PRACTICE IN LETTER WRITING

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Bryant School. My reports state that I have always stood near the head of my class in arithmetic, and I feel confident that so far as quickness and accuracy in figures are concerned, I am qualified to fill the place.

If you will kindly allow me to call at your place of business, I will furnish you with testimonials regarding my character and ability.

Hoping this application will receive favorable consideration, I remain

Yours respectfully,

HARRY GOODWIN.

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PRACTICE IN LETTER WRITING

1. You are to be absent from home for two months and wish to have a magazine or paper (for which you are a regular subscriber) sent to your new address. Write the letter. Mention the old address as well as the new.

2. Write for information about kodaks to The Eastman Co., Rochester, N.Y.

3. Write to a librarian applying for a position in a library. Ask for a reply and inclose stamp.

4. You have been kept from school for several days by illWrite a letter to your teacher, explaining your absence,

ness.

and stating when you expect to return.

5. You wish to work during the summer vacation.

Write a

letter to a grocer, stating what you can do, and ask for a reply.

Inclose a stamp.

Write to the

6. You are the secretary of a debating club. secretary of another debating club, proposing a debate, stating the question, and other important details.

7. The boys of your neighborhood wish to use a vacant lot for practicing football. Write to the owner, asking his permission.

8. Write to Harbach & Co., 809 Filbert St., Philadelphia, asking for their catalogue of magic lanterns and slides.

9. Look on the first page of your arithmetic or reader and find the name of the publisher. Imagine you are the principal of a school ordering two dozen copies and inclosing post-office order for twelve dollars to pay for them. Write the letter.

10. Write to the superintendent of schools, or to some other school official, asking when the summer vacation will begin and end. Tell him why you wish to have the information, and thank him in advance for giving it.

11. Write to some imaginary firm in the nearest large city, asking the price of some article you would like to have. Describe its size, quality, etc., so that the merchant will know exactly what you want.

12. Miss Maud Sellers, who resides at 4 Walden Place, Richmond, Va., wishes a catalogue of the Female Normal School, Farmville, Va. She does not know the president's name. Write her letter to the president.

13. Write to Perry Mason Co., publishers of the Youth's Companion, Boston, Mass., inclosing P. O. order for one dollar and seventy-five cents to pay for one year's subscription.

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SOCIAL NOTES

Short letters of invitation, of acceptance or regret, of thanks for a gift, etc., are called notes. When these are written to intimate friends, they are like friendly letters, except that the heading, instead of being at the top is usually written at the lower left side, opposite the signature. Notes which have a salutation and a signature are called informal notes.

Tennyson wrote the following letter on receipt of a book made up of copies of his poems.

MY DEAR YOUng Friends,

FARRINGFORD, ENGLAND,

March, 1885.

Your Christmas greeting only reached me the day before yesterday, and it was very welcome. I thank you heartily for having taken so much trouble to show me that what I have written gives you pleasure. Such kindly memorials as yours make me hope that, though the national bond between England and America was broken, the natural one of blood and language may bind us closer and closer from century to century. Believe me,

Formal notes are written in the third person:

Formal Invitation

Mr. George Stanley requests the pleasure of Mr. Edward Frisbie's company at dinner on Wednesday, May sixth, at seven o'clock to meet Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brackett.

Mr. Edward Frisbie accepts with pleasure the kind invitation of Mr. George Stanley to dinner for May sixth to meet Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brackett.

120 DELAWARE AVENUE,

May twenty-first, 1909.

I

Note Declining an Invitation

Mr. Edward Frisbie regrets that a previous engagement prevents his acceptance of Mr. George Stanley's kind invitation to dinner for May sixth to meet Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brackett. 120 DELAWARE Avenue,

May twenty-first.

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EXERCISES IN WRITING NOTES AND LETTERS

1. Write a letter to a classmate or other acquaintance, inviting him to drive with you to a neighboring town on Saturday. Mention time and place of starting.

2. Write your friend's reply, accepting the invitation.

3. Write a reply, declining the invitation, giving a good reason and expressing regret.

4. Write a letter to your mother, telling how the school celebrated Washington's Birthday.

5. Write a letter to an imaginary friend far away, telling him or her all the signs of autumn you have noticed, or describing a snow storm, or the coming of spring.

6. Describe, in a letter to your teacher, your room at

home, or what you see from your window.

7. Tell in a letter to some friend how to make a kite, a bird house, or a raft.

8. Write a note, inviting the superintendent of schools to be present at some special exercise in your room.

9. Write to a pupil who has left school, expressing your regret.

10. Write to a dear friend a note of thanks for a gift which pleased you.

11. Write a letter to a friend telling him or her about a pet animal, or your garden.

TELEGRAMS

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TELEGRAMS

In writing telegrams, note the following :·

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I. Write the name and address fully and plainly, as no charge is made for either the address or the signature.

II. State your business briefly but clearly, confining yourself if possible to ten words.

III. Do not use figures in the body of a telegram ; spell out the numbers.

Exercise. Condense each of the following into a telegram of not more than ten words:

1. It is impossible for me to leave to-day. I will take the first train to-morrow.

2. You telegraphed me that John would arrive on train number twenty-nine. He was not on that train. Is anything wrong?

3. In my order for copybooks to-day I made a mistake in sending for number two. What I want is number three.

4. We have had a fire in our store. The damage was not heavy. We are ready for business.

5. Mr. J. W. Elson of Albany, N. Y., wishes a personal interview with Mr. J. H. Gilmore of Rochester to-morrow afternoon. Mr. Elson wishes Mr. Gilmore to answer whether he will be in town at that time. Write Mr. Elson's telegram. Write Mr. Gilmore's answer.

6. Your father is aboard the overdue steamer Barbarossa returning from Europe. Telegraph the Hamburg-American S. S. Line, New York City, asking if any information about the boat has been received.