THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 



Thus it appears that commerce and the Stock Exchange. supply 

 83 per cent, of the whole telegraphic business, 13 per cent, being- 

 personal and domestic, and the press and government each employ- 

 ing the insignificant proportion of one despatch in every fifty. 



It is also apparent, that a very small proportion of the despatches 

 exceed the length of 20 words, and almost none that of 50 words. 



293. According to the Belgian tariff, messages not exceeding 

 20 words are charged 2s. for distances not exceeding 60 miles ; 

 4s., from 60 to 140 miles; and 6s. above 140. No distances 

 within the limits of Belgium exceed 200 miles. 



For messages of 21 to 50 words the charges are doubled, and for 

 51 to 100 words are tripled. 



It will be seen that these charges are more than double the cor- 

 responding charges on the English lines. 



294. The large proportion of international and foreign despatches 

 transmitted upon the Belgian wires, and the necessity of pre- 

 payment for despatches, in all cases, to their ultimate destinations, 

 rendered it necessary for the Belgian administration of telegraphs 

 to make some general arrangement with the principal contiguous 

 states, for such an interchange of correspondence. A telegraphic 

 congress was accordingly convened at Paris, in September, 1853, 

 which was attended by delegates from France, Belgium, Prussia, 

 Austria, and the minor German States. A telegraphic convention 

 was concluded and signed on the 4th of October, 1852, fixing 

 definitely a general tariff for all despatches transmitted to or from 

 the several States. 



According to this convention, each telegraphic region was 

 divided into a series of zones, measured from the Belgian fron- 

 tier, according to a series of direct distances (as the bird flies), 

 the charges to places in each successive zone, for single 

 despatches (1 to 20 words), being fixed at 2s., 4s., 6s., 8s., and so 

 on, an increasement of 2s. being made for each increase of distance. 



France is, by this convention, resolved into six telegraphic 

 zones, the tariff' for single messages being 2s., 4s., 6s., 8s., 10s., 

 and 12s. The first zone includes the chief northern towns, 

 Arras, Douai, Lille, and Valenciennes ; the second, Amiens, 

 Boulogne, Dunkerque, &c. ; the third, the chief places in the 

 nearer central parts, including Paris, Orleans, Havre, &c. ; the 

 fourth, the more distant central parts, such as Chalons, Lyons, 

 Strasbourg, &c. ; the fifth, the nearer southern parts, Avignon, 

 Grenoble, Bordeaux, &c. ; and the sixth, the most remote southern 

 parts, Marseilles, Bayonne, &c. 



The German States, including Lombardy, are resolved into 

 eight zones, of which the tariff is 2s., 4s., 6s., 8s., 10s., 12s., 14s., 

 and 16s. These zones include the whole extent of Northern and 

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