Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-31
ART OF LETTER WRITING.
Commercial Methods Today and Col
lege Manners of Years Ago.
From the New York sun.

1.-THE difference between the business
courtesy of today and that OF my boyhood,"
said a big corporation lawyer in New York,
was impressed upon me the other day by
letter which my boy received from a big
concern In this city.
My boy is ten. and in his way something
Of a mechanic He has been building some
thing out in the back yard that he calls
house. lie wanted an article IN his work
which lie couldn't buy In the neighborhood.
lie learned OF the concern that manufac-
tured what he wanted and he sent in an
order for 1T, accompanied by the cash.
The letter of the concern in reply fell
Into my hands, and TO read II you would
think my boy had sent in a big order and
check. The letter thanked the boy in the
most approved commercial form, and closed
by saying that the concern trusted the ar
ticle would prove satisfactory and hoped
that IL might have further orders. / showed
the letter to the young man. and he was
somewhat surprised. He blushed to the
roots of his hair.
Il told him it was all right. but I was
anxious to know what II was he had or
dered. He told me, but l don't really re-
member what 1t was. i was mostly inter-
ested In knowing what was the amount of
cash he had invested. Then he showed me
the bill. 1t was for 2 cents. If the amount
had been $1,000 the letter of the concern
could not have been more courteous Then
recalled an incident In my boyhood-a let
ter / had sent q somewhat noted authox
and professor OF that time. and his reply.
II had witnessed the first borealis of my
Ire and was very much impressed with its
startling beauty. In spite of some inquiries
of my teacher. as well of my parents, as
TO the cause of the auroral display their
answers were too scientific for my grasp
l had at that time certain work on the
natural philosophy by certain A. NJ, and
j wrote him, asking him to explain what
was curious about. j also stated in my let
Ter that his book was part of my curricu-
Jun.
I'm reply he called my attention to page
=. paragraph -, of his book. and added ::
You cannot have studied my book to much
advantage or you would have learned the
~Sause without writing to me about it He
alsa~ added that a letter requiring a reply
should always be accompanied with an in
closed stamp
His letter, TO my youthful mind honest
" reaching out for information, was not
only IA disappointment, but almost brutal.
He was right about the stamp. In those
days, however, that was not so customary
as 1t is now. You may say that the letter
from the concern was expecting other or
ders and more cash, while my letter to the
time, and that II cost him cents to reply
TO 1t. The principle and the result are the
same. as l will show you.
The letter OF that professor caused my
father to send me to another college, for
be said he would not be the patron of an
institution that would have as a member
Of It's faculty man who could not or would
not courteously answer a letter, and espe-
clally when the letter was one in which the
writer was honestly seeking information.
l think that too many letters are written.
But the art of answering letter is one
which needs cultivating. Somebody once
said that there are times in a mans life
when decision decides his whole destiny.
There are times, also, when the way in
which you answer a letter means much to
both parties 10 the correspondence"