TELEGRAPH REGULATIONS.

5

E.—No. 8.

10. No officer or servant shall give any unlawful priority in the receipt, transmission, or delivery of any telegram, nor shall he allow any unlawful priority in the receipt, transmission, or delivery of any telegram, under pain of incurring the penalties laid down in " The Electric Telegraph Act 1865." 11. Officers and servants are bound in discharging their duties to carry out tho regulations and conditions under which telegrams are authorized to be transmitted on the lines of tho Electric Telegraph belonging to the General Government of New Zealand. 12. Officers and servants are bound to protect to the utmost of their ability tho property and interests of tho department, and to render immediate information to the General Superintendent and General Manager of any damage done to the lines or property of the department or of any infringement of these rules and regulations which may come to their knowledge ; and they shall prosecute and bring to judgment any person or persons whom they shall know wilfully to have violated or offended against "The Electric Telegraph Act, 1865." 13. Officers and servants are expected to dedicate their whole time to the service of the department, and no officer or servant of the Electric Telegraph Department is allowed to engage in any private business or commercial transactions, nor shall he engage in commercial speculations of any kind, nor act as agent for any public or private company, nor for any private firm or private individual whatever. Gambling and betting by officers and servants of the department are strictly prohibited. 14. Any officer entering the Instrument Eoom of any Station in a state of intoxication, or being found in a slate of intoxication during his hours of duty, will be liable to immediate dismissal from the service, and forfeiture of all pay then due. 15. All officers and servants, whether holding permanent appointments or temporary situations must sign the form of declaration of secrecy used by the department. 16. All persons wishing to obtain appointments in this department will be required to send in an application to the General Manager, written and signed by the applicant himself, accompanied by testimonials as to character and respectability, from two or three persons of known respectability. Transmission of Telegrams. 17. Tho following codes are to be used in the transmission of telegrams, and are framed in accordance? with "The Electric Telegraph Act, 1865," and the regulations and conditions published for the guidance of officers and tho public generally : — List of Codes and order in which they are to be used in the transmission of Telegrams. L. T. —Line Telegram: Which takes precedence of all other telegrams, and is only to be used by officers when communicating with the Telegraphic Engineer and Electrician on faults or interruptions occurring on the lines. U. T. - Urgent Telegram; to be used by the Government or Police when necessary, and by private individuals only, in case of fire, accident or death, where medical aid or other assistance is required, or where accident or death may be prevented. These telegrams come next in order to L. T.'s. G. T. —Government Telegram, O. T. —Ordinary Telegram, and P. T.—Press Telegram ; these telegrams are to be transmitted as near as possible in the order in which they are received at tho various Stations, and all precedence or priority in such telegrams must be absolutely avoided. These telegrams come next in order to U. T.'s. S. T.—Service Telegram ; this telegram is used by officers when corresponding on the business of the department, and should interfere as little as possible with the ordinary business of the line. 11" any telegram is presented for transmission as a Government Message which appears to the officer receiving it, not to be bona fide on the " Public Service," or if any such Message marked urgent is obviously not of an urgent character, the telegram must be sent as directed, but the circumstances must be reported by letter to the General Manager. When there is a press of business on the lines, or when only one line is in working order, the following precautionary measures are to be adopted in accordance with section No. 5, Schedule A. in the transmission of long Press telegrams. The forwarding Station is not to keep the line occupied for the transmission of Press telegrams except the English Mail news for a longer period than one hour at a time. At the expiration of the hour, all O.T. telegrams must be transmitted, bearing date of thirty minutes delay. Thus, it a Press telegram arrive at 10 a.m. the line may be engaged in its transmission up to 11 a.m., and at .11 a.m. the line must be given up for the transmission of O.T.s, and all O.T.s must be transmitted bearing date up to 1030 a.m. When these O. T.s are cleared out the line may be again occupied for the space of one hour in transmitting the Press matter. On the expiration of the hour, say at 1230 p.m., the lino must he again given up for the transmission of O. T.s bearing date up to 12 noon, and as soon as these O T.s shall have been cleared out, another hour will be given for the transmission of Press telegrams, and so on throughout the day till all telegrams, whether Press or Ordinary, shall have been cleared out. 18. When two Stations are engaged in the transmission of a telegram, it is strictly prohibited for a third Station to intervene during the transmission of the said telegram; and no officer is allowed at any time to interrupt the working of the line by holding down the key, and thus throwing a current upon the line. 19. Disputes between Stations as to the possession of the line are strictly prohibited, and no officer shall knowingly take charge of the line while he is aware that another Station holds a telegram of prior code, namely: U. T., or L. T, or a telegram of an earlier date than his own, unless he be specially authorized through some extraordinary circumstances to transmit his telegram. 2