The Portland daily press., 1877-04-13
Magazine Notices.

The United States Official Postal Guide for
April is the first number issued under the new
administration, and contaius the names of the
new officials and some important acts with
reference to postal matters passed by the last
Congress. 1t appears that in the early hours of
the 4th of March a clause was inserted in one
of the bills which partially restores the frank
ing privilege, and the Postmaster General has
accordingly issued special circular respecting
it. This number, which has four hundred
pages, also contains two full alphabetical lists
of all the post offices in the United States Zone
of them arranged alphabetically by states for
special convenience), a list Of money-order
offices full directions about money orders and
registered letters, rates of domestic and foreign
POSTAGE hours of arrival and closing of mails
in the principal cities, days of sailing of foreign
mail steamers, and salaries of postmasters in
the first, second and third class post offices.
Not the least valuable and important contents
of the Guide, each quarter, are the Rulipgs of
the Post Office Department on doubtful Or dis
puted points which it regularly gives. There
are over eighty of these in the present number,
relating to such matters as cut and mutilated
postage-stamps, the discretion of the postmas-
ter in the delivery of letters, partial and INSULT
cient prepayment of postage, postage on sex
changes chromos, catalogues, Photographic
views, etc., etc. The Guide is published quar-
terly by H. o. Houghton & Co., Boston.
The first number of the Literary World under
its new management is decidedly promising
and gives ample evidence that this excellent
periodical will not at least deteriorate. Indeed
the tone is decidedly improved over that of the
last few numbers. The only criticism to be
passed is that the book-reviews show tenden.
cy to be trifle too "genial," tendency which,
if not checked, may come to impair their
worth Editorialy the number leads off with
sympathetic tribute to the lats editor, Mr..
Crocker, and a promise that no important
changes of plan and form shall be made in the
paper. The books reviewed at length are Mrs.
ELEPHANTS Makers of Florence; Harriet Mar
tinean's Autobiography; Lady Bakers Life in
South Africa; Stillman's Seeking the Golden
Fleece; the last Erckmann-Ch atrian novel,
Friend Fritz; Russian Folk-Tales; Landors
Imaginary Conversations; Burnaby's Ride to
Khiva; and the Porter and Coates Manuals of
Household Art The departments of Notes
and Queries, Literary Notes and Minor Book
and the list of publications for the month is of
special value to the librarian and book-buyer.
E. 81. Hames & Co., publishers, Boston.
The numbers of LitteTS Lining Age for the
weeks ending April 9TH and 14th-the first
numbers of the new volume-have the follow
ing valuable contents: Turkish Invasions of
Europe in 1s70-83, by e. P. Verney, Contempt
rary Review; West Indian Memories: The Les
ser Antilles and the ''Boiling Lake. by W.
Clifford Palgrave, Macmillan; Turkish Story.
Books, by r. S. Ralston, Nineteenth Century;
Prussia in the Nineteenth Century, by John
Stuart Blackie, Contemporary; Falkland, by
Matthew Arnold, Nineteenth Century; Field
ing's Novels, Cornhill; Cattle-herding in the
Great West. Spectator; aThe Origin of Rank,
Saturday Review; The Hypocrisies Of Nature,
Spectator; together with installments of The
Marquis of Lossie by George Macdonald, and
Carita by Mrs, Oliphant; Nils Jensen,
a short story and Letawitza a Gal
ician Tale, Translated for the Lv-
ing Age from the Revue DIES Deus Mondes; poe
try and miscellany
The latest number of Puck, the New York
comic paper formerly published in German but
now done into English, has some good
cartoons, one on the Walkure, one on Anna
Dickinson, and one, noticeably good, represent
ing Oakley Hall fleeing to Europe pursued by
the furies personated for this occasion only by
OConnor, Tweed and Sweeny. Peter Sweepy
makes very funny fury