The morning call., 1893-12-10

machines at which they translate the Ian
guage OF Morse into the English tongue
and also reduce the latter to a mass of
dots and dashes. These are getting mess
ages ready for the Wheatstone instruments
or rendering those received Ineligible
to the general public, but of this more
further on.
The operator who has been the longest
in the service, of the Western Union at San
Francisco IS Thomas S. Cunningham. who
has nasdled the kew for tweniy-tbree W
8 Fears. There are few better known oper-
stors In the country than "Tom," and his
copy. done In round, handsome hand. is
Va familiar and welcome sight to every
telegraph editor in the city.
Seated at a desk which is on q raised
2 platform in the center of the room is Mr.
Martin. the chief operator, looking every
bit like pedagOgue, and one almost ex-
poets to see a band raised by pupil and
hear the familiar Teacher, may go out 2"
But when any one wishes to speak with
Mr.. Martin. or he in turn desires to con-
verse with a subordinate or with a supe-
rior downstairs, no vocal sounds are heard,
only the click, click. of the little instru-
: ment on his desk, which puts him in COM
uunication with any one in the building.
It is wheel within a wheel; little
system of telegraDhy within larger one.
Near his desk is the large switchboard
q in which terminate the seventy-fOur wires
that come in San Francisco. To the left
of this switch board is galvanometer, q
little instrument that saves lots of time
. and money: for il is the danger signal, and
better than most danger signals it tells all
about the trouble and just where it is
located. Suppose wire leading to Sacra-
mento is In trouble, that is. current re-
fuses to flow through it. Nowhere on
the aerial line can any damage be seen by
the men who are on the look out for breaks
or crossings by other wires. No. the trout BILE
must be hidden somewhere, so the wire
is attached to the galvanometer and
the current turned on. The instrument is
so delicate that IL indicates exactly how far
the current goes before itmeets with an OBJ
struction. IL locates to within two or three
feet the exact spot of the trouble. So the
expert wire ester, W b. has heen reading the
signs as indicated on the little instrument
., and calculating with the aid of some tables
compiled for his use, is able to turn to the
s' chief operator and say, for instance, "Wire
trouble on No. q. Sacramento, fifty feet this
side of where the cable dips from Goat
Island"
This information is sent to the linemen.
A boat is taken, and at a point just fifty
feet off the island the cable is either hauled
on board or diver goes down 10 il. He
cuts open the gutta- percha covering, and
within two feet Of where he made the first
incision finds the "trouble." The wire is
mended and the current flows again.
Since the advent of the electric light and
buildings have been destroyed by fire
started by telegraph or telephone wire
being "crossed" with one carrying the
more powerful force. To-day such an ac-
cident is well-nigh impossible. Placed
next to the wires on the large switchboa
are small bands of COPS er so arranged
that in the event of ''crossing" they will
be burned through, and their burning will
automatically diScOnnect the wire and re-
duce it to state of innocuous desuetude.
But the click of the scores of insiru-
ments is heard all over the room 1t is the
busiest hour of the day, about 2:30 P. NJ,
and the combination of the sharp noises
seems to make heavier. lower, more
resonant note, and il sounds like the roar
ef surf upon shore.
"At this table," Mr.. Martin is saying,
'the race service is being handled. OUT al
the track an operator is seated beside a
key. and as the results are called OF
they are sent here. The man on the
left receives them and hands them to the
man on the right, who in turn sends them
70 the poolrooms in Montreal. New YORK.
Chicago and Philadelphia. One minute
aIter a race is run the result is known lc
all these cities. Here is one of the mes
sages."
He picked up bit of white paper which
mad Just been in the hands of the sender
and the words written on 1t we're: N
Midget, bal Fisher, Ftzimmons."
There. said be, "that is already posted
on the blackboards of the New York pool
rooms, and shows those Interested there
the exact position of the horses az the
quarter post. So the racing fraternity in
the metropolis are watching this race
almost simultaneously with you and me
and with those who are at the Bay Dis
trict track.
Now here is message being received
over quadruplex from Chicago. Should
necessity require we could put twelve
wires in operation between here and that
city, but the average service requires only
about half that nuinb ber."
What are your other busy points?" Mr..
Martin was asked.
We'll, working to Portland and carry
ing all the Northwest business we have