Should you desire to send money by express, it will be well to go to the company's office before you pack it up. Express companies have special receptacles or envelopes in which to store coin or bills. There is no charge for these. The sender must himself seal the packages containing the money, and write on them the address of the consignee, also the amount enclosed. Having received the packages, the express agent ties them up, affixes his official seal, which is so arranged that the package cannot be opened or tampered with, without breaking. This done, he gives the sender a receipt. This should be cared for as a vital part of the record. The charges for sending money by express may or may not be paid in advance. They vary with the amount to be carried and the distance. Packages of money are receipted for in the usual way. They are delivered only to the legal consignee, unless a second person should appear with an order, amounting to a power of attorney, and which the company cannot reject. MONEY ORDERS The foregoing by no means limits the express company's usefulness or field of opportunities. Express companies issue money orders much as does the Post Office Department. As with the post office, the fees for orders vary, but no order is issued for more than fifty dollars. If you want to send such an order, the express company will furnish the proper blank for you to fill out. On this form must be written out very plainly the name and address of the person to whom the order is to be sent, with the amount, in words and in figures. On receiving the money the express agent gives to his customer two papers; one is the company's receipt for the money, the other is the order itself. The order instructs the agent at the point to which it is to be sent to pay the sum named to the person named. To complete the order the sender should sign his name in a place indicated for the purpose on the back of the paper. This done, the order can be sent to the person for whom it is intended, in an ordinary envelope. The receiver of an express money order can have it cashed at the express office in his town, or sign it and place it in his own bank as if it were cash. CHAPTER XVI ABOUT RAILROADS Not everything about railroads, that would be a tremendous undertaking, but just enough to show what everyone should know about them as carriers of goods. The express companies have practically a monopoly of the transportation of the smaller packages of goods requiring quick transit and immediate delivery, but the longer, heavier, and slower freight are in the hands of the railroads, and where it can be done, and time is not a first factor, the steamboat takes the place of the train. BILLS OF LADING As most of the goods in changing hands are carried by steamboat or railroad, the method of shipment should be understood by everyone who may be called on to use one or the other means of transportation.