The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-08-24
READING MOVING FINGERS.
The Advantage TO Uns Man Of OBJ
~rvina a Tpyewritsr.

e.
The typewriter was clicking away at q
great rate, and a man was sitting near
watching the flying fingers of the opera
tor, says the washington Star" He was
waiting to see the attorney who was the
employer OF the OPERATOR, and when the
attorney finally entered the visitor did not
observe his approach.
Hello exclaimed the proprietor of the
office, what are you looking at my type
writer so absorbingiy for? Have you been
dreaming that he was a lovely maiden in
disguise, or some other fairy story like
that?"
NO." replied the visitor. II was just
trying to realize how difficult a feat l saw
a man perform yesterday, down at one Of
the hotels. where there is one of the fast
est operators in town"
What did he do? Jump a board bnl?'
mo, that's easy. What he did was diff
ferent. A man who was with him had
some sort OF a trade on, / don't know
what. but just before they proceeded to
conclude 1t, the other man said he wanted
to write a letter to his partner in Chicago.
He had it already. drafted in pencil. and
he took it over to the far side of the
w~riting-room and handed it to the oper-
ator, saying to be careful, as it was very
important, and to get it done at once.
Then he Joined the other man, but before
they began talking a third party called
the first man aside for a short talk. AS
these two talked, the operator at the ma
chine clicked at the letter, and the man
who was waiting for some reason watched
the operator very closely as her fingers
flew over the keys.
The letter was finished at least three
minutes before the talk was, and when
that was done the operator handed the
man the letter in an envelope duly adj
dressed and went back to her machine.
The man put the letter in his pocket just
as it was handed to him.
hope you'n pardon me- he said,
turning to ~theAwaiting man, for SO much
delay, but it was unavoidable. However,
I'm ready now to close with you at the
prices named
"sAnd I'd see you hanged before I'd
sell to you at any price said the other
man in a suppressed tone, greatly to the
surprise of the man with the letter in
his pocket.
IN another minute there would have
been a fight on, but l rushed in, as did
another party and in the excitement the
man with the letter got away and disap-
peared. In response to our inquiries Is to
what it vas all about, the man told us
that he had made a study of training
the eye to ~quickness, and that he prac-
tised it whenever he saw a typewriter at
work He had SO perfected himself at
it that he could follow the fingers of the
fastest operator, and he could read what
ever he might happen to be writing. In
this case he had done the same without
thought, because the man with whom he
mad the trade on was engaged for a mo-
ment. Before he had read five lines of
the letter, however, he discovered that the
man was making arrangements with his
partner in Chicago to swindle him out of
$1,000. 1t was a cold-blooded case of steal.
and the wonder to him was that he hadn't
hit the s~coundrel first and told him why
afterward.
That was all there was to it," con-
cluded the visitor. except that we tested
him and found he could do what he said,
and now if you don't think it is a difficult
feat, you watch your operator as she flies
along some time at sixty words a minute,
see If you can read the letters her fin
gers dance among"