DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING BUSINESS LETTERS.                               87

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N letters of business, use as few words
as possible.
2. Business letters   should   be
u   promptly answered.
3. Use a clear, distinct writing,
avoiding all flourish of penmanship
or language.
4. Come at once to your subject, and state
it so clearly that it will not be necessary to
guess your meaning.
5. Give town, county, State and date ex-
plicitly. It is frequently of great importance
to know when a letter was written.
6. Read your letter carefully when finished,
to see that you have made no omissions and
no mistakes. Also carefully examine your
envelope, to see that it is rightly directed, with
postage stamp affixed.
7. Copy all business letters of your own by
hand, or with the copying press made for the
purpose.
8. Send money by Draft, P.O. Money-order,
or Express, taking a receipt therefor ; thus you
have something to show for money, guaranteeing
you against loss. Always state in your letter
the amount of money you send, and by what
means sent.
9. Write date and by whom sent across the
end of each letter received, and file for future
reference, fastening the letters together with
rubber bands, or binding in a letter-file adapted
to the purpose.   The possession of a letter

~Bu~ine~s ~Letter~   I -

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sometimes prevents litigation and serious mis-
understanding.
Ordering Goods.
In ordering goods, state very explicitly the
amount, kind, quality, color, shape, size, etc.,
and on what terms wanted. Whether you wish
the same sent by freight or express, and what
express. Much inconvenience is experienced
among business men because of a neglect to
designate explicitly what is wanted.
Should the writer wish to make suggestions,
ask questions, or add other matter to the letter
which is foreign to the subject, such words
should be placed entirely separate from the
order. Of fifty or a hundred letters received
to-day by the merchant, that one which is
mixed up with complaints, enquiries, etc., will
probably be laid over till tomorrow, or until
time can be spared to read it through. Had the
order been explicitly stated, and the suggestions
placed elsewhere, the goods would have been
forwarded immediately. It is, in fact, better to
write the order on a separate sheet from the
other matter.
Send your order, also, early enough to give
yourself plenty of time in which to receive the
goods before they are needed.
Books, being a common article ordered, may
be taken as an example showing the importance
of giving a careful description of the goods
wanted. To illustrate : be explicit in giving
name of book, name of author, by.whom pub-

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