Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-05
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

| any good letter, but they seem peculiar
ly those of the woman's letter. Women,
by reason Of their character and call
ing, have a simplicity of thought proc
esseS unknown to most men. We use
| simplicity as an antonym for COM
plexity merely. They think directly and
TO the point, despite their legendary
reputation for subtlety.
This quality stands out in their let
| tiers, especially in those which detail
with what men would be tempted to
call unimportant affairs. It Is realized
clearly by women that these unimpor-
tant matters are really quite important,
since they constitute so large a part
even Of the most vigorous or exciting
J life.
A woman, when writing a letter, is
not afraid to include the most trivial
items. She feels sure that II they are
Of some interest to her who writes they
will be of equal or almost equal in
terest to him or her who reads.
Honesty Is part and parcel OF the
| foregoing. And here we might well
bring in our seventh good quality, lack
of fear and suspicion. Despite that adj
verse reputation, women commonly are
more honest in expression than men.
In their letter writing, In particular,
they are more apt to say right out what
they think. And this makes for reader
| interest.
Unlike men, who almost always have
something up their sleeve, women write
straight from the shoulder without fear
ing that they may be misunderstood.
Nor do they infuse their words with
an Ill hidden suspicion. A heart is a
heart with them, and they accept 1t as
such.
x **
In giving detailed information, women
are masters. Nothing too small for
them to include, with the result that
their letters take on some aspects OF q
carefully written work of fiction which
achieves results by careful handling
of small matters. The masculine letter
writer is too prone to be resentfm OF de-
tails. He longs for grand strategy, and
wants to play the kings and queens all
the time. whereas the feminine writer
knows that good pawn play is the es-
sence of the game.
informally is a quality readily
secured by those who are willing u
waste a few words. Men, under the
dominion of business, stress the savec
word, but women care little whether
the telegram goes in 10 words or 20, anc
they are right. No woman ever in
vented the curt, concise. complete letter
| WHICH pIahl NAoCOhASCoy' -
effect. It took some self-sufficient. con-
ceited man to evolve that masterpiece
Il 4
We take it as an axiom that women
in the mass, are kinder than men, anC
by reason of their tenderness and lacl
Of inferiority complex in the handling
of this trait are able to more readily
infuse it in letters Certainly the woman
who wrote about the ST. Bernard pup
pies made the reader feel that he ough
to love them, too, simply because
she did.
And then there is the large matter o.
interest in the reader. Men are inclined
to write because they must, but womer
because they like to. II a man hat
written the ST. Bernard letter he woulC
have wanted to get it over as quickl.
as possible because he had no real in
terest in the person to whom he wa
writing.
The reader of the dog letter got tn
idea quite naturally that the woman
kennel owner really saw him as on
interested in dogs and as one who woulC
take good care of one Of her charges
She was interested in him because h
; was interested in her and her dogs. g
love you because you love the things
love"
Yes, these are the qualities of all goot
letters. whenever written by, In what
ever age, whether with pen and ink
pencil or typewriter, on good or poo
paper, but a reader may feel more SUR
of finding them in letter written by {
woman, We believe.