Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1893-01-04
TRICKS OF llkEM MEN.
How They String Wires Where People
Don't Want Them.

the business ulslrlcl lNo DTd"ny liHe-
men were toiing among the network
of wires fastened to high series of
cross arms. One bent his ear close to
a tiny telegraph instrument connected
with wire, while the other, under
his direction, busily twisted two wires
together.
Hold on" cried the man listening
at the instrument. "They want to
measure resistance. Well have to
wait awhile"
The two descended, and behind a
huge chimney lit their pipes. Asked
a young man, who had been watching
them with interest:
suppose you wanted to string
wire from this to that building oppo-
site, how would you do it?"
That's against the law, young
man." responded the taller of the two
linemen. Telegraph companies never
break the law"
But suppose you wanted to?"
young man, if | wanted to carry
wire across the street from here I'd
let you 90 down on the sidewalk and
watch, and while you were watching
I'd get the wire over and you'd never
know it. How? Well. that's bust
ness secret, but | don't mind telling
YOU that I've known men to perform
the feat several ways. If | wanted to
do it might take that pilot wire for
instance that is composed of two or
three strands. might twist bunch
of wires to go across the street till
they exactly resembled the pilot wire
to an observer on the sidewalk. |
might cut the pilot wire, hitching on
my bunch, and keeping it taut by
main strength my man opposite would
slowly haul it over. You wouldn't
know it was moving. When he had
wire enough I'd shake out the wires |
wanted from the bunch and leave the
rest to make good the gap in the pilot.
If | couldn't lind 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 a 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 l
were driven 30 it and had to get rope
across the street I'd work either early
in the evening or early in the morn
ing, when | have heard there are only
few policemen around, and those
either asleep or chumps that wouldn't
know what | was doing.
Il knew man on Dearborn street
who had one wire in his office and had
to have another. An enemy swore he
shouldn't, and hired a man and a po-
liceman 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 little
two-strand cable, just the size of the
single wire, and after it was fastened
to the latter and the joint nicely sold
cred it took an hour to pull it slowly
over"
If YOU were to undertake such
job wouldn't you be liable to mistake
The wre-get the wrong one? There
are a good many on the roof tops"
Yes, there are thousands of them
telegraph, telephone. electric light,
signal, lire alarm, public and private,
dead and secret-but there are scores
of linemen that know every one. |
can put my hands on dozen men.an
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 natural knowledge You
either know it or you don't. | know a
man who can't read or write. but he
can break open thirty-two-strand
cable and pick out the wire he wants.
1T is always Il fellow who knows the
wire geography of the roofs" he con-
slnued, that makes the taps. Are
shere many taps You don't hear of
fraction OF them. 1t is natural that
sometimes people would try to catch
the secrets worth thousands OF dollars
that go over telegraph wires, amt itp"
Il was after tap the other day and
found it in our own Office tower. 1t
reminded me of another in the DAYS of
the hottest war against the bucket
shops. A certain shop was uettino