Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-28

New Records Made In the Telexr,phers'
Tournament.


New Records Made In the Teiexr.phers'
Tournament.
national fast telegraphing tournament, in
aid Of and under the auspices Of the TeleRra-
piers Mutual Relief Association, was held in
Hartman Hall at 9Th avenue and 18th street,
New York city, on Saturday, and some records
were made that bid fair to stand for many
years.
The World describes the contests thus, II
was almost $50 pm. whom Charley Adams
walked out on the stage and announced the
first event on the program. II was in the ladies'
class, and was open to all Five hundred words
were to be sent. The first prize was ESQ and
the second s25 First prize for the receivers
eos and the second s15
Mrs. E. Sandberg Of the Postal Telegraph
Company was the first to try her hand. There
were no receivers in her trial. She clicked
away nervously for . few minutes, and at the
word Ego" from Mr.. Adams, 'she's off," cried
some one with Guttenburg proclivities. Mrs.
Sandberg broke up once or twice, but caught
herself with an "Oh, myr' aud went at it
harder than ever. She could not see the audi
ence, but she could hear the buzz Of critical
conversation about her. and it seemed to make her
nervous. She wrote rather ftfully for a while,
but soon settled down to a steady gait and
When the time. II minutes Is Is seconds. was
announced by Adams, the audience applauded
until it burst it's glove buttons. This is about
forty-four and q half words q minute and is
considered excellent time.
Miss Louise Wagner, the next contestant, is a
slender young woman with solemn gray eyes.
She wrung her hands nervously and said: "Oh,
my" Just as Mrs Sandberg had done. Then
she ga. down and began to telegraph. Out on
the stage Mrs. Sandberg and Miss c. s. White
were seated at the typewriters, putting it down
in black and white for the receivers prize Miss
Wagner's Geographic handwriting was decid-
eddy more uneven than that Of Mrs. Sandberg.
but it may have been because she was afflicted
with stage fright The space between some Of
her words was less than that between the let
tiers. She finished the 500 words in thirteen
minutes and twelve seconds or approximately
thirty-nine and one-half words . minute. Miss
{. s. White captured the receiving honors from
Mrs. Sandberg.
RECEIVERS HAVE TRIAL.
Then came one Of the most interesting events
Of the day as we'll as one of the most sensa-
tional 1t was the message receivers contest
for the gold medals offered by John W. Mackay.
The value Of the first prize medal was $50 and
that Of the second 900. The contestants were
J. F. Parks, V. J. BenishIa, Thomas F. Kehoe,
2. A. Coney. F. n. Jones, j. Mcclure, P. J.
Faulkner and J. Martyr Of New York, ]. H.
land. z. J. Thompson Of Norwich. A Work Of
Newburg and E. P. Porter. The latter was
siiver-hesded old man on the shady side Of
four-score. He was not q contestant, but he
proposed to show the young fry that he was
still in the game. He did, too. Mr.. Porter
claims that he is the frat man who ever copied
telegraph messages with q typewriter.
Jimmy Jones Of San Francisco was not to be
bluffed. "Say," said he to one OF the Judges,
'.can smoke cigarette if have time when
the fun is going on?" Jimmy proved himself
. Geographic Paderewsky, and the way he
banged the typewriter around with right and
left swings and upper cuts was caution.
The worm Of care was visible on the cheeks
Of several of the men they shucked off their
coats and prepared for the fray. Billy Gibson,
notoriously one of the fastest men in the
country, had been engaged to send messages to
supplied with 100 messages, very few OF which
were under ten words in length. Billy is a
little fellow. but he can ''send" as fast as
Nancy Hanks can trot
LIKE UNCLAIMED LIGHTNING.
All the men, including Gibson, were intro
duced to the audience by Mr.. Adams and were
loudly applauded. Then Gibson retired to the
little sending room: the receivers squared them
selves at their machines and the fun began.
Gibson started like flash and almost before
the receivers knew it he was through message.
1t sounded like the roll of the reveille. In Just
three minutes two or three Of the men seemed
to have curvature OF the spine and others were
bent over their instruments, as though they
were handling Chinese chop sticks over plate
Of rice.
Mr.. Wark Of Newburg knocked under at the
fourth message and Mr.. Coney also appeared
to have something the matter with his internal
economy. Then came dismal silence until
it could be fixed up. This was a godsend to
those who had fallen by the wayside, because
it gave them an opportunity for a fresh start.
Gibson's speed was 30 terrific that almost every
one OF the receivers began to smile in an APP
preciative way at the very first message.
When the wire broke Mr.. Jones Of San Fran
cisco looked around for q moment and asked
"Where am at?''
Again Gibson started, and this time the re-
ceivers hung to him in better style. The send
ing was clear bell. and came out in o
stream of tinkling letters swift AZ diamonds
falling from broken necklace. The first inter-
ruption came from Mr.. Chandler of the Postal
Telegraph company. He came into the room
behind Gibson, bent over him and laid with a
smile: "You are sending too fast" 1t broke
Gibson up for moment. He caught himself,
however, and did not lose much time. This is
said to be about the worst thing anyone can do
to a sending operator.
Meantime the receivers were paving away for
dear life. The manipulation Of Mr.. Jones Of
San Francisco was q mixture of grace and
speed. Aged Mr.. Porter was right in line with
the younger men and when the hour was up he
had about as many messages to his credit as any
OF the rest. When Gibson finished he had sent
the unprecedented number Of ninety -seven
messages, or over q message and half q
minute.
Even before the result was announced the
audience broke into storm of applause and
there were loud calls for Gibson. The little
sender came out with blush that would have
done credit to q Jack rose. "How many did
send?" he asked. "Ninety -seven," said some
body. "Pshawr' said Gibson, IT thought I
would make the 100"
He was not satisfied with having broken all
existing records. The previous record, SO far
as can be ascertained. is seventy five messages
Nobody in the hall had ever heard anything
like it before. The returns made by the re-
ceivers were 80 voluminous that they could
not possibly be passed upon in the limited time
given the judges.
CONTESTS FOB sENDERs
The next event was the contest for a prize
given by the Caligraph Company for receivers,
and open also to all senders who had sent more
than 2S5 words in five minutes in a previous
tournament The frat Drize uas e1O0 and xba