Receiving flfcessagee. 105 



ing the dots and dashes on the paper strip was 

 not so reliable as the present mode of reading 

 by sound. A man can put his individuality to 

 some extent into a sounder, and when one be- 

 comes used to his style it is much easier to 

 read him accurately by sound than by the paper 

 impressions. Some people never could learn 

 to read either by paper or sound. An instance 

 of this kind is given of a middle-aged man 

 who was employed by a railroad company as 

 depot master and telegraph operator, in the 

 old days of the paper strip. One day he 

 ru-hed out and hailed the conductor of a train 

 that had just pulled into the station, and told 

 him that train had broken both driving- 

 wheels and was badly smashed up. The con^ 

 ductor could read the mystic symbols, so he 

 took the tape and deciphered the dispatch as 

 follows: "Ask the conductor of the Boston 

 train to examine carefully the connecting-rods 

 of both driving-wheels, and if not in good con- 

 dition to await orders." It is further related 

 of this same operator that when he got into 

 real difficulty with his " tape " he used to run 

 over to the regular commercial office to have 

 his messages translated. One day he rushed 

 bifl neighbor's office trailing the tape be- 

 hind him nni] saying: " I am sure an awful ac- 

 eident h;i- happened by the way (he ni< 

 was rattled ofT." A playful d>g had l<>rn off a 

 large part of the >trip a- it trailed al:. 



