# Saying STOP when reading telegrams **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2002, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-stop-when-reading-telegrams/118130 "2002-07-10T00:08:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-stop-when-reading-telegrams/118130/21 "2002-07-10T15:16:01Z")
**tanstaafl** and **evilhanz** : thank you! I’ve added the website to my favorites page for easy access later on. I just think it’s great to have the option to still be able to send telegrams. ( The last telegram I sent was for somebody’s birthday many moons ago. ) Now I need to figure out which of my friends I want to annoy…! ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-stop-when-reading-telegrams/118130/22 "2002-07-10T16:17:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by evilhanz \* > \*\* > A person transmitting a telegram would structure the message by first sending their call letters, number of words, payment info, originating city, sender, time/date, and a couple of other things. Then the word TO would be sent followed by the recipients name and address. _Then a period_ followed by the body of the message. _Another period_ would signal the receiver that the transmission had concluded. \*\* Interestingly, this convention has apparently survived into the era of email (although its not visible to most users). With many mail servers, a period alone on a line is used to denote the beginning and end of the body of the message, after you’ve specified the recipient and such. This was common with BBS software, as well. Pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-stop-when-reading-telegrams/118130/23 "2002-07-10T16:43:07Z")
As noted by the linked pages, the use of “STOP” appears to date to after World War One. And even then it wasn’t consistantly used. For example, in a 1922 telegram the Department of Commerce sent (via Postal Telegraph) to Atlanta, it used “PERIOD” rather than “STOP”: ```auto GEORGE A ILER CARE ATLANTA JOURNAL ATLANTA GA THE ATLANTA JOURNAL IS AUTHORIZED TEMPORARILY BROADCAST WEATHER REPORTS ON THE WAVELENGTH OF FOUR HUNDRED EIGHT FIVE METERS PENDING ACTION ON FORMAL APPLICATION FOR A RADIO LICENSE STATION MUST USE RADIO CALL LETTERS W S B REPEAT W S B AND EMPLOY COMMERCIAL SECOND CLASS OR HIGHER RADIO OPERATOR LICENSED BY THIS DEPARTMENT AUTHORITY CANNOT BE GIVEN TO BROADCAST MARKET REPORTS UNTIL AUTHORIZED BY BUREAU OF MARKETS PERIOD IF YOU DESIRE TO BROADCAST NEWS ENTERTAINMENT AND SUCH MATTER THIE IS PERMITTED ON WAVE LENGTH OF THREE HUNDRED SIXTY MTERES ONLY C H HUSTON, ACTING SECTY OF COMMERCE ``` And in the replay, sent via Western Union, while “PERIOD” is used twice, “STOP” is also used twice. ```auto HON C H HUSTON ACTING SECRETARY OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR WIRE TO MR GEORGE A TILLER CARE OF THE ATLANTA JOURNAL GIVING US TEMPORARY PERMIT TO BROADCAST WEATHER REPORTS ON WAVE LENGTH OF FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE METERS AND DESIGNATING OUR RADIO CALL LETTERS AS W S B PERIOD WE WISH TO ADVISE YOU THAT OUR OPERATOR HAS COMMERCIAL FIRST CLASS LICENSE ISSUED BY YOUR DEPARTMENT AND EXPIRING FEBRUARY NEXT PERIOD WE NOTE THAT AUTHORITY TO BROADCAST MARKET REPORTS MUST BE GIVEN BY BUREAU OF MARKETS AND HAVE APPLIED TO THEM FOR SUCH AUTHORITY STOP YOUR AUTHORIZATION TO BROADCAST NEWS ENTERTAINMENT AND SUCH MATTER ON WAVE LENGTH OF THREE HUNDRED SIXTY METERS ALSO IS ACKNOWLEDGED STOP WE DESIRE TO THANK YOU FOR THIS AUTHORIZATION AND HOPE TO BE OF SERVICE TO THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE STOP WE WILL BE GLAD TO HANDLE AT ANY TIME ANY MATTER THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE DESIRES TO BROADCAST THE ATLANTA JOURNAL BY JOHN S COHEN PRESIDENT AND EDITOR. ``` For pre-WWI practices, I have a copy of Frederic L. Meyer’s “Twentieth Century Manual of Railway Commercial and Wireless Telegraphy”, and none of the numerous sample telegrams, _circa_ 1905, have “STOP” or “PERIOD” spelled out. According to Meyer, “While the period is used on the ‘received message’ in many places, the receiving operator takes it upon himself to place it where it belongs; while the sending operator will only send it, perhaps, immediately after the destination in his message, just preceding the body of the message proper.” He also notes that “The public has discovered that punctuation marks are sent in their telegrams, and the next few years will find the different companies employing those alone who can punctuate, and will insist upon their use just as the newspapers do among their employes.” Telegrams were sent using the dots-and-dashes of Morse code, and in most of the offices in the early 1900s the operators received the messages by ear, then wrote down them down by hand or using a typewriter. And sending puctuation marks by Morse code was pretty complicated, as noted by the following section from the book: > [@](#): > > LESSON  VII. > > **Punctuation.** > > Having familiarized himself with the alphabet and numerals, the operator will then find it to his advantage to apply himself to memorizing the punctuation marks. > > ```auto > > Apostrophe ' Qx. > Brackets [] Bx. > Capital Letter Cx. > Colon : Ko. > Colon-Dash :— Kx. > Comma , Aa. > Dash — Dx. > Dollar Mark $ Sx. > Exclamation ! Mn. > Hyphen - Hx. > Interrogation ? Tq. > Paragraph ¶ Mm. > Pence d D. > Period . Ud. > Per cent. % Pc. > Pound Sterling £ Px. > Semicolon ; Si. > Shilling Mark s Ut. > > ``` > > NOTE.—Punctuation in transmitting is more different than would appear in print, and to the operator, certain punctuation marks convey as much meaning as the expression of the face and tone of the voice, when two persons are talking. > > **Explanation of Simple Punctuation.** > > Were we to send punctuation marks as they are printed, it would be a difficult matter to avoid confounding them with words to which they are related at times. Take for example the word: To-day’s. If we desire to capitalize it and insert the hyphen and apostrophe, we would send it as follows: Cx to hx day qx s—. This example explains itself. There must be some distinction between the letters of the word and the letters forming the punctuation marks. This is obviated by sending the letters in the punctuation marks at _twice_ the speed of the others. When they contain two letters they are invariably _sent as close together as one letter._ >     The _Apostrophe, Brackets, Capital Letter, Ex clamation, Pence, Per cent, Pound Sterling,_ and _Shilling Mark_ are used in press work more than anywhere else, but at times all operators will need these marks even at small stations. >     The _Colon, Colon-Dash, Semicolon, Hyphen, Dash,_ and _Paragraph_ are used constantly to-day by the commercial companies, and must eventually be more commonly adopted by the railroads. The public has discovered that punctuation marks are sent in their telegrams, and the next few years will find the different companies employing those alone who can punctuate, and will insist upon their use just as the newspapers do among their employes. >     The _Comma_ is used perhaps more than any other punctuation mark. It is often used in place of a period [.] and conveys several meanings, according to the position in which it stands. For example, if after the three or four lines in the address of the message, or where a message contains several addresses, and the comma [Aa] is used, it would signify to _drop another line,_ as per example: >           John Brown [,] >                Traveling Salesman [,] >                     Deere & Co [,] >                          Chariton Ia [.] >     The _Period_ [.]—While the period is used on the “received message” in many places, the receiving operator takes it upon himself to place it where it belongs; while the sending operator will only send it, perhaps, immediately after the destination in his message, just preceding the body of the message proper. >     The _Dollar Mark_ [$] is used and counted as one word whenever it appears in any message or cablegram, and is sent just preceding the numerals, as per example: Sx 14. for $14. >     The _Interrogation_ [?], or question mark, as it is often called, is one of the most _useful little_ things in the telegraphic world. It is used in a great many different ways. If an operator starts to make a word and makes a mistake, he sends an interrogation mark, then repeats the word, just the same as you would correct yourself in a speech by saying _“I mean.”_ Again, where the word used is not exactly the proper word for the place in the operator’s mind, he calls the attention of the other operator by making an interrogation mark, and repeating it, which would seemingly be in words spoken: "There is a question in my mind regarding that word, but _that is my copy."_ >     Again, it is used, if sent interruptively in a message, the same as the word: “what?” meaning that the operator is not getting what is coming. >     If, however, it is sent in the body of a message after a sentence asking a question, it is used in its proper sense. When used this way, operators always allow a little space or interval of time immediately afterwards. >     The Paragraph [¶] is used in press work, and in sending poetry, or whenever the _copy requires_ a new paragraph. > > **Compound Punctuation Points.** > > _Parentheses_ ( )—PN stands for the first (and PY for the second). The old method of using PN for both the first and second marks has been almost eliminated, owing to the fact that it confounded the receiving operator where the parentheses occurred several times in the same message. The same rule applies to quotations and underlining. >     _Quotations_ " "—QN stands for the first " and QJ for the second ". Quotation marks within a quotation are the same as an apostrophe Qx ’ ’ >     Example: >     He said: “Her reply was ‘No’ to each question,” or, He said: Qn Her reply was Qx No Qx to each question Qj. >     _Underline._—Ux stands for the first and Uj for the second. Where Ux announces the underline, you would continue to underline until you receive Uj. >     Example: >     We must insist upon an Ux immediate settlement Uj. Wire answer. >     Copy: We must insist upon an immediate settlement. Wire answer. >     _Decimals_ are sent by inserting the word “dot” thus: 1 dot 25 for 1.25; 95 dot 23 for 95.23; Sx 1 dot 23 for $1.23. >     _Fractions_ are sent by inserting the letter “e” between the numerator and the denominator, thus 1-2 would be 1e2. >     _Hundred, Thousand,_ and _Million_ contain so many ciphers which, quickly transmitted, make combination errors, as, 1,000 sounds like 15, since three ciphers or dashes make five [5]. For this reason, in press work they use “hnd” for hundred, “tnd” for thousand, and “myn” for million. >     Example: >     100 [1 hnd]; 1,000 [1 tnd]; 1,000,000 [1 myn]. >     In messages, as a precaution, the operator sends it 1 0 0, then makes an interrogation mark and repeats it 1 hnd, then another interrogation mark and sends it 1 0 0 again. The same is applicable to the sending of thousand and million. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-stop-when-reading-telegrams/118130/24 "2002-07-10T20:07:39Z")
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