The Rev. Douglas L. Meyer tells of working at a college radio station during his undergraduate day. These were the days before computers and CDs. They were a small operation so the deejays also read the news. The news they read each hour came in on two teletype machines which clattered away constantly.

What he remembers most was that these machines had bells attached that the broadcaster could hear faintly even in the broadcast booth. These bells would go off when a particularly important story came over the wire. Posted above the teletype machine was a list of what the various number of rings of the bells meant. Normal headlines and news was signaled with only one or two rings three or four rings meant a severe storm or tornado five or six rings meant a major accident or disaster (like a…