| 释义 |
night letter
[f. night n. + letter n.1]
a. In full night telegraph letter, a cheap-rate inland telegram delivered overnight. (Said in the 1945 P.O. Guide ‘to be suspended’. The similar overnight telegram service was introduced in 1955.) Cf. lettergram.
1912Post Office Guide Apr. 94 A service of night telegraph letters is in operation between London and Aberdeen and between London and Belfast. The rate is 6d. for 36 words or less and ½d. for every 3 words beyond 36. Night Telegraph letters are delivered (except on Sunday) by the first post next morning. 1912Times 29 May 3/4 Night telegraph letters may be posted prepaid at the rates given above. 1938E. T. Crutchley G.P.O. vii. 146 There are various by-products of the telegraph system about which the ordinary man-in-the-street remains strangely ignorant. For instance there is the Night Telegraph Letter which provides a means of communication after the usual posting hour, and at a cheaper rate than by the ordinary telegraph service. 1940Post Office Guide Aug. 413 Night telegraph letters, which are accepted at any time and delivered by first postal delivery the next weekday or by special messenger shortly afterwards. Minimum charge 1s. 3d. for 36 words. 1953H. Robinson Britain's Post Office xix. 258 A successful effort was made [sc. in the 1930s] to give the public a knowledge of the advantages of night-telegraph letters.
b. In full night letter telegram, a cheap-rate overseas telegram (see quots.). (Discontinued after 1949.)
[1913Post Office Guide Jan. 883 The Night and Weekend Cable Letter Services are not available viâ the Commercial or French Telegraph Cable Companies' routes... Night Cable Letters are accepted on the condition that they will not be delivered before the day after they are received at the Cable Companies' Stations.] 1914Ibid. Apr. 896 (heading) Night and week-end letter telegrams for Canada, Newfoundland and the United States. Ibid., Night Letter Telegrams are accepted on the condition that they will not be delivered before the day following that on which they are received at the Telegraph Companies' Stations. 1934‘E. M. Delafield’ Provincial Lady in America 234 She gets such quantities of night letters and cables from abroad. 1949Post Office Guide July 229 Night Letter Telegrams (NLT) may be sent to North and South America, British territories in Africa, Egypt, West Indies, certain British territories in the Far East, India, Pakistan and many other places outside Europe at one-third the rates for ordinary telegrams. They are normally delivered on the morning following the day of handing in. The minimum charge is as for 25 words. 1966N. Freeling King of Rainy Country 33 The War Office in London..promised to get him off a night letter. 1973T. Tobin in Ade Lett. 1 George Ade sent the above night letter to Ashton Stevens in reply to the drama critic's request for an autobiographical sketch to insert in his Chicago Herald and Examiner column, April 30, 1930. The night letter to Stevens illustrates the image Ade manifested throughout his career. |