The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-12-10
The Business Offers
Good Money to
Operators.
WORK IS PLEASING TO WOMEN,
The Beginning is Small,
But Advancement Comes
Quickly.

The life OF, "a telegraph operator is a
pleasant one, and especially for woman,
it is to be sought after in preference to
many other business into which they
may enter. There are but few women
operators employed about Worcester,
but those who happen to have such
positions here would not exchange them
for anything else, unless it were a most
profitable marriage. OF course an OPP
orator must be at hand all the time
during his or her spell" for there is
no telling at what time a message may
come, but the work is easy and shell
tered, and women operators as a rule
are all good tempered and cheerful.
Not all people can be operators, how
ever. There is an indescribable some
thing they must possess, besides good
hand and a knowledge of spelling and
geography. This something may be put
down as perception, or as intellect. 1t
is really neither, according to men who
have had large experience in training
operators, but is that something which
makes one student at school like a study
which another may dislike. To receive
and send telegraph messages takes a
peculiar psychical condition which
every person does not possess.
There are different methods Of receiv-
ing applications for this position, vary
ing with the size of the city and the
amount of authority the manager Of
the local office has. In New York, for
example, a girl VINO desires to get into
the office, files an application for posi-
ton as messenger. The applications are
kept on file for four months, and the
girl who sticks to it, and keeps renew
ing her application, is sure to win in
the end. Whenever there is need to in
crease the force in the office, the files
are consulted, and the applicants are
notified to present themselves for eX-
animation. The services required of the
messengers are light, amounting to dis
tributing messages and performing GER
tain clerical duties, which serves to ia
miliarize hem with the business. Dur
ing certain hours of the day they are
allowed the use of an instrument, under
the instruction Of an experienced OPP
orator, and in this way they acquire a
knowledge of biography.
The girl who learns under these con-
ditions has a distinct advantage over
those who learn in schools, as she OBJ
tains knowledge of the technical rou
tine of the office as well as the art Of
sending and receiving messages. The
time it takes to learn depends upon
the ability and application of the learn
er. Some after eight or nine months
acquire sufficient proficiency to take
branch Office, while others may work
for ten years without learning any
thing This is where the indescribable
something comes in.
AS there are no girl messengers en-
ployed IN the Worcester office, the fore
going will apply to boys. If a girl
should apply here, her ability is tested,
and if there should be a vacancy, she
is employed, but she is supposed to
have learned the art before applying.
The boys are kept as messengers I'M
til they acquire sufficient proficiency to
take a branch office when there is
vacancy. A beginner has many pitfalls
to watch out for. He cannot have the
same degree of skill in reading copy
| as the experienced operator, and is
sometimes liable to mistake the dots
and dashes. An error in a single let
ter will make a great deal Of differ
ence in a dispatch in which some trade
cipher is used, and this is the most
nerve trying part of the business.
A knowledge of typewriting is now
considered as essentiaI to an operator
as the ability to speE correctly. While
there are in many offices operators who
write good copy without the use of a
machine, most of the offices will ac-
cept only those having a knowledge Of
typewriting in the future.
AS the telegraph business goes on
night and day, the operators are d.
vided into three divisions, called
tricks In Worcester the first trick
| is from a. m. to 6 p. m, with an hour
for dinner, the second trick from n.
m. to l 2. m, and the third from 1 a.
m. to a. m. This gives each operator
seven hours of work, which doesn't
mean that he is continually employed
during that time, though in some Of
| the large offices, and on newspaper
lines, he has but little time to rest.
| In most offices, the salary for begin
ners is about Sc per week, and ranges
up to $40 and $25 per week for expert
enced operators. The number of sue
cessful operators who have handled the
key for 30 or 40 years is large, but
most OF the fast, heavy work is done
by young operators of both sexes.
| Telegraphy does not offer to young
women the same opportunities for adj
vancement and promotion which it Of
| fers to young men, for the reason that
male operators use telegraphy as means
| 10 an tnd. 1nOmaS EDISON, Andrew
| Carnegie, Nikola Tesla are among those
! who began life as telegraph operators.
To young woman, however, unless she
! becomes manager of branch office or
takes a position with some private firm
| where she is placed in the line Of ad-
| vancement, telegraphy is an end, and
becomes a profession into which she
usually settles down and earns COM
| Portable livelihood until she marries out
l,fi ,fe.e iaA
| of domestic life.