868

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

SCHEDULE.

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

REGULATIONS UNDER WHICH TELEGRAMS ARE AUTHORIZED TO BE
TRANSMITTED ON THE TELEGRAPH LINES BELONGING TO THE
GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND.

Non-liability for Errors, &c.

1. Neither Her Majesty the Queen nor the Government of the colony shall be responsible for errors, omissions, or delays in the transmission of any telegram, or for the non-delivery or non-transmission of any telegram.

Charges.

2. The charges for transmission of a telegram within New Zealand are,--
   For twelve words or less, including address and signature--
   Urgent
   One shilling.
   Ordinary
   Sixpence.
   Extra words, 2d. and 1d. each respectively.
   On Sundays these rates are doubled.

When more than one telegram, apparently part of a message previously lodged, is presented by the same sender during any one day, such telegrams may be treated as one continuous telegram, and charged for accordingly, unless it be shown to the satisfaction of the Officer in Charge that they have no connection with each other.

3. Postage stamps must be used for payment, and any person sending a telegram is required to affix such stamps to the message forms.

Receipts for Charges.

4. Receipts for the amounts paid for international and intercolonial telegrams may be obtained by the sender free of charge at the Telegraph Office at the time of presenting such telegrams for transmission. A receipt for the amount paid for an inland telegram will be given at the time of presenting such telegram for transmission on payment of a fee of twopence.

How and upon What to be written.

5. Inland telegrams presented for transmission shall be written either in ink, or with pencil, or in manifold, in a clear and legible manner; cable telegrams shall be written in ink or in manifold. All telegrams shall contain a proper address, and bear a genuine signature in the usual handwriting of the sender, or in that of his authorized agent, but when written by the agent the latter shall add his name or initials, not for transmission, but for the information of the Post and Telegraph Department.

6. In order to prevent errors in the transmission of telegrams, all words must be written in full, and no abbreviations will be allowed that are not in general use and in accordance with the usage of the language. All numbers should be written in words in full, and not in figures.

7. Printed forms upon which telegrams should be written may be obtained at all telegraph offices on application; but all telegrams, whether written upon the prescribed form, upon any other printed form, or upon plain paper, shall (subject to the provision hereinafter stated), be considered as presented for transmission under the several conditions contained in these regulations: Provided that telegrams written upon printed forms other than those supplied by the Government shall be first approved of by the Electric Telegraph Commissioner, or the same may be refused when presented for transmission.

How to be signed.

8. When it is not intended or desired that the sender's signature should be telegraphed, it must be written on the back of the message. The message may then be transmitted without a signature, or with any signature known to the receiver, such as "Kate," "Harry," "Mamma," which the sender may insert for transmission; but the receiver may have the full signature telegraphed by paying for the necessary telegrams.

Special Instructions.

9. When the sender desires that special instructions, such as "Private," "Confidential," "To be opened at once," "Per Te Anau," "By first steamer," or the like, shall be written on the envelope of the message, he shall write those instructions immediately after the address of the receiver, and pay for them as part of the message. The words shall also be written in the space for instructions.

Cipher Telegrams.

10. Telegrams may be written in cipher, which will be counted according to the following scale, whether for figures or letters: Separate ciphers count as one word; groups of five ciphers, or fractional part of five ciphers, count as one word; groups exceeding five ciphers are counted at the rate of five ciphers to the word, and any fractional portion remaining is to be counted as one word.

11. The use of a cipher address is prohibited on messages for transmission within the colony.

Telegrams may be dropped into a Letter-box.

12. Persons not wishing to send to a Telegraph Office may post a telegram in an envelope addressed "Telegram Immediate," in a wall- or pillar-box, or at a receiving office or sub-post-office. Telegrams so posted are sent on by the next collection or the next mail to the Telegraph Office to which the letters included in the collection are taken, and are thence transmitted and delivered free of extra charge, provided the proper amounts for transmission and for portage (if any) have been prepaid. The time of arrival at the Telegraph Office is regarded as the time of receipt from the public. Telegrams may also be posted not enclosed in envelopes, and when so posted they will be treated in the same manner.

[No. 42