Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1894-04-17
RICH KNIGHTS OF THE KEYBOARD.
George Gould ana Others Who are tx
pert Telegraph OPERATOR.


Everybody knows that Jay Gould had
a trade, and that II he found himself
suddenly in need he could have made
a living as a surveyor for In his youth
he Surveyed and made maps OF Ulster,
Albany and Delaware counties in the
State of New YORK. There arc compar'
atively few persons, however, who are
aware that his son, George j. Gould,
who succeeded 10 the management OF
his vast properties and whose reputa-
| ton as a financier is not clouded by the
| greater fame OF his father, could also
support himself and his family in case
! OF need by an occupation, 10 the pursuit
| Of which it is very unlikely that he will
! ever be reduced. George Gould is a
| telegraph operator.
As the president Of the Missouri Pa
cihc Railroad, he has his Office on the
fifth floor OF the Western Union Build
ing in New York, and thus he is handy
to the headquarters Of the Western
| Union Telegraph Company, which he
! controls. II the within ever seized him
or the necessity ever arose, he could
leave his sanctum, take the elevator
three flights up to the operating depart
ment OF the telegraph company and
work key just like any one Of the sew
/ eral hundred men who earn their bread
| by doing that kind of work In that
room.
1t is not certain how he come to learn
| the telegraph code. Some Of the old
operators around New York say that his
| father prompted him 10 make 1t a study
! and to master the science OF electricity
| in its other branches as thoroughly as
possible. Others--and some Of them
| are In q position to know-assert that
George Gould was attracted to the mat
! ter himself and he regarded 1t as pas
time, but that his father had nothing
whatever to do with IL.
At any rate, Jay Gould afterward be-
! came interested in the young mans &C
| complishment and it is sometimes rela-
| ted where telegraph men mostly con-
! gregate, that when father and son were
travelling in their private car over the
| Gould railroad lines In the west the
| former would frequently give the engin-
eer the signal to stop the train, write a
message and hand 1t TO George, who,
having strapped a pair OF spurs to his
! legs, would alight, shin up telegraph
pole, connect an instrument with q wire
and send the despatch 10 its destination.
! This may or may not be true, but any
way it is story that it is worth repeat
! ing.
Itis fact that George Gould at the
present time often makes use OF his
knowledge OF telegraphy for both bust
ness aud pleasure. The ability to do
this has undoubtedly been Of real value
10 him at times, aud more often il has
been a mere convenience. In the direc
ton of the Western Union Telegraph
Company his practical training must
often have served him.
A number OF other men who are now
at the top OF the ladder in one profess
sion or another, have risen from the
rank OF telegraph operators, where un
! like Mr.. Gould, they labored for a liv-
ing. Most conspicuous among them
and undoubtedly most proficient OF all,
| is Thomas A. Edison, who in his day
was one Of the finest operators in the
world. He learned the business from
railroad station master, whose
at the risk OF his own life, when the IT.
tie one had wandered on the track 10
front of an approaching train. Edison's
| subsequent inventions, the duplex and
quadruplex wires, by which two or four
| messages may be sent at the same time
over the same wire, and other improve
meuts afterwards were the foundation
Of his fame and fortune.
Andrew Carnegie is another ex-
| operator. He began as a messenger
boy for the Atlantic and OhiO Tele-
| graph Company in Pittsburg, became
| an operator and was one OF the first
men 10 read messages by sound. He
| afterwards entered the Pittsburg Office
OF the Pennsylvania Railroad and acted
as manager of its telegraph lines.
Thomas r. Eckert, President OF the
Western Union Telegraph Company,
began at the bottem and rose through
the successive stages OF the craft to the
position he now occupies. He rendered
| efficient service 70 the Union during
the war, first as operator in charge AZ
! MeClellan's headquarters and atterward
as organizer and superintendent OF the
telegraph service 81 the War Depart
ment in Washington, for which the rank
Of maior was conferred upon him.
James Elverson, whose daughter was
married to Jules Patenotro, the French
| Ambassador. q short time ago. and who
is publisher OF the Philadelphia In
qlEircr, Golden Days and Saturday
Night, was also telegraph operator in
his youth. With him, we will close the
list, which is sufficient TO show that
teIegraphy has contributed at least its
| ehara oF laadarS. IN the DreSpnt ace