The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-10-30

Some cynlcs say that the telegraph
is an excellent adjunct to eourtship
when the lady seems of many minds as
! to receiving the attentions OF gentle
man, a ten-wurd despatch SAYING, TN
come out at 4, hoping youll walk" It is
said win thoroughly fluster a coy maid
en who might find excuses for declining
a mqre formal invitation, While most
persons stlll content themselves with in
frequent ten-word messages, there are
a few curious folk who write long let
ters by telegraph, not business letters,
| but letters Of friendship, and even of a
more tender sort, There are others
who habitually use the telegraph when
to all appearances the malls would
serve their purpose quite as we'll.
1t has been observed that the tele-
graph is much used by business men in
places far removed from great markets
with which they have dealings. Per-
haps one reason for the persistence OF
! the ten-word superstition lies in the
| fact that telegraphic rates beyond the
25-cent ten-word rate are a mystery to
the public, There is a simple method
of calculation for messages beyond ten
words. The rates for ten words are d.
vided into groups of three-25, 80, 80; 40,
49, 90; So, 60, 65-and the middle rate of
| the group is to be divided by is to OBJ
tain the additional word rate. Thus
the additional word rate for places to
which the rate for ten words is 20, 80 or
80, is two cents; for points to which it
is 40, DO, or so, three cents; for points to
which it is IS, co. or So, four cents. For
the next group of three it is five cents,
for the next six, and for the 81 rate for
ten words the additional word rate is
seven cents. Knowing this, and that
the ten-word rate within the limit of
| the populous states is % cents, and from
stale to an adjoining state seldom
more than so cents, one is no great dan
ger of being overcharged by an operator
or a messenger boy.
Oceanic cable rates have, been greatly
reduced since the transatlantic cable
first became a success, but cabling is
still in large part a business necessity or
a luxury of grief. Gable rates to Lon
don in 1866 were 800 for twenty words.
They were reduced in the same year to
$50 for twenty words. Next year they
became s26,25; in 1868, s16.41; in 1870, $751;
in 1871, $40. Then, in 1872, came the
word rate of 81. 1t rose to $1.50 in 1873,
and has since been at various times, ac-
cording to the conditions of competition,
81, so cents, rs cents, and for a while
in 1886 - cents. The present rate Of
% cents was fixed in September, 1883.
Gable rates to places on the west coast
Of Africa run as high as $2.66 per word.
The rate to the island of Mauritius,
when the Red Sea cable is interrupted
and messages cannot be delivered via
Alden, is s4.14. The rate to New Gale
donia is $251, and other Australasian
rates vary between 1927 and 1923, ac-
cording to the route employed
The cable company usually quotes
rates to European countries without
naming places unless, perhaps, the cap
ital. OF course, rates may be much
higher than the quoted tariff when OBJ
scure interior places are to be reached.
The telegraph companies join in pub
fishing at Berne volume that profess
es to give a list of all the telegraphic
stations on earth The number is be-
tween $1,000 and 10000. officers of the
telegraphic companies hazard the guess
that the cable would not be freely used
for social purposes, even if the rate to
London were as low as 10 cents a word.
One reason is that while it is simple
matter to telegraph from New York to
a well-known address in London, it is
much more difficult thing to be sure of
addresses in provincial towns, and es-
pecially in Continental places, where a
foreign language comes in to increase
the liability Of confusion.
The expense Of correcting mistake
when telegraphing upon land lines with
in the territory of a. single country is |