CORRESPONDENCE. 133 



document "Respectfully forwarded to (give initial)," add your 

 recommendation, if any is required, sign, and mail, addressing only 

 "The Forester, Forest Service, Washington, D. C." 



To maintain the standard of correspondence of the Forest Serv- 

 ice, the following instructions will be carefully observed: 



Use direct, clear-cut language. Avoid unwieldly words where 

 shorter, simpler ones will express the idea equally well. Be 

 concise, but courteous. Avoid laborious statements, the essence of 

 which might well be expressed in half the space. 



Very few letters need be longer than one page. 



Never use the substance of the letter received as a preamble to 

 the reply. Unless the incoming letter has already been acknowl- 

 edged and further reference to it is necessary its subject should 

 not be indicated. 



For acknowledgments or replies, the first sentence should 

 always refer to the initial in the upper left-hand corner of the 

 letter answered, and its date; for example: "In reply to your 

 letter ( M ) of March 30 : " followed by a colon and a new paragraph. 



Except on printed forms, writing must be on one side 'of the 

 sheet only. 



All rangers' correspondence and reports must be in ink or in- 

 delible pencil. 



Supervisors will conduct all their correspondence in typewrit- 

 ing, except when away from their offices. Machines will be fur- 

 nished upon requisition. 



Letters and reports of subordinates transmitted by a supervisor 

 to the Forester must be originals, not copies made by the super- 

 visor. The supervisor will keep copies when needed for his own 

 records, or, when necessary, request the return of the originals. 



Rangers will report only to the supervisor or to officers whom 

 he may designate. They will correspond with the Forester only 

 upon personal matters or to make complaints. 



All supervisors w r ill register their telegraphic addresses at the 

 nearest telegraph office. In large towns this should be done with 

 both the Western Union and the Postal Telegraph companies. 

 This address, as it counts as part of the message, should consist 

 only of the last name of the supervisor, his headquarters town, 

 and the State or Territory. For example: " Breen, Flagstaff, Ari- 

 zona." Whenever this is done the Forester should be notified by 



