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Northern Advocate, 13 November 1917, Page 1

The telegraphic censorship has extended its humours even to New Plymouth. Recently a steamer party engaged in inter-colonial trade arrived there from the South Island, and the 'telegraph office refused to allow the shipping company to wire the name to their head office, and a code word was substituted. About two days later a wire was issued from Auckland announcing the arrival there, from New Plymouth, of the steamer in question. A better instance still ha 6to do with a cable required to be sent to a neighbouring dominion in connection with a milking machine plant. In it were mentioned releasers, buckets and tank. The telegraph clerk passed "releaser" all right, but at "buckets" blinked somewhat doubtfully, and at "tank" absolutely jibbed, and decided that such a word would never get past the people at Wellington. An informal consultation behind the counter ended, however, in the message being permitted to stay in its original form. One wonders what vague thoughts and fears of infernal machines or betrayal of State secrets were called up by the word "tank," as that innoncent part of a milking machine, the vacuum tanks, is not even distantly related to its namesake operating in France.