The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-01-30

work, but most of it is engaged to
fill December orders. We could not
furnish more than two cars at the
present time, and prospects for early
shipment of future orders are not
good. Mills in this part of the
country are running full time but no
prospect of any increased production
over that of recent years.
HIT. INSIST & co. &
1t seems Uncomfortable that a
wholesale or any other firm could
have manager who would use 1876
words in telegram to convey what
should have been said in ten words
and thereby "sting''a fellow-dealer
for $500 when $1.00 would do the
job as well. But these fool things
are done right along by people who
lack something in training or are
lacking in the upper story or both.
1t was probably MAN who sent that
long telegram from Seattle and SINH
lar foolish replies of similar length
from Fl. Worth, Los Angeles,
Wichita and Atlantic and lot of
other places. II they were working
for you they would get fired, and If
woman were working for you and
doing equally foolish things you
would keep her on the job and in
struct her and be nice to her-till
you found she was not quick and
keen at learning better.
Government Blunders
During the war the government
at Washington committed so many
foolish blunders of this kind that it
makes record too bad to, talk about.
They would sometimes spend a mil
lion dollars at time, to send out
long kilograms to all the banks or
all the units of some other kind
about something that could just as
well be done by letter and have time
to spare. But can't correct these
matters at Washington, any more
than you can stop the destruction of
perfectly good airships and liberty
motors and autos belonging to the
American people in France.
Old Timey Letters n
You have probably seen old timey
letters between friends that are OBJ
solete now, just as business letters
are going out of date now that were
onsidered good form five years ago.
Here is a sample of the old-tima cor
respondence between friends and
relatives ~ take my pen in hand
to let you know that we are all well
and hope these few lines will find
you and yours the same" Then after
telling what he wanted to in the
letter he would close it with about
four lines of rhyme and then sign
it, From All to ALL"
You have probably seen such let
tiers and laughed about, them and
held the writer's in more or less con-
tempt. In a few years from now
you will look back upon the foolish
introductions and the, plimentary
closings of good many present-day
business letters with as little respect
as you have been giving to the old
time form above.
What Her Letter Contained
When l got that reply from the
library, described in the last chapter,
the letter, that it took twelve days to
get returns on from Boise, saw why
it took that office so long to do any
thing. The letter did not contain
the article had invited them to sup
ply me about the library. But it did
contain thirteen lines of apology and
excuses for not replying promtly to
my letter, and the excuses showed
that both the chief and the assistant
were in the office while my letter
was waiting to be answered. 81.
1t contained four lines asking me
to write the article that l had told
them did not want to take time to
write and which l had said they
ought to be able to write because
they already knew just what they
wanted to say. The letter also told
me that they preferred that l should
write the article because l could do
it better and therefore do justice to
the subject.
4 The letter contained twenty-nine
lines Of history of about how the free
travelling library was started, and
who furnished some of the first
books and included that old lingo
about the Trade Dollar Consolidated
Mining company of Silver City that
they were telling ten and twelve
years ago when people asked what
the free travling library of Idaho is.
The letter also contained seven
teen lines of information that
Judged was what they would want
people to know now about the library
and how to get the books and when
to return them. In the time that 1t
took to write that Twenty-Five lines
of the history Of the library and the
seventeen lines of real information,
she could have written all they
needed to say in the article designed
for publication in all the papers OF
the state. Ss
The letter also contained clip