<h2><SPAN name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></SPAN>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
<h3>RECEIVING MESSAGES.</h3>
<p>With but few exceptions the Morse code is
the one almost universally used the world
over. As it is used in Europe, it is slightly
changed from our American code, but they all
depend upon dots, dashes, and spaces, related
in different combinations, for the different letters.
Notwithstanding its universal use it is
not free from serious difficulties in transmission
unless it is repeated back to the sender for
correction; and then in some cases it is impossible
to be sure, owing to difficulties of
punctuation and capitalizing, and the further
difficulty of running the signals together,
caused, it may be, by faulty transmission, induced
currents from other wires, "swinging
crosses" or atmospheric electricity. Sometimes
it is a psychological difficulty in the
mind of the receiving-operator. The telegraph
companies have to suffer damages from all
these and many other unforeseen causes.</p>
<p>Prescott tells some curious things that happened
in the early days, growing out of the
peculiarities of the receiving-operator. At<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></SPAN></span>
one time he was reporting by telegraph one of
Webster's speeches made at Albany in 1852 in
which there were many pithy interrogative
sentences, and he was desirous of having the
interrogation-points appear. So to make sure,
whenever he wished an interrogation-point he
said "question" at the end of almost every
sentence. Next day he was horrified on reading
the speech to see the ends of the sentences
bristling with the word "question."</p>
<p>Some time back in the fifties a gentleman
in Boston telegraphed to a house in New York
to "forward sample forks by express." The
message when received by the New York merchant
read: "Forward sample for K. S. by
express." The New York merchant did not
know who K. S. was, nor did he gather from
the dispatch what kind of sample he wanted.
So he went to the telegraph office to have the
matter cleared up. The Boston operator repeated
the message, saying "sample forks."
"That's the way I received it and so delivered
it—sample for K. S.," said New York. "But,"
says Boston, "I did not say for K. S.; I said
f-o-r-k-s." New York had read it wrong in the
start and could not get it any other way.
"What a fool that Boston fellow is. He says
he did not say for K. S., but for K. S." Boston
had to resort to the United States mail before
the mystery was solved.</p>
<p>Curiously enough, the old method of record<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></SPAN></span>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 becomes
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
rushed 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 conductor
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 condition
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
into his neighbor's office trailing the tape behind
him and saying: "I am sure an awful accident
has happened by the way the message
was rattled off." A playful dog had torn off a
large part of the strip as it trailed along, so<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></SPAN></span>
only a part was left. It read, "Good morning,
Uncle Ben. When are you——" The dog
had swallowed the balance of the dispatch.</p>
<p>Sometimes the Morse code is not only funny
but disastrous. A gentleman wanted to borrow
money of some capitalists who, not knowing
his financial standing, telegraphed to a
banker who they knew could post them. They
received an answer, "Note good for large
amount." The gentleman borrowed a "large
amount," but afterward when it came to be
investigated it was found that the dispatch
was originally written "not," instead of
"note," which made "all the difference in the
world."</p>
<p>It has been stated that any one of the five
senses may be called into service to interpret
the Morse code into words and ideas. A story
is told by Mr. Prescott that he says is true, as
he knew the party. A friend of his, by name
Langenzunge, who knew the Morse code, had
served under General Taylor (who at this time
was President) at Palo Alto, in Mexico. The
general had just promised him an office; soon
after he left Washington for the west over the
Baltimore and Ohio on a freight train; the
President was taken seriously ill, and his
friend hearing of it was troubled not only because
he loved the old general, but on account
of the change in his own prospects. The train
stopped somewhere on the Potomac at mid<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></SPAN></span>night
and remained there for four hours. Uneasy
and sad, he wandered down the track and
climbed a pole, cut the wire and placed the
ends each side of his tongue and tasted out
the fatal message—"Died at half-past ten."
The shock (not the electric) was so great that
he almost fell from the pole.</p>
<p>What a situation! A man climbs a pole at
midnight miles from the sick friend he loves,
puts his tongue to inanimate wire, and is told
in concrete language—through the sense of
taste—that his friend is dead. This is only
one of the many, many wonderful episodes of
the telegraph.</p>
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