FREE CABLE MESSAGES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 98, 28 April 1939, Page 5

FREE CABLE MESSAGES

A ONE-DAY OPPORTUNITY The Empire's cable system will be thrown open for free communication between the peoples of New Zealand, England, Scotland, Wales. Northern Ireland and South Africa on May 1. Cabling has been substantially cheapened from time to time, until the las:

revision brought the ordmary rate per word down to Is 3d. But inc ir.. . ible minimum of a cable free of charge is to prevail for one day as the novel means of calling public attention to an innovation which should greatly encourage the exchange of social communicatiotn by cable within the Empire. New Zealanders who wish to send a twelve-word cable to any of their friends in the countries mentioned

above will find that on Monday. May 1. the post office will accept it for despatch without charge, and that similar privileges in t-he other countries may result in New Zealanders receiving quite a large crop of cable messages of a social nature from their friends overseas. This is an interesting method adopted to inaugurate the Empire social telegram service under which cablegrams containing greetings, family news, or non-commercial

personal messages, may be sent for 5s I for a twelve-word message. It is reI markable how much information can j be conveyed within these limits but if I senders cannot compress their mes- | sages to that extent, the charge for each extra word will be sd. Cabling I concessions on social messages have • been made available hitherto only on i such special occasions as Christmas and Easter time, but the new service ;is one for all the year round.