Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1893-11-16
TRICKS OF ELECTRICITY.
How a Young Lad Stole Messages from
Telegraph Wire.

carries lnt messages iheledu Oh Killing
the messenger, and it rings bells, in.
stead of melting them. In watching
the electric cars you viii have noticed
how ready the electricity is to escape,
or, at least, how ready it is to make a
spark which shows that something
has happened. What happens in such
a case is that the force of the electrici.
ty does not pass by contact from the
wire to the trolley wheel. but having
10 jump through the air, makes the
spark. Although the electric current
will keep TO its wire. and usually do its
work quite properly. it very easily be;
comes a kind Of truant from school,
and will run OFF, and go into
the earth and become lost.
This is a little trick which
it has and the knowledge that it viii
do so is sometimes useful You may
have read how. during war the sol
diers of one side viii gallopacross com
try and tap the telegraph wires, as it is
4 called This means that by using a
small apparatus, (which they carry with
them. they can stop the telegraph mes
sage from passing any farther along
the wire. and can take OF the message
at that point and read it themselves.
They do this in order to find out, If pos.
sible. what their enemies may be tele.
graphing TO each ether about Then,
when they reach such messages they
can send back reply to deceive then
enemies, who. not knowing that the
telegraph wires have been tapped. may
suppose that the reply is the real reply
of the persons To whom they tele-
graphed But can remember an cleo
trio trick which was not at all useful,
though it was rather amusing.
A good many years ago, when ! was
in Germany, ! happened tol1now a fam
lily who used in the summer TO live in a
house of their own, in the chief town
of one of the German states, which we
will call the state of the Duke of Pum-
pernickel. This name is. in Germany.
as you may know, the name of a very
dark-loolSing bread. But this name is
not the German name, for the bread is
so called because, when the French sol
diers at the beginning of the century
were in Germany, they were given this
bread TO eat; but they said it is only
'.bon pour Nicole. meaning that IL was
only good for their horses, which every
Frenchman generally calls Nicole. And
then the German peasants in trying to
say the French words. made out
of them the word Pumpernickel.
Now the Duke Of Pumpernickel
lived in what he called his residence
g. s.l - -.
Germany is called the residence
town." and Berlin is also called the
world town" The duke had, OF
course, telegraph wires going in every
direction through his residence town,
and from it to the other towns and
villages Of his country, and also to the
towns and residence towns of the
neighboring sovereigns. 1t so hap
pened that nearly all the wires turned
the corner of the street in which was
the house of my friends family, and
passed underneath some of the upper
windows. The youngest son of my
friend was bright little boy of about
twelve years of age, and suppose he
had been reading about electricity, and
about its liking to run away il il could
get chance. At any rate he found out
that. by hanging a wire from the tele.
graph wires and continuing il to the
earth. he could make all the electricity
run off into the earth. So he took his
fshing-rod and arranged it with long
wire. and he let the other end of the
wire go through the rooms, and out OF
a back window into the garden. Then,
whenever he thought that no one could
see him. he amused himself in throw.
ing the wire, as il he were fly-fishipg
over the telegraph wires. and after let
ting it rest awhile would flick it of
and then fish again.
There vast great trouble among the
people who sent messages from the |
residence town, and among the neigh /
bors who sent messages into the resi-.
dence town; for every day a good many /
Of them mysteriously disappeared. So |
the duke and his ministers sent messen.
gers to find out where the defect in the 1
wires was But the telegraph poles were
all up. and the wires were all in then
places. and the insulators seemed to be
all in good order: yet most Of the mes.
sages never arrived. In a few days
this state Of things became very seri-
ous; and the duke and his ministers did
not know how they could carry on the
important business Of the state. and
their little army. and inter
shange courtesies with the neighbor-
ng states. Neither could the me--
,hsnts, or hotel keepers or travellers.
be sure that their telegraph messages
would arrive. So at last the policemen
Ind others were set to watch al over
he town to find out, IL possible, what
vas interfering with the business Of
he state Of PumPernicheL Finally
policeman saw the little boy cast his
ishing-rod to fish for the messages
rom the wires between the telegraph
,oles- The policeman in great indig-