Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-27
PERPLEXING LETTERS
THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY
LEADING BUSINESS FIRMS.
Correspondent Who Pay but Little
Attenton 10 Necessary Details
snes Incidents Noted

How many persons OF every hundred are
able to write business letter, conveying
the exact meaning they wish to express?
How many can express themselves with
such comparative lucidity that an approx
mate Interpretation Of their wishes can
be arrived at? How many have any idea
that date lines, signatures and proper ad-
dresses have anything to do with the eff
fcacy Of business letter.
These are a few Of the questions which
Washington firms. especially the mail Or
der concerns. have daily asked themselves
these many years. but to which they have
received only the unsatisfactory answer of
the statistics on illiteracy.
All of the big mail order houses main
tain dead letter departments in which corps
OF clerks struggle with the decfphering HER
ways to trace out the writing. All Of the
letters contain money and about % per
cent Of the senders are never identified.
An afternoon in the dead letter depart
of as much amusement as ever humorist in
vented. After the deluges Of mail have
been received and the greater part disposed
of by the general mall force. the dead let
ter department gets its consignment of I'M
decipherables and straightway sets to work.
The experts In "hen track chirography
sit about table on which the letters are
heaped and there they subject each missive
to a careful scrutiny and thousand curl
GUS tests. AS rule these letters ordering
goods from big catalogues are defective in
signature or place Of residence. If the let
ter does not bear the place Of the writer's
residence the postmark may. give the clue.
but only too often this Is obliterated When
this hopeless stage Is reached the letter Is
passed about to each of the experts In
turn, who try to recognize the hand OF
some regular pa tron of the house. For 1t
frequently happens that a person in some
far away country sends several undecipher-
ables year. the clue to which has at
last been found in a clear postmark.
Sampe Missive.
II the scrawi reminds the expert Of any
previous sample Of the same shortcomings.
the files are searched until the writer Is
traced. Here is a sample OF this variety:
Deer ST. Please send me pare no. 9
sheers and some gloves like on page IS
catlog. Send rite away for l need them.
They amt no stores here and make the
gloves small fer lady hand black Will be
rite. James Tussaday."
Inclosed was a So bill. There was no
town mentioned, and the postmark was
obscure When all the experts had taken
a look at the curiosity one Of them remem-
bered a former communication from Mr.
Tussaday, who had been discovered to De
a resident in Virginia. Mr. Tussaday got
his order and will likewise get all orders
in the future unless he should move and
have to be redscOvered Though he had
sent the nrm DOZENS OK OTOeES anu Hdu
been advised-nay exhOrted-to exercise
more care in his communications. he could
not master the game. Once he had In
deed named his post Office, but that time he
forgot his signature and he would have
lost out If one Of the experts hadn't recog-
nized the chirography.
When there Is no other clue but more
or less deciphetable postmark a letter OF
inquiry Is addressed to the postmaster or
the town asking that search be made Tor
the sender of the order. AS a rule this DIS
covers the person. though not always One
big store has tust had framed an interest
ing correspondence of this sort. A woman
sent in a 9O-cent order. with no signature,
no date line, The postmark was blurred.
The experts were stumped. and filed the
letter with thousands more to walt devei-
opment A second letter came In worse
condition than the first. but devoting more
space to ralkipgr the firm over the Goals Tor
the fate. Of that 30 cents. Still nothing
could be done. One day last week the
third missiye came: 90 p - -'7.'s a.
gents. What are you going to do about
my order for which / send you 30 cents iast
month amt you got any nat iron OF SO
what do you say SO fer In the ca1aIos.
Don't send anything to the postmaster
cause he steals everything he always says
they amt no mail fer me.
Again no clue to the frate person ana
the manager is waiting for more light.