Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-06
MIGHT LETTERS
TO GO BY WIRE
WESTERN UNION ESTABLISHES
NEW SYSTEM
INNOVATION is IMPORTANT TO
BUSINESS INTERESTS
Telegraph Company viii Handle Mes
sages After Midnight at Cost,
Which Is Expected to Great
ly Increase Revenues

Beginning tomorrow night, anyone
desiring to do correspondence by tele-
graph instead of by mail can do SO
at comparatively low rate.
The Western Union company has
issued instructions to all offices to
establish the might letter" system to-
morrow evening. 1t is a decided in
noVation and means a saving of mill
lions Of dollars TO the business inter-
ests of the country who heretofore
have had to pay from 40 cents to 81 for
ten-word messages.
Under the might letter" rate a per-
son can send fifty words to San Fran
cisco for 40 cents, fifty words to Chi
cago for IS cents and fifty words to
New York for 81. If it is desired to
send more than fifty words, the extra
cost will be but one-fifth of the day
rate for each ten words or less addi-
tional.
The Western Union expects greatly
to increase its business and revenues
by this improvement. Under the new
system wires and operators which until
now have been idle or with compare
lively little to do after midnight, will
be utilized in the dispatch of these
might letters" and persons who have
used the mails even for important cor
respondence will take advantage of the
might letter" rate to send their mes
sages by wire.
AS nearly every important message
can be embodied in fifty words. the
might letter" system should greatly
reduce the bulk of business corre-
spondence by mail.
Must Use Plain English
Code or foreign words are barred
from the might letters" All messages
must be in plain, intelligent English.
The Western Union company has a
large unemployed mileage of wire at
night which is earning nothing for the
company. These wires must be main
tanned. in any event, to take care of
the day service, and it is apparently
the idea of the new interests in the
telegraph company to give the public
the advantage of rates which it can
easily afford for night service increase
its revenues thereby, and at the same
time establish an innovation which
marks new era in telegraphy.
The minimum charge for ten words,
day rate, will be the minimum charge
for the might letters" of fifty words
or less. The might letters will be
taken at any hour. day or nj hit, up TO
midnight, and transmitted at the COM
and before 6 o'clock a. IN. for delivery
in the morning.
A might letter" leaving Los Angeles
at o'clock tomorrow night will be de-
livered by 7 or s O'clock or not later
than . o'clock. the following morning
in New York or elsewhere while if
sent by mail it would require from
| three to four days.
For the present. it is announced, the
might letter" service will be confined
TO the United States. but the tariff on
the might letters" is believed to be
so low that within a few months the
company viii find it expedient to en-
large their field and extend the serv-
ice into other countries.
Officials Of the Western Union be-
lieve the might letter" service will be
used exclusively by all business men
within a few weeks. The innovation
will greatly decrease the postal reve-
nues Of the United States government.
and. following past prophesies, may
result eventually in further improve
ments which will do away with the
present postal system except for the
transportation of unimportant personal
correspondence. advertising matter and
publications.