telegrams then and now

David Griffith <dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu> writes: http://distantwriting.co.uk/ may be of interest. In 1870, when sending a letter anywhere in the UK cost 1d (roughly 30p today, based on measuringworth.com's RPI calculator), sending a 20-word telegram at the biggest UK telegraph companies' standard rates cost 6d (?1.78) within London, 1s 0d (?3.57) within 100 miles, 1s 6d (?5.35) within 200 miles, and 2s 0d (?7.13) beyond 200 miles. Cheaper bulk rates were available for frequent users. Delivery was typically much faster than just the same day; the author gives the example of a farmer telegraphing his wife to tell her that the weather was poor and she shouldn't bother coming to the market. -- Adam Sampson <ats at offog.org> <http://offog.org/>