Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-25

RDAY Y, AUGUST 20,
| earned him promotions to that of receiving
clerk and then to a desk as telegraph op-
orator. In June 1885, he secured his present
position, and, like his companions he Is
liable to retain 1t for many years to come.
How the Tricks Are Arranged.
At present the boys, are wrestling with
the vacation problem and. while 1t Is fun
for the one that Is or, those left behind
have the pleasure of lighting out a twenty
four-hour trick between them. 1t is under
stood in some circles shat they have leave
Of absence with pay; but it is a case where
| they have to double up on the work to Sc
cure the money. 1t would seem. that the
District could AFFORD to allow these men,
and all connected with the system, an an
| nual vacation without the necessity of
doubling up In their work. SO that they
give to the District every hour Of service
they have lost while away. The regular
hours of the work are split up into eight for
each man. but by freak Of genius the
| men have adopted q system superior to that
Of the eight-hour. which Is quite worthy Of
consideration. One man works from at
night until $50 the next morning: the fol-
lowing man works until 3, and the third
man from till 8. This lasts for a week.
and then the system Is shifted, the man
having the long trick catching the next
shortest and the one having the short one
-
! third week the one man has a nice time to
himself, and enjoys the hours looking about
| him.
The switchboard in use in the office is
| an old one, but SO handy and accurate and
so well understood that the placing of So
called improved board in its place has been
postponed from time to time until the pres
ent one is looked upon as n fixture until
the twentieth century at least. When an
| alarm comes in a small flap falls down. on
which there Is a number denoting the num-
Der of the box, and with 1t the most I'M
earthly ringing of gor gs imaginable. With
the first sound the operator is at his post.
and In the turning of little knob sets the
repeating apparatus, going. so that the
side of few seconds. This repeating in
strument occupies glass case, about
three feet long, two feet wide and one foot
| high. 1t is chiefly composed of brass. with
rubber and silk Insulation covers and wires.
To the eye of an electrician or operator 1t
| is a gem. Of the first water, being of the
| finest mechanism, and SO finely adjusted
that a solitary ohm is boiled down to the
hundredth part Of a fraction. The manu-
facturers and pateniee of the instrument
evidently believe In its efficiency and
worth. because 1t host the District cool
5000 to claim the oTnership of 1t.
Wires Underground.
When n general alarm Is to be sounded
the chief, who has reached the scene of
| trouble. sounds the signal "4-4+' to the
central office. The latter repeats the fig
ures back -" and: then gives the 20
X" signal which stGnifies that he under
! stands and will carry out the order. Should
one of the men on duty be taken suddenly
I'll and not lie able totfulfll his duties the
signal will keep on Changing out 20 'S, -
''2s," or what nuntpsr -. may be. until
knowledge the receipt Of the call by break
ing the circuit and setttuE the repeating APP
paratus to work. AZ. there are always sew
will be sssilyk seen .tAatl,ssthe signal cannot
go a long Tina una rAEefed or unnoticed,
osOne thing the system Aeeds and needs II
badly, - Sthe piacipk .Ot ise- wires under,
and rwind,s Moves this and when 4 nor
easter gets ID tn deadly work the operator
up IN his little Once may as well be In Ice
land for all the good he can do In case an
ala rm Of fire 10 sounded At such times
the methods of old times comes into play,
and the keen eye takes the place OF cleo
tricity. Con6uits have been laid In many
places and into them 1t Is believed. should
60 the wires as quick as possible. so as to
reduce the chances OF an Sinterruption to a
minimum. The fire at Scottish Rite Hall
last winter demonstrated the inefiaciency of
the fire departments right bower-the tele
graph. This Is usually the case where the
storm proves unusually severe and the hour
an unusual one. Luck had considerable to
do with preventing that fire being a dis
astrous one.
Although the main office Of the system is
pleasantly located and the hours likewise
agreeable, there are times when almost any
plies to the time when heavy thunder
storms pass overhead and distribute more
than the usual quantity Of electric fluid
along the wires of the fire alarm system.
OF course. lightning will hunt the ground
by the shortest way possible. and as the
wires are generally grounded at the main
office the operator on duty has to face quite
a bombRrdment from old Jupiter. Light
MIR
SO that when the dangerous 6uid comes into
the office 1t viii strike them and go off on
to the ground wire and thence into the
ground 1t Is when the Mud becomes too
plentiful that 1t becomes dangerous. Sup
pose three or four bolts strike the wires
about the same time. They will reach the
office at the same instant. and the lightning
arrester. being inadequate to hold the entire
trio of bolts, one or two will go on a voyage
of discovery about the office.
This is the time when ''ducking'' comes in
Mandy. Should a bolt strike the wire, say
a mile away, its force will be almost wasted
by the time 1t reaches the office. But If one
should strike quite close to the Office some
thing serious is liable to occur. When
these balls Of fire sail about the Office they
all look alike, consequently it can't be told
whether person Is lodging a ball of cotton
or brick, 1Guratively speaking, and as a
result the operator on duty tries most dill
gently to give them all a clear field and no
favor.
Humorous incidents sometimes occur, but
not frequently, although one Of the trio Of
operators tells quite a good story on himself
that -transpfred when he first came into the
business for the District. 1t seems that he
was employed at the telegraph desk as an
operator previous to assuming his new DO
sition, and enc day the chief Of the fire de-
partment sent in the signal ~" which
means that general alarm should be
sounded. The operator jumped for the key,
r,hich Is similar to the Morse instrument
and roS, minute, forgetting himself, tele-
graphed bacS to the chief the letters SPELL
ing the word Whist ''Of course, 1t was all
Greek to the. chief wSo continued sending
In a." -" until the Soung man pulled
himself together and sent the prope- signal
In return and then rueked the general ALARM
over the city. No harm resulted, as only
the fraction of mirtrte was lost, but It
was valuable experience to the new man,
and 1t hasn't happened atnce.
smashed fMfE. RECORD.
Fast Time Of the Inner New York
From sOnth9mpton.