P.—3

4

Collect Telegrams — Sender responsible for Transmission Charges. 15. Telegrams may be taken from the sender with the word " Collect" written thereon in the space for instructions, and in such case the value of the telegram will be collected from the receiver ; but, in the event of the department being unable to collect the amount, the sender will be held responsible for the due payment thereof, and. in such case, if the sender fails to pay the charges upon being requested to do so, the Officer in" Charge of the telegraph-office at which the telegram was delivered for despatch may in hiß own .name, in any Court of competent jurisdiction, sue for and recover from the sender of such telegram all charges due for the transmission thereof. 16. The.sender of a " Collect " telegram shall, if requested to do so, lodge the cost of it. Any difference between the sum required and that lodged will be settled, or any refund will be made, upon delivery of the telegram. The sender of a " Collect " telegram is at liberty to direct that delivery shall be conditional on the addressee first paying the charges. In such cases the words "Delivery conditional " must be inserted in the instructions and paid for. Repetition at Bequest of Sender to Insure Accuracy. 17. Telegrams may be repeated, if the sender desires it, by being signalled back from office to office. No copy is, in such case, given to the sender. The charge for repetition is one-half the ordinary tariff, a fraction of a penny being reckoned as a penny. Telegrams containing mercantile quotations or figures, and telegrams written in cipher, or according to a preconcerted code, should always be repeated. Repetition at Request of Addressee to Detect Errors. 18. If the receiver of a telegram doubts its accuracy, he may have it repeated by paying half the amount paid for its transmission to him, fractions of a penny being recokened as a penny. Should he require only a portion of the message to be repeated, a payment must be made at the rate of a halfpenny for each word embraced in the repetition. For example, if fifteen words in a message of thirty words are to be repeated the payment would be eightpence. The minimum charge, however, for repetition (even of a single word) is threepence. The money will be refunded if it should happen that .the telegram has been incorrectly transmitted. Readdressed Telegrams. 18a. The sender may direct that a telegram be readdressed, paying an extra fee for the new address. Inland Multiple Telegrams. 19. Prepaid telegrams addressed on one form to several persons in the same town, or to one person at different residences in the same town, may be accepted for transmission within the colony. If the telegrams be addressed to different towns, or are written on separate forms, both or all will be treated as distinct messages, and charged full rates. Bach address will be complete in itself; consequently the office of destination will appear as many limes as there are names of addressees. The text, and all the addresses, and the signature will be counted and charged for as a single message, with an additional fee of 3d. per address for each copy excepting the first. " Urgents " may be accepted at double the above tariff. The number of addresses will be indicated to the office of address by the insertion of " Multiple [No. of addresses] " in the " Instructions " ; but this information will be omitted from the messages actually delivered, which will show one address only unless the sender has inserted and paid for the instruction " Communicate all addresses." Multiple telegrams cannot be sent " Collect." Extent of Free Delivery. 20. Except as notified in the printed list of telegraph-offices published from time to time in the Post and Telegraph Guide, all telegrams will be delivered free of charge within a distance of one, mile by the nearest practicable road of the office to which they may be transmitted by wire. s. d. ]?or any distance not exceeding half a mile beyond the free delivery ... 0 6 For any distance over half a mile but not exceeding one mile beyond the free delivery ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 0 For any distance over one mile but not exceeding two miles beyond the free delivery ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 6 The foregoing charges provide for ordinary delivery only. For telegrams to be delivered by special messenger, the cost of such delivery shall be added and paid for. If required to be delivered beyond the distance of three miles, all moneys disbursed in payment of cab-fares, omnibus-fares, horsehire, porterage, or any other expenses incurred in delivery, shall be charged and paid. AH telegrams shall bear any expenses incurred to defray ferriage and tolls. To prevent the non-delivery or detention of telegrams, when the sender of a telegram neglects or refuses to pay the above charges, or any of them, the telegram will be posted immediately on its arrival at the office to which it is transmitted by wire. Sender responsible for Delivery Charges. 21. The sender of a telegram shall be responsible for the payment of all charges incurred in the delivery, and if the sender fails to pay the charges upon being requested to do so, the Officer in Charge of the telegraph-office at which the telegram was delivered for despatch may, in his own name, in any Court of competent jurisdiction, sue for and recover from the sender thereof the charges due on such telegram.