2nd February, 6 p.m.
exclaimed Frank , with a look of contempt . `` Yes , they have , and no doubt the lines are all right enough , but the people through whose countries they pass are all wrong . Why , the Government lines are so frequently out of order just now , that their daily condition is reported on as if they were noble invalids . Just listen to this , '' -LRB- he caught up a very much soiled and oiled newspaper -RRB- -- '' ` Telegraph Line Reports , Kurrachee , 2nd February , 6 p.m. -- Cable communication perfect to Fao ; Turkish line is interrupted beyond Semawali ; Persian line interrupted beyond Shiraz . ' And it is constantly like that -- the telegraphic disease , though intermittent , is chronic . One can never be sure when the line may be unfit for duty . Sometimes from storms , sometimes from the assassination of the operators in wild districts , through which the land wires pass , and sometimes from the destruction of lines out of pure mischief , the telegraph is often beaten by the mail . ''