Arizona weekly citizen. [volume] (Tucson, Ariz) 1880-1901, 1891-07-18
KNOWN BY THEIR TICKS.
CHARACTER READING THROUGH
MANY MILES OF WIRES.

Telegraph Operators Know the DISPOSE
sages Are Sent from One City to An
other-Some of the Freaks.
The telegraph operators of this city
are noted the world over as experts.
Not only are they masters of their art az
class, but many of them have de-
veloped the wonderful faculty of read
ing character by the sharp ticks that
emanate from the little brass instru-
menta For instance, any old time op-
orator who ranks as first rate can tell by
the tick of the machine in Philadelphia
what manner Of man is at the other end
Of the wire, no matter whether he be in
Chicago, New York or any other distant
city. Just as the bank cashiers recog-
nize the signatures of old customers,
so do telegrarhers identify friends by
their sending" or writing.
The fast, jerky sender, who stops
every few minutes to tighten this screw
or loosen that spring, or to talk with his
desk mate easily tells the receiver that
he is nervous, irresponsible young man
Of little experience and less judgment;
he warns the receiver to be on constant
watch for errors, for which he will shirk
any responsibility. Without having def
mite reason to say so, the receiver viii
not hesitate to assert that such sender
would lie himself out of any difficulty
that might arise.
The fearless, manly telegrapher is the
man who sends even, well spaced Morse
fast, of course, but steady withal, and
sends "all the time" This man seldom
has cases" He impresses the receiver
at once that he is invariably correct.
He never stor5 for Ind copy, because he
always reads message ahead of the one
he is sending, and returns any he cannot
decipher to the clerks before starting it,
This sort Of man has friend in every
Office. All the students and operators in
way stations know him. They recognize
his sending and appeal to him as would
child to an older brother This mans
character is well known to every one
with whom he works.
sNEAKs, JOKES AND DUDES.
The sneak is quickly discovered and
promptly roasted" He sends slowly,
and with an aggravating drag. He never
swears on the wire, which, by the way.
is certain TO be rewarded by dismissal
if reported, although q majority of oper-
ators are more or less profane. While
this man may not have been in the
business at the time of any strike, he is
certain to be called q ''scab" by all the
out of town men. with whom he has fire.
quent spats.
Practical jokers and witty men are
generally Indifferent operators, but usual
ly have reputation, reaching from San
Francisco to Boston, which always Sc
cures them work ut good salaries Their
characteristics are denoted by the small
amount of business they handle, not
withstanding the fact that they seem to
work every minute. They make all
sorts of plumbers and worry the receiver
sick, depending upon their good humor
and new stories to square matters.
Dade operators, ike their funny breth-
ren, are poor artists, but they are not
fortunate in the way OF acquiring ''repu-
tation." They never need tell the re-
little else. Their frequent stops and
silly chatter between messages tell it for
them After six months working with |
an operator of tt is sort the receiver could
describe him almost to a positive exact
ness without ever having seen him or
heard him described.
FEMALES AND TRAMPS.
frov -
alike as to ability. They are all fine tel !
egraphers. Their characters are well |
defined by silence, and they are distin-
guished one from the other by bits of in
formation regarding other cities dropped |
from day to day by the tramps They |
tell their story when they correct errors |
discovered in the addresses Of messages |
relayed from one city to another, and by |
suggesting some word to take the place |
of one badly written by some newspaper
man whose copy" they had handled"
Lady operators are identified by the |
hghtness of their sending. few of them
being able 10 work on long distance
wires. On this account "Clara" is a IA
vorite name for light senders of either
sex, and their character as well as their
sex is revealed by their constant anxiety
and ever faithfulness, as well as by their
disposition to talk.
Few people understand why telegra-
pliers use so much and such q variety Of
slang. This is easily accounted for.
The men in Nov York and San Francis
co communicate all the latest phrases to
Chicago, from which point Galveston,
Denver, Rev Orleans and Ogden receive
the NEW talk Ind the forces at Phila-
delphis, Pittsburg, Richmond and Bos-
ton acquire their stock from New York.
In this way bright saying heard by an
operator in New York is repeated the
world over the same day, as the cable
operators are quite as slangy as the rest
of the craft.-Philadelp Record.