The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-02-10
EXPENSIVE ERRORS.
LOSSES ny TELEGRAPH COMPANIES
AND HOW THEY ORIGINATE.
Operators Paying for sIistakes-A
Unique Plan Compelling care on
the Part of EmpIOyes-some In
terestInE Cases.

]
From the Washington Star
/ In the matter OF damages claimed and
allowed. the telegraph companies Of this
/ country stand on almost equal terms with
/ the steam and street railway companies.
/ The steam railway corporations, OF
course. head the list. as the immense
/ traffic carried by them naturally results
in many injuries and consequent claims
for a financial healing balm. But with
this one exception the telegraph compa-
MES pay out as much money for damages
as any other corporation IN existence.
The unique feature of the payment Of
damages by the telegraph companies
| lies in the fact that while they allow dam
ages, when the amount Is not TOO large,
they very seldom pay them out of their
own treasures. The employees that are
responsible for the mistakes that lead
up to the claims for damages pay the
amount out Of their salaries. and in this
respect the telegraph corporations pos
sess an envious monopoly. from a stock
holders point Of view.
Other corporations are prevented from
| following the example of the telegraph
/ companies because Of the difference in
the salaries paid, the difficulty Of plac-
ing the responsibility, and the larger
damages allowed in lump sums. While
the aggregate amount paid out by the
telegraph companies is very large. the
majority of the claims will average from
800 to $500. After the telegraph COM
panies have located the authors of the
mistakes they are given the opportunity
of paying the claims OFF in installments.
say, at the rate Of $40 per month, or Of
quitting the company's employ. II the
employees consent to the first proposition
the companies pay the bill and keep tab
on the $40 allotments until the accounts
have been wiped out. In the case Of a
! railroad employe the damages may be up
in the thousands, and sooner than be IN
der this heavy load of indebtedness he
quits the company and goes to another
road. The telegraph operator cannot very
| well do this, on account of only two com
panies being In the field. and consequently
stands the squeeze.
To cite a case in point a firm dealing I'm
Christmas novelties was approached for
bid on 1000 candy boxes of "a peculiar make.
| This was a month before the HOLIDAYS.
and the boxes were to be used at a sun
day school celebration. The FIRMS bid
was satisfactory and it telegraphed to
the manufacturers in Boston, the only
| hrm In the trade that made this peculiar
box. The telegram read
snip LOCO brick candy boxes at once"
Inc firm s manager took a letter press
copy of the telegram Time went on and
nothing was heard of the order The Sun
day school people became nervous at the
| delay, and the firm, thinking lis BOSTON
] friends we M Of he no.
up the order Two days previous to Christ
mas an Adams Express messenger brought
TO the firm a paekGge- containing 100 brick
| boxes. When the firms manager saw
what the package was made up of he re-
fused to receive It. Then the express com
pany telegraphed particulars to Boston.
ana the firm in that city wrote a sorch-
ing letter denouncing the local firm and
| threatening damages.
A hasty trip was made to the telegraph
| office and the original message scanned. II
was all right. A copy of the telegram as
received in Boston was forwarded, and it
was found to read:
Send 100 brick candy boxes by express -
The Boston firm also sent a copy of
the original message and, of course. il
looked to the telegraph company for
redress, as did also the local firm for the
loss of the sale. How such a mistake could
nave occurred Is mystery to a telegraph
! NfNAoNSA WIN NdltAul ways, yet DnanV in
the business will understand that the pro-
| pensity ito copy behind" no doubt was the
cause. The damages in the case in question
amounted to some thing like $3.50, and an
| operator in New York city was held re
| sponsible. An assessment of $40 a month
was levied, and It goes without saying
that that operator will do more copying
behind.
The writer recalls a similar case. in
which he figured as the victim A Young
operator considers it a great feat to ''copy
Dehlnd, and being new in the business
comparatively speaking, had worked him
! self down to such a fine point that as bleb
as twenty words, and sometimes a whole
message, would be off the wires before he
would begin to put it on paper Then came
| the fatal "once too often" A broker or
dered five thousand bags of coffee sold at
certain figure. When the message
| reached It's destination Il read 4shuv in
stead OF SELF and the responsibility was
finally placed, after much "ducking" upon
| the writer, the damage resulting from the
mistake being placed at $3.50, the broker
losing on each bag of coffee a fraction
of a cent. Had the message been sent at
a time when the market was active the
loss could just as easily have been awav
! up in the thousands. When an operator
is charged with such mistakes it is only
business for him to try and place the
| blame on the operator at the other end Of
! the line. This is called ducking.
/ 1t is well known fact that hardly one
| telegraph operator out of fifty, on an aver
| age, but has gone through the experience
OF making mistake. Some are lucky. and
! get off with a reprimand, while others Will
/ run into financial loss. The earlier this
mistake occurs in the operators career
! the better it will be for him, as 1t reduces
to normal state a popular disease known
! as the "swelled head" Cases are cited TO
| Illustrate that the making of mistakes has
| resulted in real benefits to the apparently
| unfortunate operator, inasmuch as after
the damages have been decided upon the
salary of the sponsor for the mistake has
been raised sufficiently for him to meet
/ the obligation without any considerable
| inconvenience. Little acts like these. in
stead of taking the heart out Of a man OF
tender years, will nerve him for better
work in the future.
In conversation with an official con-
nected with one of the local telegraph
Offices the matter Of damages and mis-
takes was preached. The official said:
THE unique way the telegraph compa-
MES have of settling the claims for dam
ages resulting from mistakes Of employees.
/ believe, originated In the fertile brain of