THIRTY YEARS AGO

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 254, 26 April 1912, Page 8

THIRTY YEARS AGO

STARTING THE TELEPHONES. New Zealand has had a State-owned public telephone service for 30 years. The Postmaster-General (Ifon.H.G. Ell) stated at Porirua that telephones first began to be utilised generally in this county in 1881. In that year it was found that the number of telegrams had fallen off, and it was agreed that users of the telegraphs were, owing to the monetary depression, confining themselves strictly to their necessities, and were making use of the Post Office to a much larger extent than formerly. In order to maintain itself, therefore, the Telegraph Department had to open up new channels of communication, and the introduction of the telephone enabled this to be done. On October 1, 1881, the first telephone exchange was opened at Christchurch with 29 subscribers. Ten days later a, second exchange was opened" at Auckland with 20 subscribers. Within two days five additional applications were received, which caused Dr. Lemon, the Superintendent of Telegraphs (who had come all the way by steamer from Wellington to see the inauguration of the system) to remark that he would not be surprised to see a hundred subscribers some day. (The total number of telephones attached to the. exchange now exceeds 500.) The Auckland Exchange was }n operation before any exchanges had been established in Great Britain, and possibly anywhere in Europe. A third exchange was opened at Dunedin, with sfi subscribers, on April 26, 1882. The Wellington Exchange was not opened till March 1, 1883, with 31 subscribers. The subscriptions were originally £l7 10s per annum for a first connection, and for every additional connection to the same subscriber £ls. On January 1, 1883, the rates were reduced to £!•>' per annum for the first year, and £lO for subsequent years, the reductions dating back to the commencement of the sys* tern. A further reduction was made 'on July 1, 1885, from £l2 to £lO for the first year, and £8 for every succeeding year. * "