1745.
S17:-
4439
RECE'd
Rade 21 FEB 99 231
ADMIRALTY.
15th February 1899.
With reference to Admiralty letter, H.475, of the 27th ultimo, urging the importance of connecting telegraph system by Wei-hai-Wei with the British means of an all British cable,
I am commanded by Their Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to request that you will represent to the Secretary of State, that they have just received from the Commander-in-Chief on the China Station a letter drawing attention to the many errors which occur in the transmission of messages over the Imperial Chinese wires, and citing as an example a telegraphic order recently given by him to Rear Admiral Fitzgerald to proceed in Her Majesty's Ship "Barfleur" to Wei-hai-wei from Hong Kong, calling on route at Nagasaki if he wished to do so.
Owing to an error in transmitting the cipher groups,
Foreign Office.