It is not necessary to register letters containing checks. Never write "personal" on a business letter. Always enclose a stamp for reply when writing to a stranger. See that the addresses on your letters are distinctly legible. CHAPTER XIV TELEGRAMS--THE TELEPHONE To send a telegram, you or your messenger must take what you have written to the nearest telegraph office. You may write a telegram on any kind of paper, provided always that the writing is plain. All telegraph offices are provided with regular blank forms, which may be had without cost, and it is better to use these when they are available. The blank is properly ruled, with lines for the date, for the address of the one to whom it is to be sent, and for the message. CHARGES The telegraph company charges a fixed sum for a message of, say, ten words. These words do not include the name and address of the sender. The amount of the charge is always dependent on the distance between the office from which the message is sent and the one at which it is received. Every word over ten, in the message, pays an extra fee, dependent again on the distance. Getting just what you mean into ten words may seem difficult when you have a lot to say, but it is surprising how you can boil the message down when each additional word costs five or more cents. It may pay to practice this. If it is actually necessary to make your meaning clear by the addition of more words, do not hesitate at the cost. If you are known at the telegraph office, you can send a message to be collected from the receiver. Never permit the receiver to pay for a message that is exclusively on your own business. Always make and keep a copy of every important telegram you send away. Do not neglect this. If you have neglected to keep a copy of a telegram, or having made one have lost it, you may get a copy from the telegraph office, provided the application be made within six months of the sending of the message. Telegrams are delivered by the company's messengers. You must give receipt to the messenger on the delivery of a telegram. Where the receiver lives a long distance from the telegraph office, it is customary to pay the messenger an additional fee, depending on the distance. The charges for telegrams to be sent at night and delivered in the morning, are much lower than for day messages. For an additional charge, less than the original, messages may be repeated back to insure their accuracy. Read over to the official, or still better, have him read your message over in your presence, that you may be sure he understands it as written. You cannot hold others responsible for your own mistakes. TELEGRAPHING MONEY You can telegraph money with as much safety as you can send it through a bank. In handling money in this way, the telegraph company does not act as a banker but as a carrier. Telegraph money orders are a great convenience, when one wants to send cash to a distant point in a hurry.