Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-26
THE LOST ART OF
LETTER WRITING

The art of letter writing is supposed to
be in a poor way in these days of tele-
phones and kilograms. of post cards and
hourly deliveries of the mall but as most
people have relations in different parts
of the country they are compelled Occa-
sionally to adopt a more discursive style
than is usual in the mere necessary mes
sages which form the bulk of modern
communications.
1t is wise when writing with the inten-
ton of entertaining and gratifying ones
correspondent to remember the sort of
letter one likes to receive. The perfect
letter writer must contain mOrsel of the
egoist. because he must imagine the
chronicle of his own experiences will be
interesting to another person.. We all
like our friends to write about themselves
as We like them to talk about themselves
in moderation. What can be duller than
the letter which is string OF questions
and comments relating to matters which
concern the recipient and which he knows
about? This is treating him like child
to be amused by games in which the
grown-up playmate takes no personal
pleasure, and as he is not child and un-
sophisticated, he is more annoyed than
f1attered by what he calls humburg.
Women admittedly write better letters
than men. The women of the family re-
spect the anniversaries, write the birth
day congratulations, keep up all the cor
responrence other than business. One
woman, whose talent in this line was ac-
knowledged. wrote such entirely different
| letters to such entirely different persons
| as her straight-laced mother-in-law, her
| learned husband and her romantic fem
| mime crony, that one could hardly be-
| lieve they all proceeded from the same
| person.
| 1t is this power of adaptabiity. so dis
tinct from hypocrisy. which creates the
| charm of women's letters as of their
l I,n,,J1
| the blunder a man did of dispatching
| letters which were a mere record of
sports to an elderly invalid relation. for
| the average woman possesses much
deeper knowledge Of human nature than
| the average man. The exceptional man
| such as the poet or author, usually pos
! sesses feminine qualities as well as mas
i culine, and the art Of writing sympa'
thetic letters is part OF his heritage
| from his mother.
| The hardest letters to write are those
| in whose sincerity no one believes be-
cause propriety demands they must be
written in a certain manner, such as
letters Of confidence, congratulation ano
thanks for hospitality. In most of these
letters the truth ought to be used with
discretion, because the truth is SO otter
tactless. If one writes to man to con-
dole with him on the loss of q relation
whose fortune he has Inherited, 1t is as
we'll to avoid such an expression as al
is for the best"
The poor relation. after enjoying the
entertainment provided by the rich re
lation, should not say. Very good of 70,
to trouble with me- This conveys the
rich relations sentiments SO exactly thai
it sounds ungracious. When the enjoy
ment has not been overpowering a safe
way out of it for conscientious folk i.
the following: Il knew beforehand how
much pleasure 1 should have with you
and my expectations were fully realized.
This sounds well, and means really moth
ing.