JULY 5.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2037

GENERAL RULES FOR COUNTING TELEGRAMS BETWEEN PLACES
WITHIN NEW ZEALAND.

1. Telegrams are charged for according to tariff rates as shown in the Guide; and
   all that the sender wishes to transmit to his correspondent is charged for except
   service instructions, such as the following, viz.: “Urgent,” “Reply paid,” “Collect,”
   “Carriage paid,” &c.

2. Telegrams may be written either in plain or code language. A plain message
   must be written wholly in English, and may not contain illegitimate combinations or
   words or abbreviations contrary to the usage of the language—Webster’s Dictionary
   being taken as the standard.

3. Combinations of two or more words are charged for as separate words, but
   compound words found in Webster’s Dictionary, joined by a hyphen, or separated by
   an apostrophe, and which are so written by the sender, are counted and charged for
   as single words. The cardinal and ordinal numbers up to and including ninety-nine
   and ninety-ninth, respectively, and the words “onepenny,” “twopence,” &c., up to
   and including “elevenpence,” are counted and treated as one word each when so
   written. Combinations which usually count as two words such as “Courtcard,” but
   which, in order not to destroy the sense of the message, must in particular instances
   be shown as one word, will in future be indicated as double words in the check, thus:
   /D₁, D₂, &c.

4. Groups of letters or figures count five characters to the word, plus one word for
   any excess up to five characters. The Department does not guarantee the correct
   transmission of figures.

5. Code words, whether genuine or artificial, must be formed of syllables capable
   of pronunciation, according to the usage of one of the following languages: Dutch,
   English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Maori, Portuguese, or Spanish. Words in
   code language must not be longer than ten characters of the Morse alphabet.
   Combinations not fulfilling these conditions, or those which may be formed by the
   union of two or more words in plain language contrary to the usage of the language,
   are charged in accordance with Rule 4.

6. All names composed of more than one word (with the exception of those
   mentioned in Rule 7, and any entitled to pass as one word under Rule 3) are to be
   counted according to the number of separate words contained in the name, howsoever
   the same may be expressed.

7. Names like MacDonald, McDougal, O’Neil, De Morgan, De la Rue, should be
   counted as one word each, but double surnames, such as Hunter-Brown, must be
   counted as two words, whether written with a hyphen or without. The prefix “St.”
   always counts as part of a word, but when written in full it should be counted as a
   separate word.

Official designations are to be counted according to the number of separate words
of which they are composed: thus, “Under-Secretary, Public Works,” to be counted
as three words, “Under-Secretary” being an admissible compound word according to
the standard dictionary.

8. The name of any post-office, public telegraph-office, or railway telegraph-
   office in New Zealand will pass as a single word in either the address or text of any
   inland message.

9. Each separate letter or figure is charged for as one word, but unintelligible
   combinations of letters in the text of messages, words not forming part of any autho-
   rised language, and groups of figures count five characters to the word. Where a
   fraction is inserted in a group of figures, such fraction is regarded as terminating the
   word—as, 31½8¼9, three words.

10. Under the above rule, abbreviations such as “oife,” “faq,” “fob,” “gfaq,”
    “am,” “pm,” &c., are accepted as single words.

11. When a group of figures is preceded or followed by a letter, the letter is
    counted as a separate word: thus, A104, or 104A, each count as two words. Letters
    added to figures to form ordinal numbers are each counted as a figure: thus, “1st”
    counts as one word, “1000th” as two words.

12. The two principal punctuation signs, viz., full stop and comma, when used as
    such, are not to be counted, but signalled free of charge. Other punctuation signs
    and underlines are counted and charged for as one word each; while parentheses,
    brackets, or inverted commas are counted and charged for as one word each pair.

13. Bars of division, or full stops representing decimal points, used in the forma-
    tion of numbers, or in groups of mixed characters, are counted as figures. The divisional
    bar when used with letters also counts as a letter in the group in which it may
    occur.

14. All figures should be expressed in Arabic characters; if Roman numerals are
    required to be signalled, two extra words are charged for each group of five (or less) of
    such figures.

15. The following examples determine the interpretation of the rules to be
    followed in counting words:—

Words. Words.
3d .. .. .. 2 £2 3 6 .. .. .. 4
4d .. .. .. 2 14s 6d .. .. .. 4
4/2 .. .. .. 1 5s/ .. .. .. 2
4s .. .. .. 2 3½d .. .. .. 2
“ ” .. .. .. 1 3½ .. .. .. 1
Come quickly .. .. 3 31½ .. .. .. 1
Important wanted urgently 5 311½ .. .. .. 2
( ) .. .. .. 1 5/-/- .. .. .. 1
3.6 .. .. .. 2 £5 .. .. .. 2
38.64 .. .. .. 2 £5 10 .. .. .. 3
12.1501015/9/8-7-6/6/12/7/9.. 6 Twenty-eight .. .. 1
38·647 .. .. .. 2 Twenty eight .. .. 2
38647 .. .. .. 1 Thirty-fifth .. .. 1
38647/ .. .. .. 2 Thirty fifth .. .. 2
38/64 .. .. .. 1 4 11 6.. .. .. 3
38/647 .. .. .. 2 3/6 .. .. .. 1
30b4d .. .. .. 4 31½8¼9 .. .. .. 3
2/3/6 .. .. .. 1 c/o .. .. .. 1