Postmaster Beakes' Report

The receipts of the Ann Arbor postoffice from the sale of stamps, envelopes, postal cards and box rents for the year ending July 1, 1895, were $30,719.85, au increase of $2,153.55 over the corresponding receipts for the year ending July 1, 1895. This increase is in the sale of stamps, postáis and enyelopes, for owing to the extensión of the free delivery system and to the improvements in the old free delivery district the box rents feil off from $719.40 for the year ending July 1, 1894, to $593.60 for the year endiug July 1, 1895. The next year bids fair to mark a still further reduction in box rents, as the reduction in box rents did not begin until after the flrst quarter of the past year had elapsed and the box rent receipts for July of this year were $39.30 less than the receipts for July of last year. There were only two months during the pastyear when the receipts were less than the coresponding months of the preceding year. These were the months of August 1894, when the decvease was $11.10 and the month of September, when the decrease was $25.78. Every other month shows a marked increase, aggregatingfor the year $2200.43. The months of the greatest increase were March, $690.02, February, $473.98; October, $333.95, and May, $304.88. The bulk of the increase has been in the past six months, when the sales increased $1,627.06 over the correspondáis six months of 1894. The month of August is the smallest month in the year at the postoffice, the receipts in 1894 being $1,482.20 during that month as against $3,110.38 receipts for the month of October. The three best months in the past year were March, October and January.' The three best months of the preceding year were April, October and January. As the postoffice receipts are a pretty good indication of general business about the city, the marked and encouraging increase of the past six months is an excellent indication of reviving times in business circles.