private void sendData( String message )
   {
      try // send object to server
      {
         output.writeObject( "CLIENT>>> " + message );
         output.flush(); // flush data to output
         System.out.println( "\nCLIENT>>> " + message );
      } // end try
      catch ( IOException ioException )
      {
        // displayArea.append( "\nError writing object" );
      } // end catch
   } // end method sendData