text: Both wrong.\n\nBefore telex, messages had to be queued when switched between offices, and this could take a couple of hours or more.\n\nOverseas could take many hours or even more than a day.\n\nSince telex and cablegram came in (1930s in the US) messages took less than an hour, and were hand-carried from Western Union offices by messengers on bicycles.\n\nTypical speed of morse code messages is 5 to 12 words per minute depending on the operator.