804
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 22

CHARGES WHEN OFFICE REOPENED BY SPECIAL REQUEST.

Individual Rate.

Press messages lodged by or on behalf of individual persons or newspapers at a telegraph-office, specially reopened after the usual closing-hour, are charged as under:—
At the rate of 2s. per 100 words up to 1,000 words, the minimum collections on account of messages presented by any one person to aggregate 7s. 6d.
For every additional 100 after the first 1,000 words, at the rate of 6d. per 100 words or fraction thereof.
In the case of a message of, say, 100 words being sent to less than four newspapers, the “minimum charge” would be divided thus—two at 3s. 9d. each = 7s. 6d.; three at 2s. 6d. each = 7s. 6d.

Press Association Rate.

Messages lodged and forwarded on behalf of the United Press Association are liable to the following charges:—
At the rate of 6d. per 100 words or fraction thereof, together with a fee of 7s. 6d. for reopening the office, and all charges in respect of overtime at offices other than the original forwarding office.
The additional payment to be made in all cases by the applicant.
At least six hours’ notice should be given the Secretary, General Post Office, Wellington, of the desire to have an office specially reopened for Press news.

CHARGES FOR PRESS TELEGRAMS RELATING TO EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS, ETC.

Press telegrams containing intelligence of extraordinary events, such as collisions, wrecks, large fires, explosions, &c., may be accepted for transmission between offices open for the midnight cable service, after those offices are closed for the receipt of other Press messages, on the following conditions:—
No message may exceed 100 words.
The fee of 1s. to be charged for each message.
The Officer in Charge may refuse to accept any such message which in his opinion does not contain news of an urgent nature.
These messages not to be permitted to interfere with or delay the transmission of the midnight cable news.

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Telegrams forwarded by Members of General Assembly.

Members of the General Assembly may send ordinary telegrams at the following rates, viz.:—

For the first thirty-six words or any fraction thereof, including address and signature … … … … … 0 6
For every four words or fraction of four words after the first thirty-six words … … … … … 0 1
There is no “urgent” code for these rates.

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LIST OF TELEGRAPH-OFFICES.

The names of the telegraph-offices in New Zealand are to be written in the addresses of telegrams as given in the list of offices published in the Post and Telegraph Guide, and the name of each office as it is thus required to be given must be counted as one word. For instance, Abbotsford in the address of a telegram will count as one word, and Abbotsford, Otago, as two words.

When a telegraph message is addressed to a place not a telegraph-office but bearing the same name as a telegraph-office, as well as to the office to which the message is to be telegraphed—thus, “Richmond, Christchurch”—the names of both places must be telegraphed and charged for, the first of the two names being regarded as that of a place which is not a telegraph-office.

A telegram for a locality where a Receiving Office only is situated—e.g., Strand Arcade, Lichfield Street, Oriental Bay, &c.—must also bear the name of the delivery office, as Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, &c., the necessary additional word being telegraphed and charged for.

Telegrams for persons on trains that will pass railway-stations which are public telegraph-offices must be addressed to those offices and not the departmental offices, as, for example, to Masterton Railway, not Masterton.

Unless otherwise stated, offices are closed on Sundays and public holidays.

Money-order telegrams can be sent between all offices except those marked *.

Telegrams of an urgent nature presented during the luncheon interval at offices where such interval is allowed will be despatched without delay.

Ordinary telegrams lodged during hours that offices are open for receipt of Press telegrams only must be paid for as “Extra fee” messages.

When telegraph lines are interrupted, telegrams will be accepted from the public at the sender’s risk only, and despatched to the farthest practicable point, and thence to destination after communication is restored.

The telegraph-offices at Auckland, Blenheim, Christchurch, Dunedin, Gisborne, Greymouth, Hokitika, Invercargill, Masterton, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Oamaru, Palmerston North, Thames, Timaru, Wanganui, Wellington, and Westport are open for the transaction of public business between the hours of 8 a.m. and midnight on ordinary week-days, except on Saturdays, when the attendance ceases at 8 p.m., on Sundays between the hours of 9.30 a.m. and. 10 a.m., and 5 p.m. and 5.30 p.m., and on statutory holidays between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. and midnight. The foregoing hours, or any variation thereof, may be extended by the Electric Telegraph Commissioner to any other telegraph-office from time to time. Other offices are generally open between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and of these the Electric Telegraph Commissioner is empowered to order the further reopening for public business, or the restricted opening, as circumstances shall require; also, the closing daily for a period not exceeding one hour as a luncheon-period at such hours and for such periods respectively as to him shall seem fit.

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TELEPHONE EXCHANGES.

1. At any place where telephone exchanges have been established, Edison-Bell or any other approved telephones connected with the exchanges will be placed in offices or private residences within three miles of the central office, so that subscribers can converse with other subscribers at their offices or residences.

2. Every person desiring to hire any telephone instruments or set of telephones connected with a telephone exchange shall make application to the Superintendent of Electric Lines on the form supplied for that purpose by the department.