If people who have these facilities for sending letters securely provided for them choose to run the risk of loss, they deserve very little sympathy if the chance goes against them.  Last year an unregistered letter containing a cheque was alleged to have been stolen in the post.  It was found, however, to have been duly delivered by being pushed under the front door, and afterwards to have been torn in pieces by some puppies inside the house.  The fragments were in the end discovered in the straw of the dog-kennel.  Now, had the sender only spent 2d. in registering this letter, a receipt would have been taken on its delivery, and all chance of its falling into the paws of the puppies would have been prevented.

But it is wonderful what people, penny-wise and pound foolish, will sometimes do to save 2d.  A few years back the sealing-wax on a letter was found to contain L1 10s. in gold coins.  There could hardly be a more stupid way of sending money.

If coin, or watches, or jewellery are posted in letters or packets without registration, and the fact is discovered, the Post Office people bring into force a system of registration by compulsion, and on delivery charge a fee of 8d. in addition to the ordinary postage.

When coins are sent in a letter they should on no account be put in loose, but should be packed so as to move about as little as possible.  The best way is to take a card, and, cutting quite through to the other side, make a cross on it for each coin; then slip the coin into the cross, so that it is held in its place by the tongues of cardboard, two on each side.

Who owns letters whilst they are in the post?  In Great Britain the ownership of a letter whilst it is in the post lies in the Queen, as represented by her Postmaster-General and her Secretary of State.  “Neither the sender nor the person to whom it is sent can claim to interfere with a letter whilst it is in the Post Office.  Only the warrant of a Secretary of State can stay its delivery.”  Once a letter is dropped into a letter-box it is like a spoken word, it cannot be recalled.

After letters come postcards, which were introduced into this country in October, 1870, and have proved a great convenience to many people, saving them both time and money.  By means of reply postcards you can make sure of an answer from a correspondent without putting her to any expense or to any trouble worth mentioning.

The back of the postcard is for the message; nothing must be put on the front except the address.  This limitation of space is useful for the cultivation of brevity; but those who have a great deal to say may derive consolation from the fact that on the back of a postcard you can, by writing small, easily put at least four hundred and sixty words!  We do not, however, say that such a performance, good enough for amusement, would be like that of a woman of business.

All business letters ought to be preserved.  They should be folded neatly longways and all of a size, and docketed, as it is called—­that is to say, the date and the name of the sender and his (or her) address, and the subject, should be put on the back thus: