Jan. 18.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 127

Cipher Telegrams.

10. Telegrams may be written in cipher, which will be counted according to the following scale, whether for figures or for letters separately: Groups of five ciphers, or a 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. A cipher is any figure, or any letter not forming a word or a part of a word. In groups of mixed letters and figures each letter or figure, or each collection of letters or figures up to five characters is counted as a single word. For examples see Post and Telegraph Guide.

11. The use of a registered code address is allowed on telegrams for transmission within New Zealand.

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 they are addressed, or to the nearest telegraph-office, and are thence transmitted and delivered free of extra charge, provided the proper amounts for transmission and for porterage (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.

13. Telegraph forms, and envelopes having the words (printed in red) “Telegram for transmission to the Officer in Charge Telegraph-station,” can be procured at post-offices in towns where there is no telegraph-station.

Order of Priority of Transmission.

14. All telegrams are required to be sent forward so as to reach the office of destination in New Zealand on the day of despatch. In any case where this does not happen, the dates of despatch and receipt are plainly stated. Telegrams will be transmitted, according to time of presentation, in the following order of priority:—

(1.) Telegrams from members of the Executive.
(2.) Service telegrams marked urgent.
(3.) Urgent private telegrams and urgent money-order telegrams.
(4.) Government telegrams marked urgent.
(5.) Cable telegrams.
(6.) Non-urgent (ordinary) private telegrams.

Replies may be prepaid.

15. The cost of a reply may be prepaid, and a reply form will then be delivered to the addressee, who will be at liberty to send another telegram of the value prepaid, from any telegraph-office, at any time within six weeks. If the form is not used its value will be refunded upon application being made within six weeks, accompanied by the form itself, to the Accountant, General Post Office. A reply form need not necessarily be used for a reply, but may be used in payment or part payment of any single inland message.

Collect Telegrams—Sender responsible for Transmission Charges.

16. Telegrams may be accepted from the sender with the word “Collect” written thereon in the space for instructions, and in such case the value of the telegram will be collected from the receiver; but, in the event of the department being unable to collect the amount, the sender will be held responsible for the due payment thereof, and in such case, if the sender fails to pay the charges upon being requested to do so, the Officer in Charge of the telegraph-office at which the telegram was delivered for despatch may in his own name, in any Court of competent jurisdiction, sue for and recover from the sender of such telegram all charges due for the transmission thereof.

17. The sender of a “collect” telegram shall, if requested to do so, lodge the cost of it. Any difference between the sum required and that lodged will be settled, or any refund will be made, upon delivery of the telegram. The sender of a “collect” telegram is at liberty to direct that delivery shall be conditional on the addressee first paying the charges. In such cases the words “Delivery conditional” must be inserted in the instructions and paid for.

Repetition at Request of Sender to insure Accuracy.

18. Telegrams may be repeated, if the sender so desires, by being signalled back from office to office. No copy is, in such case, given to the sender. The charge for repetition is one-half the ordinary tariff; the lowest fraction of a penny being reckoned as a halfpenny. Telegrams containing mercantile quotations or figures, and telegrams written in cipher, or according to a preconcerted code, should always be repeated.

Repetition at Request of Addressee to detect Errors.

19. If the addressee of a telegram doubts its accuracy, he may have it repeated by paying half the amount paid for its transmission to him, the lowest fraction of a penny being reckoned as a halfpenny. Should he require only a portion of the message to be repeated, a payment must be made at the rate of ½d. for each word embraced in the repetition. For example, if 17 words in a message of 30 words are to be repeated the payment would be fourpence halfpenny. The minimum charge, however, for repetition (even of a single word) is threepence. The money will be refunded if it appears that the telegram was incorrectly transmitted. The request for repetition must be in writing, and may be abbreviated to underlining the necessary words and adding the request—as, for example, “Please repeat”—on the delivered copy.