Telegraphic First
The first telegraph line in New Zealand was established in Canterbury, excepting possibly a short military line in the Waikato. It was opened in July, 1862, to connect Lyttelton and Christchurch. Today there are 1747 miles of pole line and 12,153 miles of single line wire in toll and telegraph lines. Christchurch was also the first place in New Zealand to have a telephone exchange. On October 1, 1881, the exchange opened with 30 subscribers. Now, 69 years later, there are 16,480 subscribers in Christchurch and in addition 225 public call boxes. Probably the first telephone conversation in New Zealand was also heard in Canterbury—over 12 miles of line between Kaiapoi and Addington about the middle of 1877, little more than a year after Alexander Graham Bell filed his petition in America to patent "an apparatus for transmitting vocal sounds.” Before the exchange opened in Christchurch there were private lines and telegraph wires were also used to transmit conversations.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19660617.2.206.12
Bibliographic details
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Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31088, 17 June 1966, Page 23 (Supplement)
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161Telegraphic First Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31088, 17 June 1966, Page 23 (Supplement)
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This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
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