Towns > Dumfries > 1911-12 - Dumfries and district post office directory ... for 1911 and 1912

14 POSTAL INFORMATION.
TELEPHONES.
Trunk Telephone Lines.
The scale of charges for three mimites' conversation is as
follows : —
For distances not exceeding 100 miles, 3d for each 25 miles
or fraction thereof.
For each additional 40 miles or fraction thereof, 6d.
'When a Trunk conversation is between a subscriber to the
National Telephone Company's system and a caller or subscriber of
the Municipal Exchange at Portsmouth, a " terminal fee " has also
to be paid.
The ordinary period of conversation is limited to three minutes,
but any person may secnre the uninterrupted use of a trunk line for
3ix minutes by prepaying a double fee, or may extend a three
minutes' conversation to six minutes on demand at the end of the
first period. The latter privilege can be exercised at Call Ofl&ces
only if a deposit has been made by the caller in the first instance to
cover the fee for the second period of three minutes. This deposit
is refunded if the call is not extended.
Callers are required to pay a Call Ofl&ce fee of 2d on inward
Trunk calls, and also, in addition to the Trunk fee, on calls
originated at Call Offices.
Between the hours of 7 pim. and 7 a.m. the charge for a six
minutes' conversation is the same as for a single period of three
minutes dnring the day. During the same period, for a three
minutes' conversation, for which the day charge is 9d, a reduced
fee of 6d is charged, and half the usual day charge is made where
the ordinary fee is Is or more.
Express Letters and Telegrams sent by Telephone.
Any subscriber to a Telephone Exchange may telephone mes-
sages (except those for transmission at Press rate) to most of the
Post Offices which can be reached through the local Exchange
System, or by means of the Post Office trunk wires, in order that the
messages may be written down and dealt with as telegrams, or
express letters, or ordinary letters. Messages intended to be for-
Avarded by telegraph should be telephoned as a rule to the Head
Telegraph Office of the district. Many public Telephone Call Offices,
or private telephone lines to Post Offices, may also be used in this
way.
An ordinarj' letter or express letter telephoned to a Post Office
is delivered for the usual postage fee or express delivery fee if it
does not contain more than 30 words, including the address; and
each additional 30 words or fraction thereof is treated, for purposes
of charge, as a separate letter or express letter, as the case may be.