LANGUAGES AND WIRES

Waipa Post, Volume 48, Issue 3480, 16 June 1934, Page 6

LANGUAGES AND WIRES

TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS REGULATIONS IN NEW ZEALAND MANY PUZZLING MESSAGES A telegram in Japanese. would be a terrifying sight to most persons, yet Japanese is only one of the many languages with which the officials at the telegraph counters of the main post offices are confronted. They are fortunately not required to translate the telegrams they handle—that would be a task for supermen. The New Zealand telegraph regulations provide that telegrams may be sent in any language, including Esperanto. The only stipulation is that they must be in words that offer an intelligent meaning in some language, and that the words must be written in Roman characters.

The main concern of the telegraph officials behind the counter is to count the number of words so that they may calculate the charge. Copsequently it does not matter to them what language a telegraph is written in, provided its words are written in the normal Roman letters, and not in a special script, as, for example, Russian. Jn addition, they have to be satisfied that what, appears to be a foreign language telegram is not really a code telegram, for which the charges are different. Method of Transmission

To operators who actually transmit the telegrams also the language makes no difference. They are concerned with letters which by long practice they can transform almost automatically into Morse code. So long as the words are composed of the normal letters of the alphabet their task is made no harder, even if the words made by the letters are in Czech.

Foreign visitors, particularly commercial men such ais wool-buyers, frequently send foreign-language telegrams and cable messages frorp the chief post offices. Consequently the officials there are familiar with this sort of work. French, German, and Spanish are the languages which most frequently come before them, Italian being less frequently used. Telegrams in Maori In the smaller post offices officials are occasionally astonished when faced with a telegram in a foreign language, and sometimes they are inclined to doubt whether they can be accepted for transmission. As, however, they consult the regulations when in doubt, difficulties are quickly cleared up. Many telegrams in New Zealand are sent in Maori, particularly in the North Island. As postal officials can hardly be expected to have a knowledge of Maori, and many of telegrams are presented at small offices where telegrams have to be telephoned to the nearest Morse station, special difficulties have to be faced. It would be no good reading the telegrams over the telephone in the ordinary way, so they have to be read letter, by letter. The same device has to be used at these offices whenever a foreign-language telegram is presented.