The instruments used consist of a key for sending messages and a relay or sounder for receiving messages. To install an outfit is a simple matter for anyone who is at all familiar with the action of an electric current, for the principle of operation is merely that of breaking up the flow of current into dots and dashes in various combinations.
Training for Telegraphy
However, facility in transferring letters into dots and dashes and translating dots and dashes into letters is not so easily acquired. Only after much practice does the beginner form the habit of doing this readily. He must of course memorize the Morse alphabet, but, further than that, he must become so familiar with the dots and dashes that when he hears them in combination he thinks that he is actually hearing a word, not a certain number of dots and dashes. He must form the habit of thinking words in dots and dashes without thinking of the clicks, just as one reads a page without thinking of the separate printed letters that go to make up the words.
The operator needs further to acquire a rapid legible handwriting, so that he can write down rapidly the message as he receives it and never get very far behind the sender. Since, however, it is difficult for one to write as fast as an experienced sender can send, the operator must learn to retain in mind a number of words and phrases, so that when he is receiving messages sent rapidly he can copy behind the sender and catch up at breaks for new sentences and paragraphs, or at the end. Some operators have learned to receive messages, writing them out on the typewriter as they come over the wire. This is an accomplishment worth striving to attain, especially if one can not write legibly and at the same time rapidly.
The Telegrapher Must Learn More Than Mere Telegraphy
There are a number of other things that the telegraph operator needs to learn, especially if he holds a position at a small station. He must learn a large number of abbreviations, so that he knows immediately what they mean. Some of these abbreviations are made up of the main consonants in the word, while others are simply arbitrary numbers. Sometimes these numbers refer to a printed form which he must use repeatedly. A knowledge of switchboards and cut-outs, of installation and renewal of batteries, and of care and adjustment of instruments is highly desirable and usually necessary. All operators must know the rules and regulations of the company and govern themselves accordingly, and they must be fully acquainted with signaling systems and appliances.
If the operator is located at a small station, he probably has part or all the work of the station agent to perform at some time. If he is located at a large station, there are emergencies when he may be called upon to do such work, so that he should become familiar with the work of the station agent. This, of course, means that he must become familiar with rates, both freight and passenger, must sell tickets, make out freight bills, and do railroad bookkeeping. The complaint most frequently made against schools teaching telegraphy is that the student is taught telegraphy and nothing else, so that when he takes employment he has to learn at once nearly everything connected with station work.
Hours and Wages of Telegraphers
Hours are generally eight per day, and wages are good, averaging around $1,100 or $1,200 per year for all operators, which means that the efficient employee who works regularly gets much more than $1,200. Employment is regular throughout the year. Rarely does an operator send or receive for a long period of time without a break to rest. Most messages are ten-word ones, which means the transmission of probably not over twenty words, including names, addresses, and office data.