Composition-Rhetoric Part 28

(1) ______________________________________________________ | | | Appleton, Wisconsin. | | Sept. 3, 1905. | | | | My dear Cousin, | | | | | | (Body of letter.) | | | | | | Yours with love, | | Gertrude Edmonds. | | |

(2) ______________________________________________________ | | | 192 Lincoln Ave., | | Worcester, Ma.s.s. | | Nov. 25, 1905. | | | | L.B. Bliss & Co., | | 109 Summer St., | | Boston, Ma.s.s. | | | | | | Dear Sirs; | | | | (Body of letter.) | | | | | | | | Very truly yours, | | Walter A. Cutler. | | |

(3) ______________________________________________________ | | | Paxton, Ill. | | July 3, 1905. | | | | American Typewriter Co., | | 263 Broadway, New York. | | | | | | Gentlemen: | | | | | | (Body of letter.) | | | | | | | | Very truly yours, | | (Miss) Jennie R. McAllister. | | |

(4) ______________________________________________________ | | | May 5, 1905. | | | | Daniel Low & Co., | | 232 Ess.e.x St., Salem, Ma.s.s. | | | | | | Dear Sirs; | | | | | | (Body of letter.) | | | | | | | | Mary E. Ball | | | | Mrs. George W. Ball, | | 415 Fourth St., | | La Salle, Ill. | | |

(5) ______________________________________________________ | | | Marshalltown, Iowa. | | Oct. 3, 1905. | | | | My dear Miss Meyer, | | | | | | (Body of letter.) | | | | | | Sincerely yours, | | Dorothy Doddridge. | | |

EXERCISE

Write suitable headings, salutations, complimentary endings, and signatures for the following letters:--

1. To Spaulding & Co., Wabash Ave., Chicago, Ill., ordering their rules for basket ball.

2. To your older brother.

3. To the school board, asking for a gymnasium.

4. To some business house, making application for a position.

5. To the governor of your state.

6. From one stranger to another.

7. From an older brother to his little sister.

8. From a boy living in New Orleans to the father of his most intimate friend.

+99. The Envelope.+--The direction on the envelope, commonly called the superscription, consists of the name and address of the person or persons to whom the letter is sent. This direction should be written in a careful and _courteous manner_, and should include all that is necessary to insure the prompt delivery of the letter to the proper destination.

The superscription may be arranged in three or four lines, each line beginning a little to the right of the preceding line. The name should be written about midway between the upper and lower edges of the envelope, and there should be nearly an equal amount of s.p.a.ce left at each side. If there is any difference, there should be less s.p.a.ce at the right than at the left. The street and number may be written below the name, and the city or town and state below. The street and number may be properly written in the lower left-hand corner. This is also the place for any special direction that may be necessary for the speedy transmission of the letter; for example, "In care of Mr. Charles R. Brown."

Women should be addressed as _Miss_ or _Mrs._ In case the woman is married, her husband's first name and middle initial are commonly used, unless it is known that she prefers to have her own first name used. Men should be addressed as _Mr._, and a firm may in many cases be addressed as _Messrs._ It is considered proper to use the t.i.tles _Dr._, _Rev._, etc., in directing an envelope to a man bearing such a t.i.tle, but it would be entirely out of place to address the wife of a physician or clergyman as _Mrs. Dr._ or _Mrs. Rev._

The names of states may be abbreviated, but care should be taken that these abbreviations be plainly written, especially when there are other similar abbreviations. In compound names, as North Dakota and West Virginia, do not abbreviate one part of the compound and write out the other. Either abbreviate both or write out both. If any punctuation besides the period after abbreviations is used, it consists of a comma after each line. It is the custom now to omit such punctuation. Either form is in good taste, but whichever form is adopted, it should be employed throughout the entire superscription. The comma should not be used in one line and omitted in another.

Notice the following forms of correct superscriptions:--

(1) ______________________________________________________ | | | | | Mr. Milo R. Maltbie | 85 West 118th St.

| New York.

|______________________________________________________

(2) ______________________________________________________ | | | | | Mr. John D. Clark | New York | N.Y.

| | Teachers College | Columbia University.

|______________________________________________________

(3) ______________________________________________________ | | | | | Mrs. Edgar N. Foster | South Haven | Mich.

| | Avery Beach Hotel.

| ______________________________________________________

(4) ______________________________________________________ | | | | | Miss Louise M. Baker | Nottingham | Ohio.

| | Box 129.

|______________________________________________________

(5) ______________________________________________________ | | | | | Dr. James M. Postle | De Kalb | Ill.

| |______________________________________________________

(6) ______________________________________________________ | | | | | Miss Ida Morrison | Chicago | Ill.

| | | 1048 Warren Ave.

|______________________________________________________

EXERCISE

Write proper superscriptions to letters written to the following:--

1. Thaddeus Bolton, living at 524 Q Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.

2. The wife of a physician of your acquaintance.

3. James B. Angell, President of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

4. Your mother, visiting some relative or friend.

5. The publishers Allyn and Bacon, 878 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Ill.

6. Edward Harrington, living at 1962 Seventh Avenue, New York.

7. To a friend at a seaside resort.

8. To a friend visiting your uncle in Oakland, California.

+100. The Great Rule of Letter Writing.+--The great rule of letter writing is, Never write a letter which you would not be willing to see in print over your own signature. That which you _say_ in anger may be discourteous and of little credit to you, but it may in time be forgotten; that which you _write_, however, may be in existence an untold number of years.

Thousands of letters are now on exhibition whose authors never had such a use of them in mind. If you ever feel like writing at the end of a letter, "Burn this as soon as you read it," do not send it, but burn the letter yourself. Before you sign your name to any letter read it over and ask yourself, "Is this letter in form and contents one which would do me credit if it should be published?"