The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1891-04-24

then?' she demanded. Then l told her
that what / had really written was:
Shall dine with Billy Smith, an old
pal of mine, who has just returned
from Europe. VIII be late. Don't
wait for me- Those inf ernal operators
had butchered it. I've got the original
message. In view of the circumstances
the manager of the telegraph Office
consented to lend it to me. My wife
was pretty well satisfied, but I wanted
to convince her absolutely. After this
/ shall endeavor to write palmer and
shall certainly avoid the use of slang
words"
The explanation in this case is that
tho b in Billy" and the p in ''pal''
were probably badly written. But the
substitution of ''itty' for lilly" and of
an for in wait was undoubtedly
the fault of the operators. There is
similarity between the Morse char
acters which stand for the letters and
t, and they are frequently confused by
young operators. L is represented by
a long dash and by a short one, and
double or double l, when sent too
close together, make the letter m, so
that it was quite possible for the law
yer's wife to have been informed, or,
rather misinformed. that her husband
intended to dine with an individual of
the peculiar name of "Bimy" Smith or
''Kimy'' Smith, or even ''Bitty' Smith or
''Killy Smith, instead of Kitty Smith.
Such palpable errors are, of course,
only made by very green operators.
An experienced man, unless his wits
were off wool-gathering, would make
some inquiries of the sender, which
would probably result in correction.
Two callow young operators made an
explanation necessary from a New
York newspaper man recently. He was
to be married in the West. Eefore
leaving town he devoted several days to
searching over Brooklyn for a fiat, be-
ing assisted in the search by a young
married woman, the friend of his be-
trothed. Upon leaving his Office one
morning about two o'clock he sent the
Brooklyn lady a telegram, which he
expected would be delivered to her
about $50 or nine o'clock in the morn
ing. The dispatch was worded apollo
getically: ''Will be over to worry you
this afternoon"
The! message was s'bulled' on it's way
across the East river and meaning of
SO much Importance was given to it
that the Brooklyn operator rushed it
out. the message boy arriving at the
house at about four a. m. The hus-
band of the lady got out of bed to an
swer the bell. By further mistake of
the delivery department the envelope
was addressed to the husband. He
opened it and was astonished to read:
''Mrs. --: Will be over to marry
you this afternoon"
When a man Is awakened from
sound sleep and informed that his wife
is to be married to young man who,
he has had every reason to believe, was
to be married to a young lady in the
West, he 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. 1t was the first his wife
had heard of it, They raclsed their
brains for a solution of the puzzle. 1t
wasn't solved, however, until the young
newspaper man arrived.
A lynching was nearly precipitated
by the error of q Kansas operator some
time ago. 1t was only averted by the
discovery that there was no one to
lynch A young farmer was called
away from home for few days. His
wife went to visit her brother in town
near by during his absence. The third
day her husband telegraphed her: big
ball, meet me at Wichita tonight"
There was to be q dance and he wanted
his wife to attend. This was a splen-
did opportunity for the imp of mischief
who causes telegraphic bulls" Hetam-
pered 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 on shot, or both,
by desperate named s'Big Rill." Her
brothers agreed with her, and the whole
family and numbep Of neighbors, 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
wife. The vigilance committee de-
manded big Bill, y and We're not at all
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. A fight was prevented by
his wifes intervention and an explana-
tiqn
A gentleman in San Francisco learned
that an estimable lady in Los Angeles
had suddenly lost all her property and
was in condition of actual want. He
telegraphed to a friend, a lawyer of
Los Angeles: assist Mrs, - immedi-
ateiy." The word .'assist's was changed
to "arrest," and the poor woman's
misery was increased by night in a
prison cell.
''Send me tenderloins, said mes
sage received by New York sporting
man from friend in Philadelphia 1t
should have read: ::Send me ten dol
lars.n The New York man replied:
''What do you mean?" and the Phila-
delphia man was so indignant at such
response to his request that the friend
ship was severed for nearly year.
A gentleman with the dignified name
of Cyrus T. Nixon was shocked to have
message handed to him addressed
''Circus I. Nixon" A wholesale produce
merchant received a message from a re.
tail customer, saying: your 5000 are
No. 900 D." 1t should have been: sYour
eggs are no good" The delivery de-
department of the New Orleans West