The 50th anniversary of the aansfer of the telegraphs from private ownership to the State in England has just been reached. This interesting jubilee has so far.passed almost unnoticed. The technical date of the transference of the +elegraphs to the Post Office was February 5, 1870, but the actual date was January 23.
Before 1870 the telegraph services of the country were very largely in the hands of four companies, but the railway companies also did a considerable amount of transmission work. According to modern standards, the facilities were restricted and the charges high. If we go back to the time of the Crimean War, the latter seem absolutely extortionate. The tariff for a 20-word telegram from London to Liverpool was then is. 6d., and the cost of a similar message to Aberdeen was Ins. is no wonder that in these times the telegraph system was only used for the most urgent matters. The companies restricted their operations as far as possible to the principal towns.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.