The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-04-15
KNOWN BY THRIR TICKS
Character Reading Through Many
Miles of Intervening Wire.
Eror, IL Oh

| Miles OF Intervening Wire.
From the Philadelphia Record.
The telegraph operators OF this city are
noted the world over as experts Not only
are they masters Of their art as class, but
many of them have developed the wonder
full faculty OF reading character by the
sharp ticks that emanate from the little
| brass instruments For instance, any old
time operator who ranks as a first-rater
can tell by the tick of the machine in Phila-
| delphla 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 bank cashiers recognize the
| signatures of old customers. so do teleg-
raphers identify friends by thsir sending
| or writing.
The fast, jerky sender who stops every
few minutes to tighten this screw or loosen
that spring, or TO talk VITA his desk mate
| easily tells the receiver that he is a nervous,
| irresponsible young man OF little expe-
rience and less judgment; he warns the re-
| celver to be on constant watch for errors
! for which he will shirk any responsibility
I Without having definite reason to say SO,
the receiver will not hesitate to assert that
such a sender would lie himself out Of any
difficulty that might arise.
The fearless, manly telegrapher is the
man who sends even, well-splced Morse,
fast, OF course, but steady withal and sends
'all the time" This 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 return
any he cannot decipher to the clerks before
| starting it. This sort of man has friend
in every office. All the stcdents and opera
tors in way stations know him. They re-
cognize 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.
The sneak is quickly discovered and
promptly roasted" He sends slowly, and
with an aRgravating drag. He
never swesrs on the wire,
which, by the way, is certain to be re-
warded by dismiss al If reported, although a
majority of operat ors are mere or less pro-
fame. While this man may not have been
in the business at the time of any strike, he
is certain to be called ''scabn by all the
out-of-town men with whom he has fire.
quent spats.
Practical jokers and witty men are gem
orally Indifferent operators, but usually
have reputation, reaching from San
francisco to Boston, which always secure
them work at good salaries. Their char
acteristics are denoted by the small amount
OF business they handle, Notwithstanding
the fact that they seem to work every
minute. They make all sorts of blunders
and worry the receiver sick, depending upon
their good humor and new stories to square
matters.
Dude operators, like their funny brethren.
are poor artists, but they are not fortunate
In the way OF acquiring regulations. - They
need never tell the receiver that they love
dress and think Of little else. Their frequent
stops and silly chatter between messages
tell 1t for them. After six months working
with an operator Of this sort the receiver
could describe him almost to a positive ex-
actness without ever having seen him or
heard him described.
Surly, morose, and tramp operators are
alike as to ability. They are all fine teIe-
graphers. Their characters are we'll defined
by silence, and they are distinguished one
from the other by bits of information re-
gardlng other cities dropped from dav 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 have
handled"
Lady operators are identified by the light.
ness or their sending, few of them being
able to work on long-distance wires. Ga
this account CLARA" is favorte name for
light senders of either sex, and their char
| acter as well as their sex is revealed nv
their constant anxiety and ever-faith
fulness, as well as by their disposition to
talk. W
Few people understand why telegraphers
use 80 much and such variety of slang
This is easily accounted for. The mon in
New York and San Francisco communicates
all the latest phrases to Chicago, from which
point Galveston, Denver, New Orleans and
| Ogden receive the 'the talk" and the forces
at Philadelphia, Pittsburg Richmond and
Boston 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 slaugy as the rest of
the craft.
Pictures in great variety and oil rr;..