<html><body><div style="font-family: tahoma,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000"><div>Dear historians of information,</div><div><br></div><div>With apologies if this question leads way before or outside anybody's area of interest. In his book "The Information," James Gleick records indifference about early telephone networks (at the start of the 20th century) from potential business clients. One is reported as saying: "If I want to send a message, I use a sounder, or employ a boy to take it" (p.189). My question is: What, in this context, is or was a "sounder"?</div><div><br></div><div>Grateful for any replies</div><div>JD Fleming</div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-- </span></div><div><span name="x"></span><div><span data-mce-style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;">J</span><span face="tahoma, new york, times, serif" data-mce-style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif;" style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif;">ames Dougal Fleming<br>Associate Professor<br>Department of English<br>Simon Fraser University</span></div><div>778-782-4713</div><div><span size="1" data-mce-style="font-size: xx-small;" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br></span><div><span><span face="tahoma, new york, times, serif" data-mce-style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif;" style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif;">Burnaby -- </span></span>British Columbia -- Canada.</div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">"You will be careful to keep them separate, citizen?"</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">--<em>A Tale of Two Cities</em></span></div><div><br></div><div><p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: Times; color: #202020; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #202020; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" data-mce-style="margin: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: Times; color: #202020; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #202020; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> <span style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif;" data-mce-style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" data-mce-style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></span></span></p><div><br></div></div><div><div style="font-size: 12pt;" data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><em><span face="tahoma, new york, times, serif" style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif;" data-mce-style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif;"><br></span></em></span></div></div></div><span name="x"></span><br></div></div></body></html>