Mowell, Jerry 2011-06-09
Jerry Mowell and his wife Pat talk about their background. Jerry talks about his experience working as a telegraph operator. He also speaks about Samuel Morse and his famous Morse Code.
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Jerry Mowell
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: June 09, 2011
Location: Brownfield, Texas
Interviewer: David Marshall
Length: 02:12:04
Abstract
Background; Birth details; Parents’ occupation; Schooling; Initial job at automotive service center; Working with telegraph system; Children and their background; Working as a telegraph operator; Manager at Brownfield Plant, Brownfield, Texas; Retired in 1994; Experience in telegraph field; Korean War; Advent of telephone and transition from telegraph to telephone; Working as a telegraph operator (cont’d); Speed in telegraph; Comparing telegrapher to musician; Working on a message; Historical aspect; Samuel Finley Breese Morse; Birth details; Painter and inventor; Invented telegraph; First message from Baltimore to Washington D.C.; Demonstration of how a message was sent on a telegraph system; Difference between the old and newer telegraph machines; Demonstration on telegraph bug; Different telegraph machines; Telegraph collectibles; Work at Ranching Heritage Center, Texas Tech; Prince Albert tobacco cans used as resonator; Total time working; Cost to send message; Process to send message; Wire transfer; Shared wires; Abbreviations and Codes; Different examples; Sending messages to fast moving objects like train; Code Generation; Demonstration of Morse Code; How keys were hit; Keeping time while dispatching; Hamilton watches; Working shifts; Women telegraph operators; Challenges of the job; Pat’s view on moving from place to place in West Texas; Handling weather; Using different metal wires; Handling high traffic of calls; Train story; Training telegraphers, and the Morse Code tablet.
Access Information
Original Recording Format:
Recording Format Notes:
Transcript: No transcript available
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