The evening world., 1891-06-08
ON LETTER WRITING.
Nell Nelson Answers The Plant Of q
Jersey Girl
Good and Bad Form in the WieId-
Ing of a Pen.
Hints that "Clarao Will Do Well
to Follow.

Or many letters that have been hurled at
the EDITORS head regarding recent article
one is printed in full 1t is from Jersey
and is Illustrative of the wordiness OF some
women's correspondence.
To the Editor.
DEAR SIR: Your article entitled Letter
Wrltiny," published recently In THE EVENING
WORLD, has interested me greatly, and hope
sincerely that Others may profit as much by the
valuable advice you have given 10 Mrs. $.
as have done. But as some things have also
puzzled me very much, would ask you TO ex-
plain yourself skill further for tho benent of
such dense and benighted beings as l seem
to be.
In the first place, what expression ought
Mrs. 3. have used instead OF "lady friend,n
which you consider such bad form, II she
wanted you to know that she was speaking of
friend of the female sex and did not want to
mention her name?
secondly, how can there possibly ba any
harm for lady TO "be obliged" to anybody
VINO confers favor upon her, TO you, for in
stance. for devoting part Of your precious
time TO her In answering her queries, rather
than "demand an answer as her just right ?"
l am sorely afraid such demands would not
receive much attention from the men OF the
present day, rs the good opinion you have of
women in considering them divine beings is
shared, alasl by but too few OF the stronger
sex.
Then, again, II ], maiden, were requested
TO register my name when going TO hotel and
DO not happen to have a card, must Iput the
word Miss before my manner You have sue
ceeded in making It very plain to Mrs s., but
whether the same rules hold good In regard to
spinsters' signatures s something am anxious
to know.
l do not incose stamp, as / want you to
answer my questions In THE EVENING WORLD;
and since you will not have my address, ] will
not be "obliged to you, but will thank you
very kindly II you will point out the mistakes
l have made In my letter, which, doubtless,
will be as plentiful as the sands of the sea in
your critical eyes. Very truly yours, CLARA.
Miss Clara.
DEAR MADAM: You make the unpardon-
able mistake of being tedious. Nothing
but the matchless love of your mother or
the honest affection of your young man
could save such an effusion from the yawn-
ing NAV of the waste basket. You are evil
IDENTIFY young woman Of much leisure, but
1t would have been saving of nice writing
material and an economy of cerebrum If
you had curtailed matters and gone out for
an April ramble. Boiled down to one page
your communication would have been less
formidable and great deal more valu-
able. You see, Miss Clara, II time
Is not precious to business man
physical force is. Good eyesight
amiability and animal tissue are injured in
the contemplation Of three-page letter
from perfect stranger. No head of an
establishment would read it, and the clerical
slave assigned the task would preface the
attack with sigh, skip the middle section
and finish with a handful of hair or
mouthful Of profane words.
1t may interest you to know that Mrs
William Astor, who has an enviable repu-
tation as a correspondent, limits herself to
200 words. Most of her formal communi-
cations are penned on the back of her call
ing card. Mrs. Judge Roger Pryor writes
beautiful letter, and, although she uses the
smallest size note paper, there is always an
Addisonian touch that makes the recipient
reluctant about destroying 1t. Mrs. Gen.
Custer is another finished letter writer the
wife of ex Secretary Whitney condenses
her letters into graceful notes, and under
the careful tutelage of her dignified hus-
band. Mrs. Cleveland never commits herself
on paper. Indeed, it is said that most of
her letters are acknowledged in two or
three polite words written across her card.
Even the great and only gentleman who
founded society is laconic. So you see
that brevity is the rule in society as we'll as
business circles
Now for the substance of your letter.
Don't call yourself names. Leave that
to your enemies. Your use of the word
"dense " is not strictly correct, the term
being one of the properties of solids and
fluids Mercury, tar, smoke and the Dead
Sea have been referred to as dense bodies,
but Hoboken damsel never
People who speak about their lady
friends" generally use the term "gents"
when they refer to the opposite sex. Both
expressions are vulgar In these days of
self-worship friend is precious thing to
have, and If philosophers are to be believed
the average is less than three to family.
Mrs. S. in all probability had an acquaint-
ance in mind, but whether the individual
was a friend or not it is nice compliment
to use the term.
Whether the critic was man or woman
is immaterial and does not concern the
public. Ii the case justifes that knowledge
the sex will be made apparent in subse-
quent words of the conversation OF writing.
The expression " be obliged is sole
cism, and like "your humble servant" an
ahsurdty. Rhetoricians classify the two
rs inelegant forms of speech. But there is
:" no harm in using them, You are the
best judge, and If they please you it
...o,.lA Ia innnnnrnnn fn chihn trhnn.o 10