I had no sooner done this when an angry cry proceeded from the throat of Jean Baptiste, who held up his hands, and, with a look of terror in his face, told me in broken English that it was not for me, but for the priest at St. Hyacinthe. Had there not been a high counter between us, it might have gone hard with me.
I took in the situation, however, politely begged pardon, I had made a mistake, and put the contents in a fresh envelope, readdressed it and thrust the missive into a box under the counter, the receptacle for the paper from the recording instrument on which messages were received, and then gave the key a few taps, all this being within the purview of the anxious messenger.
I now told him it was all right, the message had gone. He then departed with a smile of satisfaction on his face and a courteous remerci monsieur.
Shortly after I resurrected the message and sent it over the wire in the orthodox fashion.
The little trick practiced and the ignorance shown may seem like romancing, but at that date even many well-informed persons on other subjects were quite as ignorant as this simple servant man of the modus operandi of electric telegraphy at that period.
Pirating a Press Despatch.
A certain well-known colonel of militia in Montreal, now deceased, who had been in the telegraph service in his boyhood and an expert operator, told me the story I am about to relate illustrative of primitive telegraph days.
We were swapping old-time telegraph stories when he exchanged the following: He was in the employ of the old British American Telegraph Company. One day, the wires down, which happened too often, unfortunately, Bob having nothing to occupy his time, sauntered over to the vicinity of the Montreal Telegraph Company, on St. Sacrament Street. It was with a feeling of envy he heard the busy ticking of the instruments there when those of his Company were dead as a door nail. He lingered for a moment or two beneath the office window, which was only a few feet above; it was in summer and the windows were all open and he could plainly deciper everything passing over the wire. One item of some importance attracted his attention when the idea struck him he had better take it down. He took his pencil and note-book, copied the item, went back to his office, had it manifolded and distributed to the press. Later on the same was sent out by the other Company, but in a more leisurely fashion; this was refused, on the ground that it was already received over the wires of the British American; this caused much mortification to the older Company to be beaten by their insignificant rival.
Reading by sound of the instrument was not a common occurrence then, and especially on the public highway.