July 10.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 1673

Monopoly of Line forbidden.

30. The transmission of telegrams presented in quantity, or of telegrams of great length, may be delayed when their transmission would give an undue monopoly of the line to the sender or addressee.

Prohibitions.

31. Telegrams which are indecently or obscenely worded, or which appear to contain matter of a treasonable, seditious, libellous, or grossly offensive character, will not be transmitted.

Urgent Telegrams.

32. Telegrams marked Urgent are received at any telegraph-office and transmitted in the order of their priority with other messages of the like code. Urgent telegrams take precedence of all ordinary messages.

33. The fee for an urgent telegram is double of that for an ordinary telegram. Urgent telegrams lodged on Sunday at offices open from 5 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. only are charged four rates.

34. When the sender of an urgent telegram desires to pay for an urgent reply, the words “Urgent, reply paid urgent” must be inserted in the instructions. When the reply required is not to be urgent the instruction should be “Urgent, reply paid.”

Charges for Messages relating to Sickness or Death.

35. Telegrams relating to sickness or death or other urgent matters (but expressly excluding wagers or bets) may be accepted and transmitted from any to any telegraph-office at any time outside the ordinary hours of business on week-days or Sundays (provided the attention of the terminal office can be obtained), on payment of the following rates and fees:—

For the first twelve words or less, including address and signature, 1s., and 2d. for each additional word after twelve. Such telegrams must be inscribed with the words “Extra fee” in the instructions.

For calling upon a postmaster or operator in charge to transmit a message after 8 o’clock p.m., and when the office is closed, 2s. 6d., to be paid even if the telegram fails to reach its destination, but in the latter case the tariff rates collected will be refunded.

In addition to the foregoing charges a further fee of 2s. must be paid for delivery within a mile from the office.

36. Charges for ferries, tolls, or for any extra cost incurred for delivery beyond the ordinary limits must also be paid by the sender at the time of presenting the telegram. The sender shall also be liable for short charges, should it be subsequently found that the amount collected for carriage was insufficient.

37. Telegrams relating to wagers or bets may not be sent under these rules.

Weather Telegrams for Shipping.

38. Masters of vessels are permitted to forward messages at one uniform rate of sixpence for each message (including reply) to the Harbourmasters of the several ports seeking information as to the state of the weather, &c., at the port to which they are bound, or from any port which may lie in their route. These telegrams must be concise, and should be filled in in accordance with the directions to be seen at telegraph-offices. In no case will a larger number of words in the body of the telegram than twelve be allowed.

Transmission of Telegrams by Telephone.

39. (1.) Subscribers to telephone exchanges may, by prearrangement in writing with the telegraph-office, have telegraphic messages which are addressed to them forwarded by telephone from the office of destination to their business or private address. Such messages will, after transmission, be posted for delivery to such address, and be marked on the front “Transmitted by telephone.”

(2.) If desired, short Press messages up to fifty words may be telephoned to newspapers, the proprietors of which are subscribers to a telephone exchange, and who agree to pay the fee for so doing. After being telephoned such messages will be delivered by messenger, when their values (if “collect”), together with the fee for telephoning, will be collected.

(3.) This system may be availed of during the ordinary hours for attendance of officers at the telegraph-office, except in the case of offices where officers are on duty until 10 p.m., when the telegrams may be telephoned up to that hour.

(4.) The charges for transmitting telegrams as above shall be as follows:—

A fee of £5 5s. per annum, paid in advance; or, in other cases, for each separate transmission, provided the telephone conversation does not exceed three minutes … … … … … 0 6

For each additional three minutes or fraction thereof … … … 0 6

When the fee is paid by time, one conversation may include two or more messages, including any referred to in the next succeeding section. The fee is to be affixed in stamps to a docket which will be provided, and presented to the telegraph-office immediately after the message has been telephoned.

(5.) Telephone-exchange subscribers who have signed the usual form of application may also telephone to any telegraph-office connected with a telephone exchange, during the ordinary hours of telegraph attendance, if the exchange is open, any messages, not exceeding fifty words in length, to be further transmitted from the telegraph-office to the respective destinations of such messages as telegrams, provided the usual cost of such telegrams is paid in addition to the above rates.

(6.) Prior to telephoning any such message the sender shall have reduced such message to writing, and, immediately after transmission, if telephoned before 5 p.m., deliver the written message to the telegraph-office, with the charges affixed in stamps. Messages telephoned after 5 p.m. and before 8 p.m. must be handed in to the telegraph-office not later than 10 o’clock the following morning. To prevent duplication the word “Transmitted” should be written in a conspicuous place on the form after the message has been telephoned.

(7.) The department reserves the right to exclude any person from the privilege of sending or receiving telegrams by telephone under this system until any arrears of fees which may be due are fully paid, and to demand a deposit before registering any application.