What I found ended with a tribute to the early telegraphers. I was a railroad telegrapher 1952-1959, ending in a night job at Port Arthur. Imagine quitting an 8 at night till 4 in the morning job on the Gulf and driving up to Evanston, Illinois, to start classes at Northwestern. Consulting Google: I may have quit just in time. A lot of the remaining telegraphers were fired 1962-1965. When was the last one fired? Was it somewhere remote, like Alaska?
"Many of those who were connected with telegraphy in the early days of Utah have attained much prominence in the State. I am convinced now more thoroughly, than ever, that this is the result of loyalty to their labors and their employers and a strong ambition to perform well the duties that were assigned them. In the early days, the compensation of the telegraph operators was very small, and many of the operators whose names have been given, associated themselves with the work very much as some men devote their time and energy to religious duties; in fact, to many operators, it was part of their religion. This was particularly the case in southern Utah, where the telegraph played such a useful part during Indian depredations, when there was such a great need of rapid and direct communication. For many years a telegraph office was maintained at the headquarters of President Young, in this city; who was in direct and immediate communication with every important locality in the State."
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