The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-05-19
BY kATHERlNE LOUISE SMITH.

I l Copyright. 1907, by Joseph B. Bowles) 1 There is funny story told of a | woman whose husband had just obtain ed position to travel for some house writing him that The coal was nearly | out, the rent due and the baby down
 with the measles" and Greeting the let ter to the firm instead of to him per
 sonally. She thought 1t would reach him in that way It did, and shortly
 after shes received some envelopes
 which her husband had addressed cor | rectly, beseeching her to use them, as | the interest aroused in the office by
 her letter had been exceedingly dis agreeable.
 Not all women are as ignorant as | that one, but the matter of writing a business letter and directing it cor rectly is to most women a stupendous
 undertaking, fraught with possibilities of many errors. It is bugbear sim- ply because she writes one so seldom | In social correspondence a woman Is | usually more tactful than man. She | fails in business correspondence be-
 cause of lack of grounding, when a | girl. in ordinary commercial usages. | A good pen, clear ink and good l quality of paper, should be used in | business correspondence. It goes with
 out saying that note paper should not
 be used, and that fancy styles and col ors are to be avoided. White or cream | colored paper is always admissible and | a fair weight of bond is in good taste. | A fixed signature should be adopted as soon as one Is old enough to transact
 business and should be adhered to and | invariably used. Usually, in America ! the full name is signed. This is cer- tainly desirable when the last name is common one, but in any case one | form should be adhered to. It causes | confusion to receive S letter signed | Mary R. Webb one day and Mary Rob-
 inson Webb the next Especially Is this desirable in signing business doc uments, such as deeds, mortgages or any paper of permanent character. There may be several people bearing
 the name of Mary k. Webb in g. place,
 but the chances are there is only one
 Mary Robinson Webb.
 As to the letter itself, 1t 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 1t IS desirable to write separate letters
 to cover each item, and it is folly to
 write such a diffuse letter that the re- clpient either will not read it or will give 1t superficial attention. Women
 with little Knowledge of business are prone tn make this mistake. and are apt 10 enter Into personal affairs. If they guessed how amused the recipi-
 ent is they would cultivate the art
 of writing a clear, pleasing letter that
 would carry weight in a few words. 
 The following questions and replies show the difficulty that best busi-
 ness writing and suggest how they can be avoided
 Editor of Business Hints: T am fN1.r .1 A.
 actly how to sign my letters. Shall sign my name Mrs. John P. Wallace, Jane R. Wallace, or Jane Raymond
 Wallace? I never know and some time sign one way and sometimes anoth- err
 This is something that many married women hesitate over. Written var
 iously the name causes confusion, and
 every woman should adopt a stated signature as soon as she changes her
 name. For the same reason that be-
 fore marriage you should use three