The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1910-11-10

rated on the basis OF his speed and
accuracy.
II man desires TO work up to the
highest place simply az an operator,
and is known to be expert, he VIII
likely be selected to Join the stan OF
the Associated Press which pays from
S25 to $40 week to its good opera
tors, or be sent into II cable or wire.
less Office. Wireless positions are
limited, however, and, for some reh'
son or other most OF the cable posi-
lions are filled by Englishmen; also,
the boy may take u civil service ex-
animation and enter the government
service.
But your boy, we'll say, has greater
ambition and wishes to work up d.
rectly. So, he makes more careful
study of the routing of messages, with
the aim OF becoming traffic chief.
Suppose, for instance. that one OF
the Offices on q main line ia disabled
well. II is the duty OF the trafilc chief
TO know that messages can be sent
there through roundabout way. The
writer can recall once when tho wires
between Vancouver. Il. c., and Seattle
we're down and. though these places
were less than 100 miles apart, an I'm.
portant item OF news from Vancouver
was sent clear TO st. Paul, 1000 milos
east, and back to Seattle. II was the
traffic chiefs business to know and
arrange this. The usual pay OF traffic
chiefs in ordinary Offices is S25 to $50
week
Then. there IL the wire chief, who
keeps the Office and line wires in or
der, locating and arranging for the re.
pair Of breaks and other accidents
and keeping the service on nm orderly
basis. From these chiefs the office
managers are usually chosen. They
are the head OF the particular office
they may be employed in, the boss Of
all the operators, and they get $50 to
SEQ week.
From here your boy goes to the Of
| fee of one Of the supcr.ntendents,
probably az assistant, and, finally, be
| comes superintendent himself, ut n
salary Of s., 900 to $4,000 year The
| country IL divided by the two com
| panies into about sixty districts. each
| Of which has It's superintendent and
| assistant. all OF which positions are
| filled from the ranks OF those below.
| Many OF the superlntendents are only
| forty to nifty years old, OF course,
| there are grades OF responsibility
among these, as we'll az Of rates Of
pay. as, obviously, the district Of New
! York state is of more Importance than
one in q less populated part OF to
! country. The general superintendcnts
the next higher grade, OF which there
are eight the country being divided
into four divisions by each com
rany we're formerly district supcrln-
tcndents, who first became assistants
In tho general Offices General super
iutcndents are paid something Ike
$4,000 annually. From this position
the next step is to ylce.presidcnCy,
and then to tho presidency.
The Western Union. under the ad-
ministraton OF MIR. Clowry, has made
It the custom to pension It's employees
who have grown old in the service,
giving retired operators from S25 to
$50 II month, and superintendent up
to $3.50
This, in brief Ia the lire Of nd,
vancement that Is possible TO every,
one Of the 10000 telegraph operators
in commercial work IN the United
States. II should be borne In mind,
however, that the earlier in life ono
starts. the better for It Is said 10 be
practically impossible to become
proficient as an operator after he is
twenty FIVE.
Railroad tolcgraphy ia the same in
n general way, station and other
operators working up, perhaps
through train dispatchlng Mt 1925 tC
$500 n month. TO chief dispatcher nj
as high MS $4,000 n year. and to super
intondent Of telegraph at little more
and thence into higher official posi-
lions. For example, President A. j
Earring OF the Chicago. Milwaukee &
st. Paul Is former train dispatcher
and Sir William Van Horne, one OF
tho builders Of the Canadian Pacific
also operated trains at the telegraph
key There are but two examples Of
railroad men of prominence who start
er In as small station telcgraphors
There are about 10000 operators IL
railroading today.
Copyright. 1910 by the Associated Lit
l