Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1893-02-15

rest to make good the gap in the pilot
If couldn't find a 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
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 were driven
to it and had to get a rope across the
street I'd work either in the evening or
early in the morning, when 1 have
heard there are only few policemen
around. and those either asleep or
| chumps that wouldn't know what was
doing.
II 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 DO
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. It was a little, two
strand cable, just the size of single
wire, and after it was fastened to the
| latter and the joint nicely soldered it
took an hour to pull it slowly over"
IF you were to undertake such a Job
wouldn't you be liable to mistake the
wire-get the wrong one? There are a
good many on the roof top"
''Yes, there are thousands of them
telegraph, telephone. electric light,
signal, fire alarm, public and private,
dead and secret-but there are scores
of linemen that know every one. lean
put my hand on a dozen men, anyone
of whom you can take blindfolded on
any roof and he will tell you the name,
number, ownership, use, destination,
origin and age of every wire in the big
gest 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 athirty-two-strand cable and pick
out the wire he wants.
at is always fellow who knows the
wire geography of the roofs" he con-
tinued, that makes the taps. Are
there many taps? You don't hear of a
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 ftp"
81 was after tap the other day and
found it in our own Office tower. It re-
minded me of another in the DAYS of
the hottest war against the bucket
shops. A certain shop was getting
quotations. We made a dozen tests
and tours and found nothing. Finally,
by accident, discovered the operator
in certain hotel had his instrument
near a telephone, and shouted quota
tions out too loudly. 1t was kept in
circuit by a little wooden peg under
the lever, which was apparently with
the earpeace hanging in it That was
a good dodge, but the tappers made
it beautiful one by taking that tele-
phone wire all over town and
actually breaking open a telephone
cable, running it through that piece,
then into another cable, and finally
taking it through central tower, all
to disarm suspicion. We located it's
other end in an office in high building
on Clark street, and there sat tele-
graph operator, the phone to his ear,
catching the shouted quotations of the
other operator and telegraphing them
! over secret wire to the bucket shop.
I'm another case they left blind
lead for us in the shape of wire half
concealed running into hole in
brick wall while they broke open the
linen-covered line wire, fastened their
tiny copper threads to it, and ran
them down holes bored in the
insulator into chimney. In another
case they tapped every wire of certain
company and rugged up battery of
| their own, thus making themselves in
| dependent, and babe defiance to that
company for four weeks, till it dropped
| on the taps in its own office In anoth-
er case they went on a certain roof
the owner of which swore he would
shoot any man found there stringing
more wires, and kept guard to do it
and while the guard was on hand they
tapped the wire they wanted. OF course
we did't think of looking there and
did't go up there till we had to, fearing
we'd be thrown Off o, there are tricks
in all trades-but ours. "-Chicago Trib-
une