Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1910-11-18

rated on the basis of his speed and
| accuracy.
If 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 stan on
| the Associated Press, which pays from
s25 to $50 a week to its good opera
tors, or be sent into cable or wire
| less office. Wireless positions are
limited, however, and, for some rea-
son or other. most of the cable posi-
lions are filled by Englishmen; also,
the boy may take 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 care1ui
study Of the routing Of messages, with
the aim of becoming traffic chief.
Suppose, for instance, that one OF
, the Offices on a main line Is disabled
well, 1t is the duty of the traffic chleI
| to know that messages can be sent
| there through a roundabout way. The
| writer can recall once when the wires
between Vancouver, B. c., and Seattle
were 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, 2,OOO miles
| east, and back to Seattle. 1t was the
traffic chiefs business to know ana
arrange this. The usual pay OF traf1lc
| chiefs in ordinary offices Is $50 to $50
a week.
Then. there is 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 an 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
$50 week.
From here your boy goes to the Of
probably as assistant, and, finally, be-
comes Superintendent himself, at a
salary of $4,000 to $4,000 year. The
country is divided by the two COM
panies into about sixty districts, each
of which has its superintendent and
assistant, all of which positions are
filled from the ranks Of those below.
Many of the superintendent are only
forty to fifty years old. OF course,
| there are grades Of responsibility
among these, as well as of rates OF
pay, as, obviously, the district Of New
York state is Of more Importance than
one in a less populated part Of the
country. The general superintendent
the next higher grade, of which there
are eight, the country being divided
into four divisions by each com
pany, were formerly district superin
tendents, who first became assistants
in the general offices. General super
intendents are paid something like
$4,000 annually. From this position
the next step is to a vice-presidency
and then to the presidency.
The Western Union, under the ad
ministration of Mr.. Clowry, has made
it the custom to pension it's employees
who have grown old n the service
giving retired operators from $25 tc
$50 a month, and superintendent VI
to $3.50.
This, in brief, is the line of ad
vancement that is possible to every
one of the 10000 telegraph operators
in commercial work in the United
States. It should be borne in mind
| however that the earlier in life one
starts, the better; for it is said to be
practically impossible to become
proficient as an operator after he is
twenty-five.
Railroad telegraphy is the same ii
a general way, station and othe1
operators working up, perhaps
through train dispatching at 1925 t
5000 a MONTH to chief dispatcher a
as high as $4,000 a year, and to super
intendent of telegraph at little more
and thence into higher official posi-
tions. For example, President A.
Earling of the Chicago, Milwaukee &
ST. Paul, is former train dispatcher
and Sir William Van Horne, one O.
the builders of the Canadian Pacific
also operated trains at the telegraph
key. There are but two examples O
railroad men of prominence who, start
err in as small station telegraphers
There are about 10000 operators. IL
railroading today.
Copyright, 1910, by the Associated Lit
erary Press)