Telegraphers Paralysis

[NW Mailing List]

From Google AI 
Telegrapher's paralysis, also known as glass arm, was a repetitive stress injury (RSI) that affected telegraphers in the early days of telegraphy. It was caused by the forceful up-and-down motion of conventional telegraph keys. 
Symptoms of telegrapher's paralysis included: Pain, Numbness, Tingling in the arm and wrist, and Paralysis of the fingers. 
To help telegraphers with telegrapher's paralysis, keys were built to allow for side-to-side motion instead of up-and-down. The side play of the straight key could also be increased by loosening the adjustable trunnion screws. 
Telegrapher's paralysis is an example of a class of paralyses that are caused by the repetitive use of a particular set of muscles in the same way over a long period of time. Other examples of this include writer's paralysis and hammer paralysis. 
Sent from my digital telegraph key
Jim Stapleton

On Dec 6, 2024, at 09:57, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

The August, 1925 edition of the N&W magazine has an article called “Telegraph and Telephones on the N&W”. That article  contains a paragraph about “the bug” that saved operators from giving up their work due to telegraphers paralysis.

What was telegraphers paralysis? And I’d like to know more about the other improvements noted in the paragraph. See attached. There’s nothing quite as curiosity-piquing as reading about contemporary technology - 100 years after the fact!

Thanks
Matt Goodman
Columbus Ohio

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Matt Goodman
Columbus, Ohio

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