[GreenKeys] chicken punch

[kf9nz at juno.com]

        Rummaging around in a desk drawer in my garage the other day I
came across my old chicken punch.  I have been on this list for quite a
few years, but never seen any mention of anybody using them.  OK, what in
'ell IS a chicken punch and what does it have to do with Teletype you may
well ask.

        What we (on the old B&O RR comm dep't) called a chicken punch is
two pieces of steel riveted together at one end, with a small hole in the
other end of one piece opposed by a small pin. When you insert something
(a chicken's comb or a piece of perforator tape) between the two and
squeeze, it produces a small hole - just the size of the holes used in
perforator tape.  In the chicken, it was used to insert a tag identifying
the animal.  In the perforator tape it was used to "letter out" or
otherwise correct an error - a sort of last resort to save a long tape
with only one error.   Mine is stamped "NAT'L BAND NEWPORT KY"   Just
wondering if any of you old time Ops ever heard about this gadget.

Frankf9nz