Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-05-04


In these days OF strenuous action,
rapid locomotion and quick transporta-
ton. without "tho man behind the key"
the operation of a large railroad sys-
tenn would bee an impossibnity With
out the aid Of first class telegraph
system Tor the proper handling Of It's
own and the pubHc's quick communi-
cation. 20 railroad would indeed be in
helpless condition Quick communl-
cation is absolutely essential 90 sue
cessful operation. and not only Il tho
telegraph necessary 10 move trains cx-
peditiously. but for the purpose OF
handling q vast amount Of daily busi-
ness in the way Of instructions, etc,
passing between headquarters of the
various divisions and the general head
quarters Of a railroad. and between
the division headquarters and local
agencies and employees generally, scat
tered over a wide extent Of territory.
Ocular demonstration OF the impor-
tance Of the telegraph on railroad
system may be seen any day I'm the
general telegraph office OF the oregon
Short Line on the fourth floor Of the
Deseret News building. Here 81 oper-
ators are kept busy day and night
sending and receiving messages. some
" them bearing messages affecting the
disposition ~ millions Of dollars worth
Of property. others governing the move
ments NJ trains valued away up in the
thousands. and still others affecting
only the matter 81 repair or readjust-
ment NJ some break In the wire, but
an ~ the utmost Importance 10 the
railroad itself. and I'm all probability 10
thousands OF other people. Direct COM
munication Is always maintained be
tween the general Office and every tele-
graph Office on the system. and be-
tween 5000 and 5000 messages are
handled daily. At ogden Is another
large telegraph office. employing is
men. az Pocatello 10 men are employed
IN the telegraph office and lesser on
cos employing five and six operators at
the division terminals, besides the 1T
tie stations whore the operator f. agent.
trucltman freight and baggage agent
and everything else around the rail-
road office.
A RIG OVERHEAD PLANT
Running out or salt Lake TO the NaIl-
Gus terminals and divisions. % wires
are required to cover the Short Line
system Twenty OF these wires extend
from ogden 70 Pocatello. eight from
ogden 10 Butte. nine from Pocatello TO
Portland. three from Pocatello to Gran
| ger Two wires cover the Cache Val
ley branch. one goes by way ~ Corinne
| 10 Malad ono over the Mackay branch,
| two over the St Anthony and yellow
HTaHaa HiHa q
! 10 Aberdeen Besides this five new
| wires have been strung by the Western
| Union 10 ogden and one each to Port
/ land and Butte.
| on the oregon Short Line there are
! - 900 miles ~ wire extending over the
area Of half dozen states. and In
such n vast territory there is bound
| TO be a great deal Of trouble in the
! wav Of broken circuits. etc An in
terestlng feature is the maintenance ~
circuits In daily operation, and many
| are the Ills which affect these sensi-
! tive nerves Of rapid communication. a
! great source Of trouble Is the ubiquitous
| "smau boy" with his hippcr, who de-
| lights i'm seeing how many Of the glass
| insulators on the telegraph poles he
/ can knock m. and the ever present
, duck hunter, who takes the same kind
! Of delight en- the same operation but
with usually more certainty OF destruc-
ton than that Of the small boy FIRE.
auentIy wires become crossed with
each other or with foreign wires,
either telephone or telegraph or electric
light wires and occasionally with hoav-
ny charged transmission wires ~ a
power company. In the latter event
There is always something doing al
the central office. and In fact, at an the
offices FOR "a distance Of many miles
Instruments are destroyed, fuses burned
and even the switchboard itself dam
aged or sct on FIRE.
THE BIG CHIEF
At the switchboard in the main office
is stationed a wire chief, whose duty
IL is 10 locate circuit trouble ana ar
range Tor It's prompt removal Even
AS the telegraph itself Is quick, must
! everything In connection with its oper-
alton be quickly done. Is the wire
open, crossed or grounded, Is the ques-
ton confronting the trouble operator,
and by means Of equipment at hand u
rs possible 90 locate, within a very rev
feet. the exact spot where the break
has taken place. This rs quickly ana
sklhrIy done and a lineman is dis
/ Matched double quick for the spot win
equipment for its repair
The railroad company has recently
been experimenting with telephones Tor
dlspatching purposes with such saus-
factory results as to lead 10 their adop-
ton as am auxiliary In the telegraph
both for the dispatching Of trains ana
other necessary rapid communication.
For some time past trains on the sys-
tenn between Sandy and Ogden have
been dispatched by means Of telephones
and IL Is now proposed 20 include sew
oral hundred miles additional under the
new system OF telephone dispatchlng.
The lines are equipped with standard
COPPER metallic circuits and the best
obtainable modern apparatus, all owned
exclusively by the railroad company
The supervision % the telegraph and
telephone lines OF the oregon short
lime Is under the direction Of b. f.
Probes. superintendent OF telegraph
who maintains a large force OF assist
ants IN the operating and construction
and repair departments all along the
line. The head telegraph Office Of the
system. located in Salt Lake city, Is
presided over by Phil Morency as chief
operator. with a force OF 20 men To
handle the work.