The Richardson Shoe Company, Syracuse, N. Y., Jan. 31, 1905. Gents, — Rip, rip, rip! is the order of things with us since we received that last case of so-called ladies' fine shoes. What are they made of, anyway? Is it leather, or an imitation, and what did you use for stitching, paper or thread ? Our patrons are returning shoes from that case on an average of three pairs a day. What do you suppose we are going to do with such shoddy? We thought you were real shoe men who understood their business. We expect to hear from you right away, quick. Yours, etc., Edward Walsh & Sons. The sarcastic reply which such a letter as the foregoing might provoke is exemplified in the following. Nothing is to be gained by such a retort. The writer falls to the level of his correspondent, accomplishes nothing, and perhaps drives away a good customer. Messrs. Edward Walsh & Sons. Binghamton, N. Y., Feb. 2, 1905. Gentlemen, - Your very kind favor of the 31st ultimo is received and we are obliged to you for your pleasant way of putting things. Your letter comes to us as a beautiful sunbeam on a dark day. You must have had quite an inspiration to enable you to write such a gem. Now when you get cooled off and can come down to business, send us the shoes returned to you, together with the balance of the defective case, and we will see whether we can do anything for you. Again thanking you for your favor, we are, Yours truly, The Richardson Shoe Company. In replying to Edward Walsh & Sons the writer should have completely ignored their contemptuous tone, and should have been dignified and courteous. The careful correspondent would have displayed no temper or dissatisfaction, but would have written somewhat as follows: Binghamton, N. Y., Feb. 2, 1905. Messrs. Edward Walsh & Sons, Syracuse, N. Y. Gentlemen: - Replying to your favor of the 31st ultimo, we are sorry to learn that you are having trouble with the last case of shoes we shipped you. We are surprised that there should be any defect in these goods, for they had the usual careful inspection you are aware all our goods receive. All our inspectors are men of long experience, and we pay them large salaries to prevent conditions such as you have had to meet. We regret the annoyance and inconvenience suffered, and if you will return to us by express, at our expense, all of the defective shoes, we shall take pleasure in giving you full credit for their cost. We will make a thorough investigation into the cause of this failure in our materials and workmanship, and use our utmost endeavors to locate the fault and apply a remedy. An early reply will oblige us. Very truly yours, The Richardson Shoe Company. The following is a copy, slightly modified, of a letter actually sent out by a large business firm; the student will profit by studying it as an example of initiative courtesy: Miss Helen Tracy, New York, March 1, 1905. Dear Madam:- Without imposing the penalty of the slightest obligation, but rather as a mark of appreciation to those to whom we owe much, we invite the public school teachers of this city to present their salary checks to our Department of Accounts for payment. We trust you will be disposed to accept this service. Respectfully yours, Dept. of Accounts, Palmer-Hilliard Co. IV. FOLDING AND ADDRESSING LETTERS Paper. There are two sizes of business letter paper which are now used to the practical exclusion of all others. The larger size is approximately 81 by 10 inches; and the smaller, note or memorandum, size, though it varies greatly, is usually about 8 by 5 inches. The larger size is used to-day almost universally for business letters. Folding. In folding a letter sheet of the larger size the following method has the advantage of being both simple and con The letter now lies exactly as it should before being placed in the envelope. It may be properly inserted in the following manner: Hold the envelope in your left hand with the back of it uppermost and the flap opening toward the right; then, taking in your right hand the letter as it lay after folding, without turning it over, insert it, putting in first the edge that was folded last (Fig. 3). Only envelopes of such size FIG. 3 should be used as will neatly, but not too closely, fit the letter sheet after it has been correctly folded. The advantages of this method are obvious: (1) when so folded a letter may be inserted in the envelope and removed from it with ease; (2) when the receiver has removed it in the usual manner, by cutting the upper edge of the envelope, the letter unfolds right side up and ready for him to read. The smaller size paper is folded in two different ways: (1) If it is used as a long, narrow sheet, that is, with the shorter edges at top and bottom, it should always be of such width as will not exceed the length of the envelope. The lower edge should be folded from you a little less than one third the length of the sheet; the upper edge should then be folded so that it projects slightly beyond the folded edge at the bottom and nearest to you. It is to be inserted in the envelope as described above. (2) When this size paper is used as a short, wide sheet, that is, with the shorter edges at the sides, it is sometimes cut so that it is longer from top to bottom than the length of an ordinary envelope. In such a case it is proper to fold up the lower edge as far as is necessary to make the distance between the top of the sheet and this fold slightly less than the length of the envelope; then proceed as described above. The Envelope. Care spent in addressing the envelope of a letter amounts to an insurance of its undelayed transmission and proper delivery. While many thousands of letters, because they are incorrectly or incompletely addressed, go to the Dead Letter Office every month in this country alone, comparatively few adequately addressed letters are lost or wrongly delivered by the postal authorities. It must be evident to every one that an inadequate or incorrect address upon an envelope defeats the very purpose of a letter; that any effort made in the composition of a letter so addressed is absolutely thrown away; and that, moreover, not only is time and labor lost, but opportunities destroyed and possible advantages wasted. The parts of an address when correctly written attract little notice, but when they are incorrect or incomplete, their importance becomes momentous. The continued and increasing difficulties encountered by postal clerks everywhere, as a result of illegible or incorrectly spelled addresses, seem to demand the reiteration of a number of facts that should be matters of common knowledge. The name should be written as it is in the inside address, that is, with reference to spelling and the use of initials, as the addressee himself is accustomed to write it. The same careful distinction with regard to titles should be exercised. The other parts of the address should be such as to render the delivery of a letter to the right person easy and sure. Nothing essential, such as the street and house number in cities and large towns, or the county of small towns and villages, should be omitted. In writing the abbreviations of the names of states, the greatest care should be taken always to use only the official abbreviations which are given on page 51. Other abbreviations, such as "Col." and "Cal.," when carelessly written, can not be distinguished. When street and house number are given, it is best to place them on a separate line; likewise, usually, the name of a state when it is spelled in full. But it is impossible to frame rigid rules that will meet every contingency of form. The principle of graceful arrangement and balance should, as shown in the examples (pp. 49-52), govern the location and distribution of the various parts. Note that the name is always written centrally on the envelope, and |