The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-04-01
MR.. f[ATES RETIRES
FROM THE POSTAL
Noted Telegraph Man Surresn1ldl-l
! crs st,perif,tcnelcncy 81 T FPo-ss5'ttsal1N.
17elcgrapl,-C Conpai,y..5 "a
WORK NEARLY HALF 7. CENTURY J; : I Z


The retirement Of Mr.. Josept w. ISatcs
from the superintendent OF the Postal-
Telegraph.cable Company is announced. 'II
He Will shortly retire from the service OF OF
slhaticompally. and will take well earned
rest. after which It Is probable he VIII VII
enter other business. I. K H "
g8S5 IIe@ has served the Z Postal Company
4lncet its advent IN the South. having cons
istructed5 the Postal lines from Washing
ton southwark TO New Orleans Mobile
savannah, Charleston, Norfolk. and many 2 N,
ether polntH5irl the Southern States. n He He
equipped the Offices and organized the
operating force, and has since manag gedi
the business and Offices Of the company
In tho southern territory .35 "
The retirement $ot Mr.. Hates from
tive service In the telegraph world, calls
to mind that he has been q; telegraph
man u Il Virginia longer than any other. fe.
person now living, and yet he Is not q q
very old man. ] v may be said that tho
history Of his life Is the hiBtory of the
telegraph this section 5s8s 4 y
In the Early Days.
" Nj, Katesl begun his work. Ike all
great telcgraphers; commenced as q
plain operator. He commenced pounding
the key in Petersburg in 1855. having
lust graduated as boy from a telegraph
once In Delaware. At that time tele-'
!graphy was In It's in fancy. The line then
in operation vas the Washington ann
New Orleans Telegraph Company This
was be fore he ;.sounder,' instruJ ent wal
adopted, and all messages were received
upon recording paper register. It was
not then believed that telegraph mes
sagas In volume could be received by
sound 8as at the present day. a rule Q (
the telegraph com pany required all$of Its It's
operate to receiyes by pa per, Al though :
even at that early day there wei re- many ll
TX perators wiia Sen d nj sound;
among these was Mr.. Hates He was
Il transferred 10 Richmond In 1859 in the
service OF the same company,
Richnond's Ancient Office.
The telegraph facilities Of this city at
that time, and. in fact. OF all the South
Atlantic tSates. consisted OF but two
wires. one OF these was for through
business. considerable portion Of which
was transacted between New York. Mo-
bile and New Orleans. The other wire
was used for local and way business
lThe railroads then did little or no tele-
graphing. They had no lines OF their
own: no train dispatchers as now, and
relied altogether upon their time tables.
To show the immense growth OF the
telegraph since that time. the entire
business. both operating and clerical. Of
tho only Office IN this city was done hy
two men-Mr r. George Rady being the
manager 4 and Mr. kates his assistant.
This force was not Increased until the
latter part Of 1850; and during the inter-.
yenlng period Messrs. Rody and Hates
handled sall3the extra business occa stoned
by the. John Brown raid and its conse-9
nuent excitement in Virginia, and. indeed.
tho entire country, About the close OF.
The same year Mn. Kates was ordered to
Alexandra, where he remained In charge
NJ the WashinEton and New Orleans tele-
gra ph office until the occupation o that
city by the Federal forces in May. 1861.
IA Famous Message,
he then went to Manassas Junction.
where he was In charge OF tho telegraph
service at tile time OF the battles Of
Blackburn's Ford and Manassas. and for
several weeks did all the work OF the
Office himself While there Mr., Hates
transmitted the famous message Of Pres
Idents Jefferson Davis to General Joseph
Il. Johnston at Winchester. ordering that
officer to make junction with General
Beauregard at Manassas. Tho message
was sent with great difficulty over line
from Mannassas to Strausburg, which
had been completed only few days
Continued on Sixth Page.)