The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance

The following are illustrations of such mistakes:-- A pleasure-party, telegraphing to some friends, stated that they had "arrived all right," but the message was rendered, "We have arrived all tight." The words "right" and "tight" in the Morse code are as follows:-- r i g h t . - . . . - - . . . . . - t i g h t - . . - - . . . . . - In another case, a poor person, desiring to state that her daughter was ill, wrote in her message, "Mary is bad." This was rendered, "Mary is dead," the sense being changed by a slight imperfection of spacing, thus-- d e a d - . . . . - - . . instead of-- b a d - . . . . - - . . In a third case, owing to failing signals, possibly from so simple a cause as the intermittent contact of the wire with a wet branch of a tree, or a particle of grit or dust finding its way between the points of the instrument, the import of the message was altogether changed. Thus, "Alfred doing well, enjoyed egg to-day," was received, "Alfred dying, enjoyed GG to-day." A gentleman telegraphed from London to his brother in the country to send a hack to meet him at the station; but when the gentleman arrived at the station he found a sack waiting for him. A firm in London telegraphed, "Send rails ten foot lengths;" but the message was delivered, "Send rails in foot lengths."