Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1893-04-28
TELEGRAPH TAPPING
ADVICE AS TO A COMPARATIVELY
MODERN INDUSTRY.

Who Has Fought the Board of Trade OF
That City, Gives a Few Points on Beating
Telegraph Companies.
Speaking of schemes, there is one man
In Chicago who has caused the board OF
trade more bother than all the other al
legged electricians put together. His
name is o. NJ. Stone, past master in
electrical matters, who has spent years
in patient study of electricity, and whose
fertile brain has evolved SO many
schemes to circumvent the powers that
be that he has been called the king Of
wire tappers. Mr.. Stone is a modest
man. He looks like granger, but any
one who tries to sell him gold brick
will surely get worsted in the transac-
ton. Believing that disquisition on
wire tapping would be incomplete with
out few words ON the subject from
this patriarch of the profession, repre-
sentative from The Herald asked the cleo
trician whether he thought wire tapping
could be accomplished.
Mr. Stone could not vouch for it from
personal experience, but from an cleo
trical point of view he was decidedly OF
the opinion that he could. He thought,
however, that it would require, in this
city at least. knowledge of electricity
which not one in a hundred possesses.
I'm the past three years." observed Mr..
Stone. II suppose that upward Of 100 diff
ferent parties, each representing a coterie
of amateur sports, operators and others,
have approached me for information on
this subject. And it has invariably been
in regard to horse racing that they want
ed enlightenment. Were to mention the
names of some Of these visitors the rae
ing department Of telegraph company
would be mortified. Operators as rule
do not get princely salaries, nothing near
what they should be paid, SO that when
a proposition is made to them whereby
they may clean up big stake in day
they naturally have an itching to give it
a trial. But to all these young fellows
who have been inclined to test their luck
in this way l have seriously advised
against making the attempt.
"A large proportion of those who do
attempt to tap wires make miserable
failures And it is because Of their
gross ignorance. | will venture the as
sertion that 60 per cent of the operators
in all large Offices cannot set up and
work common set Of Geographic ap-
paratus, taking the wires from the time
they come into the Office until they take
the battery or go out again. Yet with
a great part of this class the idea of
wire tapping emanates. They think they
know all about it, and when some Of
them come to see me and unfold their
schemes | have to smile at their SIM
plicity. They do not recognize the diff
ference between an instrument of four
ohms and one of 100 ohms, and upon the
subject of galvanometers and Wheat
stone bridges they are completely lost"
1t was suggested to the veteran cleo
trician that recital of his experiences
with the Chicago board Of trade in get
ting quotations would be interesting,
and he was asked if he could say how he
received the markets during the time
the quotations were withheld from the
bucket shops.
in the first place, said he, 1.-THE board
of trade had detectives innumerable all
hunting for taps supposed to furnish
me information. fooled 'em dreadfully
on that point, however. Now that the
fight is all over l will say that not only
had no wire tapped, but had no necessity
for tapping one. l had better scheme
than that"
But didn't you ever lose your con-
tinuous quotations."
Never. They had man who chopped
everything in the shape of wires he could
find, and occasionally he nipped other
wires, but he never succeeded in tracing
the source of my information. At one
time he cut everything he could lay
hands on and then firmly believed he had
me in corner. That made me hot. My
office was then in the Traders building,
facing the board of trade rooms. The
windows of the exchange floor were all
soaped over. the directory foolishly be-
heving received quotations that way,
and they thought they had me sure.
Well, that morning, with my wire all
cut as they supposed, as soon as the mar
kets opened | seized bar of soap and
scored every eighth change on my win
dow, giving in addition the buyer and
seller sign. 1t dumfounded them. A
big crowd stood below on the walk
watching my quotations, and | never
missed turn In spite of the cut wires,
too, had my customers supplied within
half an hour after the board opened, and
was furnishing II bucket shops at the
time"
II suppose you had some funny expe-
riences during the tight?'
well, yes. AT one time l had q lot
lot Of old dead wires connected up that
ran from anywhere to nowhere, similar
to what is commonly known as tree
circuit'-that is to say, the main wire
had legs scattered in all directions, each
of which ran in some dark hole, CHM
ney, vacant basement or the like, and
there grounded. l then put heavy bat
terry on the main circuit and sent full
line Of markets over it. There wasn't
single Office on the wire, but the mystic
rious ends made the 'sleuths believe it
was hot trail, and they would follow
lead after lead, cutting each to pieces as
soon as discovered. To further bother
them | had my man trail them in turn
and connect the wires again to keep up
the illusion. 1t was three weeks before
they found out had fooled 'em again"
Now that the board furnishes its
own quotations, suppose there is not
so good thing in the business for you,
is thereY
Mr.. Stone pulled in a reflective man.
ner at his long beard. "Well," said he,
81 have several other little schemes that
serve to keep the pot boiling, and on the
whole l cannot complain. My advice,
however, to all those who think they