Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-01-25
RIGHT TO READ A TELEGRAM
Receiver May Refuse to Pay For Mes
SAGE After Seeing II.

|
Receiver May Refuse to Pay For Mes
sage After Seeing II.
"Of the many popular supposi-
tons which are erroneous" said tel
grapher to a Was. lgton Star report
er, zone is that addressee or the re-
ceiver Of a telegram. upon which the
tolls are to be collected must pay the
charges II he opens the envelope and
reads the message.
This. however. Is not correct, but
1t Is astonishing how universal Is this
| belief. There are many ways of ac-
counting for 1t and perhaps one may
| be attributed to the fact that letter
sent through the mails, upon which
postage is due and collectible Is sur
rendered to the addressee only upon
the payment of the necessary def
cient postage.
Much more Importance attaches
| to a telegram than to a letter on the
part Of the recipient, and 1t Is seldom
fthat a person will refuse to receive
and to pay for a telegram sent col
lect. though an individual might re-
fuse to pay the additional postage due
upon a letter, holding that If the send
er did not esteem II Of sufficient Inn
portance to fully prepay 1t, the ad-
dressee did not care to receive 1t. But
there Is always more or less impor-
tance regarding telegram, and
many persons have received a collect
telegram and then afterward kicked
themselves because they were requir-
ed to pay the charge.
But a telegram may be opened,
read and refused precisely as the ad-
dressee of a letter may refuse to re-
ceive a letter. In the latter instance
the addressee does not open the en-
velope, but endorses thereon the
words refused by addressee,' and
signs his name. and this Is the course
to pursue with a telegram which the
addressee does not desire to accept,
only the envelope may be first open
ed.
1.-The telegraph company protects
itself in always insisting at the time
Of the receipt of a collect message
that the sender shall deposit with the
receiver a sufficient sum to pay for
full tolls and II this Is not demanded
and received by the clerk accepting
the message he Is held personally re-
sponsible by the company in the event
Of the message being refused at the
other end of the line.
Many persons send collect tele-
grams often at great length and con-
siderable cost, as means OF annoy
ance or as q joke on the recipient, but
the joke may be turned on the other
fellow by simply refusing to pay the
charges. There Is one exception,
however, to the rule, and the public
might bear it in mind to advantage.
Often kilograms are sent which re-
ouire a direct and immediate an
swer. In these instances the collect
charges are expected to be paid
whether the recipient likes the mes
sage or not, and it is seldom that We
have trouble in such cases as regards
| the tolls.
Another point Of general public
| interest about kilograms Is the sign
| ing of the messengers delivery sheet
at the time Of the delivery OF the
message and the noting thereon by
the recipient of the hour when the
message was delivered.
Some persons consider this as in
consequential and leave it for the mes
senger to do. supposing that they are
doing the company a favor in thus
noting the time Of delivery, not car
ing about this item so long as they re-
ceive the telegram. Later in many
important instances. they find that
the hour of the receipt of the message
| becomes of primary Importance be-
cause Of subsequent events, but they
find that there is a discrepancy in the
| time noted on the messenger boys
delivery sheet and their recollection
of the actual time.
I'm writing a telegram, and espe-
cially the recipients name and address
and the sender's name, greater care
should be used than in the superscrip-
| tion on a piece OF mail matter as we
do not follow up the addressee as In
| the case with q letter which may not
be Immediately delivered. Yet most
| people, in sending a telegram, seem
to become imbued with electric haste
write as rapidly as possible and scrawl
their signature. While ii is true the
receiving clerks are careful in receiv-
ing messages at the time Of their
handing in, yet errors are bound to
be made when the message is badly
or hurriedly written"
| UyIs fC fha