The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-24 00:00:00

UNITED STATES POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS.

Mails for the United States aro made up in London every
Saturday evening, Wednesday morning, and Wednesday
evening. Letters for the Saturday and Wednesday evening
mails must reach the General Post-office by 6 o'clock
p.m., and those of the Wednesday morning mails by 6
o'clock a.m. that day. Newspapers must always be posted
half an hour earlier. The Wednesday and Saturday's
mails are taken up at Queenstown, on the following day,
by the Liverpool steamers. The Wednesday morning
mails are taken by the Southampton steamers.
Mails from the United States are due in London on
Mondays and Thursdays of each week.
Periodical works not of daily publication, issued in the
may be sent to the United States,
pamphlets,
.on,
by
packet,
at the following rates :
shai California, fpa
andnip
—Not exceeding 2 oz., I.d. ; above 2 oz., but not exceeding
3 oz., 6d.; above 3 oz., but not exceeding 4 oz., Bd. ; with an
addition of 2d. for every additional ounce up to 16
ounces, above which the privilege does not extend. At
the same rate of postage, any pamphlet not weighing more
than 8 oz (even though it be not a periodical publication)
may bo sent to the United States, California, and Oregon.
This postage is only the British portion, a further sum
being charged on delivery. The periodical works
or pamphlets must always be sent in a cover open at the
ends (not more than one being sent in a single cover), and
the postage must be prepaid. Other printed papers or
books (except those specified above), addressed
to the
places above named, are liable to letter rats of postage.
There must be no writing, or other marks upon such
periodical works, pamphlets, &c., or upon the covers, ex-
cept the names and addresses of the persons to whom they
are sent ; nor upon the covers must there be any printing,
except the names and addresses of the persons to whom
they are sent and the names and addresses of the senders.
Any other writing, &c., will render the paokets liable to
letter rates of postage.

A meeting was convoked for Sunday by a certain
number of men of letters in the largo rooms of Lemardelay,
Rue Richelieu, Paris, in order to devise measures for the
establishment of a literary cercle, or reading-room. As the
meeting was to consist of more than 20 persons, the per-
mission of the Prefect of Police was, of course, indispens-
able. The prefect was applied to, but peremptorily re-
fused his permission, so that the meeting cannot take
place. The object of the promoters was to provide a com-
mon place of meeting for men of letters, and not for any
politizai object.

AMERICAN COUNTERFEITERS.—One of the results
of gold es a
chance givencirculating
t
Aofmtetalohnags
medium
in
been
absence
theexcellent
counter-
feiters to manufacture debased coin in large amounts
The principal counterfeit now made is a filled coin. The
process is to split the gold piece, take from its centre one
third to one half of the gold, which is carefully weighed,
and the space is filled with an equal weight of alloy of
platina. The sides of the coin are then joined, the edges
re-milled, and the whole work is so accurately done that
not only the weight of the piece is unchanged, but its size
remains the same, and its metallic " ring" is perfectly
genuine. The only test yet known by which to detect
these pieces is the inaccuracy of the milling, which, under
a microscope, the seam of the two halves of the piece can
generally be seen. At the New York Custom House these
filled pieces are almost daily found among the genuine coins
presented in the payment of duties ; and upon detection
they are cut in half with a chisel and politely ,returned to
their astonished owners.
Edwin Booth, the tragedian, brother of J.
Wilkes Booth, the murderer of President Lincoln, recently
began au engagement at the Winter Garden Theatre,
New York. The house was filled to overflowing, and, in
spite of the efforts made iu some quarters to create a dis-
turbance, the play passed off without trouble.
A strange case, arising out of the recent war
in America, has occurred in Kentucky. The Farmers,
Bank of Kentucky had $60,000 stolen from its vaults by
the famous Morgan raid in June, 1864. Among Morgan's
officers was a Kentuckian named Witherspoon, who, after
peace was restored, returned to his home, and the bank
sued him, attached Ins landed estate, and recovered judg-
ment against him in a Circuit Court for the entire sum
Witherspoon has appealed to the Kentucky Court of
Appeals, the highest court in the State, and intends to
fight the bank there.