s at the
Institution; it is an excellent place. Give my best regards to
Miss Sullivan, and with a great deal of love I am

Thy old friend,
John G. Whittier.

CHAPTER X

TELEGRAMS

Perhaps the most important thing to guard against in the writing of
telegrams is a choice of words which, when run together, may be read two
ways. As there should be no punctuation (and telegraph companies do not
hold themselves responsible for punctuation) the sentences must be
perfectly clear. There are instances where the use of punctuation has
caused trouble.

In cases where punctuation is absolutely necessary, as for instance when
more than one subject must be covered in the same message, the word
"stop" is employed to divide the sentences, as:

Will arrive eight-thirty Wednesday stop telephone Gaines am
coming stop will be at Hotel Pennsylvania

Therefore write sentences so that when they are run together there is
only one interpretation.

Use no salutation or complimentary closing. Leave out all words that are
not necessary to the meaning. Omit first-person pronouns where they are
sure to be understood. Do not divide words in a telegram. Compound words
are accepted as one word. Numbers should be spelled out, principally
because it is more likely to insure correct transmission, and secondly
because it costs less. For example, in the ordinal 24th the suffix _th_
is counted as another word.

The minimum charge for telegrams is the cost of ten words, not counting
the name, address, and signature. Nothing is saved by cutting the
message to less than ten words. There is a certain fixed rate of charge
for every word over ten.

In counting the words, count as one word the following:

I--Every word in the name of an individual or a concern as:
Clive and Meyer Co. (four words) DeForest and Washburn Co.
(four words also, as DeForest is counted as one word).

II--Every dictionary word. In the case of cablegrams, words of
over fifteen letters are counted as two words.

III--Every separate letter as the "M" in "George M. Sykes"
(three words).

IV--Every figure in a number as 598 (three words).

V--Names of states, territories, counties, cities, and villages.

VI--Weights and measures, decimal points, punctuation marks
within the sentence.

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