GIRLS AT THE MORSE KEY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2860, 26 August 1916, Page 9

GIRLS AT THE MORSE KEY

HOW THE POST OFFICE SCHOOL IS ■■'" PROGRESSING. The girls' classes at the Post Office are making excellent progress in tlio art of sending and receiving messages in the Morse code. In the course of a conversation yesterday.; their instructor (Mr. Leslie Hill) expressed himself as well satisfied with the avorage progress made. Some girls, he said, progressed more rapidly than others, because of a certain natural smartness, backed.by a good education. Apart fram. the technique of telegraphy— the actual management of tlie key—there were certain. factors that aided or retarded a learner, as the case may be. A' girl with a good education, that is a sound knowledge of English, and able to spell and write well, had an advantage over others not so well equipped. That being so, it was their endeavour to improve a learner's caligniphy; also.tp. correct common errors in spelling', in order that their work hereafter' maynot be marred by such deficiencies. 'In the art of sending— and Mr. Hill believes that it is an art — the touch of a" girl who is ablo to play the pianoforte is generally better than one without, as.her sense of touch has been trained; as has also her sense of time and rhythm. The more perfect tho touch the easier it is to read at the other end, and tho musical attributes mentioned all make for tho perfect touch. The- difference between a dot and dash is the.difference in.the length of time the key is pressed down, the dash being twice as long as tho dot. Similarly the space between letters is only half that between words, and the aim in teaching girls was to inculcate a sense of even time until it became instinctive. On the whole, the class was making sati-.factory progress. Somo of the most advanced of. tho "dot-dashers" wero able to send or receive nearly twenty' words a minute, and others were coming on well. Tho public will be able to judge what that means when it is stated that the .average working operator does. about thirty-three or thirty-four words ,a minute.