8 a.m.
`` It seems to me very hard that they should work you night and day , '' said Phil , who had been quietly drinking in new ideas with his tea while his cousin discoursed . `` But they do n't work us night and day , Phil , '' returned May , `` it is only the telegraphs that do that . We of the female staff work in relays . If we commence at 8 a.m. we work till 4 p.m. . If we begin at nine we work till five , and so on -- eight p.m. being our latest hour . Night duty is performed by men , who are divided into two sections , and it is so arranged that each man has an alternate long and short duty -- working three hours one night and thirteen hours the next . We are allowed half-an-hour for dinner , which we eat in a dining-hall in the place .