rn District
of New York.



Reproduced here by:
The Signal Corps Association 1860 ~ 1865
For: education purposes only.
DO NOT COPY





The Signal Corps Association 1860 ~ 1865
http://www.civilwarsignals.org/

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.



Prior to the organization of Morses Telegraph Institute
Association, there existed, nowhere, any system of telegraphic
instruction. Hitherto, it had been all chance.

The establishment of the Institute to supply a positive, and an
oppressive want, became necessary by reason of the great scarcity of
Telegraphic Operators.

Its opening developed the kindred necessity of adopting such a
plan of instruction as that, while it should furnish the main
landmarks for the teacher, by laying before him a system adapted
either to class or personal instruction, as might be desired, it should, at
the same time, comprehend the full paper and sound operating
courses, and especially aim at making easy to the student learning to
read by sound.

This plan of instruction will, in this later respect, be found
adapted to the capacity of every student, whether of moderate or
lively telegraphic application, requiring no modification of the
character of any exercises, and but a simple increase of the number of
repetitions of the letters of the word, either for hand or ear practice, to
such extent as may be required by any pupil acquiring telegraphy
unnaturally.

While this work will be found an important auxiliary in
obtaining a knowledge of telegraphy, even by persons absent from
the Institute; because, among so many students constantly in
attendance thereat, several are found, daily practicing lessons exactly
adapted to that stage of advancement at which any student may have
arrived, in reading by sound.

This work, in connection with ample arrangements for practice
within the Institute, and upon the public lines connected therewith,
will be found perfect for the preparation of any person for the
RESPONSIBLE duty of Telegraph Operator.



The Signal Corps Association 1860 ~ 1865
http://www.civilwarsignals.org/
INSTRUCTION.

EXERCISE I.

DIRECTIONS FOR LEARNING TO OPERATE


Sit facing the table with the right arm resting upon it; place the
first two fingers on the key, with the thumb pressing slightly up from the
lower side.

In learning to operate, a person should be governed by the same
rules, which apply to penmanship. First, obtain control of the hand by
writing firm dots, making no attempt to form letters until the hand is well
disciplined. Speed is acquired by practice, but firmness and good spacing
are the results only of great care and attention.

Write long dashes firmly and connectedly, until they can be made
of uniform length and very closely together. Shorten the dashes as your
fingers get disciplined until they become dots. Then make many dots
before attempting to form letters.


The following alphabet should be committed to memory, but not
practiced on the key:

MORSES TELEGRAPHIC ALPHABET.

a

b

c

d
e
f

g
. __

__ . . .
. . .

__ . .
.

. __ .
__ __ .


h

i

j

k
l

m

n

. . . .
. .
__ . __ . __ . __ ____
__ __
__ .

o

p

q

r
s
t

u
. .
. . . . . . . __ .
. . .
. . .
___
. . __

v

w

x

y
z
&
,
. . . __ . __ __ . __ . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . __ . __

.
;
?
!


¶


. . __ __ . .
. __ . __ . __ . . __ . __ __ __ . . __ . __ . __ __ __ __ __

( )


italics
1
2
3
4 5
. __ . . __
__ . . . __
. __ __ . . . __ . . . . . __ . . . . . __ __ __ __

6

7

8

9

0
. . . . . .
__ __ . . __ . . . . __ . . __ . ______

The characters for Quotations, Parenthesis and italics must be placed both before and after the
matter quoted or italicized.
The Signal Corps Association 1860 ~ 1865
http://www.civilwarsignals.org/
EXERCISE II.
DOTS. FOR HAND AND MEMORY.

6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p
h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h
s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e

DOTS AND SPACES.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c
r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r
y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y
z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z
& & & & & & & & & & & & & & &

EXERCISE III.
DASHES. TIME EXERCISE.




t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t



l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

DOTS AND DASHES.




a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a



u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u



v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n
d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d
b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8



f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f



x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x



q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q q



w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w



g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g



k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k



j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j

The Signal Corps Association 1860 ~ 1865
http://www.civilwarsignals.org/

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

FRACTIONS.


Telegraphic fractions are made by first writing the numerators and
leaving a space, then one dot and another space, and lastly the denominator; thus
for ½ , . __ __ . . . . __ . . ; ¾ , . . . __ . . . . . . __ , etc.

EXERCISE IV.

This and the following exercises are adopted both to hand practice and to
the cultivation of the ear for receiving by sound. To a large proportion of
students they will be found in their present form exactly adapted, numerous
repetitions of the most difficult ones essential. To those acquiring sound
qualifications the most unnaturally, more than three repetitions of each letter of
every word should be given for a time- in number according to the capacity of
the student.

EXAMPLES:

aaa sss


aaa rrr eee
aaa hhh aaa

ccc
ttt
aaa nnn


aaa rrr mmm yyy


~ THRU ~

zzz iii bbb eee ttt
zzz eee aaa lll ooo uuu sss
zzz iii zzz eee lll

zzz eee ccc hhh iii nnn

[Woods original contains 26 specific exercises not reproduced here]


EXERCISES FOR THE HAND AND EAR.


This, and the succeeding exercises, should be practiced with great care, by
spacing correctly, and making the space between the words twice as long as that
between the letters. Make every letter distinct in itself, and avoid running them
together:



The Signal Corps Association 1860 ~ 1865
http://www.civilwarsignals.org/

I have not seen him for some time. You may now learn any thing
you desire. I have no doubt you will succeed in whatever you
undertake. I am sure he considers it a great mistake. I
understand it is your intention to remain in this country. You
will have little to do unless you come at once. I must not have
my mind occupied with trifles. For a long time we have known
nothing of his intentions. You must now return as soon as you
can. There are many things you will have to learn as soon as you
are able. I fear you will make many mistakes.

[Woods original contains 12 specific additional exercises not reproduced here]

GENERAL OFFICE ORDERS.





The following are the most general Office Regulations, and every operator, upon
taking charge of a station, must first ascertain the Rules and Regulations of his office and
line, as established by his Superintendent, and observe the motto, Obey orders, if it
break owners.

1st.
No abbreviations are to be allowed transmitting messages. Every word must
be written out.

2d.
When numbers, dates or prices occur, they must first be sent in words, and
then repeated in figur