The Telegraph Act 1885 capped the price of an inland telegram for the whole country: sixpence for the first twelve words, a halfpenny for each word after, addresses included. This page applies the act to its own field note. The message arrives word by word, on payment, and the meter runs in pre-decimal money. The rate card is real. The bill is not collected; reading just costs what sending used to.
Seventy words, paid at the rate card below: 2s 11d.
Charges throughout the United Kingdom, fixed regardless of distance, not exceeding:
first twelve words · 6d
each additional word · ½d
Addresses included. Delivery on foot within one mile of the telegraph office, or to the town postal boundary, free; beyond that, the message travels with the next standard postal delivery at no extra charge.
Why the message is all caps with STOP: Morse had no case, and punctuation cost extra. The Guardian, reporting Western Union's last telegram in 2006, put it plainly: “Using the word STOP instead of a full stop saved money because four-letter words were free and punctuation cost extra.” This page counts STOP as a word, as the 1885 act counted every word. Reload the page and the message starts again, and the meter runs again: sending it twice costs twice.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Telegraph Act 1885” (checked 4 August 2026); J. Borger, “Telegram service ended stop Regrets stop”, The Guardian, 3 February 2006 (the Titanic cable and the STOP convention); Wikipedia, “Electrical telegraphy in the United Kingdom” (the weaver’s wage, 1855). The word count and the bill are computed on this page from the message as written; the 1885 act set maximums, and the page charges the maximum.