The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1910-11-11

&XH graph key and watched
" " the operator In the local
station translate the mys-
ferrous sounds into words and write
them on yellow pieces Of paper?
Maybe it Is the unusualness Of it all,
Or maybe it is because the operator
Is getting from some far-away place
instantaneously the news of death
or an earthquake or some other por
tentous happening before anybody else
In the community can possibly know
about It,
Anyhow, the boy-every boy, near
ly-has wondered and longed about it,
and has a sneaking notion that he
would like to know what those audi
BILE dots and dashes mean. But how
to 60 about 1t and what it might lead
to Is as far from his comprehension
as the cause Of the man in the moon.
All he knows is that one of the big
ger boys got job in the local sta
ton, or one Of the younger ones as
messenger boy, and that after awhile
they knew how to work the key and
take messages, and then went away
somewhere.
You fathers, too, were once boys
yourselves, and you also were mysti-
fed and longed; but something lured
you into other kinds of life work.
Now, however, maybe you are won
dering If your boy hadn't better take
up telegraphy as business and be-
come president Of the Western Union
or the Postal.
Well, it is possible for your young
ster to reach that high place; for
every one Of the past and present
officials in these companies, including
Colonel Robert c. Clowry. president Of
the Western Union, and Edward J.
Nally, president of the Postal, was
once at the very bottom, as a messen-
ger boy, and each and every one of
them worked right up through the
various lines to the top. The proba-
b1lity of getting there is not too
bright, however; for, you know, there
are only two presidents, and telegraph
company presidents have way of
living for a long time even If some
thousands Of ambitious young men
are anxious to take their places Yet
1t Is possible, all the same, and your
boy may be the one to pick the COW
eted plum.
Well, your boy is to start out as
telegraph messenger at fourteen or
sixteen or whatever the age that the
state child labor law will let him go
to work. He applies at the nearest
office where messengers are en-
ployed, and has little difficulty in get
ting Job, because the requirements
are few, practically nothing more
than being able to read and write and
to move around spryly. Then he gets
his uniform and cap and goes to work
for ten hours a day at 81 to Sc q
week.
Practically all his work at the start
is to deliver messages and run .errands
for customers and the boss, but he
will find that Inquiries about learning
telegraphy are encouraged, and that
he will be given every opportunity to
unravel it's mysteries. Ambitious boys
Of that age are rare, you know, and
when one comes along that is in earn
est he is given every opportunity to
get on.
Before long, probably within two
years at the most. your boy will have
acquired a pretty good general knowl-
edge of the Morse code and how to
send and receive messages. Then he
will find himself transferred from the
messenger gang to the operating room
at an advance Of about two dollars q
week, where he will be occupied large
ly in gathering up messages and put
ting them into envelopes to be sent
out, and IN transferring messages
from among the various operating
desks That is, a message is received
in New York from Chicago and has to
be relayed to Boston, and he has to
take 1t to the operator at the Boston
wire. In this way, he learns all about
the layout of the off1ce-which wires
are used to communicate with various
places, the wiring and districting Of
the country. etc.
Then, probably by the time he is
eighteen years old, he will be given
a key attached to a comparatively
little used route and told that he is
fullfedged operator His salary
then will be about ten dollars week
at the beginning. His advancement to
highly skilled operator at about $25
week will not take long as it is
merely the requirement Of speed,
which takes practise. Some young
fellows of twenty are as rapid as men
of thirty-five or forty, and q man is
rated on the basis OF his speed and
accuracy. -->.
If a man desires to work up to the
highest place simply as an operator,
and Is known to be expert, he will
likely be selected to join the, staff Of
the Associated Press, which pays from
$25 to $50 week to its good opera
tors, or be sent into q cable or WIRE
less Office. WireleD positions are
limited, however, and, for some rea-
son or other, most Of the cable posi-
tons are filled by Englishmen; also,
the hoy may take civil service ex-
animation and enter the government
bervica
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