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On Oct. 24, 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph system was established. Two days later, the Pony Express discontinued their operations.
The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in America was broadcast by telegraph on May 10, 1869. It was quickly recognized that telegraph and railroads were a natural complement because they are so closely intertwined, which make the mentioning of one without the other nearly impossible.
Telegraphers were the eyes and ears of the train dispatchers, which in most cases was located a great distance away. The telegrapher copied train orders and messages for the train crews and reported to the train dispatcher the passing of trains, by taping out a message, which created an audible signal, interpreted and transcribed by hand, on paper, by a telegrapher.
Southwestern Louisiana Vocational School taught telegraphy inside the Southern Pacific train depot in Scott. Arthur Hebert, a longtime operator/telegrapher, was the instructor for many years. Prospective telegraphers attended a six-month training session learning the dots and dashes encrypted jargon known as the Morse code. Once they satisfactorily completed the course, Southern Pacific Railroad hired them on an "as needed basis."
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Dots and Dashes (Non-fiction)
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Harold Comeaux, a resident of Lafayette and former employee of SP, who retired after 41 years service, said that in 1952, a young telegrapher was called to work usually no more than one or two days per month. They were union jobs, which meant seniority prevailed, and there were no guarantees. Usually, the younger telegraphers worked when someone was sick, on vacation or were off for personal reasons or through attrition, e.g., retirement, death, or if someone did the unthinkable, quit.
Dennis Hebert, a retired railroad telegrapher from Youngsville, frequently forgot his matches and found an way to use the spark emitted by the telegraph key to light his cigarettes.
Telephones eventually replaced the telegraph, much as the telegraph replaced the Pony Express. Train dispatchers now sent train orders and messages to the train crews by phone. Later, radios soon complemented telephones, much like the telegraph complemented the railroads.
There was a classic joke telegraphers loved to tell about an elderly lady who gave the telegraph clerk her message sealed in an envelope. When the clerk tore open the envelope to prepare the telegram for sending, she immediately reached for it and shouted, "The idea! That is my personal telegram, and I don't want anyone else to see it."
-William J. Thibodeaux resides in Lafayette with Elaine, his wife of 30 years. He is a member of UL's Life Writing Class.
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