The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1893-07-05
AT A CABLE STATION.
ISOLATED OPERATORS LIVE IN A
WORLD ALL THEIR OWN.

Thirty Men Live Peculiar Kind Of Ex-
istence by Themselves.
To an outsider the words fife at a
cable station" convey vague sort OF
meaning, such as the term life on board
ship" would imply to one who had new
er been to sea. The very popularity Of
cable life attaches to it something Of a
special interest. 1t will be my endeavOr
here to portray as far as possible what
life is at one of the busiest and most i'm
portant cable stations in the world, land
ing two ocean cables from Waterville
Ireland, two from New York city, one
of which is operated direct from Wall
street; also cable to st. Pierre, Mique-
Ion, and working direct land system
in connection with and over the Cana
dian Pacific railway.
1t is we'll known fact that cable sta
tions, as a rule, are placed upon the most
outlandish spots imaginable. in thus
wise throwing the operators out of touch
with society and the world at large.
Just picture to yourself moment a
small cape running out into the Atlantic
on the most northeasteI2y point Of the
American continent A little to the
south and situated somewhat on hill
you Will see what appears to be s1nf /
village circling into the shape of a horse
shoe. The background is thickly clothed
with small fir trees, and Immediately al
the foot of the hill is large lake with
miniature islands clothed in rich green
foliage.
Beyond the lake and as far as the eye
can reach is one vast expanse of water Ill
viding the eastern and western cont
nents of Europe and America AT once
you are brought to the "Canso station
of the Commercial Cable company.
To the southeast of the lake the broad
Atlantic rolls along in heavy monotone.
while far away on the horizon a dark
line of smoke floats leisurely in the wake
of a passing steamer The station itself
has a picturesque appearance in the
glistening sunlight, the handsome Office
with it's bold frontage standing like a
sentinel at the western gateway. There
are the finely laid out tennis courts, the
broad crescent of substantial villas, with
their small patches Of greensward and
flower beds in front, and the neat little
clubhouse with its small piazza, where
the men enjoy their pipes of an evening
and watch the feet Of fishing boats or
ocean travellers passing round the cape
At the eastern entrance are the bache
lors' quarters-a large 2-story building
accommodating nearly 30 men, Two and
half miles away is the fishing town Of
Canso, with it's 1000 inhabitants.
There is nothing outside to portray the
amount of activity going on within the
office. The commercial world is in full
swing, the cables are being worked at
Top speed, and messages are pouring iii
to be transmitted to all parts Of the hab
liable globe Business is being transact
ed between the London and New York
Stock Exchanges almost as speedily as in
the exchanges themselves. Here one
gets a general idea Of the Importance of
submarine biography to the world at
barge and IL value of time. No stop
ping, no pausing, nothing but rush, rush.
rush, the clicking of saunders, the work;
ing of automatic senders, the tapping Of
keys, and the steady buzzing Of recording
instruments.
The operators have the money market
under their control; are edifying the po-
liticaI world with the latest conundrums
or flashing forth the tidings of some
dreadful calamity across the submerged
chains which link the old world with tie
new.
Life at q cable station is not all sun
shine, neither is it all shadow. We have
our periods Of dullness as well as our sea-
sons Of pleasure, advantages as well#as
Disadvantages. We live in an uncon-
ventional manner, but there are times
when we experience a thirst for town
life with all its rush and rattle, mercy
for change On the whole. however
we are very contented and happy; there
is such a sense Of freedom so far removed
from the contested atmosphere Of city
life. Roam where one will, there is no
one to say, WHITTIER goest thouY On
can shoot al over no mans land or
east the deceptive fly on lake or stream
and vile the silvery trout from their va
rious haunts. There are no preserves
therefore no gamekeepers or watchers.
In season we have boating, tennis
cricket, riding and other sports to brace
us up for the mental strain Of the oper
ating room. also our concerts, dances
and picnics 70 mark tho superficial side
of life Naturally we ave to rely on
our own resources for musement and
entertainment, and at a large station
there is generally a fair supply Of talent
in various directions
When winter is upon US with its icy
grasp, when the trees and everything
around are cad in Il beautiful gar5 of