Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-12-01
LETTER WRITING.
some Good Advice to the Girls About
Their Correspondence.


some Good Advice to the Girls About
Their Correspondence.
A few simple rules should be borne in
mind for guidance, whether in a letter
or note In the first place, there is
the manner of address Begin any note
or letter to an acquaintance, or per-
son to whom you write for favor. an
inquiry, an autograph, etc, Dear, etc,
etc" The dear is a mere matter OF
social form, as meaningless as any com.
monplace society phrase, but accepted
by the best authorities as correct. II
writing an order TO a workman who is
to be employed. or If answering a note
or letter addressed in the third person.
use that formula, i. G., miss Tor Mrs.
- would like A. b. to come here at
nine a. m. and attend to the carpenter
ing needed or "Mrs. A. is in receipt of
Mr.. BIS note of the 18th, and she re-
grets she is unable to give him the in.
formation desired" II is inelegant to
begin any letter ''Friend etc" al.
though adopted by many well-educated
people The dear" etc, in such ease
should be used.
More mistakes, however. are made In
signatures. and here would also sug
gest a few simple rules. Never sigr
your name with prefix of any kind
The reason is obvious If you sign yom
letter, Yours truly, Miss Mary Smith,
for example, you make use of title.
the Miss having nothing whatever 70
do with your name, which is your sig
nature Therefore etiquette requires
you should sign as, for example, Yours
truly Mary Smith" In the event OF
writing to any firm or person who
would in return need to know how tc
address you put Miss" in brackets
little distance to the left Of the sigma.
ture. In addressing gentleman OF
business in a purely formal manner
write thus: Charles ]. Brown. Esquire.
Dear sir And in such cases always
sign "Yours respectfully, etc. etc. In
writing letters to your friends or ac.
quaintances make what you say not
only worth reading. but as free as pos
sible from all affeetation. Say very
little about the affairs of others. and
be guarded in what you write of your
own private concerns; but apart from
this do not pick and choose words, nor
feel Obliged to consider how each SEN
tence shall be rounded" Your letters
will. in case You are constantly consid-
ering your mode of expression, be dull
and stupid and not worth their postage
Write to your friends as you would talk
20 them.
In the last century letter-writing
was a fine art, and as result we have
the most charming and perfect pictures
of the times. Horace Walpole Lady
Mary Wortley Montagu, Nine. d'Arblay
are only three among a hundred famous
letter-writers of that day when to send
a letter any distance cost some shil-
lings. and therefore all ''the news" as
well as the social aud domestic events,
was chronicled. Nowadays people seem
to have no time for real correspond !
ence. which should be in every house |
hold and family one of the most in |
teresting elements. A postal card or a |
brief note seems to suffice for the most |
important occasion. and the increased |
postal facilities make this sort of dis |
patch business easier. And here il /
may be said that you should never
write a letter to friend or stranger
on postal card. When you notify the
iceman that your mother will need an
extra quantity Of ice on the morrow. or
the eoal-dealer that the cellar needs re-
filing. you may use postal card. for 1
this is a convenience to the iceman and /
but avoid postal cards for
anything but the very simplest and
least private of messages. -ilarper's
Young People.