The Van Buren press., 1898-01-15
! J0E'S FaH0US JUMP. ::
! Bv A. W. Whffxfor4. :
aaaaaaaaszaaAa

before the bank Closes 50 ] VIII
have to leave yoa 10 charge Of the Office
for awhile. 7 guess yoa can handle i
al right. can't gea2
~MRg yes. ! think ( can" replied The
person addressed. ~ ear try mighty
hard. anyway"
All right continued the other. =
doas Think there eili BE- mech To do
Fofaq-Sepea is On fime. and there is a.
extra south coming which they are to
meet here. and. aHIess Forty Y-seven gets
laid out. tbey won't have TO sehd anY
help 70 the extra. ard vii be back 9e-
fore hey gst here anyway. II az i'm
E9rsant Western Union comes hlFs
one af the boys IaaAng arouhd 70 de-
liver II, ard viii square everything aP
with You when ! get back
And with this the speaker opened
fhe Office door. passed through and
started of.
re was Fred Work, the station agent
for the Bariingt6a at Bsderst IL. aae
the Joe spdkeH 10 was Joe BartIeft, the
vffiee boy. or "Ieafners" as he s often
designated il railroad terms who ~as
supposed 10 be learning the art o.
telegraphg, bat the most Of whose time
was taken ap in addressing envelopes
delivering messages and namberiess
other duties. when, as he sometimes
expressed It. were not down 10 the
catalogue
Ie felt a rather keen sense Of delight
as the door closed behind the agent, and
he realized that for the first time since
he had started to work. fhe Office was
entirely In bis charge,
Like hundreds Of other boys about
his own age in the various towns along
the numerous railroads Of the country
he had beer given a chance 70 study
the science Of the wires" under the
direction Of the station agent, On con
diti6n that he did all the necessary
Office work. Of which there is always =
g06dIy amount, no matter hoW small
the t9wn.
Hs had 70 keep the Office clean. make
fires when the weather demanded II
write cmt freight bills. carry the mail
sack twice day from the depot to the
post office. file ali railroad messages.
seal cars and take the impression Of
and deliver ali Western Unions" thai
were received
These Western Unions" as they are
called. are the personal and private
messages received that are in no way
connected with the railroad work, but
are for some one out in the town and Of
which a copy must always be taken.
This is done BY taking the first copy
Of the message as written out by the
agent when received and placing i
under a sheet Of tissue paper, putting
damp cloth on top. then placing IT in
the small hand press, which IL a necss=
sarY adjunct to every railroad station
and screwing It up tight. The wet
cloth dampens both the tissue paper
and the ink, and when the press ia re-
leased an exact copy is found on ths
tissue paper
Joe had been q faithful worker, al
ways doing bis work In q satisfactory
and conscientious manner, until he bad
won the entire confidence and trust Of
The agent
Very little opportunity was ever
given him to practice on the wires In
the office, bil he had discovered an old
key and s0ander IN the coal cellar, and,
with the help Of the agent. q few scraps
of wire and on old zinc and copper
plate begged from the llueman, and one
Of his mothers big stone jars for a bat
terry cell, he had fitted up "circuit"
ht home.
Here he had practiced every spare
moment he could get, until, with what
little chance he got in the Office and
The instruction the agent gave him, he
was nov able 10 send" fairly we'll.
and he could also "receiye" some, but
with no degree Of speed
He improved, Of course. MS the days
vent BY and he secured more practice.
but this was the fret time he had ever
been left alone with the Office during
working hours
The smile which had appeared when
the agent first spoke Of leaving him
siill remained on bis face ns he sat in
The armchair close up 70 the table to
which the instruments we're attached.
with one hand thrown out careiessly
In the direction Of the key. making a
desperate attempt TO assume the air
and the manner Of full-HedRed dis
pntcher.
They may send a message before The
agent gets back" he thougbt, "and
maybe it might be train order. oh.
II ! only could get train order. and
lake IL all right maybe the agent
would recommend me 10 the snperln-
iendent. and might get siaiionl"
But nothing Of the Kind seemed liable
TO occur. for he sat there for long
time waiting patiently. but Haders was
never called
Then he arose and began 10 straighten
up the Office. lle filed the messages and
orders that bad been received during
the day. gathered mp the freight bills
and pigcon-holed them, wrung out the
copying cloths aud put a bucket Of
fresh water I'm the tub. aud. IN fact.
lld anything he could find 10 do 10
Keep himself busy, for the truth was
that the possibility Of getting message
actually made him nervous. although
he would have been the last person n
The world to admit ~.
bot he soon finished all the work he
could find to do and again took his seat
at the table. No messages yet. and the
agent would return perhaps any mo.
ment.
lie could hear aud distinguish the