HOW TO DIRECT AND MAIL LETTERS.-Mail matter should be addressed legibly and completely, giving the name of the postoffice, county and State, and the post office box of the person addressed, if he has one; if to a city having a free delivery, the street and number should be added. To secure return to the sender in case of misdirection or insufficient payment of postage, his name should be written or printed upon the upper left-hand corner of all mail matter; it will then be returned to the sender, if not called for at its destination, without going to the Dead Letter Office, and, if a letter, it will be returned free.

Dispatch is hastened by mailing early, especially when large numbers of letters, newspapers or circulars are mailed at once.

When a number of letters or circulars are mailed together, addressed to the same destination, it is well to tie them in bundles with the addresses facing the same side. On letters for places in foreign countries, especially Canada and England, in which many postoffices have the same name as offices in the United States, the name of the country as well as postoffice should be given in full. Letters addressed, for instance, merely to "London," without adding "England," are frequently sent to London, Canada, and vice versa, thereby causing delay, and often serious loss. Letters addressed to Burlington, N. S. (Nova Scotia), often go to Burlington, New York, on account of the resemblance between S and Y when carelessly written.

AVOID THIN ENVELOPES.-Thin envelopes, or those made of weak or poor, unsubtantial paper, should not be used, especially for large packages. Being often handled, and subjected to pressure and friction in the mail bags, such envelopes are frequently torn open or burst, without fault of those who handle them. It is best to use Stamped Envelopes wherever it is convenient and practicable to do so.

REGISTERED VALUABLE MATTER.-All valuable matter should be registered. Registry fee is eight cents, which, with full postage, must be prepaid, and name and address of sender must be given on the outside of envelope or wrapper. Money should be sent by a money order or registered letter; otherwise it is liable to be lost.

THE CONVENIENCE OF LETTER BOXES.Patrons in cities where letter carriers are employed are advised to provide letter boxes at places or private residences, thereby saving much delay in the delivery of mail matter.

AFFIX STAMPS FIRMLY.-Postage stamps should be placed upon the upper right-hand corner of the address side of all the mail matter, care being taken that they are securely affixed.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS.-A subscriber to a newspaper or periodical who changes his residence and postoffice should at once notify the publisher, and have the publication sent to his new address.

Publishers and news agents mailing second-class matter in quantities, will facilitate its distribution, and often hasten its dispatch, by separating such matter by States and Territories and the larger cities.

HOTEL MATTER.-That is, matter addressed for delivery at hotels, should be returned to the postoffice as soon as it is evident that it I will not be claimed. Proprietors of hotels, officers of clubs and boards of trade, or exchanges, should not hold unclaimed letters longer than ten days, except at the request of the person addressed, and should re-direct them for forwarding, if the present address is known; otherwise they should be returned to the postoffice.

Letters addressed to persons temporarily sojourning in a city where the Free Delivery System is in operation should be marked "Transient" or "General Delivery," if not addressed to a street and number or some other designated place of delivery. - Post Office Guide.

RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1903.

The Nobel Foundation is based upon the last will and testament of Dr. Alfred Bernhard Nobel, engineer and inventor of dynamite, dated November 27, 1895, the stipulations of which, respecting this fund, are as follows:

"The rest of my fortune, that is, the capital realized by my executors, is to constitute a fund, the interest of which is to be distributed annually as a prize to those who have in the course of the previous year rendered the greatest services to humanity. The amount is to be divided into five equal parts, one of which is to be awarded to the person who has made the most important discovery in the domain of physical science; another part to the one who has made the most valuable discovery in chemistry or brought about the greatest improvement; the third to the author of the most important discovery in the field of physiology or medicine; the fourth to the one who has produced the most remarkable literary work of an idealist tendency, and finally the fifth to the person who has done the best or the most in the cause of the fraternity of nations, for the suppression or the reduction of standing armies as well as for the formation and propagation of peace congresses. The prizes will be awarded for physics and chemistry by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; for works in physiology or medicine by the Caroline Institute of Stockholm; for literature by the Stockholm Academy, and finally for the service in the cause of peace by a Committee of five members of the Norwegian Storthing. is my express desire that the benefits of the foundation are to be open to all nationalities and sexes and that the prize be awarded to the one most worthy, whether Scandinavian or not."

It

Each prize will amount to about $40,000, and the corporation will designate a "Comité Nobel" composed of three or five members for each section, with headquarters at Christiania, Norway.

The Swedish Academy of Sciences,

Stockholm, awards the Physics and Chemistry Prizes; the Caroline Medical Institute, Stockholm, awards the Prize for Physiology or Medicine; the Swedish Academy in Stockholm awards the Literature Prize; and the Peace Prize is awarded by a Committee of five persons elected by the Norwegian Storthing. No consideration is paid to the nationality of the candidates, but it is essential that every candidate shall be proposed in writing by some qualified representative of science, literature, etc., in the chief countries of the civilized world, such proposals to reach the Committee before the first of February in each year, the awards being made on the following 10th of December. Nobel Institutes are to be established in each of the five departments, to carry out scientific investigations as to the value of the discoveries and improvements, and to promote the other objects of the Foundation.

The first distribution of prizes took place in 1901, the awards being: Peace, MM. Dunant and Passy; Medicine, Dr. Behring, of Marburg; Chemistry, Prof. J. H. van 't Hoff, Berlin; Physics, Prof. Röntgen; and Literature, M. Sully Prudhomme.

The 1902 Prizes were awarded as follows: Literature, Prof. Theodor Mommsen, of Berlin; Peace, MM. Ducommun and Gobat (Switzerland); Medicine, Major Ronald Ross, of the School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool Chemistry, Prof. Emil Fischer, of Berlin; Physics, divided between Profs. Lorentz and Zeemann, of Holland.

The 1903 Prizes were awarded thus: Peace, Mr. W. R. Cromer, M. P.; Literature, M. Björnson; Medicine, Prof. Finsen, of Copenhagen; Physics, Prof. Becquerel, of Paris, and Mme. Curié, of Paris; Chemistry, Prof. Arrhenius, of Stockholm.

All information can be obtained from Nobelstiftelsen, Stockholm, or as to the Peace Prize, from the Comité Nobel Norvégien, Victoria Terrasse, 7, III., Christiania.