Sorry this is so basic but I'm really struggling to find it. How did the process of sending and receiving telegrams work? I don't care about the mechanics or macro-logistics, Which is interesting and all but easy to find out about.
If I sent a message from Boston to D.C. telling my mother that the baby was born and everyone is safe, how does that message ultimately get into her hands? Is it delivered like mail? Immediately? If so does she pay for delivery or do I? Do I need to include her street address? Should she tip when it arrives?
Or does she go pick it up? How would she know a telegram was waiting for her? Does she swing by the western union office every few days to see if I sent anything?
Is this different for people who receive multiple telegrams a day? I could imagine a business or organization that is big enough to get ten telegrams a day, but not so large as to justify a transmitting and receiving station. Though maybe that's wrong too.
I only know this from a British perspective. I believe it was like snail mail. A post office would receive a telegraph and have it printed out. Then a post man would deliver it. In Britain, I believe it was always in a yellow envelope. You could send then from the post office too (the sender pays). For people with a lot of telegraphs, you'd have a lot of letters through the door. There were also competing telegraph companies that large businesses would use for slightly faster receiving.