Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1891-06-20
KNOWN eY THEIR TICKS.
Photographers Who Reveal Charaeferis'
tics in the Ksy-A study In sounds.

The telcgraph operators OF PbiIa-
iciphia are noted the world over as
experts. Not only are they masters of
:iIeir art MS a class but many Of them
rave developed the wonderful faculty
Of reading character by the sharp ticks
That cmcnatc from the little brass In
strument. For instance. any old-time
operator who ranks rs firsl-rater. can
tell by the tick Of the machine in Phil
adelphia what manner Of "A man Is ut the
! other end OF the wire. no matter wheth.
er he be in Chicago, New York or any
/ other distant city. just rs bank cash
! iers recognize the signatures OF oil
| customers. 50 do the lclcgraplIers iden-
/ iify friends by their sending or writ
! iuy.
The fast. jerky sender who stops
I every few minutes 10 tighten this screw
| or loosen that spring. or 10 talk with
! his deskmate. easily tells the receiver
/ that hc Is nervous. irresponsible
young man. of little experiences aud
less Judgment; hc warns the receiver
I 10 be on constant watch for errors for
which he will shirk any responsibility.
Without having dciiuite reason 10 say
so. the receiver will not hesitate To as
/ sert that such Il sender would lie him
self out OF any difficulty that might
\ arisa.
The fearless. manly telcgrapher is
/ the man who sends even. well spaced
! Morse, fast, OF course, but steady withal.
aud sends "all the time" This man
/ seldom has eases" lie imprcsses the
receiver at once that he is invariably
correct. He never stops for bad copy.
because he always reads message
ahead of the ono he is sending. apd
returns any he can not dccipher 10 the
clerks before starting it. This sort Of
n man has a friend in every Office. All
the students aud operators in way stat
tions know him. They recognize hs
sending and appeal TO him rs would n
child to an older brother. This mans
character is well-known to every one
with whom he works.
The sneak is quickly discovered aud
promptly roasted" He snnos slow.
ly. aud with an aggrayatlng drag. He
never swear5 on the wire. which by
the way. is certain 10 be rewarded by
dismissal il reported. although a ma
|
lprofane. While this mau may not
have been in the business at the time
of any strike, lac Is certain 10 be called
''scad' by all the out-of-tOwn men
with whom he has frequent spnts.
Practical jokers aud witty men are
generally indifferent operators, but
usually have reputation, reaching
from San Fraucisco to Boston. which
always secures them work ut good sal
aries. Their characteristics are de-
noted by the small amount of business
they handle, Notwithstanding the fact
that they seem TO work every minute.
They make all sorts of blundcrs and
worry the receiver sick, depending up
on their good humor and new stories
TO square matters.
Dude operators, like their funny
brethren. are poor artists. but they are
not fortunate Ia the way of acquiring
regulations. They never need tell
think of little else. Their frequent
stops and silly chatter between mess
ages tells 1t for them. Aztec six months
working with an operator Of this sort
the receiver could describe him almost
TO 4 positive exactness without evei
having seen him or heard him describ
ell.
Surly, morose and tramp operators
are alike rs TO ability. They are all
line telegraphcrs. Their characters
are well defined by silence aud they
are distinguished one from the other
by bits of information regarding other
cities dropped by the tramps. They
tell their story when they correct err
rors discovered in the addresses of
arRsf- snarRssff.- siittff siittffs'fS fsaggeseah sitSS6 N
words TO take the place OF some badly
written By some newspaper man whose
''copy" they have "handled."
Lady operators are idont tihed by the
iightncss Of their sending few Of them
being able to work on long-distancs
wires. On this account Clara" is \
fayorte name for light scndcrs of
either sex. aud their character rs well
rs their sex is revealed by their con-
slant anxiety and ever-faithfuluess, as
well as by their disposition to talk.
Few people understand why tel
egraphers use so much aud such a
variety of slang. This is easily ac-
counted for. The men in New York
and San Francisco communicate all the
latest phrases to Chicago, from which
point Galveston. Denver. New Orleans
and Ogden receive the new talk" !"
and the forces at Philadelphia. Pitts
burg. Richmond and Boston acquire
their stock from New York. Iu this
way bright saving heard by an OPP
orator in New York is repeated the
world over the same day, rs the cable