Evening star., 1932-05-01

Cherokee Strip land rush. And the
inside political stuff he had would MI
volumes Of SuppreSsable memoirs.
1t was not alone the urge to effect
economies in pay rolls which resulted
in the introduction Of the automatic
telegraphing devices. The chief saving
effected has been in wire space A
manually operated wire can carry fnst
so many messages and, because Of the
human element Of lack of absolutely
perfect precision, multiple messages
could not be handled over manned
wires. 1t costs q good deal Of money
to string miles upon miles of wire and
lay underground cables. Millions in
equipment are tied up and it becomes
necessary to get the greatest possible
efficiency out Of the investment.
Romance Is Lost.
A wire worked by two men is as fast
as the slower of the two. If it is a cir
cult with drop-offs. it is only as fast
as the Slowest of five or six operators.
Telegraphers in commercial Offices av-
eraged Is words a minute, although
press telegrapherS had to be much fast
er But there were crack operators
even in the commercial Offices who
claimed that, under bonus stimulant,
they had taken or sent 90 messages an
hour
These crack operators were paid high
wages and were known to lay of at
whiles to spend their money in places
out of hearing of the instruments. An
tncisive comment on the craft is made
in the Governments discussion Of the
matter. 1t says: Partially attribu-
table to excessive speed, no doubt, were
also the traditional restlessnesS and
rowing disposition of Morse teleg-
raphers. Their output, attributed to
themselves in reminiscent moods, is
undoubtedly exceptional rather than
Characteristic
In any event a bonus rate output was
not regular thing for the run of oper-
atorS and the mechanical means were
adopted to conserve wire space. The
printer is a contrivance whereby a
typewriter may be used to write mes
sage. The touch of the KEYS imparts
an electrical impulse which reproduces
that message hundreds of miles away.
Morse code experts are not needed for
this work; any typist can perform 1t.
The telegraph companies like to have
typtsts who know something of teleg-
raphy, but knowledge is not vital to the
use OF the equipment. One effect Of
NA%AS AAeNo ONCAA bAldJ vi LObdl UCCu-
nological displacement by the telegraph
companies, 30 per cent has been among
the men. Old Morse warhorses who
have covered national conventions,
wars and world series, will tuck their
bugs under their arms and walk out
before they will take the job of a girl
typist. 1t may be clever, but it's not
art.
The rapidity of the transition in this
noble old profession is astounding. As
recently as 1914 the annual report of a
large company, commenting on the new
invention, said: There is nothing. as
yet. and not likely to be anything,
which will supersede the old key trans
mission" Today, the Government sur
vey reports: THE virtual abandonment
of the Morse system is nearly every
where taken for granted
So in brokers rooms and in news
papers offices the impersonal multiplex
printer bangs out its purple-inked tale,
without any salty side comment. But
in many news shop, if one would poke
around in odd corners, the chances are
he would find dusty old sounder non-
chalantly wearing a rusty tobacco can
which has vibrated to its last Thirty.