Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1904-01-06
THE CABLE OPERATOR.
Something About the Wages and
Work Of Clerks Employed ON
Ocean Lines.

A recent chat the writer in Golden
Penny had with an ex-cable clerk, for
merly operating on one of the big At
lantic Lines, led to the following
luminous revelations:
"a clever cable clerk, if he studies
his work, can earn excellent wages,
and have sood look round the world
before he settles down His expenses
are met by his employers, and he is
sure of a decent engagement wher-
ever he may elect to roam, for expert
operators are the exception rather
that the rule. From a salary of e rs
month many a reliable clerk has
been promoted to position worth
$500 a year; while could point out
several men today who commenced
as ordinary operators who are hold
ing positions which yield them from
$1,000 to $4,000 per annum.
Submarine messages are costly
privileges, as rule, to those who in
dulge in them. You can send some
cablegrams at as low a rate as six
pence word; but there are others,
covering great distances, which will
involve you to the extent of Is
shillings a word. A great many mes
sages are sent in cipher, for the
double advantage of economy and
secrecy. All important firms, distin.
guished personages, and government
officials have their secret codes, some
Of which would read very queerly to
the uninitiated.
Here is an interesting example
Take the following cipher message:
"'Viola, Washington.
1922 A. Cabbage. Cricket. VIC
tory. Which mystery, when duly in
terpreted according to a prearranged
code, might reao:
purchase Immediately $4,000
Pennsylvanians.'
"The cable clerk is expected to use
the greatest care to prevent mistakes
in transmission, and, to impress this
important fact upon them, most com
panies fine their operators pretty
smartly for every error they make.
Some clerks are very careless in this
respect, and the blunders they make
are often amusing. One man l knew
when working in South Africa, used
to mutilare words appallingly He
transformed Cape Town into 'Scrape
Down. San Francisco into Send
Francis Company and 'Beherut' into
Beer here hot He was heavily
fined for these Preparations, but con.
tinued in his sins until our super n.
tendent told him he must forfeit a
fortnight's salary or vacate his posi-
ZION. He vacated.
Chatting with colleague over the
wires is strictly barred, and a prompt
penalty imposed by some companies
Is that of charging the culprit for all
he has said at so much a word-a
punishment which is peculiarly eff.
fective in most cases. I knew a fel.
row on the other side who had a
chronic complaint of quarreling with
every new operator, especially If he
Nas tardy with his work He would
abuse the poor clerk most mercilessly
and the tape faithfully recorded all
he had to say. Twice he got caught
at this breach of regulations, and the
Second time it cost him a fortnight's
salary. After that he amended his
ways. Big events, either here or
abroad, usually mean heavy work for
the cable clerks. The jubilee of our
late queen brought a crowd Of smart
American pressmen over, who held
the wires for hours, in order that
they might get their huge messages
across to their respective papers. On
that occasion some of our men worked
at record pace for several hours at a
C+r