Far over on one side of a room is the switch board. To the untutored
mind it looks like numberless long parallel strips of brass tacked on
the side of the wall, and each strip perforated by a number of small
holes, while stuck around, in what seems endless profusion, are many
gutta-percha-topped brass pegs. Yet through all this seeming mass of
confusion, everything is in apple pie order, and each one of those
strips represents a wire and every plug a connection to some set of
instruments. The wire chief and his assistants are in full charge of
this work, and it must needs be a man of great ability to successfully
fill such a place in a large office.
The chief operator has entire supervision over the whole office, and his
duties are hard, constant, and arduous. Like competent train
despatchers, men able to be first-class chief operators are few and far
between. Not only must he be an expert telegrapher, but he must
thoroughly understand line, battery and switch board work, and his
executive ability must be of the highest order.
I had always supposed if a man were a first-class railroad operator he
could do equally good work on a commercial wire; in fact the operator
in a small town is always employed by the railroad company and does the
little amount of commercial work in addition to his other duties.
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