Telephone Lines.

New Zealand telephone charges, says the Secretary of the P. and T. Department, are the lowest in the world.

O Maoriland, thou young and happy nation,
Beloved little country of our birth,
This is a matter for congratulation—
You have the cheapest telephones on earth!
So let us sing the praises of New Zealand,
The brightest jewel in the Southern Sea;
We don't get much for nothing in this free-land
But telephones are very nearly free!
We have a climate peerless in its glory,
And scenery as beautiful as most;
Mile upon mile of bush-clad territory
Adorn our mountain slopes from coast to coast.
The beauties of the place, in fact, are many,
But most of all it thrills us, does it not?
To think it costs us but a paltry penny,
When Englishmen put threepence in the slot.
We all indulge—there can be no denial—
In frequent telephonic eloquence,
Content in knowing that the spinning dial
Is ours to twirl—without undue expense.
And so it is the general opinion
That this is splendid (though a little strange);
Exchange rates may be high in our Dominion,
But not, ah not, the Telephone Exchange.

R.G.P.

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