The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-11-28
A TwELtGRAPH|C HEART.
The Two Great Feats of the West
ern Union Company
. at Helena.
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How 1t Sent News From Chi
caRo Via Helena to
ST. Paul.
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The Two Great Press Associations We're
Badly Crippled and Looked Hero
For Assistance.

On several occasions IL has been demon
strated that Helena Ia a very important
point in the telegraph system of that part
of the United States west of Chicago.
When great sto MS occur wires and poles
are blown down over vast sections Of
country, badly gripping miles and miles Of
telegraphio connection. Tbs great storm
Of a week ago which had it's origin at Red
Bud, ILL.,, amounted to Il Cyclone at many
pointa. The oDpoAing forces of winter and
summer met in that remote town Of south
ern Illinois, and from the clash that ensued
there resulted at least three o~yclonic storms,
one going due southeast. another southwest
and a third almost due west into Nebraska.
Not only WAS the storm marked by severe
wind, but also by sleet and heavy, wet
snow, the features that telegraph operators
have by experience most learned to fear.
So great was the strength of tho storm in
some parts of iowa that whole Telegraph
poles were blown many feet and wires in
extricably mixed. At Dubuque, Iowa, for
instance, 80 badly were wires of all kinds
mixed that at II O'Clock in the morning the
electric lights of the city were still burning
brightly in the streets. it being impossible
to separate the light wires from the mass
of telephone and telegraph lines with which
they were hopelessIy confounded.
The North American company lost all its
wires over the Burlington d Northern. The
Western Union wires were in just as bad
shape. and farther north along the line Of
the Wisconsin Central they were also down.
The only communication in that section
with the outside world was by means Of
the extreme west; Jews being obtained
in q roundabout way from Helena and
Omaha, Neb. The east was completely
shut out.
The telegraphic dispatches published in
st. Paul and other cities were all sent over
the following route: Chicago to st. Louis,
thence to Little Rock, Ark. to New Or
leans. to Galveston. Tex, to Kansas City, to
! Ogden, Utah, to Helena, thence to their
destination east of Helena. For the first
| time in many months the two great pr ess
associations lost all their wires in a terri
tory bounded by Minneapolis on the north,
, st. Louis on the south, Chicago or the east
and Omaha on the west. All commercial
business, of course. was suspended in this
territory, the Western Union and the North
| American companies being badly crippled.
The damage and stoppage of Geographic
communication WAS fully equal to that of
last winter, when the Helena Office, by rea-
son Of its position in the telegraphic sys.
tenn, came to the rescue and earned the
title of "A Ielegraphio Heart" it being de-
rived from that given to the main office OF
the Western Union Telegraph company in
New York, which is sometimes referred to
as "The Telegraphio Heart of America. -
! For over a week last winter, on the occasion
of a great storm. the Helena Office had q
force Of operators using every available
wire and instrument day and night. Some
of the lightning strikers worked twenty
two hours at a stretch, and two of them
made records for rapid sending. The stu.
alton put a great strain on the resources OF
the office, but it was met by Manager Swar
and his assistants. who distinguished them.
selves as they did a week ago.