Los Angeles herald., 1892-02-08
INCREASED SERVICE.
HOW THE TYPEWRITER HAS AF-
FECTED TELEGRAPHY.

Backed by an Extensive Code, tho TeIe-
graphic Service of the Various Big
Press Associations Has Been Revolu-
tionized by the Machine.
Bv far the most important and valu-
able Improvement in the efficiency of
the electric telegraph in the past three
or four years has been brought about by
the introduction into telegraph work of
a machine that has absolutely nothing
electrical about 1.-THE typewriter. It
has become absolutely indispensable in
several of the more important branches
of the telegraph service, necessity to
the complement of every first class op-
orator, and soon its lively patter will be
the unvarying accompaniment to the
brisk clicking of the sounder in every
telegraph Office in the land.
The most striking example of the
value of the typewriter in telegraphy is
afforded by the press service. In this
branch it has entirely superseded the
pen and stylus throughout the whole
country, and no operator is eligible for
a position on United Press or Asso-
ciated Press circuit, or practically on
any press wire, unless he is typewriter
expert He simply could not do the
work. The typewriter was first intro
duced into the Office of the Associated
Press as an experiment about seven
years ago, and for the last two years it
has been used exclusively in all offices of
the United Press and the Associated
Press.
The United Press has six circuits run
ming out Of New York, reaching all the
principal points as far west as st. Paul
and south to New Orleans. The number
of offices on a circuit varies from eight
to twenty. The Associated Press serves
practically the same points by substan-
TALLY similar circuits. Over these wires
the special dispatches from the various
points are received, and the main volume
of news collected in New York, the great
collecting and distributing point, is sent
out for service to the newspapers in the
associations. Before the Introduction of
the typewriter the might report" aver
aged about 5000 words on each wire,
and the whole days work amounted to
about 5000 words. Now the night re-
port runs to about $4,000 words and the
whole days service averages about 80, 900
words.
BENEFITS THE OPERATOR. ~.
A first class operator can send about
forty words a minute, continuously and
well, but experience has shown that it is
very difficult for man to write with
pen or stylus more than thirty or thirty
five words q minute, steadily and con-
tinuously, for number of hours. The
service OF the press associations in New
York requires from twenty to thirty
copies to be taken of every dispatch. In
other cities the number varies from four
or five copies upward. They were
formerly made with an iron or agate
stylus on tissue paper interleaved with
carbonated sheets. The labor of pressing
through so many thicknesses of paper in
order to make legible copy on each is
enormous.
The strain, muscular and mental, of
writing thirty-five words minute in
this manner for eight or nine hours
nightly, following the dictation of a
sender who could always greatly excel
the writer in speed, has been responsible
for the nervous and physical breakdown
of hundreds of operators On the type
writer a speed of seventy words min
ute is easily acquired and maintained,
and with slight notifications in the ma
chine thirty copies and more can be
taken with as much ease as one. There
is no cramp and little fatigue in the op-
GRAFTON Of the typewriter, for eight fin
gers do what was the work of two, or
practically eight motions take the place
of one.
With the introduction of the type
writer the sending operator dropped
away in the rear. Then the practice of
abbreviating came into use, and the
sender in his effort to keep up to the
machine clipped his words and dropped
out their vowels. Walter p. Phillips,
general manager of the United Press,
has devised and compiled code of alb
breviations and logograms, skillfully ar
ranged with view to the best utiliza-
tion of the shortest and most convenient
signals in the telegraphic alphabet. 1t
is very excellent system of telegraphic
shorthand, and is now in general use for
press work
EXAMPLES OF TIE CODE.
A few excerpts from the code will
show its character and scope and give
an idea of what may be accomplished in
the way of speed with it's aid. Short
phrases that occur frequently are repre-
sented by single letters, as 'F" means
''of the," "K" means "out of the" "V"
means ''of which," and so on. There
are about 5000 abbreviations and SYM
bols Of two and three letters represent
ing much used words or short phrases.
"Pprn" stands for preparations" "Sby,r
subsequently," ''Nbh," "neighbor-
hood" "Kcn," Concentration. There
are some especially brief contractions, as:
"Oljod," meaning "only limited job
bing demand;" "Mwdc," "market with
out decided change"
This aggregation of letters, "If ou
blgs can alw nv supm adg rpsntg
trad, tyr at leas dilgnt in thr dvon to
uglines," coming over wire would be
written out by the typewriting operator,
"If our buildings cannot always have
the supreme advantage of representing
trade, they are at least diligent in their