Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-10-21
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How an Amateur Telegraph Operat,
Discovered a Bank Robber.

ee .ND.N
Ada King began to teach as a vocation
and continued to do SO for four years,
when she resigned her lucrative position
in order to live with her recently widow
ed and lonesome mother.
Then, as a means Of support, she began
to write for publication" at which she
was unusually successful-suficiently 80
as to lead her to feel assured that she
would in a comparatively short time be
able to remove a mortgage that incum-
bered her home.
AS she sat one August evening in what
she was pleased to denominate her sane
tum. plotting a story, her mother looked
into the room and said:
"Mr. Poore wishes to see you, Ada"
The only person bearing that name
with whom she was at all acquainted
was a young man who for a few months
had been the station agent in the village
where she resided, and she had not met
him many times. Therefore it is not at
all strange that she inquired:
"What in the world can he want of
me?"
81 have no idea," the mother replied,
"but he is In the sitting room waiting for
you"
Going to the designated apartment, she
saw the agent, who, rising from his seat,
said:
"Good evening, Miss King. 1 am sorry
to disturb you, and I hope you will ex-
cuse me for so doing when you know my
reason for calling upon you"
81 have no doubt that I shall" she
smilingly responded.
~ have understood that you are an ex-
cellent telegrapher."
II hardly think that I deserve to be
thus denominated; but when | was teach
ing | devoted my spare moments to the
art, became greatly interested in it and
a fair operator"
"This evening l received a letter from
M mother informing me that my young
est sister Is dangerously i'll and wishes me
to come home, if only for a day or two.
There is a young man in the village
who can do my work save the telegraph
ing, and l called to see if''--
He hesitated, and she appended:
IF l will attend to that while you are
away?"
"Yes."
II shall be more than willing to accom-
modate you"
"You are very kind, and l will salts
factorily compensate you for your serv-
ices"
"The pleasure that it will afford me to
listen to the click of the sounder and to
manipulate the key will be an ample com
pensation."
"You must deem me somewhat pre-
sumptious, so limited is my acquaintance
with you, but I did not know Of any one
save yourself in this vicinity who has
any knowledge of the Morse"
"You seem to me to have pursued the
only course that you could under the cir.
c~umstances."
"You probably know nothing about
railroad telegraphy" he ~interrogatively
observed.
"Such is the case"
II shall go away on the 1925 train,
and if you can be at the station by 10
l shall have plenty Of time to acquaint
you with all that it is necessary for yoS
to know with reference thereto"
II will"
again thanking you for your kind.
ness, I will bid you good evening"
Good evening" she responded, and di
rectly was alone.
For two days and evenings she substi.
tuted as a telegrapher for the station
agent, and upon his return refused to &C.
cept any compensation for what she has
done with that determination known
only to the gentler sex.
Miss King next appears befo the
reader as she is seated in conversation
with an uncle, resident in a thriving vii
lage some 80 miles from her own home,
whom she is visiting for a few days.
"As you are a director Of the local bank
which was b~urglarized night before last"
she observed, "you probably know all
that has been learned with reference to
the affair, and l wish you would tell me
about it."
REALLY nothing that tends to the iden.
tifcation of the malefactor or malefac-
tors has been discovered" was the reply.
A skilled detective has been at work up
on the case since yesterday afternoon
and p%ronounces it the blindest case that
he has ever dealt with, because the safe
gave no indications, externally, Of hav-
ing been tempered with, and the combi-
nation used In opening 1t is a very singu-
lar one-the French for safe, 's-a-u-f."
ITO whom is the combination usually
knownT" she inquired so tremulously as
to surprise her uncle.
"To the cashier, and the young man
who is the bookkeeper, and the teller. In
the present instance, however, it wal
known only to the former, as last week
the bookkeeper went away on a two
weeks vacation, and the combination has