Towns > Edinburgh > 1846-1975 - Post Office Edinburgh and Leith directory > 1887-1888

POSTAL DIRECTORY— RATES
every additional word. The names and addresses
of the sender and receiver being counted.
Telegrams written in plain language in any
European tongue are charged for according to the
number of words they contain; but sU unin-
telligible words not forming part of any European
language are charged for at the rate of five letters
to a word.
Copies of a telegram directed to more than one
person or firm in the same free delivery will be
delivered at an additional charge of 2d. per copy.
When the terminal telegraph oiSce, i.e. the office
nearest to the address, i.s a Head Post Office, the
amount paid for the transmission covers the cost
of delivery within one mile, or within the town
postal delivery of that office if more than a mile.
But when it is not a Head Post Office, the message
Es delivered free only within the limit of one mile.
When the terminal office is a sub-office, and
that office is closed, exemption from porterage is
allowed for one mile only if the telegram is de-
livered from the Head Office, even though the
address of the telegram be within the limits of
the town postal delivery.
When the address is beyond the free deliverj',
porterage is charged at the rate of 6d. per mile, or
any part thereof, provided the whole distance does
not exceed three miles ; but the charge is calculated
■from the boundary within which no porterage is
levied.
If the address is more than 3 miles from the
■terminal office, porterage is charged for by mounted
ouesseDger at the rate of Is. per mile, except in
Ireland, where the charge is usually Sii. per mile,
the charge being reckoned from the office.
The sender is responsible for all charges incurred
ia delivery. When the exact distance is not known,
■a deposit must be paid to meet the charges.
If the sender requires his telegram to be for-
warded by post or by train from the terminal office,
he must write the words ' by post ' or ' by train ' at
the end of the address, and in the latter case he
-must pay the cost, or deposit Is. if the cost is not
iknown. If the telegram is to be posted to a place
.abroad, he must write ' Post ' at thoend of the
• address, and prepaj^ the postage.
A deposit of 5s. is required upon all telegrams
-.^addressed to a ship, unless the ship be alongside a
wharf; anj- surplus is refunded.
Telegrams m.ay be repeated at tlie request of the
sender, by being signalled back from office to office.
The charge for repetition is one-half the ordinary
tariff ; a fraction of a halfpenny being reckoned as
a halfpenny.
If the receiver of a telegram doubts its accuracy,
■lie may have it repeated by depositing half the
.amount paid for its transmission, and the amount
will be refunded if found to be incorrectly trans-
mitted.
The cost of a reply to a telegra,m, not exceeding
forty-eight words, may be prepaid; and a Reply
Form will then be delivered to the addressee, who
will be at liberty to send his reply, from any tele-
graph office, at any time within two mouths. If the
Form be not used, it may within the same period
be sent to the Secretary, G.P.O., London, and the
value will be refunded. A Eeply Form need not
necessarily be used for a reply, but may be used for
another message.
Telegrams re-transmitted to a second address
are liable to additional inland rate ; but if re-
directed to an address in the same town delivery,
to an additional charge of 6d. In addition to the
amount chargeable on each re-directed telegram,
a fee of £1, Is. per annum is charged for the
registration of special instructions as to the re-
direction of telegrams, liemovals wre registered,
when requested, for a period of one mouth free of
charge.
Persons not wishing to send to a telegraph office
may post a telegram, addressed ' Telegram — Imme-
diate,' in a wall or pillar box, or in i.he letter-box
of a receiving office or sub-post office. Telegrams
so posted are sent on to the nearest telegraph office
by the next collection. The period of arrival at the
postal telegraph office is regarded as the time of
receipt from the public.
Telegrams posted insufficiently prepaid are
forwarded to their destination, the difference of
charge being obtained from the addressee ; but un-
paid telegrams are not forwarded.
No combination of two or more words is counted
as one word, with the exception of those words
which are ordinarily coupled by hyphens, such
as ' mother-in-law,' ' non-delivery,' etc.
The following exceptional compound words are
charged for as one word: — MacDonald, midday,
midnight, noon-day, se'nnight, cannot, to-day, to-
night, to-morrow, yesternight, yesterday, half-
penny, twopence, St Andrews, etc.
Figures are counted at the rate of five to a
word ; and in fractions according to the number of
figures emploj'ed, one figure being counted for the
mark of division, — thus h is one word, and 2461
two words.
In groups of figures a stop is counted as a figure.
The symbols o/o, ajc, b/l, and c/o are each counted
as a word.
Ordinal numbers are charged in the same way
as cardinal, with the addition of one word for the
affix st, nd, rd, th.
When a group of figures is followed by a letter,
thus 12oa, the letter is counted as a word.
When the sender of a telegram desires words to
be underlined, or placed in a parenthesis, or
within inverted commas, two extra words are
charged for ; and when the sender desires that
special instructions be written on the envelope,
enclosing the telegram, such is charged for as
part of the message.
Telegrams addressed to a Telegraph Office, to be
called for, are kept for two days, aud if not then
claimed are sent to the Chief Office, London.
Any person may register an abbreviated address
on pajTuent of the fee of 21s. a-year.
The department is not liable for losses incurred
through the incorrect transmission, delay, or non-
delivery of telegrams.
Telegrajsh offices are, as a rule, open from 8 a.m.
to 8 p.m., and from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sundays.
There are, however, offices in several of the larger
towns which are open longer; and at various
offices in London and in the country the attend-
ance is continuous. G.P.O., Edinburgh, always
open.
FOSEICtN TELEaEAMS.
Foreign telegrams are divided into three classes
— ordinary, code, and cypher. Ordinary telegrams
are those composed of words, figures, and letters
conveying an intelligible meaning.
Code telegrams are those composed of words,
the context of which has no intelligible meaning.
Proper names are not allowed in the text of code
telegrams, except in their natural sense, words
of more than ten letters arc not allowed.
In code telegrams, only English, French, Ger-
man, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and
Latin may be employed ; but words of any or all of
these languages are allowed.
C3-pher telegrams are those containing series or
roups of figures or letters having a secret mean-