The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1892-12-31
TRICKS OF llNEMEN,
dow They String Wires Where People
Don't Want Them.

dow They String Wires Where People
Don't Want Them.
On the roof of a lofsy building in
he business district two brawny line
hen were toiling among the network
II wires fastened to a high series Of
cross arms. One bent his ear close to
\ tiny telegraph instrument connected
with q wire, while the other, under
ais direction, busily twisted two wires
together.
Hold on" cried the nan listening
at the Instrument. "They want to
measure resistance. Wen have to
wait awhile"
The two descended, and behind a
auge chimney lit their pipes. Asked
Lyoung man, who had been watching
Them with interest:
Suppose you wanted to string n
wire from this to that building oppo-
site, how would you do itp"
THAT'S against the law, young
man." responded the taller of the two
inemen. Telegraph companies never
break the law"
"But suppose you wanted to?"
"Young man, if l wanted to carry a
wirc across the street from here I'd
.et you go down on the sidewalk and
watch, and while you were watching
I'd get the wire over aud you'd never
know it. Howp Well, that's a bust
ness secret, but don't mind telling
You that I've known men to perform
The feat several ways. If l wanted to
do it might take that pilot wire for
Instance that is composed of two or
;hree strands. might twist u bunch
of wires to go across the street till
:hey exactly resembled tho pilot wire
10 an observer on the sidewalk. L
might cut the pilot wire, hitching on
my bunch, and keeping it taut by
main strength my MAJ opposite would
Snow it was moving. When he had
wire enough I'd shake out the wires l
wanted from the bunch and leave the
rest to make good the gapin the pilot.
If couldn't find Il pilot wire on the
particular roof I'd take the biggest
gauge single wire there and hitch two
small wires twisted together to it.
make n fine joint, and my assistant
would haul them over. One would
serve to make up the break in the big
wire, the other would be mine. If !
were driven to il and had to get a rope
across the street I'd work either early
in the evening or early in the morn
ing, when l have heard there are only
a few policemen around, and those
either asleep or chumps that wouldn't
know what | was doing.
81 knew ma on Dearborn street
Who had one wire in his office and had
to have another. An enemy sworc he
shouldn't, and hired 4 man and a po-
liccman to watch the corners of two
buildings on opposite sides Of the
street and the sky to see that no wire
was strung. While they were looking
the wire went over. 1t was a little,
two-strand cable, just the size of tho
single wire. and after it was fastened
to thc latter and the Joint nicely sold.
cred it took An hour to pull it slowly
over"
"If you were to undertake such a
job wouldn't you be liable to mistake
The wire-get the wrong one? There
are n good many on the roof tops"
"Ycs, there are thousands Of them
telegraph, telephone, electric light,
signal, fire alarm, public and private,
dead and secrct-but there are scores
of linemen that know every one. ]
can put my hands on a dozen men, any
one of whom you can take blindfolded
on any roof and he'll tell YOU the
name, number, ownership, use, des-
tination, origin and age of every wire
in the biggest rack you can find. It's
kind of n natural knowledge. You
either know il or you don't. | know a
MAJ who can't read or write, but he
can break open a thirty-two-strand
cable and pick out the wire he wants.
VT is always Il fellow who knows the
wire geography of the roofs" he con
tinued, that makes the taps. Are
there many taps? You don't hear OF
IA fraction Of them. 1t is natural tia!
sometimes people would try to catch
the secrets worth thousands of dollars
shat 20 over telegraph wires, amt ftp"
u was after Il tap the other day and
bund it in our own ollice tower. 1t
reminded me of another in the days of
the hottest war against the bucket
shops. A certain shop was getting
quotations. We made n dozen tests
and tours and found nothing. Finally,
BY accident, | discovered the operator
in a certain hotel had his instrument
near n telephone, and shouted quota
tions out too loudly. Hooked at that
telephone and found that it was kept
in.circuit by a little wooden peg under
the lever, which was apparently with
the earpiece hanging in it. That WIS
r. good dodge, but tho tappcrs made it
n beautiful II by taking that telc-
phoue wire all over town and actually
breaking open u telephone cable, rum
ming it through That q piece, then into
another cable, and finally taking it
through a central tower, all to disatm
suspicion. We located its other endin
mn office in a high building on Clark
street. and there sat a telegraph opcr-
Rtor, the phone to his ear. catching
the shouted quotations of the other
operator and telegraphing them ovcr
a secret wire to the bucket shop.
"In another case they left a blind
lead for us in the shape of n wire half
concealed running into q hole in a
brick wall, while they broke open the
linen-covercd line wire, fastened their
tiny copper threads to t land ran them
down holes bored in the insulator into
a chimney. In another case they tap
ped every wire of a certain company
and rugged up II battery of their own.
thus making themselves independent,
and babe defiance to that company for
four weeks, till it dropped on the taps
in its own office. In another case they
went IN n certain roof-the owner Of
which swore he would shoot any man
found there stringing more wires, and
kept q guard to do it--and while the
guard was on hand they tapped the
wire they wanted. Of course we
didn't think of looking there and didn't
go up there till we had to, fearing we'd
30 thrown off. O., there are tricks in
all tradcs-but ours."-C Aicado 1fib
Not to BE Missed.