The increase in the staff has of course been tremendous since the Post Office took over the telegraphs. At the time of the transfer the force consisted of 497 persons. At the present time the authorised staff is 4596 officers of all ranks, of whom 1214 are women.

The scales of pay for telegraphists in the Inland Section range from 16s. to 65s. per week for men, and from 14s. to 40s. for women. In the cable room, the men obtain an additional allowance of 2s. 6d. a week for knowledge of languages. An allowance of 3s. per week is granted to all telegraphists at twenty-five years of age who obtain first-class certificates in magnetism and electricity, and telegraphy or telephony, and who pass a certain degree of manipulative skill. In the case, however, of the cable room telegraphists the 2s. 6d. allowance is merged in that of the 3s. allowance. While undergoing training in the telegraph school, male learners receive 8s. and female learners 7s. a week. The scales of pay for overseers and supervising officers are of course higher. Salaries and wages absorb approximately half a million pounds annually.

The Stock Exchange and Threadneedle Street branch offices, which for all practical purposes are one and the same office, do a very considerable amount of business direct from the floor of “the House,” and during times of exceptional activity of the Stock markets between 3000 and 5000 telegrams are handed in from the Stock Exchange between 11 A.M. and noon for onward delivery. The Threadneedle Street office is the busiest branch in the City.

In dealing with the vast number of telegrams which pass between the different offices in the United Kingdom it would, of course, not be humanly possible for all to reach their destination without error. Everything possible is done to reduce the risk of telegraphic errors and failures, but where the condition of a wire is to some extent affected by climatic conditions, it is obvious that errors and failures may arise. On the whole, however, the percentage of errors to the number of telegrams dealt with is extremely small. Bad writing is often a source of error, and for this the senders are often to blame. To this cause might be attributed such an error as “Reserve me two stalls,” being rendered to the addressee as “Reserve me two stables.” But such an error as “Send three dog pies” instead of “Send three doz. pies” might have been caused either by bad writing, or by the failure of a dot in the signals for the last letter of the word.

While such errors have their humorous side, there are some which are distinctly tragic. For instance, the rendering of a message “Child dead” for “Child bad” is due to the signals for “de” being run together or inaccurately spaced.

Other sources of error are the incorrect transcribing of telegrams. For instance, in Cornwall there is a parish named Helland. The vicar was going to town, and hoped that his archdeacon could be induced to take the duty. The negotiations were entrusted to a brother clergyman and all went well. The latter despatched this telegram: “The Archdeacon of Cornwall is going to Helland. You need not return.” The vicar received with astonishment this message: “The Archdeacon of Cornwall is going to Hell, and you need not return.”

There is probably still a vast amount of ignorance prevailing as to the modus operandi of the telegraph. The use of the poles was once described as to hold up the wires and of the wires to hold up the poles. A simple maiden once said to her mother, “How do the messages get past the poles without being torn?” And the knowing mother replied, “They are sent in a fluid state, my dear.”

An old woman presented herself at the telegraph office at Waterloo Station and asked the clerk to write down a message to her son at Portsmouth. When this was done, she said, pointing to an advertisement in large type hanging in the office, “Would you mind sending it in print like that, as my son cannot read very well.” I suppose many of us have as children watched the telegraph wires to see if we could detect any movement. The nursemaid of a telegraph official said to her mistress one day, “I do not think they are very busy where master is employed, because I have been standing on the railway bridge a long time without seeing one message go by.” A young woman who was about to despatch a telegram was heard to remark to her companion, “I must write this out afresh, as I don't want Mrs. M—— to receive this untidy telegram.”

When telegraph business was recently introduced into a village in Northamptonshire, most of the inhabitants spent a good portion of their time in watching the newly-erected wires. At length one old lady who had been especially diligent in her vigilance, was overheard remarking: “Wal, that's a rum un. I can hear them eer wires a hummin, but I ain't seen one of them eer yaller envelopes come up yet.”

The limitation of twelve words for sixpence is often a severe lesson in brevity and compression. A happy lover was once cast into the deepest despair on receiving this telegram: “Come as soon as you can; I am dying—Kate.” He went, found Kate alive and well, and she explained she had wanted to say she was dying to see him, but her twelve words had been exhausted: she thought he would understand.

To give another instance of a telegraphic error, a pleasure party telegraphed to some friends that they had arrived “all right,” but the message was delivered as “all tight.” And yet another story. A merchant away from home, learning of the illness of his wife, telegraphed to his family doctor for particulars. He received the following reply: “No danger; your wife has had a child. If we can keep her from having another to-night she will do well.” Of course the letter “d” in child had been substituted for “l.” The lady was suffering from a chill.

Many of the questions asked of the Secretary of the General Post Office in respect to the telegraph are not from bona-fide seekers after postal information, but are sometimes evidently from those who are engaged in newspaper competitions. For instance, the Secretary was thought the right and proper person to answer this question: “How long was the cable news being transmitted from England to America with the news of Iroquois winning the English Derby 1881?” But the Department provides special telegraphic facilities at race meetings, and the man may have thought that the Secretary was ex officio a racing man.

Another man wrote: “Sir, please would you kindly inform me what is the length of the highest telegraph pole under the General Post Office.” The inquirer was found to be a foreman who had had a dispute on the subject with a number of his gang.

Telegraphy has held undisputed sway for a number of years, but latterly the telephone has entered largely into competition, and there can be little doubt that telephoning is and will become its very dangerous rival. While some considerable time may elapse before the effect of the trunk line telephony will make itself felt in competition with telegraphy to provincial offices because of its somewhat high rates, it is possible that as these rates are reduced it will show its effects upon telegraphy. With regard to local telegrams, telephony has undoubtedly already brought about a diminution in the number dealt with by its vigorous competition, and unquestionably local telegraphy will have to look to its laurels now that the Government has taken over the National Telephone Company's system. At present, however, there is room for both services, and with the efforts which are continually being made to accelerate the telegraph service it is more than probable that both telegraphs and telephones, each serving the public in its own particular sphere, will together thrive and flourish for a long time yet.

Another company has recently sprung into existence and into competition with telephone telegraphy. This is the National Telewriter Company, which under licence by the Postmaster-General has rented junction lines enabling its subscribers to send telegrams from their offices direct into the Central Office for transmission onward, and also to receive them in the opposite direction, thus obviating the counter and hand delivery stages. This is on identical lines with the direct telephoning of telegrams, but whereas these are orally communicated, the telewriter instrument enables a facsimile reproduction of the sender's handwriting to be received. With this in use the joke in the young lady's remark about the untidiness of her telegram loses its point. The untidiness is reproduced. The company has at present six metallic currents with the Central Office, and in addition three wires are rented exclusively by private firms through the company, worked with telewriter apparatus.

Not many years ago the statement that before long it might be possible to transmit and receive telegrams to and from ships at sea would have been received with incredulity. Wireless telegraphy, which is defined to mean any system of communication by telegraph without the aid of any wire connecting the points from and at which the messages are sent and received, has, however, made this possible, and to-day communication may be had through the General Post Office with ships passing round the coast by means of the Radio-Telegraphic service. Such telegrams can be accepted at any telegraph office for transmission to ships equipped with wireless apparatus through a number of coast stations in the United Kingdom and also through coast stations abroad. The charge for a “radio” sent through a British coast station is, with certain exceptions, 10½d. a word. Radio-telegrams can also be sent to certain ships through the long-distance stations of the Marconi Company at Clifden and Poldhui. This company retains its licence for its long-distance stations at these places, which are primarily intended for communication with America.

The number of radio-telegrams dealt with during the year ending 31st March 1910, at stations now in the hands of the Post Office, was in the outward direction to ships 3266, and inward from ships 27,727.

In addition to wireless communication with ships, there is also electrical communication with lighthouses, lightvessels, &c., round the coast, and shipping casualties at sea can now be reported to owners of ships from certain lighthouses and lightvessels.

Formerly all land lines were aerial, but more recently, in order to obviate the risk of interruption of wires by storms, it was decided to lay underground cables, and considerable progress has already been made in this direction. The underground backbone system extends from London to the north via Birmingham, Warrington, Carlisle to Glasgow, thence to Edinburgh, and westward from London to Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, and Penzance. From Warrington the system has been extended to Liverpool on the one side, and Manchester, Bradford, and Leeds on the other. Another section of underground cable has been laid between Newcastle and Stockton, and this will in course of time be extended to link up Leeds and Sheffield with the main system. It is possible that in the not very distant future the telegraph pole will go the way of the windmill and the tollgate, and be regarded by our children as a clumsy device of a comparatively dark age.

What is the future of communication by electricity? Who can tell? Let me quote some words of Sir William Preece, who as Engineer-in-Chief of the General Post Office for many years, was responsible for many advances in telegraphy which I have described. “One cannot help speculating as to what may occur through planetary space. Strange mysterious sounds are heard on all long telephone lines when the earth is used as a return, especially in the calm stillness of night. Earth currents are found in telegraph circuits, and the Aurora Borealis lights up our northern sky when the sun's atmosphere is disturbed by spots. The sun's surface must at such times be violently disturbed by electrical storms, and if oscillations are set up and radiated through space in sympathy with those required to affect telephones, it is not a wild dream to say that we may hear on this earth a thunderstorm in the sun. If any of the planets be populated with beings like ourselves, having the gift of language and the knowledge to adapt the great forces of Nature to their wants, then, if they could oscillate immense stores of electrical energy to and fro in telegraphic order, it would be possible for us to hold commune by telephone with the people of Mars.” If this condition of things does come to pass, I am quite sure that the General Post Office will be equal to the situation: they will add another floor to the building in St. Martin's le Grand to deal with the new business, and will issue regulations both for our guidance and that of the good people of Mars.