OLDEST NEW ZEALAND TELEGRAM

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 81, 29 December 1934, Page 12

OLDEST NEW ZEALAND TELEGRAM

Auckland Claim Disputed DUNEDIN MESSAGE OF PREVIOUS YEAR Dominion Special Service. Dunedin, December 28. A claim by Mr. J. E. Green, formerly superintendent of telegraphs at Auckland, of having discovered what is “probably the oldest New Zealand telegram in existence,” fails when tested against an earlier record preserved in Otago. It was stated that tlie telegram which Mr. Green discovered bears the date April 8, 1863. It was further stated that “at that time the ouly public telegraph offices in the colony were at Christchurch and Lyttelton.” A much earlier . telegram is in the postsession of the Otago Early Settlers Association, the date of issue and delivery being September 10, 1862. It was. dispatched from Dunedin to Pert Chalmers, and contained nine words and the address and signature. The cost of the telegram was. apparently 4/6. ißegarding the statement that the only public telegraph offices in the colony in April of 1863 were at Christchurch and Lyttelton, a paragraph from the “Otago Daily Times” of Saturday, August 16, 1862, is substantial disproof. 1

“Telegraphic communication between Port Chalmers and Dunedin,”/it was stated, “is at last an established fact. The first message was transmitted through the wire yesterday, and we presume that in a day or two the line will be available to the public. It is impossible to overestimate the great advantages that will accrue to an important mercantile community like that of Dunedin to be able to communicate rapidly with the port of arrival and departure of shipping. We hope in a few days to give our readers the latest telegraphic news in shipping and other matters.”

It appears abundantly plain that the early history of the electric telegraph in New Zealand should be written, but it is equally clear that some historical fables which are being published will have to be discarded. •