STICKLER FOR ACCURACY.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9151, 21 May 1908, Page 6

STICKLER FOR ACCURACY.

The following anecdote is at present making the round of semiofficial circles in Khartoum (says the Cairo correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette), and certainly JdeserVes reproduction ;—A little while ago a young telegraph operator was sent to a lonely station;! in the remote regions of the interior. From the small cabin which served as his dwelling and bis office he could hear the roar of lions from a distance. This having occurred several times during the few days after his arrival, he became very much touched, and despatched the following wire to headquarters:— Impossible to live here. Surrounded day and night by lions, elephants, tigers, rhinoceroses, hyenas, wolves, crocodiles, hippopotami, etc. ; beg for transfer. Two or three days’ elapsed, and the poor, besieged operator received no reply, which increased his uneasiness. Another official, who was stationed in the same district, paid him a visit shortly after this, and the terrified operator related to him his woes and showed him the telegram he had sent. His visitor commiserated with him, but pointed out that the list of wild beasts detailed in the wire was a little exaggerated, as no wolves exist in the Soudan. Immediately another telegram flew over the wires to headquarters from the forlorn operator at the far away station, and the following was its wording Referring to my wire No. X please cancel the word “wolves.” When the last mail left, it was not known whether the forlorn operator had had his request granted. His earnest desire for accuracy certainly merited some consideration.