Supplement to the Gazette of India. November 3 1917

At the end of the year the increase in the unit charge had resulted in a; very small increase in the percentage of private telegrams containing not more than 12 words with a corresponding decrease in the percentage of telgrams containing more than 12 words and a slight reduction in the average number of chargeable words. [...] The increase was due partly to the growth in the total traffic but mainly to the preponderance of lengthy state telegrams and to the replacement of the skilled telegraphists deputed on field service by less highly trained and experienced operators. [...] 2297 The large amount of additional work imposed by the war on the Telegraph Branch of the Department continued throughout the year under review in nearly every section of the Branch. [...] The increase in number was confined to the first eight months of the year and there was an actual decrease in the total number of private telegrams of all classes during the concluding four months. [...] 5. The overland route via Marseilles was used for the conveyance of the letter mails and the route via Gibraltar for the transmission of the parcel mails to and from the United Kingdom throughout the year.