Daily Republican., 1883-06-25

" twas our llgnt you saw, ne salu,
"Ani I'm the one to blame"
"Twas little lisht-how small thing.
And trihing was its cost
Yet for want Of it ship went down,
And hundre sudls were lost.
Letters and How 10 Write Them.
We feel that we are launching our
boat on an ocean when we propose TO
treat of letter writing, though, as a sub
ject, it rather partakes of the dry than
of the water element.
In these days "ot light and leading"
etter-writing forms a large part OF the
worlds occupation.
Even more than when Shakespeare
wrote, do toread and write y seem
to "come by nature
Still, barring AL necessary letters of
business, etc, the letter-writing craze
Is essentially feminine. Men are too
busy, and, perhaps, too sensible, nowa-
days to indulge in letter-writing merely
for the sake Of letter-writing.
For many ladies the postlnan's visits
are more than an event in the day.
They are the event yearned for, even
from the entrancing depths of II
recent novel; and next in Importance
comes the scribbling and sending forth
of other countless missivts TO fill peo-
pies wastc-paper baskets on the NOR
row or to make spills, if they are writ
ten ON respectable paper.
And these letters often, very often,
have hardly au idea among them
What trial to us are such otfsprlEgs
of the opens of ready writers.
We creep through their many pages
impatiently after the idea, like A cat in
quest ola mouse.
Here it is. No, it isn't Well, then,
here at last Not a bit of it, Surely
can catch ii glimpse OF it's tail "
Quite II mistake. Last page. 1t must
be somewhere. No; can il be that there
isn't one? Truly it is so, and yet must
we wade through hat-a-srore OF closely
written pages, out Of resp ct TO tho one
scanty idea which may possibly reward
lis for our pains
Let us have pity on our friends. Let
us not take up our pens without having
in hand a stock, even if it be a small
one, of IDEAS. One sensible idea Is
worth hundred weight of gush
If ideas do not tlow easily, let MS con-
tent ourselves with II short letter.
The penny.a-liner notion that, how
ever little one may have 10 say, the
sheet must be filled, is cruelty to ones
correspondent.
Letter writing never was meant to be
al end in itself, but only u useful
means of communication. A letter
run TO seed is a wearisome thing indeed.
Next in importance to ideas, comes
the deci ipherableness of letter.
If we don't intend our friends to he
able to read our epistle, why write at
allo If we do, why not write clearly ?
Ilcgible letters are a vtXatiuus piece
of guess work to the reader, aiiu gen.
orally bring him no adequate reward
when ali $ said and done.
1t is n maxim seldom respected nowa-
days, that "all that is worth doing
is worth doing well"
Shall we not allow this to apply to
etter-writing, and not rest content with
words of which the first couple OF
letters are tolerably clear, the rest a
nonuescript?
Let us remember that, as a master Of
the art of writing will tell US
"True ease in writing comes from
art, not chance,
Asst ,ose move easiest who have learn
ed to dance"
Also much to be avoided is that prod
igality of underlining, and OF notes OF
exclamation, in which young ladies es-
pecially indulge.
| l,n Il h.A Il,
tied with common sense enough TO
place his emphasis, and to feel surprise
ut the proper places.
Another woe to the letter-reader,
which his correspondent must avoid,
is the crossing and re-crOssihgo his let,
ter
Such crossings are almostas awkward
TO traverse as those of II big thorough.
fare.
Some people, too, have a mania tol
postscripts. Like all manias, it should
be restrained within reasonable limits.
An other trial to the recipient of let
ter is he habit some people have OF
dashing down II sort Ofatter thought in
side the envelope.
In opening the epistle, this is most
likely to be hopelessly lost, or at least
to entail great deal OF trouble i'll piec'
| ing its fragments so as to be readable
Another pttall into which feminine
letter writers are wont to fall is that
of exrravagant express ions.
"The truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth" should be theil
motto.
Eccentric beginnings and endings tt
letters are bad, and the absence of any
commencement at all is something less
than commendable.
And why, in the name of perspicuity
do people sign themselves by their lni'
tials only"
Who is to say what 81. J. stands
for, out of the whole catalogue of names
beginning with that letter-nay, who
ls even to determine thereby the sex OF
the writer? Again, if a married
woman, writing to a stranger, does not
wish to be addressed as an old maid
or an old maid vice versa, why does
she not make use OF the easy remedy u
F." Miss " or - Mrs. bracketed after the
name?
Above all, we say with strong
emphasis, avoid the cut.anddrie,
"polite letter-writer at all costs, ever
at the risk of being rude.
| BE Yourself, Write simply an'
naturally, not without thought, but
without strain.