, due in any degree to the pres
nee of an abnormal quantity of electricity
D their respective DOOles? is it posi- ole
nder these circumstances for one indi-
ldual to communicate TO another all of
hose influences which his presence and
ontact with him would inspire, over a
elegraph wire any distance in length, by
leans of a key whose handle or knob is
and while the person absorbing l
hose mysterious influences is removed :
'om contact with the wire transmitting i
hemp I
1t is evident to those who have thus far {
,llowed me that l. at least, would answer o
he latter interrogatory in the affirmative. v
o do otherwise would be TO doubt the evil
ance of my own senses. Il
If the editor should desire il ] will with 1
ut loss OF time, furnish him with any v
,asonable number of 3tlidavits tending a
prove the absolute truthfulness of every 1
atement above made, and these atfidavits o
lall be collected from old, experienced, C
and well known telegraph "
Is. Seabrook in New York n
in. -
Truth. :,
Adhere a1yrayS ~