The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-03-27

the manager of the telegraph Office
consented TO lend II to me. Ny wife
was pretty well satisfied, but | wanted
TO convince her absolutely. After this
I shall endeavor to write palmer and
l shall certainly avoid the use of slang
words"
The explanation in this case is that
the B in Billy" and the in ''pal''
were probably badly written. But the
substitution of ''itty'' Tor lily and of
an for in wait was undoubtedly
the fault of the operators There Is
a similarity between the Morse char
acters which stand for the letters and
I, and they are frequently confused by
young operators. L is represented by
n long dash and by a short one. and
double I or double l, when sent too
close together, make the letter m, SO
that it was quite possible for the law
yers wife to have been informed, or,
rather misinformed, that her husband
intended to dine with an individual of
the peculiar name of ''Bilny'' Smith or
''Kimy'' Smith, or even ''Bitty" Smith or
''Killy' y''Smith, instead of kitty Smith.
Such palpable errors are, of course,
= only made by very green operators.
An experienced man, unless his wits
We're off wool-gathering. would make
some inquiries of the sender, which
would probably result in q correction.
Two callow young operators made an
explanation necessary from q New
York newspaper man recently. He was
TO be married in the West 7, lore
leaving town he devoted several days to
searching over Brooklyn for a Hat, be-
ing assisted in the search by young
married woman, the friend of his be-
haI 9efG off ono
morning about two o'clock he sent the
Brooklyn lady 4 telegram, which he
expected would be delivered to her
about $50 or nine o'clock il the morn
ing. The dispatch was worded apollo
getically: ''Win be over to worry you
this afternoon"
The message was ''bullcd" on It's way
across the East river and a meaning OF
so much Importance was given 10 II
that the Brooklyn operator rushed it
out, the message boy arriving at the
house at about four a IN. The hus-
band Of the lady got out Of bed 10 an
syver the bell BY further mistake OF
the delivery department the envelope
was addressed TO the husband He
opened IL and was astonished to read:
Mrs VIII be over to marry
you this afternoon"
When a man is awakened from 4
sound sleep and informed that his wife
Is to be married TO a young man who,
he has had every reason TO believe, was
10 be married TO a young lady IN the
West. ne Is apt To conclude that he isn't
awake after all No one who has not
experienced it can realize how very
startling It is. It was the first his wife
had heard OF 1t. They raclzcd their
] ? IL. g -r31..
wasn't solved. however, until the young
newspaper man arrived.
= Iynching was nearly precipitated
BY the error Of a Kansas operator some
! time aro. II Wa only avC-tcd by the
discovery that there was no one to
( lynch \ young farmer was called
AVA from homo for Il few days. His
! wife went to visit her brother n a town
near by during his absence. The third
day her husband tclcEraphcd her: Big
ball. meet me at Wichita tonight 50
/ There was to bc a dance and he wanted
! his wife 70 attend. This was n spleu-
/ did opportunity for the imp Of mischief
/ who causes telegraphic bulls" He tam
/ pcred with the message SO that when
| the farmers wife read It, it said: Big
! Bill got me at Wichita tonight
Her instant and very natural con-
| cluSion was that her husband had
! either been captured or shot or both,
! by 4 desperate named Big Bill" Her
| brothers agreed with her, and the whole
| family and a number of ncighbors, all
! heavily armed. took the first train for
| Wichita to rescue the husband and
! hang big BILL The husband was
! waiting calmly at the station for his
| ~ife The vigilance committee de-
| 4 nr oil
satisfied with the husband for standing
there free and uninjured. The brothers
| criticised him severely because he
wasn't kidnapped, and announced that
in their opinion he was guilty of rank
| deception. y fight was prevented by
| his wife's Intervention and an eXplana-
ton.
4 gentleman in San Francisco learned
! that an estiInable lady in Los Angeles
| had suddenly lost all her property and
| was in condition Of actual want. He
telegraphed TO friend, a lawyer of
| Los Angeles: Assist Mrs. - immedi-
ateIy." ne wori assist was changed
to arrest" and the poor woman's
misery was increased by night in a
prison cell.
send me tenderloins," said a mes
sage received by 4 New York sporting
| man from a friend in Phila delphia. 1t
| should have read: send me ten dol
lars" The New York man replied:
! What do you mean?" and the Phila-
! delphia man was so indignant at such a
response TO his request that the friend
ship was severed for nearly a year.
a gentleman with the dignified name
| of Cyrus 7. Nixon was shocked to have
| a message handed to him addressed
| Circus 7. Nixon" 4 wholesale produce
merchant received a message from re-
tail customer, saying: Your $500 are
No 900 d." 1t should have been: Your
eggs are no good" The delivery de-
| department of the New Orleans West
ern Union Office was mystified by a
! message addressed to Blyannon street
| 1t turned out to be 50 Cannon street
Absolute accuracy viii probably
never come. 1t certainly VIII not as
long as telegraphers have debts, love
affairs, good intentions, baseball, horse
races and countless other subjects to
occupy their minds while they are re
ceiving or sending dispatches in the
contents of which they can have no pos
| sible interest.
| BismHrck's Superstition.
Prince Bismarck has a strong super