White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1929-01-11
STOCK TICKER GIVES
NATION QUOTATIONS
Marvel of Accuracy Broad
casts Market News.


casts Market News.
New York.-The turmoil which the
visitor to the floor Of the New York
stock exchange sees on busy day Is
not apparent In the operating rooms
Of the Western Union from where
more than 5000 stock exchange tick
ers in 239 cities, In 81 states and ter
ritories in this country and Canada
are furnished with stock exchange
quotations. A studied orderliness
stands out from the noise and clatter
of myriad telegraph apparatus.
To one who has stood over stock
ticker and watched 1t unreel quota
tons hour after hour without the
slightest falter or hesitation the ques-
ti0n, "How does 1t do it?" presents It.
self. One Is forced to marvel at the
manner in which stock quotations ap-
pear In steady procession as well as
the almost uncanny accuracy Of the
quotations recorded.
The continuous performance of the
SIoSh IAShCI 10 uuC ~ 6lOoI PtAAs w
the employment of the old adage, IAN
ounce of prevention Ia worth pound
of cure" The ticker service is so reg
ulated, SO carefully guarded that a
break In the mechanical operation of
a ticker Is rare. The circuits which
carry the quotations are inspected,
tested and watched over with perse-
vering care by the maintenance de-
partment Of the telegraph company.
The accuracy Of the ticker is due to the
training Of the operators who manipu'
late the sending apparatus. All quo
tations are sent out over typewriter
like keyboard by operators who have
been schooled in this work. How ac-
curate they are may be judged from
the fact that in recent twenty eight
day period, one operator depressed the
keys Of the sending instrument more
than one and one-quarter million times
without making single misprint.
Handling Quotations.
Stock quotations go to the operating
rooms Of the Western Union over the
EXCHANGES own tickers, which also
supply the Offices of exchange mem
bers in downtown New York city, di-
rect from the floor of the "big board"
They are relayed by the telegraph
company from two points. An office
at 40 Broad street in the heart of the
city's financial district, and only
stones throw from the exchange,
transmits quotations to New York city,
New England and to practically all
points east of Ohio and north of Vir-
ginia. From "a Walker street quo
tations are sent to tickers in the South
and West.
AS the stock exchange ticker records
the quotations at the telegraph COM
pany's Office, the tape passes before
girl seated at keyboard which re-
sembles typewriter keyboard. This
operator merely types out the quota
tons as they are read from the ez-
change ticker tape. When key is
depressed it creates electrical impulses
which in turn work the intricate mech
anism of the ticker, resulting in the
printing on the ticker tape of the let
ter or number controlled by its par.
ticular key. Only few seconds elapse
between the depressing of the keys in
New York city and the fmprinting on
the ticker tape in distant cities.
To insure accuracy of all quotations,
a ticker alongside of the sending oper-
ator records what has been sent and
another employee compares this with
what has been received over the stock
exchange ticker.
Rigorous Censorship.
An interesting feature of the ticker
service is the fact that the stock ex-
change through special committee
exercises a rigorous censorship over
ticker locations. Only those persons
or firms which have been passed upon
by this committee may rent ticker
carrying New York stock exchange
quotations. This is done to keep quo
tations from bucket shops and from
INSCRIPTIONS stock dealers and others
who might use the quotations for H.
legal or unethical purposes.
While by far the greatest number OF
stock tickers are in the offices of brok-
ers, with bankers taking second place
goodly number of these instruments
are in hotels and restaurants and ir
some cases in private homes
Not only has there been a tremen
dous advance In the number O
stock tickers in use, but today hun
dreds of brokerage houses have theil
own private leased telegraph wires
for orders and executions.
Stock brokers are authority for tn
statement that their business coul'
never be carried on over such wild
area and with such tremendous spec
and accuracy were 1t not for the or
ganization of the telegraph company
1--WE would be, lost If 1t weren't fo
3 the tickers." one broker said recently
"This marvellous instrument Is tn
3 ewes through which thousands of pei
3 sons in all parts of the country vie,
q the stock market. What the ticke
\ says is weighed in the balance by ir
= vestors and spectators far and wide
Through the ticker service the man !
San Francisco has just as niue
J. chance to keep automatically informe
:. of the market as the man in Philade
:. phia or Boston or Brooklyn. Quot'
g tons reach the coast at practically tn
e same time they reach uptown Ne
+ York, and 1t is just as easy for clieI
), to wire trading order from Los Al
IN Nh h