Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1914-09-17
A IeIegraphic
irritation
BY MAY c. ETHERIDGE.


to dO-whcn there came II night mes
sage from distant station. As soon
rs 1t was finished the operator who
sent it said good night to me re
piled that | wished ! could say good
night to all the world. for ! was tired
and sleepy and would Hike to go to bed
This resulted in bit Of conversation.
in which my correspondent used GER
tain masculine phrases that indicated
him to be man. But when / asked
If he were man he surprised me by
saying that he was woman Next
j was asked rs to my sex. and, half
suspecting that the operator was try
ing to humbug me. replied that was
a man.
Then followed q period OF love max
ing, In which ! ms the man took the
lead. | found 1t very difficult to make
love as n man would, and the effort
constituted the principal part of the
amusement | derived from the affair.
when | had nothing better to do !
would write out certain lovcr-like
phrases. then go over them, taking out
the feminine give Always. substituting
masculine phrases. These | would use
I'm the corrected form the next time
my lady called me up. | nnttcrcd my
self that in this way ! would avoid the
appearance of being n woman.
My correspondent. If man, which
he claimed not to be, surely played the
wOmanly part very well. He used
very flowing language and expressed
himself with such words MS II de
clarer' "Thnt's just too funny for any
thing Goodness gracious!" while
gave vent to "rhe dickens you sayr'
"Cut 1t OUT ana "You bctv'
While | had been led to believe my
correspondent was n man, n constant
use Of feminine expressions altered
my opinion | did not believe any man
could avoid making some slip that
would give him away. certainly
found 1t almost impossible to avoid re-
vcalIng myself as Il woman and re
allied that | could only do so In the
manner | have indicated that Is, by
writing my phrases and correcting
them
We exchanged, or pretended to cx.
change, photographs, though mine was
one OF my cousin, n handsome fellow
about twenty-five. My correspondent
was comely girl with spark Of mis-
chief In her eye. 1t was this expires
sion that convinced me my correspond.
ent was Il girl. AS looked at her
photograph 1t struck me that she was
just the person to indulge In such II
wise tlirtation AS was being carried on
between us, looked forward with
pleasure to the day when we would
meet and | should see the look Of sur
prise on her face when she discovered
her mistake.
TO accomplish meeting and apply
II test ut the same time proposed that
II my correspondent were coming my
way he should call and see me, II he
were really Il man he would not scrn-
pie to Tlo so. Ii she were woman
and believed me to be man she
would not come to see me- but expect
me to come and see her She stood
the test When | made the PROPOSE
ton she expressed herself rs greatly
surprised that | should do so, saying
that she would not think OF going to
call on a man. She would. however.
be happy to have the man call upon
her.
II there was any doubt left In my
mind that my operator was n woman
this dispelled 1t. apologizcd for what
| called my thoughtlesspess and said
that would take an early opportum
ty to call upon her. Nevertheless II II
should turn out that some man had
been representing himself rs n woman
II would be embarrassing for me. SO
concluded to forego the pleasure OF
laughing ut the girl and let the matter
drop.
One morning II young man alighted
from n train, came into the station.
wrote telegram and asked me to send
1t. The message was an unimportant
one. simply stating that he would be
in certain place at n certain date,
counted the words. told him the price
of the message, and he threw down the
money. hut he kept me Mt the win
dow asking me questions about the
town, how far 1t was to this place and
that place and the running OF trains
He was deferential, and l was not dis
pleased to answer his questions.
Finally broke away to send his mes.
sage, and MS l did so he called to me:
"If the party is not found tell them
to leave the message"
He went Off uptown. but returned In
about an hour with some flowers and.
advancing to the window, laid them
on the board over which messages are
received and asked me II he might not
send telegram himself. Since he
knew the Morse alphabet and thought
he could stumble through one | ms.
scented. and, coming into the operating
room. he sat down at the Instrument
and began to rattle Off with the flu
ency of n professional photographer the
name and address for the message
The oddreSS beinp tho station nf my