Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-11-30
In Fun He Sent a Gable Message to
Emperor Napoleon.


Emperor Napoleon.
THE story Of Billy Holtham's cost
ly joke illustrates that the laugh is
not always on the side Of the JOKER"
said w. B. Bassett, an old time tele-
grarh operator to a reporter Of the
Kansas City Star.
1.-The incident occurred a short time
after the civil war, when Holtham was
assistant operator in Denver, Col. In
those days two operators did all the
work Of the Denver office. Holtham
opened the Office one morning. took
the daily paper and began reading
about the war between Germany and
France. All at once the desire to
perpetrate a practical joke seized up
on him. Taking the pencil from his
pocket he indited the following ca
blegram upon one of the Office blanks:
"I'o the Emperor Napoleon, Garden
Of the Tuilleries. Paris, France: Col
orado will not accede to the cession
of Germany to France. Please let
Bohemia alone. Gov. Gilpin or any
other man.
"Holtham called up Omaha and
sent the cablegram to the man on duty
there. just as he would have sent a
bona fide cablegram.
Omaha was the repeating office for
all eastern business. Holtham then
tore up his copy and threw the re-
mains in the waste basket Then he
sat down and laughed. He supposed
that the man on duty in Omaha
would, Of course see the joke and af-
ter laughing himself over it would
throw his copy into the waste basket
But the Omaha operator was a man
who took everything seriously and
hanging the cablegram on the New
York hook thought nothing more
about 1t.
This happened about the middle Of
the month and nothing more was
heard Of the fateful cablegram unit
about the middle Of the following
month when Mr.. Woodward, the
Denver manager Of the Western Un-
ion office, received the following mes
sage from the secretary OF the cable
company in New York:
please come down with the dust
woodward scratched his head, but
could not solve the enigma and re-
Piled
Don't understand your message
about dust. Please explain.
"In due time an answer was re-
ceived, saying:
your cablegram to Emperor Ma
poleon, Garden Of the Tuilleries. Par
is, France, signed Governor Gilpin or
any other man, $1S7.5O in gold. please
remit.
AT this juncture Billy Holtham
stepped in and pushing the message
toward him. Woodward remarked:
what do you suppose that New
York idiot means by that"
"Holtham read it and, turning pale
blurted out: why. sent that thing
to Omaha as a joke. supposing the
man receiving 1t there would see the
point and throw his copy into the
waste basket as I did with mine
"'Joke!' replied Woodward. angri-
ly. DO you understand that gold Is
now worth just two to one and the
cost of your little joke is 1915"
Manager Woodward wrote letter
to the cable authorities explaining the
matter to them and asking that the
cablegram be cancelled, but they were
inexorable and demanded payment In
full. At that time cablegrams were
enormously high and payable In gold
at that. The result was that poor
Holtham had to make the amount
good and the telegraph company per-
mitted him to pay $50 a month until
the whole sum was paid. Fortunate
ly operators were then paid $125 a
month salary and 1t was not as hard
upon Holtham to liquidate the obliga-
ton as it would be upon telegrapher
at the present day, with salaries so
greatly reduced.
"The late Edward Rosewater, who
was manager of the Western Union
office at Omaha when the incident
took place, secured copies Of the ca
blegram and Of all the correspondence
relating thereto and put the whole
thing in a frame and 1t Is no doubt
somewhere among his collection OF
telegraphic curiosities."
;sN' Mrs. Benham-Do you think a
wor,ap,s age counts against her?