The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-13
ART or LETTER WRITING.
Commercial Methods To-day and College
Manners Of Years Ago.

4The difference between the business
courtesy Of to-day and that OF my boy
hood" said corporation lawyer in New
York, was impressed upon me the other
dav by a letter which my boy received
from big concern in this city.
aMy boy is 10, and in his way something
q, n mechanic. He has been building
something out in the back yard that he
calls house. He wanted an article in
his work which he couldn't buy in the
neirhborhood. He learned of the con-
Germ that manufactured what he wanted
and he sent in an order for it, accompanied
by the cash, .,
@The letter of the concern in reply fell
into my hands, and to read it you would
think nv boy had sent in big order and
check. The letter thanked the boy in the
most approved commercial form. and
closed by saying that the concern trusted
the article would prove satisfactory and
hoped that it might have further orders.
Il showed the letter to the young man.
and he was somewhat surprised. He
blushed to the roots Of his hair
"I told him it was all right but l was
anxious to know what it was he had or
dered He told me, but don't really re-
member what it was. / was mostly inter
ested in knowing the amount of cash he
had invested. Then he showed me the
bill. 1t was for two cents.
"If the amount had been thousand
dollars the letter of the concern could not
have been more courteous.
-IAen recalled an incident in my boy
hoodfa letter had sent a somewhat noted
author and professor Of that time, and
his reply.
Il had witnessed the first aurora borealis
of nv life, and was very much impressed
with it's startling beauty. In spite CT
some inquiries of my teacher, as we'll as
OF my parents as to the cause OF the auroral
display, their answers were too scientific
for my mental grasp.
II had at the time certain work on
natural philosophy by certain A. NJ, and
| wrote him, asking him to explain what |
was curious about. | also stated In my let
ter that his book was a part of my curri-
cuum.
"In reply he called my attention TO page
-, graph ----- OF his look and added:
You cannot have studied my book to much
advantage or you would have learned the
cause without writing to me about it.
He also added that letter requiring a re-
ply should always be accompanied with an
enclosed stamp.
His letter, to my youthful mind, honestly
reaching out for information, was not only
disappointment, but almost brutal. He
was right about the stamp. In those days,
however, that was not so customary as it
il now.
-You may say that the letter from the
concern to my boy was courteous because
the concern was expecting other orders
and more cash, while my letter to the col
ege professor was an incursion upon his
time, and that it cost him two cents TO reply
to it. The principle and the result are the
same, as will show you.
1.-The letter of that professor caused my
father to send me to another college, for he
said he would not be the patron of an in
stitution that would have Ms a member of
its faculty a man who could not or would
not courteously answer letter, and es-
pecially when the letter was one in which
the writer was honestly seeking informa-
ton.
Il think that too many letters are written.
But the art of answering a letter Is one
which needs cultivating Somebody once
said that there are ines in "A mans life
when decision decides his whole Ge,'i my.
There are times, also, when tho way Ia vi lch
you answer letter means much to both
partie to the correspondence.