Earthquakes, Their Cause and Result.

(Prepared for THE WORLD ALMANAC by J. Morrison, M. D. Ph. D.)

THE seismic disturbances on the western coasts of the two Americas, resulting notably in the San Francisco and Valparaiso earthquakes in 1906, aroused fresh interest in the causes or these terrestrial phenomena. For a clear idea of their nature we must go back a long way and briefly review the geologic history of our planet as revealed in the structure and conformation of its rocky surface or crust. There are good reasons for believing that the matter composing the earth once existed in a gaseous state-having been thrown off from the sun when its surface extended to the earth's present orbit-a condition in harmony with the nebular hypothesis now universally accepted by astronomers. At the very high temperature which must then have existed, all the known chemical elements were disassociated that is to say, existed in the gaseous state separately or uncombined. This gaseous mass would, of course, partake of the motion of the parent mass in accordance with well-known dynamical principles, and would also by the mutual attraction of its own particles assume an approximately spherical figure revolving about an axis passing through its centre of gravity. As the mass cooled by radiating heat into space, chemical affinity would eventually assert its power; oxygen and hydrogen would unite to form water in the form of vapor or steam; carbon and oxygen to form carbon dioxide; calcium and oxygen to form lime, and so on.

When the temperature still further declined, the steam would condense to water, which would be precipitated in showers on the hot surface, to be again sent back as steam. By a repetition of this process, the surface would become cooled down to a temperature at which water would remain as such on the surface, and thus would be formed a universal ocean of warm water highly charged with carbon dioxide and holding carbonate of lime and other similar substances in solution. In process of time as the temperature declined, the carbonate of lime would be precipitated to the bottom, and thus a solid crust of limestone would be formed.

THE BIRTH OF MOUNTAINS.

As the cooling proceeded the interior molten mass would contract or shrink away from the crust just as the water of a frozen river recedes from the ice on its surface, a tremendous strain would thus be produced in the crust, which would collapse, and enormous rents or fissures would be formed through which prodigious masses of molten rock would exude, and thus mountains were born.

This is well shown in the Laurentian Mountains of Northern Canada, This extensive range of granite reaching from the eastern coast of Labrador in a curve forming about one-third of a circle, to the mouth of McKenzie River, forms a watershed between the streams flowing into the Mississippi and the Great Lakes on the south and those flowing north in to Hudson Bay and the Arctic Sea. The eastern portion of this range is a solid wall of granite against whose sides the ancient stratified limestone lies like the sloping roof of a house, but the western portion consists mostly of rounded hills and isolated peaks, the result of extensive glacial action in subsequent geologic ages. The Laurentian Mountains are the oldest portion of our continent; they have withstood all the mighty convulsions to which the earth was subjected in subsequent times, and they stand to-day an eloquent witness of the condition of the earth ages before the dawn of animal or vegetable life, and millions of years before the advent of

man.

After the lapse of an immensely long period of time, comprising probably the greater part of what is called the palæzoic period, during which enormous deposits of sedimentary rocks were laid down at the bottom of the ocean, the Appalachian chain of mountains was born of the deep-an upheaval which must have shaken the earth to the very centre. This mighty range of mountains, extending under different names from near the mouth of the St. Lawrence to northern Alabama, was at first of great height-so high that in some places it toppled over.

EFFECTS OF THE GLACIAL PERIOD.

Again, after another long period which no man can determine, the glacial period arrived, at the close of which the Laurentian and Appalachian Mountains were planed down to their present dimensions, the debris of the former consisting of sand, pebbles and boulders was scattered for hundreds of leagues to the south and west, and that of the latter spread out to lay the foundation of what subsequently became the Atlantic Coast States,

Long after the Appalachian chain arose from the deep another tremendous convulsion shattered the crust for thousands of miles when the Rocky and Andes mountains emerged from beneath the briny

waves.

POINTS OF SEISMIC DISTURBANCE.

The upheaval of these great mountain ranges must have caused very extensive cracks or fissures in the crust, and it is along these cracks-technically called faults-that seismic disturbances chiefly occur. One of these is believed to extend from New England along the Atlantic Coast to the West India islands, and probably into South America, and another along the Pacific Coast of the United States, Mexico, Central and South America to Tierra Del Fuego in southern Chile. The Charleston earthquake of 1886 and the recent earthquakes of San Francisco and Valparaiso were along these faults. Another extensive fault, no doubt, exists from Alaska and the Aleutian islands through Kamchatka, the Kuril islands, Japan, the Philippines, Formosa, Java and Sumatra, and another probably runs off from the Atlantic Coast through southern Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, Asiatic Turkey and Persia. Hot springs and active volcanoes abound along all these regions,

These numerous outlets of subterranean heat must produce a decided effect in lowering the temperature of the molten interior with a corresponding contraction of volume. Cavities are thus formed beneath the crust, and when the strain on this crust becomes so great that it can no longer be borne a collapse occurs and a folding or overlapping of the edges of the fault which would produce an oblique downward motion more than sufficient to wreck or twist the foundations of the strongest buildings man can erect. The fall of even a few inches of the solid crust, which may be 100 miles in thickness, would produce a shock or vibration which would be felt for 1,000 miles or more.

HISTORIC EARTHQUAKES.

Seismic disturbances of a very violent character are continually occurring along the Pacific Coast of South America-the last being those of August, 1906. In 1730 Valparaiso was almost completely destroyed; in 1822 Santiago was partially destroyed and a long portion of the coast of Chile permanently raised, and in 1829 the same city was again visited and the raised coast depressed several feet below its

normal level. In 1835, 1849 and 1851 violent earthquakes occurred in Chile-the last being especially destructive in Valparaiso, in which 400 houses were wrecked and several lives lost. In 1880 Illapil, near Valparaiso, was destroyed, and over 200 persons perished.

In 1885 the islands of Santa Maria and Concepcion, of the coast of Chile, were uplifted and subsequently depressed eight feet below the normal. This earthquake was felt for more than a thousand miles along the coast. In June, 1773, Santiago, in Guatemala, Central America, was completely wiped out, together with all its inhabitants, On August 13-15, 1892, Peru was visited by one of the most destructive earthquakes on record, four cities and several towns were destroyed and over 25,000 persons perished, Submarine disturbances are probably three or four times more numerous than those on land-one having very recently taken place near Hawaii, when vast numbers of cooked fish were washed ashore, and another off the coast of Alaska, where a new island has been heaved up, thus increasing the domains of Uncle Sam,

Another region notorious for its seismic disturbances is the south of Europe, extending from the south of Portugal to Asiatic Turkey and, in fact, on through Persia and India. Vesuvius, Stromboli and Aetna have wrought frightful destruction of life and property during the last 2,000 years. The fate of Pompeii and Herculaneum is well known, On February 26, 1531, Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, was partially destroyed, 1,500 houses were wrecked and about 30,000 peop! lost thei lives and, again on November 1, 1755, a large portion of the same city sank and 60.000 persons were engulfed beneath the Atlantic. This earthquake was felt for 5,000 miles and ships now sail over where a portion of the city once stood. During the early part of the last century Port Royal in Jamaica, West Indies, sa.. k beneath the waves.

In 1851 the south of Italy was visited by an earthquake which caused the death of 19,000 people and again on December 16, 1857, several towns in Italy were partially ruined and over 10,000 people perished. In Pliny's time several monuments and columns which stood high above the Mediterranean are now wholly or partially submerged, the entire coast for many leagues having sunk several feet. Numerous shocks have been felt in Greece, Asia Minor, Persia, India and China, which were attended with great destruction of property and loss of life. Antioch on the Orontes in Asiatic Turkey was almost completely destroyed in the early part of the last century and about the same time an earthquake took place in southeastern Missouri, near New Madrid, when the ground sank and several small lakes were formed which still remain.

CREATION OF THE DEAD SEA.

During the time of the Patriarch Abraham the plain on which Sodom and Gomorrah stood sank and the Dead Sea now remains. This sea, a considerable tract of country around it and the entire valley of the Jordan, are more than 1,000 feet below the level of the Mediterranean and a similar condition of things exists in the case of the Caspian and Aral Seas. There is also a large area of depression many feet lower than the Caspian in southeastern Russia. It is probable that large areas of the bottom of the Pacific Ocean are slowly settling down owing to the contraction of the intensely heated interior, due to the radiation of heat not only from the surface but chiefly to the prodigious expenditure or loss of heat from the numerous active volcanoes scattered all over the globe.

VOLCANIC ACTION.

Beginning on the east coast of Greenland we have Jan Mayen, which has been furiously active sinc its discovery, Hecla in Iceland, numerous active volcanoes in Alaska and the Aleutian islands, while Kamchatka, the Kuril islands, Japan, the Philippines, Form sa, Java and Sumatra fairly bristle with these fiery outlets. Southern Europe has three active volcanoes, Mexico, Central America and the entire chain of the Andes are alive with volcanic activity, so a so are the West Indies, the Sandwich islands, New Zealand, the Canaries and numerous islands in the Pacific Ocean, and lastly we find two terrific volcanoes in the South Frigid Zone, viz., mountains Erebus and Terror which have been in a state of violent activity ever since their discovery by Ross in 1841.

THE DIAMETER OF THE EARTH DECREASING.

In view then of these structural features of the earth's crust, it is certain that there must be going on continually a general subsidence of the surface or, in other words, the diameter of the earth must be decreasing. There is no means of determining what the actual contraction is, but after the lapse of a few centuries the length of a degree of latitude will doubtless be found to be considerably less than it is now. The numerous faults which must always accompany mountain ranges permit a gradual subsidence which may be scarcely felt or registered by the most sensitive seismometers, but if the crust should bridge over cavities formed by the contracting and receding liquid or semi-liquid interior a sudden collapse of the crust must eventually take place with resulting depression and tremors or vibrations which may be transmitted through great distance,

Moreover, the additional pressure on the molten mass beneath would, by the laws of hydrostatics, be transmitted to every portion of the surface of the solid shell or crust. For instance, if a square mile of the surface of the molten mass were to receive an additional pressure of say 1,000,000 tons, then every square mile of the internal surface of the shell or crust would receive the same pressure and earthquake tremors or vibrations may occur anywhere at the point of least resistance; thus an earthquake in Italy may cause vibrations in South America or a volcanic eruption in New Zealand or Iceland. Taking into consideration all the seisimic disturbances of the last 100 years, it is not too much to assume that the equatorial radius of the earth has been reduced by, say four feet, and the question which now confronts us is what effect will this reduction of the earth's radius have on the length of the day, or in other words on the duration of the earth's diurnal rotation. When the earth's surface extended to the moon, the duration of one revolution on its axis was the moon's present sidereal period, viz., twenty-seven days, but as the mass contracted the axial rotation was accelerated until it reached its present value, viz., one sidereal day or 86400 sidereal seconds.

SHORTENING OF THE SIDEREAL DAY.

By the laws of dynamics it can be shown with mathematical precision that a reduction of four feet in the earth's radius will cause the earth to make a complete revolution on its axis in 863999-917522336 second instead of 86400 as formerly or a century ago, or in other words the sidereal day is now about 1-125 of a second shorter than it was in the year 1800. This small fraction of a second would appear to the layman as utterly insignificant, but not so to the astronomer to whom it is a subject of most absorbing interest and of the utmost importance.

Astronomers have always believed that the length of the sidereal day is invariable, but in the condition of things which have been considered this cannot be so. This slight variation in the length of the sidereal day will amount to about two minutes and thirty seconds in half a century, which will constitute a disturbing factor in our Lunar, Solar and Planetary Tables.

(Revised December, 1906, at the New York Post-Office, for THE WORLD ALMANAC.)

DOMESTIC RATES OF POSTAGE.

ALL mailable matter for transmission by the United States mails within the United States is divided into four classes, under the following regulations. (Domestic rates apply to Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Tutuila, Porto Rico, Guam, Hawaii, the Philippines, the Canal Zone," the Republic of Panama, and certain places in China served through the United States Postal Agency at Shanghai. ) '' and any

First-Class Matter.-This class includes letters, postal cards, "post cards, thing sealed or otherwise closed against inspection, or anything containing writing not allowed as an accompaniment to printed matter under class three.

Rates of letter postage to any part of the United States, its possessions, or the above named countries, two cents per ounce or fraction thereof.

Rates on local or drop letters at free delivery offices, two cents per ounce or fraction thereof. At offices where there is no free delivery by carriers, and the addressee cannot be served by rural free delivery carriers, one cent per ounce fraction thereof.

Rates on postal cards, one cent (double or "reply" cards, two cents). Nothing may be attached to a postal card, except a printed address slip not larger than 2 inches by 34 of an inch, pasted on the address or message side. The addition of anything else subjects the card to letter postage. A card containing any threat, offensive dun, or any scurrilous or indecent communication will not be forwarded. Words on a postal card indicating the occupation of the addressee, used to better identify him, are regarded as a part of the address; anything more-as the repetition of the words on a postal card, etc., business or the several capacities in which the addressee serves, the various kinds of goods dealt in, and similar attempts at advertising on the address side of the postal card is not regarded as a proper description of the person, " and will subject the postal card to the letter rate. Cards that have been spoiled in printing or otherwise will be redeemed from the original purchasers at 75 per cent, of their face value, if unmutilated.

POST CARDS (Private Mailing Cards)-bearing written or printed missible in the mails:

1. Post cards must conform to the following conditions:

messages are trans

(a) Each card must be an unfolded piece of cardboard, not larger in size than 3 9-16 by 5 9-16 inches, nor smaller than 2 15-16 by 4 inches.

(b) The form of card and the quality and weight of paper used in its manufacture must be substantially that of the Government postal card of like size.

(c) They may be of any color which does not interfere with the legibility of the address and postmark.

(d) Each card must bear the words "Post Card" at the top of the address side, unobstructed by any other matter; said words to be placed thereon in conspicuous letters and in such manner as not to interfere with a perfectly distinct address and postmark.

(e) The address may be in writing, printing, or by means of a hand-stamp, or adhesive label of not more than of an inch by 2 inches in size, and the sender may, in the same manner, place his name and address on the back or the face of the card. The message may be in writing or in print.

2. Cards conforming to the foregoing conditions are transmissible in the domestic mails (including the "Possessions of the Unite States "), and to places in Cuba, Canada, Mexico, and the Republic of Panama at the postage rate of one cent each, and in the mails of the Postal Union at the postage rate of two cents each, prepaid by stamps affixed.

3. Any card of foreign origin which, from its title in any language, appears to be a "post ard" and conforms to the requirements of these regulations as to size, form, quality, and weight, shall be admissible to the mails (domestic or international) when prepaid in United States postage stamps.

4. When post cards are prepared by printers and stationers for sale, they should, in addition to conformity with the requirements of these regulations, also bear in the upper right-hand corner of the face an oblong diagram containing the words "Place postage stamp here," ani across the bottom the words "This side for the address."

5. Advertisements and illustrations in any color may be printed upon either or both sides of a post card, provided they do not, when placed upon the face thereof, interfere with a perfectly distinct address and postmark.

6. Cards bearing the words " Post Card" or otherwise purporting to be issued under authority of the act of May 19, 1998, but which do not conform to the conditions prescribed by these regulations, when sent in the mails are chargeable with postage according to the character of the message-at the letter rate, if wholly or partly in writing, or the third-class rate, if entirely in print.

7. The privilege given by the act is not intended to work a discontinuance of the Government postal cards. These will be issue and sold the same as heretofore; and in all correspondence will be designated "postal cards," to distinguish them from "post cards," provi led for in these regulations.

Rates on specially delivered letters, ten cents on each letter in addition to the regular postage. This entitles the letter to immediate delivery by special messenger. Special delivery stamps are sold at post-offices, and must be affixed to such letters. An ordinary ten- cent stamp affixed to a letter will not entitle it to special delivery. The delivery, at carrier offices, extends to the limits of the carrier routes. At non-carrier offices it extends to one mile from the post-office. Postmasters are not obliged to deliver beyond these limits, and letters addressed to places beyond must await delivery in the usual way, notwithstanding the special delivery stamp.

Prepayment by stamps invariably required. Postage on all letters should be fully prepaid, but if prepaid one full rate and no more, they will be forwarded, and the amount of deficient postage collected on delivery; if wholly unpaid, or prepaid with less than one full rate and deposited at a post-office, the addressee will be notified to remit postages and if he fails to do so, they will be sent to the Dead Letter Office; but they will be returned to the sender if he is located at the place of mailing, and if his address be printed or written upon them.

Letter rates are charged on all productions by the typewriter or manifold process, and on all printed imitations of typewriting or manuscript, unless such reproductions are presented at post-office windows in the minimum number of twenty identical copies separately addressed.

Letters and other matter prepaid at the letter rate-two cents an ounce or fraction thereof(but no other class of mail matter) will be returned to the sender free, if a request to that effect is printed or written on the envelope or wrapper. The limit of weight is four pounds.

Prepaid letters will be forwarded from one post-office to another upon the written request of the person addressed, without additional charge for postage. The direction on forwarded letters may be changed as many times as may be necessary to reach the person addressed.

Second-Class Matter.-This class includes all newspapers and periodicals exclusively in print that have been Entered as second-class matter and are regularly issued at stated intervals as fre

quently as four times a year, from a known office of publication and mailed by the publishers or newsagents to actual subscribers or to news agents for sale, and newspapers and publications of this class mailed by persons other than publishers. Publications having the characteristics of books and such as are not subscribed for on account of their merits, but because of other inducements, are not eligible to second-class privileges. Also periodical publications of benevolent and fraternal societies, organized under the lodge system and having a meinbership of a thousand persons, and of the publications of strictly professional, literary, historical, and scientific societies, and incorporated institutions of learning, trade unions, etc., provided only that these be published at stated intervals not less than four times a year, and that they be printed on and be bound in paper. Publishers who wish to avail themselves of the privileges of the act are required to make formal application to the department through the postmaster at the place of publication, producing satisfactory evidence that the organizations, societies, and institutions represented come within the purview of the law, and that the object of the publications is to further the objects and purposes of the organizations.

Rates of postage to publishers, one cent a pound or fractional part thereof, prepaid in currency. Publications designed primarily for advertising or free circulatlon, or not having a legitimate list of subscribers, are excluded from the pound rate, and pay the third-class rate.

Second-class publications must possess legitimate subscription lists equalling 50 per cent, of the number of copies regularly issued and circulated by mail or otherwise. Unless they do pound-rate privileges are revoked or withheld.

Whenever the general character and manner of issue of a periodical publication is changed in the interest of the publisher, or of advertisers or other persons, by the addition of unusual quantities of advertisements, or of matter different from that usually appearing in the publication, or calculated to give special prominence to some particular business or businesses, or otherwise-especially where large numbers of copies are circulated by or in the interest of particular persons-the second-class rates of postage will be denied that issue; and if there be repeated instances of such irregularities, the publication will be excluded from the mails as second-class matter.

Such "Christmas," "New Year's," and other special issues, including "Almanacs, as are excluded from second-class privileges by the terms above specified may be transmitted by mail only when prepaid by postage stamps at the rate applicable to third-class matter-one cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof.

Publications sent to actual subscribers in the county where published are free, unless mailed for delivery at a letter-carrier office.

Rates of postage on second-class newspapers, magazines, or periodicals, mailed by others than the publishers or news agents, one cent for each four ounces or fraction thereof. It should be observed that the rate is one cent for each four ounces, not one cent for each paper contained in the same wrapper. This rate applies only when a complete copy is mailed. Parts of second-class publications or partial or incomplete copies are third-class matter. Second-class matter will be entitled to special delivery when special delivery ten-cent stamps are affixed in addition to the regular postage.

Second-class matter must be so wrapped as to enable the postmaster to inspect it. The sender's name and address may be written in them or on the wrapper, also the words sample copy, or "marked copy." Typographical errors in the text may be corrected, but any other writing subjects the matter to letter postage.

Third-Class Matter.-Mail matter of the third class includes printed books, pamphlets, engravings, circulars in print (or by the hectograph, electric-pen, or similar process when at least twenty identical copies, separately addressed, are mailed at post-office windows at one time), and other matter wholly in print, proof sheets, corrected proof sheets, and manuscript copy accompanying the same.

The rate on matter of this class is one cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof payable by stamps affixed, unless 2,000 or more identical pieces are mailed under special permit when the postage at that rate may be paid in money.

Manuscript unaccompanied by proof-sheets must pay letter rates.

Third-class matter must admit of easy inspection, otherwise it will be charged letter rates on delivery. It must be fully prepaid, or it will not be despatched. New postage must be prepaid for forwarding to a new address or returning to senders.

The limit of weight is four pounds, except single books in separate packages, on which the weight is not limited. It is entitled, like matter of the other classes, to special delivery when special delivery stamps are affixed in addition to the regular postage.

Upon matter of the third class, or upon the wrapper or envelope inclosing the same, or the tag or label attached thereto, the sender may write his own name, occupation, and residence or business address, preceded by the word "from," and may make marks other than by written words to call attention to any word or passage in the text, and may correct any typographical errors. There may be placed upon the blank leaves or cover of any book, or printed matter of the thirdclass, a simple manuscript dedication or inscription not of the nature of a personal correspondence. Upon the wrapper or envelope of third-class matter, or the tag or label attached thereto, may be printed any matter mailable as third-class, but there must be left on the address side a space sufficient for the legible address and necessary stamps.

Fourth-Class Matter.-Fourth-ciass matter is all mailable matter not included in the three preceding classes which is so prepared for mailing as to be easily withdrawn from the wrapper and examined. It embraces merchandise and samples of every description, and coin or specie.

Rate of postage, one cent for each ounce or fraction thereof (except seeds, roots, bulbs, cuttings, scions, and plants, the rate on which is one cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof). This matter must be fully prepaid, or it will not be despatched. Postage must be paid by stamps affixed, unless 2,000 or more identical pieces are mailed at one time when the postage at that rate may be paid in money. New postage must be prepaid for forwarding or returning. The affixing of special delivery ten-centstamps in addition to the regular postage entitles fourth-class matter to special delivery. (See remarks under first-class matter.")

Articles of this class that are liable to injure or deface the mails, such as glass, sugar, needles, nails. pens, etc., must be first wrapped in a bag, box, or open envelope and then secured in another outside tube or box, made of metal or hard wood, without sharp corners or edges, and having a sliding clasp or screw lid, thus securing the articles in a double package. The public should bear in mind that the first object of the department is to transport the mails safely, and every other interest is made subordinate. Such articles as poisons, explosives, or inflammable articles, live or dead animals, insects, fruits or vegetable matter liable to decomposition, or substances exhaling a bad odor will not be forwarded in any case.

Firearms may only be sent when it is apparent that they are harmless.

The regulations respecting the mailing of liquids are as follows: Liquids, not ardent, vinous, spirituous, or malt, and not liable to explosion, spontaneous combustion, or ignition by shock or jar, and not inflammable (such as kerosene, naphtha, or turpentine), may be admitted to the mails for

When

transportation within the United States. Samples of altar or communion wine are mailable. in glass bottles or vials, such bottles or vials must be strong enough to stand the shock of handling in the mails, and must be inclosed in a metal, wooden, or papier-mache block or tube, not less than three-sixteenths of an inch thick in the thinnest part, strong enough to support the weight of mails piled in bags and resist rough handling; and there must be provided, between the bottle and said block or tube, a cushion of cotton, felt, or some other absorbent sufficient to protect the glass from shock in handling; the block or tube to be impervious to liquids, including oils, and closed by a tightly fitting lid or cover, so adjusted as to make the block or tube water tight and to prevent the leakage of the contents in case of breaking of the glass. When inclosed in a tin cylinder, metal case, or tube, such cylinder, case, or tube should have a lid or cover so secured as to make the case or tube water tight, and should be securely fastened in a wooden or papier-mache block (open only at one end), and not less in thickness and strength than above described. Manufacturers or dealers intending to transmit articles or samples in considerable quantities should submit a sample package, showing their mode of packing, to the postmaster at the mailing office who will see that the conditions of this section are carefully observed. The limit of admissible liquids and oils is not exceeding four ounces, liquid measure.

Limit of weight of fourth-class matter (excepting liquids), four pounds.

The name and address of the sender, preceded by the word "from," also any marks, numbers, names, or letters for the purpose of description, such as prices, quantity etc., may be written on the wrapper of fourth-class matter without additional postage charge. A request to the delivering postmaster may also be written asking him to notify the sender in case the package is not delivered.

Third or Fourth Class Matter Mailable Without Stamps.-Under special permits postage may be paid in money for third or fourth class matter mailed in quantities of 2,000 or more identical pieces. For information concerning the regulations governing such mailings inquiry should be made of the postmaster.

Registration.-All kinds of postal matter may be registered at the rate of eight cents for each package in addition to the regular rates of postage, to be fully prepaid by stamps. Each package must bear the name and address of the sender, and a receipt will be returned from the person to whom addressed. Mail matter can be registered at all post-offices in the United States.

An indemnity-not to exceed $25 for any one registered piece, or the actual value of the piece, if it is less than $25-shall be paid for the loss of first-class registered matter.

Domestic Money Orders.-Domestic money orders are issued by money-order post-offices for any amount up to $100, at the following rates:

For sums not exceeding $2.50, 3 cents; over $2.50 to $5. 5 cents; over $5 to $10, 8 cents; over $10 to $20, 10 cents; over $20 to $30, 12 cents; over $30 to $40. 15 cents; over $40 to $50, 18 cents; over $50 to $60, 20 cents; over $60 to $75, 25 cents; over $75 to $100, 30 cents.

Stamped Envelopes.-Embossed stamped envelopes and newspaper wrappers of several denominations, sizes, and colors are kept on sale at post-offices, singly or in quantities, at a small advance on the postage rate. Stamps cut from stamped envelopes are valueless; but postmasters are authorized to give good stamps for stamped envelopes or newspaper wrappers that may be spoiled in directing, if presented in a substantially whole condition.

All matter concerning lotteries, gift concerts, or schemes devised to defraud the public, or for the purpose of obtaining money under false pretences, is denied transmission in the mails.

Applications for the establishment of post-offices should be addressed to the First Assistant Postmaster-General, accompanied by a statement of the necessity therefor. Instructions will then be given and blanks furnished to enable the petitioners to provide the department with the necessary information.

The franking privilege was abolished July 1, 1873, but the following mail matter may be sent free by legislative saving clauses, viz.:

1. All public documents printed by order of Congress, the Congressional Record and speeches contained therein, franked by Members of Congress, or the Secretary of the Senate, or Clerk of the House. 2. Seeds transmitted by the Secretary of Agriculture, or by any Member of Congress, procured from that Department.

3. Letters and packages relating exclusively to the business of the Government of the United States, mailed only by officers of the same, and letters and parcels mailed by the Smithsonian Institution. All these must be covered by specially printed "penalty'' envelopes or labels.

4. The Vice-President, Members and Members-elect and Delegates and Delegates-elect to Congress may frank any mail matter to any Government official or to any person correspondence, not over four ounces in weight, upon official or departmental business. All communications to Government officers and to Members of Congress are required to be prepaid by stamps.

Suggestions to the Public (from the United States Official Postal-Guide).-Mail all letters, etc.. as early as practicable, especially when sent in large numbers, as is frequently the case with newspapers and circulars.

All mail matter at large post-offices is necessarily handled in great haste and should therefore in all cases be SO PLAINLY addressed as to leave NO ROOM FOR DOUBT AND NO EXCUSE FOR ERROR On the part of postal employés. Names of States should be written in full (or their abbreviations very distinctly written) in order to prevent errors which arise from the similarity of such abbreviations as Cal., Col.; Pa., Va., Vt.; Me., Mo., Md. Ioa., Ind.; N. H., N. M., N. Y., N. J., N. C., D. C.; Miss., Minn., Mass.; Nev., Neb.; Penn., Tenn., etc., when hastily or carelessly written. This is especially necessary in addressing mail matter to places of which the names are borne by several post-offices in different States.

Avoid as much as possible using envelopes made of flimsy paper, especially where more than one sheet of paper, or any other article than paper, is inclosed. Being often handled, and even in the mailbags subject to pressure, such envelopes not infrequently split open, giving cause of complaint.

Never send money or any other article of value through the mail except either by means of a money order or in a registered letter. Any person who sends money or jewelry in an unregistered letter not only runs a risk of losing his property, but exposes to temptation every one through whose hands his letter passes, and may be the means of ultimately bringing some clerk or letter-carrier to ruin.

See that every letter or package bears the full name and post-office address of the writer, in order to secure the return of the letter, if the person to whom it is directed cannot be found. A much larger portion of the undelivered letters could be returned if the names and addresses of the senders were always fully and plainly written or printed inside or on the envelopes. Persons who have large correspondence find it most convenient to use special request envelopes;" but those who only mail