The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1925-04-30
EXCURSIONS IN
CORRESPONDENCE
~ THOMAS ARKLE CLARK
Dean of Men, University Of Illinois.

tENTF| ~ 90
Form
nIRST impressions are often the
L most lasting ones, and even though
they may later be shown to have been
erroneous. their effect is hard to re-
move. The newspaper believes in "a
good front page" and does its best
through this to attract and hold the
attention. Good form, the arrange
ment of the material of a letter upon
the page. does much to get the atten-
tion Of the reader at the outset, and
to please him.
Attention should he given to para
graphing. Some writer's make every
sentence into a separate paragraph,
thus destroying all proper emphasis,
and others make no paragraphs at all,
and so tumble all their ideas into n
grand. unassorted mess, like a family
of twelve crowded into a Ford coupe.
Paragraphs I'm the ordinary letter
should. usually, rot exceed more than
one hundred to n hundred and fifty
words.
II YOU WISH NObA ANhtNA ~ hNNN NRf
YOU will be sure to leave an even, reg
ular margin IN the left side of the
sheet. varying in width from an inch
to an inch and a quarter. A letter
without a margin looks as sloppy, and
untidv. as a man without a collar. A
margin is not necessary Upon the right
side of the sheet.
BEGINNINGS and endings are impor-
tant. We are now much less formal
in the use of these conventional forms
than our forefathers were. The salu-
tation of a letter is not to be taken
literally; there is no suggestion of af-
lection in Dear Miss Switzer," or In
MY dear Eleanor; it is simply a
conventional form of salutation like
"How do you do?7 and implies no state
of mind, but is simply a method OF
getting started with the letter.
The business letter addressed to a
firm should begin MY dear Sirs,'
Gentlemen" or Dear Sirs." If to an
individual, one may say Dear Sir"
NV dear Sir" or My dear Mr..
Johns" The last of these forms in
each case is the least formal, and the
most friendly. The more formal forms
are used when there is 10 personal ac-
ou%aintance between the persons con
Quoting the correspondence. If the
persons concerned are close friends.
it is permissible to say, MY dear
George"
These complimentary beginnings, eX-
centing when they include proper
names. should in most cases have the
first and last words only capitalized.
such complimentary beginning is
usually preceded by the name and adj
. dress Of the one to whom the letter is
written. as follows;
Mr.. George Johns,
Yorkville,
Illinois.
No one now who pays any attention
70 recognized conventional form, ever
begins a letter Sir or "A[r. Johns"
or "Friend Ford" or even Dear
Friend" There is no reason for this,
excepting that it marks n as green"
or inexperienced. It is like an adult
speaking of his father as papa or
pa
The complimentary close Of a bust
ness letter should be "Truly yours"
"very truly yours" "Yours truly" or
yours very truly" Only the first
word in any Of these is capitalized,
and n form is as good as another. 1t
IS good form, when addressing a SUI
neriOr officer to end the letter, Very
respectfully yours" or Respectfully
YOURS but in these days when one
man thinks he is as good or better
than another, it is seldom done. Abb
breviations may be used in a business
. letter. but it is better not to do so.
The friendly or social letter should
not begin with the address of the per
! son written to. but with the salutation
| as. "Dear Miss Warner Dear Cor My
dear) Roger There is little or no
difference between Dear Roger and
"Mv dear Roger" The address of the
one TO whom the social letter is writ
ten nav he placed at the close of the
letter in the lower left hand corner,
no authorizations being used.
II is better to sign at least one, full
given name, since there are so many
men with the same initials, and this a
woman should always do, in order that
her sex should be Indicated.
A married woman in signing her
name to a letter should use her own
name. as "Elizabeh Is. Johnson" and
in writing to anyone. excepting to her
intimate friends, she should indicate
tbe fact That she is married, by writ
ing her own name followed by her
husbands name (NIrs. o. c. Johnson)
in parentheses.
ones signature should be plainly
written so that there viii be no con-
fusion in the mind of anyone who
tries to make it out. In a typewriter
letter. it is a good plan for business
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