"chad"--1944 attestation

[Gerald Cohen]

     The earliest attestation thus far for "chad" is 1947 (from the
files of Merriam-Webster). Here now is one from a few years earlier:

_American Telegraphy After 100 Years_, by F. E. d'Humy,
Vice-President and Chief Engineer, and P.J. Howe, Assistant Chief
Engineer in Charge of Engineering Economics, The Western Union
Telegraph Company. Published in Supplement to the "Transactions of
the A.I.E.E.," volume 63, 1944, pages 1014-1032. Later reprinted
separately. --(A.I.E.E. = American Institute of Electrical Engineers).

      The copy I obtained is the reprinted one. Page 16, col. 3 says:

        'One of the equipment differences between the Western Union
and Postal Telegraph switching systems is that the printer-perforator
used in the latter is essentially a "typing reperforator," which uses
a narrow tape and prints the characters right over the code
perforations.  In order to obtain readability,the holes in the tape
are punched only part way,eliminating the "chad" and thus providing a
complete surface to receive printing, although still leaving the
holes free for entrance of the transmitter pins.'

    My thanks to the  material from Merriam-Webster, Fred Shapiro,
Chris Jensen and Barry Popik, which headed me in the right direction
of radiotelegraphy.

---Gerald Cohen