davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
HOW TO GET A LONG ARGUMENT
READ.

Very short letters may be read quite
generally, but a still more important
question is whether they will produce
conviction and bring orders. In most
lines of business it takes long story
to produce conviction, and so it has
been found profitable in some cases to
mail out very long and solidlooking
letters, only a very small percentage
of which will be read, because the pro-
portion of orders from the few that
are read is so high.
There are two methods of combin-
ing the advantages of the long and
the short. The first is to run an adj
vertisement or send out a circular let
ter merely to pique curiosity and get
an inquiry; then to deluge inquirers
with printed matter and long letters.
This method is most largely worked
by the dictionary and cyclopedia ad-
vertisers, whose preliminary advertise
ments are rather long, but whose COM
plete argument could not possibly be
condensed into even a very long let
ter. The other, largely used when the
argument is of medium length, con-
sists in Turing the reader from point
to point. A prospective customer re-
ceives circular letter with printed
matter inclosed. He is sure to look
at the corner of the envelope first, and
even if there is a one-cent stamp on
the letter he may be interested by the
advertising catchline in the corner
card. The same or some other adj
vertising catchline gets his attention
in his first glance at the letter itself,
and he looks down the page at the
underscored or capitalized phrases,
and the short, easy paragraphs. If
these lead him on to read the whole
letter he should get complete outline
Of the argument, including brief ex-
PLANTATION of how the thing works or
what it really is. proof of it's value, and
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
BALL PLAYERS TALK OF
HOLDING OWN MEETINGS
Plan to Get Their Side OF Disputed
Questions Before Magnates Still
Being Quietly Discussed.

Many ball players In the American
and National leagues are talking in q
quiet way Of an organization among
themselves along new lines. 1t Is not
proposed to oppose the club owners
in any way, but to attempt to get the
players side of all disputed questions
before the public by holding annual
meetings, just as the magnates do,
and perhaps at the same place and
time.
Ball players declare-and present
many arguments to back up their
claim-that salaries, instead OF being
reduced, should be increased, mas
much as the average career OF
major league ball player is short, and
that salary of $4,000 or even $4,000
a year for five, six or seven seasons
is not to be compared with salaries
of from $1,000 to $4,000 extending
over long period.
In support of this declaration, the
players point to the history OF the
American league. OF the 100 and
more players who took part in the
games played by that league in 1900
the first year of it's existence-only
eight are left. Hartsel, then with In
dianapolis; Hemphill and Shafer,
then with Kansas City; Elberfeld,
then with Detroit; Waddell and Con-
roy, then with Milwaukee, and Isbell
and O'Leary, then with the White
Sox, are still in the American league.
Even of the 300 men who played in
the American league in 1901, after
Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Kansas
City had been replaced by Baltimore,
Philadelphia and Boston, but very few
are left. Criger and Sullivan are the
only catchers, Isbell the only first
baseman, Larry and Williams the only
secon baseman, Bradley the only third
baseman, unless Conroy and Elberfeld
(they played third base them are also
included.
Only two of the outfielders in the
American league in 1902 are still
playing in that organization. They
are Mcintyre, then with the Athletics,
and Hemphill, then with Boston.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
MAN BADLY MAULED BY BEAR

the moisture he could get from leaves.
He began his trip down the mountain,
crawling inch by inch, and reached the
beach on the evening of the seventh
day. He was pestered by mosquitoes,
which at that time of year in Alaska
are frightful. The wounded and al
most naked man was compelled to
burrow in the leaves and moss.
His companions went in search of
him, but they did not find him until he
reached the beach. He was taken at
once to the Sitka hospital, where he
was found to be delirious and ENACT
ated.
Treatment was administered, al
though there seemed little chance that
he would recover. He was out of the
hospital, however, within 81 days.
Surgeon Grieve, in sending the re-
port, which is in the simple language
of an official communication, says:
'"This case is interesting in that it
shows the remarkable nerve of the
man, his powers of endurance and the
resistance of his system to infection.
1t also serves to disprove the time
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
Docs WeII-Earne6 Monument.

Near the hospice of st. Bernard.
Switzerland, is monument to Barry.
one of the dogs, which always intefa
ests tourists. This animal died sontS
years ago, and writer in the Wide
World Magazine tells his story: "Drr-
ing the ten years he was at the hos.
pice he saved the lives of 40 persons
who had lost their way in the snow.
On one occasion he found child, ten
years old, lying in the snow under the
influence of the fatal slumber which
precedes death. The dog warmed the
child with it's breath, and then reused
it from sleep by licking it. This much
accomplished, Barry, by lying down
on it's side, gave the child an obvious
invitation to get upon its back and
ride. The child did so, and was thus
carried to the monastery. Barry war
killed by some unknown person, prob
ably in mistake" The inscription on
the monument is: Barry, the heroic
Saved the lives of 40 persons, and wan
killed by the forty-first."
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
WHY GRAMMAR Is WORTH DOL
LARS TO THE BUSINESS MAN.

Some business houses dealing with
educated customers have always been
very careful of the grammar of their
letters so as not to offend their fas-
tidious patrons with vulgar errors.
But when customers were themselves
ignorant of what was dramatically
right or wrong, the hard-headed Amer
lean business man (who did not have
the advantage of college education)
has been inclined to say: What do
care for the grammar of letter so
long as it gets the business?"
In the last five years the average
American has learned that grammatic-
al accuracy is something quite different
from mere elegance, and even when
customers are so ignorant they don't
know the difference, the grammatical
letter gets more business than the
ungrammatical.
Grammar is merely the science of
the logical relationships of words in
sentences. When the meaning is ex-
pressed with absolute clearness and
accuracy, the rules of grammar have
been obeyed whether the writer knows
it or not. Errors of grammar mean
inaccuracy, confusion of thought, a
little cloud between the mind of the
writer and the mind of the customer.
The customer may be quite unable to
say what rule of grammar has been
violated, or that any mistake has
been made, but none the less he feels
the cloud, the words have not ex-
pressed the meaning with easy and
logical clearness. Multiply these lit
tie clouds by 100, 1000, or 10000, and
the actual money cost of a few errors
of grammar frequently repeated will
run to hundreds and thousands of dol
lars in the case of an extensive bust
ness done by letter.
The way to write dramatically is
not through the study of the science
of grammar, but through effort to Sc
cure simple, clear, straightforward
expression.
We need a simplified grammar, not
the vast body of mechanical rules and
definitions we are taught in school,
where we spend all our time trying to
master the machine without ever be-
ing able to use it in practical way.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
WERE BOTH OF MIXED BLOOD
Points Of Resemblance Between Eng
llshman and Cowboy, as the
Latter Understood IL.

THE countess de Pourtales was .
New York Lorillard," said New York
tobacconist. $50 on both sides, Of
course, she has blue blood. Yet she In
without false pride.
"At recent tobacco mems conven-
ton a director told me Of a remark
the countess made In Biarritz to an
arrogant Englishman.
This fellow boosted Of his ancestry.
The countess said that sort of talk
wouldn't be understood in the wild
west. She said an Englishman said
to q Texas cowboy once:
"T have Tudor blood in my veins
on the maternal side and through my
fathers family am a Plantaganet.'
els that SOP said the cowboy,
frightening with keen interest. My
blood's leetle mixed, too. My grand
father was Jersey tenderfoot and my
grandmother a Digger Indian squaw.
We're both half-breeds, stranger.
Come and liquor up!'"-Cincinnati
Enquirer.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
PUZZLED HIM.

The stout Teuton with the many bum
dies had been standing on the rear
platform for some blocks. Suddenly
the car came to stop and the big
man was jostled off.
"Vere vas II" he asked in a bewil-
dered way.
Why, you're off," laughed the con-
ductor. Are you on?"
The Teuton rubbed his eyes.
IT vas on, vas OFF," 3
mo, you are off; are you on?"
81 am off if I'm OFF,"
mo. You don't understand. You
are off"
''Ung how can be on uf I vas
Off"
why, listen"
"You mean to say I vas off und on?
In udder words, vas on und off ut der
same time. Vot? No? Veil, dink,
young man, uf any Won vas off ut is
you. Now, dake dot!" And gather
ing up his bundles the big man started
across the street, scowling at the car
all the while.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
USE PUNCTUATION MARKS TO
EXPRESS MEANING.

In school we are given a complicated
series Of rules on punctuation which
of course we cannot hope to remem-
Der long, and which therefore are of
no value to us in letter writing. So
most OF us stick in a punctuation mark
here and there where we think per-
haps one would be required by some
vague rule vaguely remembered.
Punctuation might be very simple
matter. however, if we used it in a
commonsense way to help us express
our meaning. My great rule is,
NEVER PUT IN A PUNCTUATION
MARK UNLESS 1T HELPS TO MAX
ING THE MEANING CLEARER Fine
shades of meaning are often expressed
by punctuation marks, if we know
how to do it. If we don't, those
shades of meaning escape us. I will
speak of few common errors that
should be avoided.
Many run two sentences together
with only comma between when the
second sentence begins with "then,"
therefore" however" or some such
word. These are not relative words
like when" Since" etc., and while
they indicate a sequence of thought,
they convey no grammatical relation
ship, and should introduce new SEN
fences with capital letters following
periods. Some stenographers always
set however" off by commas, unmind-
full of the fact that it has two different
meanings and is a relative adverb in
such clause as however much 1 in
sist."
The comma is used to separate
words or groups of words which would
be likely to be run together in a con-
fused way if there were no comma
between them. Any word or phrase
thrown in by way of explanation is al
ways set off by commas, but some in
sist on setting off by comma all rela-
tive clauses beginning with ''who,"
when" or the like, largely because
they do not understand the rule that
restrictive clauses" are not set off
by commas. The better way is to
forget all about where commas are
NOT to be put, and and insert them
only when you feel that two distinct
phrases or clauses are in danger of
being confused if commas are not
used. Common sense is a much bet
ter thing to tie to than a bunch of
mechanical rules.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
Alaskan Sea Captains Recovery from
Injuries Considered to Border on
the Miraculous.

A thrilling bear story is contained in
a report received at the navy depart
ment from Passed Assistant Surgeon
C. C.. Grieve, in charge of the naval
hospital at Sitka, Alaska.
The captain of fishing sloop was
brought to the hospital for treatment.
An examination showed that he had
been bitten no less than GA times by
a female brown bear and had received
in addition many deep scratches.
The fishing captain landed one day
on the shore of Rodman bay to hunt
for deer. On his return at night he
stumbled on the bear and her two
young cubs.
Before he could use his rifle the
bear was upon him. In the struggle
that ensued the man was bitten in all
parts of the body.
For three days he lay where he had
fallen, without food or drink except a
few berries he was able to gather, and
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
Feminine Finance

Some time I'm going to write
book on feminine Finance that will
just knock the spots off the frenzied
variety" said an Unkind Masculine
Individual the other day. "You see, I
have an economical wife," continued
the U. M. I. Last week she invested
in so pairs of silk stockings. By that
transaction she decided she'd saved
five dollars. She argued that each pair
could have cost at least ten cents
more if she hadn't bought before the
new tariff bill passed. So with the
five spot she got two new pairs of
gloves. She reckoned up the probable
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25

all roam these glorious woods from
day to day: 1 am momentary so
journer, who would SO gladly stay for
ever, and | wonder that they can
wear a mask of calmness whose her
itage is set in these pleasant paths.
Martin discovers that it is little use
going after pheasants as we had in
tended, without dog; so we borrow
line and spoon from our host, and go
down on the bay to troll for salmon.
The glittering bait whirls busily in our
wake, we row up and down and round
and about. The whole atmosphere of
this lovely island is opposite to that
strenuous, bracing prairie-life l have
so recently passed through. There
the days Jingle with work, with the
massing of moneys, the stress of toll.
Gus, the most part of the settlers have
small incomes, and are content with
the happiness of enough" rather than
the excitement of more" l sit brood
ing on the comfortable lives gentle
people live here in natures lovely
garden-island on incomes which in the
Old Country mean penury with all its
attendant humiliations and democrat
izations; / am so engrossed with
thought and bitter with envy for those
most happy ones who own the beauti-
full acres on either hand that forgot
even the tiny thrill of the whirling
spoon, and am nearly jerked out Of the
boat when a furious salmon finds him
self hooked. / collect my scattered
thoughts, and begin to haul him in
amid excited comments from Martin.
but am not quick enough. The line
Stacks an instant, great bar of indig-
nant silver flashes into the air and
deluges me with water. He has twisted
himself free, and am in horrible dis
grace. Martin says he was a Is
FOUNDER, and looks at me with such
grief and scorn that I forget Van
couver island and remember that
am out to fish. You see 1 lost him
through clumsy playing, and Martin
would forgive clumsy gazing sooner
than that After long patience l get
a three-pound rock cod, and suffer the
back. I point out the beauty Of my
catch as his rudely translucence fades
to pallor streaked with brilliant vel
low, and flushes again to red-brown,
! but the Is pounds of yellow salmon
hang in the mind of my judge, and l
am not acquitted. l suggest that the
lost magniicence may have been a
"cohoe," but even that slight COM
fort is denied me; Martin says he was
a 15-pound Spring" and I marvel at
his quickness of sight.
A tired, bloody-jowled moagrel
meets us with a zap of joy under the
cedars and arbutus. / sneak past the
| dog the rock-cod spiked on stick
!. (for the horny fins are supposed to be
poisonous), l do not even pat him as
we pass; l suspect him from his tor
pidity and gore of being much bet
ter sportsman than l have proved my
self to be.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
A LETTER TO SELL A SPECIAL
SIZE OF DICTIONARY.

Unless you bring the customer step
by step to the exact point where lies
the advantage of what you have to Of
fer, you cannot hope to make a sale.
Ask man if he wants to buy a
good dictionary, and he at once says
No." since he already has one at
home he never uses.
But you can lead him point by point
from certain deficiency he inevitably
feels to an interested consideration of
a special dictionary which you have to
offer, as follows:
Wouldn't your letters be far more
correct if you had DICTIONARY so
HANDY you could keep it on your
desk, and feel you had time to refer to
it every day?
"a pocket dictionary is so small it
is worthless.
can unabridged dictionary is so
large you cannot carry it, and 1t takes
you twice as much time to find any
thing as you can afford.
"a cheap dictionary is not worth
buying, because you never know
when it will mislead you with it's err
rors.
For the average busy man the
BEST DICTIONARY ON EARTH is
the new Condensed National
You have prepared the reader for a
medium-siZed dictionary at a reason
ably high cost, and can plunge in and
tell him all about the Condensed Ma
tional, clinching your arguments in ia
vor of 1T by offering one or two quo
tations from business men who have
actually used it in their offices. BEST
Dictionary on Earth" is emphasis with
a vengeance, and the schoolmaster
would be repealed by such sweeping
claim; but if you really believe the
Condensed National is the best die
tionary on earth for the particular
man you are writing to, he will appTe-
ciate it if you tell him so right out,
without beating about the bush. There
is certain amount of daring in such
emphasis, but it is sign of the en-
thusiasm that carries men with it,
IF 1T is BACKED UP BY CONVIC-
TON. If it is not SO backed up, it
ought not to be used. / am strong
believer in sincerity and personal con-
viction of the truth of what Is said
1t is not practical to use the under
score in type, but in typewriter let
tiers I should substitute the under
score as often as possible for capitals.
as shown above, since small letters
are more easily read than capitals,
and 1 consider the underscore more
emphatic and stronger than capital
iZing
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25

etable Compound had helped her, and
I tried it, and after the third bottle
was cured. Mrs. ALvENAS PERLING,
II Langdon Street, Chicago, Ill.
IF you are i'll do not drag along at
home or in your place OF employment
until an operation is necessary, but
build up the feminine system, and re-
move the cause Of those distressing
aches and pains by taking Lydia p.
Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, made
from roots and herbs.
For thirty years it has been the STAN
dard remedy for female ills, and has
positively restored the health OF thou;
sands of women who have been troubled
with disbursements, Inflammation, ul-
ceration, fibroid tumors, Irregularities,
periodic pains, backache, bearingdown
feeling, flatulency, indigestion, diz1-
ness, or nervous prostration. Why
don't you try itP
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
German Theater Is e.rr....I

The Berliner Tageblatt contains this
notice in recent letter from New
York: "Died-the New German the
alter. We bespeak sympathy for n.
Blitz, business manager, aud DR..
Baumbeld and Eugene Burg, artistic
leaders. The theater has already been
leased to Americans, who will dis.
pense there, in keeping with the fash.
ions, dramatic lemonade for misses
and mammas. A sad ending to a
propitious beginning. I remember the
festive opening night, with Widen.
bruch's 'Rabensteinerin.' Supersti.
tious theater people saw in the play
which dealt with ravenr a bad omen.
and when black cat ran across the
stage before the curtain went up. that
finished it,
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25

future duty on these and found she
was in about two dollars more. Still
chasing the economy bug, she an
nexed three yards of silk and calcu-
lated on net custom house saving of
rs cents. By that time 1 decided there
were limits even to economy. So I
told her she really shouldn't be SO
scrimping. With my income, 1 said,
such frugality was unnecessary-it
was. And so 1 persuaded her to go
out and squander that last rs cents
on pound of chocolates that weren't
going up to dollar in the near future
and l tell you I thought 1 was got
ting out of it easy"
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
SORE EYES CURED.
Eye-salls and Lids Became Terribly
infiamed-Was Unable to Go About
All Other Treatments Failed, But
Cuticura Proved Successful,

"About two years ago my eyes got
In such condition that was unable
to go about. They were terribly in
famed, both the balls and lids. I
tried home remedies without relief.
Then I decided to go to our family
physician, but he didn't help them.
Then tried two more of our most
prominent physicians, but my eyes
grew continually worse. At this time
a friend of mine advised me to try
Cuticura Ointment, and after using it
about one week my eyes were con-
siderably improved, and in two weeks
they were almost well. They have
never given me any trouble since and
I am row sixty-five years old. shall
always praise Cuticura. G. B. Halsey,
Mouth o. Wilson, Va, Apr. 4, 1908"
Potter Drug & Chem. Corp. Sole Props. Boston.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
Improved Make of Khaki.

The Army and the Navy Journal
announces that the quartermaster's
department of the army has achieved
very important success in devising
new grade of olive drab khaki cot
ton cloth for the summer and tropical
service uniforms for troops. This fab
ric, unlike the old khaki, rs soft, pill
able, of open texture and of very firm
fiber. 1t takes color beautifully and,
if anything, inclines to the brown
rather than to the green of the olive
shade, thus increasing the protective
character of the color.
The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-06-25
POINTS ON.LETTERHEADS.

We often hear that good stationery
and printing pay, yet we continually
see extremely poor letterheads, and
very few that are not commonplace.
A MISUNDERSTANDING letterhead
that costs little money is what the
average business man wants if he
can get 1t, but usually he doesn't
know how to get it.
First, the paper The country is
flooded with cheap bond papers, and
they are good if they can be had in
high-class color or finish. I have used
a ten-cent bond with cloth-like or
20-cent paper in 2O-pound weight.
Too often only the lighter weights are
obtainable in cheap bonds. On an
other occasion l used manila paper
that had color and finish that really
resembled parchment, the cost six
cents pound. A friend of mine
thought the idea a good one, but got
another make of paper at the same
price which somehow suggested wrap
ping paper rather than parchment, and
his letterheads looked so bad he had
to throw them away. For long time
tried to get letterhead in French
gray, but that color was to be had
only in the very expensive bonds. At
last book paper costing seven cents
a pound was put on the market and
the French gray color made the cheap
letterheads look distinguished.
Large circularizing on low-price
proposition requires cheap letterheads
to permit reasonable profit, and an
extra effort has to be made to get
something that looks rich but costs
little.
Second, the type. The days of
large and expensive autographed heads
are passing, though TYPOGRAPHY pro-
duces the simpler modern heads with
far greater delicacy and artistic effect
when they can be afforded. The aver
age business man has to use type,
and too commonly leaves the selec-
ton of the type to the printer,
whose taste is generally poor. Moth
ing is more Objectionable than type
with an old-fashioned cut, especially
If it has curlycues, is too narrow clean,
or condensed), or too thin in line. The
best modern type is round, rather
thick, with the edges not too even but
resembling fine hand lettering. Only
one face should be used (printers seem
always to be working in number of
different and unharmonious styles,
and the proportionate size of the diff
ferent items on the head is very i'm
portant. A letterhead should be read
at a glance as far as the important
parts are concerned, and even when
some text is inserted for reference
only, the effect of the whole at the