The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1894-04-21
GABLE RAres ANp Rulss.
How they May lie utilized TO Transfer
Cash at small Cost.


Cash at small Cost.
} Il Il possible 10 take advantage OF the
rules OF the cable companies regarding pre-
payment OF messages TO transfer small
amounts of money by wire Cabiegrams
will not be sent collect, neither may the
sender guarantee the payment Of tolls upon
reply TO message. but he can prepay
such reply to the extent Of 80 words by de
posting cash to that amount at the orgi-
mating Office and stating in his cablegram,
Reply. 10 words prepaid or Whatever
humber Of words he may mention within
the limit
For this phrase be pays usual tolls.
When the message Is delivered TO the per
sou addressed. the cable company at the
same time hands him ia cash the amount
OF prepayment The party getting the mon
ey can use IL 20 send the reply wanted or
otherwise n he sees nt The smallness OF
the amount involved prevents any undue
advantage being taken Of this system,
which has been found OF great convenience
In a legitimate way as even the shortest
cablegram Is expensive, while prepayment
reasonably guarantees reply.
Considering the fact that very few cable
grams ARE ineligible To the operators. the
mistakes made are surprisingly few. and
such az do occur are quite ns often due 20
the poor penmanship OF the writer a. TO
carelessness ON the part OF cable employees.
When mistakes do creep 30, however, the
result may be serious N not detected "A an
error Ia a single letter may radically alter
the meaning Of "A message.
For example, cheaper" may be used TO
signify. 'Send 5000 Bugs OF coffee to our
carcat Boston. while cheaper may stand
for the same phrase, except the substitu.
ton Of Philadelphia for Boston.
a 81.
wCaii here have an excellent opportunity
20 make costly blundcr. The codes arc
arranged 90 Car as possible To preclude mis-.
ta.-os OF this Kind arising through similari.
~ Of cipher words. but risks cannot be en-.
tircly eliminated.
10 costs nothing to register an address
with the telegraph ana cable companies la
America aud Great Britain, whereby one
word will stand for the full name OF the
hrfn, and thus reduce the cost OF cable
grams, but on the continents the various
governments impose "A yearly tax for the
privilege, small rs IL Is.
The average citizen has no doubt often
speculated how the cable people handle
messages written In foreign languages
that is, how native operator at, say, st.
Petersburg or Mecca can intelligently trans.
init kilograms written In English. The ex-
PLANTATION II exceedingly simple
The only requirement OF the cable lines
Is that all messages must be written in
Roman letters. This being done, IL Is ~
easy for the operator to send or receive the
French word "guerre" as its English equiv
alent. war" etc.
telegram written in Russian or hen
track Turkish paralyzes the Morse alpha
bet until IL Is translated into equivalent
French, English or other Roman text, when
II can be licked of merrily by an operator
absolutely unfamiliar with these languages,
but who knows the telegraphic signs for
the letters.
The tariff books issued by the cable
companies make interesting reading The
rate per word from New York to South
Africa h s2.49; to Cape Colony and Trans
vaal, s243; Mozambique, sell. and Zanzi-
bar, S2.i5 To New South Wales via one
route the rate Is As per word and via an
other line Si3s. To Burmah SIP IL charged,
and To Beloochistan, 81 10. The rate to
China is si.g0 and TO Japan s2.2l-Phila.
delphia Times.