New-York tribune., 1907-11-12
LipcoEn's Use of the Telegraph
During the WGr.

DNF tnS IsCG " GI.
-,xcOI<N IN THE TELEGRAPH OFFICE. Bv
Do-;rrent Telegraph ONCE and Cipher Operator
Isl 1866 illustrated. 8vo PIP. 425. The Century
Company.
There are two ways in which new Lincoln
,.oot may make a recognized place for itself:
=. NAV bring new material to light or il may
treat old material by some fresh and revealing
,rethod Ro;hschild's Lincoln Master of Men"
.oIIo,yed the latter course; through the skiIful
ds,elopnlent of single dominant quality ii
brought the personality of its hero into an un-
fau1iliar and interesting focus. Miss Tarbelrs
little story, He Knew Lincoln" belongs in the
came class. for its accomplishment is 10 have
given Imaginative reality to data that Law at
every ones hand. AS for the present volume its
claim to consideration is confined almost exclu-
svely to whatever new facts it may have
brought out, for there is nothing novel in the
method and since new facts about Lincoln are
becoming scarcer with every year we should not
complain If the latest contribution is small
one-much smaller than the size of the volume
might suggest.
The narrative is made up of first hand remi-
niscences of the War Department telegraph office.
given due setting against an ample background
# history. If the filling in" has sometimes been
done a little more literally than necessity re-
ouired, this at least may be urged-that every
event Of national significance during those five
years an event of moment at the telegraph
office. The author does not step outside OF his
part when he treats of national affairs. The
rermanent interest Of the volume however will
lie In the simple. unpretentious account It gives
Of those scenes in Lincoln's last years which
passed directly under the writer's observation.
Many OF these were. OF course. witnessed by
and how haa
the repetition Of them by one whose angle of
Incidence, so to speak. was slightly different is
not unwelcome.
Certainly Mr.. Bates occupied a point Of van
tage from which to study his hero In his capac-
.ty as manager Of the War Department tele-
graph office-a position he held from the begin
ming OF the war until after Lincoln's assassna-
tion-he was in daily, often hourly. communica-
tion with him. The President visited the Office
morning. afternoon and evening. to receive the
latest reports from the armies at the front.
Almost invariably he would make final call
there just before retiring, and occasionally he
would pass a whole night in the building When
q battle was in progress he scarcel-' aft the
ofice. on the other hand, his visits were fire.
quently as much for the purpose of relaxation
as for the performance OF any official business;
Il was almost the only escape open to him from
'.the fostering crowd of oficeseekers' and the
thousand Interruptions of the White House.
Thus a cipher-operator had the opportunity 10
see him in almost every mood. from torturing
suspense and anxiety TO the most unrestrained
good humor For that matter, as is well known
the extremes of mood often played into each
other with the President Many Of his drollest
stories were told barrcade against intoler-
able misery Of soul.
During the Sunday Of the battle of BuH Run
11n T.aTN1
Office. The space there was small, and crowded
with excited. apprehensive officials. With maps
Of the field under their eyes they followed every
movement of the battle. reports came in by
wire from Fairfax County Courthouse the
nearest point OF telegraphic communication.
Between that point and the front circuit OF
mounted couriers had been established
All the morning and well along into the ca after eT
McDowell's telegrams We're more OF ieS Gated
with eager hone believing that l5eSluLe u. H
If o77ce the dispatches ceased coming. Al hrst
this taken TO mean that McD0w'SH McD' d Ma hen
as the silence became PROLONGED strange res e
sezea ui,' @ Snddenly the telegraph instru-
Tent became alive again and the snort seilIeI.T&C ~
Morse ch2rAc.erS ms IaS1 naITSq tba first
followed by Insagre GelanS me-, trnens and the
eiiI @ onclIv deserted hv all except the operators;
1t Incni1 returned a intervals until after mid
night
Scenes Of equal excitement were frequent IN
the telegraph Office from that time on. One OF
the most stirring recounted by Mr. Bates was
that Of March Q, 1862, when the news came from
Cherrystone Point. opposite Fort Monroe, that
the Merrirnac had come out Of the Elizabeth
River and sunk the Cumberland, burned the
Congress. run the Minnesota aground and was
making for the Potomac River. In the midst "r
the most hurried preparations for obstrpctns
her progress up the river to the capital came the
telegram, delayed from the previous day;
Fort Monroe March s. 1852.
e.cre,ar1, Of War: The ironclad Ericsson battery
Monitor has arrived, and viii proceed 10 take care
u IHS M ~ " JOHN z. WOOL,
Aiajor-CienI Com'dg g.
The news y the battle between the little
obeesebox and the dreaded ironclad arrived that