Very unreasonable, and sometimes downright absurd, are many complaints made by the public. A lady once wrote to the authorities saying that whereas at one time she always received her letters in the morning, they now only reached her in the evening. The fact was that, through the making of better arrangements, the letters which used to come in with the matutinal tea and toast were now delivered over-night. The following is a rather curious story of theft. The cook in a gentleman's family residing at Harrow one day received an unregistered letter from Hagley, near Birmingham, which, when posted, contained a watch. On reaching its destination the cover was found to enclose a couple of pebbles only. She at once went to her master for advice. An eminent geologist was dining at the house. When he saw the enclosures, he said: “These are Harrow pebbles; no such stones could be found at Hagley.” This showed that the letter must have been tampered with at the Harrow end of the journey. The postal authorities were communicated with, and an official detective was sent to Harrow to make enquiries. Something about the letter had, it seems, attracted notice at the local post office—perhaps the watch had ticked—which proved that the packet was intact when handed to the letter-carrier for delivery. He had not, however, given the letter to the cook, but to the butler, who passed it on to the cook. The delinquent, then, must be either the letter-carrier or the butler. The letter-carrier had been long in the postal service, and bore an excellent character. Suspicion therefore pointed to the butler. He was called into the dining-room, and interrogated. He denied all knowledge of the watch, and declared he had given the packet to the cook exactly as he had received it. But while the interrogation was proceeding, his boxes were being examined; and, although no watch was found in any, the searchers came upon some things belonging to his master. Taxed with their theft, the man pleaded guilty, but once more disclaimed all knowledge of the watch. On some pretext he was allowed to leave the room, when he retired to the pantry, and there committed suicide.