Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-03-20
The Proprieties of Life.

A test of breeding, or ut any rate of
knowledge of the nicer proprieties of
lie, IS IN the proper wording of notes
and letters, and especially Of the little
blllets exchanged daily among society
people. Every lady and gentleman is
expected to know the rules of spelling
and grammar; but even where these
are apparently familiar, there are GER
tainly small signs which betray the
novice. One of these leaps to sight
when one opens note and finds him.
self addressed by some acquaintance
as Mrs, Smith or MIR JONES'" some
ignorant soul who is fearful of COM
promising his dignity by too much
familiarity, and so falls into the error
OF addressing an acquaintance as If he
was sending an order to the butcher
around the corner Since 1t is the
fashion in America. as we'll as in Paris,
to initiate England-and where indeed
could we find better model?-it might
be well TO do it at once, without wait
ing for two or three years until the
Angllclsm reaches us through the north.
In the mother country an order to
grocer or butcher or any tradesman is
conveyed in the third person: Mr..
Jones will oblige Mrs. Esmond by send
ing five pounds of butter Or Mrs.
Esnond requests Mr.. Jones to send her
five pounds of butter" If the lady
wishes to write note to some one in
her own position, but not personal
acquaintance, she would begin Dear
Mr.. Smith," But if she were writing
to an acquaintance in her own rank of
life she would inevitably begin, ''My
dear Mr.. Smith, the pOssessive pro-
noun or the pronominal adjective, call
1t what you choose, but the my" in
such case means, like the Yours
truly of a business letter, nothing
more. A New Orleans lady had occa-
sion to write letter of invitation, and
being q lady and well versed in the
world, she began a note My Dear Mr..
Blank. " Fancy her dismay when the
answer came and she found herself ac-
costed as Mrs. Brown" Did the man
mean to rebuke her undue familiarity?
Did he fear she was growing too fond
Of him? or did he simply mean to avow
his own stupidity and incapacity for
taking the hints he might have CLEANED
from the phrasing OF the lady's letter?
1t was the misfortune of very dis
Greet maiden, one who had been acus-
toned all her life to the manners of
society, to spend some months in a
small interior town of the south. After
she had been for several weeks in the
place. it came to her ears that she was
considered a rather improper young
perSOn-one who might be called ''fast. )"
Upon investigation she found the idea
came from the notes she wrote to polite
young men who sent her flowers, invita-
tons, etc., in which notes she, of course
addressed them as 'tMy Dear Mr.. So
and-So." Finally one admirer holder
than the rest demonstrated, begged to
know why she didn't begin her notes
''Mr. Blank?' ''And so [ should,
responded she, ''if [ wished to order a
new pair of shoes from my bootmaker. -"
WheIeupon the young man exclaimed,
"Of course / understand! but others
will be sure to misjudge your And to
this day the young lady is probably re-
membered as very giddy girl.
Now that we have literary classes of
all kinds, why doesn't some one form
a class for the study of h CHER gram
mar, rhetoric and letter writing? The
success of such a class is predetermined
but the need of it is unquestiOnable. 1t
is not uncommon to receive a note
which begins in the first person and
ends in the third; notes that stamp
their writers as badly educated and
ignorant of the English language, as
well as of social amenities. -Neo0 Or
Ieds2S Times Democrat