of salutation depends on the degree of friendship existing between the correspondents. Business letters require such salutations as

The Body of the Letter.-The body of the letter should begin on the line next below the salutation, and should be indented the same as a paragraph; or, if the introduction is long, it may begin directly after the salutation in which case it is followed by the dash as well as the comma

A liberal margin should be allowed the body of any letter; care should be taken to indent each paragraph about one inch; the space to be left at the foot of the page should correspond with that at the sides. In business letters, stereotyped expressions, such as "we beg to advise," "referring to same," "Answering your esteemed favor," etc., should be avoided. A direct, dignified, yet courteous style of conversation, should characterize all business correspondence.

When a letter is marred by erasures, cross lines or other objectionable features, it should be rewritten. The body of the letter is followed by a period unless it runs into the complimentary close, in which case it is followed by a comma.

The Complimentary Close.-The complimentary close, only the first word of which begins with a capital, is placed at the right of the page on a line below the body of the letter. It should always consist of more than one word and should correspond with the salutation. Appropriate closings are indicated under the following headings:

The Signature. The signature consists of the name of the writer as he usually signs it. The signature of a gentleman should not be accompanied by a title of any kind. A lady, however, should, except when writing familiar friends, sign her name in full, placing her title before it in parenthesis; thus, (Mrs.) Emma Hale.

The Superscription. The superscription contains the same items as the address and is similarly arranged. The first line should appear just below the upper half of the envelope and near the left edge. Each succeeding line should begin a little further to the right, the last ending near the lower right-hand corner. The necessity for perfect legibility and accuracy in this part of the work cannot be too strongly emphasized.

If the superscription is long, some part of it may be placed in the lower left-hand corner of the envelope. The stamp should always be put in the upper right-hand corner, and the address of the sender, especially of letters of a business character, should be put in the upper left-hand corner. In social correspondence the return address is sometimes written on the back of the envelope. Punctuation marks at the ends of the different lines may be omitted. This is a matter of choice, but all abbreviations should be followed by the period. The arrangement of the different lines may be indicated thus:

Return in 5 days to

B. L. GRANT, BILOXI, MISS.

STAMP

MR. ROBERT S. MITCHELL,

1109 Market St.,

Philadelphia,

Penn.

BUSINESS LETTER

RECOMMENDING AN EMPLOYEE

615 Olive St., St. Louis, Mo.,

May 22, 1909.

Messrs. L. C. Hamilton & Co.,
Times Building, Louisville, Ky.,

Gentlemen:

I take pleasure in recommending to you Mr. J. H. Waldo as an accountant of unusual ability. He has been in my constant employ during the last seven years, and I have found him at all times courteous, obliging, and thoroughly accurate in his work.

Mr. Waldo's discontinuance from my employ is due to my retirement from business on June first of the present year. In recommending him to you, I do so unqualifiedly, and with the utmost confidence that you would be more than gratified with his services, should you close a contract with him.

Yours very respectfully,

JULIUS C. MONROE.

Study the above letter carefully. Notice the punctuation of each part. What other mark besides the colon might be used after the word Gentlemen? What words of the complimentary close begins with a capital?

Write a letter to a business firm, recommending an acquaintance for a position as stenographer and typewriter. Write the proper superscription for your letter on a piece of paper six and one-half inches by three and five-eighths inches, or on an ordinary business envelope,

FRIENDLY LETTER

Trento, Sunday, August 19th, 1883.

Dear Gertie,-I bought the prettiest thing you ever saw for you the other day. If you were to guess for three weeks, making two guesses every minute, you could not guess what it is. I shall not tell you, because I want you to be all surprised to pieces when you see it, and I am so impatient to give it to you that I can hardly wait. Only you must be in a great hurry and get well, because you see it is only five weeks from today that I shall expect to see you in the dear old study in Clarendon Street, where we have had such a lot of good times together before now. Just think of it! We'll set the Music Box a-going, and light all the gas lights in the house, and get my doll out of her cupboard, and dress Tood up in a red pocket handkerchief and stand her up on the study table, and make her give three cheers! and We'll have some ginger bread and lemonade.

I've got a lot of things for you beside the one which I bought for you the other day. You couldn't guess what it is if you were to guess forever, but this is the best of all, and when you see it, you will jump the rheumatism right out of you. I hope you will be quite well by that time. What sort of place is Sharon? Do not write me about it, but tell me all about it when I see you.

Good-by, dear little girl. Don't you wish you knew what it was that I bought for you the other day? Give my love to Agnes and Tood.

Your affectionate Uncle,

PHILLIPS.

From Letters to Children by Famous People, published by Hinds, Noble & Eldredge, New York,