The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-11-26
"A Study in Business Style

When Rigdon, hung out. his, sign as
contractor and, III builder in the little
7x9 shanty on the corner Of his stone
yard. the: community knew him as
man Of sound business Judgment, bur
as llliterate as ever escaped AN early
For year or ! 50 % he managed t. pet.
office and always submitted his bids
Fon work in his own handwriting. But
his estimates were not pretty to look
at. A fourth grade boy could beat his
penmanship, which showed q contempt
for capitals, except g in. the wrong
places; and close. acquaintance with
real old-fashioned phonetic spelling.
I , But he finally. had to advertise for a
stenographer. with experience.
When Miss Ryan answered his ad.
vertisement she produced a high school
Ediploma tied with. a, bright blue rib
bon as her only recommendation from
her last Aplace. :.
She started out by training him. She
saw his limitations and she wanted to
be helpful. He had his own ideas about
correspondence and he couldn't dictate
it, so he used to~write the letters him
self and give them to her to copy on
the machine. She went to editing them
breath away to notice the change be-
tween the manuscript and the finished
product when his first one came back
TO- him, for his signature.
gave it to you to copy, not to
alter" he said, .gruffy.
T But don t you think it would sound
+ 'lt0h, let It co." snapped Rigdon.
my u.
Y He knew how rough it was and so
walked away. to avoid further discus
sion. But after. that he signed the let
ters without comment His first sur
prise at her assurance was followed bv
admiration of her tactful WAYS and her
perfect confidence. So he left her to
have her own way. j.
u IN getting worse" he said one
morning as he handed her a letter.
; : mAre you sick'' she asked, anx-
/: No; it ism It that. I IN well-but
my letttesrs-pd better go to the night
ga term in commercial correspond
enee would certainly help,' she said,
calmly.
.sSuch beautiful nerve;'''. he thought.
-Four weeks later he composed a
business note founded on model given
IN the nlght-school class and left it on
her desk with this written request:
Kindly read and give me your
Ideas as to how I can improve it..
Her comment, which pleased and
amused him nightly, was:
"Shows marked progress beyond all
previous efforts. Be careful of spelling,
which still in some cases sounds better
Three weeks later another attempt
vxyoc id
ma9W about about theater Wednesday
The comment, Improvement contin-
ues. Most encouraging. Theatrical
reference irrelevant, but consent
They both enjoyed. the system, which
savored somewhat of the mysterious,
altbo they knew it, was absurd. :,
one morning, a month after the pre-
vlous letter had been passed upon.
Rlgdon 8 usually quiet, heart .futtered
considerably as he watched his mentor
| from over the top OF his newspaper
while she read this note, which he had
left on her desk: -"
dear Kate: T.. This is a business
note, but L never saw one like it
at night school,. It is. therefore original
with me-. am satisfied love you and
! that | shall not be- happy unless you
VIII become myGlfe IS par tner. From
what you said last evening I think
You can put up with me, in spite of the
fact that 1 can It spell as well as I
shall under further instruction. :. I
know you have a right to reject any
and all bids, but.,I hope for your "a
vorable and prompt reply.D 49, D::<,.::.,,-,....
He: considered it an encouraging
symptom that the perusal Of his note
was accompanied with a slightly
heightened color and the suggestion Of
a pleased smile. AS she put the letter
down he went out. .s$E%
When he returned at noon she had
gone to lunch. On his desk was an
envelope which Enclosed his letter, with
the foil lowing Endorsement: ~
"Style excellent and is approved.
Remarkable progress in freedom of ex-
PRESTON Suggestion as to partnership
will be taken under ,advisement. ,Fa-
vorable report probable. Lovingly,
:. :A''''. 49,. Kate. y +