LANGUAGE 



215 



good usage prescribes greater simplicity in the 

 use of capitals and punctuation. No absolute 

 rules can be given as there is great variation 

 among good writers. The first word of every 

 salutation should begin with a capital. If " sir. " 

 "sirs," or "madam " is used, you may follow the 

 dictates of your own taste about capitalizing 

 it. If the phrase, "My dear sir," were to occur 

 in the body of the letter, sir would not be capi- 

 talized, therefore it need not be in the salutation. 

 < ieneral usage prefers the capital, but the modern 

 tendency in writing is to lessen the number of 

 capitals, as well as the number of punctuation 

 marks used. Great freedom is allowed in the 

 punctuation mark which follows the salutation, 

 isome prefer the colon, while others use only 

 the comma. The dash adds nothing, so should 

 be omitted. 



The following are good forms for the intro- 

 duction of a letter: 



Mu. F. G. ABLE. 



RmheitiT, N. V. 

 My dear Sir : 



MR. 8. P. CRAIG, 



,\,u.i>,,r Ave.. Toledo, Ohio. 

 My dear Mr. Craig, 



The Body of the Letter. The first 

 requisite in good letter writing is a clear, definite 

 knowledge ol' what you want to say; the second 

 it in Mich a way that no one can possibly 

 i ni.s understand what you have said. Most 

 error- of grammar are made because the writer's 

 thought is illogical and confused. One cannot 

 be too careful about the English he uses in his 

 letters. Every letter should be written legibly, 

 properly punctuated, accurately spelled, and 

 divided into suitable paragraphs, each para- 

 graph treating of its subject clearly and defi- 

 nitely. 



Do not burden a letter with apologies for not 

 writing. Make your style easy and conversa- ' 

 tional. It has been said that the best letter! 

 writing is like the best conversation. Tduchea 

 of humor and bright glimpses of thought are 

 very attractive in social letters. A touch of 

 humor, quick and to the point, is attractive in 

 any Inter. Inn can- mii-t be taken that in bu-i- 

 letters there is no wanderinir from the point. 

 The body of the letter may be begun (111 tilt- 

 same line with the salutation or on the line below 

 uid shape of the sheet of paper will 

 mine which is the better arrangement. A 

 uniform margin of one-half inch or more should | 

 be reserved at the left-hand side of each ] 

 of the letter. 



The Complimentary Close. This 



if the concluding words of affection or 



rt, and indicates tin- relation in which the 



writer stands to his correspondent. "Yottn 



truly." or "Very truly yours." are the forms 



most frequently u-ed in I >u-iness correspondence 



to-day. The complimentary close, "Yours re- 



r "Very respectfully 



n respect i- intended'. I 



proper in writing to persons older or higher in 

 rank. " Jfoui common in l< 



of busmen between MHOD! who really i 



juaintanee with each other. ""Your 

 humble- servant." " Vo-ir obedient servant." 



are entirely out of date as meaningless conven- 

 tionalities. 



The words of the complimentary close should 

 be written on the line below the last line of the 

 letter. The first word should be begun with a 

 capital and the last word should be followed by 

 a comma. 



The Signature. The signature should 

 be written on the line below the complimentary 

 close and a little to the right. Except in the 

 most informal letters it should give the full name 

 of the writer in the form which he would use 

 in signing a document. Business men would be 

 saved a great many embarrassments if people 

 were more considerate about signatures. 



In writing to a stranger, a lady should sign 

 her name so that there can be no doubt about 

 the proper way to address her. Alma D. Bowen 

 may be written (Miss) Alma D. Bowen if un- 

 married, or (Mrs.) Alma D. Bowen if married 

 and writing in her own name, or Alma D. Bowen 

 (Mrs. Frank Bowen) if she wishes to be known 

 by her husband's name. 



The Superscription. The address on 

 the envelope should contain every item 

 sary to insure the prompt delivery of the letter. 

 It usually consists of fo'ur lines arranged in the 

 following order: name of individual or firm, 

 street and number, city, state. The firm's or 

 person's name should be written in the middle 

 of the envelope, both with reference to the top 

 and bottom, and the right and left edges. Eacn 

 added line should follow a slant to the right. 



Every year millions of letters and packages 

 find their way to the Dead Letter Office b 

 of incorrect or incomplete address. Illegible 

 writing or any deviation from the correct form 

 of addressing a letter may add one more to i he>e 

 millions already counted. Envelopes used for 

 business purposes should have the name and 

 address of the sender either written or printed 

 in the upper left-hand corner. 



In punctuating the lines of the superscription 

 it is now considered good form to omit all com- 

 mas as unnecessary, though thev are usually 

 retained in the punctuation of tlie addrr m 

 the introduction. It is left to personal judg- 

 ment whether to retain them or not. though it 

 is along the advance line to prefer the simpler 

 form when there i-> a choice. 



Note the omiss ion of commas in the following 

 superscription : 



Mlt. Ci Mil \< i I>. i:>XBURY 



Block 



1 M \nr. !- 

 California 



Titles. It is sometimes embarrassing in 



addressing a letter to know what title i 



or how to arrange the title. \Yhere there are a 



number of titles the higher presupposes the 



D.OrLL I> extinguishes the \ I', 



Or A M I' i customary, houexer. to retain 



both the higher titles. |) |\. I.I. D . if one hap- 



i them both, and the I.I. |). in such a 



case in written last. Clergymen always have 



and Ili-hopx that of Rt Rev. 



When a Hi-hop has the added title I ) D. tin- two 



are combined as. I > I I I D. Judges, mem 

 bers of Congres- ther high 



