The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-02-10

1880 --A"NtN AA rAA NANIAtNH A gave MN TWO
D increases IN salary. Ills Indebtedness was
soon hquidated and he went Up the ladder
I OF success with more than the usual ra-
I pldlty. To-day he secs to it that more
7 th@n three hundred operators do their
I telesraph!ng correctly. lie has frequently
I told me that his one mistake. while costly
I az the time OF It's occurrence, was bless
ing behind mask. We would have ruined
I that mans career had he been dis
I charged.
But all operators win not foot the bill
I OF damages" continued the telegraph Of
3 fetal with n merry twinkle On his eye.
] and especially b. this so in the cases of
I hrst-class men. When a f50O suit and It's
I usual termination oonfronts them they
/ quit instantcr and we have TO settle the
] bill. They are so expert that the press as
I sociations. brokers or the opposition COM
/ pany gobble them up- Sometimes they
/ drift into the larger cities and under as
sumed names come back into our employ
I and We are unable 20 catch them. They
/ take as an excuse for not paying the bill
I that they are too expert TO make mistakes.
/ but when the man al the other end OF the
| wire is equally as good at the business
I the proper location OF the mistake IS not
l difficult a receiver Of the Morse alphabet
I viii make ten mistakes while the sender
( Of the same will make one. The GLASS or
I employees that, as a rule. make the mis-
takes and are willing TO pay the piper are
| those receiving salaries ranging from SIS
to $50 a month. They are comparatively
new al the business and want 10 stay with
| US.
1T Is not necessary to tell YOU OF the
immense business We do with the racing
associations and their patrons. II amounts
/ up In the millions each year. but strange
/ to say mistakes are few and far between.
| This might seem strange TO those not
conversant with the true state Of affairs.
| but to me It is easily explained. Three
/ out OF four operators have, at some time.
/ taken an interest In horse racing, and al
though IL may not have been to the ex-
| tent Of more than a $40 bill. they never
| forget the experience. Consequently they
silently follow the horses. but we make
| IL point TO place men on the race wires
that know every horse from Shocks up
/ to Henry Of Navarro Then we place q
| list OF the entries for the day before them
and they get TO know the horses names
thoroughly, no matter how swiftly they
| come over the wires.
Another thing in our favor. in dealing
with the race association and their fol-
! lowers. is that they are easy to deal with.
/ and II we show them conclusively that the
mistake was the result of bad wires. or
quick transmission I'm our endeavor to
serve them promptly they viii depart
] NAeiAoAA ~ hthNAlAAlh AlAt ENhJEIk % AhAl~
/ ages.
| Il remember a case in point In which a
/ race track follower got message that had
/ mistake in IT. but which benefited him
/ to such an extent that ] felt like making
/ him pay damages. A message came TO
| him from Louisville, KY telling him to
/ play a certain horse in the third race on
/ the day In question. From early morning
/ that day tip on another horse in the
] huI 4
/ office to such a degree that everybody
was sending money over TO the island
/ track. The tip had come from Louisville
/ and through an operator in that city.
| The message In question came IN red hot
! time, and the operator that did the re-
! ceiving is a first-class race track nend.
| He had collected together $50 and had sent
IL over the river to be placed on the tip.
and consequently he could see no other
! horse in the race especially as his friend
! had notified him over the wire that his
/ money had been placed at the odds of
to 1. At the point where the Tacine
/ man was advised TO play a certain horse
this man substituted the horse he was
] backing, and to this day he IS willing 10
| swear that the telegram read that way.
and that II n mistake was made, the send
| ing operator was the erring one. Strange
| to say the horse backed by the operator
! won, consequently the sporting man az
the track was away ahead, financially,
| on the transaction This man came to
| me a weak later and showed me the
original message. ana wanted TO 20 I'M
| stairs ana reward the operator for his
/ mistake, but / wouldn't allow 1t, and after
| much persuasion convinced him that II
| would demoralize our business to permit
him to do so.
II have always maintained, and gener-
/ ally rightfully, that 1t IS only through
! carelessncss OF the grossest kind that mis-
takes are made in our business OF course.
! don't refer to the press business, as the
/ operators with the associa lions do not
carry the responsibility and consequently
| a dozen bulls day on an average will be
! registered. Our operators are Instructed
! TO spell out figures, but there is a class
that will persist they know all the details
! thoroughly and viii handle figures
straight Let me tell you a little story
wherein lady belonging to this class
made an $500 blunder, and through the
| connivance OF a superior official made our
| company pay the bill
THE lady In question was more than
usually good looking and III give her the
/ credit of being good operator. 1t was
| this goodness that made her take to re-
! ceiying figures instead OF letters. She re-
ceived a telegram one day over the New
/ York wire, calling for the purchase Of 1000
| bushels of wheat. It was addressed 10
/ one Of our local brokers and came from
| one. Of his customers in that city. The
| message was rushed as usual in such
! cases, and in her haste our lady EXPERT
/ left off one OF the ciphers and made the
! order call for 500
THE next day there was the deuce to
| pay. There had been tremendous ad-
vance in wheat and the broker and his Gus
/ toner were furious. I tried to bluff them
/ Off by citing the legal agreement printed
/ on the back Of each telegraph blank, call
! ing for a repeating of the message, but
! they knew thing or two and wouldn't
have it. Then, after locating the guilty
party tried to play on their sympathies,
telling them bright and beautiful young
lady had made the mistake ard that she
was the only support of an aged parent.
| This plea also failed as they wouldn't be-
Heve the story OF the company making
the young lady pay the bill Of damages If
allowed.
after several days Of wranglng we
finally decided to take the loss and placed
IT at $500. The broker first claimed 5000
This was an immense SUM to the lady
and she had case Of Mysteries when I
told her of the final decision. Then, after
D davfg pOpdarfug eha carna to ,,a ,,rttL