Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1894-05-16
AN OPERATORS STORY.
For Months He Masqueradsd by Wire IS
n Girl.

q Girl.
eyes, / have had some awful fun
ny experiences" said well-known
telegraph operator. to a Cincinnati
Enquirer reporter. Zone time
talked with girl for almost year
nearly every day, and she thought |
was girl. Yes, quite a little ro-
nance.
II was at Erie. Pa. doing COM
mercial work for big firm. was
green in the business. Never learned.
in tact. My father was an operator,
and my brother and l kind of grew
up on the rudiments. but had no
actual experience.
IL worked good deal with the
G - that's Pittsburg. you know,
about 40 from Erie. The operator
at &C. signed F. NJ ana / soon
learned that the operator was a girl,
and as | figured it out mighty
pretty one ! signed &C. A IRON
the first time called 'G' #. n. got
the idea someway, that / was a girl
operator just learning. and she went
slow and helped me out
''She used to explain things to me
and repeat messages | used to get
all tangled up with cable messages,
but she would help me out. don't
know what / would have done with
out +. NJ for l took the job on my
gall.
81 sent her several boxes of flowers
and had one of the lady clerks write
letters from me to her. directed nv
letters to +. N, w. u. telegraph
office, Pittsburg.' and she directed
mine to C.. A. at the general otfice
in Erie. The letters always carried.
Then we used to talk girl talk over
the wires. She would tell me about
the balls she had been to and her
new dresses, and talked back to her
in the strain.
"Well, | got to love the little f.
NJ called her Fannie, though
that WASH her name-and was glad
when in about year, | had a chance
to go to Pittsburg. 1t was with a
beating heart that | entered the
Western Union office and asked the
head clerk who r. N was. He
pointed her out to me as she was
sitting at her desk pounding away at
the brass, and she was beauty, as
pretty little brunette as | ever
saw
II began to kind of question him
a little Offhand, and nearly dropped
when ne said. We're going to lose
#. ~. before long. She is going to
be married to u. G. He sits over
yonder.
81 looked at II. c. an ugly old
cuss. old enough, | thought, to be
her father. | had mover seen him,
but knew him by wire, He was a
nasty sender - lightning from the
word go. He used to call me Plug
because couldn't take the messages
as fast as he would sling them. |
hated him and always cursed when
he was on the wire, which was, thank
heaven! not very often.
well, | looked at II. G. and then
at little f. M suppose she thought
she was doing well. because u. e.
was n crack brass FOUNDER, but I
pitied her for knew he was a crank
and then | left the Office without
speaking to her, and to this day she
does not know that C. A is a man.
When got back to Erie | changed
my sig. to y. M and told her &c.
~ had left and | was a man.
One day she babe me good by
saying she was going to quit. did
not need TO ask the reason, but l tell
you, If ever get that u. G. in a
tight place I'll make him sweat, for
l can sling lightning with any of
them now. Thanks to little =. n. ;
for believe | would have given up
the job and gone into some other
business if it hadn't been for her."