Arizona weekly citizen. [volume] (Tucson, Ariz) 1880-1901, 1891-10-24
KNOWN BY THEIR TICKS.
CHARACTER READING THROUGH
MANY MILES OF WIRES.

Telegraph Operators Know the Dfsposs-
lions Of Each Other from tho Way Mes
sages Are Sent from cne City to An
other-Some OF the Freaks.
The telegraph operators Of this city
are noted the world over as experta
Not only are they masters of their art a
a 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-
merts. 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 telegraphers 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 a 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 will
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 leases. He impresses the receiver
at once that he is invariably correct.
He never stops for bad copy, because he
always reads a 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. Ali 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.
SNEAIS, JOKES AND DUDES.
The sneak is quickly discovered and
promptly roasted" lie sends slowly.
and with Gn aggravating drag. He neve,
swears on the wire. which. by the way
is certain to be rewarded by dislnissa.
if reported, although 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 rallied ''scab" by all the
out of town lnen. with whom he has FIRE
quent spats.
Practical iokers and witty men are
generally indifferent operators. but usual
ty have reputation, reaching f. m San
Francisco to Boston, which always Sc
cures them work at good salaries. II II
are denoted BY the small
amonnt of business they handle, not
withstanding the feet that they seem tc
work every minute. They make ali
sorts of plumbers aud worry the receiver
sick, depending upon their good humor
and new stories to square matters.
Dude operators, like their funny breth
rem, are poor artists, but they are not
fortunate il the way of acquiring ''repu-
tation." They never need tell the re-
ceiver that they love dress and think of
little else. Their frequent stops and
silly chatter between messages tell it for
them After six months working with
an operator of this sort the receiver could
describe him almost to positive exact.
ness without ever having seen him OF
heard him described.
FEMALES AN, TRAMPS
Surly, morose and tramp operators are
alike as to ability. They are all fine tel
egraphers. Their characters are well
defined by silence, and they are disttn-
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
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
lightness OF their sending, few Of them
being able ap work on long distance
wires. On tits account CLARA" is fa-
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 variety Of
slang. This is easily accounted fog.
The men in NV York and San Francis
co communicate all the latest phrases to
Chicago. from which point Galveston,
Denver, New Orleans and Ogden receive
the new talk, Ind the forces at Phila-
ielphis, Pittsburg, Richmond and Bos-
boa acquire their stock from New York
In this way a 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
os the craft.-Philadelphia Record.
my ,,r. % Oct 81 -HororoOpi.,