St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1906-04-07
FOR BUSINESS WOMEN
HINTS THAT SHOULD PROVE OF
GREAT VALUE.

1ANAS A1A4 01VOAO 11OVG V6
GREAT VALUE.
Ridiculous Blunders lrads in Dusi.
ness Correspondence - Busy Neu
Have No Time for Lengthy Per.
sonal 1etterS-A Business Letter
Like an Interview Should Make 9
Favorable Impression for the
withdrawing On . POSTSCRIPT,
"Just Like = woman''-How u
Address Begin and Sign Letter.
BY KATHERINE LOUISE SMITH.
Copyright. 1906. by Joseph B. Bowles.)
There is . funny story told Of q wo
Caan whose husband had just obtained
position to travel for some house
writing him that 1.-THE coal was nearl,
out, the rent due and the baby dowr
with the measles" and directing thu
letter to the firm Instead of to hin
personally. She thought it woult
reach him in that way. It did, ant
shortly after she received some enyel
c2es which her husband had addressed
correctly, beseeching rer to use them
es the interest aroused In the Office By
Ter letter had been exceedingly disa,
greeable
Not all women are as ignorant a
this one, but the matter of writing &
business letter and directing it cor
iectly is to most women q stupendoui
undertaking, fraught with possibilities
OF many errors. It is bugbear simply
because she writes one so seldom. In
social correspondence woman is usu.
silly more tactful than a man. She
fails in business correspondence be.
cause Of lack Of grounding, when q
girl, In ordinary commercial usages
A good pen, clear ink and a good
quality Of paper, should be used In
business correspondence. It goes
without saying that note paper should
not be used, and that fancy styles and
colors are to be avoided. White OF
cream colored paper is always admis-
sible and q fair weight Of bond is IN
GOOD TASTE. a hxed signature SHOULD
be adopted as soon rs one IL, @old
enough to transact business and should
be adhered to and invariably used
Usually, in America, the full name Is
signed. This is certainly desirable
when the last name is common one,
hut in any case one form should be
adhered to-. It causes confusion to re-
ceived q letter signed Mary r. Webb
one day and Mary Robinson Webb the
Eext Especially is this desirable in
signing business documents, such as
deeds, mortgages or ally paper Of q
permanent character. There may be
several people bearing the name Of
Mary r. Webb in place, but the
chances are there is only one Mary
Robinson Webb.
AS to the letter itself, it should be
grammatical, condensed without being
terse, and not longer than will be read.
Business men and women have no time
for lengthy letters. Often it is desira-
bic to write separate letters to cover
each item, and it is folly to write such
q diffuse letter that the recipient either
will not read it or Will give it super
fetal attention. Women with little
knowledge Of business are prone TO
make this mistake, and are apt to en-
ter into personal affairs. If they
guessed how amused the recipient Is
they would cultivate the art of writing
clear, pleasing letter that would car
r. weight In a few words. s@ =
.
The following questions and replies
show the difficulties that beset bust
ness writing and suggest how they can
Ce avoided:
Editor of Business Hints: II am q
married woman and do not know ex-
astly how to sign my letters. Shall
sign my name Mrs. John p. Wallace,
Jane II. Wallace, or Jane Raymond
Wallace? I never know and some
times sign one way and sometimes
another st4
This is something that many mar
ried women hesitate over. Written
variously the name causes confusion,
and every woman should adopt q stat
ed signature as soon as she changes
he1 name. For the same reason that
before marriage you should use three
names il you have them, you should
sitter marriage sign your name Jane
Raymond Wallace, Raymond beipg,sI
suppose, your maiden name. A woman
On marriage should drop her second
given name and use her former last
lame as . second name. This ident-
1es her as belonging to the family
that bears that cognomen. Il you do
sire to use your husbands name put
mrs. John p Wallace) in brackets 1t
the lower left hand corner Of the last
page. OF course it Is preferable that
your husband sign his full name, hut
Il he does not It is best for you to sign
it exactly rs he does.
Miss A. Mater signing your name
put the word (Miss) ia brackets sbetore
il. This shows your correspondent
how to address you. Remember to
place the bracket around the Miss. rs
without 1t looks ill-b1ed. In case you
receive a letter and do not know
whether to direct your answer 10 Mrs.
or Miss Blank, because your corre-
Epondent has not indicated whethsr
ehe is married or single, write simply
the name with no prefix. This may
ceem crude, hut It Is better than max