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J
J
ST Y L O O K F
BUSI N E SS E NG L I SHH
F O R H IG H SC HOO L S,BUS INESS
COU R SES ,R EG ENTS
’
A ND TEA C H E R S’
EX AMINA TIONS,E TC .
H.W
.HAMMOND
INSTRU CTOR OF SHORTHAND A ND TYP EWR ITING ,TEACHERS ’ COLLEG E ,
COLUMB IA U N IVERS ITY,1909— 19 1 1
A ND
MA X J.HE R ZBE R G
HEAD O F TH E ENG LISH DEPARTMENT, CENTRAL COMMERC IAL A ND
MANUAL TRAIN ING H IG H SCHOOL , NEWARK ,NJ .
SI X TH R E V I SE D E D I TI ON
NEW YOR K
ISAAC P ITMAN SONS, P UB LISHERS ,2 WEST 4STH STREET
A ND AT LONDON , B ATH A ND MELB OURNE
TORONTO , CANADAThe Com m ercial . Text-B ook C o .
OR
The Copp, Clark C o . , L i m i ted
PREFA CE
TH I S t ext , which for a num ber of years has successfully m et the
need of a m anual Of business English in a great m any schools
thr oughout the country, has now been revised SO as to adapt
it even more closely to existing conditions . It has been t he designof the authors to fit it part icularly for use in the commercial coursesof high schools . But , as in the past , it will be found well suited
for use in business colleges , in the business courses Of
colleges and universit ies,and in the general and academic courses
Oflligh schools . I t m ay be noted , with reference to the last group ,
that m ore and more educators are coming to realize the importance
of a knowledge Of business E nglish for every type of student .The lawyer and the doctor, the clergyman and the engineer must
write business letters,as well as the manufacturer
, the stenographer,and the corresponding clerk . Finally, students preparing for
Regents’ E xaminations in Business E nglish will fi nd this bookOf m ore than ordinary helpfulness .
There is no feature Of the present volume which has not been
successfully em ployed in an actual school . Among the special
features Of the Sixth E dition m ay be m ent ioned the more logical
arrangem ent , the insertion Of review questions and exercises for
every chapter, and the m ore complete treatment . In every instance,the usage indicated has been based on actual correspondence,but the m aterial has been SO arranged as to be pedagogically most
effective .
The authors will be grateful for suggestions Of every character,and will be glad to answer all inquiries on the style, the teaching,and the matter of this text
May ,1 9 14 .
5 a} ; ” 6 6
CONTENTS
PREFACEINTRODUCTION : Practical Value of Busrness E ngl i sh— Howto Use the Style-B ook
CHAPTER I
SOME G ENERAL D IRECTIONSThe order Of item s in a letterBrevity in sentencesReview questionsE xercises
CHAPTER I I
SOME MATTERS OF FORMThe seven parts Of a letter .
Addresses of Officials , the clergy, et c .
Folding and inserting the letter- sheetReview questionsE xercises
CHAPTER I I I
SOME MATTERS OF FORM (continued)Punctuation — capitalization-u the possessive case— con
tractions— fi gures and Signs— proof-readingReview questionsE xercises
CHAPTER IV
SOC IAL AND FR IENDLY LETTERSSocial correspondenceForm al and informal wri t ingsLetters of condolence ,
congratulation , and introduction .
Review questionsE xercises
CHAPTER V
THE CHOICE OF WORDS I N LETTERSThe use Of plain Anglo-Saxon term sLatin and Greek words used in businessReview questionsE xercises
P A G E
43
43
48
52
53
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI
LETTERS OF APPLICATIONHow to get a SituationValue of correspondence dem onstratedAppearance as a factorReview questionsE xercises
CHAPTER VI I
LETTERS OFFERING BUSINESSBusiness propositionsLetters as contracts— importance Of accuracyLetters asking creditReview questionsE xercises
CHAPTER VI I I
LETTERS OF IN Q UIRYUse Of the broken paragraph — the broken sentence— the
sectional paragraphSpelling— the division Of words at the end of lines .
Review questionsE xercises
CHAPTER IX
LETTERS ORDER ING G OODS— REM ITTANCESContractual nature of letters ordering goods .
The use Of the paragraph in item izing .
The fi ve'
k inds of remittancesReview questionsE xercises
CHAPTER X
LETTERS OF COMPLA INTP oliteness in lettersReview questionsE xercises
CHAPTER XI
LETTERS TO DEBTORSThe four classes of debtorsCollection of accountsReview questionsE xercises
P A G E
CONTENTS vfi
CHAPTER X I I u s e
C IRCULAR OR FORM-LE TTE R s— MISCELLANEOUS LETTERSFunction of form lettersLetters Of resignation and recommendationReview questionsE xercises
CHAPTE R X I I I
TESTING YOURSELF : How TO SECURE A PERFECT LETTER .
Twenty-fi ve tests for any letterA diagram t o test any letterAdvice to stenographersReview questions on typewriting StyleGeneral review questionsE xercise t o test knowledge Of typewriting
CHAPTER X I V
G ENERAL REV IEW OF CORRESPONDENCEQuestions on correspondenceQuestions on commercial terms , etc .
Review exercises and narrat ives in correspondence .
A Regents’
E xamination in Business E nglish .
CHAPTER xvDUTIES OF A PR IVATE SECRETARYSumm ary Of secretary
’
s dutiesSecretary
’
s narrativeReview questions
CHAPTER X V I
SOME HINTS ON THE POST OFFICE SERV ICEP ostal pointsP ostal informationReview questions
CHAPTER X VI I
THE TELEGRAPH SERV ICE— TELEGRAMS , CABLEGRAMS , MA RCONI G R AMS
General hints for telegrams and cablegramsWireless telegraphyReview questionsE xercises
CONTENTS
CHAPTER X V II I pA G E
FILING AND INDEX INGIntroductionRecord-keeping and record-filing system sThe card-system — Sizes Of cards , index-guides , trays andcabinets
The card-sy stem in OperationIndexing cards alphabeticallyThe card-system— follow-upRecord fi- ling— the vertical system , alphabetical folderSand guides , indexing by states and towns , numericalindexing, indexing by subj ect , Shannon and loose- sheetsystem s
Filing-systems— the receptacleCard- system narrative
CHAPTER XIX
APPEND IXReview questions1 Abbreviations Of com mercial terms, etc . .
2 Words with troublesom e endings3 Glossary of words and phrases used I n business, with
illustrations
I NDE x
INTRODUCTION
I T is a common error, prevailing among many otherwise intelligent
persons, that a knowledge of the forms of E nglish used in the
transaction Of business (what is com monly known as business
E nglish is necessary only to those who intend to enter a com
m ercial life . As a matter of fact , every successful person ,in
whatever walk Of life ,is successful largely because of the possession
of certain business qualities . This is true alike of the poet and
the lawyer, of the architect and the physician . Foremost among
such business qualit ies should be reckoned the ability to compose
a smooth , correct letter, to express one ’s ideas in commercial
matters with accuracy and clearness , and to grasp the ordinary
details of Office organization . Such knowledge is indispensable
for a clerk and a stenographer and for business m en in general ;but it is probably almost as important that the average person
have command of similar ability .
The matter Of this volume m ay be divided into two parts . I n
the first place , the student will fi nd herein certain /acts . These
facts relate chiefly to the forms that correspondence takes . I n
the second place , practice is given in actual writing , this writing
being of numerous varieties . I n addition ,there have been gathered
in this volume , for the sake of convenience ,a great many details
that must prove of much assi stance to the person unacquainted
with the methods of Offi ce organizat ion and with the minutiae
of the postal and telegraph systems .Pupils , as a rule , and oftentimes teachers , underrate the value
of style in business writ ing . The thousand points on displaying
Of the letter on the page ,spacing , proper t it les , salutations ,
complimentary closes , punctuation ,capitalization , compounding ,
abbreviat ions , use of accents , distinguishing between Anglicized ,
part ly Anglicized , and un-Anglicized foreign terms , selection ofwords , spelling , sentence construction ,
paragraphing , grammar ,et c . , are Of vital importance in ~fact , the knowledge of this con
st itut es the difference between an experienced and an unexperienced
business writer . Inability m ay be concealed by resort ing to the
x INTRODUCTION
dictionary, but weakness in style is always apparent . This isfully as important as spelling ; it is , in fact what m ay be called
higher spelling , a knowledge of form . Gram mar excepted ,
bad form is the worst Of errors .
Into the Style-B ook has been put only such information as is
absolutely necessary to the beginner . I f he fails to quali fy in thisand goes out unable to display the language in proper business
E nglish style he is certain to j oin the great army of the underpaidor the unem ployed . It is to avoid this fate that the Style-Book
was written it s source was the errors in the papers of pupils
quali fying for a commercial career . It has been found thatgraduates in com m ercial schools where business E nglish is not
taught have but a forty-
per-cent . knowledge Of the information
in the Style-B ook, yet it contains not one Single dispensable item .
That the method of this text m ay be made clearer , the various
divisions of this method m ay be briefly described . The actual
text considers , from the standpoint Of actual business practice ,
present-day usage on the topic under discussion . This usage isfurther illustrated by the cit ation of actual letters . The student
’
s
mastery Of this usage is tested in three ways— by test-letters , which
the student is asked to correct by exercises calling for the writing
Of letters by the student and by frequent review and test questions
that bring into play the student ’s comprehension of the entire
drill . E mphasis is laid on the matters most im port ant to the
student from a practical viewpoint . Although the terms lettersand correspondence have been employed throughout this
Introduction ,it Should be understood that other forms Of business
writing are also included in the survey that The Style-Book ofBusiness E nglish makes . Also
,an account is given Of methods
of filing,of the rules Of the postal and telegraph Systems , et c .
Finally ,some hints are given with respect to social notes and
letters to friends .
STYL E BOOK O F
BUSI N E SS E NG L I SH
CHAPTE R I
SOME GENERA L DIRECTIONS
TO BEGIN with , a few general directions m ay be given that apply
to all kinds of writing , to business E nglish in particular, and
especially to the style used in correspondence . All good writingis individual— straight from the person . A ny kind of writing ,
.whether it be a poem or a letter, which has a touch of individuality
In it , is a striking letter and generally speaking , a striking letteris a successful letter . That is , i t helps to secure what the writer
seeks— new business , money that is owing , a posit ion , or informat ion .
I f your letter resembles the letters of hundreds Of others , it will notsecure attention . You must make your reader feel that you are
different , probably better . TO this rule , that writing must be
individual , practically all other rules yield place . To secure
this difference,however, this Individuality, a certain alertness
and aliveness are necessary . No one can write a good letter or
hold a good j ob who does not possess these qualities .
Then one should cultivate habits of accuracy and correctness ,together with certain allied traits . When one says that such and
such a person i s business—like,
”
one means that he comes straight
to the point , that he is punctual , that he cultivates exactness ,that he has a command of important facts , and so on . All thesequalit ies are of vital importance in business correspondence and
in a business Office . I n social notes they are perhaps equally
im portant , although not so evident . Only in correspondencebetween intimate friends m ay they be more or less neglected .
Sometimes , however, this neglect is carried too far .
Some special points m ay now be considered .
The first paragraph of a business letter should contain a summaryof the letter to be answered , and the subsequent paragraphs should
deal with the various items in theorder Of their importance, theunimportant parts coming last . I n reading a letter to be answered
I
t 6
G s b 0 6 0 6
0 0 Q
-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGL ISH
one’s best attention is generally given to the opening of the letter,
the following parts receiving less and less , especially if the matter be
not of considerable importance ; therefore , the more important
Should precede the less . I n case of interruption or haste on the
reader’s part it is better to have the greatest effort of attention
expended on the first and m ore essential parts . Besides , somebusiness m en prefer that one subj ect only be treated in a letter,as it renders future reference to the subj ect much easier . Many
business houses fi le their letters under the index of subj ect Of the
letter as , Complaints , Specifications , et c . This alone
renders it unadvisable to treat different subj ects in the same letter .
To insure prompt consideration and earliest reply to important
points arrange the paragraphs in the order Ofmerit .The accurate correspondent answers the subj ects of the letter
according to merit regardless of their order in the original letter .
This straightens out faulty correspondence and renders future
letters easier to handle .
Do not inform a correspondent of the receipt Of his letter . The
fact that your answer contains a summary Of his and a referenceto the date Of reception is suffi cient . (See page
Avoid the use of worn—out and meaningless words .
When reference i s made to the reception of the letter an indirect
manner is better than the senseless phrases
I am in receipt of
Yours at hand
I beg to acknowledgeI saw your ad . in the Tim es
Compare
We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
We have your letterand the t ime lost in useless phraseology will be seen to be im portant .
The letter on the Opposite page illustrates this indirect style .
What do the dots underneath additional indicate ?
I n letters , the length Of the sentence Should never be absent
from the mind , as the primary Obj ects are to hold attention and to
persuade busy people . It is well to assume that every one is busyand has a hundred letters Of his own to compose, with time for a
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLI SH
CAR TWR IG HT HE NDE R SON
G ENERAL CONTRACTORS
29 1 Huron St .
B os ton,Mass January 2
,1 909 .
Messrs . Allen Sons ,
1 99 Washingt on St
B os t on , Mas s .
R e B os t on Bui ldingG ent lem en
The m at t er of the iron beam s for the B os t on Mfg . Co .
’s
Build ing, t o wh ich Object ion has been m ade on account of allegeddefect s , and the proposal t o replace t hem w ith A I m at er ial , as
m ent ioned in your let t er of January 1 , are rece iv ing careful at t ent ion .
Your post scr ipt , calling our at t ent ion t o the fact that
all em ployees engaged in the cons t ruct ion Of t he bu i lding m ust be
s t rict ly un ion ,wi th wages at 25 cent s an hour
,m in im um ,
has beenreferred t o our counsel
—
for advice ,as t he cont ract does not ,
according t o our underst anding ,provide for this . A s
000 i s invo lved in this cont ract, you wi ll see that a great sum i s
in disput e .
I t would obli ge us if you would put an add i t ional
inspector on this job to pass On the work wh i le i t is being done, as
i t was underst ood on our part from the beginn ing that you woulddo so . Consequent ly , we are not inclined t o adm i t our respons ib i li tyfor faulty const ruct ion when d iscovered t oo lat e t o be changedwithout expense t o us .
Yours t ruly,
Observe that the first and the second paragraphs con tain two special po in ts1 . A sum m ary of the letter to be answered.2 . A n indirect reference to its reception .
3. Do not use postscript or N. B . paragraphs . I fyou wi sh to place specialem phas is on certain words
,underscore in black or red or wri te in red.
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
passing glance only at those of others . The Shorter the letter, as
a rule, the more attention it receives . Thus one firm,which
conducts a very large correspondence, writes : We have noticed
that the short , to-the-point letter, with Short sentences, and above
all things , direct , is the one that wins .
The degrees of comparison should be toward short , shorter,and shortest , rather than toward long , longer, and longest . A good
rule i s that one idea only, with its necessary modifiers , is sufficientto make a sentence . The making of unnecessary compound
sentences by j oining two sentences with and should be avoided .
A Short sentence should have about t en words, a long one,twenty
that is, one line and two lines . Where possible a sentence should
end with the line, as i t economizes attention and facilitates the
reading of two or more lines simultaneously . Several properly
worded sentences, each beginning the line and thus coming within
easy range Ofthe quick-reading eye, m ay be read rapidly,thoroughly
,
and almost at once . L et a long sentence be followed by one or
two Shorter ones in order to relieve the monotony of composition
and to rest the mind . Where a complicated thought is_
to be
expressed an appearance Of brevity should be given to it by a
careful selection of short words . Short sentences and small words
are always preferable in letters to people unaccustomed to ex
tensive reading . There should be no Sign ,however , Of restrained
effort , lest it be discovered and the person offended . Similarly, the
wording of letters to well-educated , non-commercial people should
tend toward longer sentences and literary excellence . Compositionand profit are convert ible terms, provided one has the capacity
to turn ideas at will into simple,complex, or com pound formation .
A good way to acquire the art of writing concise sentences of
moderate lengt h is to write out the whole thought without restraint .
Then omit all words not necessary to make the points clear and
decisive . A few days ’ practise will produce great facility, which ,
in a few weeks, will become habitual .
In the way of summary, it m ay be noted that the good letterrequires attention at all points -the material to be included , the
style as a whole, the paragraphing, the construction Of sentences,
and the actual wording . The price of success is constant vigilance .
CHAPTE R I I
SOME MATTERS OF F ORM
I F every correspondent would only remember the fact that any
letter he sends goes forth to the world is his personal representative ,
more care would be exercised in the m atter of appearance . Most
people realize the importance of personal appearance as a factor
in intercourse among m en . A neat , attractive appearance is
an advantage ; a careless , slovenly exterior repel s immediately .
Letters have exactly similar effects . A neat , attractive notepersuades the m an who receives it in the writer
’s favor, whereas
a careless , slovenly letter is usually confided at once to the tender
attentions of the waste-basket . Smudges , hasty penmanship
or inaccurate typing , note-paper disfigured with awkward creases,mistakes in the forms of salutation or close, poor spacing of theitems of the address, and the like , all win disfavor . One should
cultivate habits of correct usage, in these particulars , right from
the beginning . None Of the forms proper in correspondence are
difficult to learn, and once learned any deviation will seem very
distasteful . Acquire the habit .Generally speaking , every letter contains the following seven parts
1 The Date-line
2 The Introductory Address3 The Salutation
4 The Body5 The Complimentary Close6 The Signature
7 The SuperscriptionWe m ay now analyze these parts in detail .
A . The Date-line
Pupils have great difficulty in memorizing the correct way topunctuate the date-line . E very full date-line has four parts1 . The city or town . 2. The State. 3 . The month and its date .
4 . The year . Attention m ay be called to the full meaning of adate-line as , I n the City of New York , in the State of New York ,on the 19th of May, in the year 19 13 . In the reduction to modern
6
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
Form for Bus iness Let ter
DATE-LINE
TITLE A ND NAME
STREET ADDRESS INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS
CITY AND STATE
SALUTATION
BODY OF LETTER
COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE
SIGNATURE
2
8 STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS. ENGLISH
form the connecting words were omitted and commas inserted
instead , thus : New York , N. Y . ,May 19 ,
1 9 13 . Break up thehabit Of treat ing 10th ,
”
2d ,
”
et c . , as abbreviations and writing
them as l0th 2d . , etc . Note that the com posit ion of these
words is in a mixed style of Arabic figures and Rom an letters .
They are mixed forms , not abbreviat ions . The punctuat ion of
this date line varies , as well as the division by lines . Some
punctuate and divide as follows
20 Dunbar Street ,
New York , N. Y . ,
May 19 ,19 13 .
Others again place all those facts on two lines , in that case insertinga semicolon after N. Y . So far as the punctuation in general is
concerned , there has been within recent years a distinct movem ent
away from what is called close punctuation towards what
is called open punctuation . In the latter system no punctuation
is placed at the ends of lines , except for abbreviat ions . Thus theitem would read
20 Dunbar Street
New York , N. Y .
May 19 ,19 13
There is even a tendency not to use any marks at all, as on thet itle-page of a book . A few firms call attention to their lettersby a peculiarity in the date-line . Thus one famous corporation
makes the date beneath the letter-head readOctober tenth
Nineteen hundred
and thirteen
B . Introductory Address , Salutat ion ,and Superscript ion
For purposes Of convenience, these three items m ay be studied
together . The Introduction and the Address on the envelope
(Superscription ) are as a rule exactly the same . Generallyeither two or three items appear— the name of the personaddressed, the street and street-number of his residence , and the,
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
Form for Offi cial or Social Letter
HEAD ING
SALUTATION
BODY OF LETTER
COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE
SIGNATURE
NAME
ADDRESS
10 STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLI SH
E D I SON E L E CTR I C
NEW YOR K
Jas . A . Mi ller
726 Jam est own A ve. ,
Washingt on ,
Chas . B eards ley,
L akeview C i ty ,
Minnesota.
Wabash Co .
Hon . C . A . Andrews ,
P res . Nat ional Bank ,
Topeka,
I f uncal In troducingW . H .
Mr. F . A . H eine .
C . F . Youngs terling ,
Charles town ,
Iowa.
The B rown Co .
The fi rst line of the superscription should be centered on the envelope .
STYLE-BOOK OF’ BUSINESS E NGLISH
I llustrat ing the Spacing of a Short , and a Long ,Nam e-l ine
1 1
12 STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
place and state in which he lives . Som etimes other items mustbe added - the county , the name Of a foreign land , the name ofa fi rm . The placing of all the items should be determ ined largely
by the number of items and by the principles Of artistic spacing .
The rules of punctuation are the same as for the date-line— either
open or close .
The Salutation of a letter is a dignified written subst itut e'
for the
How do you do P with Which we greet a m an in conversation .
There is no excuse for om itting it , or for omitting the complimentary
close, which is like Good day in conversation . The forms of
salutation are m ore definitely illustrated later . It m ay now be
noted that the Salutation in addressing an imaginary John Smith
varies in formality in the following order1 Sir : 5 Dear Mr . Smith :2 My dear Sir : 6 My dear Smith :3 Dear Sir : 7 Dear Smith :4 My dear Mr . Smith ’
8 Dear John : et c .
In punctuating the Salutation only one form m ay be employed
in a business letter— the customary colon . Attention is calledto the fact that it is not possible to use two punctuation points
for the same purpose ; therefore, a dash or a hyphen should not
be used after the colon . The comma and dash are never used
except occasionally in social letters . Inasmuch as a dash after a
colon can have no use as a punctuat ion point it must , therefore, be
used as an ornament . NOW,i f ornaments are used in punctuation ,
why not use other points equally or more ornamental , such as a
star, a dagger, an index-point , et c .
? B e consistent , and omit
the dash after the colon .
The use Of the proper form of Salutation is a question that
should receive due consideration in“
the writing Of every letter
NO m an likes . t o be called out of his name or his title, or, by the
way, to have his name misspelled . It is'
a requisite both of courtesy
and good business to be accurate in such m atters . The salutation
to be used for several wom en ,single or married , i s Mesdames .
The necessity of the French word Springs from the fact that there
i s no equivalent word in the E nglish language . I n the E nglish
language there is no plural for the word Madam . Take notice
that although one m ay say Dear Madam it is not proper to
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGLISH
Unknown Tit lesP . 0 . Box 71 , com mittees of unknown com position in sex and
other doubtful bodies,should be addressed as Gentlemen . P . 0 .
Box 71 m ay be from any source namely, from one m an, from one
woman,or from two or more of each from a fi rm Of all m en or of
all women,or from one of mixed sex Dear Sir or Dear
Madam would exclude some While Gentlemen ,
”
applicable to
both sexes in such instance,includes both genders , Singular and
plural .Mixed Incorporated Tit les
The proper t itle of a firm is always the incorporated t itle ,and
logically and legally should not be broken up to suit convenience .
This rule, however, is not,popularly, always carried into effect ,
as m ay be seen in addressing the firm of John Wanamaker ,Philadelphia.
”
The peculiarity Of this t itle is due to the fact that
it is necessary to distinguish the Philadelphia house from the New
York house, which is incorporated under the name Of John
Wanamaker, New York . All legal documents— contracts,etc . ,
would carefully Observe these distinctive forms,and
,of course
,
commercial correspondence to be accurate should do likewise .
P opularly, however, it is not possible to draw such fi ne dist inc
t ion , though the fact of the peculiar t itle is clearly and intent ionally
shown in the letter-head of
JOHN WANAMAKE R PH IL ADE L PH I ANew York P aris
The proper introduction would beJohn Wanam aker , P hi ladelphia,
P hi ladelph ia, P a .
G ent lem en
which ,in the popular form ,
would becom e
John Wanam aker ,Phi ladelphia
,P a.
G ent lem en
P ersons ignorant Of the fact Of the fi rm ’
s being a corporat ionwould write Dear Sir as salutat ion .
Great care should be exercised in the addressing of envelopes .Inaccuracy or haste in this particular often results in the loss ordelay of the letter , and in consequent detriment to one
’s business .
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS E NGL I SH 15
The following pages illustrate the correct forms to be used in
certai n instances .
Addresses of Offi cials
THE PRESIDENT
On the envelope
The President ,
White House,
Washington,D . C .
On the letter-head
TO the P resident .
THE VICE-PRESIDENT
On the envelope :
The Vice-President Of the Un ited States,
Washington,D . C .
On the letter-head :
To the Vice-President of the Uni ted States .
Sir :
THE CABINETOn the envelope
The Honorable, The Secretary Of State ,
Washington , D C .
On the letter-sheet :
The Honorable ,The Secretary of State
,
Sir :
No te .—The com pl im entary clo se in o fficial le t ters is Yours re spectful ly .
16 STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
G OVERNOR
On the envelope '
His E xcellency, William Hughes ,
Albany,
New York .
On the letter-head
His E xcellency, William Hughes .
SH"
SENATOROn the envelope
Honorable E lihu Root,
United States Senator,
Washington, D . C .
On the letter-sheet
Honorable E lihu Root .
Sir °
CONGRESSMAN
On the envelope
Honorable James Brown , M . C
Washington , D . C .
On the letter-head :
Honorable Jam es Brown .
(State cabinet ofi et'
als , senators , and assem blym en use the sam e
‘
form s as those of the Uni ted States . )
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGLISH 17
MAYOROn the envelope
Honorable Wm . J . Gaynor,
Mayor of the City of New York ,
On the letter-head
TO His Honor Wm . J . Gaynor .
Sir '
On the envelope
Honorable Charles Stout ,
Buffalo ,
New York .
On the letter-head :
Honorable Charles Stout .
Sir
LE G I SLATUREOn the envelope
Honorable Charles Brown ,
Utica,
New York .
On the letter-head
Honorable Charles Brown.
Sir
18 STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGLISH
Form s of Address t o the Rom an Catho l ic Clergy
This table Of t itles applies part icularly to the United Statesof America. The t itles are nearly alike in all E nglish-speak ingcountries , the principal difference consisting in the om ission
in address ing bishops Of the form Your Lordship , applicable
in monarchical countries (including Canada) , but substitut ed in
the United States by Rt . R ev. B ishop or Rt . R ev . and dear
B ishop .
CARD INAL (bishop of an episcopal see)I ntroduction . Salutation .
H is E m inence,
Your E m inence :
John Cardinal F arley,
Archbishop of New York .
(The initials D .D . are not used after cardinals’ names . )
ARCHBISHOPI ntroduction . Salutati on .
The Most R ev . John I reland , D .D Mos t R everend Archbishop or
St . Paul , Minn . Mos t R ev . and dear ArchbishopYour G race
B ISHOPI ntroduction . Salutation .
The R t . R ev . Chas . H . C o lt on ,D .D . ,
R t . R ev . B ishop or
1025 Delaware Avenue,
R t . R ev . and dear B ishop :B uffalo , N. Y .
MONSIGNORS
There are two grades of Monsignors— the higher known as the
R ight Reverend and the lower as the Very Reverend .
I ntroduction . Salutation .
R t . R ev . Monsignor Jam es J . F lood , R igh t R ev . Sir : or
R ect or Of Church Of St . John R ight R ev . and dear Mons ignor
the E vangelis t ,Very R ev . Mons ignor Jam es V . L ewi s , V ery R ev . Sir or
460 Madison Avenue,
V ery R ev . Mons ignor :
New York .
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH 19
PRESIDENTS OF COLLEGES AND SEM INARIES
The presidents of these institut ions take the t itle Of Very
Reverend . Similarly the deans of theological faculties and som e?“
times urban and rural deans , also the heads Of some comm unities of
priests , but there are many exceptions to the rule.
I ntroducti on . Salutation .
V ery R ev . J . W . Moore ,C .M.
,V ery R ev . and dear Sir
St . John ’
s Co llege,
B rooklyn ,N . Y .
Observe in the instance above the letters C . M . following
th e nam e . This means that if a priest or a bishop is a member Ofa
religious community then the initials of the Latin name of the
community to which he belongs are attached to his name .
PASTORI ntroduction . Salutation .
R ev . G eorge,P . Carro ll, R everend and dear Sir :
R ector of St . P au l ’s Church , (or from a parishioner)Orange ,
N . J . D ear F ather Carro ll :
CURATE
Similar form as for pastor,omitting Rector .
I f a pastor or a curate possesses the title of D . D . the letters
should follow his name and the salutation should be R ev. and dear
Doctor : or Dear Doctor instead of R ev . and dear
Sir : Or Dear. Father
BROTHERS
I ntroduction . Salutation .
Bro ther Jerom e,
Dear B rother Jerom e
St . F ranci s Co llege ,
B rooklyn ,N. Y .
20 STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS. ENGLISH
S I STERS SUPERIOR
Occasionally there is a distinction made between ( 1 ) the head of
com m unity or entire sisterhood and (2) the head of a local house .
This difference, however, is not sufficiently important to the
to require particular treatm ent .
I ntroducti on . Salutation .
R ev . Mo ther M . St . Mark,
R everend Mother
St . P hi lip ’s Conven t ,B rooklyn ,
N . Y !
Mo ther M . St . Co lum ba,D ear Mo ther St . Co lum ba '
:
St . Jam es’
s Hom e,
B rooklyn ,N. Y .
S I STERS
I ntroduction. Salutati on.
Sis t er Mary E lizabeth ,D ear Si s t er E lizabeth
Convent of the Sacred Heart ,
B os t on ,Mass .
P rotestant Clergy
B ISHOP
I ntroduction . Salutation .
R ight R everend Wi lliam L awrence ,D . D R t . R ev . Sir : or R t . R ev . and
B ishop of Mas sachuset t s , dear Sir :B os ton , Mas s .
Methodist B ishops are addressed as Reverend .
MINISTERI ntroduction . Salutation .
R everend R ussell H . Conwell,L L . D R everend Sir or D ear Sir
The Bapt is t Tem ple ,
Phi ladelphia, Pa.
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGLISH
C . The Body of the Letter
I n communicating with anybody , the first impulse is to talk. to
him . One m ay do this directly, face to face , or by means of thetelephone . If one can do neither , one will send him a telegraphic
message (a medium to be considered later) , or one will wri te to him .
From this viewpoint , a letter is merely a substitute for a talk.
The style of the best letters emphasizes this fact . It is colloquialconversat ional in manner . Keeping this fact in mind , one shouldperhaps in writing a letter imagine oneself actually talking to some
definite person or persons . A letter written in this way is muchmore like ly to be effective than a letter composed vaguely and at
random .
In succeeding chapters suggestions will be given regarding the
body Of various types Of letters . Here m ay be emphasized the fact
that all letters Should be written on stationery of a good quality,in clear penmanship or with a ribbon giving clear Impressions ,and with neat and attractive spacing . Indentions should be as
follows :
Between t op of page and the date-line 2 inches ; left-hand
margin g of an inch right-hand margin i; of an inch Space for
printed m atter or blank space 2 inches ; first line of introductionof an inch , second line third line 25 subsequent paragraphs
15. salutation 73; of an inch first paragraph I la inches body g
of the complimentary close ,in center of the line ; Of signature,
of an inch farther than that of the complimentary close . The
letter in the center of the page . I n the center from side to Side
and from top to bottom .
D . The Com plim entary CloseThe best usage to-day avoids the use Of such phrases as I
remain and I am and of participial phrases in conj unction with
these, such as Hoping to hear from you soon , I am , etc . The
best rule is Stop writing when you are through . I f such phrasesare used, however, use them correctly . I remain should be
used only when previous correspondence has taken place, otherwise
there would be no sense to the phrase I remain . It means thatthe person remains as he previously was , that is, on terms of acquired
acquaintance . After two or three letters he m ay, perhaps , write
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSI NESS ENGLISH
I remain . Otherwise always for the first time close with Iam . The same rule applies to Yours sincerely . This indicates
advanced acquaintance or friendship on your part with your
correspondent . I am is the formal close for a letter to a stranger .
It would be unduln am iliar to say Yours sincerely on firstwriting .
I n determining the complimentary close consider the relation
of the writer to the person addressed . I f he is not acquainted
with him in any way he cannot say Yours respectfully,for the
person addressed m ay be a tramp for all he knows to the contrary .
The same applies to Yours sincerely . Yours truly,is then
the correct form . Yours truly, has no special Significance .
It°
is non-committal . A letter addressed to no particular person,
that is , To Whom I t May Concern , m ay have no salutation
and no complimentary close . No t being addressed to any one
by name i t does not admit Of saying Dear Sir ,
” Gentlemen ,
Dear Madam , etc . ,and consequently cannot end with a remark
of com plimentary character, such as Yours truly,
Yours
Sincerely,
” Yours respectfully, et c . It is not known into whosehands such letters m ay fall .
”
It might be into the hands of a thief .Therefore , words of politeness are not applicable in such instances .This rule ,
however, is not always Observed in business .
The complimentary close always begins exactly in the middle of
the line and is invariably followed by a comma. Only the firstword should be capitalized .
E . The Signature
It is m ore courteous to Sign one’
s name to any letter, although
the use of a stamped or typewritten signature is in most cases legal .
Sign your nam e in the form that you are accustomed to use when
addressed . A woman should never sign her name to a business
letter without indicating whether married or single . I n social
letters a woman ,writing for the first time to a person ,
signs her
maiden christian nam es with her married surname . Then at the
left side and below She subscribes her husband’s full nam e preceded
by Mi ss or Mrs . The words Mi ss or Mrs . m ay be enclosed in
parentheses, but it is not necessary to do this .3
24 STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESSENGLISH
Fo lding and Insert ing the Letter-Sheet
The act of foldi ng the letter-sheet m ay seem to be a trivial act,
but it really is of importance in correspondence . The difference
between the right way and the wrong way is strikingly noticeable
in speed to the wr iter and in conven ience to the rece iver . The principle involved is to
'
save tim e for both parties , yet thousands in
folding their letter-Sheets consider only their own ease , putting the
others to annoyance and inconvenience . I t is worth while to
illustrate this point by showing the very common way— the wrong
THE WRONG WAY.—Fold the sheet up from the bottom until within
half an inch from the top and then crease . The next movem ent is
to fold it over from the left to the right about one-third the distance ,
then from right to left . Then turn i t over for insertion so as to
avoid the flap catching in the envelope. Now, when the recipient
opens the letter, he has to turn the Shee t over to get at the flap,
and then after unfolding it m ay even have to turn i t around to read
i t. F or a person who Opens scores of letters a day this is no slight
annoyance.
THE RIGHT WAY.— Fold the sheet from bottom upward to wi thin
hal f an inch Of the top and then crease . Now fold from right to
left, then from left to right, and the sheet m ay be inserted Wi thout
being turned to avoid catching. When opened by, the recipient
the sheet will be found in the correct posit ion for unfolding , causing
no unnecessary movement or loss Of t im e .
To ATTACH STAMPS — Tear a strip of stamps from a sheet and
moisten the whole strip with a sponge . Then take the strip in the
right hand , and with the thumb and fingers press and detach the
stam p on to the envelope . The force em ployed in doing this breaks
the stamp from the strip.
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH 25
Review Quest ions for Chapter 1 1
What are the parts Of a letter P
How m any com m as are there in a full date- l ine P
What is My dear Sir called P
What is the salutation in addressing various public Officials P
What point follows the salutation ?
What m arks are wrongly used after the salutat ion in business
letters P
7 What points follow the different item s Of the introduction P
8 What point follows the complimentary close P
9 Where does the sender’
s address appear when there is no
printed head P
10 Is My Dear Sir properly capitalized P (See Q .
1 1 What single word is capitalized in the complim entary close P
12 I n writing to a stranger do you close with I am or Iremain P
1 3 Should a comma be placed after I am ,
” I rem ain , and
we are P
14 DO you close with Yours sincerely to a stranger P
15 What is the general com plim entary close to a stranger P
16 Why is a very plainly written signature preferable P
17 I n which kind Of letter i s there no complim entary close P
18 What is the introduction in such a let t er P How capitalized P
19 DO you write the complimentary close in the body Of the
letter or in a separate line P
20 How do you close a letter to a l friend P
2 1 I n addressing a girl what salutation do you use P
22 I n addressing a woman , single or married P
23 Several women , Single or married P I n the plural salutations Mesdames : and Gentlem en : do you prefix Dear P
24 What is the salutation for P . O . Box 14 P
25 F or pen-written letters what is the m easurement (in inches)
of each Of the three m argins on a letter-head ? How far fromt Op of sheet should the date-line b e P What is the indention
(in inches) Of each part of the introduction P Of the salutation POf the first paragraph P
'
Of the body P Of succeeding paragraphs P
26 STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
Of the complimentary close ? Of the signature ? First line of
the heading P Of the superscription P
26 I n a date do st ,” d ,
”
and th come after the figuresindicating the day Of the m onth P (F or exam ple, Jan . 4th,
I n the SIgnature for let ter (c ) on page 27 do you use by or
perP See page 126 .
27 When are st,
” d , and th properly used ?
28 HOW should a m arried woman sign her nam e to a letter P
29 Is it proper for a woman to Sign a business letter without
indicating whether She is m arried or Single P What is the custom
in social letters P
30 What are the salutation and title used in a letter addressed
to a fi rm com posed Of m en and wom en ? Is the assumption for
correspondence that all business companies are masculine correct PWhen in doubt as to whether m arried or single, what title is used
in addressing a wom an P
3 1 Do you use or not use Messrs . before Com pany P
32 What is the plural Of Mrs . P
33 What is the writ ing on the envelope called P
34 I S do (care Of) necessary on the envelope P
35 What are Messrs ,
” Mesdames , et c . ,
called P
36 I f vou wish another person to take charge Of the letter
what do you do P
37 Where i s the sender’s address placed on the letter- sheet
and on the envelope P
38 I S the Sign i f: any longer used on an envelope to indicate
the num ber of the house in the street P
39 What is the proper salutation for the Mayor of your city P
for the P resident Of the United States P40 Of what is a letter really the equivalent P
Exercises
1 Write the date-line, introduction, salutation , and com
plim entary close for letters , supposedly written by the pupil in his
proper person , to the following, addi ng correct punctuation to the
following items : (Set your dates in different months Of the year
and vary”
your address . )
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGL ISH 27
(a) Victor Blauvelt Real E state Parsippany N J (Applyingfor a position) .
(6) Mary E Lynch (who is m arried) 594 Broad Street PhiladelphiaPa (A friend) .
(c) Nat ional Storage CO 354 P lane Street Los Angeles Cal (F oryour mother) .
(d) Hartford Motorcycle CO Mr Henry Cam breling P resident
Hart ford Conn (F or yourself) .
(e) The Davis School Of Dancing Miss M . Helen McVeagh P rincipal 19 1 Twelfth Stree t Minneapolis Minn (F or yourself ) .
(f) Hahn G ifford 28 1 Halsey Street Detroit Michigan (F or
your school-paper) .
(g) Du P ont P owder CO Wilmington Delaware (F or a hunting
club ) .
(h) John F Moriarty 328 South Victoria A ve Pueblo Colo (toa relative) .
(i ) U S Consul Rio de Janeiro (asking inform ation on chances
for Am ericans) .
(i) A M Jessup 429 Lipton Street Winnipeg Manitoba (in reply
to an Offer Of a farm for sale) .2 Write the envelopes for
"
a’
, e, h, i , and j .3 Write the first letter in full , including the superscription .
4 Write the fifth or sixth letter in full , including the
superscription .
5 Write the eighth letter in full , including the superscription .
CHAPTER I I I
SOME MATTERS OF F ORM (continued )
Punctuat ion
ONE Of the Oldest publishing-houses in America, and one of the
best known for accuracy of language and correctness Of style, in thepreface of a book Ofmodel letters says that those letters are
‘
as they
were written by business m en . A n examinat ion shows scores Of
flagrant errors Of punctuation , of capitalizing , of paragraphing , etc .
Also , am ong the many letter-dictation books used in schools thereare not two which are not literally cram m ed with the grossesterrors in punctuation . There is a reason for this . As long as everybusiness m an considers himself com petent there is l ittle use inassert ing a standard . He wishes to be original and im pressive
and to show his thoughts as he wants them to be understood , regard
less of fixed rules that no one really ever masters . Business lettersappeal to the eye ,
partaking altogether of the nature of an advert ise
ment . Sentences are arranged so as to be readily grasped and
quickly understood . A letter of one Of the greatest publi shers of
business literature employs no less than fifteen dashes .The demands Of business are superior to rules Ofgrammar, i s the
business m an ’s plea.
On one of the most carefully edited magazines in the UnitedStates an assistant editor took exception to a paragraph on an
advertising page . There was a certain space ,and in that space
there had to be inserted an idea— a fundam ental idea— meaning
certain loss or profit according to the wording . The proof-reader
tried to rearrange the words to make them gram mat ical and at the
same tim e to retain effectiveness as an order-producing sentence.
He showed the difficulty to the editor and received the response
that he knew perfectly well that it was ungram mat ical , but that
business necessities demanded it . On the edi torial page this error
would not have been tolerated , yet i t was actually ordered to be
inserted in the advertising section .
The stenographer dares not crit icize the dictator’
s methods , as
there never were two business m en who punctuat ed‘
alike . There
fore, as the stenographer has little or no say at all in the matter, it is28
30 STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS E NGLISH
Capitalizat ion
Capitalize proper names, or words used as such , singular or plural
also when used as adjectives, unless the adj ective form is a different
word, derived from a common noun used as a proper noun in specificcases for example, P resident (presidential) , Senate (senatorial) ,Congress (congressional) , P rovince (provincial) . E xceptions
Democratic, Territorial , as relating to the Democratic Party or a
Territory Of the Uni ted States .
Capitalize,singular or plural
,with the name or standi ng alone,
the title of any ruler,the nam e of any national legislative body and
subdivisions of any country . This includes dependencies like
Australia,Canada
,etc . Capital ize also the adj ective form s, unless
embraced in the exceptions noted in the preceding paragraph .
Capitalize the titles of State legislative bodies when accompaniedby the name, as the Massachusetts General Court , the General Courtof Massachusetts
,the New York Assembly
,the Assem bly of New
York, the Rhode Island House of Representat ives , the House ofRepresentatives of Rhode Island ,
Ohio Legislature but lower-case
the general court , the assembly, the house of representatives , the
legislature,etc.
Capitalize the titles of United States executive departm ents ,bureaus , services, etc and organizations of the Army and Navy ,
Singular,plural , and adj ective forms ; lower-case department ,
bureau, corps , etc . ,when standing alone .
Capital ize all geographic terms, singular or plural , when with
the name .
Capitalize street , avenue,road
,lane
,e tc . ,
singular or plural ,when with the nam e .
Capitalize all titles immediately preceding names of persons .
In addresses and with signatures capitalize both before and after
name .
Capitalize department,bureau ,
division, Offi ce ,
etc . ,when used
with a nam e that is capitalized,even though it is not a part of the
exact title , as Pension Office for Bureau Of P ensions . This refers
only to branches of the Government .
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGL ISH 31
Capitalize a fanciful or popular appellation as i f a real name ,as
Keystone State , Bay State, City of Churches , Monumental City ,
Capital City , Windy City, the Hub,Great Father (the P resident) ,
etc .
Capitalize names of monuments , tom bs , statues , et c when of a
public character, as Bunker Hill Monum ent,Grant ’ sTomb ,
R ocham
beau Statue,Statue Oi Liberty, etc but lower-case the words
monument ,” “tomb
,
” “statue,
”
etc when employed in a general
way,as the statue OfColumbus , the tom b of Napoleon , et c .
Capitalize such terms as the following when with a name or
number and used as a proper noun . Care must be taken not to
confoundaproper adjective with a proper noun . F or instance ,the
t nson House would mean a hotel and ,therefore
,be a proper noun
but should a house be referred to that was the property of or occu
pied by a family named Johnson,it would be the Johnson house ,
P ier A or P ier 19,but at the White Star Line ’s p ier Boston Light .
Boston and Boone Island Lights, but Massachusetts Bay lights .Lower-case the following words Of common usage which were
originally proper names,but whose significance as such has become
obscured,or when used before nouns in com m on use to specify
merchandi se :
belleek warebologna sausagechina warechina claydelftwarefrankfurter (sausage)gothic ( type)harveyized steelindia inkindia rubberlevantine silklyonnaise potatoesm acadam ized road
Lower-case adj ectives and verbs ending in ize,
” “ed ,
and
ing , though the original word be a proper noun, when applied
to trade products or processes,as harveyized
,pasteurized ,
maca
dam ized,galvanized
,m ercerized
, et c . ; otherwise capitalize ,as
Christianize,Am ericanize ,
Frenchify,B ryanize ,
etc .
manila ropemercerized fabricsmerino sheepmorocco (leather)navy bluenavy clothosnaburgpasteurized milkroman (type)russia (leather)t imothy grassvenetian blindswedgwood ware
32°
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS E NGLISH
Capitalize the principal words in addresses . signatures, anddate-lines .Capitalize the United
'
Sta'
tes Army, t he Army ,et c .
Capitalize standing alone and also when used as an adj ect ive ;the Army
,and Army Officer, etc .
Capital ize i ts organizations and branches , as the Cavalry, Infantry,
Field Artillery, Coast Artillery .
Capitalize the names Of foreign Organizations , as Brit ish Army,the Royal Guards .Capitalize all United State Government boards, bureaii s ,
commissions,divisions , and experim ent stations .Capi talize State and Other boards when accompanied by proper
name, as Ohio Board of Health ,Chamber Of Commerce of Boston,
etc but lower-case when standing alone ,as board Ofhealth ,
board"
Of pharmacy,etc .
College,degrees should be lower-case when spelled , as the degree
of doctor of laws,the degree Ofm aster Ofarts , etc .
Capitalize all words denoting, as All-Wise ; also all pronouns
except those com m encing with the letter w,
as who , whom,or
Whose .
Cap italize when referring to the United States Government or toforeign Governments
, as the Governm ent of the Uni ted States, theJapanese Government . Lower-case in the abstract sense ,
as this
Government is a government , the reins Of governm ent, the seat
of government,etc referring to a State of the United States
,the
State government .
Capi talize when preceding any word that is capitalized , as
National Governm ent also National and State Governm ents and
National Capital ; otherwise lower-case , as the national spirit .
Capitalize when a part of a name of an organization ,or as a t itle,
that is capitalized, as First Regiment , Twelfth Census , Charles the
First Document Numbered One hundred and twenty, One hundred
and tenthM
St reet ; otherwise lower-case, as second district , fifthward
,tenth precinct .
Capitalize also any synonymous t itle referring to the P resident
of the United States, as Chief Magistrate, Commander in Chief ,E xecutive,
His E xcellency,etc . Lower-case presidential .
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH ‘
33
w Capitalize the ' terms —used with R oman numerals as‘
titles , as
Chapter XV, Section I I , P late VI , Group -IV,
etc .
'When not a title, or whenOther than’
R om annumerals are used ,“lower-case, as abstract B ,
section A ,class 1 , class ~A , volume 1 ,
chapter 1 , etc.
Capital ize when . immediately associated with name , a s BostonMedical Society,
"
TypOgraphical Union , etc.
Capitalize State the same as Government .Capitalize State
’
s attorney , State’ s evidence ; but lower-case
such expressions as affairs of state, church and state,secretary ofstate of Indiana -also the -words statehood ,
”
statehouse .
“Lower-case sect ions of States , as east I llinois,western Kansas ,
east Tennessee, etc .
‘ Capitalize such terms as alley, avenue, circle, court , lane, place ,
road, Street , and square, singular or plural , when with the nam e .
Capitalize The when a part Of a name, as The Hague, The
Dalles The Weirs (N. et c . , a nd certain geographic
format ions , as The Buttes ( in Sutter County, etc but the
Netherlands .
Capitalize the principal words of a title, as The Chasm of the
Colorado , painted byThom as Moran Twelfth Night , a play written
by William Shakspere .
Quote and capitalize the principal words of a t itle when introduced
thus A book entitled The House Of the Seven Gables . ”
Capitalize historical docum ents, as Declarat ion of Independence ,
Constitution (United States) , Art icles of Confederation (UnitedStates) , B ill of Rights , Magna Charta.
Capital ize short t itles,as Bancroft ’ s History
,Brown ’ s Grammar
Capitalize B ible , B iblical , Scriptures, Scriptural , etc . but
gospel only when referring to one Of the 'four memoirs OfJesus Christ
contained in the New Testament .
Capitalize the first words o f direct and indirect quotations :
( 1 ) P ope said , P raise undeserved is scandal in disguise
(2) The question is , Shall the bill pass P'
The prepositions de ,
”
da,” di
,
”
van,
von , etc . , in names from foreign languages , when preceded by a
forename, a t itle of nobility, aprofessional t itle, or One of courtesy ,
34 STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
should be lower-cased ; as Charles de Blé, Cardinal da Ponte ,Marqui s de Lafayette ,
Mr . de Thou , M . d’
Orbigny, Senor daa aga,
G en . della Santa Maria,Dr. d
’
Ouvillier, Capt . di Cesnola,Admiral
van Tromp, Count von Moltke, etc .
P repositions in names from foreign languages, without a forename,
a title of nobility, a professional title, or one Of courtesy, such as
van in Dutch, von in German , de or d’
in Fr ench ,
or da,
”
della, or di in I talian , should be capitalized ; asVan Tromp, Von Humboldt , De Thou ,
D’
orsay, Da P onte , Della.
Crusca,Di Cesnola.
Capitalize titles in the second person only when used as synonyms
of proper names You will go,Maj or
,to NewYork I am , General ,
yours,etc .
Capitalize the distinguishing names Of a manufactured product ,as E agle pencil
, St ickwell paste, Seller’s typewriter, Pear
’
s soap ,
Ceres flour,etc . In trade names Of preparations , etc . ,
capital ize
the principal words, as Quaker Oats , Force, Sapolio ,
Shredded
Wheat , Bon Ami , Puffed Rice, etc .
Capitalize the terms E ast , West,North
, South, Middle West ,Central West , Northwest , Southwest , Pacific Coast States , etc .
Capitalize the terms added to groups of States , as North Atlantic ,South Atlant ic, Middle Atlantic, Gulf, Middle,
Central, Western ,Northwestern , and Southwestern but lower-case a term prefixedto any Ofthe foregoing , as eastern Gulf States , easternNorth AtlanticStates , etc also southern planters
,southwestern stock growers ,
eastern manufacturers,western farmers
,etc .
The following words are not capitalized when spelled out but
always capitalized when abbreviated : manuscript doctor
mister missis (Mrs ) , number collect on delivery
(C . O . fi rst -class (A I ) , note well (N. and all correct
(0 .
Cont ract ions
The practise of abbreviating has largely gone out Of use sincethe invention Of typewriting . Originally the Obj ect of abbreviationin handwriting and in printing was to save time and space . The
mechanical restrictions of som e typewriters , however, instead of
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH 35
making it possible to write the maj ority of words usually contracted
more quickly, act exactly in reverse manner . It has been found bycareful experimenting that to depress the shift-key is equal to the\
striking of four open keys . The deduction from this is that unless
there is to be an economy effected Ofmore than four characters no
saving results . This does away entirely with nearly allcommon abbre
viat ions , such as inst . , ult . , prox . , and many others , leaving only a
few,Such as ad . , etc . Note that although there is a saving Of one
letter only in abbreviating September , November, December ,January, and February , there is a positive loss in contracting the
other months . As the total loss is greater than the total gain it
is better to spell out all months .
There are three methods Of abbreviating words , namely , at the
end , at the beginning , and in the middle . There is no exception to
the rule that every word contracted at the end requires to be
followed by a period . This point m ay be illustrated by the word
centum abbreviated to cent .”
as in per cent . There i s no
exception -to the rule that all words abbreviated at the beginning
must be preceded by an apostrophe ; for example ,the words
’
phone ,
” ’
Change , . etc .
'
With a few common exceptions all
words abbreviated in the middle require an apostrophe to Show the
omitted letters , but when the apostrophe is omitted the abbreviation
is followed by a period at the end Of the word . Such exceptions
are dept ,
”
etc . The omission Of abbreviating
points constitutes an error in spelling and is everywhere marked
as such in examinations .
A . m . and p. m .
I n the use Of p . m . and a. m . are abbreviations Of commonphrases , and therefore do not require capitalization whenabbreviated . This is the style of the United States Government .
C . O. D . ,f. o . b . and A I
The capitalizing of C . O . D . m ay be explained on the sameprinciple Of the capitalization Of nouns, that is, being a phrase Of
extreme importance it is made more prominent . The contracted
36 STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLI SH
phrase f . O b . is of less importance , therefore in small lettersNote A I . NO space should be between the A and the l
and it should not be followed by a period . The figure 1”
ismade by striking the sm all letter l .
C/o ( in care of)With regard to c/O (in care of) on the envelope the student
should remember that it is ent irely superfluous, as the intent Of
the writer is made plain by writing the address Of the person who is
to take charge Of the letter on second line of the superscription or at
the left-hand bottom corner Of the envelope . Letter-carriers arenot SO stupid as not to know what that means without being told .
The same remark applies to NO . before the house-number .
Days and Months
The days of the week and some Of the months of the year were
named after persons or ancient deities‘
. for instance ,the name of
Sunday was in honor of the sun Monday for moon day. and the
other days of the week after other deit ies Of Teutonic‘
peoples .
Being , therefore, of personal derivation they should be capitalized .
The months are also capitalized for the reason that most Of them
were named after Roman deit ies , as January, meaning month
of Janus March ,
”
after Mars , the deity of war June ,from
Juno , the wife OfJupiter July, after Julius Caesar August,
”
after Augustus Caesar . Subsequently other months were added
to the year , but their names instead of being taken from persons
acquired a numeral form : Septem (seven) , September octo
(eight) , October novem (nine) , November decem (ten) ,December . Originally all nouns in E nglish , as now in modern
German ,were capitalized . When the style changed proper nouns
retained the capital letter . As the days of the week and the
names Of the months continue to be capitalized , the seasons Of theyear being apparently Of the same class of nouns also retai ned thecapital letter until quite recently . When , however, it was seen
that their claim to a capital letter rested on false analogy the
habit was dropped They are now not capitalized ,as spring,
”
summer,” fall , and winter .
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
: no t appear that theearliy's t prin ters h ad 6
any m e thod Of%orrec t in&erromv
beforev
the form 4 V V
was on the press/ The learnedM arne-d cor 0 ?rec tors of the firs t two centuries of print ing wereno t proof/readers in our sense/ they wyers rather
what we should I erm office ed i tors Their laborswere ch iefly to see that the proof corresponded to
A
the copy ,but that the prin ted page was correc t
in i ts [atini ty/W and
that the sense was righ t They cared but l i t tleabout orthography,
bad le t tersAor pure ly prin terfib
errors , and when the text seem ed to them wrong
they consul ted fresh authori t ies or al tered i t on
the ir own responsib i l i ty G ood proofsA in the
m odern sense , were fiyfposs ible un t i l onalreaders were em ployed/ m en who
printer ’s educat ion, and then spen t m any years
A in the correc tjfin of proof. The orthography of
E ngl ish , which for the pas t cen tury has underA
gone l i t tle change , was very fluc tuat ing un t i l afterthe publ icat ion ofJohnson
’
s Dic t ionary , and capitals , which have been used wi th cons iderable reg
ulari ty for the pas t. years , were prev ious ly usedon the lm iss loflh idplan . The approach to regu
lari ty,so far as we hav%m ay be at tributed to the
growth
-
oi a class of profess ional proof readers,and
i t i s to them that we owe the correc tness of m od
ern prin ting .A More er/ors have been found in theBible than in any other one work . F or m any on Giza 44
.
orations i t was frequen tly the case that B i lee
-
I6 ”
were brought out s teal thi ly , from fear of govern
E [m en tal interference . A They were frequen tlyprin ted from im perfect tex ts
,and were often m od
i fi ed to m ee t the views of those who publised
D them .The s tory is related that a certain wom an
4 in G erm any , sh e -teas the wife of a Prin ter, andhad becom e d isgus ted wi th the con tinual assert ionfloflthe- o i m an over wom an which
she had heard , hurried in to the com pos ing room
wh i le her husband was at supper and al tered a
sen tence in the.
V
B ible,
“which he wasprin t ing , so
that i t read“Nan / ( ins tead ofAthus m aking
the verse read “A nd he shal l be thyA
fool ins teadof find he shal l be thy Xord . The word
Anot
was om i t ted by Barker, the i ng s prin ter inA
E n-A
V
STYL E -BOOK oF BUSI NESS ENGL ISH
The P ossess ive Case
Prepare , by consulting a good grammar , the theory of the
possessive case . Where to put the apostrophe i s very puzzling
to many pupils . They do not seem to grasp the ordinary rules or
else in haste miss the application . The following method has been
used with success : The word to assume the possessive form is
ladies . L et the student write the singular and when this is done ,
write the plural form of the word . Now note that the posit ion
of the apostrophe is next , followed by an I f the plural endsin s another 5 is not needed . The trouble with pupils
consists in no t getting the correct plural form . The obj ect in
writing the word in the singular i s to lead up to the correct
spelling of the plural . The plural spelling found the apostrOphe
immediately follows . This m ethod is very effective is securing the
possessive form for irregular plurals as m en ,
” children , etc .
F igures and Signs
I n treating figures and signs remember that harmony is essential .When a figure is used it should always be preceded by the abbre
viat ed form as in No . 2 . When the number is spelled
out the word also should be,as in number four . When
abbreviated , num ber is always to be capitalized . The samem ay be said
'
of percentage indication . Figure is to be followed by
sign , as Spelled-out number followed by word-form,
as t en per cent . The incorrect writing of per cent . is the
commonest error in business E nglish, as pupils insist on writing
cent . without the period . There is no exception to the rule
that a word abbreviated at the end must be followed by a period .
E xplain that cent .
” is a contraction of centum,the word for
100 ; M . for mille,
Review Quest ions for Chapter I I I
(NOTE I n a fewc ases it will be necessary for the pupil to consultthe appendix or a good dictionary to obtain answers to the followingquestions . )
4
40 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
1 Should ante meridian (before noon) and post meridian
(after noon) when abbreviated be written A . M . and P . M .
or a. m . and p . m .9
2 Do you capitalize st . and ave .
3 Do you capitalize the seasons of the year ? Is the sign ofthe possessive case frequently om itted in geographical nam es P
4 Do you capitalize the days of the week and the m onths5 When an article is referred to as class A or exhibit B ,
or persons
referred to as A,B
,or C , are such letters capitalized and followed
by a period
6 I s sir capitali zed when not used as a t itle :
E x . Ar e you of age ,Sir P
How do you capitalize : pope pius the tenth , Charles the first P7 How do you capitalize m s . and m ss . m eaning m anu
script and m anuscripts
8 When do you not capitalize bible and scriptures
9 What is the rule for capitalizing com m on nouns
10 Do you capitalize such words as Congress , Legislature,Suprem e Court P
1 1 What is the rule for capitalizing :
14 doz . Hats, Coats, and Gloves ?12 Which of the following words not capital ized should be P
college of Physicians and surgeons
Alabama is a state in the southI n the western State of ohio corn is raised , and in otherparts of the west wheat
John Semp, b . A .
He speak s Spanish and french
Send 2 Doz . hats next friday, jan . 2
We refer you to the china department
13 The E nglish word of in P ronunciation .
Germ an is von foneFren ch is de deh
Ital ian i s di dee
Spanish is de day
When are they not to be capitalized when used before a propernoun State when . they should be capitalized and give an
i llustration .
STYLE -BOOK or BUSINESS ENGLISH 4 1
14 How do you punctuate a quotation within a quotation P
A ns With single apostrophes .
15 When does a paragraph beginning with quotation marks
not necessari ly close with quotation m arks P
Where quoted matter is divided into paragraphs the first one
only has the opening apostrophes ; the last paragraph only has
the closing ones .
16 When are the quotation marks placed after the question
mark P When before P
Quotation marks are placed after the P at end of sentence only
when the whole sentence is quoted .
17 A re the quotation marks ever written before the comma
or t he period ( P No .
18 A re words contracted at the end always followed by periods P
Give five samples .19 When m ay we contract Company and Manufacturing P
20 How are words contracted otherwise than at the end ?
G ive fi ve exam ples .21 I f not a period what other point do you use in contracting
a word P G ive three exam ples
22 How do you contract telephone,
”
E xchange ,
”
away,
it is P
23 May the apostrophe som etimes be omitted medially as in
Mfg , Bldg .P
24 May the apostrophe ever be omitted at the beginning of a
contracted word P
25 Why in typewrit ing‘
m ay not the m onths of the year be
contracted P26 A re abbreviations perm itted in handwrit ing P27 When does a word abbreviated medially require a period ,
Give three examples .28 Which words not capitalized when spelled out are always
to be capitalized when abbreviated P29 What word when abbreviated is written all capitals P30 What does pp . 2 1 -25 mean P3 1 Why are both correct : The Acme Mfg . Co . and The
Acm e Manufacturing Com pany P
42 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGLISH
What does re m ean P
Which of the following are correct P
10 per cent . t en per centum
t en per 10 per
10 70 t en per cent .Why is M . (m eaning followed by a period P
What m onths are not abbreviated in handwriting ?
Exercises
1 Punctuate and capital ize the following paragraph :
The cheapening of any article in comm on use alm ost immediately
results in a largely increased dem and for that art icle take thecase of shoes for instance the introduction of machinery for doing
every elem ent of the work which was form erly done by hand has
resulted in m aking shoes at a fraction of their form er labor cost
and in selling them so cheaply that now almost every m an wom an
and child in the working classes buys one or two pairs of shoes per
year and wears shoes all the time whereas formerly eachworkmanbought perhaps one pair of Shoes every fi ve years and went barefoot
most of the time wearing shoes only as a luxury or as a matter of
the sternest necessity in spite of the enormously increased output
of shoes per workm an which has come with shoe machinery the
demand for shoes has so increased that there are relatively m ore
m en working in the shoe industry now than ever before
2 Capitalize properly the following sentence
in the preceding pages are given directions for the capitalization
or non-capitalization of the following words and terms new
york assem bly, pasteurized milk , doctor of laws, 1 1 . d . ,state’s
evidence ,m anila street , roman type, hawthorne
’ s the house of the
seven gables, count von moltke, a. m . , c . o . d . , pension office,macadam ized, bay state, brit ish army .
3 Turn to the test-letters on pp . 59-60 ,92
,1 1 1
, 124-6,13 1 -4 ,
and m ark corrections as if reading proof .
CHAPTE R IV
SOCIAL AND F RIENDLY LETTERS
I T is hardly necessary to give any directions with reference to letters
to friends . E verybody writes such letters , and as a rule writes
them as well as they need be written . Unconsciously,also , most
persons conform to the true ideal of such writings— that they are
chats , more or less intimate . Some of the most charming literature
to be found in the E nglish language takes the form of letters of
this type, and for a fine series of entertaining examples the student
maybe referred to collections like E . V . Lucas’
s The Friendly
Art . ”
Social Correspondence
On the large subj ect of social correspondence, involving the correctuse of visiting-cards
,invitations , size and quality and color and
ornamentat ion of stationery but little can be said in a book of a
business nature . Special study is needed to qualify fully in this
regard .
Many business m en conduct some,if not all
,their social corre
spondence through office stenographers . This makes a knowledge ofsocial forms necessary to all secretaries . They should know the
sizes , colors , styles of engraving, Shapes,texture, etc . ,
of cards,envelopes , letter-sheets, et c . ,
peculiar to each sex . A S the style
varies widely from year to year, it is better to seek such information
direct from a high-class stationer than to depend upon a book ofany but very recent date .
There are forms in social correspondence,however, similar to
those used in business writ ing,that seldom change from year to
year . Such are the position of date-line,address , introduction ,
salutation, style of women’
s Signatures,punctuation
,use of titles ,
etc .
Three sizes of sheets are generally used by women . The first,
55 in . by 4 } in . , is used for short notes , congratulat ions , regrets ,and condolences . These are not single sheets
,like those used in
busines s , but four-paged or double sheets .43
44 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
The second Size, 6 1} in . by 5} in . ,is for all social notes , informal
invitations , or hurriedly written missives .The third or letter Size
,in . by 5&in . ,
is for general
correspondence,and is the m ost frequently used .
Besides the three foregoing standard sizes there are others up to
7 in . by 5g in . less used ,but the one permanently good style is the
plain , thick , white note-
paper, folded square,with envelope to
match .
Social,unlike business stat ionery (which must conform to the
requirements of fi ling-cabinets) , m ay be greatly varied in design to
suit individual taste . Some wom en of good taste prefer to select a
certain style and to adhere to it despite the changes of fashion ;which goes to show that the social style, within certain forms , i s
almost wholly a matter of individual caprice . The oblong Shape
is considered m ore generally correct , although a square one of medium
size is ever proper . Kid-fi nished ,unruled , unglazed paper of strong
texture is the standard pattern .
Punctuat ion in informal social correspondence seems to be an
art either lost or never applied . E ntire freedom from scholarly
restraint in penning friendly letters appears to be permissible.
A truly social letter m ay resemble a pleasant little talk and be
quite as informal in com position . One would infer , after examining
many letters of this truly informal class , that the following sim ple
rule in punctuation would suffi ce : When in doubt use a dash ;when not in doubt use no point at all. This rule, of course , must not
be taken too seriously, and does not apply to the formal part ofsocial correspondence .
Forms of address follow well-settled rules . My dear is con
s idered more formal than Dear, though the contrary prevails
abroad . A slight acquaintance is addressed as“My dear Mr .
Saunders . Dear Madam conforms to My dear Sir in being
the most formal term of address to women ; while Dear Miss ,”
without the name ,should not be used at all. The forms of address
of offi cials and of the clergy, Catholic and P rotestant , are to be found
on pp . 18-20 .
The address of the person who writes the letter, if not engraved
at the top,is generally written at the left below the signature .
46 STYL E -BOOK or BUSINESS ENGLISH
If extra space is needed an entire new sheet must be used,even for
a few words .
A letter wi th margins filled wi th parting scrawls has a
decidedly ill-bred appearance .
Addressed or monogramed paper looks defaced if dated at the
head of the page . The date should therefore be added after thesignature , at the lower left corner , and should be written out
August twenty-fi rst .
Wom en should carefully observe the forms used in business cor
respondence, and not Violate them by using social methods . Anerror in the one case is j ust as improper as in the other . Women
should constantly bear in mind the difference between social and
business correspondence . The free and easy,unm ethodical , inac
curate style of writing t o friends causes embarrassments of which
business houses long and bitterly complain .
Many women neglect to indicate their social status by their
Signatures , so that a correspondent is at less whether to address
them as Miss or Mrs . A prom inent business house deals with thisclass of delinquents as follows
Where there is the slightest indication in the letter,or any
knowledge in possession of the fi rm,that the signature is that of a
m arried or a Single woman , she is to be addressed as such . Where
such indication or knowledge is wholly lacking the correspondentsimply takes a chance one way or the other until the woman finallyawakes to the fact that it is unfortunate but nevertheless true that
the people of this nation are so interested in their own
affairs that they have the bad taste not to keep informed of herparticular and perhaps variable status in the marr iage relation .
This hit-or-miss method of handling uncertain Signatures soon
clarifies the situation without necessarily giving offense . I t isbetter for a correspondent to be consistent in one error than by for
getfulness , or lack of method, or dislike to look up former corre
spondence ,to address awom an alternately as Miss andMrs . When a
business house finally receives the correct title it is at once noted
in the address -book for future reference .
Occasionally there are prominent women who are persistent
beyond belief in demanding that their names be written j ust so and
STYL E -BOOK or BUSINESS ENGLI SH 47
so and in no other way . A list of these names should be kept athand and the ladies
’
wishes acceded to .
F orm al and Inform al Wri t ings
Though the absence of fixed rules is characterist ic of the informalelement in social writings , adherence to accepted forms 13 strictly
necessary to that formal part composed of cards of invitat ion ,
acceptances,declinations
, announcements , letters of condolence ,introduction
, etc . These are written in the third person ,and have
no heading,introduction , or complimentary close . The year also
is generally omitted . Answers to such documents should carefullyfollow the same form so as to indicate a perfect understanding of
the :
object of the occasion ,the time
,and the place . When not
pen-written such documents are generally engraved in script or some
fancy design in type face . Formal invitations are engraved.
MR . A ND MR S. HOWAR D R OCKLANDreques t the pleasure of
com pany on Tuesday even ing the fourt een th
of July at half-pas t e igh t o’
clockSix hundred and twe lveMadison Avenue .
Mus ic .
The acceptance and the declinat ion should read as follows
Mr . and Mrs . H enry Borden accept wi th pleasure Mr . and
Mrs . Howard R ockland ’s kind invi tat ion for Tuesday even ing
July fourt eenth .
62 1 Madison Avenue ,Monday , June fourth .
Mr . and Mrs .
’
Henry B orden regret that a prev ious engage
m ent prevents their accept ing Mr . and Mrs . Howard R ockland ’skind inv i tat ion for Tuesday evening ,
July fourteen th .
62 1 Madison Avenue,
Monday, June fourth-I
48 STYL E -BOOK or BUSINESS 'ENGLISH
Let ters of Condolence and Congratulat ion
Of all letters these should be the most informal,and for that
reason they are the hardest to compose . Deep emotion clogs thewell of expression and leaves one almost dumb . The tone of voiceand the features easily express grief, but it is almost a useless effortto try t o render sent iment into cold words . Yet the person deeplyaffl icted needs our sympathy, so we should strive in a few Simplewords to convey to him the fact that we suffer as well as he .
Let ter of CondolenceD ear Mr . Sm i th
Accept m y deepes t sym pathy for you in your bereavem ent .
Mrs . Sm i th was one of m y deares t friends and her death hascaused m e m uch sorrow . Her com panionship was one of
m y finest t reasures , and her charm ing charact er and
delightful personali ty will be sadly m issed by all who knew
her . I can fi nd no adequate words t o express m y grief.
V ery Sincerely yours ,
Congratulatory writings should also be Spontaneous and freefrom restraint . There is no set style for either kind of letters ;they belong to the truly informal class of social letters and Shouldexpress in lively style the true sentiment of the occasion.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to send a letter of condolencein the cause not of the social courtesies but of the courtesy ofbusiness , which should never be neglected . The following letterm ay serve as an example of such correspondence
20 C en ter St reet , Co lum bus , 0 .
F ebruary 14,19 14 .
Mr . Wi lliam St end,Jane St reet ,
Saugert ies , N. Y .
My dear Mr . St end :I learn with regret of the death of your father, long an
Agent for thi s Com pany ,and beg t o ex t end the sym pathy of the
officers of the C oncord t o you in your bereavem ent .
Up t o the t im e of h is incapacitat i on for work , your father
gave us fai thful and efficient serv ice , and his pass ing away w i llbe deplored by hi s form er associat es in the fi eld , and by those at the
Hom e Offi ce who had t o do w ith him and his work .
Wi th kind personal regards ,B e lieve m e t o be ,
Sincerely yours ,
HENRY K ING ,
P resident .
STYL E —BOOK or BUSINESS ENGLISH 49
F orm al Invi tat ion to D inner
Mr . and Mrs . A . S. Heat on reques t the pleasure of Mr . F rankStockt on ’
s com pany at dinner on January n in th at seven
o’
clock .
F orm al Acceptance
Mr . F rank St ockt on accept s wi th pleasure Mr . and Mrs . A . S.
Heat on’
s kind invi tat ion t o dinner on January n in th .
Inform al Invitat ion to Dinner
225 C lasson A ve , January 5,1 9 14 .
Dear F rankWe are go ing t o have a jo lly li t t le dinner on Thursday ,
January n in th at seven o’
clock,and part icularly wan t you t o
be wi th us .
Your friends,
Mr . F rank St ockt on ,
35 1 E m erson P lace .
Inform al Acceptance to Dinner
35 1 E m erson P lace ,January 6
,19 14 .
D ear Mr . and Mrs . H eat on
I t gives m e great pleasure t o say that I shall certain ly be presen tat your dinner party on January ni nth .
Sincere ly yours ,
Mr . and Mrs . A . S. H eat on ,
225 C lasson Avenue .
There is so much detail in the make-up and the use of wedding
cards , announcements , visiting cards, etc that the only safe guide
is to refer directly to a reliable book on etiquette .
50 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
Let ters of Introduct ion
A person gives a letter to another for the purpose of introducinghim to a third . This letter should contain a favorable descript ion
of the bearer and give some account of the object in making theintroduction . I t is understood , of course , that the relation of
friendship between the writer and the fi nal receiver of a letter of
introduction is intimate, otherwise i t could not be expected that
the bearer would be cordially received . One must also be reason
ably certain of the existence of a bond of common interest between
the persons thus introduced otherwise, lacking a mutual basis forcontinuing
, the acquaintanceship would be fruitless and annoying .
The person to be introduced Should be instructed carefully to
choose the proper time to present the letter. The recipient, beingunder obligation to Show the same friendly intent and considerationto the bearer as would be due to the writer himself, would feel
embarrassed were the letter presented at an unseemly hour— when
especially engaged in important business , for instance .
A letter of introduction should be acknowledged as a matter ofcourtesy among friends .
Business letters of introduction m ay be typewritten social ones
generally are not , but m ay be. In fact, the use of the typewriterhas become so general and the volum e of social correspondence
so great that there is a strong tendency toward typing much of the
informal part of social correspondence .
Business Letter of IntroductionNew York, Apri l 10 , 1909 .
Mr. H enry Toom bes ,
Wash ingt on ,
Oregon .
Dear Mr. Toom bes
I have pleasure in int roducing t o you Mr . Jam es
Allison ,a graduat e of Co lum bia Univers i ty . H e has just finished h is
hort icultural studies and des ires t o begin pract ical bus iness life alongfrui t and farm ing lines . H is charact er i s above cri t icism in every
way , and I am sure you w i ll fi nd h im a congen ial acquaintance .
A ny ass istance you m ay render h im wi ll be great ly appreciat edby m e .
Yours very sincerely ,
STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH 5 1
The letter should be presented unsealed . I n the left-hand
lower corner of the envelope should appear the word
Introducing , and the name of the person to be introducem ai
IntroducingMR . JAMES ALLISON
F or answering business letters of introduction use the regular
business-let ter form . Presen t unsealed .
Social Le t ter of In troduction
54 E as t l0th St reet ,
Washington, D . C . , Jan . 5, 19 13 .
Dear Mr. TownsendThe bearer of th is let t er , Mr . H enr i de
R ochem ont , is an old fr iend of m ine . He is go ing t o E ngland on
behalf of the librarian of Congress t o co llect cert ain MSS. referr ing
t o early E nglish print ing and old edit ions of the B ible ; also t o
inspect Catalogue No . 1 . A s he is a t otal st ranger in your coun t ry
I Should great ly appreciat e your ass istance in faci li tat ing h is
int roduct ion int o such quart ers that he m ay des ire . Mr . de
R ochem ont is a
~
gent lem an of fi ne charact er and of great li t eraryat tainm ent s , and I am therefore cert ain that h is acquaint ance wi thyou wi ll am ply reward your court esy in aid ing h im .
Wi th best regards , I rem ain
Yours s incerely ,
THOMAS TU R NE R .
Mr . G eorge Townsend ,85 St rand ,
L ondon .
Acknowledgm ent
85 St rand .L ondon , E ng. , January 30, 19 13 .
Dear Mr . Turner
Thank you very kindly for int roducingMr . de R ochem on t . I fi nd we have m any tast es in com m on on
li t erary m at t ers , and I am sure t o be great ly benefit ed by the
acquaintance of so learned a gent lem an .
Yours s incerely ,
Mr . Thom as Turner ,
54 E as t 10th St reet ,
Wash ingt on,D . C .
52 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
When it i s not convenient to write a letter , a person m ay be
introduced by the means of one’s visiting or business card with his
nam e written on it . This card serves as a letter of introduction .
Only in case of haste or of som e other delaying circum stance should
the card be used in social introductions . I t is far more frequentlyused in business circles .
Review Quest ions for Chapter I V
1 Where m ay full inform ation be obtained as to the latestforms used P
2 Why is a knowledge of social form s of correspondencenecessary to every stenographer P
3 What form s ar e regarded as generally fixed P4 How many different Sizes of letter-sheets m ay be used P5 F or what use is each Size P6 What size and quality are perm anently in good form P7 Why should all business stationery
,as a rule , be of uni form
size P8 I n what way does the quality of material differ in social
correspondence from that used in business correspondence P9 Why is carelessness in punctuation more pardonable in
social than in business writ ing P10 Why Should the greatest care be taken in spelling P1 1 What is m eant by formal and inform al in addresses P1 2 What peculiarity do you see in the use of My dear Sir
and My dear Mr . Brown as applied to a Slight acquaintance P13 When do women use or not use the title Mrs . in their
Signatures P14 When m ay women use titles P15 How should a divorced woman be addressed P16 What part of the complim entary close should never be
omitted P17 I S there any regular order in writing from one page to
another in a social letter P18 A re ruled paper and unm atched envelopes perm itted P
Why not P
19 What does scrawling writing around the margins of theletter-sheet indicate P20 Why do business houses complain when wom en carelessly
use social forms in business letters P2 1 How would you address a woman who neglected to indicate
her social status in the Signature to a letter P
54 STY L E -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
(6) Write an acceptance of the above .
2 Write an account to a friend in Chicago of how you spentyour Chri stmas vacation .
3 The father or brother of a friend has died . Write him '
or
her a letter of condolence .
4 Mr . B . L . Holland, whom wou have known for several years,is about to visit Jacksonville, I ll . Write a letter of introductionfor him to a friend in that city, 220 Lockwood P lace .
5 Write a letter of congratulat ion to Miss Louisa A . Lincroft ,1800 Central Avenue, Tampa, Florida, who has j ust won a prize of$ 100 at the University of Florida.
6 Write an invitat ion (suitable for printing on a small card)for a class function -a class day, a sociable, or the like .
7 (a) Issue an informal— rather humorous— invitation for a
Hallowe ’
en or surprise par ty .
(b) Write an acceptance for such an invitation .
8 You have j ust had two interesting experiences— you haveseen an exciting play and while on a trip you have passed throughsome wonderful scenery . Write a letter to your mother (or someother near relat ive) , who is away from home on a visit . telling aboutthese experiences .9 A . S. Hoffman ,
80 New Jersey Street , Wheeling, WestVirginia, has j ust moved into a new hom e . Frame a letter Of
invitat ion from him to his cousin asking her to take this Opportunityfor a visit . His cousin ,Mrs . Margar et Stephenson ,
a widow,lives
at 218Twelfth Street , Omaha, Nebraska.
10 Decline an invitat ion you have received to officiat e as
j udge at a debate between the E ntre Nous Club and the No NameClub . Address the Secretary of t he former, Margaret White,290 Arlington Street , Boston , Mass .
CHAPTE R V
THE CHOICE OF WORDS IN LETTERS
YOUNG pupils,as a rule, do not have a large and varied vocabulary ;
so it would seem rather useless to advise them carefully to dis
criminate in selecting the words for sentences . To prohibit the
average commercial-class or high-school student the use of words
of Latin or Greek derivation would not be much more effective
than to disallow Sanskrit roots . The best that can be done is to
advise the use of the Shortest of two or more words having the same
or nearly the same sense,as shown later . Also a word of advice
m ay be added to students of all characters , and particularly to
students doing commercial work , to enlarge their general reading
as much as possible . The wider the reading, and the better the
character of that reading , the more likely it is a good style in
letter-writing will result . A good style is an easy, Simple one and it
will come naturally with the frequent reading of books by m en like
John Bunyan ,Dean Swift , Addison, Washington Irving , Thackeray ,
and others of equal caliber .When a writer is obliged to use objectionable terms , such as ,
make good ,
” deliver the goods,” up against it , et c . , quotation
marks should be used to inclose them . Pupils should also be
instructed to write the accents with the pen when necessary on
foreign words , but not to use foreign words under any
circumstances unless no E nglish equivalents are available .
It is not wise to be too insistent on the correct form for compoundwords, as there is now a tendency in business writing to spread
com pounds into two independent words rather than to unite them
with a hyphen . The reason for this usage is that hyphenated words
do not readily lend themselves for the purpose of display and of
capitalizing when used in circulars or other,advert isement writing .
Hyphenated words, however, that are never written separately
should always be written properly . Such words are : by—laws,
t o -day, to-m orrow,good-by,
to-n ighjr, etc .
Note the waste and effusiveness in the following sentences and
the shorter and better form s
5—440 0 )
56 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
P om pous Style
The inexplicable and mysterious affair created unbounded and
unusual attention in the commun ity .
The strange affair caused widespread attention in the town .
Circus Language or Departm ent -Store JargonA stupendous opportunity will be accorded at this unparalleled
and colossal exposition to acquire rare and unsurpassable bargains .
A rare chance will be offered at this great sale to secure unusual
bargains .
There is nO 'bet t er field for the study of the sentence than that
presented by the advertisements of newspapers and magazines ,where each word , costing from fifty cents to a dollar,is examinedas is a diamond to test its value . The letter on the following page
is a genuine advertisement in the form of a letter .
From words of equal mean ing and propriety always select the
Shortest . Anglo-Saxon is the pith of E nglish com position .
Note in the following list that by selecting the shortest words
there is effected a saving of fi fty-n ine per cent
led induced agent representativegot obtained sad melancholicdone effected very exceedinglyhard diffi cult leave permissionwish desire talk conversationfi ne excellent a year per annumdo accomplish think contemplate
The origin of words— Latin ,French
,or Anglo-Saxon— matters
little . All are proper i f in general use, though some preference
should be given to the Anglo-Saxon as being more familiar to all.
Business language seldom admits words wholly foreign in
form : such as employé,for employee ; ennui
,for tiresomeness ;
m énu,for bill of fare ; Poste Restante, for General Delivery ;
tete-a-tete ,for private conversat ion ; cheque, for check ; segar ,
for cigar,etc. Café valet and chauffeur (Sho-fiir
’
)m ay be used . E specially avoid the mongrel department-store
French now purposely used to induce the purchasing of inferior
dry-goods . Certain business phrases also are obj ectionable,
such as O . K . for approve ; I . O . U . for prom issory note ;make good
,deliver the goods
,etc .
STYLE -BOOK OF BUS INESS E NGLISH 57
I l lus trat ing the P reference for Anglo-Saxon Words
TH E ADAMS F OR D CO .
MANU F ACTUR E R S OF SU P E R F INE SHOES
South Bank St reet
C hicago ,I ll January 1"
Mr . H enry G oodson
97 K ing St reet ,
New York .
Dear Sir
I f we could get you t o t ry on .a pan of our shoes we
Shou ldn ’
t have t o t alk t o you any m ore .
H ere’
s a Shoe that your feet want . There i s no rubbershOe discom fort— there can be no persp ir ing and chafing of the
feet ; i t i s easy t o wear because i t i s l ight— and i t never m akes a
sore jo int . Our Walking-Shoe Depart m en t i s fam ous for t h i s .
You get,
com plet e prot ect ion w here you want i i t— over
the so le and the s eam between so le and‘
upper . No useless rubbert o carry and t o m ake an air-t ight case for your feet t o perspire in .
St ick t o t he Shoe ? Of course ,m ore t ight ly than any
old-s tyle rubber ever m ade .
Now look at the fi t of i t— that m eans you have a
s ty l ish shoe , som e th ing no one ever claim ed for the old rubber .
They are m ade for m en and wom en .
E very good shoem an carr i es them ; I f you cannot ge t
a pair,wri t e us and we w i ll send you our booklet , G ood News
F or Your F eet , and t e ll you how t o get a pair .
Yours t ruly ,
Observe that of the 177 words 1 44 are of one syllable, 30 of 2,and but
3 Of 3 syllables , while 97 per cen t . are’
of E nglish or i g i n . ThlS lett er 15 a gem
in the art of wri ting Anglo-Saxon and in the econom iz ing of valuable adver
t i sing space . Acquire the habi t of us ing short,forceful ; economical ( therefore
profi table ) words .
The use of m any paragraphs for a s ingle subject is perm iss ible in ad ; writing .
58 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
Lat in and Greek Words Used in Bus iness
Singular
ADDE NDUM Something added to a supplement .
ANALYSIS A d ivi sion into parts .
APPEND IX Certain parts of a book at the end .
CRISIS A critical moment .
CRITERION A standard of j udgm ent .
DATUM A fact,supposition
,or point of
information .
E R RATUM E rror : used in referr ing to mistakes
FOCUS The center ; to concentrate .
FORMULA A recipe or receipt .
HYPOTHE SIS A theory ; a supposition .
G ENIUS A person of great talent .
MATR IX A die (stamping) .
MEMORANDUMA note for reference .
PARENTHESIS A punctuation mark
PHE NOME NON A n unusual occurrence .
P lural
ADDE NDA
ANALY SE S
APPEND IX ES
CRISES
CRITERIA
DATA
E R RATA
FOCUSE S
FORMULAS
HYPOTHE SE S
G ENIUSES
MATR IC E S
MEMORANDA
PAR E NTHE SE S
PHE NOME NA
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH 59
Test-Letter I
Rewri te the num bered paragraphs , us ing other term s .
Must be perfect for Grade A
260 R ut ledge Street ,B rooklyn , N . Y January 1 , 19 14 .
Dear Miss Co llins :A s you were absent t o-day , I send you the
lesson for t o -m orrow . You are t o rewri t e the fo llowing , us ing
equivalen t words or their abbrev iat ions for those i talicized .
A t ransact ion in good fai th.
Jones agains t Thom as and others .
Som e prefer paym ent by the day ; o thers by the year .
A neces sary num ber t o do bus iness was not present .
H enry W i lson , tem porary pres ident pres ided .
The steam ship Star sai led by way of the Suez Canal .Though sm uggled art icles the vendor dec lared them A I .
L et the buyer beware !
Stokes , otherwi se known as , Connell , proved that he waselsewhere.
The subject was debat ed for and against .
The dut ies are lev ied according to value.
The speaker was report ed word for word .
The m eet ing adjourned indefin i tely .
One sect ion abused the o ther and the reverse .
They were paid by the thousand .
The print er was t o ld t o ignore the correcti on .
A “near ant idot e was d iscovered .
The pr ince is travel ing under an assum ed nam e.
A before-death s tat em ent was taken .
Note well. A n after-death exam inat ion is necessary .
Yours Sincerely,
Miss Jennie Collins ,2 4 1 Stanton St reet ,
New York
NOTE — I n all test-letters , m ake use of the proof-reading sym bols , ChapterIII, and of the diagram , Chapter X III .
61) STYL E -BOOK OF BUSI NE ss ENGLISH
Test -Lett er 2
(P LUR ALS OF L ATI N AND G REEK WOR DS USE D I N BUSI NE ss )
This let ter is t o be rewritten ,us ing equivalent term s
for the italicized words . I t m ust be perfect
to obtain Grade A
THE SUMNE R BALD COMPANY
SCIENTIF IC TE X T-B OOH P UBLISHERS
230 B roadway
New York, Apri l 2, 1 907 .
Mr . Charles Jackson ,
28 B room e Street ,
New Y ork .
Dear Sir
The reference t o m at erial for m atrixes was om it t ed , but Im em orandum was m ade and i t was put am ong the A ddenda (P ar t
I I,pp . 240 Not es on m atrixes and focuses wi ll be found in
the A ppendixes . The analyses t hat were incom plet e wi ll be foundunder Correct ed F orm ulas
,page of E rrata. The publ ishers have
tabulat ed the data on errors and now believe the work t o be a
cri teri on . F orm er ly correct ions were m ade in parentheses , but
gen iuses only cou1d fi nd them . Now they are on a separat e page.
E xperience has proved th is hypothes i s t o be correct . Com binat ionsin chem ical phenom ena are t reat ed in the chapt er on WorkingHypotheses .
We des ire adv ice from you on im proving the Indexes , andwi sh you wou ld send us your accum ulat ed m em oranda.
Yours t ruly ,
62 STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
Exercises
cuisine naive
ennui negligeecortege soirée t rousseau
cot erie
résum é
rout e
chaufleur
Copy the fol lowing paragraph . Then t rans late
i talicized words,us ing Eng lish equivalents . Must be
perfect fo r Grade A
A propos of the followed the corte‘
ge, i t is said that he
suffered considerable ennui among his particular coterie at the soirée
in the cafe’
. Such gay rendezvous were very frequent under the old
regim e, but they are now attractive mostly by their excellent
cui sine, and are less visited by roués who arrived in coupes with , as
they thought, great éclat. A close description of this eli te gathering ,
with its vaudeville characteristics, would appear charming to a person
thoroughly naive. The negligee robe in the trousseau of the
soubrette who occupied the third sui te was especially commented
on for its texture.
NOTE . Pupils are rem inded that the failure to put the necessary accents
on fore ign words will be counted as an error.
1
2
3
10
1 1
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
5
6
7.
8
9
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Write the Eng lish of
bizarre
canaille
carte blanche
chapeau
chargé d ’affaires
ci-devant
confrere
connoisseur
coup d ’etat
coup de grace
creche
décolleté
dénouement
de trop
en arriere
en échelon
en passant
en regle
en suite
entrée
entrepot
exposé
facade
faience
25 faux pas
26 habitué
27 matériel
28 matinée
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
30
40
4 1
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
melee
moiré
née
nom de plume
nouveau
papier-m aché
parole
portiere
procés verbal
protégé
qui vive
rale
recherché
retroussé
rOle
rOle d’
équipage
salle
salon
sefI'
or
tout ensemble
vis-r‘
i -vis
visé, viseed
63
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINESS ‘
E NGLISH
Rewrit e,us ing Eng lish equivalents .
Must be . perfect for Grade A
The lady with nose retroussé, a ci -devant m illiner,entered the
salon dressed in a most bizarre form of décolleté, m uch to the j oy Of
the canaille. E n passant i t is well to say that her nom de plum e was
a little too recherche’
,im plying a connoi sseur of letters
,thereby leaving
her subject to an expose.
The manager, constantly on the qui vive, had carte blanche to
eject persons who made them selves de trop by assuming an unsuit
able réle. The dénouem ent of this faux pas was that the harmony
of the ensem ble was affected, and on the complaint of a guest Sitting
vi s -d-vi s she was requested to leave . Thus was the eli te of the town
avenged .
The managers of the entertainment had constantly to be on
guard to prevent the intrusion of the nouveaux riches . I n fact
none but those of the best society had the right of entree.
NOTE . I n rewr i t ing this exercise assum e that i t is a social le t ter fromJosephine Taylor, 2 0 Myrtle A ve. ,
Brooklyn,N. Y. ,
to Catherine Wood,29
’
West
soth St . , New York . Do not alter con ten ts except as directed above,but fill in ‘
wi th due regard for proper spacing and posi t ion the s tree t address,date-l ine ,
salutat ion, introduct ion, and com pl im en tary close .
I n order to m ake the exerci se m ore l ike a personal let ter , supply two openingand two closing sentences . Change the F rench words into E nglish wordsor phrases .
STYL E -BOOK OF' BUSINESS ENGLISH 65
To be correct ly rewri t ten . Must be
perfect for Grade A
( R ewri te and correct li f necessary all i talicized words )
A recent law statue declares that all stationary must be delivered
biweekly . A canvas among dealers disclosed that o pinions were
divided pro and con . To afi ect this intention of the legal stature
advise was given to make deliveries cereally,though many believed
that contingent circum stances might efiect profits . Therefore, further
advi se should be awaited before acceeding thereto . No one knew the
principle in charge nor the principal involved . The above change
also refers to plas t ic s tatutes in canvass bags .
Write the defini tion of
s tat ionery canvas advice effect
statue adv ise accedebiweekly s tatut e m i nor
affect cereal form erlyserial
principal canvass
NOTE . Students should be directed to wr ite twenty-four sentences,each
containing one or m ore of the foregoing words .
5
6
7
8
9
10
1 1
12
13
14
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
Show the accent by rewrit ingcomparable
revocable
consummate
memoir
misconstrue
museum
research
resource
s inecure
vagary
peremptory
defalcate
financier
gratis
incomparable
inquiry
disputant
decade
consignee
24 lamentable
25
NOTE — A n accent is wri tten by placing this m ark next to the syllable on
which the s tress is to fall .
address
26
27
28
29
30
3 1
32
35
37
39
40
4 1
42
43
44
50
disputable
equitable
acum en
abdom en
municipal
detail (noun)
detail (verb )
in eparable
employee
annuity
remonstrate
acclimate
illustrate
exem plary
facile
physique
superfluous
personnel
askance
F or exam ple , r ig’
idly .
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINESS E NGLISH 67
Rewrite the following with a view to correct E nglish , good tast e
and brevity, and give reasons for changes made
A corporation is a body, consisting of, usually, several
persons, having power given to them by law to do things the
same as one person ,and continued by a succeeding of new
members . Public corporations are the kind which are made
up for the public interest, like cities , town , counties , etc .
P rivate corporations are go t up , wholly or partly, for the
aggrandizement of those who hold the shares , as railway
corporations, etc. Corporate bodies of which the members
at discretion fi ll by appointment all vacancies accruing in their
membership sometimes are called close corporations . In theUnited States the power to be a corporation is a franchise ,which can only exist through the legislature . There are two
distinctive methods in which corporations m ay be called into
being first by specified grant of the franchise to the membersand second by General Grant which becomes operative in favorof particular persons when they organize on purpose to avail
themselves of its provisions .
CHAPTE R V I
LETTER S OF‘
APPLI CATION
IT is a common complaint that it is useless to answer an advertisement
,as the chance of receiving an answer is one in forty . This
I S,in fact
, the average chance— for the badly writt en letter , thoughin five cases out of t en an answer is received to the letter properlywritten . Many imagine that all that is necessary i s to inform the
advertiser that his advertisement has been seen and . that the posit ion i s wanted , quite unconscious that an advertisem ent is an
invitation to qualify sufficiently to enable the advert iser to selectthe best . Answer by letter means prove abili ty beforeappearing. I t is a request to send a sample — a substituteby which to j udge, and is , therefore, to a certain extent a personal p resentation . I f the substitute (the letter of application)is neatly (ad)dressed, with well-arranged clothes (the lines of theaddress) , well-placed hat or collar and necktie (the stamp) , and
face free from dirt (the envelope)— then it produces a favorableimpression . Untidy envelopes go unopened into the waste-basket .The next rej ected are the letters that begin like Sam
’s remark inthe cartoon I seen yo ’ ad . in de Then those on ruledpaper, with social instead of business forms of address ; nextthose im properly folded— all Showing ignorance of business cor
respondence . Use com mercial-Size envelope (91 in . ) its prominence
generally secures it first and Special attention . Always typewr i tethe application and enclose self-addressed andg
‘
stam ped envelopefor reply .
Positions are often Obtained by writing again a week later,inquiring whether application was received . Business m en admireproper persistency . Word the letter in such a manner that otherqualifications m ay be inferred and request an interv iew .
E xtreme brevity is an error . E nough Should be written toenable the advertiser to j udge grammar, composit ion , and busines s style . The next rej ected contai n such abbreviations as“
,rec ’d resp ’
,t etc. and the senseless phrases “Yours at handand noted
,
” I beg to acknowledge receipt of, etc. The omissionOf the personal pronoun I is especially obj ectionable
,as , Am
twenty-fi ve years old have experience will accept salary of,
etc.
Improper titles,salutations
,and com plimentary closes are errors .
When a letter has been written to a principal and an answer hasbeen received from his secretary the question arises
,To whom to
address the reply ? I f the answer be a direct composi tion of the prinC Ipal and signed by him,
though carrying the additional signature68
70 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGL ISH
Beginner’
s Let ter of Applicat ion
28 R ut ledge St reet ,B rooklyn, N . Y . ,
Apri l 1 , 1 9 1 3 .
Mr. H enry Tay lor,100 B roadway ,
New York.
Dear Sir :
K indly cons ider m y applicat ion for the pos it ion adver
t ised by you in this m orn ing’
s H erald . Although w ith only a
li t t le bus iness exper ience I am able t o Show a G raduat ion
C ert ificat e prov ing excellence in spell ing,punct uat ion , com pos i t ion ,
et c . You w i ll fi nd , s ir, upon inquiry t hat I am rat ed as a
fi rs t -class beginner in typewr i t ing and s t enography .
I live w ith in short d is tance of your office and can there
fore always arr ive early . I f you wi ll kindly grant m e an int erv iew
t o dem ons t rat e m y ab i lity and des i re t o obl ige you w i ll not have
was t ed your valuable t im e .
The quest ion of salary I leave t o your judgm ent aft er
you have becom e conv inced of m y worth .
R eferences
Dr. Bernard Cronson ,prin . Gram m ar Schoo l
1 25, New York .
Mr. Arthur Brown, of Ward,Howell 8: Co . ,
44 Wes t Street, New York.
Hoping that you wi ll perm i t m e t o present m yse lf or that
you w i ll kindly answer at your conven ience , I am
Y ours respect fully ,
NOTE . Observe that the superscription on the enve lope should always beexact ly the sam e as the introduction in the le tter.
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLISH 7 1
Illustrating the Sing le-spaced Square Letter
THE NORTH AME R ICAN BOOK COMPANYP ublishers of m edical fi oo/es and m agaz ines
120 MAD ISON SQ UAR ESA N F RANCISCO C H ICAGO
UN ION NATIONAL B AN K 170 STATE STREET
New York , May 6 , 19 14 .
Mes srs . Manson Co
40 Mad i son A veNew York .
G ent lem en
Unders tand ing t hat you em ploy co llege wom en
in your house ,I des ire t o m ake applicat ion for a pos i t ion
in a secretarial capaci ty .
I have had e ight years’
exper ience as correspondent and as s is tant m anager in m ai l-order and publish ing-houses .
I can also qualify as proof-reader . I am able t o furn ish the best ofbus iness and social references , and should be glad i f you would
grant m e an int erv iew.
Hoping t o have the opportun i t y of proving the valueOf m y service t o you, I am
R espect fully yours ,
Short com m unicat ions when wr i t ten on letter-head s ize of sheet m ay be
di splayed to advantage as shown above,that is , cen tered.
Not ice “Messrs .
” before “Manson Co .
,
Pol iteness requires the use
of the ti tle “Messrs . before the fi rm -nam e,though i t is not im proper to
om i t it.
6
72 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESSv
E NG L I SH
The position of an incom peten t applican t is Sim ilar to that of
the m anufacturer in the following
Circum stances of a Manufacturer who has Learned to P‘
roduce
Articles,but cannot Market them through Ignorance
of Selling Conditions and Correspondence
B expends a sum of money for service ,rent , raw material , insur
ance, etc . ,and manufactures a stock of articles . He fails to instruct
himself about competition ,cond itions
,styles
,selling-prices
,dis
counts,shipping-costs
,advertising , forms of correspondence ,
et c.
I n other words he cannot through ignorance discover his m arket .
Naturally ,his original confidence grows less and less through lack
of successful effort .
Question Can he succeed P I f no t , what is the rem edyP
Incom petent Applicant’
s Circum stance
C , in a commercial class,expends time and m oney for tuition,
books , stationery, board , car-fare, etc .,in exchange for instruction
in shorthand, typewri ting , bookkeeping , or other subject . He is
graduated satisfactorily in other parts of business-E nglish corre
spondence, but has had insufficient instruction how to secure a
place by mail that is , of demonstrating fitness by letter-wri ting.
Question Can he secure the interview (position ) P I f no t , what
i s the rem edy ?
The followm g facts afford the answer to the foregoing
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLI SH 73
Value of Correspondence Dem onstrated
A New Jersey school annually graduated m ore pupils than therewere positions to be had in that city. The only means of placing
this excess of pupils lay in answering New York newspaper adver
t isem ent s . This method had already been tried and largely aban
domed, as satisfactory results were extremely m eager,two replies
to a hundred applicat ion letters being the average . To rem edy
this the E nglish instructor drew up a model letter of applica
tion to be used by all and modified to suit individual needs . E ach
modification was examined,and instruction and practise given ,
unti l every letter Showed a sat isfactory individual touch . The
burden of composition , of course , was put upon the student .
E ach letter was carefully inspected by the teacher before being
mailed . The result was that the replies to applications increased
from two to forty in the hundred . All forty applicants secured
interviews and thirty obtained desirable posit ions,thus increasing
the percentage of success from two to thirty—fi ve . By thus usingthe art of selling by paper the students becam e
,so to speak
,
successful letter-writing salesmen ; that is , they proceeded to
dem onstrate, as asked for in the advert isement,their ability to do
the work required . The work required, be it well understood , wasplain stenography and typing . The deception thus practised does
not seem to be so very blameworthy when i t is considered that,as
beginners , their work was wholly confined to stenography, typewriting, the card-system , and letter-fi ling . Later inquiries of theinstructor showed that the pupils who secured work in this wayheld their positions as successfully as others .
The lesson here to be learned is that every other properly written
letter brings an interview, and that three out of every four in terviewsresult in securing a place and that , however com petent one m ay
be in shorthand , typewri ting , or bookkeep ing , a knowledge of
business E nglish is essent ially necessary to secure employment by
74 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESS ENGLI SH
Answer to“Stenographer Wan ted
96 H o lborn St reet,
B os ton,Mass . ,
Apr i l 3,1 9 13 .
Mr. Charles G . K n igh t ,
240 State St ree t ,
B os ton , Mass .
Dear Sir :
I respectfully subm i t the fo llow ing in answer t o adver
t isem ent for a beginner s t enographer in t o -day’
s Telegram
I am a young m an of twenty ; neat in appearance ; of
good habi t s ; do no t use t obacco ; punctual , reliable , and obliging .
G raduat ed from Co lborn H igh Schoo l w i th fi rs t -rat e
accuracy .
I acqu ired m uch of m y educat ion by s elf-ins t ruct ion ,
wh ich guarant ees I have ab i li ty for fu ture im provem ent .
I can read shorthand not es very rapidly ,and can
m ake t ranscr ipt s that d o no t have t o be re-read by m y em ployer .
I shall be sat i sfied w i th sm al l salary unt i l worthy of
increas e . NO snap job want ed , and I am w i lling t o work t o advance .
Spe lling , gram m ar, com pos i t ion , and busin ess E ngli sh
s ty le are A 1 .
R eferences
Mr . Herbert Sim m ons,bookkeeper
,Ward 8: Co .
Mes srs . Henson Sons , patent lawyers .
Mr . Calm er Benson,principal Colborn High School .
All of Bos ton .
No t im e wi ll be los t on your part in gran t ing m e an
int erv i ew I hereby reques t in order t o dem ons t rat e abi li ty.
R espectfully yours ,
Underscore wi th red ink the words was specially com m ended by m y
teachers for accuracy and do not have to be t e-read.Always send copies of your references . Do no t send originals unless
specially re luested.
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGLISH 75
Follow-up Lett er to Stenographer Wanted
96 H o lborn St reet ,
B oston ,Mas s . , Apri l 10, 1 9 1 3 .
Mr . Charles G . Kn ight
240 Stat e St reet ,
B os t on ,Mass .
Dear Sir
May I inquire whether m y appl icat ion in answer t o
St enographer Want ed in the Te legram of the 3d inst ant has
reached you P
I f not , I enclose dupl icat e ,w i th s tam ped envelope , for
reply in case the pos i t ion i s st i ll open .
I am anx ious for th is pos it ion as I am sure that m y goodhab it s and accurat e work w i ll please you .
Why not t ry m e as an invest m ent P
Again assur ing you that m y bes t effort s are at your
d isposal , I am
R espect fully yours*
E nclosures— se lf-addressed envelope and d upl icat e .
P )’
To “follow up I n correspondence indicates good bus iness judgm ent and
self-con fi dence— attributes highly valued by em ployers . One week shouldelapse between the applicat ion and the follow-up. Underscore accurate
work in red ink , us ing ruler.
Note the absence of com m as and periods at the end of the lines whi lepunctuat ing the s treet and date-line, the in troduct ion ,
and the com plim entaryC lose as recom m ended in R ule 3 of the E di ting R ules approved by the NewYork State Dept . of E ducat ion . You are no t obliged to follow thi s s tyle .
The s tyle of indent ing every paragraph at 10 is here shown where the
second and the third lines of the salutat ion are inden ted at 10 and 20 respect ively .
This aryle is quite com m on,m ore so than the indent ion of 5 .
76 STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGLISH
Answer to2‘Bookkeeper Wanted
1 40 Jackson St reet ,
C hicago ,I ll F ebruary 3
, 19 14 .
Messrs . Anderson Co . ,
420 South Wat er St reet ,
Ch icago , I ll.
G en t lem en
I n answer t o advert isem ent in t o -day’
s Tim es I am
Young m an of e i ght een years .
G ram m ar -schoo l graduat e .
E xce llen t grades in ar i thm et ic and bookkeep ing .
Wi ll work hard for advancem ent .
Shall be indus t rious and loyal t o em ployer .
Salary accord ing t o your own judgm ent .
L ong hours have no t errors for m e .
R eferences
Mr. Henry F old,principal Gram m ar School 1 25.
Mr. Jam es Stockton,banker, 13 State Street .
Messrs . A ldrage 8: Jam es, 1 2 Tem ple A ve .
E nclosed s tam ped and self-addressed envelOpe and sam pleof handwri t ing .
Hoping t hat you w i ll gran t m e an int erview, I am
R espect fu lly yours ,
The orig inali ty in com pos i t ion and display of parts wi ll accord this letterspecial and favorable at ten t ion . The let ter indicates brevi ty, conciseness , ande conom y. The em iss ion of the pronoun I is correct in this letter
,as the
effort to condense and display shows good intent ion and careful work.
Underscore accurate wi th figures in red ink , us ing ruler.
The appl icat ion le t ters of bookkeepers should be pen-wr i t ten .
78 STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGL ISH
Appearance as a Factor
Generally the obj ect of a business letter is to persuade some oneto agree to accept a certain mercantile proposal. The m eans
employed to effect this result are largely the same as those applied
to the writing of newspaper advertisem ents . I n fact,a business
letter,having the sam e obj ect in view
,should be com posed somewhat
in the same manner . The distributing of the i tems on the page
according to their relative im portance,so as to attract prompt
attention ; the special capitalization and punctuation,the
paragraphing and the choice of words— all should be arranged so
as to draw and hold the attention of the receiver and enable him to
grasp the contents at a glance . The advertisement and the letter
are faulty when not doing this . A S the printed m atter,
'
or
advertisem ent of the fi rm,at the head of the letter is neatly
printed and displayed,so should the body of the letter correspond
in neatness . A letter badly worded,poorly punctuated
,and
undisplayed is as ineffective in producing good results as is an
advertisement sim ilarly deficient . The im portance of attracting
and holding favorable attention from the beginning cannot well be
exaggerated when i t i s considered that many large business
transactions are made through correspondence only,and that
even the slightest literary unpleasantness m ay turn the scale
unfavorably .
The first essential of the business letter i s to please the eye .
E xperience shows that n ine out of ten unattractive letters are
thrown aside unread . A cheap- looking letter correctly presupposes
a cheap fi rm and i s treated accordingly . The first impression i smade pleasant by the substantial envelope
,the neatly written
address,the correctly placed stamp
,the fi ne engraving on the
tastefully arranged letter-head,the clear print
,and the quality of
the ink . A n excellent effect is produced by artistic arrangem en t
of the letter-head,especially when printed in colors .
The receiver Should be m ade to feel that the letter is of im por
tance before he reads it . The appearance of the typewri ting
should correspond in neatness to the letter-head and the quali ty
of paper,as slovenly typewri ting counteracts all other good
im pressions .
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGLISH 79
It is averred that a style of strong self-assertiveness is obj ectionable on the ground of being too presumptuous that many
employers would consider such exhibition of assurance and for
wardness unfavorably and for that reason a style more indicat ive
of modesty would be preferable .
This depends wholly upon the employer’
s point'
of view , and the
obj ect to be attained by the teacher . The purpose of the former is
to obtain som e one competent to take notes , type, or to keep booksof the later solely to secure posit ions . Themaj ority of business m en ,
as every one knows , who employ this grade of help , are not rem arkable for extreme modesty of statement , the use of fi ne rhetoric ,or of extraordinary conscientiousness . Therefore
,they hardly
seek, nor are they generally able to detect , the subtle indications of
such excellent qualit ies in the correspondence of applicants . The
style of composit ion Should for that reason conform to the char
act erist ics of those who receive the letters . The style should adapt
itself to the market .Actual tests by practical teachers have proved this . They
changed the tim id,unassert ive
,style of composit ion then in use and
productive of poor results to -
m eet the sam e market conditions . A S
the style of the letters gradually changed from excessive modesty
and obscurity toward assert iveness more and more answers cam e in ,until it became evident beyond all doubt that the acceptable
applicat ion letter must inspire confidence, indicate energy,suggest
ability, and Show distinctive originality . These asserted qual ities
must,of course
,be backed up by a good educational history and by
direct and easy references .
Im portance of the Mat erial
All shorthand work should be done with the pen on good paper
paper that will take the ink well . Typing, on the contrary (in
school) , should be done on about the worst paper to be found .
This is to enable the teacher easily to detect erasures . Good paperand pen greatly facilitate artistic penmanship ,
especially in shading
and preventing scrawling outlines . I n testing this fact , one large
class of beginners was permitted to use pencils , and another ,ink .
At the end of three months the books of each class were carefully
80 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGLISH
examined by a professional penman , who declared the ink-written
notes to be much more legible . The same principle is involved
in this as in the homely Greek proverb , One cannot make a
Silk purse out of a sow’s ear . It would be poor economy for an
artist to use poor paints and poor canvas ; and poor judgment
for a student to save money at the cost of inferior penmanship .
Similarly, first drafts of pen-written letters should be insisted
on , on paper of poor quality, but the final draft Should be onpaper of a good quality, such as might actually be used in real
transactions .
Centering the Contents
The matter of centering a letter in the middle of the page is of
great practical value ,as failure to do so instantly stam ps the begin
ner as incompetent . The usual method is the hit and guess
fashion . I f it does not com e out properly the beginner tries again
and again , losing valuable time . The teacher m ay easily illustrate
the matter for the class . Begin the illustration by making a dia
gram of a blank l etter-sheet on the board , calling attention to
the fact that it is eleven inches long , and as there are six lines
of typing to the inch i t m ay contain s ixty-six lines . Then inquire
I f ten lines are to be written single spaced on the sheet how manyblank lines would be left P The answer of course , would be the
difference between ten and sixty-six . Now, if these fi fty-Six
blank l ines were evenly divided above and below the ten written
l ines how many would there be in each place P ”
Twenty-eight .
I f these ten l ines were to be double-spaced it would require ten linesmore of blank, so the material to be centered would be doubled , or
twenty lines . Then make a new calculation , twenty from sixty-six
leaves forty-six . As one-half of these blank lines are to go aboveand the other half below then one-half of forty-six is the blankspace to be above and below. Now put into the diagram the date
line ,introduction ,
salutation , and com plimentary close . Show
now that instead of ten lines to be centered there are sixteen in all.
These extra lines must be double spaced also,so there are thirty
two lines to be centered . Thirty-two from sixty-six leaves thirty
four blank ; one-half of thirty-four is seventeen . Leave above
the date-l ine ,therefore
,seventeen blank lines and begin on the
STYL E -BOOK OF B USINE SS ENGL I SH 8 1
eighteenth and the whole letter will be centered. Between the
date-line and the introduction two extra l ines m ay be counted if
thought expedi ent . Drill the pupils to j udge how many shorthand‘
words they write to the line . They can thus readily arrive at theapproximate number in the letter ; plus , of course, six lines , or
sixty-Six words , for the date-line, introduction ,and com plimentary
close .
Now go back to the question of centering the 172 words andfi nd out how many lines (eleven words to a line) they will make ,
and proceed as above . Of course, every fraction of a line is to becounted as a full line. This exercise m ay be varied by supposing
the lines to be triple spaced . Then pupils Should work out
at once the centering of letters containing 180 or 200 words , double
spaced , with date-l ine , etc. , as a test to prove perception.
Centering the Line in Typewrit ing
Throw the carriage back to zero . Strike the space—bar for each
character and space in the l ine to be wr itten . Take one-hal f of this
number from the center figure of the scale . Begin to write at the
figure thus found . Be careful in pyramid work t o figure outevery l ine . Use no guess-work .
Care lessness in Let ters of Applicat ion Fatal
I n conclusion,the following excerpt from a well-known periodical
m ay be quoted in connection with the extreme im portance of
carefulness In letters of application . The writer says
A ny appearance of carelessness is bound to jar an employer
and keep him from employing an otherwise capable m an . Careless
ness is the unpardonable sin in business for it can never be fore
seen when perhaps even a trifling carelessness will have serious
results . A mistake in dating the letter of application a mistake
in the name of the business m an addressed a mistake in ordinaryspelling— such things are looked upon as vital . There was a young
m an who,quite competent to fill a desirable vacancy , applied
for it in a well-worded letter in which , referring to his own qualifi ca
t ions, he stated that he was a graduate of a certain well-known
business colledge .
”
He did not get the place .
82 STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS‘
ENGL ISH
Recently an important firm advertised for a m an,and it m ay
be remarked that , contrary to general belief, important firmsoften advertise for help— they do not by any means always have an
understudy ready to take a place .
This particular advertisement drew a large num ber of responses ,all of which came by mail ; and among them one letter stood
preeminent . It was well typewritten ,showing that a good typist
had been employed— and that showed judgment to begin with .
The phrasing was good , showing clear-headedness and the ability
to state a case succinctly and with effectiveness ; and there was
evident a strong desire to get the place . References and ex
perience were irreproachable ; and ,in fact , the entire letter gave
so admirable an impression that there would have been no doubt
of the man’s getting the j ob had it not been for one important
fact— which was that the letter was unsigned
It might easily have been possible to discover who he was
through some of his references , but no effort was made to do this .
Instead , the application was completely ignored . It was realized
that a m an ,no matter how com petent and able , who could leave
his name off a letter— and especially an important letter— could
never be fully trusted to have his wits about him .
Review Quest i ons for Chapt er V I
1 I n how many different ways are you likely to be j udged
from your application letter P
2 Why should a business m an prefer to have you write rather
than call at first P
3 How does an application letter Show character and habits P
4 What points in defective education does it betray P
5 Why is too much brevity an error P
6 What does the use of hackneyed phrases indicate P
7 What size of envelope is preferable and why P
8 What omissions in com position are obj ectionable unless
the matter be displayed as seen on page 76 ?
9,Why m ay certain words he underscored P
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGLISH 83
10 Why should you attempt to be original , without being
eccentric , in a letter of application ?
1 1 Should anxiety to get the position , or to Show fitness andscholarship , be your guide in composing P
12 I f you are a bookkeeper , should you pen—write or handwrite
a letter P
13 Name t en essent ial points , in order of importance ,required
in a model letter of application .
14 Why should you use stationery of excellent quality ?
15 Why should you enclose self-addressed envelope P
16 State in how many ways you should t ry to secure preferential
attention for your letter over others .
1 7 Why, and at what interval , should you follow up your
letter P
18 What lesson do you learn from the narrat ives on pages 73
and 82 P
19 _What is the d ifference between the right way and wrong
way of folding and inserting the letter- sheet P
20 What is the Obj ect in’
using good stationery only ?
2 1 What is your opin ion of a fi rm that sends you cheaply
written and cheaply made letters or literature P
22 What is your opin ion of a friend that does this P
23 I f a writer is careless in his composition and does not
apologize therefor, do you attribute it to ignorance or to
indifference P
2 4 I f you receive an answer from the secretary of a person to
whom you wrote ,how do you address the reply ?
25 When the number of the year is abbreviated should an
apostrophe always be inserted ?
26 What three verbs only end in ceed P
27 What is the use of parentheses P
28 Mention some rules for centering the contents of a letter .
29 Write a paragraph of 50 words on this subj ect : The
Importance of Accuracy .
30 When Should you use poor paper in your work P when good
paper P
84 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGLISH
Exercises
1 Write a letter of 150 words or more to your teacher . E xplain
what a beginner should say to an employer,to prove to him that a
student,with a knowledge of business E nglish acquired at school
,
i s as likely to be as successful as one who obtained hlS instruction
while at work .
2 Write a letter applying for admission to one of the courses
at the college or university nearest your town . State what
work you have been doing at school , and Show how it fulfils therequirements of the college in question .
4 A S a graduate of the New Albany (Indiana) High School youapply by letter to your father
’s friend ,Willard Jaugh , druggist ,
242 Fourth Street , Louisville ,Ky . ,
for a position as drug-clerk .
5 (a) Your name is Herbert T. E dm unds . You have had seven
years ’ experience as correspondence clerk with the Lane Company,
Im porters , New Orleans , L a. Write to the United Im portationCo . , New York City, applying for a similar position with them .
Ment ion the fact that you write fluently in German ,French , and
Spanish .
(b) Having had no reply, you write again . Urge the advantages
that would lie in your employment by the United Importation Co .,
in V iew of the fact that you are particularly well acquainted with
South American conditions .6 You are a graduate of a two-year or a four-year commercial
course in a good high school or of a reputable business college .
You have acquired a certain speed in stenography and are a correct
typist . Also , you have studied bookkeeping , commercial law,
E nglish , and business practise . Now you wish a position . Gothrough the following steps
(a) Write a 25-word employment-wanted advertisement
suitable for insertion in a newspaper . I n this you state your
qualifications very briefly .
(b) You receive an answer from three firms . The first is froman employment agency, which desires you to register your name
and asks for a fuller account of your qualifications . The second is
from a coal-dealer, who needs a beginner at a moderate salary .
The third is from a lawyer, with a large staff .
86 STYL E -BOOK OE BUSINE SS E NGL I SH
Write answers to these three letters .
7 The business manager of your school paper has j ust graduated
from school, and the position he filled is consequently open . Write
a letter applying for the position and stating your qualifications .8 You have taken a number of courses in the shops of your
school,and you are inclined towards work involving mechanics .
Apply to Schm itz , Moore , Co . , Leavenworth , Kansas ,‘
for a
position as apprentice in their tool-factory .
9 As an expert stenographer (female) , with t en years’
experience
in law and railroad work , you apply to a prominent lawyer , Wm . T.
Broad ,to fill a vacancy in his office . You have a good position
now,and will not change un less you are assured of a permanency
where training m ay be valuable .
10 The dissolution of a fi rm with which you have been connected
as bookkeeper for three years compels you to seek a new position .
Apply to ( l ) a contracting firm , E . S. Willard (2) a railroad office ,
N. S. R . R . and (3) a hat factory, The Criterion Co . , for a position .
Compose your three letters som ewhat differently ,in accordance wi th
the varying characters of the firms you are addressing .
CHAPTE R VI I
LETTERS OFFERING BUSINESS
I N any fi rm which does a large correspondence it is most probablethat a considerable proportion of this correspondence takes theform of letters offering business . That is
,an attem pt is made to
secure customers for the goods which the fi rm sells , whether these
goods be handkerchiefs or insurance , the building of houses or the
auditing of accounts . Som etimes these letters are written to persons
or firms who have in the past done business with the writer of theletter , sometimes the letters are addressed to strangers . In the
lat ter case it is only when firms have a poor appreciation of businessprinciples that such letters are addressed at random to anybody .
Usually they are intended only for persons on carefully selected
lists— such persons , in other words , that are likely to respond to
the appeal for business .
I n any event , these letters must be carefully prepared and
requ i re In their composition considerable powers of persuasion .
E very m an who is known to have m oney to buy goods receives
scores or hundreds of such letters daily, and to the great maj ority
of them he can of course pay no attention . To which letters
should he give heed ? Only to those that observe principlesalready laid down— to letters that are in some way individual ,striking
,and obtrusive . A well displayed ,
carefully spaced letter
will receive more attention than one in which all the items are
shown as of the sam e im portance ,and in which the Spacing is not
proper . A typewritten letter will make a better impression than a
pen-written letter .
A letter forcibly, interestingly, yet compactly written will win
a hearing sooner than a dull,wandering offer .
It is,however
,a mistaken notion on the part of some people
that the mere wording of a letter can win business— that literary
merit alone m ay be sufficient . I n addition to attractive style, there
m ust be business worth . The reader of the letter must feel that
he Obtains definite advantages in buying the goods offered . Allthat good literary style can do (and it is in itself a necessary
and valuable service) is to display these advantages effectively87
88 STYLE -BOOK .OF BUSINE SS ENGLISH
Illustrating Narrow-Colum n Note-head
BOUL E VA R D TR UST COMPANYBoulevard Tenth Street
New York
June 3, 1 9 13 .
Messrs . Tom linson L ee ,
13 Union Square,New York.
G ent lem en
I t i s oft en asked what the difference is between a bank and a
I f you are not ent irely pleasedwi th your present banking connec
t ion , I should be glad to have
you call on us .
Yours very truly,
Pres iden t .
Note the absence of paragraph indenti on . When this page is folded on the
dotted line, wi th the print showing on the outs ide,i t represen ts the first and
fourth pages of a com m ercial s ize note-head— about one-half the s ize of a
letter-head or full-si ze sheet .
t rust com pany .
There is no d ifference as far as
the ordinary depos i t or can see .
The real difference i s that in addit ion t o doing a banking bus iness ,a t rust com pany m ay act as
executor, trust ee , et c whi le a
bank m ay not .
The B oulevard Trust Com panydoes a general com m ercial bankingbus iness and s eeks the accounts
of m erchant s and m anufacturers ,
wh ich are handled on the sam e bas isand t erm s as in banks .
90 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Illustrating the Single-spaced Letter
ADDRE SS A L L COMM UN I CATIONS TO THE COM PANYH E NRY L . THOMPSON , P re s rtlent H E NRY L . G I BSON, Treasure r
I O I-I N G I BSON , V I ce -P re s ident F RANK WE L L MAN , Secre t aryPHOTOG R A VUR ES
THE HENRY L . G IBSON COMPA NYSE VE NTE ENTH STR E E T AND NINTH A VE NUE
“reply P'eaqe NOR TH PH IL ADE L PH IAre fe r t o
F ebruary 16,1908.
Am erican Arch i t ect Magazine ,
New York .
G ent lem en :
We have ins talled at Phi ladelph ia,regardless of
expense , a com plet e plant , replet e w i th all t he lat es t requis i t es for the product ion of phot ogravure plat es from the
sm alles t t o t he largest s izes .
All the work w i ll be execut ed under the d irectpersonal supervi s ion of Mr . M . H enr i Met en ier , a s tudentand for years an associat e ofMr . Thom as Co ll ins ,
of L ondon ,
t he universally acknowledged m ast er and forem os t exponent of
phot ogravure in E ngland .
Our principal work wi ll be for publishers whorequire or des ire the very bes t.
We already have one of the largest plat e-pr int ingplan t s in the Un i t ed Stat es , and can handle t he print ing w i thunusual prom ptness , under t he d irect ion of a m ost capable and
experienced forem an . U
The enclosed sam ples are subm it t ed as proof of
our abi lity t o give you quality . I f you have this kind ofwork in con t em plat ion let us quot e you special prices forint roduct ion .
Your com m unicat ions W i ll be prom pt ly respondedt o by let t er or in person as the cond it ions require .
H oping t o have your m uch est eem ed favors , we are
V ery t ruly yours ,
TH E H E NRY L . G IBSON C o .
CHE [L E Pres ident
The reason for this s tyle of display i s that there i s too m uch m atter to be
wri tten double spaced, and were i t single spaced wi thout extra space between
paragraphs i t would~
’
not balance properly. Observe the wide m arg in s .
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 9 1
Illus trat ing the Style of Newspape r Adve rt i s ingas
THC HOME PATTE R N c a
Manufac ture r. o n
O i s tn buro r s 0 !
NS” N S!
Introduced into a Bus ine ss Let ter
new YOR K
a Ne lropcm h n Towe r
CH I CA G O747 Marque t te B ldgrm:w a s non e Joum uu Imm une
STYI .E 0 0 K 16 1 Devons hu e St
A DV E R TI S I NG DE PA R TME NTMETR OP OL ITAN TOWER
NE ‘V Y O R K
New York , N. Y June I,1 913
Mr . Amer i can Manufac t ur er ,
Busyt own ,
New York .
Dear Si r :You ar e adver t i s i ng an ar t i c l e t hat *women buy
Suppos e you shoul d dec i de t o adver t i s e t h i s
ar t i c l e of your s t o t he we l l - t o - do women of,s ay ,
twent y- s i x or twent y- e i ght l ar ge c i t i es .
Now,t o make known your ar t i c l e i n
twent y—e i ght l ar ge c i t i es
t he ai d of l ead i ng l ocal mer chant s
t hus i gnor i ng t he wonder ful Oppor t uni t y t hat t he i r per s i s t ent newspaper
adver t i s i ng has made for you- woul d
cos t you
But,t o make known your ar t i c l e i n
t he s ame twent y- e i ght c i t i es
t he ai d of l ead i ng l ocal mer chant st ak i ng ful l advant age of t he hundr eds
of t hous ands of do l l ar s t hey have
sk i l ful l y i nves t ed i n newspaper ad
ver t i s i ng-woul d cos t you onl y $543 .
F i gur e t he who l e t h i ng out for your s e l f .
t he next four page s you wi l l fi nd ,worked out i n
det ai l , t he two pl ans .
Your s very t rul y ,
On
92 STYL E -BOOK or Bus i NE ss'E NG L ISH
Tes t -Letter I
Rewri te this le tter. Studen t m us t fi nd fi fteen
of the erro rs t o obtain Grade A
BAR TON B R OS. CO .
IMP OR TE D A ND D OME STIC L I Q U OR S,E r c .
14 F erguson St reet
B os ton ,Mass . , January 2
,19 14 .
Messrs . E . W i lkins Son ,
'
345 Wes t Stree t ,
New York .
G en t lem en
We are send ing you a package contain ing a sam ple each
of our bes t brandy ,wat er , and w ine . We handle t he bet t er and
the m os t e legant w ines only . We have t hree grades of brand ies ,
but think that you would l ike the be t t er one on ly . Such another
very un ique and splend id bargain m ay never be offered again . A s
we t hink i t pract ical t o sell these goods and knowing you t o be a
pract icable m an we do not hes i tat e t o send you a cons ignm en t .
I n placing t hem before your cus t om ers be careful t o see
t hat t he casks are not left part ially open , as the w ine spo i ls and
becom es unhealthy . A great big foo l done this once . There was
a t err ible scene and he was fired out awfully hard . L ucki ly he fellon h is feet , which d id not hurt h im m uch . You wi ll fi nd t he
brand ies especially love ly and grand . We scarcely expect you t o
do m uch before March .
Hoping t o rece ive your valuable com m ands,we are
Y ours t ruly ,
94 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGL ISH
I l lus trat ing Contract
THE H E NR Y K R OHN BU IL D ING COMPANY
(E stabli shed 1858)
E NG INE E R S AND CONTR ACTOR S
Ordway B ui lding
NE WAR K , NE W JE R SE Y
Main Office Dav id W . Tay lor
PATE R SON,N. J . CONTR ACTING E NG INE E R
June 1 4,19 1 3 .
P ubli c Service E lect ric Com pany ,
Newark, N. J .
A ttention ofMr. A . R . K ane .
G en t lem en
We wi ll supply all the labor and furnish all the m at erialnecessary t o com plet e the proposed Sub-stat ion at Westwood , N . J. ,
according t o plans and specificat ions prepared by your engineer ,
for the sum of twenty-two hundred do llars .
Trust ing that we m ay be favored wi th your valued orderfor thi s work
,we beg t o rem ain
Yours v ery truly ,
TH E H E NR Y K R OHN B U ILD ING C O .
B y N . K . Ingram .
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
We m ay note finally an important type of letters offering businesswhich proceed , so to speak , from the opposite direction to those
already considered . These are letters written by a fi rm whiéh
seeks to buy goods and asks for credit . Here business m en go
through certain definite processes of investigation— they aim to
discover, by means of certain agencies like Dun’
s or Bradstreet ’ s,whether the credit of the writer of the letter is good and how good .
A caution m ay be administered to the writer of such letters :
Usually a plain statement of facts is more influential in securing
credit than a letter the tone of which is too persuasive and
plausible .
Review Quest ions for Chapter VI I
1 When New York is written N. Y . does it refer to thecity or the State
2 Which of the following forms is correct
21 Broad St reet , N. Y .
18 Jones Street , New York City .
4 Broadway, New York City, N. Y .
3 Grand Street , New York .
3 What is done in order greatly to emphasize certain words
in the letter ? Show five different ways of em phasizing words inbusiness literature .
4 What is meant by a m ailing-list ? F or what purposes issuch a list employed
5 What type of let ters'
will receive attention6 Will the mere wording of a letter secure business ? What
is necessary
7 I n what sense is it true that a letter is a contract P Whateffect should this have on the wording of your letters 9
8 What is the attitude of employers towards approximateaccuracy P
9 What happens in any office when a letter is received askingfor credit
10 F or what reasons do em ployers rej ect applicants for
positions
96 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Exercises
Request for Credit
(Write le tter for each paragraph)
(a) Messrs . Henderson Co . , 36 K ing St . ,Toronto
,Can . ,
wish to
correspond with James Wilson Co . , of New Orleans, La. , to pur
chase raw sugar and molasses in large quantities on an open account
with ninety days’ credit . They furnish reference from local banks
and business houses with which they now deal .
The com m ercial traveler, Mr . C . L . Keene,of James Wilson
Co . ,receives this letter at 40 Broadway, New York ,
and is askedat once to get full inform ation from the commercial agencies as to
the standing of the prospect ive custom er .
(c) Mr . Keene inquires and receives a rather unfavorable report
of the business rating of Henderson Co . ,but not fully satisfied
therewith goes to Toronto for further investigation . His inquiries
at their works do not result satisfactorily, as they fail to furnishdetailed informat ion as to the monthly volume of business trans
actions , amount oi work ing capital , future prospects , and did not
invite him to inspect the workings of their plant . From informa
tion obtained , however, he believes their business to be worth
accepting, but recommends that great vigilance be exercised in
granting credit and exacting payments .
(d) James Wilson Co . reply to Henderson Co .
’s com muni
cation and say that they should be greatly pleased to do business
with them , but that their credit m an reports their standing not to be
strictly of the first class and that , therefore,they would hardly be
j ustified in granting ninety days ’ time on sales . The best they could
offer would be thirty days,and that they would make a special
effort under the circumstances to favor them by allowing an unus
ually large discount for cash . They thank them for their courtesy
and hope they will be able to accept the condi tions mentioned .
Contain ing Enclosure
Write to theNew York Real E state Co . and say that the exchange
of houses they made for you was very satisfactory . E nclose a
check for to cover the difference in price and their
98 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
old-style stands . E xpress your thanks for the prompt settlement
of their bill, and also your hope to receive further orders .
NOTE — The fi rm of Madame Louise is composed of three
m en and one woman . Use correc t title and salutation .
5 Let ter Asking for Credit
Write to the female fi rm of Fiske Co . ,Broome St . , Boston ,
Mass . , in reply to their letter of the 26th instant and say that you
are satisfied with the prices and terms of payment sent by them .
Ask them to forward the articles in the enclosed list , and say that
if the goods conform to the description in the catalogues you will
have the pleasure of doing business with their house . State that
your reference will afford them all information respecting you
which they m ay desire , and Should they need further references
that you will forward the names of two or three other houses .
Inform them that you will notify them upon receipt of the goods ,and that they m ay then draw upon you at three months for the
amount .
NOTE — B e careful to select the correct title and salutation .
6 As Harry Joseph Co . ,write a letter to your customers
offering them the privilege of deferring payment until February
on goods bought during the holiday season . Tell them why you
do this .
7 You are a real estate fi rm —George Schultz Sons , Realty
Investments , P olicy Insurance Building , Buffalo , New York .
You have opened up some new apartment houses . Wri te a letter
suitable for sending to any one of a num ber of persons of moderate
means and address it to your teacher . Describe the advantagesof these apartments .8 Notify Howard A . Keller , Painter and Decorator, in a letter
from William Field P ierson ,Consulting E ngineer, 736 Walnut St . ,
Philadelphia, Pa. , that proposals will be received up to a certain
time and date for furnishing all labor and materials for painting
work in construction of proposed building at 19 E lm Street .
State that he m ay see the plans and specifications at the office ofthe writer .
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L rsB,
. I 330 0 0 0
9 Write a letter from the large department store of the Henry
Hayes Co . calling attention to the advantages of their new piano
department .10 As Branegan Fisk
,Manufacturers of Trunks , Suit-Cases ,
etc . , Main Offi ces and Factories , Newark , N. J. , write a letter to
one of your custom ers at San Francisco , Mr . F . L enroot , 19 ArchStreet , notifying him that in V iew of the fact that your repre
sentat ive, Mr . F . S. Haight,has been appointed postmaster at
Portland , Oregon , you have decided to adopt a new sales plan .
This plan will dispense with a traveling representative, and instead ,
a special discount of 5%wi ll be allowed on your regular wholesale
prices . Carload shipm ents will be made to the Pacific Coast as
usual . Offer to send your latest price-list , if Mr . L enroot has not
a copy already .
CHAPTE R VI I I
LETTERS OF INQUIRY
A VE R Y important division of business correspondence consists
of letters of inquiry and replies to them . Naturally, a somewhat
different style will be employed in the inquiry itself and in the reply
thereto . The letter of inquiry should be worded as Simply and
clearly as possible . B e sure you have included in your letter
queries concerning all the facts in which you are interested . Do
not go into long explanations , and if you are asking for replies to
several questions, number them and arrange them neatly . I f
it is of no direct advantage to the person whom you address to
answer your question ,— if in other words he is to answer it merely
out of courtesy, —enclose stamped and addressed envelope for his
reply . I f it is part of his daily business routine to answer such
letters, this need not be done .
Replies to letters of inquiry Should in the first place always
contain a solid basis of facts . Then,i f you feel that to gain business
from the writer of the letter of inquiry it is necessary to forestall
possible competition , you m ay add certain words of persuasion .
But such persuasion should always be moderately and modestly
worded . An inquiry for a catalogue , bulletin , or price-list is usually
answered with a letter stating that the desired m atter has been
sent under separate cover . This m ay seem a superfluous letter ,
but it is one phase of the courtesy which so often secures m ore
business .
Note how in the specimen answers the letter is so broken up
into paragraphs and sections as to make the whole subj ect stand
out more clearly and emphatically
A special type of letters of inquiry is treated in the next
section .
L k
J -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L I sH
The Broken Paragraph
I n the following genuine letter is Shown how a Single subjectm ay be broken into paragraphs .
JAME S G A R BL I CK SONS
F IR ST-C LASS C L OTH IE R S92 B roadway
New York,F ebruary 3, 19 14 .
Mr . Arthur Connell,43 Th ird Avenue ,
New York.
Dear Sir
I n answer t o your inquiry as t o t es t ing the quali ty of a
reques t you t o apply t he followingL ay the coat flat on a table , as shown in the picture .
I f the Co llar t hen l ies s t raight and t rue ,at turn-over
l ine , and at out er edge, you m ay rely upon the Coat’
s
be ing free from F lat -Iron faking .
I f the Collar lies wr inkled and wavy t oward out er
edge, when t he turn-over line i s s traight , t hen look out for
a speedy loss of shape .
B ecause such a coat has probably been cut , and m adeup, in a faulty m anner .
A nd i t s faulty form , and faulty workm anship, had t o
be covered t em porar i ly by F lat -Iron faking ,in order t o
se ll i t .A nd this F lat -Iron faking W i lt s out as soon as the
garm ent i s worn in dam p weather .
Then the Collar b inds dovm on t he back of your neck—Then the left L ape l bulges up away from the vest
-Then the Arm holes pinch you at every m ovem ent .
A ny garm ent m ade by us can s tand these t est s . May we no t
have an order from you ?
Very t ruly yours ,
1 . Note the capitalization of the principal words— Coat, Co llar, F lat-Iron,etc.
2. Note the effort to com m and attent ion by the free use of com m as to breakthe sentences into several parts .
3 . The govern ing principle in capi talizing com m on nouns in bus iness correspondence is the sam e as that used in advert isem ents , nam ely, the necessi tyof m aking m ore prom inent , m ore attract ive, and m ore em phat ic the wordsthat consti tute the subject of the letter— Jones ’s SUperfi ne Sweet -Oil Soap .
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH“,
J J J J J J J
I llustrat ing the Broken Sentence
COR WE L L , JAY C o .
E s tablished 1857
STATIONE R S, L ITH OG R APH E R S, A ND B LANK B OOKMANU F ACTU R E R S
Office and F act ory ,44 P earl St reet
Te lephone : Worth 379 , P . 0 . B ox 1070 .
New York,May 15
,19 13 .
Mr . H . W . B es tor,
825 G rand Avenue ,
B rooklyn ,N . Y .
D ear Sir :
Agreeably t o your reques t we quo t e on furn ishing :
1 000 L et ter Heads , 8 x 1 1 , print ed in two co lors , on20—pound Wh i t e Old Ham pshi re B ond and
1000 di e E nvelopes ,wi th print ed corner-card , in
black ink,
for
Trus t ing t o be favored wi th your valued order, we are
V ery t ruly yours ,
G .w. COR WE L L , JAY co .
8
J J J
L L
~ t t, Q, -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Il lustrat ing the Sect ional Paragraph
THE NEW YOR K HOSP ITAL
F i ft eenth St reet
New York ,F ebruary 3
,19 14 .
Mrs . T. Headley ,
34 F ourt h Street ,
New York.
Dear MadamWe acknowledge your let t er of F ebruary 2
, in wh ich
you inquire as t o your granddaught er’
s en t er ing t he Co llege of
Surgeons and Phys icians t o becom e an ass is tant . B efore see ing
her we m us t have the fo llowing po int s answered :
1 . Parent s’
H ist ory .
a. F ather’
s nam e , and m other’
s (m aiden ) .b . Stat e of health , if liv ing .
c. A ge, if dead , and of what d isease .
2 . G randdaught er’
s H is t ory .
a. Nam e , nat ional ity , and b irthplace .
b . State of healt h ,height , and we ight .
c . I s she very des irous t o becom e a nurs e ?
3 . Means of Support .a . Has she m eans of her own ?
b . I f not , on whom does She depend ?0 . W i ll she learn the profess ion t o earn a livm g ?
On ly those who int end t o fin ish the course and t o
pract ise aft erward are ad m i t t ed .
A s soon as we have rece ived the inform at ion des iredwe shall be pleas ed t o correspond wi th you further.
Yours t ruly ,
0
A num ber, when beginning a sentence or a paragraph, should be wri t ten out
I n word-form except when used as shown on thi s page or in an order for goods .
E x. Nine m en,100 wom en, and 800 chi ldren were los t .
I t is be t ter to use the phrase ofFebruary 2 ins tead of ofthe 2d ins tan t ,as I t is m ore effective in calling the date to m ind.
[06 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
I llust rat ing Request for Inform at ion
New York, Oct ober 5, 19 13.
Mm es . Ham pt on Co
2 14 South Ch ickory St
Ch icago , I ll.
Mesdam es
Wi ll you kindly furn ish us w i th inform at ion respect ingMessrs . B rown B ro thers , of C olum bus , Ohio ? These gen t lem en
have given your nam e as reference , say ing that you would probably recom m end t hat a credi t of (fift y thousand ) be given t hem .
Th is is a large sum t o gran t under the circum s tances , so we shouldbe great ly indebt ed t o you for your opin ion as t o the ir trustworth i
ness . A S t he m at t er is urgent you m ay’phone us on
’
Change here
at our expens e . We shall hold ourse lves at your d isposal at any
t im e for a correspond ing serv ice here in the E as t .
R espectfully yours .
STONE Co .
ANSWE RC hicago ,
I ll Oct ober 9 , 1 9 13 .
Messrs . St one Co
62 1 B roadway ,
New York .
G en t lem en :
The subject of your let t er of October 5 has beencarefully cons idered . We ourselves have given th is fi rm cred i t t ot he ex t ent m ent ioned in your let t er , though we found from in
quiries that they had d i ffi culty in m aking the final paym ent s .
The m em bers of the fi rm s tand h i gh am ong the ir t ownsm en and
have excellent local credi t . Yet , cons ider ing the am ount involvedwe m ust say that we should recom m end them as be ing m oderat elygood only.
Yours respectfully,
HAMPTON CO .
Sum s ofm oney are frequently written out as well as put in figures to preven terror or alteration , such as in con tracts , bank -checks , bonds , e tc. E speciallyis th is true of num bers contain ing ciphers
,as i t is easy carelessly to s trike
'
too
m any.
Attent ion is called to the fact that the Manual of Style of the UnitedStates G overnm ent requires the com pl im entary close to be punctuated as
Yours , respectfully,R espectfully, yours,
I t is not obligatory to fo llow the s ty le of any G overnm ent .
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGL ISH 107
Spe l ling
Do you spell correctly If you do not , you will find your pathin the business world a somewhat thorny one . The ability to spell
correctly is partly an inborn gift ; but anyone , by taking pains ,can learn to Spell the great maj ority of words according to received
usage . Most people make habitual mistakes only in the case of a
few words . It is advisable that everyone form a little private
dictionary of his own , in which he keeps the words that he findshimself misspelling again and again .
The selection of style in spelling is also of m uch importance . The
dictionaries used in the business offices . in this country are the
Standard , the Century, Webster’s
,and Worcester
’s . The fir st threenamed do not , as a rule
,radically differ from one another . Six
other dictionaries (t en in all) are used principally in the BritishE mpire . In these books , all claiming preference, there are more than
common,untechnical words spelled in various ways . All are
used by everybody . Worcester’
s dict ionary ,however , differs
so much from the others in use in the United States that every
teacher Should be able to explain that difference . Webster’s
International is the authori ty adopted by the Un ited States Governm ent . Most publishing-houses use either the Standard or the
Century the more up-to-date business Offi ces use either the Stan
dard or Webster ’s . Worcester’s is used principally by trade papeI s
and by long-established houses attached to older forms in printing .
Of the variant spell ings in different dictionaries 526 are used
daily even by the uneducated . This fact,however
,is really of
little m atter to the ordinary teacher,as each school form al ly adopts
one dictionary or spelling-book as authority similarly with
business houses . The only spelling in a school should be that of
the dictionary prescribed , the teacher , when in doubt , solving the
problem by reference to that dictionary . It is , of course ,understood
that the first way of spelling a word as shown in the dict ionary is
the one to teach and no other . Now,almost any Spelling in vogue
in this country is sat isfactory in business offi ces em ploying a low
grade of stenographers , but in offices t hat demand better style in
language secretar ies are frequently restricted to the use of a certain
dictionary only . Teachers of advanced commercial classes , therefore ,
108 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGL ISH
having in charge students aiming to fill such exact ing posit ions ,should be prepared to give at least a few reasons why di ct ionaries
vary from one another . This informat ion can be obtained only by
reading the preface to such dictionaries and by studying the list
of variable spellings found in the appendixes .
Spelling should conform to one dictionary only . Abbreviationsalso are fixed in form and should be written according to standard
usage . Im proper abbreviations m ay not be used such as gents
for gentlemen ; Mess , for Messrs . pres’ t , for pres . (president)sec ’y, for sec . Jun for Jr . Sent, for Sr etc . Attention is herecalled to the fact that the US . Government writes jr . and sr . in
sm all letters .
Divis ion of Words at E nd of Line
Properly to divide words at the end of a line is quite as necessary
as to spell correctly though it m ay be said that little attention is
given in classes to this element in orthography . F ew beginners in
printing or typewrit ing know when , where ,or how correctly to
divide,and are quite astonished to learn that an error of di vision is
fully as bad as one of letter . That no especial em phasis or drill is
laid upon the dividing of words in the schools is true, but that by
no means relieves the student of correspondence of the necessity of
learning . A glance at the work of even good spellers reveals such
divisions as these '
re—com m end
cred - i t
whereas the correct forms should be
recom —m end
cred i t
The last three should not be divided . Of course ,a graduated
com m ercials tudent is hardly supposed to be proficient in the finerpoints of composition but can he be excused for imperfect work in
such Sim ple things as Spelling or business punctuation ? As secretary his persistent thought should be : P rinted E nglish is my
product . I n business , products sell for what they are worth and no
1 10 S’
l YL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
the later syllable when the first vowel is long , half-long, or obscure
(except er as in gen-sr-al) as ,
fa-tal sea-son
pre-sen t (v)
Adj oining consonants usually separate into two syllables ; as ,at -t ract . pam
-phletsyl
-lable m oun-tain
infan-t ry produc-t ivede tec-t ive suc-ces-sora defen-dan tas-s is-tant cor-respon
-dentcom -
pel-ling E n-
gland
Doubled consonants ending a primitive word are kept together
before a purely E nglish suffix ; as ,t ell-ing . hi ss-ing
Purely E nglish suffixes -cd,-er
,-est , -eth,
-ing,-ish
,-y) are
always kept distinct (except when the terminal letter of the prim itive
word is repeated) , as in
heat -ed
E xamples of diffi cult divi sions
a-bun-dance de—fi -cient m ech -a-ni sm
as -s is-tance ac-t or
m ea-sure
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 1 1 1
Test -Let ter I
R ewrite correctly on a Business-Letter D iagram of Letter-head
Size . Must correct tw enty-fi ve errors for Grade A
NEW YOR K STATE F A I R ASSOC IATIONOR G AN IZE D To P R OMOTE AG R ICU LTU R AL INTE R E STS
B roadway and B edford A ve .
P R E S Chas . E . Speyer . SE C Thom as Ward
B rooklyn New York,19 13.
Mr . P . A . Bart on ,
3 19 Stat e st
Bost on , Massachuset t s .
Dear s ir
your let t er of t he 2 ins tant reached m e on m onday at 3 P .M. ,9 l
fourth av . The ru les of t he exhibi t ion th is Spring can hardly cover
exh ib it A . , except t he m ss . The fault lies wi th the s tat e , or ,
perhaps ,w i th congress , according t o a decis ion of the Suprem e court .
Mr . Jean De la Mot t e ,french Consul , just returned from the sout h
in search of old am er ican B ibles , h igh ly approves the s tat e F air,
wh i le Mr . van Dyckm an , Dut ch consul , believes july to be a bet t erseason . The exact date, however , w i ll be fixed e i ther by the
legis lature of the s tat e of new Ham pshire or by congress .
Yours ,
The corrected form of thi s letter will be judged by neatness of appearanceand excellence in wri ting .
1 1 2 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS’E NG L I SH
When in doubt consult the dictionary, and keep a list of all suchreferences in an alphabetically indexed handbook .
In accepting a position where you have reason to think some
l iterary skill m ay be required , be sure to ask what dictionary 15 used ,
and construct your spelling accordingly . When you real ize that
there are one thousand common words Spelled by ten different
dictionaries in from one to fi ve or Six different ways , and tha t some
offi ces prefer one dictionary to another, you will then fully realize
that if you are offered a good salary for secretarial work it will be
for skill higher than that needed to pound the keys of a typewriter.
Review Ques t ions on Chapter V I I I
1 What kind of letters Should be regarded as strictly
confidential2 Why should these letters contain nothing but clear facts
utterly void of assertions and Opini ons ?
3 Why Should a person not express an off-hand opinion on
another’
s financial standing4 To what does he render himself liable by doing the contrary
5 Why does not the name of the person referred to appear in
letters of the class mentioned above
6 When do you write a number in figures and when in wordform
7 When and why do you write both words and figures for a
sum of money ? E x . Fifty dollars, $50 ; 5c . ,
fi ve cents .
8 May the first word of a sentence begin with figures9 Of a paragraph10 May a word of one syllable only be divided ? May a line
begin with a hyphen or a dash ?
1 1 May you divide prayers , meaning invocations , and
prayers , those who pray
12 D ivide progress ,”
a noun ,and progress , a verb .
13 A re any of the following divisions correct ?
rem it t -ed
ne—cessary ,
1 1 4 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSI NE ss E NGL ISH
Exercises
1 Write to G . P . Putnam Sons, New York , and ask them to
send you a copy of Byron ’s poems . State that you wish to make
a present of it to a young woman . Mention that the print , binding ,and paper should be of the best quality, though of medium price .
Ask for a catalogue Showing all other editions besides the one they
recommend . You might also inquire if this would be a-suitable
book , and if not , what would be .
2 Write to any typewriter company in New York and mention
the various defects or difficulties that you have encountered in
operation of the machine you now use ,such as the Skipping of
spaces , the binding or jamming of the keys, hardness of the touch ,
and three others . Ask if their machine is easier and more certain
in operating and to give you a guarantee . Inquire how much theywill allow on your machine in exchange or, if you rent a machine
from them , i f they will , in the event of your deciding to buy, allowas payment thereon what you have expended as rent . Ask forparticulars of conditions and terms of leasing or of buying outright .3 (61 ) Write to the Boston Maine Railroad ,
AdvertisingBureau , Room 537, South Station ,
Boston , Mass asking them to
send you a copy of their pamphlet Vacation Land .
”
(6) Write a letter from the above railroad in reply to your inquiry .
State that you have forwarded the literature requested . Say
something about the advantages of New E ngland as a vacation
resort .4 Write to Professor Hiram Wilkins , P rofessor of Agriculture
at Haines College , Northford ,Maine , asking him whether he will
deliver lectures at P ortland during the E aster recess . Should you
enclose a stamped and addressed envelope
5 Write from E . C . Cohn Son ,Lace Importers, 132 W . 28th
St . ,New York , to Morris Carter, 12 E lm St . ,
Atlanta,Georgia,
informing him that the memorandum samples he requested have
been sent him . Add a sentence expressing the hOpe that Mr .
Carter will give you his business .6 (61 ) Write to the Hom e Insurance Co . ,
Richmond, Va. , asking
them to send you full information as to participating life
insurance policies .
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 1 15
(b) Indite the reply from the president of the company, Jacob
Gord,stating that you have forwarded literature . Mention some
of the advantages of life insurance .
7 (61 ) Write to the Johns E levator Company, Yonkers , N. Y
asking them to give you an estim ate on installing a passenger
elevator in your apartment house at 42 Irving P lace , Tarrytown .
(b) Write the reply of the Johns E levator Co . that they have
examined the premises , and that a representative of theirs will
call on you in a few days with the estimate asked for .
8 As the Anti-Dust Sweeping Compound Co . , 24 1 Farmer
Street , Denver, Colorado , write to Mrs . William Peshine,19 P ound
St . of the same city,that in accordance with her request , you have
sent her a free trial sample of your compound . Add a few lines
as to the economical and sanitary advantages of this Sweeping
compound .
9 (a) Write a letter, in your E nglish teacher’s name , inquiring
why a certain theme has not been done in typewritten form .
Address this to yourself or a fellow-student .
(b) Write the answer to this inquiry . E xplain that you h ave
been ill at home and without access to a machine , but add a promise
that you will do the work over again in proper form .
10 One Hundred Words as they are Generally Misspelled .
To be Correct ly Written
concensus calender ( t im e-chart ) privelege
counci l (adv ice) supercedecom plience indispensible one-fourth
achi evem ent prelim anary insolvancy
com i t t ee stat ionery (fixed) accum alat e
lodgem ent stat ionary (paper) pret encious
resum e (a sum m ary) geer s ieze
unt i ll cont inuence
t om orrow accessablesufi
‘i se com ission
never the less fiancee principle (chi ef)
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
t oni ght3
per cent
custom ery
al lwayscouns e l (ass em bly )im igrat e (t o go out )
buisness
Teness ee
represent it ive
extacy
for-got t en
changeabledebri sjudgem ent
procededying (t o co lor )over-lookt o -
geth er
princ ipal (ru le )
chat t le responsableem igrate ( t o com e in ) garant ee
quant i tyreceive
succede collosal
t oday alledgebe l ievediscript ion
alrigh t d ist ruct ion
responceloose (t o m iss )
superint endan t franchize
acknow ledgm en t occurence
occuring
fiance
naive elim anat e
sk edule
Messrs
em ployem on ies abridgem en t
accom odat e s im i liarcanvas (so licit ) defan it e
1 18 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
I l lustrat ing Lett er Ordering Goods
HANL E Y JAME SON
IMPOR TE R S A ND E X P OR TE R S
3 G rand Street
New York, January 4, 19 1 4 .
Mes srs . Thom as Sons .
44 Bond St reet ,New York .
G ent lem en
On further looking over your catalogue we d iscoverseveral o ther th ings we need . I n Catalogue 6 ,
D ecem ber ,1 909
,w e
want
No . 1 2 2 doz Ham m ers
9 1 I ce-box
16 40 W indow Screens
and in Catalogue 10,January ,
19 10
No . 4 1 2 Copper B oi lers19 16 Carv ing Set s
7 1 4 lbs . Wire
B e sure that t hese art icles are especially well packed .A prev ious sh ipm ent from you was dam aged in t rans i t . A S we
are in im m ed iat e need of these art icles sh ipm ent by express w i llgreat ly oblige us . Charges of less t han 900 . we expect you t o pay .
Yours truly ,
1 . Note that the whole order, though out up and displayed in two parts , is
unpunctuated. F igures are used for brevi ty and distinctness .
2 . Note the absence of com m as after the l ines in the center of the page .
3 . R em em ber the rule : A displayed line requires no other punctuation .
4 . Note that the words that indicate the quanti ty or num ber of the arti clesof the order are not capi talized.
5 . I n wri t ing out exercise le tters be rem indful of the spacing , m argins,
display, centering of letter on page, punctuat ion , capi talizing, dividing of
words, contract ions, etc.
E X E R C ISE I
Have pupils wri te , on the part of Messrs . Barnard Co . ,New York,
a letter to the New York Hardware Co . ,160 Broadway, to send No . 4 1 , 10 gross
Cani sters ; No . 3,4 doz . E nam eled Teapots ; No . 2 12
,6 doz . sets Stee l
Tableknives ; No . 1 , 18 Brass Ket tles . See that order i s displayed properly
STYLE -BOOK OF B USINE SS E NGLISH
When a fi rm delivers an order for goods to a carrying company
delivery to the customer is said to be complete that is,the express
or rai lroad company assumes the responsibili ty of delivering. When
the purchaser directs that the goods be shipped over a certain l ine
then the shipper’s responsibili ty ceases when he hands them
\tcr
r
the specified carrying company . Should the Shipper disregard
instructions and send them by another line,then del ivery is not
effected until the goods reach the buyer . I n case of no instructionsfrom the purchaser as to manner of delivery the responsibility ofthe seller cont inues until the goods reach the buyer . The carrying
company is always responsible for delay in delivering or for
damage resulting from its own negligence .
A n order for goods should be acknowledged on the day received .
When shipped, promptness in informing the buyer that his goodsare on the way enables him to prepare for the ir reception and
for their sale and del ivery to customers . I t also enables him to
hasten an investigation in case of delay on the part of the carrying
company .
The acknowledgm ent is in the form of an invoice ,or a printed
form on a postal card,or a personal letter . A postal card is more
frequently used for acknowledging small orders .
Isaac P i tm an Sons
THE PHONOG R APHIC DE POT
2 West 4sth Street,New York
We acknowledge wi th thanks the receipt ofyour favor
enclosing
We are shipping the goods by E xpressI
;
7
0
3
111
5
6
5
2?and trust sam e will arrive safely. Thanking you for the order, we are
Yours very truly,
‘
I SA A C P I TMAN <5 SONS.
9
1 20 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
An order for goods is displayed in the echter of the page to attractattention . All names of articles for sale in the order are to be
capitalized . But note that only the arti cles to be sold or bought
are to be capitalized , and not such words as pair , dozen , pounds ,yards , quarts, feet , et c . The obj ect is to render the words of greater
Significance m ore striking to the eye . Another reason for centeringis to enable the clerk who fills the order to see it clearly and to
check it , and the shipping clerk to countercheck it . This might
be illustrated by Citing the instance of a letter containing two
orders , one near the t 0p and one near the end of the letter , each
a short order, neither of which is displayed or capitalized) Acareless Clerk might see on ly one .
I n connection with letters ordering goods m ay be considered the
whole subj ect of sectional paragraphs and of broken sentences .
The Paragraph
The obj ect of the paragraph is to separate the principal item s
of the letter, a matter of considerable importance in business
letter-writing . It is the rule in some ofli ces in order to avoid con
fusing different affairs that a letter shal l treat one subj ect only .
When a letter treats more than one subj ect each requires a par
agraph ,there being in the letter as many paragraphs as subj ects .
A n exception ,however, i s made of the letter treating a single
subj ect . The single-subj ect letter m ay be expanded anywhere and
as frequently as desired for purpose of display . Should one subj ect
of the letter be wheat-growing and the following thought treat of
horses a new paragraph would, of course ,be needed , with additional
paragraphs for each new subj ect added . The rule seems to be, in
fact,that important ideas should be rendered more noticeable and
emphat ic by being paragraphed separately . The obj ect of this
division is to enable the reader more readily to assimilate the con
tents by setting aside all that refers to each topic and has no relat ion
to any other part of the letter . I t also enables the reader to checkthe more important parts for special consideration . A subj ectshould not be subdivided into paragraphs when there are m ore than
one subj ect in the letter, as that would destroy the very obj ect of
paragraphing .
122 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Particular attention is drawn to the infbrm al paragraph in letters
on the following pages where the sentence is broken abruptly in
order to display the item and is then resumed as though no
interruption were made .
Care should be taken that the punctuation of the broken sentence
or informal paragraph be exactly the same as though wri ttenunbroken. Observe on the previous page the m ethod of punctuating
such broken sentence .
E very order for goods should be paragraphed and placed in
the center of the line in order to enable busy or careless clerkseasily to discover, check , and countercheck . Care should also be
taken to place the principal items , such as orders,etc . ,
near the
top or about the center of the page . I f placed at the end they are
likely to be overlooked by lax employees .
DO not use postscripts or nota bene paragraphs . Leave i t to theintelligence of the reader to discover that the underscoring of words
is meant to call special attention .
Rem it tances
When goods are being ordered or after they have arrived , payment must Often be m ade by means of the United States mails .
It is evident that to send currency or bills inside letters 1 5 a veryunsafe method, although somet imes employed for small sums .The various m eans of sending money through the m ails m ay be
tabulated as follows
1 Stamps2 Currency and banknotes3 United States money orders4 E xpress company checks5 Documents of various kinds issued by banks
Som e firms accept unused stam ps to a considerable amount ,which they later use them selves or otherwise dispose Of. Littlecoin-cards can be obtained , into which the smaller pieces of m oneycan be inserted . These cards enable one to send small sums infairly convenient fashion . B ills
,of course
,slip easily into a letter .
There are two principal Obj ections to all of these forms of transmitting m oney . The first is that the stamps or money m ay be
stolen either in transmission or after the letters have been Opened .
The second is that there is no autom atic receipt that the money hasbeen received .
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 1 23
Illustrat ing the Bookkeeper’
s Paragraph
NEWE L L , H E ND E R SON CO .
COMMISSION ME R CHANTS
463 F lush Avenue
B rooklyn , N . Y . , Decem ber 16, 19 1 3 .
Mr . Wm . C . Tonlin ,
Trent on ,N. J .
Dear Sir
On account of the unfavorable s tat e of the m arket wehave not been able t o d ispose of your sh ipm en t s as early as you
expect ed , but we now have the pleasure Of enclos ing account SalesOf m erchand ise sh ipped v ia P ennsylvania R ai lroad as follows °
Nov . 6 1 10 bbls . C ranberries (Const . 1220)2 1 88 1272 )
Dec. 10 326 bxs . 1 356)wh ich were received in good order except 4 bxs . in the las t shipm ent that were unsalable the others we sold at the highes t
m arket prices then prevai ling ,wh ich were
Nov . 1 7 96 bbls . C ranberr ies at 81200
23 54 13 702
Dec . 12 48 6 1 2
2 10 bxs . 7 14
1 5 1 12
Total salesand from which the fo llowing charges have been deduct ed
F re igh t and Drayage
CooperageCash advancedCom m iss ion (5
Total charges
The net proceedshave been placed t o your cred i t , and we t rust we shall be favoredw i th further shipm ents from you in the near future .
Yours t ruly ,
124 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
0
Neither of these Obj ections applies to any Of the other methodsmentioned for transm itting money . A postal money order, a
bank check , or an express check all alike can be drawn in suchfashion that they are valueless except to the person in whose namethey are wr itten ,
and that by accepting them he autom aticallyprovides a receipt for the drawer Of the check or order . I t isconsequently advisable, especially when sending large sum s , touse only the methods ment ioned above .
A word m ay be added as to the att itude of the m an or the fi rmreceiving the rem ittance when this rem ittance tak es the form of acheck .
A ny fi rm will accept at face value a bank docum ent like a checkprovided it comes from a person Whose credit with it is good .
But a new custom er or a customer in poor financial standing mustin some way indicate that he has sufficient funds at the bank topay the amount of the check he has drawn . Frequently, therefore,
it is necessary to write the check in such form that it is certain thedrawer has these sufficient funds . This is done in various ways ,such as a certified Check , cashier
’s check ,cert ificate of deposit ,
et c . I llustrations of a num ber of these form s will be found in theAppendix , which the student should consult .
Test -Let ter I
(To be rewr i t ten )25 South st . , Ch icago , Oct ober, I 2 , 1908.
Mr . T. Coulan Sons’
,
B ost on , Massachuset t es ,
D ear G ent lem en ;
We beg t o acknow ledge the receipt of your est eem edfavor of th e 24 of th e present m onth and shall you have the kindnesst o send m e four barrels royal varn ish No . 1 and 3 dozen brist lebrush es No . 6 and at th e sam e t im e put in a couple Of doz . quart s of
g lossy black paint , and I forgot also t o say t o put in a few , say ,
10 dozen superi or Hair brush es , num ber 6 . Have th em here byNov . the n inth . V ery s incerely your friend , I rem ain
Yours ,
Review Quest ions for Chapter IX
What is m eant by Sim plicity and clearnessHow m ay a badly written letter be treatedDescribe five essential points in writing an order .
How should the description in a duplicate order com parethe origi nalWhy are figures usedWhat is the Obj ect of capitalizing certain words in an order P
126 STYL E -BOOK OF B USINE SS E NG L ISH
Tes t-Let ter 3
Rewrite correctly on Full-s ized Sheet, with Bus iness-letter
Diagram . Om it heading . Must fi nd twenty errors
to obtain Grade A
C A R HA R DT, CAR R OLL CO .
D R Y-G OODS, G R OCE R IE S, HAR DWAR E , ME D ICINE S,E TC .
L ocustv i lle , 1 11.
June 26th , 1 9 13 .
Mess . Towne and Com pany , E sqr .
65 B ath s treet , Ch icago
I ll .
G ent lem en
I n response to yours of t he fourt h instant we Sen t
you 25 cen ts of th is was for express on 1 and one fourt h
lb . Of axle grease . 1 0 per cent . d iscount on num ber 2 we thoughtt oo li t t le . We can do bet t er wi th Messrs . Taylor Co . of B ondSt . K indly send us 1 4 quart s of gem Po lish paint , 2 doz .
B utchers’
saws num . 6,Sixt een wat ches ( E ureka) and 9 pairs
Chi ldren ’
s boot s No . three . Kindly send the art icles in the a. m .
inst ead Of as last Wint er in t he aft ernoon . P .S. Also send e igh t
dozen m isses’
calico F rocks num ber s ix .
Very Sincerely yours ,
MR . CA R HA R DT, CAR R OL L CO
P er Jam es Siegel .
NOTE . Per or by are not necessary before the s ignature . I n any
case“by, being E ngl ish ,
is preferable to “per, L at in.
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 1 27
7 Which are to be capitalized and which not
8 Why does a line di5played generally need no punctuationpoints
9 When m ay a sentence break abruptly and then resume itsproper form and place without using points of punctuation10 Why should a letter ordering goods be promptly acknow
ledged P
1 1 Why Should a customer be promptly informed that his goodshave been sent12 May a printed postal card be used for this purpose13 Why Should there ever be more than one paragraph14 I n what way is it beneficial to the receiver to fi nd a different
paragraph for each subj ect15 What is the writer
’
s , or printer’
s , Obj ect in cutting up a
single subj ect into several paragraphs16 Why is a fi led-away letter on one subj ect only more easily
referred to than one having two subj ects17 What is meant by an inform al paragraph18 Where in a colum n of prices is the dollar Sign used19 Why in tabulating a column Of figures of different am ounts
Should care be taken to see that the right-hand figure Of eachbe written exactly under the one preceding20 Why should figures be used in describing an order2 1 Why are num bers referring to dates , t im e of day, quantities ,
orders , rates , and prices generally put in figures22 Which Of the following form s is correct
Num ber 1 Nos . 4 and sixNO . two NO . 1
23 What are the fi ve general m ethods of rem itting m oney24 Why Should currency not be sent in a letter 9
25 What means are there Of assuring a person that your checkis good
Exercises
1 (a) Order the following articles from some merchant in yourneighborhood : 2 sweaters , size 34 and 36 ,
price each ; a
pair Of gymnasium Shoes , price size 7 ; a tenn is racket ,price and a camera, price E nclose a remittance .
(b) Acknowledge receipt of the above letter , state you are
forwarding goods , except camera, which will be sent in a week .
4 (a) As a grocer, Samuel Loke , in Reading , P a. order twobarrels of m ackerel , at a barrel from R . B . Burns , Philadelphia.
(b) Write a reply to this order stat ing your regret that you cannot
128 STYL E -BOOK OF B USINE SS E NG L ISH
fill this order for less than a bari’el f . O . b . Philadelphi a.
A
la request to be notified if Mr . Loke still wishes the order to be
fi ed .
3 Wri te a letter to a custom er Of the fi rm OfWm . E dge Co . ,
Dealers in Hardware,West Hoboken , N. J. , stating that you have
attem pted in vain to fi nd the Unique Glass Jars . Inquire whetherVictor Jars wi ll do instead . Mention the fact that you are alsoforwardi ng a catalogue concerning all the goods you sell .4 (a) Order six pairs Of Holeless Socks from a men
’s furnisherin your town . E nclose rem ittance .
(b) Write hi s reply that he will fill your order in three days .E xplain the delay . Add an account Of other goods he has on salethat he is sure you will like . Have him ask you to call personally.
5 As business m anager of your school paper , send an orderto your printer for 1000 copies of your next issue, 32 pages, sixpages advertising, one page table of contents , two pages Of illustrations , three pages 10—point m atter, twenty pages eight—point matter,cover of usual stock . Mention date on which paper is to be issued .
6 Write to the sam e printer asking him to prepare for you500 Sheets of private stationery, headed with your name and yournew address , of the same stock and at the sam e price
“
as your lastorder . State that you want envelopes to match . E nclose check .
7 Order the following books from a local book-dealer Webster’
sSecondary School Dictionary, Bulfinch’ s A ge of Fable,
P ocket E dition, $ 35 Longfellow’ s P oem s, School E di tion ,
Shakspere’ s Ham let
,School E dition , $ 25 . E nclose
rem ittance . Ask the dealer to send you a catalogue of recentlyissued fiction . Inquire whether he keeps calendars and diarieson hand . Ask the price of a road-m ap of the state in which youlive . Inquire whether he gives a discount for large orders . (Besure to paragraph properly . )8 A S Vincent Blair, 10 Ironside Street , Bill ings, Montana,
write to your friend, Algar Thomson ,staying at the Continental
Hotel , New York, asking hi m to purchase some good repro
duct ions of famous pai ntings for you . E nclose a draft for t endollars . Then write
"Mr . Thom son some news of B illings . Makeyour letter a com bination of a business letter and a letter to anintim ate friend .
130 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
successful . E ffusive salutations and im pI’Oper titles are l im ited
to promoters of get -rich—quick schem es, to patent-medicine sellers ,to bucket—ShOp people , et c . These people usually address strangersas Dear F riend . There is also a tendency to neglect to writeform al titles , salutations , and com plim entary closes , but it cannotbe too strongly condem ned . The elim ination Of polite form s isperm issible among em ployees in the sam e Office, but it Shouldnot be practised elsewhere . Alway s apologize for errors of composition or of haste , and Offer the excuse as early as possible in theletter, not leaving it to be added in a postscript .
Titles and corresponding salutations not frequently used inbusiness correspondence Should be typewritten ,
pasted on a cardand kept convenient for reference . Such unusual titles and salutations are : to the P resident , cabinet Officers
,governors , m em bers
Of legislatures , to the j udiciary ,to the Catholic and other clergy,
to the brotherhoods and sisterhoods, et c .
Another form of im politeness is the habit of leaving out pronounsand the using of unnecessary abbreviations . The reader is likelyto receive the im pression that scant courtesy i s shown him , and
that it is a waste Of tim e in his case to use conventional form s .Telegraphic brevity is not permissible in business- letter wr iting .
The result Ofan advertisem ent for a stenographer and correspondentin the New York Herald showed ninety per cent . rej ected on
account Of m istaken ideas Ofbrevity .
The following letter was sent by the president of one of thelargest insurance com panies in the world to all its im portantem ployees :
Court esy Sign . Sept em ber 12 , 19 13 .
To (Superin t enden t s , Agency Organ izers , Detached Assis tant s ,
Managers ) .
We Shal l s end in your next express package a COUR TE SYSIGN wh ich we des ire hung in your Office SO as t o be readi ly observ edby all who ent er in connect ion w ith the Com pany
’
s bus iness .
The s ign i s neat ly fram ed and equipped w i th w ire for thepurpose of hanging .
I n Offices having Cashier’
s quart ers w i th a gri ll we w ish
the Sign placed im m ediat ely above t he w indow , or at the s ide of the
Open ing .
I n cas e t h is i s im pract icable on accoun t of the space ,
w e w i ll leave the m at t er Of locat ion t o your judgm ent , w i th t heunders tand I ng you w i ll hang the Sign wh ere i t w i ll be s een t o the
bes t advantageWe believe you w i ll apprec iat e t he em phasis such a not ice
w i ll place upon your own and the Com pany ’
s des ire that P R OMPTAND COU R TE OUS t reatm ent shall be accorded t o all.
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 13 1
Test-Let ter I
Correctly rewrite,m ak ing Diagram of Letter-Head s ize, and
E nvelope . Must fi nd fifteen errors for Grade A
New York, N. Y . , July ls t , 19 13 .
498 B roadway .
Mess . Thom lan Carr ,
62 1 B roadway , N. Y .
G ent s
The m illenery fi rm Of Madam s Thor Yat es blam es us for
t he delay on your order . The art icles we ordered on June 4 th havenot yet com e . We therefor send duplicat e in case t he order hasbeen lost : twelve doz . spools black Thread NO . 36, 124 yards of
O . L . B lack r ibbon ,and 20 gross cloth But t ons , No . s ix . We have
just heard from Messrs . The Am er ican Cot t on CO and they prom iset o del iver all orders before t he 10 of the m onth that are rece ived bythe fifth .
Very Sincerely yours ,
MR . THOMLON AND CAR R,
ii 620 Broadway, N. Y. ,
New York.
C /O. Thom lon Car.
This superscripti on contains nine errors .
132 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Test-Lett er 2
Rewrite correctly on full-s ized Sheet, with Bus iness-letter
Diagram . Must fi nd twenty errors for Grade A
ANDE R SON, B R OWNE COMPANY
I R ON IMPOR TE R S
B roadway and One Hundredth St .
Phone 283 . N . Y. New York ,March 1 4th , 1 9 13 .
R e Iron Shipm ent
m ess ieurs B rat t le &cB rooklyn,
Dear s irs —We rece ived your phone m essage on Change here t o-day
at 10 a.m . Mr . B rown , E sq . , the cont ract or , as m ent ioned in let t erof the loth . prox cannot supply the m at erial on t im e , that is , as
his Co . prom ised . Our expectat ion was t o rece ive i t in the ult im o
m onth , and not have t o wait unt i l prox im o . A s th is instant i s only
half over i t m ay yet com e before t he end . I f you not ice in the
paper of a sh ip arr iv ing at pier 4 1 , north R iver , you will know i t is
the iron ,and you m ay call for i t at 1800 B roadway , N. Y . city .
A sk for lengths 4 x 9 and 4”
x 9'
only .
Yours very Sincere ly,
ANDE R SON CO .
The corrected form of this let ter wi ll be judged by neatness in penm anship,and by proper di splay of i ts parts according to bus iness-letter form and
according to style .
134 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Test -Let ter 4
Rewri t e this lett er. Student m us t fi nd twenty
errors to obtain Grade A
P E TE R SON, ALDR ICH CO.
F INE F U R NITU R E , CAR P E TS, O IL CL OTHS, E TC .
89 Twenty-th ird St reet
New York,Apr i l 6
, 19 13 .
Telephone 345K
Messrs . G oodwin Co
742 F ifth Avenue ,
New York .
G ent lem en
We d id not answer yours of the 20 prox . on account of
doubt . Anyone would com plain of such t reat m ent . We ordereda chair , wh ich we needed bad
,but i t was the poores t kind of a chai r
that you sent . B oth of the arm s fell out , and everyone that saw
i t said they wouldn ’
t have i t . When a person says that knowswhat they say we can
’
t sell . We t r ied t o m end i t , but couldn ’
t
m ake ei ther of the several pieces st ick . We say farther that unless
you change th is for an other we shall trade e lsewhere , t hough the
goods m ay com e further by rai l , ne i ther of wh ich two fact s do we
care about so we get good art icles . Other defect s : firs t ly , the backwas t oo st raight and secondly , the stain was the yellowest of
yellow . Our cust om ers got m ad and past i t by quickly . I f we
keep i t longer we t oo shall soon be a fi rm of t he passed . We have
had the chair now quit e som e t im e— over t en days— and no sale .
Yours truly ,
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 135
Review Quest ions for Chapter X
1 Did you learn in former questions that an appeal, artisticto the eye , is more effect ive than when presented in a slovenly,jumbled-together manner P
2 Similarly , is politeness more persuasive than rudeness P3 What classes of people are especially annoyed at the omission
of forms of courtesy P4 Why should you be suspicious of a letter from a stranger
containing affectionate terms P5 When are polite form s properly omitted P6 Mention a particularly bad form ,
likely to mak e yourcorrespondent think your time is being wasted on hi m .
7 HOW does a business m an regard an application letter thatfails to give the necessary par t iculars P
8 May 25th,
”
l t , etc . , be written with period, as 25th .
2 l st . et c . P
9 DO ult . , and prox . have plural forms PWhere is the error in letters of the l t and 25th insts . ,
as used on page 1 33 P1 1 May Messieurs ever be abbreviated to Mess . instead ofMessrs .
”P
12 What causes friction in the transaction of business P Shouldyou ever apologize or make amends P
Exercises
1 Write to Messrs . Browning, Strong Co . , Cooper Squar e ,
New York , that on the 1 2th of May you sent an order to be fillednot later than the 15th of May . Say that the 15th of the monthhas now come and the goods have not yet arr ived . Mention thatthis delay has compelled you to disappoint your customers . Askwhy they did not write earlier so that you could have advised yourcustomers accordingly . Tell them that unless the goods are
delivered by the l6th OfMay you will cancel the order . Use no
impolite expressions in stating your complai nt .2 Suppose that you are in a business where the use Ofa ready
reference book Ofmixed informat ion is needed . You have purchasedsuch book from a publisher upon his recommendation . Youfi nd , however, that it is a fraudulent revision Of an older one ,
som e parts having been revised and others not . Li fe insurancestatistics, for instance, are out of date and history twenty yearsbehind . Ment ion other subj ects which, not being up to date,would be likely to di splease a m an in the bank ing business . Write
To'
— (4oo)
136 STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
this letter Of dissatisfaction , fully expressing your com plaint , anddemand the return of your m oney . DO not fail to be courteous .
3 Write a letter from the Captain of the Brooklyn NavyYard , H . S. Rite ,
to the Com m andant , telling him that contractorsdel ivering goods to vessels often suffer considerable delay in havingthe receipt-stubs signed ,
because the Officer Ofthe deck has refused tohandle them ,
but has sent instead for a leadi ng m an in charge Of
yard work . Recomm end that the Offi cer of the deck Sign hereafter .
4 A S Auditor Of the Middletown Trolley Co . , Middletown ,
Delaware ,write to the General Supply Co . ,
E aston, P a that
their last del ivery showed a shortage in electrical supplies to theam ount Of $92 .60 . Ask that your account receive credit to thisamount .
5 A S G eo . Blau Co . , Clock Manufacturers , 15 WellingtonStreet , West , Toronto , Canada, write to Mr . E dward Florence ,
16 14 Broadway,New York , that you are enclosing in your
letter a credit—Slip for in connection with the Clock Setreturned to you and m entioned in Mr . Florence
’
s favor Of the 14thinstant . Thank Mr . Florence for his assistance in adjusting thismatter .
6 A S Thos . F . Butler of the Chicago E levated R . R , CO . writea letter to the Construction Department Of the Am erican E scalatorCom pany, P ittsburg, Pa. , stat ing that you have had considerabletrouble with the type Of escalator at Park Street . Com plain thatthe grease works out of the handrail chain and soils the clothes Ofpeople who ride on the escalator . Also note that twice the escalatorhas refused to work at all, and then started again withoutapparent cause .
7 Write a letter from Stuart Brothers , owners of a large department store in San Francisco , to one Of their customers— StephenWillard ,
281 Cam den Street . Note that in going over your records ,you fi nd that his account for som e t im e past has been inactive .
Inquire whether his failure to purchase any m ore goods from youis due to any fault in your service or goods . I f SO, state that youwill appreciate it highly if Mr . Willard will furn ish particulars .Conclude with the rem ark that you are always grateful to yourfriends for bringing to your attention any causes for complaint ,or any suggestion for the betterm ent of your service .
Write a series of letters on the followi ng situation :
8 The Business Manager of y our school paper is very muchdissatisfied with the m ake-up Of the last i ssue . He writes aletter to the printer calling attention to the following pointsno proof sent up , a number of advertisements (m ention them)misprinted SO badly that the advertisers refuse to pay , numeroustypographical errors in the body Of the paper , 45 copies missing
CHAPTE R XI
LETTERS TO DEBTORS
DE BTOR S m ay be divided into four classes, each requiring a par
t icular style of composition when wri tten to for payment . The
FIR ST consist of manufacturers and wholesalers who sell to retailers
upon defini te terms Ofsale . The second class are retailers ’ customers
of good credit who , through negligence or other cause, fail to paywithin a reasonable time . The third class are composed of thosedoing business in a small way without special credit-standing, andthose dependent on salaries only . The fourth class are those of theother three who from motives of dishonesty wish to avoid paying .
I n each case great care should be used to avoid giving offense,
especially to the second class— usually the I 'ICh —Who,having wealth
,
feel that they have been overcharged , and are therefore in no haste
to pay . Some firms allow accounts in thi s class to run for years,
fearing to demand payment lest Offense be taken .
Manufacturers and wholesalers allow credits varying from ten
to ninety days, with from two to ten per cent . discount for cash .
The term s of sale are printed on the invoice or statement and are
understood before open ing the account . Debtors of this class,
therefore ,understanding defini tely the terms
,are generally punctual
in paym ent , otherwise their remissness, becom ing known to credit
agencies,would seriously impair their standing . Credit is a fi rm ’
s
m ost important asset,the slightest im pairm ent of which means
great loss . TO such debtors it is customary to send a duplicatestatement or a form-letter call ing attention to the unpaid account .
Carelessness or some unimportant temporary cause m ay be the
cause of non-payment , in which case a duplicate statement only,
or the usual printed monthly form-letter,is sent before resorting to
the personal letter. Sometimes a draft is drawn on the debtor,
which he i s obliged to accept,or by dishonoring it make known
his inj ured credi t .
When a duplicate statement fails to bring a satisfactory reply
a personal letter is wr it ten in a friendly tone requesting an
explanat ion .
‘
I f an unsat isfactory response he received the nature
of the second letter is to be determined by the probabilities of
1 38
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 139
I l lustrat ing Request for’
Paym ent
HOL BOR N,JE NK INS SM ITH
WHOL E SAL E HAR DWAR E
35 West Street
New York , F ebruary 6,19 1 4 .
Messrs . B eam an Co
60 Canal St reet ,New York .
G ent lem en
P erm i t us t o call your at t ent ion t o the fact that you
have neglect ed t o pay your January accoun t . We regret hav ing
t o rem ind you of this , but hav ing reCe ived no explanat ion from
you as t o t he cause of the delay , and hav ing heavy obligat ionst o pay dur ing the com ing m onth , we should be great ly pleased t orece ive a rem i t tance from you . We fi nd ourselves obliged largelyt o increase our working cap i tal on account of the increased ad
valorem dut ies of the new tar iff. To enable us t o m eet these we
are obliged t o request our custom ers t o set t le at once all overdueaccounts .
We hOpe that our pleasant relat ions w i ll in no way be
changed by this request for set t lem ent , as we are sure that you w i llread i ly understand the necess i ty we are under in order t o increase
our capi tal suffi c ient ly t o m eet the dem ands of changed cond i t ions .
A s our board of d irect ors has recent ly decided t hat all
overdue account s m ust be co llect ed as soon as poss ible ,m ay we not
rece ive your check in set t lem ent or a s tat em ent of your financialpos i t ion P
R espectfully yours ,
1 . No te the friendliness of the language toward a delinquen t . The reason
for this is that,not knowing the cause of the delay, it is unwise to h int that the
debtor is unable or unwi ll ing to pay .
2 . No te the reques t for a statem en t of the reason for the delay . Th i s
statem ent wi ll supply the bas is for the second lett er,or
,if paym ent be not
forthcom ing, for one m ore di rect and perem ptory in tone .
3 . Note that the fi rm g ives an excellent reason for press ing the paym en t .
This im presses the debtor that the m at ter is serious,that he has not been s ingled
out, and that he is expected to do his utm ost to Dav .
140 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L I sH
securing payment . I t is customary to assign certai n reasons for
m aking a request for payment , as m ay be seen on the previous page .
TH E SE COND CLASS Of debtors are those who enj oy the privilegeof an Open account . Such customers are not included among those
who understand that their future standing will depend upon prompt
settlement Of bills at specified dates .”
Special discounts for cash
within a certain time are not allowed to this second class,as many
people would be offended if informed that a l ittle money might be
saved by paying promp t ly . E ach customer in this class is a problemby himself
,and only a com plete knowledge of his financial affairs
and personal characteristics will suffi ce properly to compose a letter
to suit his case . The more important accounts in this class are
invariably handled by the principals of the fi rm . The methods Of
collection from this class are nowhere uni form,each fi rm having a
different policy according to the nature of goods sold , the customers’
credit-standing,and social status . Most people deeply resent a
dunn ing letter, no matter how politely wri tten or how urgent the
request and,generally , the more able to pay the leSS
'
the willing
ness to pay promptly . I t is necessary,however
,to call attention
to these accounts at regular periods .
To avoid irri tating hypersensitive custom ers a semi-personal
letter i s sent,composed somewhat in the form of a statem ent of
account and containing a request for paym ent . This printed
letter,apparently emanating from the bookkeeping departm ent ,
informs the debtor of his indebtedness . He infers from its form
that it is a m ere bookkeeping detail that is sent to every customerand that particular reference is not made to him . To arouse the
slightest suspicion against one ’s abili ty or willingness to pay m ay
cause the loss of a valued customer.
The extent to which credi t m ay be given to this class is to be
found in reference books periodically issued for the guidance of m er
chants . Buyers are classified according to their m eans and methods
Of paying . While such reference books m ay be useful in consideringthe giving of credit
,they should not be considered a safe guide fo r
correspondents in the composition of dunning letters . The able corre
spondent gathers and records such information from every possible
source . This information should be classified in budget form for
reference and should be accessible to allwho determine credits .
142 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Le t ter to Debtors , No . I
(Second C lass— IMPR OPE R F OR M )
JE AN L A F AR G E E T F ILS
MOD ISTE SF ifth Avenue and F ort y
-Second StreetNew York, Apr i l 2 , 19 1 3 .
Mrs . P . F . Johnson ,
95 Madison Avenue ,
New York .
Dear MadamYour account shows a cons iderable balance against you .
We seldom allow account s t o run for m ore than s ixty days ,and
yours has exceeded that l im i t . A prom pt set t lem en t w i ll great lyoblige
Yours t ruly
P R OPE R FOR MDear Madam
I n look ing over our account s recent ly we have beeninform ed by our clerks t hat your account has been increas ing
cons iderably of lat e and that few and un im portant paym ent s have
been m ade . Stat em en t s have been s ent regularly , we believe ,
wh ich ,in the press of social and other engagem ent s , have _probably
been over looked . We have always h igh ly valued your pat ronage ,and great ly d es ire i t s cont inuance ,
and are pleased t o th ink that
you have appreciat ed our efforts t o serve you .
H op ing that by return m ai l you w i ll kindly rem i t us
according t o stat em ent enclosed , we are
Very respect fully yours ,
One enclosure— stat em ent .
1 . E nclosures should be pinned to top of sheet so as to attract attent ion
at once. Always m ent ion them in the letter.
2 . The first letter errs in be ing too perem ptory and in lacking the
conven t ional term s of poli teness sui table to one of good credi t-standing .
3 . The use of seldom ”
i s im proper, as the cus tom er m ay jus tly infer
that there are other accounts that are allowed to run longer than hers .
4 . I n the second let ter the custom er i s pleased wi th the consideration she
receives in the m anner of address and by the inference that the neglect to paym ay have been caused by exact ing soc ial or publ ic funct ions . E ffus iveness
should be avo ided for fear of convey ing a sen s e of ins incerity .
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 143
Let ter to Debtors , No . 2
(Thi rd and F ourth C lasses )
WAR R E N, F R E MONT HOL BOR N
WHOL E SAL E G R OCE R S
1 2 Wh it e St reet
New York ,June 10 , 19 13
Messrs . K eene Co
200 Nassau Street ,
New York .
G ent lem en
We are not qui t e pleased wi th your replies t o our
let t ers of the ls t , 3d , and 7th Of F ebruary for paym ent of your
accoun t . F urtherm ore , our collect ors inform us that i t i s im
poss ible t o obtain a sat isfact ory s tat em ent as t o when you w i ll beable t o pay . Your references spoke high ly of you when you
appl ied t o us for credi t,and we are at a loss t o understand how
they have erred in judgm ent .
Can you not send us a rem i t tance ,however sm all , as
ev idence of your des ire t o m eet your obligat ions ? I f not , kindlysend us a s tat em en t of your affairs , and i f i t is poss ible w i th just icet o Ourselves we m ay ex t end the t im e Of paym ent . I f you have no
o ther m eans at hand we w i ll accept your not e,payable in t he
sum m er or ear ly fall , in set t lem ent of the account .
L et us hear from you wi th in the present week and
Yours tru ly ,
I f this l et ter produces an unsat isfactory answer, or none at all, the followingshould be sent
G ent lem en
Your replies of F ebruary 2, 4 , and 8 t o our recent
let t ers are not sat isfact ory . Your refusal t o give us your not e
clearly shows your unwi llingness or inab i li ty t o pay . I f we do not
hear favorably from you by 10 a. m . n ext Monday we shall pass youraccount t o our lawyers for collect ion .
Yours t ru ly
144 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Co llect ion of Accounts
A good maxim in correspondence is always to bear in mind thatevery word wri tten m ay at some future t ime be produced in court
as testimony in a suit . For this reason a statement in figuresShould not be made in the letter i f the exact sum due be in doubt
,
as the amount a creditor is ‘
able to collect is that which he states
in his correspondence ,unless it be a mani fest error
,though his
books m ay Show a larger amount . Jurors consider a man ’s own
estim ate in figures to be the best testimony in determining a verdict .
The law protects the debtor against defamatory language in
a letter requesting payment,though strong language is permissible
,
provided there by no publicity tending to injure his commercial
standing or character .
I t is proper to threaten with legal proceedings or to put them atter into the hands Of a collection agency provided the threat
be not written on a postal card . The law supposes the relation Of
debtor to creditor to be harmon ious until suit to recover is brought
into court . This law is derived from the theory that the debtor ’s
relation to the creditor is strictly of private nature,to be made
public only when an appeal for j udgment is made to the public— the
court . Thus,an effort of the credi tor to force payment by giving
undue publicity to the debtor ’s bad standing is pun ishable . Such
pun ishable act is the use of envelopes setting forth in large print
that they emanate from a collection agency .
I n every State there is a law stating that unless an Open account
be collected within a certain number of years no further legal means
m ay be invoked to secure payment . I t does not apply to accountswhose payment by mutual consent m ay extend beyond that fixedby the statute of limitations . I n the Middle States this period
varies from three to Six years in the Southern and Western Statesfrom two to six ; in the New E ngland States
,New York, New
Jersey,and Pennsylvan ia it is Six years . The period of collection i s
reckoned from the time the last payment was made on the account .
The use and the abuse of the postal card m ay be seen on
page 1 46 ,where the first informs a prying postm aster— and
,
consequently, the whole town— that the debtor
’s standing is bad,
while the second is considered to be within the law.
146 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENG L ISH
I l lustrat ing the Abuse and Use 0? the P os tal Card
The following s tyle would be puni shable by law
SM ITH , ING AL LS CO .
61 Park St reet
B os ton , Mass January 10,1 9 1 4 .
Mr . L . A . Croton ,
B ever ly , Mas s .
Dear Sir
When are you going t o pay the next instalm ent on your
household goods ? You are not keeping up t o the t erm s of your
cont ract . Un less back paym ent s are m ade by the firs t of next
m onth we shall tak e the furn i ture away .
Yours ,
The following s tyle would be m ailable wi thout offending the law
Dear Sir
P erm i t us t o call at t ent ion t o the unsat isfact ory st at e of
your account and t o the fact that we have not rece ived answers to
our let t ers wr i t t en you on the subject . Our agent w i ll call on you
in a few days t o confer with you .
R espectfully yours ,
1 . No te that the reference in the firs t card to the purchase of householdfurn i ture on instalm ent paym en ts and the threat to take i t away would, uponbeing known to the public
,be hum i liat ing to the debtor
,and is
,therefore
,
unlawful .
2 . Nearly all m en owe . The m ere s tatem en t , therefore, of the fact of the
debt , devoid of hum iliating details or of aspers ions on the character
of the debtor,is held by the court s to be proper .
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 147
Review Quest ions for Chapter XI
1 In what general way m ay debtors be di vided into classes P2 What is the distinctive feature Of each ?3 Which Class must one be especially carefully not to Offend P4 Can you give any reason why rich people ar e not so punctual
in paym ent as com pared with others P5 Descri be fully the occasion for writing four different letters
to a Slow-paying rich wom an . Show how these letters should vary .
6 Write out three different , truthful reasons j ustifying yourrequest for prom pt payment .
7 To what extent m ay form- letters be used P I n what instanceshould a form~ letter becom e semi-personal P
8 What is your opinion on the utility of dunn ing-letters P9 Is it better to plead than to scold to secure payment P10 In what manner m ay a postal card be used as a dunning
instrument P1 1 When should an account be passed to an attorney for
collection P12 Should threats without intention to act ever be made P13 How do wholesalers deal with fraudulent debtors P1 4 I n what way does a form-letter differ from a personal letter P1 5 HOW is it more economical P16 Specify seven subj ects that can be treated properly in
form-letters P17 What is the principle involved In mak ing a form-letter as
econom ical as possible P18 What is meant by a series of form-letters P19 When would a form-letter be unprofitable P
20 Does a form-letter have to be signed personally P
21 Why are 2 and 3 better than 2d and 3d P
State when both m ay be used correctly P
22 DO you hyphenate one thi rd , fifty four, etc.P
Exercises
1 Messrs . Lewison Bowen ,of your city
, are wholesalersand retailers of dry-goods . They have customers in all four classesdescribed on page 138 . B e careful to classify each customer correctly
,
so that after studying pp . 138-1 46, you may be able properly tocompose the letter . Write each letter on full-Sized Sheet , properlydiagram ed, in handwriting or typewriting . Credi t will be givenaccording to neatness, design of the diagram ,
proper display on
the page , and style .
148 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Debt or Class,Not I
(See second letter , page
Mr . L . S. Benson ,125 Broadway, New York ,
has purchased a
large bill Ofgoods on ninety days’ t im e . A statem ent or form-letter
has been sent to him . He has replied that he has no money,
and gives no further inform ation . Notice that the goods weresold with condition Of paym ent in n inety days .
Write letter on behalf OfMessrs . Lewison Bowen .
2 . Debt or Class,No . 2
(Page 142)
Mrs . Jane Harris , Orange ,Mass . ,
is rich,is a large buyer from
Lewison Bowen , yet her paym ents are so irregular and requireSO m uch tim e and trouble to collect that it is alm os t unprofitableto have her as a custom er . The proper form of letter on page 142has been sent , and the only answer received was that She did notwant to be bothered and would pay when ready .
”
Rem em berthat you cannot afford to Offend her (and her friends) . You mustdevise some line of reasoning that will appeal to her self- interest
(she is a close buyer) to pay more prom ptly .
3 . Asking for an Extens ion of Tim e
Write to the corporate fi rm of John Wanam aker , Philadelphia,
stating that , owing to the dulness Of trade , you are unable to m eetthe paym ent for goods bought last m onth . Say that a few ofyour own customers have been unable to m eet their Obligat ionsfor Sim ilar reasons . Assure them that prospects are better now,
and that you believe that the outlook for the future is brighterthan it has been in the near past , and that you hope to be able Shortlyto meet all your engagem ents . Ask for an extension of one m onth
’ stim e .
NOTE — The fi rm , popularly known by the name Of JohnWanam aker, is com posed Of several persons . The incorporatednam e is John Wanamaker Philadelphia. The word Philadel
phia is a part of the corporation nam e . Select the properintroduction and salutation .
4 Write a letter from L . L . Baxter , 19 1 Rand Street , Indianapolis , 1nd ,
to Sterns Bros 249 Jefferson Street , Louisville , Ky . ,
asking them to rem it for the forty-two dozen shirts costing $420
CHAPTE R XI I
CIRCULAR OR FORM-LETTERS . MISCELLANEOUSLETTERS
I N a business house that handles a certai n limited class of
articles correspondence becomes so regular and systemat ized that
letters resemble one another like grains of sand . A fi rm doing a
large business necessarily has many inquiries demanding identical
replies . Correspondents generally answer such letters on their own
responsibility, or to economize time employ what are called form
letters . ” These are typewritten or printed letters sent in reply to
such inquiries as : 1 Why the delay in shipment ? 2 Why are
goods in catalogues not obtainable P 3 Why have prices gone up ?
4 May I exchange ? etc etc or to send information to cus
tom ers about 1 Change of partners or of ownership . 2 P rices ,discounts
,credit
,etc . 3 Change of location
,or other matter Of
interest .
The correspondent refers to a tabulated list,picks out the
form-letter referring to the question and fills in the date, name ,etc.
A form-letter should be so constructed as to be a suitable answer
to as many inquiries as possible . A S there are many letters makingan identical inquiry
,so there are many that requi re nearly, though
not exactly,the same answer . Thus the form-letter, covering
general complaints,m ay have to be changed in detail according to
circumstances , though the general construction remains unaltered .
These subdivisions Of the form—letter m ay be called Complaint
Form NO . 1,NO. 2,
NO. 3,etc as the case m ay be . The
correspondent knows at once which is applicable to the case .
The use of the form-letter is determined entirely by the question
whether or not it be econom i cal to use it . I t would not pay to makea printed form-letter for use in a few instances only . Its use is also tobe recommended in sending out information as to change of location ,partnership, financial policy, etc.
,where the economy is evident .
The following is a form-letter sent to every customer of a firm ,
the only difference being that the name,address
,and salutation are
to be inserted to con form to different persons . The Signature m ay
be pen-written , typewritten , or made with a stamp .
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGL ISH 15 1
Circular Letter
CAR LTON PADDOCK
D R Y-G OODS
1401 Seventy-fifth St reet
New York, March 12 , 19 13 .
We the unders igned herewi th inform our est eem edcust om ers that the two establishm ent s wh ich have ex ist ed h i thert ounder the nam es of W i lliam Car lt on and H enry Paddock w i ll beun it ed from this dat e and C ont inued under t he s ty le of
CAR LTON PADDOCK
We request our cust om ers t o carry over the ir account s
to the new fi rm and t o cont inue t o us the ir form er favors .
Our bus iness wi ll not in any respect undergo a change ,
as our occupat ion wi ll be as form er ly the im port at ion of dry
Our effort s t o serve our cust om ers t o their full sat i sfact ion wi ll be great ly increased by th is un ion of our
es tablishm ent s .
Hoping t o be equally successful in pleas ing , we rem ain
Yours respect fu lly,
CAR LTON P ADDOCK .
STAMP .
1 . The dot ted lines are to be filled wi th the introduction and salutat ion .
2 . The s ignature m ay be handwri t ten , typewri t ten ,or s tam ped .
I I
152 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Circular or Form -Lptter
(R eceived from a m ail-order house in answer to request for catalogue. )Chicago,
I ll March 4,19 1 4 .
K ind F riend :We are pleased t o acknowledge receipt of your
favor of recent dat e ,in wh ich you int im at e that you m ay lat er on
favor us wi th an order . We thank you for the court esy you0
have ex t ended in favoring us w i th this reply ,and we Shall look
forward t o rece iv ing your order wi th ex t rem e pleasure .
When we m ai led you our catalogue ,we d id so
wi th the int ent ion of givi ng you our bes t s ervice , and you
wi ll fi nd that when you place the order w i th us,i t wi ll rece ive
the sam e careful at t ent ion that would be given were you t o call atone of our st ores t o m ake a personal select ion of the goods .
There is every reason why you should send yourorder t o us
,and if you w i l l again refer t o t he firs t few pages of
our catalogue , you wi ll fi nd explained a few of these great
m any reasons . I f there I s any doubt in your m ind as t o_ whereyou can place your order t o the bes t advan tage, do not hes i tat et o wri t e us fully in regard t o the m at t er .
We have established a reputat ion for courteous ,
honorable and fair dealings wi th our cus t om ers . We enjoythe dist inct ion Of being known as The Most R eliableHom e-furn ishers in Am erica, and we m ean t o m ain tai n this
reputat ion under all C ircum s tances .
Trus t ing t o be favored wi th your ord er when
you are ready t o purchase ,and assuring you that we wi ll put
forth every e ffort t o earn your fulles t confidence in the t ransact ion ,
we beg t o rem ain
Yours very t ru ly,
I . The date and the address are to be fi lled in .
2 . Note the pecul iar salutat ion . I t i s a ques t ion whe ther such friendlygree t ing to a perfect s tranger is product ive of m uch confidence in re turn .
3 . Note the sum m ary, in the first sentence , of the letter be ing answeredalso the expression of thanks for the courtesy rece ived.
4 . I n the second paragraph see how ski lfully the fi rm seeks to rem ove the
im press ion that trading by m ail is l ike ly to be less sat isfactory than when donedirectly . To re l ieve the prospect ive cus tom er of this idea is seen to be the
principal object of the letter. Observe that it is again referred to in the thirdparagraph .
5. Observe in the las t paragraph another persi stent effor t to d ispe l theno t ion that trading by m ail i s no t sat isfactory .
1 54 STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Im personal Letter of R ecOm m endat ion
JAC KSON,BLAKE CO .
SIL K MANU F ACTU R E R S A ND IMPOR TE R S
22 1 G reene St .
New York, August 4 ,1 9 13,
To WHOM I T MA Y CONCE R NThis is t o cert ify that Mr . Thom as
W. B enson has been in our em ploy dur ing the las t e ight years and
has always given ent ire sat isfact ion in the discharge of his dut ies .
On account of a s er ious decline in our t rade we havebeen obliged t o d ispen se wi th Mr . B enson
'
s serv ices ,but Should be
great ly pleased t o engage h im again should the Opport un ity presenti t self.
Mr. B enson’
s hab i t s are exem plary ,his knowledge of the
dut ies of correspondent all that could be wished , whi le his indust ryand t rus tworthiness are unquest ioned .
JACKSON,B LAKE CO .
1 . Note the capi tal izat ion of the salutation,the absence of an introduction,
and the om iss ion of com plim entary close.
2 . Many firm s do not issue com m endatory letters on account of possibili tyof forgery, but authorize depart ing em ployees to have references m ade to
them by telephone or by letter.
3 . Do not subm it original references to prospect ive em ployerson ly copies plainly m arked Copy.
4 . Im personal letters bearing such address as P . 0 . Box 96 and others
have G en tlem en as salutation on the rule that in language the m as culineplural includes the fem inine plural and singular ofboth genders . A salutat ionin the s ingular in such instances would exclude the plural of both sexes .
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 155
Let ter of Res ignat ion
499 Th ird Avenue ,
New York,Decem ber 1
,19 13 .
Me ssrs . Wi lson Co lby ,
264 D enver A ve
New Yo rk .
G en t lem en
Owing t o great er opportun i t y t o further m y fut ure
prospect s and t o a cons iderable increas e over m y presen tsalary ;
I regret t o Offer m y res ignat ion t o take effect January 1 , 1 9 13 .
I fully appreciat e the cons iderat ion wi th wh ich I have alwaysbeen t reat ed by your fi rm , and express the hope that you wi llkindly recom m end m e t o m y new em ployers ,
Messrs . Ingo ld L awson
of 89 B roadway ,this ci ty .
Thanking you for your m any past court es ies , I amV ery respectfully yours ,
Review Quest ions for Chapter XI I
1 Why is $5 preferable to $5 00 P
I S $5 correct P2 What is a Circular or form —letter ? On what occasions is
it em ployed P3 At What points are blanks to be left in a form - letter P
4 What are som e possible Obj ections to a form - letter P
5 What does i .x- o . b . mean ?
6 What style should be followed in a letter of resignation P
7 I n what particulars Of form does a letter of recom mendat ionsometimes differ from other letters P
8 How would you address P . 0 . Box 96 P
9 What is the practice Of certain firms with reference t o lettersOf recommendat ion P
10 DO you send your references with a letter of application P
Exercises
1 Write a letter from the Duplicate Sales Company such as
could be sent to any one of a large number of firm s , explainingthe advantages of having a form- letter on the goods the part icularfirm sells . Impress the fact that the Duplicate Sales CO . producesprinted letters which can absolutely not be told from typewrittenletters . Show the im portance Of reaching people through t he m ails .
2 Draw up a letter of about fifty words , suitable for printingon a little card , from Wm . P om eroy, Tailor , 482 E lm Street ,Philadelphia, Pa to any custom er who has sent him a rem ittance .
156 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
3 Draw up a form-letter (50 words) for any company advisingany correspondent that his letter on a given subj ect (provide blanklines) has been received and is assured of prompt attention .
4 Wri te a form- letter for the NewYorkTelephone CO. notifyinga prospect ive subscriber that he will fi nd a contract enclosed ,in accordance with arrangement , providing for service at a givenplace . Give directions for Signing two Copies , having signatureswitnessed , and returning contracts at once, together withremittance for a given sum .
5 Write a letter of resignation as president or secretary Ofyourclass .
6 Write a letter of recommendation for a servant-girl who hasbeen in your mother
’s service for two years .7 A S head of the fi rm of E dward Champ , Iron Dealer, 249 E .
Seventh A ve . , Cincinnati , Ohio , write a letter of recommendat ionfor your chief clerk , SidneyTruevale , who is anxious to get a positionin Boston .
8 Draw up a contract form for advertisements in yourschool-paper .
T9 Invite possible customers Of the Vail Department Store,
200 Congress St . , P ortland , Maine, to open a charge account .10 Resign a position as clerk in a grocery store , in which you
have worked a year and a half, because you intend to go tocollege .
1 58 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
17 Do not use the Sign except between firm or corporatenames . Spell it out , and .
18 Where figures occur frequently do not spel l som e out andnot others . F or num bers under a hundred Spell out all or use all
figures over 99 use figures only .
19 Always use figures in an order for goods and generally insums of m oney .
20 Do not carry over to the next line syllables like ly,
ed,
” it .”
Divide the word elsewhere or not at all. Neverdivide a proper name .
21 Use no spelling not authorized by the Standard , Webster’s,
or the Century dictionaries .22 Do not follow newspapers and cheap printers who try to
establish a style of their own ; as m writ ing“to ‘ to
to-night without a hyphen . The only accepted guides forspelling in America are the three above-named dictionaries .23 Hyphenate com pound adj ectives , but not when formed
of an adverb in ly and an adjective , nor a possessive compoundadj ective .
24 B e especially alert to detect the plural possessive and see
that the apostrophe is properly placed . Of all errors this is thecommonest in writing .
25 Read over the letter for faults ln sense and gramm ar . Callthe dictator’ s attention to errors in sense, i f necessary , but m akecorrections in gram m ar yourself . Remember you are hired to domore than pound keys . I f you cannot com m and the propertypewrit ing and composit ion style you are unlikely to inspireconfidence and rise from that situation . P erfecting yoursel f inbusiness-E nglish style i s the key to success.Go over any letter you m ay have written , or any test-letter,
with the help of the following tableNum ber of E rrors L ine
Spacing errorsP unctuat ion .
Wrong s ty le of figuresF alse abbreviat ionsOm iss ion of t i t leF ai lure t o useE rror of addressSpel ling errors
F alse pluralsUneconom ical abbreviat ionP ossessive errors
Wrong pronounsWrong num ber ofverbWrong com poundsUnhyphenat ed phras esAbs ence of ques t ion m arks
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 1 59
Num ber of E rro rs
1 7 Split infin i t ive18 Wrong s tyle fo r dash19 Incorrect phrase20 Im proper use of et c .
2 1 Im po lit eness22 Im proper capi talizat ion23 F ai lure t o capi tali ze
Tot al
Words having more than one error are counted accordingly .
Advice to Stenographers
One of the hardest things with which an am anuensis has tocontend is the habit of the dictator carelessly and quickly topronounce the nam e and the address of the person or persons forwhom the letter is intended . As a rule , the stenographer mustbe extremely alert and well informed as to the different ways ofspelling proper names of the same pronunciation , or he must requestthe spelling or have the whole introduction repeated . It is not
the fault of the dictator , for those not acquainted with phonography do not understand why one word should be any harder towrite than another .
A simple way of avoiding errors in the address is for the stenographer to request the dictator to give the letter a num ber . Thisfigure is then put into the note-book at the head of the notes .When the stenographer needs the address , he refers to the letterhaving the number that corresponds to the one at the head of hisnotes.Time is saved in this way, and the chances of error are minimized
in case of faulty pronunciation ,the stenographer
’s poor hearing ,
and the different ways of spelling proper names identical in sound .
To spell a person ’ s name incorrectly is a grievous error, as he islikely to attribute i t to lack of consideration .
One never knows how a stenographer m ay space or capitalize or
hyphenate a proper name , so the best way to avoid error i s to lethim refer to the signature of the original letter . Some foreignnames admit of various styles of composition and capitalization ,
so the best rule to follow is to assum e that each person is his ownauthority for writing his name
, even though it be some ridiculouscombinat ion of E nglish and French— Mr . John de Young , or Jamesd
’
A lton Long , for instance . Do not divide a proper nam e .
Stenographers should strive hard to overcom e the naturalt im idity to interrupt the reader or the dictator, as they fear thatby breaking in they give offense . Pupils should be assured of thefact that not to get the dictation accurately is in every case fully
160 STYL E -BOOK or BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
as bad as to leave parts out . A reasonable dictator has confidencein one who does not hesitate to interrupt , and will always accorda j ust trial to prove future fit ness . But to the stenographer whois too tim id to dem and repetition little opportunity is given toim prove when errors of om ission or of mishearing are detected .
I t i s customary in class not to interrupt during dictation , butto await the end of the letter . This is wrong . The quality ofthe dictation Should fit the individual . Mem bers of the classwho , for one reason or another
, are obliged habitually to breakin , properly do not belong to that class .
Typewri t ing Style
1 How long and how wide ( in inches ) i s a Sheet of
typewriting paper of letter-head size ? Of note-head sizes ?
2 How many single-spaced typewri tten lines to the inch P
About how m any words to the full line P
3 I f a letter con tains 172 words, besides the date-line ,
introduction , salutation , and the com plim entary close;‘
on what
line from the top of the Sheet do you write the date-line, spacing
double , and putting the whole contents exactly in the center
of the sheet P A letter of 200 P Of 1 24 triple spaced P
4 How many scale-points are paragraphs indented ?
5 How do you figure , m aking use of the scale in counting ,to write the heading R e Cotton Spools exactly in center of
page-line P
6 Work out a heading written in three-line pyram id
form and give the scale-fi gure for each line .
7 Do you leave a space before and after a dash com ing
between two words ? How is the dash made P
8 What is the difference between a hyphen and a dash
in typewrit ing ? A dash is a double hyphen .
9 How do you make the Sign for pound sterling
on the typewr iter P Strike hyphen over capital L .
10 How do you typewri te a line underneath a word P
162 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Review Quest ions for Chapter XI I I1 Do dictators always pronounce proper names slowly and
clearly P Why not P2 What does the careful stenographer do to be certain to get
the correct spelling of proper nam es P3 What is gained in addition to correct spelling P4 Why does a person resent having his name misspelled P5 To what does he attribute this m isspelling P6 How does the stenographer obtain the
'
correct capital izingor hyphenating of the nam e P
7 What is m eant by balancing the contents on the page P8 What would be the effect in appearance i f the contents of
pages 7 1 and 94 were crowded together at the bottom of the page P9 Would the balance be any better were the contents massed
at the top P10 Why, in the letters on pages 75 and 76 are the margins so
wide at the sides and at the top and the bottom P1 1 Would you write a letter containing twelve lines or less
on a full-Sized letter-Sheet P1 2 What is the obj ect of the peculiar display shown on page 9 1 . P13 G ive several reasons why the contents on page 90 could not
to advantage be Spaced otherwise P1 4 May the character substitute for and in the body of
the letter except in fi rm or corporate nam es P15 Which do you prefer for neatness ultimo , instant ,
proximo,
” or ult . , inst . , prox .P
16 Whi ch of the following is correct PA quick-lunch counter . A high priced dress .
17 Do you hyphenate to-day,
” to-night ,”
fi rst - class P18 Do you always put hyphens between com pound adj ectives
qual i fying a noun P1 9 May a person
’
s name be divided at the end of a line P20 What is meant by the term amanuensis P What is the
derivation of the word P2 1 Is a compound adj ective com posed of an adverb ending inly and an adjective hyphenated, as in
A highly valued letterA n easily arranged affair P
22 A re all the following compound adj ectives correct PA made- to-order hatYour much-appreciated letterBlue-black polishA 50-cent dishA much-to-be-wondered-at affair
to-morrow,
STYL E -BOOK OF B USINE SS E NG L ISH 163
23 Why does one of the following phrases require hyphens,and the other none PThis so-called up
—to-date hat is not up to date .
RULE — Compound attributive adj ectives are hyphenated .
Compound predicate adj ectives and phrases are not .
Exercise (Typewri t ing)(Must be worked out wi thout access to typewri ter )
1 I n cent ering the follow ing,m ent ion the scale-fi gures where i t begins
and endsUn i t ed Stat es Congress
2 Put the following in invert ed pyram id form ,s ingle spaced , the firs t
line t o have no t m ore t han seven words ( im agine the width of the line t obe 72 or 80 scale-po int s )
Com pris ing select ions of original let t ers relat ing t otwenty
-seven d ifferent lines of bus inessarranged wi th vocabularies and
engraved shorthand s ignsand legal phrases
Aft er arranging the l ines m ent ion the figure on the scale at wh ich each linei s indent ed .
3 How m any words m ay be wri t t en in a space s ix inches deep of regularlet t er-head s ize wi th fi ve-point m argin s ingle spaced P Double spaced PTriple spaced P
4 I f the first word begins on the fift eenth line , s ingle spaced , from the
t op of a full-s ized let t er-head sheet on which line w i ll the 200th word appeari f the m at t er be double spaced P
5 Describe how t o correct an error whi le m aking several carbon copies .
6 Nam e fifteen d ifferent part s of the typewri t er used in actual work.
7 How m uch a hundred words (a folio ) would you charge for t ypingordinary work wi thout or wi th m aking carbon COpies P F or legal work ?How m uch a thousand for m im eograph copies ? I f t im e work , such as
tabulat ing ,how m uch an hour P
8 A let t er t o be typewr i t t en has 1 50 words in the body ,bes ides dat e-line ,
int roduct ion ,salutat ion , and com plim entary close . I t is t o be typed on a let t er
head s ized sheet ( 1 1 x with a two-inch print ed let t er-head . H ow wouldyou d isplay i t t o best advantage P G ive t he
“
num ber of the line from the
t op at wh ich you would begin ,what spacing you would use , and the m arginal
indent ions .
9 Your em ployer asks you t o m ake a t rial circular let t er t o contain three
paragraphs , the first t o have 60 words , t he second 40 , and the th ird 80 .
B etween the paragraphs are t o be two blank lines . C ent er the whole on the
sheet and m en t ion on what l ine from the t op each paragraph should begin .
The m argin is t o be fi ve pom t s .
CHAPTE R x1v
GENERAL REV IEW OF CORRESPONDENCE
Review Exercise I
Quest ions on Correspondence
TO determine whether the pupil has properly studied the
foregoing pages the following questions m ay be used1 Mention four worn-out opening phrases of a letter .2 What is meant by summarizing your correspondent ’s letter
while answering it ?3 How does poor stationery Impress the receiver .
P
4 To what extent m ay imitations of typewriting be used P5 Ment ion several reasons for preferring Anglo-Saxon words .
6 State the obj ection to using foreign term s .7 State the difference between the sentence and the paragraph .
8 Why is politeness necessary ?9 What precautions should be used in writ ing an order for
goods P10 How should di fferent persons be treated in dunning letters P1 1 Describe a form-letter ?12 What kind of correspondence ,
and how wri t t en ,
’is libelous P13 Mention five ways of displaying the contents of a letter .
14 Define formal social correspondence as distinct from informal .15 Describe the salutat ions used in social letters and the style
for women ’s Signatures .
16 How does social differ from business stationery ?17 May formal cards of invitation , wedding , visiting , etc . , be
printed instead of engraved ?18 How does the punctuat ion of formal notes , letters , et c differ
from ithat used in informal notes , cards , or letters P1 9 A re informal writings in the first or third person P20 Describe the several duties of a private secretary .
21 Describe the keeping of his employer’ s petty expenses .22 If you were an employer
,which would appeal to you more
strongly, a weak , t imid , uncertain letter of application ,or one pre
cise and self-assertive ,containing assurances of ability to back up
any statement made ?23 Why Should an applicant follow up an inquiry when
seeking a position P24 State the difference between loose and close punctuation .
25 When is either to be used ?
164
166 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Write to the Saginaw Furn iture Co . for catalogues,price-l ists ,
term s of payment,etc. E nclose one bank reference and one
fi rs t -class mercantile reference . E xpress desire to open an account
if satisfactory relations can be established . (About 75 words . )
Write , on the part of the Saginaw Furniture Co . , a letter of
inquiry to two of the references of Henry Thompson— Messrs .Jones Sons , Boston ,
Mass . , and Mr . C . P . Towne , 12 Broadway,New York. Ask about his business standing , reliability, etc.
Mention that the matter will be kept strictly confidential , and
express willingness to reciprocate whenever the occasion arises .
(About 80 words . )
Wri te , on the part of each reference , a letter highly recom m ending
Mr. Thom pson for his business ability, honesty, and good standing .
Mention his experience in business and the probability of future
success . Make each letter differ as much as possible ,while adhering
to the general idea of recommendat ion} (About 80 words . )
IVNow write, on the part of the Saginaw Furn iture Co . , to the effect
that they should be greatly pleased to open an account with him,
assuring him of the excellence of their furniture , the comparativelylow prices, favorable discounts , shipping terms, et c. Mention
that full particulars will be found in the catalogues that will follow
under separate cover. (From 80 to 100 words . )
You have rece ived catalogues and other information from the
Saginaw Furn iture Co . You have reason to bel ieve , but are not
certain ,that its goods are fi rs t -class . Wr ite a letter inquiring in
detail as to what Special points of excellence there are in that
company’ s products over those of others . Ment ion that all cata
logues are very much alike ,but that you must have further
informat ion in order to decide which to patronize .
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 1 67
Exercise 4
Publ ishing-Bus iness Narrat ive
(Wri te each le t ter on full le tter-shee t )
Mr . G . Scribal , of 83 W . 98th St New York ,having m aterial on
the subj ect of antique decorat ive household utensils , wishes\t_hepublishing fi rm of Messrs . Lippm an Co . ,
of 50 Astor P lace,
New York, to m ake it up into a book .
IMr . Scribal inquires of Lippm an Co . under what conditions they
will undertake the work . He says that the book will contain about400 pages in type of various sizes , many foot-notes , contents , andindex
,and there will be a large num ber of sketches and photographs
to be reproduced as the publisher thinks best .The best qual ity of paper and binding are to be used . He expects
the publisher to pay all the expenses of advertising and selling thebook ,
and wishes an estim ate without having to submit the copy .
“ A
On receipt of Mr . Scribal ’s letter L ippman Co . respond to theeffect that though the book might sell fairly well , yet there wouldbe no certainty that in such case it is customary for the author toshare the expense in proportion to the risk involved and that inthis particular instance he would be required to pay the whole costof reproducing the sketches , photographs , and other illustrat ions .
On the other hand , as com pensation , he would receive a t en-
per
cent . royalty on the retail price of each book sold . No royaltyhowever, would be allowed on presentat ion or review copies . Theyexpress regret not to be able to send an est im ate of the cost on the
ground that long experience has taught them that it is inj uriousto the interests of both author and publisher .
I I IMr . Scribal replies and states that he differs in opinion from the
publishers as to the salability of his book . He says that the illust rat ions will be of high artistic merit
,while the historic reading
matter will appeal strongly to popular taste . However, he furthersays that if it is a fixed custom in the trade to place such chargeson the author he will accept them . Being wholly ignorant on thesubj ect of the cost of book-producing he again requests a roughdraft of probable expense .
112
168 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
IVL ippman Co . repeat that it is contrary to their custom to sub
mit estimates without having examined the manuscript but thatas Mr . Scribal is wholly ignorant of the cost of bookmaking theymake an exception in his favor and enclose a draft of the probablecost . Mr . Scribal , however , is to understand that the estimate i sextremely rough and furnished him solely to enable him to get anidea of the am ount he m ay be called upon to pay in the event oftheir publishing his work .
Exercise 5
Universi ty of the State ofNew York
Regents’ Exam inat ion in Bus iness Eng lish
(Sixteenth E xam inati on )
E very letter i s to be form ally addressed to s om e pers on or fi rm and
to be form ally signed by the wri ter unless otherwi se directed. A ll
answers will be rated as to spelling, punctuati on,cap i talizati on ,
and
neatness , and also as to correct use ofwords , sentence structure, logi cal
sequence of ideas , paragraphing, and general intelligence. P apersenti tled to 75 or m ore credi ts wi ll be accepted. (Three hours . )
A
Write an essay of 250 to 400 words (l imitations to be strictly
observed) on the qualifications and duties of the modern bookkeeper. Devote at least half of the essay to an explanation of the
advantage of having four money collim ns on each page of a cashbookand to the manner of using a sales-ledger and of showing the
results in the main ledger.
Candidates taking the stenographers ’ course m ay wri te 250 to400 words on the duties and on the education and other generaland special qualifications necessary for the am anuensis in a business
offi ce, including a description of the apparatus and appliances that
such amanuensis should be able to use and of the m anner of their use .
170 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
A UG . 19
H . T. Williams sends in paym ent ot.
his bill a prom issory noteof R. T. Leicester, Albany, $250, payable to William s or orderat Farmers Bank, Albany, Aug. 20, and a New York draft of
to balance,both instruments being deposited as cash in
Commercial National Bank.
A UG ; 22
Commercial National Bank returns Leicester ’s note protestedfor non-paym ent ; expenses of protest
A UG . 23
Sold H . T. Williams goods am ounting t o Terms ,2
/
A UG . 26
H . T. Williams rem its for bill of Aug . 23 and__for Le icester’s
protested paper, with expenses . He also sends discount
heretofore allowed on first bill,which last sum is at once
returned .
Wri te ,July 28, 1904 , as Walter Stillman to John Chester such
a let ter as you would send to a trusted friend with whom you
wish to go into business . This letter Should contain about 125
words .
Wri te as Chester to Stillman ,Aug . 4 , such reply as might be
expected from a warm friend who favored the proposition m ade ,and bel ieved that he might accept it . Ask the necessary questions
about the business and the capital required.
I I I
Wri te,Aug. 10, Stillm an’s reply to Chester
’s questions and such
other matter as m ay Seem necessary.
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
IV
Draw up, in sim ple form and language, articles of agreement for
the copartnership of Stillman Chester, showing proper execution .
Wri te an attractive circular letter to be sen t out by St iHm anr &\
Chester to customers of the old fi rm and to the trade . Call attention
to the long and successful services of Stillm an . Wri te also , to
accompany this circular, a letter of Breed Foster,cordially
recommending the new fi rm .
VI
Wri te as Stillman Chester to H . T. Williams , Aug. 23,mention
ing protest of Leicester’s note and stating what has been done about
i t . Give such inform ation as you can as to the responsibil ity ofthe maker of the note . [Transactions A ug . 19 and 22 ]
CHAPTE R XV
DUTIES OF A PRIVATE SECRETARY
To describe in full all the dut i es of a private secretary wouldrequire a special book in i t self for the reason that the service varies
according to the social,business , or professional position of the
employer . Although the groundwork of secretarial duties is generally uniform there is much variety of detai l required to meet
the peculiar needs of the rai lroad president , the banker, the educator , the social leader, the Congressman ,
or others . Among thealmost indispensable qualifications are those of stenography ,
typewri ting , and a thorough knowledge of E nglish composition . Addedto this should be a good knowledge of business-E nglish style as
represented in the art of proof-reading and the technique of dis
playing commercial language on the typewritten or printed page .
This knowledge of form , or display , i s indispensable to one whohas to construct correspondence or to prepare manuscripts for the
press . A knowledge of the card-system of Classifying and indexinginformation , letters , and documen ts , with special reference to
library cataloguing , i s also of great service in handling a large
correspondence . It m ay be said with truth that this art of breaking
up and sorting letters and other documents for reference purposes
according to subjects is , after shorthand and typewriting , the
most indispensable qualification . The secretary will also , of
course , supply himself with proper reference books , such as a
fi rst -class encyclopedia,railroad and steamship time-tables ,
postal information , social customs , chari ties’ directory , etc .
It frequently happens that the secretary is required in the
absence of his principal to transact minor business . I n such casehe m ay have to assume the function of agent , whose acts m ay be
binding upon the one he represents . Many Circumstances mightarise where he would be in doubt how to act . A knowledge ,
therefore , of elementary commercial law i s necessary ,with special
reference to domestic service ,relation of buyer and seller, bai l
ments , contracts , statute of limitations in the various States , notes ,and indorsements . An elementary commercial-law textbook is
sufficien t for this purpose . A n efficient secretary does no t rely
172
1 74 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
The secretary m ay at times be required to act as cashier and
business manager of the household . He m ay receive at somewhatregular intervals sufficient cash to m eet probable expenses . Thismoney m ay be kept on hand or m ay be deposited in a bank
,upon
which Checks m ay be drawn by the secretary by virtue of a powerof attorney .
Wh en authorized he pays out cash for amusements , travel ingexpenses
,reading -matter , stationery ,
wages , or any other usualhousehold expenses . He should keep a strict account of all receipts
(1 payments so that at any time the account will Show the exactamount of cash on hand . Such record is kept in the ordinarycashbook , with columns ruled like those on following page .
For the purpose of understanding how to make entries of a cashaccount , get a sheet of cashbook paper and head the columns as inillustration No . 1 . Assume that on Oct . 2 , 19 13,
you commenceduties as private secretary at the residence of Mr . George Washington Smith , and receive $ 100 for the week
’s expenses . On Oct . 2you purchase 2 boxes of cigars for Mr . Smith ,
paying On
Oct . 3 you pay $8 for 4 theater tickets for Mr . Smith and familyOn Oct . 4 you con tribute to church fai r $ 10 . Make entries forthese four item s on your cash-page exactly as shown _below °
Illustration No . I
October , 1 9 1 3
DATE E X P L ANATIONS R E CE IPTS PAYME NTS
Oct . 2 . R eceived Check from Mr . S. for expen ses . 100 00
2 . P aid for 2 boxes cigars for Mr . S.
3 . P aid for 4 theat er t icket s fo r Mr . S. and
fam i ly4 . G ave as con t ribu t ion t o church fair
If Mr . Sm i th desires to have expenditures classified so that anaccount m ay be kept of each kind then the foregoing entries wouldassume the following form
Illustration No . 2
October, 1 9 12
2 . C igars
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 1 75
The following shows a weekly account of receipts and expenses ,ruled and balanced . The red line of words shows the money on
hand left over from the previous week . Notice that the twocolumns are added to Show at the end of the week how the accountstands . The balance of is carried forward to the date ofMonday in the next week .
Il lustration No . 3
4 10 00 297 76
4 10 00 4 10 00
B alanceR eceived check 11 8 17 for weekly expend i turesPai d for 2 boxes C igars
P urchased Harper ’ s and
’
Cen turyP aid s table bi ll for October by CheckPaid for t elegram rece ivedP aid H . D . 8 bi ll for repai ri ng chairAdvanced t o John (the but ler) on h i s wages .
P aid garage bi ll for October by check .
P aid yearly subscript ion to Co lliersG ave t oward support of P eople’s H o spi talP urchased 5 theat er t icket s t o Ham le tG ave check for yearly dues to C iv ic C lubP urchased 2 ‘
N. Y . C . m i leage booksP aid by check annual sub. t o St . C .
’
S Orphanage
4 12 24 2 13 85
4 12 24 4 12 24
Nov . 1 3 . B alance 198 39
Make a transcript of the account above according to the Classifiedform in Illustration No .
E nter I n cashbook form , properly balanced , the following receiptsand expenses for the week . Dec . 4 ,
Cash Balance $58 .40 . Receivedcheck # 748 for $200 for expenses of present week . Paid fortuning piano $4 . Dec . 5 . Paid by check bill for 20 Welsbachburners $30 . Paid messenger service for Nov . by check $7 .25 .
Dec . 6 . Made the following purchases . 5 lbs . Huyler’
s candydoz . bot . wine $ 18 dozen boxes cigars $30 100 two cent
stamps $2 . Dec . 8 . Paid for pressing sui ts $6 .
176 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Secretary’
s Narrative
(The following essay should be assigned for hom e—reading.
I n class , as a m em ory and a com posi ti on exerci se,
fpupils should be required to rewri te i t . )
Mr . Henry W. Hallam , of 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, to hissecretary, Mr . William Ramsey :
Mr . Ramsay , to—night I have to address the Business Men’ s Club
on the art of correspondence . P lease wr ite these remarks :
The need of great er em ciency in business E ngli sh i s ev ident . A busines slet t er '
i s a t oo l wi th whi ch t o effect a certain result . I t s part s should belike those of a well-adjust ed and cared-for m ach ine for if the part s workin harm ony a perfect product result s . Wi th bad cons t ruct i on of t he
m achine— bad joint s , fi awey m at erial,creaky adjustm en t s
,j erky m ove
m en t s,s t icky bearings— the fines t raw m at erial i s wast ed and dis t or ted and
defaced . The sam e ho lds t rue wi th the le t t er that i s int ended t o persuade .
The fines t t hought fai ls in bes t e ffect by poorly select ed words,disorder in
presen tat ion ,repet i t ion , squin t ing cons t ruct ions , om iss ions , bad punc
tuat ion , and has t e . The t oo frequent con junct ions , the creaky m ovem ent
of ideas ,the jerky punctuat i on was t e and obscure the thought , destroy the
sense , and displease the reader .
More bus iness is nego t iat ed by let t er t o-day than by com m ercial t ravelerthe chief corresponden t now precedes the head salesm an . A t one t im e
the great expense was for carfare and ho t el t o-day i t i s for s t enography ,
s tam ps ,and Stat ionery . I s i t no t then w ise for a bus iness hous e t o em ploy
an expert in correspondence or t o subm i t i t s m ethods for inspect ion and
im provem ent P I s not expert com posit ion m ore persuas ive than s loven ly PHow few business houses realize that the two-cent let t er is m eant t o serv e
the sam e purpose as the $200 page PMany dictat ors bo lt t heir m orn ing correspondence o thers chew i t
light ly ; few diges t i t we ll . Som e splut t er in dictat ion ,us ing t he firs t
words that com e ; som e repeat and cut ou t and m isplace and need t ohave every sent ence read back wh i le o thers shi ft t he who le burdenof com posi t ion on the s t enographer . Only a few refrain from com pos ingunt i l the thought has been fully revised and polished in the m ind . Un likeo thers they rem em ber the ir correspondence of t he day before ,
and the pathleas t frequen t ed in the ir office i s the path that leads t o the reference
fi le . These m en are a joy t o the ir readers , angels t o their secre tari es ,sheke l-gatherers t o their house .
Yet how s im ple i s the rem edy 1 How easi ly m ay the halt and the lam e
becom e s trong I How great the econom y and the relief that spring fromsuch reform l A few days
’
s tudy of the re lati ve value of words , of the ir
order in the sen tence, of their persuas ive or repellent effect ; of brevi tywhen needed ; of superflui ty never ; of correctness in form , d irectness inappeal , court esy and refinem ent in t one —all in a few hours
’
s tudy from one
who knows I n law, the sens ible m an seeks an expert ’s advice in i llness ,
a physician’
s aid in finance, the banker ’
s help in real estat e ,that of the
broker in in surance , of an expert but in the d ifi cult art ofbringing language t o i t s highes t persuasive effect the average m an rel ies upon hi s own
un t rained and im pat i ent s ty le .
CHAPTE R XVI
SOME HINTS ON THE POST OFFICE SERV ICE
A ddress— The golden rule applicable to addressing mail isOmit nothing and write plai nly .
”
Om issions m ay cause delay— c ompleteness, never .
Therefore never omit .
(a) Street and number, no matter how well known the addressee .
(6) Room number of office building .
(c) Sender’
s name and full address— the return card .
(d) Full postage— and affix same in the only proper place ,
exactly in the upper right-hand corner of address side , being carefulthat the gum is not washed off in moistening , and al so that thestam ps are not insufficiently moistened .
(e) Never address to a street corner when exact street num bercan as well be given .
The address , as the m ost im portant part ofa letter should be writtenwith the greatest care and caution .
R eturn Card— The public would do well to acquire the habit ofthinking an article incompletely prepared for mailing until thereturn card— name and full address of sender— appears upon it .Thousands of letters— and dollars— are annually lost throughthis negligence .
R egi stered Mai l is delivered to addressee only, unless a writtenorder, empowering the bearer to Sign for and receive registeredmail , signed by addressee , is produced, or on fi le at the post—offi ce .
Where there are no secrets to be bared , or fraud to be feared ,
delays m ay be avoided by leaving such wri tten order in the hom e or
offi ce with a t rusted person , even though no registered m ai l isexpected . The unexpected happens .Special delivery m ai l, undel iverable on first trial by special
messenger, becomes ordinary m ail . I t m ay be well to know that inurgent cases , where address is in doubt , or forwarding m ay probablybe necessary, two special delivery stamps will make assurancedoubly sure by prepaying special del ivery service to the first , as
well as to the corrected , address . Attention Should be directedto the extra stam p by such words as F ee for two trials prepaid .
The Special Delivery Stam p i s surest . Ordinary postagestamps should be used in an extremity only to prepay specialdelivery fee , and then the words Special Delivery cannot beoften or too prom inently written on address side . Ordinarystam ps , without these words, will not purchase Special delivery
1 78
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 179
service , no matter how much postage is affixed ; and unless they arethe most conspicuous par t of the address , are easily overlookedby the distributing clerk .
A s im ple way to prove identi ty for money orders or registeredletters is the following : Secure from the person who is to receivemoney orders or registered letters , his signature on a slip or slipsof paper . I n the case of a m oney order, this signature should begiven to the m oney order clerk along with the applicat ion . The
clerk will attach it to the advice (duplicate of the money order)and send it to the postm aster of the office on which the order isdrawn . To cash the m oney order, i t will merely be necessary toduplicate the signature— a perfect identification .
P ostal P o ints
1 A ny matter containing writ ing , whether sealed or unsealed,
is subj ect to fi rst -class rates .2 Don
’ t t ry to send mail C . O . D . Always prepay full postage ;otherwise m ail is delayed until correct postage has been paidby either sender or addressee . I f inadvertently sent on , double
the defici ency i s collected from addressee in many cases .3 Internal revenue stamps , postage-due stamps and stam ps
cut out of U . S. stam ped envelopes or postal cards are not goodfor postage .
4 Mutilated or defaced stamps , or stam ps partly overlappedor covered by other stamps , are not accepted for postage .
5 I n affixing stamps , to avoid their loss use neither too littlenor too much moisture .
6 I n writing address , observe the golden rule : Omit nothingand write plainly .
7 (a) The special delivery fee is 10 cents in addit ion to theregular postage . (b) The registry fee is 10 cents in addition to theregular postage .
8 Do not drop in mail-box , but present'
in person at post-offi ce
(a) A ll art icles that are to be registered .
(b) All parcel-post packages .9 The letter rate to . foreign countries is now : Five cents for
the first (full) ounce and 3 cents for every additional (full) ounce,
except to Great Britain , when letter package is 2 cents per ounce,
likewise to Germany when sent on German vessels .10 Two or three days before removing from one address to
another, ask the postman for a change-of—address card . Fillout carefully,
— it will come back to you unless correct in allpart icu
lars ,— mention all former addresses within the preceding twelvemonths , and give to carrier or throw into mail-box .
180 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
P ostal Inform at ion
The following is a list of the principal pd‘
int s on which pupils Shouldbe inform ed . Com plete inform ation would occupy too much spacein abook of this kind . The teacher is therefore earnestly requestedto see that each pupil provides him self with the pamphlet entit ledP ostal Information . This m ay be obtained free by addressing
The Honorable , The Postm aster General , Washington ,D . ,C .
The teacher should not rely upon the pupils’
willingness to extractthis knowledge ,
but should,by frequent inform al talks , bring out
the points particularly essential to the occasion .
Dom es t ic Mai l MatterAddi t ions and enclosures perm i t t edAddressCare t o be exerci sed in wri t ingI n care of a second person
P rivat e m ai ling cardsStam ped envelopesAdvert is ing cards
,fo lded
B lind,le t t ers and reading m at t er for
t he
B ooksP os tage rat es
Carbon copiesC ircu larsC lassificat ion of m ai lC o llect ion of m ai lCom plaint s regarding m ai l m at t er
D ead m ai l m at t er
D efam atory m at t er,unm ai lable
D elivery of m ai lF ees
,m oney order
C lassificat ion of m at t er
Special de livery serv ice
G eneral delivery of m ai lH usband or w ife , m ai l forIdent ificat ion of persons :Apply ing for regi s t ered m ai lP resen t ing m oney orders for pay
m en t
Indem ni t y for los t regis t ered m ai lIn t ernat ional m oney ordersL ibrary booksL im i t of we ight of m ai l m at t er
L iquids ,liquors
L os t m ai l,indem ni ty for regis t ered
L o t t ery and fraud m at t er,unm ai l
ableMinors ,
m ai l forMi scellaneous inform at ion
Money order syst em
L os t ordersPaym ent and repaym ent
Obscene and fl indecen t m at t er ,
unm ai lable 0
Overwe igh t m at t er , unm ai lableP eriodical publicat ionsPos tage
—due s tam psP os tage no t prepaidP os tage s tam psMut i lat ed or defacedNo t so ld on credi tOverlappingP rivat e m ai ling cardsP o s tal cardsP os tal sav ings sys t emP o st -offi ce boxesP roof-sheet s , correc t ions in
P ublic library booksR edem pt i onP os tage s tam psP o stal cardsStam ped envelopes
R egis t ry sys t em :
D e livery of m ai lF ee
F orwarding m ai lIdent ificat ion of persons applyingfor m ai lIndem ni ty for los t m ai lR ecall of m ai lR equirem ent s for regis t rat ion
R e turn rece ipt sStam p
,special
Undelivered regi s t ered m ai lR eproduct ion or im i tat ion of hand
wr i t ingR e turn cardsR eturn of m ai l m at t er
R ural deliverySpecial de livery serv ice
Stam ped envelopesStam ped newspaper wrappersTypewri t ing ,
carbon and let t er-pres scopies
182 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Review Quest ions for Chapter X V I
1 What is the golden rule for addressing mail P2 What is m eant by a registered letter P By special del ivery P
By m oney order ? By parcel post P By return card P '
3 What is the most im portant part of any letter P Why P
4 On what conditions is registered m ail del ivered to som e one
other than the addressed P
5 How m ay you assure the del ivery of a Special d e liveryletter P
6 How can one prove identity for m oney orders or registeredletters P
7 What is fi rst -Class m atter P
8 What kinds of stam ps are not good for postage P
9 How should stam ps be affixed to a letter P
10 What is the letter—rate to foreign countries ?1 1 What pam phlet gives com plete information on postal
m atters P How m ay i t be obtained P
12 How does one abbreviate Colorado P Wyom ing PNebraska P
CHAPTE R XVI I
THE TELEGRAPH SERV ICE— TELEGRAMS,
CABLEGRAMS,AND MARCONIGRAMS
TH E recent cheapening of cost has caused direct electric com mun ication to be used m uch more than was the case formerly . Its use is\no longer considered luxurious or for extrem e necessity only . Cabletolls havebeen decreased fiftyper cent . the wireless m ethod is reasonable ih price
,while by land telegraph a night- letter of fifty words , ex
cluding address and Signature ,m ay be sent for twenty-fi ve cents . The
sam e charge i s made for less than t en words as for t en for morethan t en ,
so much a word . A day-letter of fifty words m ay be sentfor one and one-half the cost of a t en-word m essage . There is nocharge for the address of the person telegraphed to . Cable letterscost for twenty words .
As the use of let tergram s is now com mon the work of condensinginto telegraphic form falls upon the stenographer .The following points Should be observedWri te briefly, but be sure to be clear .
Use no salutation , expression of politeness , or complim entaryclose .
Parts of speech not necessary to sense m ay be left out ; as
(The) house refuses (to) pay $ 1 (for) delivery (of) July wheat .The words in parentheses should be omitted .
Never divide a word in a telegram .
Com pound words are accepted as one word as,to-day,
foot-note,
etc .
Use no punctuation points,decimal points
,or hyphens , as they
are charged for at word-rates .In ordinal num bers
, as 14th , 95th,etc the affixes st
,
” d,
and th are counted as extra words . Therefore,spell out all
numbers .A few abbreviations (and some corruptions) are accepted as one
word ; as , a m : for a. p m . for p . m . ,fob for f . o . b. ,
cod forC . O . D cif for c . i . f . P er cent . , O . K cwt . and alright (for all
right) are accepted as one word .
There is m ore restrict ion in cablegrams . A word of m orethan fifteen letters is charged as two . To escape heavy chargesm any houses have what is called a code
,that is , a number of words ,
each of which means a whole phrase or even a whole sentence .
F or instance, Japapco m ay mean Japan Paper Co .
”
Or
Information m ay mean Load Ship completely and sail at
1 83
1 3
186 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Urgent message (subject to provisions of the I nternationalTelegraph Regulations) .
Message to be del ivered by express or mail .
The wireless companies give the sam e security for delivery and
compensation for errors as are afforded by the telegraph and the
cable companies .
For filling out m arconigram blanks use the same directions
given for those of land and cable com panies .
F or com plete inform ation on radio comm unication . wri te to theUnited States Department of Commerce and Labor for pam phleton Instructions for Radio Com m unication .
Review Quest ions for Chapter XVI I
1 Does a telegram have a t itle , a salutation , a complim entaryclose P
2 Mention som e points to be observed in sending telegrams .3 How long must a word be before i t is counted as two words P
4 What is m eant by a code P What purpose does it serve P
5 What are som e of the rules that govern the transm ission ofm arconigrams P
Exercises
1 Com pose from the following a t en-word telegram : A NewYork fi rm cables t o its London buyer to exercise great care inselecting silk goods , as the fi rm has received inform ation to theeffect that the stock offered In London I S suspicious in texture and
that he should not buy unless at very low pri ces .2 Write a telegram of t en words to the American Theater , New
York,to reserve five box-seats for Shylock , April 23 ; also for
Macbeth matinée , April 29 .
3 Write a telegram,with carbon copy, of twenty-fi ve words to
be extracted from the following narrat ive :On account of damage to paper stock in our bindery and the
general confusion resulting from a fi re we are not able to forward thepress-proofs of your book . To help us out , however, we havesublet a part of the work , and hope to be able to have at least hal fthe material again out of the press within three weeks . We admitthe responsibility and wi ll accept the penalty for our failure to fi llthe contract terms
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 187
4 Write a wireless message of 12 words from the steamerMontauk to the Baltimore (Md ) Singing Society, Wm . Marion,
City Hall , P resident . Announce that you have secured the famoust enor Cadori for your concert on May 15 .
5 You have j ust learned of the untrustworthiness of your em
ployee, Thomas M . Snow, who represents you in your line ofMaj estic Shoes in the West . P repare a brief telegram , to besent to t en custom ers , warning them not to accept Snow
’
s representat ions . Also announce that a new sales agent will take hisplace immediately .
CHAPTE R XVII I
FILING AND INDEXING
THE lessons in card-indexing and letter-fi ling should be given in
lecture form by actual dem onstration . Following this the pupils
should be required to answer the questions orally or in wri ting or
to go to the cabinets and give practical exhibition .
The duty of the stenographer or correspondent does no t end
with the writing of the letter. He must know each step in the
process of correspondence from the dictation of outgoing letters
to the final disposition of those that arrive . The subj ect-m atter
for dictation is frequently drawn from letters,cards
,and other
documents already in their respective files . Ready access to these
papers is indispensable to Speed and accuracy in correspondence .
The busy dictator m ust no t be obliged to leave his desk to seek
the information needed nor to return i t when used ; to get this
material is a funct i on of an assistant . Not to be able to do so
classifies him as partly incom peten t in his chosen work.
When i t is considered that nearly every offi ce has a system of
letter-fi ling and card-indexing , and that to man ipulate this device
is often the work of the stenographer or typewriter, i t is not remark
able that so much attention is given to it in commercial education
and the necessity of the study is Clearly shown by the fact that for
years the Regents of the University of the State of New York
have incorporated it into their commercial examinations .
The lessons in letter-fi ling and card-indexing are the result of
studying the Regents ’ questions for the past ten years for the
purpose of building a course sufficiently comprehensive to convey
a working knowledge of the system and to pass State or other
educational examinations .
STYL E -BOOK OF B USINE SS E NG L ISH
Sect ional F i ling-C ab inet m ade up of separate un i t s o r sect ions of uniformwid th and dep th , and form ing a com plet e cabine t in one piece
STYLE -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 19 1
Record-Keeping and Record-Filing System s
The i llus t rat ion represent s a s tack of sect ional filing cabinets . Bys ect ional i s m eant the m ethod of cons t ruct ing cabinet s in un i ts or sect ions ,
each uni t be ing of a un iform w idth and depth so as t o fi t t ogether one aboveanother , and form ing in appearance a com plet e cabinet in one piece .
I n the i llus t rat ion is
1 m p sect ion . the Shannon syst em or arch
m e thod of fi ling , one for the
1 card sect ion for 5 x 3 cards flat , o r loose- leaf m ethod , andcon tain ing 5 drawers ( 1 drawer one plain box drawer) .fi t t ed wi th flat rod ,
1 drawerw i th round rod , and 3 drawers 1 vert ical sect ion contain ing two
rodless ) . drawers .
1 -3 drawer-fi ling sect ion con tain 1 leg base sect ion .
ing three drawers (one for
D rawer No . 1 . Correspondence Index . Contains a s et of alphabet icalguides 40 subdiv i s ions ) and 500 cards (correspondence form of ruling ) .Th is drawer const i t ut es a num er ical index t o t he vert ical fi ling- sys t em .
Drawer No . 2 . L abel th is drawer F o llow -up. I t contains a set of
alphabe t ical guides i f: 80 subd iv is ions ) and 500 print ed cards , t he cards be ingthe form Illus t rat ed on page 184 ,
and 100 of the sm all m etal t abs t o cross -indexthe cards by dat e .
D rawer No . 3 . L abeled Q uo tat ions G iven and R ece ived . I t contains
a set of alphabet ical guides ( i f: 25 subd iv i s ions ) and 500 pr int ed cards forrecord ing quo tat ions g iven and a s et of 25 subd ivis ions and 500 print edcards for quotat ions rece ived:
D rawer No . 4 . L abeled St ock R ecord and contains 50 index -
guidesbear ing the nam es of art icles , such as B rass , Cas t ings , Ham m ers ,
P liers , e t c . ,
and 500 cards for keep ing a record of s t ock . There is also in th is drawer a
catalogue index by dealers and art icles w i th sui table print ed cards .
D rawer No . 5 . This drawer i s t o be labe led L edger Account s . I t
contains the proper index-guides and cards for the keep ing of ledger account s .
The Shannon sect ion contains in t he first drawer an index print ed A to Z
for the filing of correspondence . The drawer is to be labeled “L et t ers . Thesecond drawer of t he sect ion wi ll be labe led Orders
,
"and i s t o contain a
loose -sheet index , or flat index ,and the t h ird drawer is t o be labeled
Sam ples .
The V ert ical sect ion i s , in the first drawer , t o contain the labe l Alphabetical-Num erical , a
’
nd in the second drawer one G eographical-Subject .
”
The sam ples in these two drawers i llus t rat e pract ically every m et hod of
filing correspondence— num er ical , alphabet ical , geographical , and subjec t .
192 STYL E -BOOK or BUSINE SS E NGL ISH
R elat ive sizes cards . There are three s tock si zes
5 x 3, 6 x 4 , and 8x 5
194 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
l CUT
Va cur
y; cur
our
Cut s or ex t ensions of Index -G uides . These are the s tandard cut s , bu t
Special ” cut s are occasionally used
STYL E -BOOK or BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 195
The Card-System — Index-Guides
To faci li t at e t he handling of cards i t is necessary t o separat e them w i th
index -
guides . These are cards of t he sam e s ize of heav ier m at erial bearingex t ens ions or pro ject ions on t he upper edge . These ext ens ions are furn ishedin d ifferent w idths .
F or t he sake of brev i ty all indexes are t erm ed guides whether usedin a card -sys t em or a vert ical let t er sys t em . When the cards bear pro ject ion sat the t op they are t erm ed t abs .
" When the guides bear pro ject ions theyare t erm ed ext ens ions .
”
G uides are furn ished w i th ext ens ions blank and
pr int ed . The form er are t erm ed blank guides and are not m ade in set s as
pr int ed guides , but m ay be procured in any quant i ty ,whether 5, 50 , 100 , or
When a card -sys t em is indexed alphabet ically i t m eans t hat the cards are
s eparat ed by guides w i th alphabet ical subd iv is ions print ed on the ext ens ions .
This is also t rue of geograph ical and subject -index ing . These index -
guidesare m ade in regular se t s , the s m alles t arrangem en t of alphabet ical guidesbe ing t erm ed the No . 25 s e t . Th is m eans t here are 25 guides t o the s et
one guide for each let ter of t he alphabet w i th X Y on a s ingle guide . ANo . 40 set has 40 guides , there be ing a s ingle and som et im es 2 or 3 guidesfor t he larger and m ore im portant let t ers , as B , M , S, etc.
The plan of num ber ing guide-se t s is fo llowed for conven ience , t he figurealways ind icat ing the num ber of guides in t he set and no t whether i t isalphabet ical or dai ly or o therwise . F or exam ple , the se t s 25 , 40 , 80 , 120 ,
160 ,
and so on , are alphabet ical set s . Set No . 3 1 i s dai ly , one guide for each dayof the m onth and set No . 1 2 is m on th ly ,
one guide for each m on th of the
year . Set No . 57 has one guide for each St at e and U . S. possess ion . Adrawer of cards i s sufficient ly indexed by guides if there are no t m ore than
10 cards beh ind every guide .
G uides are oft en used in com binat ion as regards width of ext ens ions .
F or exam ple , a s et ofNo . 57 Stat e guides contains 57 ext ens ions , one print edfor each Stat e and Un i t ed Stat es possess ion , the ext ens ions of the guidesbe ing one cut . I f there are m ore cards t o fi le in one or two Stat es than in theo t hers t hen se t s of No . 25 guides are arranged beh ind the Stat e gu ides fort he larger Stat es SO as t o sub-class i fy the ex t ra cards t o be filed beh ind them .
QUE STIONS
What are index -
guides as What does the num erical desigd is t inguished from index-cards P nat ion of a set of guides m ean P
D escribe the differen t s ize cut sHOW m any guides are there in
i n wh ich guide ex t ens ions area NO ° 57 set
m ade .
Do blank guides have to be
What is m ean t by the termordered m sets ?
ex tens ion”
P B y the termtab
E xplain how sets of guides m aybe used in com binat ion .
196 STYL E -BOOK or BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Num erical G uidesfrom 1 to 200
NEW YOR K
F o llow-Up Arrangem en t D ai ly( 1 -3 1 ) and Month ly (Jam -D ec . )
Town G uidesStat e of New York
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Card-Trays and Cabinet s . These be secured for the three s tandards izes of cards
STYL E -BOOK or BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 199
The Card-System — Trays and Cabinets
The drawers in which cards are kept are of various s tyles known as opent rays ,
loose-cover t rays ,h inged-cover t rays , and cabinet s , as w i ll be very
c lear from an exam inat ion of the i llust rat ions . The cab inet shown i s the
o ne -drawer . There are two -drawer , four-drawer , s ix-drawer , and n ine-drawercab inet s .
The firs t form of t ray or cab inet ever used was undoubtedly t he deskt ray so that the cards could be kept at t he desk for ins tant use . Th is i sthe s t yle of t ray i llust rat ed in Cut A , m ade w i thout cover . When no t in
use i t i s placed in the upperm os t drawer of t he desk . Trays were next
m ade wi th loose covers and finally wi th h inged covers , and then t he one-drawercab inet was invent ed .
Card-cabinet s are also m ade in sect ional s tyle that i s , cab inet un i t s of
a specified num ber ofdrawers ; i . e . ,a fi ve -drawer un i t , wh ich can be arranged
t o form a com plet e cab ine t . The advantage of th is m ethod of cons t ruct ion
i s that a cabinet can be s tart ed w i th on ly fi ve drawers and ex t ended by theadd i t ion of m any o ther s im i lar sec t ions .
E very card-drawer contains a Slid ing block called a fo llower that
can be adjus t ed t o the num ber of cards in the drawer t o keep them in an
upright pos i t ion .
Th is fo llower-block s lides back and forth in a l i t t le m etal t rack . I t i s
a m os t conven ient arrangem ent , and m akes i t poss ible t o release the blockwhen reference i s m ade t o t he cards . When t he card -sys t em was firs t usedi t was invar iably the pract ise always t o lock the card -drawer or desk—t raywhen through referr ing t o t he con t ent s because of fear of acciden t and the
consequent m ix ing of t he cards . A s t he card-sys t em cam e generally int o use
and I s now bet t er unders t ood the necess i ty for precaut ion by us ing locks androds i s no longer felt .
The card-drawers generally cont ain rods as a safeguard agains t accident ,the rod in a few inst ances be ing prov ided wi th a lock so t hat cards cannot
be rem oved except by authorized persons .
The covers t o the t rays ,as well as the drawers of the cabinet s , can also
be provided w i th locks so as t o guard the cards agains t exam inat ion .
A s ingle card-drawer averages about cards of m edium t hickness .
Th is includes t he necessary guides , about 1 for every 10 cards .
QUE STIONS
Nam e the different sty les in What is the fo llower-block ?which card-t rays are furn ished .
Wherein does the one -drawer What i s the funct ion Of t he
card-cabinet differ from a t ray P1’
0 d 1 11 a card-drawert 4
200 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
A com plet e Card-Sys t em , consist ing of Cards ,G uides and Card—drawer
202 STYL E —BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
H ow cards are indexed beh ind A lphabet ical G uides by fi rm nam es
STYL E -BOOK or BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 203
Indexing Cards A lphabetically
I n the i llus t rat ion a port ion on ly of a set ofNo . 25 index-guides is repre
sent ed , com pr is ing t he let t ers P t o Z . The o ther let t ers , A t o O , are not
shown . I f t hey were t hey would be in front Of t he P guide . A card bear ingthe nam e of the Yawm an E rbe Mfg . Co . and t he ir address i s shown in i t s
proper alphabet ical pos i t ion beh ind t he X Y guide . The guides are generallybuff in co lor, w i thou t prin t ing ,
whi le the cards are whi t e and wi thout
ext ens ions .
Th is form of card i s t erm ed a pr in t ed form . I t i s 5”
w ide by 3”
h igh ,as
are also t he gu ides . Som e print ed form cards are in such general us e t hatt hey are furn ished in t h is form ,
t hough as a rule the form s are print ed t osui t ind ividual requirem en t s . The advantage Of us ing a prin t ed form
card over a plain unprint ed form is that the pr in t ed head ings insure un iform i tyin t he filling in of en t ries and call t he at t ent ion t o each i t em of inform at ion .
Moreover , t here is also a certain defin i t e place on the card where each i t em
of inform at ion m ay be found when referring t o the syst em . Where an
unpr in t ed form is used t he inform at ion on the cards is apt t o be wr i t t en in a
haphazard fash ion , so that t o obt ain any i t em of inform at ion i t i s necessaryt o read the who le card .
index ing , the cards m us t be arranged beh ind t he index -
guidesunder wh ich t hey belong and not in front . The card for Yawm an E rbeMfg . C o . ,
for exam ple , i s placed behind the X Y gu ide for Y the firs tnam e of t he fi rm , and not in front of i t . I n index ing there are Ind iv iduals 'nam es
,fi rm nam es , and o thers . C lass ificat ion of ind iv iduals ’ nam es i s done
by us ing the ini t ial let t er of t he surnam es of fi rm nam es by t he in i t ial let t erof the surnam e of t he firs t fi rm nam e all the others by the in i t ial let t er of
the firs t surnam e, or o ther des ignat ion ; as , Standard Oil Com pany beh ind
S ; New York Cent ral R . R . beh ind N.
QUE STIONS
H ow m any guides are there in
the com plete set of which but
a port ion i s i llus trat ed on page1 66 P
Why is the card in this i llust rat ion filed in fron t of the Z
guide P
What set of alphabet ical guidesi s shown in th is i llus t rat ion ? I s
the ent ire set shown P What guidesare m iss ing P
State the advantages of us ing a
print ed form of card such as that
shown in thi s cut .
G ive two reasons why recordcards shou ld be fi led beh ind the
index -
guides and no t in front of
them .
204 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
The Follow-up
U sual form of F o llow -up record . The cards are arrangedalphabet ically and cross - indexed by dat e
206 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Sam ple of half cut V e rt ical F o lder fo r ho lding co rrespondence
Se t of No . 80 Alphabet ical G uides showing how fo lders are filed beh indthem
STYL E -BOOK or BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 207
Record-Filing— The Vertical System
By a record-fi ling sys t em is m eant t he index ing of papers or o ther records(not necessar ily let t ers but frequent ly so ) t hat do not have t o be t ranscr ibedbut m ay be fi led away in the original form .
The vert ical sys t em i s t he one m os t generally used in filing correspondence .
A s bus iness le t t ers com e in var ious s izes ,form s , and thickness es of le t t er
paper ,w i th no t a few pos tal cards scat t ered in ,
i t is necessary t o have a m eans
of conven ient ly ho ld ing and handl ing them . F or accom plish ing this purposethe fo lder i s em ployed . A fo lder is a sheet of heavy m an i la paper m ade w i thone fo ld and m easur ing when fo lded about 12
”
w ide by 9 lz”
high . A fo lderof t h is kind ho lds from 50 t o 100 let t ers , depend ing on t he th ickness of t he
shee t s , e t c . The back shee t and front sheet of t he fo lders are near ly equalin he ight , though t he back sheet Shou ld pro ject s light ly above the front sheetfor conven ience in handling .
One of the bes t form s of fo lders now us ed i s that t erm ed half out
in left s and r ight s . Th is tab i s print ed w i th the words Nam e and
Num ber , ” as a fo lder generally i s devot ed t o a certain fi rm or ind iv idual ,and t his Space prov ides for ent er ing the nam e thereon . On t he second lineof the tab m ay be wr i t t en the dat e of the Oldes t let t er and the dat e of t he
lat es t when the folder has becom e filled .
When fo lders are placed I n the vert ical fi le-drawer they are just highenough t o allow the ex t ens ion on the guides t o pro ject above them . A s
wi th the card-sys t em so w i th the vert ical syst em , the folders m us t alwaysbe filed beh ind (no t in front ) the guides . There is no lim i t t o the num berof fo lders which m ay be fi led beh ind a s ingle guide . Separat e fo lders m aybe ass igned t o d ifferent firm s and ind iv iduals or t o d ifferent t owns if the fil ingis by locat ion inst ead of alphabet ically .
QUE STIONS
Describe what a fo lder is and I n what pos i t ion are the fo ldershow the let t ers are arranged
'
in fi led in a vert ical drawer wi thi t . respect to the gu ides P
A re fo lders always required in H ow m any vert ical fo lders m aylet ter-fi ling P Why could they no t be fi led beh ind a s ingle guide Pbe dispensed wi th ?
What I s m ean t by half-cut P
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
A V ert i cal D rawer Showm g how the folders placed therem
drawer looks apart from the cabine t . The guides are arrangedfor fo llowing-up correspondence
2 10 STYL E —BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
A lphabe t ical G uides show ing the s im ples t use of the
V ert ical Sys t em
STYL E -BOOK or BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 2 1 1
Record-Filing— Alphabetical Folders and Guides
The i llus t rat ion on t his page i s t he com m ones t form of nam e , or alphabeti cal , fil ing . The index i s known as a No . 25 subd iv is ion . On ly a port ionis shown for the let t ers A t o J , the rem ain ing let t ers ,
K t o Z ,be ing absen t
"
.
I n s im ple alphabe t ical fil ing a s et of alphabet ical fo lders m ust be used t ocorrespond wi t h the set of alphabet ical guides . Not ice in the i llust rat ionthat d irect ly beh ind every alphabet ical guide there i s a fo lder bearing the
sam e let t er of the alphabet in t he ext rem e left corner of the tab.
When a sys t em of th is k ind i s put int o us e all le t t ers wh ich go behindthe var ious index -
guides are at firs t placed in a s ingle fo lder bear ing a le t t erof t he alphabet . When le t t ers in a certain fo lder becom e t oo num erous t he
le t t ers in t he folder are assort ed t o fi nd the exces s for certain firm s . Thes efirm s are then prov ided w i th separat e fo lders , t he nam e of the fi rm be ingwr i t t en on t he ex t ens ion ,
and t he Special fo lders are placed back of t he
guide but in front of t he general or alphabet ical fo lder .
F or exam ple I t m ight be found t hat in the A fo lder beh ind the A guidet here was correspondence from s ix or e ight d ifferent firm s , but that m ore t han
half of the t o tal am ount of correspondence was wi th Adam s Co . and
Anderson Jones . Consequen t ly two blank folders would be wr i t t en up,
one for each of t hese firm s and the correspondence for each fi led there in .
These alphabet ical set s of index -
gu ides m ay also be used for fil ing let t ersby t owns as well as cus t om ers
’
nam es . C orrespondence from Jones Sm i t h ,
Batav ia, N. Y under the t own m ethod of fil ing wou ld be placed back of t he
B guide .
QUE STIONS
H ow m any guides are there in fo lder behind a guide becom es
the set of guides of which on ly a fi lled what plan i s fo llowed for
part is seen on the i llust rat ion P placing certain of the correspon
dence in separat e fo lders PI n s tart i ng a vert i cal sys tem
wi th a set of guides what sort of H OW WOU Id you fi le let t ers byfo lders are also needed ? t owns ins t ead Of fi rm nam es
behind an alphabe t ical set ofWhen a sm gle, or alphabet ical index-
guides ?
Sam ple
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGL ISH
set of guides showing how correspondence back of any part icular
Stat e m ay be sud V ided by fi rm nam es or by town s
2 14 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Ver t ical F o lders and gu ides arranged num erically . G uides are
num bered in in t ervals of 20,but the fo lders con secu t ively
A n alphabe t ical card-index is required when correspondence i s filednum erically
STYL E -BOOK OF B USINE SS E NG L ISH 2 15
Record-Filing— Num erical Indexing
The t erm num erical indexing m eans the use of num bers t o s tand forfi rm nam es , t owns , or subj ect s . The num ber is arbit rary and has no m eaningby It s elf. F or exam ple if in nam e-indexing t he fi rm of John B rown Co .
were t he firs t nam e taken int o cons iderat ion i t would be num beredI f Charles Wi lliam s Son were next in order i t would be num bered 2 . Thenam es are not necessari ly num bered in alphabet ical order . They m ight be
s tart ed in that way but new nam es could not be properly ins ert ed thereaft er .
The i llust rat ion is t he form of record-fi ling t erm ed num erical . ” Theindex-
guides bear num bers at int ervals of 10 or 20 , wh i le the fo lders filedbeh ind them are num bered consecut ively by 1
’
s , m aking 10 or 20 (as thecase m ay be) fo lders behind each index -
guide . A n index t o t he num bersm ust be provided on 5 x 3 cards as is shown in the other i llust rat ion .
G enerally t he num erical m ethod of indexing is used where the nam es
or t owns or subj ect s adm i t of m ore t han one int erpretat ion or use . The bes texam ple of th is is in nam e or alphabet ical filing where let t ers from a fi rm are
apt t o be s igned by the di fferent indivi duals who are officers of the com pany .
The num ber 18 1 is ass igned the F irst Nat ional Bank of Cedal R apids , Iowa .
A ll correspondence from that com pany i s filed in fo lder 18 1 . A s correspon
dence is som et im es s ign ed by Mr . Wellm an , the cashier , a card for Wellm an
is m ade out and indexed under W in the card-drawer and bearing the bank ’
s
num ber, 18 1 .
Som et im es a m an m ay be an offi cer in two or m ore com pan ies and m aywri t e a let t er from the office of one com pany on a certain subj ect and at o ther
t im es wri t e from the offi ce of the other com pany on the sam e subj ect , us ingdi fferent stat ionery each t im e . The nam e of one com pany m ight be th e
Mechan ics’ Nat ional Bank , whi le another m ight be th e E nt erprise F oundry
Com pany . Under th e alphabet ica l sys t em the let t ers would be fi led in different places . Under the num erical m ethod a m em orandum of th e fact referredto can be placed in the card—index so that when a let t er is rece ived i t s properfi ling
-place can be at once not ed on i t by num ber .
QUE STIONS
Describe in a general way what uncertain ty about c lass ify ing cor
i s m ean t by num erical fi ling .respondence on Accident s , Injuries ,Derai lm ent s , and Co lli s ions , et c .
When should the num erical What index -cards wou ld be m adem ethod of index ing be used P out in the card-sys tem P
Where correspondence i s fi led G ive an i llustrat ion under the
by sub-subj ect s there i s som e alphabet ical syst em .
t 5
216 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
A n i llus t rat ion of Subj ect -Indexing of correspondence . This m ay be us edfor e i ther correspondence or sam ples
STYL E - BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Shannon , o r Arch , Sys tem of
filing le t ters
L oose - shee t Sys tem ,drawer
c losed
Loose-shee t Sys tem , drawer open
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGL ISH 2 19
Record-Filing— Shannon and Loose-Sheet System s
The first let t er-fi le sys t em ever des igned was known as th e loose-shee t ,so called in dist inct ion t o th e arch or Shannon syst em of filing where thepapers are perforat ed and held in pos it ion on arches .
The loose -sheet fi le cons ist s of a let t er—s ize drawer contain ing an irfder “
of twenty sheet s lying in the drawer flat with t he open ings on the right-hand
long s ide . A n exam inat ion of t he i llust rat ion w i ll m ake the m ake -up of t his
fi le clear . The index leaves bear pro j ect ing tabs for the let t ers of the alphabetor num bers t o correspond w ith the days of the m onth . L et t ers and papersare filed between s heet s of the index loosely . When the fi le -drawer becom es
fi lled wi th correspondence the cont ent s , includ ing the index , are l ift ed out
and placed in a t ransfer-cas e and a new em pt y index put int o the drawer .
The Shannon or arch sys t em of fi ling cons i st s of a sm all let t er-s i ze fi ledrawer about the s ize of a loos e-sheet . fi le except that th e drawer cons i s t s
only of bo t t om and front . I t has no Sides , s ides being unneces sary on account
of the arches on wh ich the papers are filed . The arch is double in const ruct ion
and is placed at the rear of the fi le-drawer . A ll let t ers fi led in t he drawerhave t o be perfo rat ed w it h two sm al l ho les at t he top fo r fit t ing over the
arches .
The invent ion of t he Shannon fi le brought w it h i t som e very m arkedim provem ent s over t he loos e-sheet fi le , one of which is t hat t he fi le is
proof agains t acc ident . There is no way o f d is lodg ing t he let t ers from a
Shannon fi le aft er t hey are once placed 0 11 t he arches . A lso , any let t erfiled in t he Shannon fi le can be exam ined w i thout rem ov ing it from t he arch
Sim ply by rais ing up and lay ing over t he papers filed above it . This featurein it self is t he m eans of sav ing a great deal o f t im e I n bus ines s o ffices .
QUE STIONS
D escribe the loose- leaf let t er How does the cons t ruct ion of
fi le and stat e what k ind of index i t the loose-sheet fi le-drawer d ifferis equipped w i th .
from the Shannon fi le-drawer ?
I n what way are let t ers t rans What i s the d ist inguish ing featureferred from a loose-Sheet . fi le of the Shannon m ethod of fi ling ?drawer to a t ransfer-case
Why I s the Shannon sys t em
accident -proof P
220 STYL E -BOOK or BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Filing-System s— The Receptacle
Bus iness condi t ions dem and that fi ling-cab inet s be m ade in s ect ional
cons t ruct ion . Th is m eans t hat fi le -drawers for var ious kinds of sys t em s .
such as card-index, vert ical , et c m us t be m ade in separat e un i t s (a specified
num ber of drawers in each un i t ) and t hat t he var ious un i t s shal l be of the
sam e s ize so far as w idth and depth are concerned . Thi s m akes i t poss iblet o arrange un i t s int o var ious com b inat ions so t hat t hey present the formand appearance of a so lidly bui lt cabine t .
The i llust rat ion on t he upper port ion of this page m akes qui te clear t headvantage of this m ethod of cons t ruct ion .
I n the upper left -hand corner i s shown t he beginn ing of a fi ling-cab inet ,
which ,when filled w i th records ,
is en larged by the addi t ion of another ;
and t his ,in t he course of t im e
, is added t o by o thers . The cab inet t hus growswi t h t he add i t ion of sect ions , but retains at all t im es i t s un i ty .
QUE STIONS
Nam e one advantage possessed What advan tage i s there in
by sec t i o nally m ade cabinet s over com bin ing differen t sys t em s liket he so l i dly const ruct ed kind . t he card-sys t em , vert ical , e tc . , et c
in to a com ple t e cabine t in one
I n what way m ay a sect ional piece ?cabine t be increased In Si ze P
222 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
First Card-System Narrat ive
TH E UP—TO—DATE COMME R C IAL COL L E G E
P rogress iveville , Q ueens County , N . Y .
January 1,19 1 4 .
The Am erican Mfg . Co
R oches t er,
G en t lem en
We des ire t o inst al a m odern fi ling—sys t em for
keeping t rack of our correspondence wi th s tuden t s,and for
our cat alogues , orders,m ai ling-l is t
,and follow-up sys t em .
0
Out line a sys t em jus t as fully as poss ible .
Yours very t ruly,
The Am erican Mfg . Co . reply as follows :
TH E AME R ICAN MF G . CO .
R oches ter . N . Y May 3,19 14 .
The C om m ercial C o llege ,
P rogress ivevi lle ,N. Y .
G en t lem en
R eplying t o your le t t er of January 1 , advi s ing us that
you would be int eres t ed in rece iving inform at ion about a sys t em
for keeping your various records We take pleasure in sugges t ingthat you ins tal a sect ional fi ling cabine t as follows
1 No . 1 2 Top.
1 29 5-drawer Card Index Sect ion .
1 19 Shannon Sect ion .
1 54 V ert ical Sect ion .
1 2 L eg B ase .
We sugges t that th is cabine t be used in the fo llowingm anner
C OR R E SP ONDE NCE W ITH STUDE NTSThe No . 54 ver t ical sect ion contains two drawers for let t er
Size papers . We sugges t that one of these drawers be labeledSt uden t s and be equipped w i th a se t ofNo . 25 New D irect Nam e
guides and fo lders,wi th 100 blank half-cut fo lders for larger
corresponden t s .
All correspondence wi th prospect ive s tuden t s and
paren t s would be filed alphabet ically in t his drawer . We sugges t
that a copy of every outgo ing le t t er be at tached t o the let t ert o wh ich i t i s a reply and filed in this drawer . I f you are us ing the
le t t er press sys t em of copying your out go ing le t t ers , we sugges t
that you abandon i t and adopt the carbon m ethod or t he R apidR o ller L e t t er Copier, bo th ofwh ich w i ll g ive you a separat e de tachablecopy for fil ing .
STYL E -BOOK or BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 223
CATAL OG UE S
The second , or right-hand drawer of the No . 54 sec t ion
m ay be used for fi ling various cat alogues which you keep on fi le .
These catalogues are those s en t you by supply and book-houses ,and
are cons tant ly being referred t o in connect ion wi th the purchas ingofgoods . P lace in the drawer one set OfNO . 25 pressboard guides wi thou tany fo lders of any kind , and index your catalogues alphabet icallyby fi rm nam e . A catalogue from t he Yat es Arno Co .
,for
ins tance ,would be fi led behind t he Y guide ; that from the
Am erican B ook Com pany would be filed behind t he A guide ,e t c .
OR D E R SThe NO . 1 9 s ect ion con tains three drawers
,one for
loose - shee t filing and two for Shannon fil ing . Although t he looseshee t i s no longer recom m ended for the filing of bus iness papers ,
we
sugges t that th is drawer be a part of t he cabine t s im ply t o Show
s tuden t s the loose-leaf sys t em and t o im press upon t hem i t s
undes irable features . The left -hand drawer of this s ec t ion shouldbe the loose—shee t drawer . We sugges t that i t be labeledUnfilled Orders . The o ther two drawers wi ll be equ ipped fo r
Shannon fil ing ,and one should be labe led F illed Orders A -K and
the o ther F i lled Orders L -Z . There would be an alphabe t icalindex t o each drawer .
All your orders for suppl ies or m at erial Should bem ade out on a form of order-blank ,
and a carbon copy o r copier copyshould be m ade of each order . I n case you use no d i s t inc t iveform of order-blank an o rd inary le t t er-head wi ll do ,
wr i t ing the
word Order plain ly at the t op. F i le the copies of all unfi lledo rders in the loos e—Shee t drawer
,indexed alphabe t ically . Wh en the
goods for the orders are rece i ved , rem ove them from t h is drawer ,
and fi le them in one or t he o ther of the Shannon drawers ,also
indexed alphabe t ically .
MAIL ING -L ISTThe NO . 29 s ect ion con tains fi ve card -drawers . The
firs t two should be labe led Mai l ing -L i s t A —K and Mai ling-L i s t
L -Z . They Should contain a set of No . 80 card - index guides , 40arranged in one drawer and the rem ain ing 40 in the o ther drawer .
Whi le t hese drawers wi ll ho ld approx im at e ly cards,we sugges t
that you beg in by us ing 500 cards,s tock hori zon tal ruled , No .
for com pi ling a m ai l ing- lis t of pro spect ive s tuden t s . These nam es
would be gathered from di fferen t sources— the graduat ing-li s t s of
public schoo ls , h igh schoo ls ,nam es t aken from newspaper i t em s
,
o r gathered from t he Wan t co lum ns of the dai ly newspapers ,
o r the nam e any young m an or young wom en that you feel wouldbe benefit ed by a cours e in your schoo l . This m ai ling-l i s t youwould c ircular ize from t im e t o t im e by m ai l ing t o each nam e a
piece of print ed m at t er,descr ibing the schoo l and i t s wo rk . Th is
print ed m at t er would be sen t out in bulk t o every nam e on the l is t ,as that i s the way ci rcu larizing i s generally done . A s you rece ive
replies asking for further and m ore de tai led info rm at ion, you would
m ake out ano ther form of card and t ransfer these nam es t o the
personal fo llow—up l is t .
224 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
F OL L OW-U P SYSTE M
The th ird drawer of the No . 29 s ect ion would belabeled F o llow-up and should con tain a set of No . 40 card- indexguides and 200 cards wi th print ed form . Thi s i s your personaland individual fo llow—up sys t em ,
and con tains nam es on ly of s tuden t swho have m an ifes t ed som e int eres t in the work of the schoo l .Thes e you individually fo llow up by let t ers or personal calls .
The cards are indexed alphabet ically and cross -indexed by dat e ,
for wh ich purpose you us e m ovable m e tal tabs o r ind icat ors,which
m ay be m oved along the t op of the card t o indicat e the dat e of
fo llow -up.
Jus t as fas t as prospect ive s tuden t s adv i s e you that they have
decided no t t o t ake your course ,or have agreed t o beg in on a certain
dat e, you t ransfer the card from the fo llow—up sys t em t o one or the
o ther of the two rem aining drawers ,one of whi ch i s labeled
Studen t s and the o ther C losed .
”
STUD E NTSThe fourth drawer of the NO . 29 s ect ion i s labeled
Studen t s and con tains a se t of No . 40 card-index guides and 200pr in t ed cards . All t he cards in this drawer are index edalphabe t i cally by s tuden t s ’
nam es,and represen t the presen t
m em bersh ip of your schoo l . E ach card w i ll show the dat e the
s tuden t becam e such , a Sligh t indicat ion of hi s pas t h i s tory and
reco rd, the paym en t s of h is tui t ion ,
and any o ther no t es that m ay
give the principal som e ligh t on his (the s tuden t ’s ) work or progress .Aft er a pro spect ive s tuden t has been fo llowed up
for a certain length of t im e and then adv i ses you that he has
decided no t t o take the course, you t ransfer hi s card t o ano ther
drawer labeled C losed .
”
C L OSE DThe fifth drawer of the No . 29 s ect ion i s labe led
C losed and con tains a set of No . 40 guide-cards and 200 prin t edcards . This con tains all the cards that have been rem oved fromthe fo llow-up sys t em when i t has been defin i t ely det erm ined cor
respondent s canno t be persuaded t o t ake the course . These cardsare prin t ed form s which have been t ran sferred t o t hi s drawer fromthe drawer labeled F o llow-Up Sys t em .
C ONCL U SIONWe have out lined this sys t em jus t as c learly as i s
now poss ible . Whi le i t is t rue that we have no t explai ned th em at t er as fully as we m igh t , we hope that vou wi ll i ndicat e any
point s about wh ich you are no t certain ,and give us an
oppor tuni t y t o explain further .
The com plet e cos t of the cabine t is as fo llows1 NO . 1 2 Top1 29 Sec t ion
l 19 Com binat ion Sec t ion
l 54 V ert ical1 2 Sani t ary bas e
226 STYL E ~ BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGL ISH
TH E AME R ICAN MFG . CO .
CAR D -SYSTE M D E VICE S
R oches ter ,N . Y May 30
,19 12 .
Messrs . Hardm an Co
Chicago ,I ll .
G ent lem en
I n reply t o your let t er of recent dat e ,regard ing your
present m e thod of filing your correspondence and fo llowing upprospec t ive cus t om ers
,and keeping t rack of regular cus tom ers
,
we take pleasure in suggest ing the fo llowing sys t em
Y ou wi l l requi re a fi ling-cabine t for hold ing ypur
correspondence and records m ade up of the fo llow ing s ect ions '
1 No . 1 2 Top.
1 52 G lass -door St orage Sect ion .
1 30 Card Sect ion1 60 V ert ical1 59 V ert ical1 6 San i tary B ase .
Correspondence
We no t e you handle about 1 00 le t t ers a day ,and we
assum e t hat 60 per cen t . of these are let t ers rece ived from your
cus t om ers , and 40 per cen t . are copies of repl ies . We sugges t ,firs t of all, that you abandon your presen t m e thod of copyingyour outgoing let t ers in let t er-books and adopt t he ro ller copyingprocess or the carbon m an ifo lding ,
e i ther of wh ich w i ll gi ve you a
separat e copy that m ay be at tached t o the let t er t o wh ich i treplies .
F or the m ai l-order bus iness t here i s no bet t er m ethodof index ing than the geograph ical . We sugges t that your four
vert ical drawers,which represen t fi ling capaci ty fo r approx im at ely
on e year , be equipped wi th a se t of index -
guides for all the Stat es
from Alabam a t o Wyom ing (rem ov ing the index -
gu ides of such
Stat es in which you ,at present , have no correspondence) , and d iv ide
t hese guides in t o four part s , placing the guides for A la . t o
in t he firs t drawer those for“I nd . t o N . H .
”
in the s econd , t hose forN. J . t o R I . ” in th e third , and those for S. C . t o Wyo .
”
in the
fourth .
B ehi nd each Stat e index place a se t of alphabet icalguides of 25 part s o r 40 part s or 80 part s (depending upon the
am ount of correspondence you have in each Stat e) , for index ing byt owns , alphabet ically . F or exam ple ,
back of the guide for New
York Stat e you would undoubt edly require a se t ofNo . 80 indexes .
All correspondence for Buffalo would be indexed behind the guideB u-B y . All correspondence for B atavia would be indexedbeh ind the guide Bas-B az .
”
Separat e fo lders would be m ade foreach fi rm in Buffalo and Batav ia,
wi th the nam e of the fi rm wr i tt en
611 the tab of t he fo lder .
STYL E —BOOK OF B USINE SS E NG L ISH 227
The advantage of geograph ical indexing for m ai l-orderhouses is that t he arrangem en t of your correspondence and o ther
papers fo llows closely the actual layout of your selling t erri toryB y referring t o the index for Batavia,
N . Y . , you wi ll fi nd in thefiles all the correspondence that you ever had in that t own
co llect ed in one place . This is a great convenience in looking upthe sales poss ibi li t ies of di fferen t locali t ies .
The Card-Sys tem and Mailing-ListsThe NO . 30 sect ion con tains 1 5 drawers for 5 x 3 cards .
We sugges t that you card all your various m ai ling-li s t s,labeling the
di fferen t drawers accordingly ; such as , the firs t drawerManufacturers , second drawer Miscellaneous , t hird drawerR etai l D ealers
,fourth drawer L awyers ,
” fifth drawerPhys icians , e t c . Thi s would m ean put t ing all your m ai ling-lis t s
on cards for circularizing purposes . We es t im at e that you wouldrequire 1 0 or 12 drawers for these m ai ling-l is t s , leaving three o r
four drawers for the fo llow-up sys t em . We sugges t your m ai ling-lis tbe wri t t en on 5 x 3 cards , s t ock horizon tally ruled , as per sam ple ,
and be indexed by alphabe t ical guides for Stat es and Towns .
F ollow-Up Sys tem
L abel one of the card drawers P rospect ive Cus t om ers,
and place there in a set of Stat e guides , or a large set of alphabet icalguides for index ing by t owns . Just as soon as a person in yourm ai ling-lis t responds and asks for inform at ion
,rem ove the card
from the m ai ling li st’
sect ion and m ake out a print ed card for thefo llow—up sys t em . Thi s card should be print ed according t o format tached . A m etal t ab should be at tached t o the card t o indicat ethe fo llow-up dat e A record of all let t ers wri t t en and all let t ersreceived shou ld be m ade on the card .
Closed F ile and Cus tom ers
The o ther two drawers wi l l be labeled C losed and
Cus tom ers respect ively . When you have fo llowed up a
prospec t t o the po in t where you can get no further reply and no saleof goods has been m ade
,rem ove the card from the fo llow-up
sys t em and place i t in t he drawer m arked C losed .
” All fo llow—upsthat result in sales should be placed in the drawer m arkedCus tom ers .
”
B o th of these drawers should be indexed wi th a se t o f
Stat e guides, or a large se t of alphabe t ical guides for filing by t own s .
G lass-Door Storage Section
This sect ion should be used for filing direct ories , sucht elephone and s t reet direct ories , and o ther vo lum es from whi ch
m ai ling-lis t s m ay be obt ained . I t m ay also be used for thefiling of catalogues .
We t rus t the inform at i on given wi ll enable you t o
unders tand how the syst em operat es . I f there are any poin ts wehave no t m ade clear kindly let us know and we shal l be g lad t o gofurther in t o the m at t er .
Yours very t ruly ,
CHAPTE R XIX
APPENDIX
A . Review Quest ions on the Appendix
1 F or which Class of professional m en is the title “E sq .
proper ? (Charles W . Towne , E sq . )
2 May E sq . be used when the name is preceded by Mr . P
(Mr . Henry Canning , E sq . )
3 What do these Signs signi fy
4 x 6 ; 2’
x 20°10
’
12 P
What do do . or id . m eanP
What do and e .g . mean P
What does 15,10 , and 5 (trade discounts) mean P
What‘ do 4 2 yd . , 71 4 lb. ,
18 1 0 ft . ,38 7 fur . mean P
8 What does after figures mean (49 Ii
i ) P
9 What does 2/10 n/30 mean P
10 How are these nam ed : e e e e ?
03
01
4?
1 1 A re Roman numerals followed by periods ? Char les XI I
Chap . IV A . D . MCMIX .
12 I n manuscript what is meant by three lines drawn under a
word, as , tim es two lines , as chapter one line ,as seabird ?
13 What is the usage of the dieresis P
To indicate that the second of two adj acent vowels is to be
pronounced separately ; not used in typewriting .
14 What indicates in the body of the manuscript that there is a
reference note at the bottom of the page P
15 What is meant by an assignm ent .P by endorse .
P by bonus P
228
230 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
APPENDIX.
1 . ABBR E VIATIONS OF COMME RCIAL TERMS, E TC .
A c. f. i . . Cos t,frei ght , and insurance
A r . F irs t-class cg . Cent i gramA . B Able-bod i ed ,
Bachelor ofAr t s Ch . Charles , Chi ef. Ch ina, Churchab ini t . A b init i o (from the beginn ing) Chanc . . Chance llorAbp A rchb i shop C. H Cour t House , Cus tom House
A. C . . Ante Christum (before Chris t ) CW CW ll.ClV lllan
acct . , . Account , accountan t 01d ClearedA . D . . . A nno D om i ni ( In the year of cm . Cent im eter
Lord )3 . d . After datead Advert isem ent
ad inif. . A d infinitum ( to infi ni ty)ad in t . . A d inter im ( in the m ean t i m e )ad lib. . . A d libitum (at pleasure)agt . AgentA la. Alabam a
of Artsa. m . . A nte nwrid iem (before noon )
A dm Adm iralA d ns . . A dm m is trator
A d '
nx. . A drninis tratrix
am t . Am ount
ans . AnswerA riz . ArizonaA rk ArkansasAssn Associat ionAss t . . Ass is tantA t At torneyA ug. Augus tA ve Avenueav Avoirdupo is average
0
B
bal. Balancebbl brl. Barre lB . C . B efore ChrI St
bds Bound in boardsbgs Bags
b. l Bil l of ladingbk bank book
z—bldg . .Bui lding
w bona fi de I n good fai thb . p B ills payable ; bi ll of parce lsBp. Bishopb . rec B i l ls receivableBro Bro ther
b . s B i ll of salebu. , bus . . Bushel , bushelsB . V. M. . . B lessed Virgin M
0
Cathol ic, Cent igrade , Chairm an ,
chance llor, chief, church , Cour tCen t,cent im e , cent im eter, cen tum ,
century, chapter, circum ,a rea
,
circiter (about ) , court , cubic
Cali f . Californ iaCan . Canadacap Capi tal let terCap. , Capt .Captain
cat . CatalogueC. C. . Circui t Court , County Court,County clerk , County Com rm s
s ioner , Civ11 Courtc . c Contra credi t °
Cent . . .1 . Cent igrade , Central
cent . . Central , centum , century
c . 0 Care of
C . O . D Col lect on de liveryCol. Co lonel , Co loss iansCo lo . Co loradoCom . Com m ander, Com rm ss ion,
Com
m odore
con Contra (agains t )Conn Connect icutCor . Sec Correspondm g Secre taryC . P . Clerk of the Peace , Com m on P leas ,
Cour t of Probate, Code of
Procedure
cs Cases (com m on )C. S Civi l Service , Cour t ofSess ionscsk . Caskct Cen t , centumc . w. 0 Cash wi th order
cwt Hundredweight
D
Dak Dako taD . B Day
-bookd &wtf Dai ly and weekly unt i l forbIddenD . C Dis trict of Co lum bia, Deputy Con
sul, D i s tri ct Courtd . ( 1 Days after date
Dec Decem berdef. , dft Defendan tdeg DegreeDel Delaware
deponen t , deputydft . Draftded Iam Diam eter
d i ff. Di fferenced isc . ,
disct .D iscount
D . L . 0 . . Dead Let ter Offi cedo Di t to ,
the sam e
dol Dol larsdoz Dozen
4‘ Dr Debtor , doc tordr . Dram ,
drawer
Dram . Pers .Dram at is personae (persons of
dram a)Days ’ s igh tDelirium trem ens
A pennyweightE
E E as t , E arl , E dward , E ngl i shea. E ach
E d E d i tor
cd . , edi t E di ted , edi t ion
E dw. . E dward , E dwin
E . E E rrors exceptede . g. E xem pli grat ia (for exam ple)E . lon E as t longi tudeE ng. E ngland ,
E nglisheng . . . E ngineer
eod E very o ther day
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGL ISH 23 1
E pis . ,E pisc.E piscopal
eq . . E qual , equi valen tx E sq. . E squire
es t . . 1E s tabli shede t al . E t alibi (and elsewhere ) , et ali i or
aliae (and o thers )cetera (and so forth )
. E t sequen tes (and the fol lowing ). E xam i ned ,
exam ple , except i on,
execut ive, exportE xe . . E xcellencyE xch . . E xchange
E x. corn . E xecut ive Com m i t tee
ex cp. . E xtra (wi thout ) couponex d iv. . E xtra (wi thout ) d i videndE xec . ,
E xr.E xecutor
E xecx E xrx .E xecutrix
l . F ahrenhei t , F e llow, F riday. F arthing, fathom ,
fem in ine, florin ,
franc, folio ,foo t
f. a a. . F ree ofall average
F ah Fahr .F ahrenhe i t
f F eb. F ebruary. F igure , fi gurat ively
f. g. a F ree ofgeneral averageF in. Sec” . F inanci al Secretaryto fol. . F olio
b. . . F ree on boarda. .
‘ P
f. o
f. p . . F ree of part icular average
. F urlongG
gram , guinea
G en . . General , Genes is
Gov. Governm ent , governor
G . P O. . General Pos t-offi cegr . G rain , gram , gram m ar
, gross
H
. .HydrogenHarbor, height , hence , hour, hundred ,
husbandHabitatHandkerchi efHalfHectogram
.Hogshead
.Hawaiian IslandsHektoli terHektom eter
Horse-power
.House of R epresentatives
.Height
.Hundred
I
I . Idaho,iodine, i s land
I a. . Iowaih . , ibid I bidem (in the sam e place )I da. IdahoI 6
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kan . ,Kans Kansas
kgs Kegski lo Ki logram ,kilom eter
Ky . KentuckyL
. Lat i tude, league, length ,leave, line ,li ter, long, lake
of credi t , lower case
( type)L . or £ 5 . d . L ibrae
, solidi , denaru
(pounds, shillings , and pence )Long Is land
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
I dem'
(the sam e)I d est ( that i s )I llinoisIm perial , im porter, im prim atur (let
0
i t be printed )In Inchi nc Incorporatedincogni to . UnknownI nd . T. Indian Terri toryI ns Inspector ; Insuranceinst Ins tant (presen t ) , ins ti tute, ins t i
tut ionin t Interest .in trans I n trans i tu (in course of trans i t )inv. Invented , inven tor, invo i ceI . O . U I owe you (prom issory no te)
I
J . Judge, Jus tice (JJ. , plura‘
)j/ Join t accoun tJan JanuaryJn . , Junc Junct ionjour Journaljr . ,j Junior
MMarquis , m em ber, m idd le, m i l le(one thousand ) , Mons ieur
Married , m asculine, m easure , m eri
diem (noon ) , m eter , m i ll , m inim ,
m inuteMar Marchm as m ascMascul ineMass Massachuset ts11 1 . (1 Months after date
Mlle . Madem oiselle~ Mm e Madam e
m dse MerchandiseMe . Maine
“Messrs MMMess ieurs (gent lem en s irs )m fd Manufactured
w m fg Manufacturingm frs . Manufacturersm fs . .Manufacturesm g. m ili gramMgr . .MonsignorMinn Minneso taMiss . Mis sissippiMo . Missourim o . Mon thMont MontanaMr. .Mis ter (Mas ter)Mr s Missis (Mis tress )MS.,MSS Manuscript , m anuscripts
m . 3 . Mon ths after s igh t
232 STYLE-BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGL ISH
N
.Ni trogen,North ,
northern ,Norse
.Nai l , natus (born ) , neuter , new,
nom en ,nom inat ive, noon,
no te ,
noun ,num ber
.New Brunswick , nota bene (no te
well )n. d . .No dateN. Dak . .North DakotaNeb. , .Nebr Nebraskanem . con No one contradict ingNev NevadaN. F . .NewfoundlandN. G Nat ional Guardn . g . No goodN. H . .New Ham pshire
.New JerseyN. ex. .New MexicoNo. .North , num ero (num ber )n . o. p. . .Not o therwise provided fornol. pros. . Unwilling to prosecutenon seq. . I t does no t followNov. .Novem berN. S. .Nova Scoti a, New Stylen . s . . .Not specifi edN. Y. .New York
0
0 . .Ohio oxygen
Oct . . .Octo r
O. K. .All correct
out . 0 0 0 O C ontario
o . p.
0 re
.Oppos i te prom pt , out of print.Oregon
Style, old Series
P
p. . Page, par t , par t iciple, penny,populati on , pi pePennsylvania
Per by the
per d iem . . By the dayP . E . I . . . Prince E dward Is landper cent . . .By the hundred
Phi la. . Phi ladelphiaP . I . . Phi l ippine Is lands
. Packagepl. . . Place, plate, pluralplf. , pltf. . . Plain t ifi
P . M. . Pas t Mas ter, paym as ter,
m aster
P . M. G . Postm aster-G eneralf
p . m . Pos t m eridiem (afternoon )
p . n . Prom issory no te
P . O Pos t-ofli ce , Province of Ontario
P . O. D . . Pay on delivery, Pos t-ofii ce Dept .pp . Pages
P . P . C. . T. o take leaveP . . . Previous question , Province of
Q uebecpr. . Pair , per, price, pronounPres . Pres iden t—pro tem P ro tom /poreM im e bei ng )prox P roxim o (next )P . S. Pos tscript
. Part , paym en t,pin t
q . v.
R
R ai lway, response , ret iredR es ides
,ri gh t rod
,rood
,rupee
R . C R om an Gatho c
rcpt . , R . . R eceiptre I n regard torecd . R eceived
R ec . Sec. . R ecording Secretaryrev R evise, revised , rewsion
v R ev R everendr . handR . I . Is landrm .
. . R ecording Secretary, R evi sed Statutes
s . rsl
R. R ight s ide, rupeesR ai lway
S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
Terri tory ,Tes tam en t
Tenor , thunder, tom e, ton,
town,tun
Pennywei gh t
Q
Q uasi , query, quest ion , quin tal
qr . , qa Q uarter , qui req . s Sufl
‘i cien t quant i ty
Q uart , quanti tyQ uebecThe num bers of m em bers requi redto conduct a m ee t ing
Whi ch see as m uch as you Will
Sabbath ,saint , Saxon
,society,
south, sun
South Am erica,8 . A fri ca, S.
Aus traliaSecond , section, see
,series
,se t
,
shi lling , snow,son
,soprano
S. C . Suprem e CourtS. C. South Caro li na
Sm al l capi talsse sci l Scilicet (nam ely) , scenesch . Schoonerscr . Scm ple
s . d Sim die (wi thout day )S Dak South DakotaSen Senate, senator, senior
a -Sept . Septem ber5 . g Speci fi c gravi tysh Shi ll ingsld Saileds 0 Sellers ’ optionsol Solut ion
Sain ts
Scilicet ( to wi t )Steam shi pSaint , s tree t , s trai t
Stanza, s tet , s tone,s trophe
Short ton
Sain t (fem inine )SterlingSuperfine, superior, supplem en t ,
suprem e
Super intendentSons of Veterans
S STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGL ISH
. A . R . . G rand Arm y of the R epublicM. . G rand Mas terM. G rand Pas t Mas terM H is (or Her) Bri tann ic Majes ty
H is H ighnes s , H is Ho lines sH His (or Her ) Im peri al Majesty
Hi s (or Her) Majes ty5 . .H i s (or Her ) Majes ty ’
5 Ship. .H .Hi s (or Her) R oyal HighnessG . T. Independent Order of Good Tem
plat s. O F Independent Order ofOdd F e llows. G Judge Advocate G eneralR M. Im proved Order of R ed Men
Kni ght of the G arterH . Kni ght s of Honor
L Kni ght s of L abor. P Kni ght s ofSt . Patrick
. A . W. . . League of Am erican Whee lm en
C . J . . . Lord Chief Jus t icer
r
xxz
xr
“mag
m
m
m
o
no
as
o
o
?
°
O
wS
Z
Hm
wv
L L . B . . . Bachelor of L aws
L L D . . Doc tor of Laws
M. A Mas ter of Ar tsM. B . . Bachelor of Med icineM. C Mas ter of Cerem onies
,Mem ber of
Congress
F ore ign Co ins
Coun t r ies . Standard . Mone tary un i t :
Argen t ina G o ld P eso
Aus t ria-Hungary do C rown
B elgium do F ranc
B olivia do B o liv ianoB razi l do Mi lre isNorth Am erica (exceptfound land )
B r i t i sh H ondurasC osta R ica
G uat em alaHondurasNicaraguaSalvadorChi leChinese E m pireC o lom biaD enm arkE cuadorE gyptF i n landF rance
G erm an E m pi reG reat B ri tain
G reece0 0
Hai t i
IndiaI talyJapanL iberia
Si lver P eso
M. CaE . .Mas ter of Civil E ngineer ingM. D . . Doctor ofMedi cineM. M. E Mas ter ofMi ning E ngineer ing
P Mem ber of Parl i am en t
.Mi s ter (Mas ter )Mrs Mis s is (Mis tress )Mus . B Bachelor ofMus icMus . D Doc tor ofMus icM. W Most Wor shipful , Mos t Wor thyN. P No t PublicP . B Bache or of Phi losophyP . G . M Pas t G rand Mas terh . D Doctor of Phi losophyh G G raduate in Pharm acyQ . S Q uarter SessionsR . N R oyal NavyR t . Hon R ight HonorableP . C Society for the Prevent ion ofCri m e
. .P C . C. Society for the Prevent ion of
Cruel ty to Chi ldrenS Ve terinary SurgeonW Very WorshipfulC. T. U . Wom en
’
s Chris t ian Tem peranceUn ion
. M. C . A. Young Men’
3 Chris t ian Asso .
W. C. A . Young Wom en’
5 Chr i s t ian As so .
do
Tae l— aboutD o llarC rown
Sucre
P ound ( 100 piast ers )MarkF ranc
MarkP ound s t erlingDrachm a
G ourdeP ound s t erlingL ira
Y en
Do llar
STYL E -BOOK or BUSINESS ENGL I SH 235
Count ri es .
P hi lippine Is landsP ortugalR uss ia
SpainSt rai t s Se t t lem en t s
SwedenSwi t zerlandTurkeyUruguayV enezuela
Standard . Monetary un i t .
Si lver Do llarG o ld P eso
do F lorindo Do llardo C rown
do BalboaSi lver K ran
Sol
L ibrado P eso
do Mi lre i sdo R ubledo P ese ta
do P ound s t erlingdo C rown
do F ranc
do P ias t er
do P eso
do B o livar
236 STYL E -BOOK OF BUS INESS ENGL ISH
2 . Words w ith Troublesoine Endings
WOR DS END ING IN I SE
Words ending with the sound of ize are variously spelled
ise or ize . Of this class,the correct spelli ng of the following
n,words is ise nearly all others take ize
advert is e com prom is e prem iseadv ise d em ise repriseaffranchi se despise ent erprise revise
dev is e exercise superv isedisfranchise exorcise surm ise
circum ci se d isgui s e franchis e surpris ecom pri se d iver t is e m erchand is e
PL U RAL OF NOUNS END ING IN 0
I n order to avoid making an error in the plural i t should be
memorized that if a consonant precedes the 0 then es i s the
plural form of the noun . The exceptions to this rule are
albi nos em bryos octavos sex todecim os
cantos halos octodecim os
cent os inam orat os pianos t obaccosdidos prov isos twos
dom inos quar t osduodecim os m em en tos salvos v irt uosos
dynam os m erinos sex t os zeros
THE USE or E 1 AND IE
A S i t is diffi cult to fix in mind the relat ive position of e and
i in such words as receive,
” believe,
etc ., the following rule
m ay save the trouble of referring to a di ctionary
When the noun ends in tion the verb is spelled with ci,
as,
conceive
receive
When the noun does not end in tion the verb is spelled with
ie , as .
belief believerelief relieve
238 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
WOR DS E ND ING I N ENOE
abs t inence
res idencereverence
ex is t ence occurrence
WOR DS E ND ING I N E NT
insolven tin t erm i t t en t
prevalen tconvalescent proficien tcorpulent recipien tcorrespondent independent superint enden t
WOR DS E ND ING I N BOUS
h ideousins tantaneous
erroneous m iscellaneousgas eous nauseous
WOR DS E ND ING I N IOUS
cerem on ious
im perv ious
WOR DS E ND ING I N C I OUS
avaricious m alicious
v icious
judicious
WOR DS E ND ING I N TIOUS
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 239
3 . Glossary of Words and Phrases used in Bus iness,
with I llustrat ions
- A1 . A term applied to the bes t quali ty .
above par. When the price of s tocks ishi gher than their face value they are abovepar .
abstract of ti tle. A record of one’
s t i t le toan es tate.
~ aeeept a bill. To accept a bi l l is to wri te
one’
s nam e across the face of i t , therebyengaging to pay i t when due .
‘ acoeptor. The drawee of a bi l l of exchangeupon wri t ing hi s nam e across the face of i t
thereby engaging to pay i t when clue is cal ledthe acceptor.-accom m odation. The lending ofone 's nam e
or credi t to accom m odate .
-account. A s tatem en t showing the am oun t
due by one person to ano ther .
d ecount current. A s tatem en t , drawn out
in Dr . and Cr. form , containing an accoun t of
the transact ions between two par t ies .
—account sales. An accoun t sent by a
m erchant to the cons ignor of goods , showingthe weigh t of the good s sold , the pricesobtained , and the net resul t after deduct ingthe freight , com m ission , etc.
! s act ofGod. Losses incurred by earthquake ,hurricanes , or o ther unforeseen natural causesare cal led Acts of God and are not covered
in in surance po licies .
ad infini tum . Wi thout l im i t .ad interim . I n the m eanwhi le .
adjustm ent. An insurance term for the
se t t lem en t of a loss .
ad libitum . A t pleasure.
ad valorem . Accord ing to the value and
no t to the weight or uant i ty . The ciI s tom s
ad valorem duty i s , erefore, a charge of so
m uch per cent . m ade on the value of certain
art icles irrespect ive of weight or quant i tyadvance. I t i s usual on receiving an invo i ce
and bi l l of lading for a consignm en t sent for
sale to pay the consignor a certain port ion of
the value of the good s , thi s paym en t be ingcalled an advance .
”
advice note. A let ter giving i t s receiver
inform at ion ei ther that som e part icular transact ion has been or is about to be effected
on his behalf. I t i s usual to advise the
arri val of shipm ent s , the despatch of good s ,the paym ent ofaccoun t s .
affi davi t. A declarat ion sworn to before a
public offi cer.
~ aiter date. A term used in drawing bi l ls ofexchange ; after date of the bi ll .__after Sid i t. After having been presen tedto the drawee for acceptance .
alias. Means o therwise in L at in ; an
assum ed nam e .
alibi . A person in court proves an alibiwhen he shows that he was elsewhere at
the tim e and place s tated in the com plain t .alien. An unnaturalized foreigner.
am pere. Uni t of current in m easuringelectrici ty.
anno Dom ini. I n the year of our Lord .
" antedate. To wri te the date previous to
the present date.
ante m ortem . Before death .
appraise. To se t a price upon .
arbi trage. A nam e given to s tocks boughtin one m arke t and so ld in ano ther.
appreciate. To increase in value .
arrears. Am ounts rem aining unpaid alterthe t im e for paym en t has expired .
per invoice. A phrase on a bil l ofexchange. I t m eans that no t ice has beeng iven to the drawee that the bi l l has beendrawn upon him .
assets. Property in general regarded as
applicable to the paying of deb ts .
assignm ent. The docum ent by m eans ofwhich a transfer i s m ade .
assigns. Any person or persons to whoman ass ignm ent i s m ade .
a t“: sight. A term used upon bi lls ofexchange when they are payable on dem and .
attachm ent. Laying an em bargo upon, andprohi bi t ing the sale and di sposal of, the m oneyor good s of a debtor in the hands of thirdpart ies , pend ing the se t t lem ent of som e claimagains t the owner.
audit. E xam inat ion of all books , accounts ,e tc. ,
by an audi tor to see that they are properlykept and that no fraud has been com m i t tedby the party keeping them .
auditor. One who audi ts books or account s .
bail. The person who gives surety for theappearance of ano ther in a court to answera charge m ade agains t him in order that he
m ay be set free in the m eant im e ; the securi ty
g iven .
balance. I n bookkeeping and accounts the
balance i s the difference required to m akeequal the deb tor and credi tor s ides of an
account .—balance of trade. The difference in the
m oney value between the export s and
im port s .-balance-sheet. A s tatem ent showing the
assets and liabi l i t ies of any trading concern
and the profi t s or losses on each account .~ balancing books. The period ical clos ing-upand adjus t ing of all accounts in the ledger toascer tain the profi ts or losses .
banknotes. Prom issory no tes on a bankpayable to bearer on dem and .
bankrupt. A debtor who , having beenunable to pay hi s credi tors in ful l , has beenadjudged a bankrupt by the court , and has
gi ven up hi s es tate, to be realized,so far as
poss ible, for the paym en t of hi s debts .
bear. A speculator who sells for deli veryon a certain date s tocks , shares , or o ther
securi t ies which he does no t possess in the
expectat ion of be ing able to buy them at a
lower price before the delivery date arrives
and to m ake a profi t on the transact ion . Abear ,” therefore , i s one who se lls for a fal l
in price ; and a bull one who buys for a
ri se in price .
below par. Stocks , etc are said to bebe low par when the price asked for them is
lower than their face value.
berth. A s leeping-place on board ship or
240 STYL E —BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
bill. A bill of exchan is a no te addressedby one person ( the or
‘
tor ) to another ( thedebtor) asking hi m to pay a cer tain sum of
m oney, ei ther on dem and or at a Specifi edt im e, to the order of hi m self or to the personnam ed therein . (Sea DRAFT. )
f-‘ bill of parcels. L is t of art i cles purchased .
,f —bill of sale. A n instrum ent by which the
transfer of t i t le ofpersonal property is declaredand es tablished an ins trum en t in the nature
of a m or tgage for the transfer of personal
bounty . A prem ium g i ven to m anufactur
ers , pla i ters , expor ters , etc. , by the governm en t for the encouragem en t ofsom e part iculari ndus try.
Bourse. A E uropean term for StockE xchange or m oney m arket .Bradstreet ’s. The nam e of a New York
house that records the s tanding of com m erci alpeople , of trade cond i t ions , and publi shesl i terature relat ing thereto .
broker. A n agen t be tween the buyer and
the se l ler.proper ty as securi ty for a debt .bills payable. No tes i ssued and draft s
accepted by a fi rm which are to be paid .
-bills receivable. No tes and acceptancesreceived by a fi rm for which paym ent i s to be
received .
black list. A term given to prin ted l is ts ofbankrupt s , suspens ions , bi lls of sale , and
s im i lar m at ters i ssued for the private guidanceof the trad ing com m un i ty . E m ployers cir
culate black l i s ts of undesirable workm en to
preven t their obtaining em ploym en t ; trades
unions circulate black l i s t s of em ployers whohire non-union labor or for o ther unfai r
m ethods . A lis t of goods union m en m us t
no t buy.
board of trade. A n assoc iation of businessm en to prom o te com m on in teres ts .
bona fide. I n good fai th .
brokerage. A charge of so m uch per cen t . ,or so m uch per share , m ade by brokers fortransact ing business for their princi pals ; alsocal led com m iss ion.
bucket-shop. Term given to outs ides tock-brokers and others who do no t be longto the Stock E xchange , m any of whom t rapthe unwary and defraud them of their capi talby m eans of circulars or advert isem en t s
p t ing to show how $5 or $ 1 0 can be
m a e to produce Sroo or m ore wi thin a fewdays .
—bull. A person who tries to raise the
se ll i ng price of s tocks bough t at a lower fi gure.
h bullion. Go ld or s i lver in bars , dus t , or
groups ( the term groups m eans old coins,
m edals, or sm al l pieces ) . The word bullion
i s also frequent ly used to deno te coined go ldand silver when considered in the m as s and
value by weight“Thy-law. A private law or order m ade by
a soci ety, corporat ion , or com pany in
con trad is t inct ion to the law of the land .
bond. A deed by whi ch a person or com
pany i s bound to pay a sum of m oney at a
fi xed t im e or under certai n condi t ions .R ai lways and o ther public com panies issuebonds in return for m oney len t them .
bonded goods. Im por ted goods liable to
duty, which are depos i ted in a Governm en t
or bonded warehouse unt i l the duty Uponthem has been paid . Such goods are said
to be in bond,
a bond having been s igned
on behalf Of the owners that the duty Wi l l bepai d when the goods are received for
consum pt ion .
bonus. An extra dividend given to shareho lders when the profi t s m ade are far abovethe usual average. Also a periodi cal addi t ionm ade to li fe insurance po licies out of the
general profi ts of the com pany .
f book debts. Unpaid accounts s tanding inthe books . They are usually classed as good ,
doubtful , or bad according to expectat ion of
paym en t .
call. A Stock E xchange term m eaningthat by paying down so m uch per cent . the
op t ion is g iven of buying s tock at a fi xed pri ceon a certain day.
call m oney. Money len t by bankers ando thers at an agreed rate of interes t for
repaym en t at a m om en t’
s no t ice .
capi tal. The m oney inves ted in thebusm ess ; that i s , the am oun t of m oney used
to com m ence and carry on the concern .
” card-system . A m ethod of keeping ao
coun t s and reco rds , arranged generallyaccording to som e alphabe t i cal device .
carat. The twen ty-four th part of the
wei ght of any pi eces of pure gold , pure go ldbeing divi ded into an im aginary s tandardof twenty
-four carats . So m any carat s
fine m eans that so m any parts out of the
twenty-four are pure go ld . Thus, 5, 9 , I 2 ,
1 5, 1 8, 2 0 ,2 2
,and 24 carat gold .
cash. R eady m oney , bills , drafts, bonds ,and all readi nego t iable paper but m ore
com m on ly the term i s lim i ted to coin or
bankno tes .
“cash bonus. I n life insurance a share of
the profi ts paid the insured in cash ins tead
of applied to the reduct ion of prem ium .
” caveat em ptor l Let the buyer beware lcent. An abbreviation of centum a hun
dred . Used to deno te a certain rate or rat io ,
be ing so m uch per hundred .
‘ Thus , fi ve percent . im plies the proport ion of fi ve to every1 00 .
cental. One hundred pounds .
f certifi ed check. I f reques ted a bank s igns
and dates the check drawn on i t,thus cer t ifying
i ts genuineness .
J Cham ber of Com m erce. A n associat ion o f
com m erC I al m en for the purpose of pro tect ingtrade in teres ts .
An abbreviat ion of E xchange .
-chattel m ortgage. A wri t ten contrac t bywhi ch personal proper ty is pledged to secure
paym en t of a debt .cheap m oney . Money is said to be
cheap when the float ing supply of go ld isplen t ifu l and loans on m arketable securi t i es
are eas i ly obtainable at a low rate of in teres t .
check. A wri t ten order on a banker for thepaym en t of m oney on dem and .
circulating m edium . The recognized m ean s
of m aki ng paym ent s ; that i s , bank no tes ,checks , bi lls of exchange , prom issory no tes ,
go ld ,si lver, etc.
cipher. A secret kind ofwri t ing . Govern
m en t telegram s, the despatches of com panies
and large com m ercial houses are often wri t tenin cipher to insure secrecy .
clearance. (A Cus tom House term in use
i n the m ercanti le m arine,s ignifying a perm i t
from the Custom House for a ship to unloadher cargo or to depart from the port .
242 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
Check
New You ,
NO R TH E R N NATIONA L B A NK
PAY TO THE
OR DE R OF
Draft
PAY TO THEOR DE R OF
VA LUE R E C E IVE D AND CHA R GE TO THE Account or
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L ISH 243
clients. Persons who em ploy lawyers. I n
com m erce the cus tom ers of a concern .
—closing prices. I n newspaper reports the
closm g prices of s tock and shares refer to
transact ions which have taken place be tweenhours of three and four, after the offi cial
8collateral security. Any secondary or
i nd irec t securi ty ; generally applied to the
depos i t of docum en t s conveying a righ t to
property, so that they m ay be avai lable in theeven t of defaul t in the repaym ent of a loan ,
or the fai lure of som e o ther Obligat ion . Abi ll ofsale, for ins tance , is a col lateral securi ty,as i t i s given as a guaran ty for the repaym en t
Of a loan also docum ent bi lls , de liveryOrders
,t i t le deeds , m ortgages , bonds , e tc . ,
when they are depos i ted to insure the
perform ance Of an Obligation .
- com m on law. Long es tablished custom s
accepted as the law of the land .
__com m on stock. This usually form s partof the ord inary s tock , and i s en t i t led to a
dividend after the preferred s tock .confi rm ation note. A s li p at tached to or
sent wi th an order or contract , so that the
receiver m ay s ign i t as an acknowledgm ent
that he has rece ived and confirm s i t .
0. 0 . D. Goods to be paid for when
consign. To forward goods from one
person or place to ano ther .
consignee.The party to whom goods are
sent or consi gned .
Goodconsignm
ent. s sent to a person for
sale. e term is also used by railwaycom panies when asking for ins truct ions as
to the disposal of goods lying at their
s tat ions .
consolidated. A term applied to various
funds bearing the sam e or d ifferent rates of
interes t ,which have been conso lidated into onecom m on debt .consul. A public offi cer appointed by a
governm ent to reside in a forei gn country in
order to faci li tate and pro tect the com m ercial
in teres t s be tween hi s own country and that
to which he has been sent .
contraband. Ar t icles forbidden to be
exported or im ported .
contract. A bargain ; to m ake an
agreem ent .
convertible securi ties. Term given to those
docum ents which can be read i ly converted
into m oney.
t. The so le legal right to prin t orpubl i sh anything that be longs to the author
or hi s assigns.
corner. To Obtain suffi cient contro l of anarti cle of com m erce or shares of s tock so as to
be able to fi x the se lli ng price at wi ll .coupon. A n interes t-bearing s li p at tached
to a bond to be cut 0 6 and given up whenpaid.
credentials. Docum en t of referenceshowing the s tand ing or the authori ty of a
—credi t in banking. An en try in a banker’sbooks showing that a custom er has m ade a
pos i t wi th the bank.in bookkeem . An entry showing
that a person nam ed has a right to dem andsom ething, but no t necessar i ly m oney.
~ credi t incom m erce. A bargain agreed uponbe tween two parti es,one of whom
,the se ller,
hands over certain goods to the o ther, thebuyer, cond i t ional ly Upon rece iving his prom i se to pay wi thin a certain defin i te t im e .
The se l ler becom es the credi tor,and the buyer
the debtor unt i l the m oney is paid ; if theam ount i s no t paid then due the form er hasa right of act ion agains t the lat ter , which hecan at once put in force.
credi tor. A person to whom ano ther isin debt .credi t note.
‘ A docum ent s im ilar i n formto an invoice , but usually printed in red
,sen t
“
to a person s tat ing that his accoun t is cred i tedwith the am oun t nam ed .
Curb. A n irregular Stock E xchange m arketheld in the s tree t .
~ currency. A term applied to the lawfulco ins and o ther recognized m eans Of m akingpaym ent s that pass current or circulate .
-current account. I n banking a curren taccoun t i s where a person put s m oney ina bank to be wi thdrawn or added to .
M d” books. Those in which the bus ines stransact ions of the day are en tered .
day to day loans. Sum s of m oney borrowed at a fi xed rate of in teres t for a s ingleday. They m ay be renewed from day to dayif borrower and lender agree .
davaci grace. Days (usually three ) allowedfor paym en t of a no te or bill of exchangeafter i t falls due.
—days’sight. Days after the s ight of a
bi ll , i . e . , after i t has been presented foraccep tance.
dear m oney. Money i s said to be dearwhen the float ing supply of go ld is scarce
and advances canno t be ob tained even on
good secur i t ies excep t at a high rate Of in teres towing to a pressure in the m oney m arket or ahigh bank rate .
debi t note. When a fi rm returns good sowm g to som e im perfect ion
,or correct s an
overcharge , i t i s usual to send a debi tno te.
d ecim al system . Decim al sys tem i s a sys
tem by which weights , m easures, m oney, etc. ,
are calculated by decim al d ivision .
deed. A legal transact ion or the wri t tendocum ent under hand and seal as evidence ofsuch transaction.
deed of assignm ent. A deed by which an
inso lvent debtor gives up h is property for thebenefi t of cred i tors .de facto. Actual ; in fact ; in real i ty .
defendant. A party agains t whom an
act ion i s brou t .
dem and (trait. A bi l l Of exchange payableon dem and
,i . e . ,payable as soon as presen ted .
dem urrage. The ho ld ing of a vessel or car
by a sh i pper longer than the t im e allowed forloading or unloading.
depreciation. A s tock-taking term used inbookkeeping when an allowance i s m ade forthe wear and tear ofsuch asse t s as m achinery ,tools , fi xtures, furni ture, utensi ls , and o ther
re ui si tes necessary to carry on business .
m i t. An allowance m ade on a bill orany o ther debt no t yet becom e due in
cons iderat ion of present paym ent . Tradeor ser ies di scount s m ay not be added andtaken as one d iscount , as each m us t becom puted on a different base . The fi rs tdiscount ( 1 5 i s com puted on and deductedfrom the face of the bi ll . The second ( t o
244 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NG L I SH
Invoice
To insure prom pt at t ent ion . all com m uni cat ions should be addressed t o t he House .
Any claim for allowance on Paper m us t be present ed before pr int ing
on general Md se . wi t h in t en days from receipt of goods .
New York OCT" 1 ,
Hen r y L egga t
Bought ofTHE THOMAS PAPER COP aperManufacturers (9 Dealers inW illSupplies
39 1 F E DE R A L STR E ET
CaseR eam s e and VVe lght . P r i ce .
Receipt
New York May 22 ,
R ece ived of Th oma s Pape r CO .
F i f t y r eam s wh i t e pape r NO . 6
No ,1 0 Har o l d Templ e
246 STYL E -BOOK or BUSINESS ENGLISH
i s com puted on and deducted from the fi rs trem ainder ; the third (5 on the secondrem ainder . Cont inue in this succession i fthere be m ore than three d i scoun t s in theser ies . The last rem ainder of a series i s the
proceeds of the bill .Il lus trat ion B i ll 81 0 0 1 5 $ 85 $ 8.50
$ 76.50 $ 3.83 $ 72 .67, net cos t of bi l l .—~discount abill. To obtain m oney for a bi llbefore i t is due
,interes t be ing charged for the
accom m odat ion .
dishonor. When the drawee refuses to
accept a bi ll or an acceptor faI ls to pay i twhen due the bi l l i s said to be di shonored .
dock. The water space be tween two p iersor wharfs .
double entry. That m ode of bookkeepingI n whi ch two en tr i es are m ade of everytransact i on in order that the one entry m aycheck the o ther.
draft. An order by which m oney i s drawnfrom a bank ; a bi ll of exchange.
drawee. The person upon whom a bi ll isdrawer. The person who draws a bill upon
ano ther.
— dry dock. Used for the repair of shi pswhich are adm i t ted at high water and leftdry after the water has been rem oved .
duties. Taxes on m erchand ise, m anu
factures , raw m aterial , e tc. pass ing throughthe cus tom house
,levied by the Governm ent
as a revenue for the country.
endorse. To s ign one'
s nam e on the backof a bi ll of exchange, prom i ssory no te
,check ,
warrant,delivery order
, etc.
endorsee. The party to whom a bi l l ,deli v order
, warran t , e tc . i s transferred
by en orsem ent , thus enabling him to dealwi th the docum ent as if i t were m ade to hi sorder when fi rs t issued.
endorse abill. To endorse a bi l l i s to wri teone
’
3 nam e across the back , thereby engagingto pay i t when due should i t be d ishonoredby the drawee .
endorsem ent. Anything wri t ten upon the
back of docum ent s ; or, in i t s general sense ,wr i t ing one
’
5 nam e upon the back of bills ofexchange, warrants etc. ,
so that they m ay bepai d to or co llected by o ther part ies .endorser. A person who endorses a bil l oflading, bi ll of exchange, prom i ssory no te
,
check , warrant , delivery order, etc.
endowm ent. A fixed sum of m oneypayable at the end of a certain num ber of
years in the event of a person’
s surviving the
g iven t im e.
executor. A person appoin ted by a tes tatorto see that hi s will i s carried into efi ect .F em inine form
, Executrix.
exportation. The act ofsend ing goods outof one country into another.
exporters. Those who send goods to foreignm arkets.
value. The value pri nted on the faceof bonds , shares, certifi cates , etc.
facsim ile. An exact 00 ?PYfailure. The suspens ion of
(paym ents by
those unable to m eetpe
the dem an 5 m ade uponthem .
fi le. A contrivance on which papers are
financier. One who supplies capi tal for
hand. Term used in m easuring the height
of horses— four inches.hogshead. A term form erly em ployed to
deno te a m easure of capaci ty, but now a caskor barrel of 63 gallons.horse-power. The s tandard for es t im at ing
the power of an engine ; the force required to
raise pounds one foo t per m inute.
im plied. Understood though not Spokenor wri t ten .
im porters. Those who im por t good s .
im ports. A term for goods brought in tothe country from som e o ther nat ion or place .
indem ni ty. The m aking-good of loss
a com mercial undertaking one who m anages
the finances of a concern .
fi rst-class paper. A phrase given to billsdraft s
,prom issory no tes , etc. ,
which bear thenam es of well-known houses of fi nanciers as
acceptors or endorsers .
first hand. A term appl ied to goods
obtained direct from the m ak er, im porter, orwholesale dealer .
floating capi tal. The avai lable sum actu
al ly at com m and for carrying on business ,including m oney not perm anent ly inves ted ,
but tem porari ly em ployed in m arketablefloating policy. A po l icy for a cer tain
am oun t , insuring good s which are no t all in
one place, but are spread over a cer tain area
so that the.
are insured , e i ther wholly or in
part , accot g to their aggregate value .
f. o. I) . See F R EE on BOARD .foreclose. To take actual pos session of the
thing m ortgaged wi th a view of securingrepaym ent of the loan.
foreign. I n rai lroad language a term
des ignat ing a rai lroad operated by another
com pany though in the sam e country .
v—~foreign billszofjexchange. B ills ofexchangedrawn i n one coun try and payable in another .
forgery. The fraudulent m aking or al terat ion of a docum ent to the di sadvan tage of
another person .
forwarding agents. Persons who collect ,forward, and deliver goods .
franc. The F rench s tandard uni t ofm oney
” free on board. When goods are so ldf. o . b. ” i t m eans that the se ller puts them
on board a car or ship free of expense to thebuyer.—free bade. Trade wi th o ther countries
unres tricted by tariff or cus tom s .
gi lt-edged securities. Securi ties of the
highes t class .
gold bonds. Bonds payable in go ld coin,
or at a fi xed rate of exchange .
good-will. The right to take up an es tablished trade or bus iness , wi th the advantages
accruing to i t , under an agreem ent from the
outgoing owner .
guaranty. A condi t ional or secondaryrespons ibi l i ty taken by a person on ano ther
’
s
account,whereby he engages to fulfi l certain
engagem ents , such as the paym ent of m oneyin case the party liable fails to do so .
guinea. A go ld co in form er ly current in
E ngland . Term now used to des ignate a
sum of twenty-one shill ings ; about 85.
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINESS E NGLISH 247
injunction. An order from a court havingthe object of prevent ing an act from be inginsolvent. The s tate of being unable to
pay the who le ofone ’
s debt s .
tem al revenue. Taxes im posed by the
S. Governm ent on dom es t ic ar t icles .
in transi t. ° Pass ing from one place to
ano ther.
intrinsic value. The real, no t the apparen t ,value. The in trins ic value of a watch is the
worth of the go ld in i t .inventory. A lis t of goods , fi xtures , etc.
investm ent. Money put out at in teres t in
som e fund or com pany, or in the purchase of
houses,land
, or o ther proper ty .
invoice. A n account specifying part icularsas to the quant i ty, qual i ty, and price of good sso ld to ano ther
,the conten t s of each package ,
and the charges upon them ,e tc . An invo i ce
is usual ly sent by a m anufacturer to the m er
chant at the t im e the goods leave the factory ,
and a copy of i t is sen t by the m erchan t to hi s
cus tom er as soon as the goods are shipped .
I . O. U. A m em orandum acknowledg inga debt cons is t ing of these three le t ters , theam ount of the debt , the date , and the s ignatureof the debtor . Thus
New York,March I
,1 90 6 .
I . O. U . sroo (One HundredMr . J. Bell
Dollars ) .F R A NK SM ITH .
joint account. Two or m ore fi rm s in the
sam e line of bus iness som e t im es t rade uponjo int accoun t wi th s om e rwart icular art icle inwhich they
mm The book containing an accoun t
of each day’
s transact ions , now used only forthe en try of such transact ions as canno t be
en tered in the Purchases , Sales, or Cash Books .
junior partner. E i ther the younges t
m em ber ofa fi rm or the las t to en ter.
knot. Naut ical m i le of yards , or
one-s ixt ieth of a degree .
lease. A docum en t re lat ing to the let t ingof offi ces , houses , bui ldings , land , or goods .
ledger. The principal book of account s
am ong m erchants in which the entries from
all
1
o ther books are sum m arized .
Prc left to one by wi ll.J egal
mtender. The var ious kinds of m oney
gold s i lver, and paper— wi th which a debtcan be lawfully paid.
liabilities. A term , used in com m erce to
deno te the whole am ount of the debts that aperson owes , and also any o thers that are
l ikely to_arise from ibusiness re s pons ibi l i t i es .
lien. A legal claim on proper ty ; a
securi ty for a debt or charge.
lieu. I n place of.
lim ited, When appearing at the end of a
firm’
s nam e i t m eans that the fi rm consi s t s
of general and special par tners , the generalpartners m anag ing the business and the
special partner cont ribut ing ca i tal . Thespecial partner’s liabi li ty for the ebts of the
firm is lim i ted to the am ount of his capi tal inthe fi rm .
liquidation. A course of set t lem ent or
clos ing-up of business transact ions of a
00 11 00 11 1 0
x7—i 400 )
long . A t erm equivalent to the m arketexpress ion bul l . Ins t ead of calling a
person who ho ld s s tock for a rise a bul l hei s said to be long of s tock .
longshorem en. Men em ployed about piersto load and unload vessels .
-m inute-book. The book containing the
m inutes or notes of a m ee t ing .
m onopolize. To obtain contro l of a
com m od i ty so as to be the so le se ller of i t .m utual life insurance com pany. A com
pany in which there are no shareho lders,the
profi t s belonging to the insured and divided
am ong them , e i ther by cash paym en t s ,reduct ions of prem ium s
,or by period ical
addi t ions to the am ount s of the po l icies .
octavo. A book or shee t of a book havinge ight leaves to the shee t . Contracted form ,
w omcial receiver. A person appo inted bya court to m anage and d is tribute an insolvent ’ses tate.
ohm . A s tandard uni t of electricalres i s tance .
“w
on dem and. A term used on bil ls of
exchange when payable on presentat ion .
-open account. A n account no t subject toset t lem en t at a fi xed date.
m andam us. A court order com pel l ing a
person to act .
m argin. A depos i t of m oney or securi t ies
g iven a broker by his cl ient in orderhim agains t loss in speculat ive transact ions onhis account.
m ark. G erm an s tandard uni t of m oneyaboutm aturi ty. The date upon which bills of
exchange, prom issory no tes,etc. , fal l due and
are payable .
m ercantile agency. A concern that
covers and se lls business inform at ion tosubscr ibers .
-m etric system . A sys tem of weight s andm easures
,the original factors of which are
derived from the m eter. The m eter i s the
uni t in m easure of length the are in m easure
of surface ; the l i ter in m easure of capaci tyand the gram the uni t ofweigh ts . A m eter in
the Uni ted States is inches.
m i leage. The nam e gi ven to fees paid fortravel or for the conveyance of goods by the
w nationall debt. The ent ire debt of the
Uni ted States , cons is t ing of m oney which the
G overnm ent has borrowed from privateindividuals .
negotiable docum ents. Ins trum ents which ,when transferred from one person to ano ther ,convey to the possessor a legal right to
property.
net. The am oun t of any charge or cos t
after all deduct ions . The actual weight of
good s them se lves wi thout reckoning the
package in which they are enclosed , and
after al lowing for _was te , turn of the scale ,e tc.- notary public. An authorized person whoat tes ts cer tain docum ent s and wri t ings to
prove their validi ty.
“ note of hand. A docum ent prom i s ingpaym ent of a sum of m oney nam ed at a
par t icular date .
248 STYL E -BOOK OF
outlaw. R efer to a debt or no te wh ich hasbecom e overdue in paym ent and cannot
gbe
enforced by law.
outsiders. The puolic or those who dependfor their judgm en t of the value of s tocks uponthe general Si tuat ion .
'
overdraw. To rece ive from the bank m ore
m oney than a person i s en t i t led to .
par. F ace value . Stocks at a hundred
per cent .
Brooklyn ,N.Y . ,Jan. I , 1 9 1 0 .
We, Henry Sm i th Wi lliam Chase, have
this day form ed a partnership to conduct a
re tai l hardware busm ess in the Ci ty of NewYork for a per iod of fi ve years under the fi rm
nam e of Sm i th Chase . Our capi tal s tocki s Ten Thousand Do llars , of whi ch each has
paid in F ive Thousand Do llars . We have
agreed equally to share all profi ts and losses .
HENRY SM ITH .
WI LL I AM CHASE .m party. Singular noun . I II law e i t her
s ingular or plural.—par value. The face value of securi t ies .
paper profi ts. A balance on brokers ’ booksin favor of a speculator .
passport. A n offi cial perm iss ion to enter
or leave a country.
payee. The person or fi rm to whompaym ent i s directed to be m ade .
ov er. One who pays .
penny. E ng l i sh m oney ; equal to two
cent s in Uni ted States m oney .
per annum . By the year.
per cent. By the hundred .
per contra. A term used in bookkeepingm eaning on the o ther Side.
per diem . By the day.
per se. Cons idered by i tse lf.peri shable goods. Such property, whi ch ,
ifno t de livered qui ckly, would becom e Spo i led .
\_personal property. Property no t real e state .
personalty. Movable property ; no t reales tate.
plaintiff. A com plainant in a cour t of law.
One who ins t i tutes a law-sui t agains t ano ther.
postdate. To date a docum ent after thereal day.
“post m eridian. Wri t ten p. m . afternoon .
post m ortem . After death.
poste restante. A F rench phrase wri t tenon let ters and parce ls sent through the m ai lwhen they are to rem ain at the pos t-offi ceunt i l cal led for .
pound sterling. E nglish m oney ; equal toin Uni ted States m oney .
power ofattorney. A docum ent em powering one person to act for another.
“ prim a facie. A t the firs t appearance ;apparen t ly.
preferred stock. Shares having preferenceover com m on shares in paym en t of dividends .
prepaid. Pai d before due or in advance .
-price-li8t. A l is t or pam phlet issued bym erchan ts to their cus tom ers showing thevarious art icles dealt in .
principal. The head of a bus iness houseor of a departm ent ; m oney at interes t
capi tal .principle. A rule of conduct or m ethod ofprocedure.probate. To prove a wi ll.pro form a. A m at ter of form .
BUSINE SS E NG L ISH
prom issory] note. A wri t ten prom ise to pay .
pro wta. A d i vis ion by proport ion .
prowso. A prowsion or cond i tion in a deedor o ther docum ent .
proxim o. The com ing m on th .
proxy. Author i ty to act for ano ther .
quasi . Appear ing as if no t rully genuineno t qui te, used as a prefi x and joined to the following word by a hyphen as
, quas i-contract
a quas i-offi cial ; a quas i-unders tand ing .
quid pro quo. One thing for ano ther ; a
m utual cons i derat ion in business,such as
givm g a buyer som e advantage in con
Si derat ion of h i s m aking a concess ion.
quintal. E qual to pounds .quorum . The legal num ber ofa com m i t tee
or board of d irectors to ho ld a m eet ing andtransac t bus iness .
quotation. The pr ice and term s uponwhi ch a person is wi ll ing to enter an order. I ti s usual for m erchan t s and others beforeplacing an order to send out inquiries forart icles they wish to buy, and the prices theyreceive are term ed quotat ions .
raw m aterials. Metals , ores, products , etc. ,
i n the ir natural s tate before m anufacture.
_z real estate. L and including whatever i sm ade part of or at tached to i t by nature or
m an,as trees
,water
, m inerals,houses and
o ther perm anen t s tructures °
an estate or
in teres t in land at leas t for life .
ream ; A ream of wri t ing-paper cons is t sof 2 0 qui res , of 24 shee t s each or 480 shee t sin all. A short ream has 480 Shee ts, a longream 50 0 or m ore a prin ter’s ream contain szrl quires (5 i 6 Shee t s ) , the surplus to m ake upfor was te.
rebate. Term used by bankers and o thersfor an allowance m ade by them to part iestaking up bills of exchange before they are
due ; also for any return of di scounts m adeby bi ll-brokers and bankers when di scoun tedbi lls are taken back again,
previous to theirarriving at m aturi ty, by the parti es whoplaced them under di sco un t . Used in
railroad business to favor a few shi ppers at
the expense of o thers by giving special rebatein m at ters of shipping.
referee. To whom som e m at ter in disputeis referred for deci s ion .
rem i ttance. A sum of m oney sen t fromone person to ano ther , whether by check
,
draft,postage s tam ps, or postal orders
, etc.
When bi lls are drawn upon o thers and eh
dorsed over to a m erchant him se lf they are
called drafts .
replevin. An act ion taken to recover
good s im properly obtained .
retainer. A fee paid to a lawyer to defenda case .
ring . A com bination ofcapi tal is ts , form ed
for the purpose of m anipulat ing certain
produce (or securi ti es ) to increase the se llingvalue.
— 1'
olling stock. E ngines , carriages , wagons ,trucks
,e tc .
,of a carrying com pany.
royalty , Money paid for working a m ine
to the owners of the land for the pri vuege of
working the ore,coal
,e tc. a paym en t m ad e
to a patentee for the use ofh is patent . Moneypaid by a publisher to an author for the
privnege o f publ i shing and selling his book ,general ly ten per cent . of se lling price of the
book .
250 STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS ENGLISH
salvage. Money paid to E those who
assis t in saving a ship or goods from the
dangers of the sea ; any property saved from
des truct ion .’ 2
sci licet. To wi t ; nam ely ; in legal papersabbreviated to ss.
shares. The proport ion of interes t in any
undertaking or com pany. Shareho lders havecert ifi cates granted them showing the num berof shares they hold and ent i t ling them to
part icipate in the profi ts .
shi lling. E nglish m oneyShip
’s clearance. Upon the arrival of a
vesse l in por t the captain ,before the hatches
are opened or the bulk broken ,m akes known
his arrival by lodging at the Cus tom House a
report of his ship,her cargo and crew,
uponthe prescribed form ,
when,on paym ent of the
tonnage dues , e tc. ,perm ission i s g iven him to
unload . A n outward-bound vesse l also ,
having loaded her cargo , m us t obtainperm iss ion before sail ing.
ship’s m anifest. A statem ent m ade out by
the captain containing a descript ion of the
ship, cargo , crew,
and the ports ofdes t inat ion .
sic. So ; thus ; aword inserted in bracke t safter an erroneous or as tonishing quo ted
s tatem ent to indicate that the quo tat ion i s a
li teral transcript .silent partners. Those who inves t the ir
m oney in bus iness but do not take any act ive
part in the work or appear by nam e as m em
ers of the fi rm . The are l iable in their
whole property for the ehfs of the fi rm s
sine die. R efers to adjournm ent wi thout
fi xing the day of the next m eet ing .
sine qua non. Wi thout which ,no .
Meaning that unless a certain cond i t ion be
com pl ied wi th no agreem en t can be reached .
sinking-fund. A part of the profi t s set
gs
Lde by com panies for ext inguishing a
e t .
solvency. The s tate ofbeing able to pay alldebts.solvent. A person is solvent when able to
pay all debts .
sovereign. A Bri t ish gold co in equal toone pound s terl ing 84 .86l .se. Abbreviat ion of scilici t : to Wi t
nam ely.
Abbreviat ion for s team ship.v
statem ent of account Account periodical lyrendered , showing the am oun t s due by one
person or fi rm to ano ther . G eneral ly a s tate
m en t contains only the dates and am ount s
ofeach invoice sen t in s ince the las t se t t lem ent .
statistics; Co llect ions of facts and fi gures
relat ing to the s tate of trade or the cond i t ions
ofa people or a class .
-* statute'0 f lim i tations A law which fi xes
the periods during wh ich a debt can berecovered, or a person punished for a
cr im e .
steerage. A n apartm ent in the forepartof a Ship for the use of third-class passengers .
sterling. The denom i nat ion given to
E nglish m oney— pounds , Shi l lings , and pence .
stet. When an en try or a fi gure has beencrossed out by m is take the term
“s tet
”
indicates that i t should rem ain as i t s tood
original ly. A l ine of dots is wr i t ten under
the words crossed out, m eaning that no
at tent ion should be paid to the cross ing-out .
stevedores. E xperienced m en who superi ntend the stowage of a ship’s cargo ,
which ,
usually be ing of a m ixed nature, requires careI n s towing .
stewards. The m anagers of the provi s iondepartm ent on board ship ; those who havecharge of es tates as represent ing the owners .
Stock Exchange. A private ins t i tut ion
devo ted exclus ively to dealings in s tocks and
value received. A term used upon bi llsof exchange when the drawee has received
goods or m oney.
vendor. A person on whose behalf a salei s m ade
, or the person who i s him se lf the seller .
verbatim . Word for word
voucher. A ny docum en t in proof of the
paym en t or receipt of m oney or of o ther
fi nancial transact ions .
watering stock. TO enlarge the num ber ofShares of a com pany wi thout a proport ionateincrease of paid-ih capi tal as
,to water ,
rai lroad or telegraph s tock .
m ay-bill. A docum ent issued con taininga l is t ofpassengers or goods carn'
ed byu
a publiccom pany .
street. Means Wal l Street , the center of
fi nancial transact ions .
suspense account. A n account used by
m erchants,bankers
,and o thers , wherein
sundry i tem s are kep t,wh ich ,
owing to death ,
overs igh t , po s tal irregulari t ies , or want of
detai l or inform at ion at the t im e of pos t ing ,
canno t be placed to their regular account s in
the books .
suspension of paym ent. Bus iness m en are
said to suspend paym en t when they cease
paying deb t s on becom ing aware that theyare insolvent .tender. A wri t ten offer to supply certain
art icles upon specifi ed term s .
ticker. A t e legraphic pr int ing m achine for
recording E xchange quotat ions , etc.
tip. 1 Private inform at ion given to another
as l ikely to yield him a profi t ifhe acts upon i t .
tun. A large cask of about four hogsheadsor 282 gal lons .
trust. Money or property held by Special lyappo in ted persons , cal led trus tees , for the
benefi t of o thers , or to be used for cer tain
purposes is said to be held in t rus t .
” Theterm i s also used for large com binat ions of
bus iness concerns which are often cal led trus ts .
w trust deed. A deed conveying property toa trus tee.
trustee. A person appo in ted by wi ll or bylaw to real ize or m anage the property of
ano ther.
underwri ter. IA person who insures ; so
cal led because he underwr i tes or subscribeshi s nam e to each po licy he i s concerned in ,
as a guaranty that,in case of loss , he wi ll
answer for all the s tock of a com pany whichi s no t subscribed for by the public.
unm erchantable. When goods are in anyway below the usual s tandard or no t in the ir
natural,sound s tate .
ultim o. The succeed ing m onth .
usury. A n excessive rate of interes t
charged to persons borrowing m oney .
unseaworthy. When,owing to her age ,
want of repair, or incom pe tency ofm as ter and
crew,etc. ,
the ship is unsafe .
INDEX
[To the s tuden t I f you do no t fi nd in this Index any topic or word thatyou m ay be looking for , consult the G lossary , pp . 239 -250 ]
AB B R E VIATIONS,
Of com m ercial t erm s , e t c . ,230-234
Of degrees and t i t les ,233-234
Of s igns and figures , 233Of the P os t Office D epart m en t
,18 1
ACCU R ACY, IMP OR TANCE O F ,93 ,
1 17
ADD R E SSE S,
C lergy ,addresses Of
,18-20
Offi cials , addresses of,15— 17
ADVE R TISE ME NTS, 56 , 57 ,
85 ,9 1 , 102
ANG L O -SAX ON ,
U se of,in let t ers
,55—57
AP P E AR ANCE S A s A F ACTO R,6
,46 ,
7 1 , 78—82
AP P L ICATION,L E TTE R S OF ,
68-86
A L P HAB E TICAL G U ID E S,202—203,
2 10- 2 1 1
B IL L OF L AD ING ,24 1
B ODY O F TH E L E TTE R, 22
B R E VITY,2—3, 55 , 130
B USINE SS E NG L ISH ,
D efin i t ion ,ix
R egent s’
exam inat ion in bus inessE ngli sh ,
168— 169
V alue of, ix ,93 , 172 ,
176
CAP ITAL IZATION ,30—34 ,
102 , 120 ,1 53
CAR DS,IND E X
,192— 193
CAR D -SYSTE M,TH E
, 193—202,205
206 , 222—227
C E NTE R ING , 80—8 1 E MP L OYE E , 6 1
CH E CKS,1 22
,240 ,
242 E NCLOSU R E S,12 1
,1 42
CHO ICE O F WO R DS I N L E TTE R S,2—3,
C IR CU LAR L E TTE R S,150, 1 53, 155
1 56
C L E R GY,
Ti t les and salutat ion s for , Catho lic ,
18—20,P ro t es tan t , 20
COD E S,TE L E G R AP H IC , 183 ,
1 85
CO INS,F O R E IG N ,
234—235
COL L E CTION O F ACCOUNTS, 144
COMME R C IAL TE R MS,AB B R E VIA
TIONS OF , 230—234
COMP L AINT,L E TTE R S OF , 1 29—137
COMP L IME NTAR Y C L OSE ,TH E
,22—23
,
106
CONDOL E NCE , L E TTE R S O F , 48
CONF ID E NTIAL INF OR MATION ,R E
Q U E STS F OR , 1 05—106
C ONG R ATU LATIONS,L E TTE R S OF , 48
C ONTR ACTIONS, 34—36
CONTR ACTS,L E TTE R S A S, 93—94 ,
1 19
CO R P OR ATIONS, TITL E S A ND SALUTATIONS F O R ,
1 4
CO R R E SP OND E NCE ,
R ev iew of, 164—17 1
Social and F r iendly , 43—49
Value of,dem on st rat ed , 73—77
C R E D IT,L E TTE R S ASK ING , 95, 96
DATE -L INE,TH E
,6—8
DAYS A ND MONTHS, CAP ITAL IZATIONOF , 36
D E BTOR S,
F our c lasses of debt ors ,The , 138
1 4 1
L e t t ers t o ,138—1 49
Out lawry of account s , 144
U se and abuse of the pos tal card ,1 44 , 1 46
D E G R E E S,AB B R E VIATIONS OF ,
233
234
D ICTATION ,1 59— 160
D ICTIONAR IE S,1 07 ,
1 1 2
D IVISIONS OF WO R DS, 55, 108—1 1 0
F IG U R E S A ND SIG NS,39 , 233
F IL ING CAB INE TS,198—200
F OL D ING ,
F o lding and insert in g the let t erSheet , 24
F OL L OW -U P CAR D -SYSTE MS,204—205
F OL L OW ~ U P L E TTE R S, 75 , 77
F OR M,
F orm for a bus iness let t er , 7
F orm for official or social let t er, 9Mat t ers Of form ,
6—42
F OR MAL ITY,
F orm al and inform al wri t ings ,47—49
252
F OR M-L E TTE R S, 1 50—153, 155—1 56
F R IE NDLY L E TTE R S, 43- 49
G E OG R AP H ICAL F IL ING ,2 12—2 13
G L OSSAR Y O F WO R DS A ND P H R ASE SUSE D I N B USINE SS,
239—250
G R E E K I N B USINE SS, 58 , 60
IND E X -G U ID E S, 194—197
IN Q U IR Y,L E TTE R S O F ,
100—1 06 , 1 12
1 15
INTR ODU CTION ,L E TTE R S OF , 50—52
INTR ODU CTOR Y ADD R E SS, 8 ,1 2—20
INVO ICE , 244 , 247
L AD IE S,TITL E S A ND SAL UTATIONS
F OR , 12—1 3 ,45
L ATIN A ND G R E E K WOR DS USE D I N
B USINE SS, 58 , 60
L E TTE R S,
Applicat ion , let t ers of,68—86
Ask ing credi t , le t t ers ,95
Cho i ce Ofwords in let t ers, 55—67
C ircu lar let t ers , 1 50—153 ,1 55- 1 56
C om plaint , let t ers of, 129— 137
C ondo lence , congratulat ion ,and
in t roduct i on , let t ers of, 48—52
Con t ract s , let t ers as , 93—94 , 1 19
D eb t ors,let t ers t o , 1 38—1 49
Diagram t o t est any let t er, A ,
58- 1 59
F o llow-up let t ers , 75 , 77
F o rm let t ers , 1 50- 1 53 , 155—156
Inquiry ,let t ers of
,1 00u 106 , 1 1 2
1 1 5
Offering business let t ers , 87—99
Ordering goods , let t ers , 1 17— 1 28Order of i t em s in ,
The , 1—2
P erfect le t t er , A ,H ow t o secure ,
157—163
P o li t eness in le t t ers , 100— 1 25,1 29
1 30 ,1 39
R es ignat ion and recom m endat ion,
le t t ers of, 1 54— 155 ,1 56
R ev iew ofcorrespondence ,1 64— 17 1
Sev en part s of a let t er , The , 6—23
Social and friendly let t ers , 43—49Twenty
-fi ve t est s for any let t er ,1 57—1 58
L E TTE R -SH E E T,TH E ,
F o lding and insert ing ,24
L OOSE -SH E E T SYSTE M OF F IL ING ,
2 18—2 19
MAR G INS,22
,46
, 75
STYL E -BOOK OF BUSINE SS E NGL ISH
MONE Y , How To TR ANSMIT, 122:
1 24
NAR R OW -COL UMN NOTE -H E AD, 88
NOTE -H E AD , TH E , I N SHOR T L E TTE R S,
2 1
NUME R ICAL FIL ING ,2 1 4—2 1 5
O F F E R ING B USINE SS,L E TTE R S, 87—99
OF F IC IAL S,
Ti t les and salut at ion s for , 1 5— 17OR DE R ,
I t em s , order of, in a le t t er , 1—2OR D E R ING G OODS,
L E TTE R S, 1 17—1 28
SAL UTATIONS, 8 , 1 2—20 , 44 , 129— 130 ,
152, 233—234
SE NTE NCE S,
B rev i ty in ,2—3
B roken sent ences , 103, 1 2 1
SHANNON SYSTE M OF R E COR DF IL ING , TH E ,
2 18—2 19
P AR AG R APHS,B ookkeeper ’
s paragraph , 123
B roken paragraphs , 100 , 1 02
Order Of i t em s , 1—2 ,152
Sect ional paragraphs , 104U se in i t em izing , 120 , 122
P E R , 126
P L U R ALS, 58
P OL ITE NE SS I N L E TTE R S, 1 00, 125,
129—130, 139
P OSSE SSIVE CASE , TH E , 39
P OSTAL CAR DS, U SE A ND ABUSE OF ,
1 19 , 144 ,1 46
P OST OF F ICE SE R VICE ,TH E , 1 78—182
P OSTSCR IPTS, 3, 122
P R IVATE SE CR E TAR Y, DUTIE S OF ,
172—177
P R OOF -R E AD ING , 38- 39
P UNCTUATION , 8 ,28- 29 , 44 , 1 18
R E,6 1
R E CE PTACL E S I N F IL ING ,220-22 1
R E COMME NDATION ,L E TTE R S OF , 154
R E COR D -KE E P ING A ND R E COR DF IL ING SYSTE MS, 19 1
R E G E NTS’
E X AMINATION I N B USINE SS E NG L ISH , A , 168—169
R E G ISTE R E D MAIL , 1 78
R E MITTANCE S,K INDS OF , 122,
240 ,
242
R E SIG NATION ,L E TTE R S OF , 155
R E TU R N ADD R E SS, 178
PHONOGRAPHIC WORKS.
Course in I saac Pi tm an Shorthand. Clo th , em bossed in go ld240 pp. ,
A Course of F orty L essons in the Isaac P i tm an
Syst em of Shorthand , special ly des igned for the Shorthand
Am anuens i s and adapted for use I n Busm ess Co lleges , Academ ies ,
and H igh Schoo ls . Th is work i s Offi cially used in the H igh Schoo lsof New York , Brook lyn,
and o ther large ci t ies . Also i n the
lead ing bus iness schoo ls . Special features of th i s work are
Pos it ion Wr i t ing from the B eg inn ing .
Words and Sentences in troduced in the l st Le sson .
Bus iness Le t ters in the 9 th and subsequent Lessons .
Phraseography taught from the 5th Lesson .
R eport ing Sty le taught from the B eg inn ing .
We are get t ing excellen t resul t s Wi th I saac P i tm an’
s ShortCourse in Shorthand ,
’
and we expect to save alm os t a t erm bythe use of i t . All of our shorthand t eachers praise I t h ighly .
”
E dwin A . B olger , Teacher of I saac P i tm an’
s Shorthand ,
Com m ercial H fgh School, B rooklyn,N. Y .
A Special E d i t ion of Course i s publi shed in L esson SheetF orm for the use of t eachers and schoo ls who g ive instruct ion bym ai l . E ach lesson i s pr in ted in a separate part and enclosed ina cardboard box .
Key to Course.
” Clo th , g ilt , 60C .
Key to Course.
” Lesson Shee t F orm , 600 .
Brief Course in I saac Pi tm an Shorthand. Clo th , g il t , 174 pp. ,A condensed form of Course arranged i n 2 7 L e ssonsand especially adap ted for even i ng schoo ls .
Supplem entary Exercises in Isaac Pitm an Shorthand (Part 48 pp. ,
25C . A Ser ies of G raded E xerc i ses i n ord inary type on everyrule in the syst em , spec ially com p i led and adapted for use Wi th
Course i n Isaac P i tm an Shorthand .
"
I saac Pitm an ’s 811 0e Instructor. Clo th , em bossed in go ld ,
31 3 pp. , A n E xpos i t ion of Isaac P i tm an’
s Sys t em of
Phonography . Contain ing ins truct ion for bo th beg inners and
advanced s tudent s , w. th cop ious l is t s of Phr ases and E xerc ises ,Bus iness Le t ters , etc. The general plan of the
“Instructorm akes I t equally acceptable for sell-tui t ion and for class-use.
The Shorthand Ins tructor i s also publ i shed in two part s ,as fo llows
Cogi
lplg
e Am anuensis Course. ( Part 182 pp. , clo th . g i l t .
ThglNoer
Phonographic R eporter. ( Part 1 31 pp. , clo th , g il t ,
Key to New Phonographic R eporter.” L esson Sheet F orm , 25C .
Key to Shorthand Instructor,” 5OC . : clo th . 600 . Contains a
Shor thand and L onghand Key to all the E xerci ses , and furnishes
Answer s to the R evi ew Q uest ions .
Pi tm an’s Shorthand Wri ting Exercises and Exam ination Tests.
Clo th , g i l t , 220 pp. , 600 . Th i s work contains exhaus t ive claSSIfi edl is t s of words i llus trat ive of every rule in the sys tem , and over
1 00 graduated sentence exercises in ord inary pr int for wri t ing
or d-ctat ion pract i ce . NO word i s introduced before the rulegovern ing i t has been m as tered by the learner . B r i ef guidancei s g iven at the head of sect ions , and there are exerm ses on upwardand downward sh also special exerc i ses on the Contract ions .
Key to Shorthand Wri ting Exercises.” I n Shorthand .
Prelim inary Instruction for the Study of Isaac Pi tm an ’s Shorthandby Correspondence. A Sim ple and extended expos i t ion of theA r t as present ed i n Course in Isaac P i tm an Shorthand ,
”
and
to be used in conjunct ion Wi th the Le sson Sheet E di t ion of th i swork. 4OC .
The Phonographic Teacher. 48 pp. , 250 . A G uide to a Pract icalAcquaintance W i th the A r t of Phonography . Threeseven hundred thousand .
Key to the Teacher. ” 200 . Of great value to the Private Studen t .Practice Letters for Beginners in Shorthand. 84 pp. , 35C . The
need of a book presen t ing d i ctat ion m at ters in the form of let tersbegui n ing Wi th the fi rs t principles and developing in harm onyWi th the t ext-books has long been fel t by pract i cal t eachers .
I t I s bel i eved that th is work m ee t s th is need i n a very sat i sfactorym anner. The Sim ple sent ences i llustrat ing the fir s t few lessonsrelat ing to consonant s , long and short vowels and gram m alogsare arranged in let ter form .
First Lessons in I saac Pi tm an Shorthand. 36 pp. , 1OC . A reprin tof the fi rs t seven lessons from
“Course in Isaac P i tm an
Shorthand .
”
The Phonographic Exercise Book. 1 00 . Made Of the best qual i t ypaper , in Single or double l ines .
Graduated Tests in I saac Pi tm an ’s Shorthand. 80 pp. , 200 . A ser ies
of revi s ionary exerc i ses , arranged on an ent i rely new plan , Wi th
the object of t est ing the s tudent ’s knowledge Of the system . Thet est s cons ist of a very carefully chosen l i st of words inordinary print , illus trat ing the Who le of the rules . form ing -a
valuable m eans of add ing t o the s tuden t’
s phonographic vocabulary . There I s a space for the learner ’s fi rs t out l i ne a s ace for
the t eacher’
s correct i on , should such be required an spacesfor the pup il to re-wr i t e the correct form .
Pitm an’s Graded Shorthand R eadings. CENTENARY E D ITIONS.
E lem entary ,Wi th Key . 83 pp. , 25C . Int erm ed iate , wi th Key ,
72 pp. , 30C . These two books contain a ser ies of read in gs deal ingW i th the principles of P i tm an
’
s Shorthand as developed in the
Shorthand I nstructor.
Pitm an ’s Shorthand R eading Lessons, No. 1 . 48 pp. , 20C . F or use
W i th the Teacher ,” Manual,
”
or Ins tructor , and furni shingreadi ng pract i ce and word-bui ld ing from the beg inn ing .
K ey to Shorthand R eading L essons , No . 1 , in ordi nary type. 60 .
Pi tm an ’s Shorthand R eading Lessons, No. 2. 61 pp. , 25C .
K ey to Shorthand R ead ing L essons , No. 2, in ordi nary type. 60 .
Letter Dictation from the Beginning. 32 pp. , 2OC . A ser ies of
pract ical busm ess and general let ters ( in ord inary print ) basedon the pr inc iples of Isaac P i tm an Shorthand .
The Acquisi tion of Speed in Phonography . 63 pp. , 200 . I n ord inaryt ype . Contain in g chapt ers on the followm g subject s : TheSys tem
—The Im portance ofThoroughness and Method ofStudy—E lem entary Speed Pract ice—Tests of Speed— Facs im i les ofNo tes at 2 09 words and over per m inute .
How to Obtain Speed in Shorthand. 20 Contain inpract i cal advice from the lead ing congres sional , court , an
convent ion reporters .
The Gram m alogues and Contractions ofPi tm an ’s R eporter. 1 0C .
Ves t pocket Size . 1 00 .
How to Practice and Mem orize the Gram m alogues. 32 pp. , 20C .
A n extrem ely useful book for pract i ce , arranged sect ionally i n
the order in which they appear in the Course and the
Instructor.
” After the l i st of gram m alogues in each sect ion ,
there i s a series of let t ers cons i st ing ofgram m alogues for d ictat ion .
Exercises on the Gram m alogues and Contractions. 40 pp. , l im pCloth , 250 . I n Shorthand , Wi th Key . The feature of th i s usefulbook
, wh i ch i s spec ially adapted for the revi s ion of the gram
m alogues and contract ions , i s that the exercises are arranged
alphabet ically— a m ethod Which wi ll be found of great con
venience to the s tuden t . The book W i l l also be of serv ice In
provid ing sui table m at ter for d ictat ion pract ice . Com ple t e l is t sof the gram m alogues (arranged alphabet i cally and phonet ically )and contract ions (arranged alphabet ical ly) are contained at the
end of the book.The Phonographic Phrase Book. 88 pp.
, 40a. cloth , 50C . Con
tain i ng above useful phrases in Phonography , Wi th Keyand an exercise occupying 43 pages , contain ing all the phrasesas they occur in the book .
Isaac Pitm an’s Shorthand Dictionary. 3327 pp. . clo th ,
L ibrary E d i t ion ,
”
roan , g i lt , colored edges , Cent enaryE d it ion , R evised and E nlarged , contain ing the Shorthand
R epor t ing Out l ines , beaut ifully pr in t ed from engraved characters ,of over words and geographical nam es , Wi th parallel Keyin ord inary t ype . Also a com plete l ist of G ram m alogues and
Contracted Words alphabet ically arranged . The m os t com
prehensive Shorthand D ict ionary publi shed . Specim en pages free .
An exceedingly valuable work .— N. Y. Sun.
Pocket ShorthandDictionary . 224 pp. , cloth , 75C F rench m orocco ,
g i l t , Size 3 x 41 m . ,Con tains over words , Wi th
their shorthand characters , and a com plete l i s t of G ram m aloguesand Contract ions . A sm all
, handy work, thoroughly Up-to-date ,
and beaut ifully engraved .
Cum ulative Speller and Shorthand Vocabulary. 1 45 pp. . 0 10 th , g i l t .500 . Adop ted by the New York Board of E ducat ion . F or
further part i culars 0/ thi s work , see page 1 2.
The R eporter’s Assi stant. 1 82 pp. . 500 cloth , 600 . A Key to
the R ead ing of the R eport ing Style of Phonography . All thewords in the d ict ionary, not exceed ing three consonants , werewr i t ten in Shorthand , and from this extenswe l i s t of out l ineshas been drawn all words that contain the sam e out l ine .
and
they have been claSSIfi ed accord ing to their form s . Of great aid
in read ing one’
s no tes .
Technical R eporting. 60 pp. , clo th , 600 . Com pris ingPhonographic Abbreviat ions for words and phrases com m on lym et M i ll in R eport ing Legal , Med i cal , Scient ifi c, and o ther
Technical Subject s , wi th type key .
Pitm an’s Prog essive Dictator. 220pp. cloth , g il t 85C . A Complete Manual OfDictat ion com
pr ising se lect ions oforig inal let ters
relat ing to 27 d i fferent l ines o bus iness , arranged W i th vocabu
lar ies of engraved shorthand out l ines and phrases , and the m at ter
counted for t im ing at varying rat es of speed . Th is is the lates tand bes t d ictat ion book publ ished ,
and should be in the handsof every s tudent .
J A n edit ion ofthis work , ent itled The P rogress ive Dictator ,(price is also i ssued
,wi thout the shorthand characters
, forthose schools teaching other than the I saac P i tm an system .
Pocket Dictation Books, Nos . 1 , 2, 3, and 4. Size 2 } in . x 4§ in . ,
48 pp . Price So. each . These handy d ictat ion books cons i s t of
a reprint from the keys in ord inary pr int to the speeches and
o ther m at ter which has appeared in the R eport ing Style pagesof P itm an
’
s (E ngl ish ) j ournal.Practical Business Letters in Shorthand. 64 pp . 300 . A series ofBusm es s Le t ters
,in engraved Isaac P i tm an
’
s shorthand , con
tain ing 76 let t ers on the following subject s . R ai lroad Correspondence—L ife Insurance— Banking— F ruit and ProduceR ea
ls tate, etc. A let terpress Key I S provid e d at the end of
the ook .
Business Correspondence in Shorthand, Nos. 1 . 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.
40 pp . each . 250 . each . A ser ies of valuable books contain ingactual correspondence in various branches of bus iness . E ach
book i s Keyed in ord inary t ype and the m at ter coun ted for speedpract ice in e i ther shorthand or t ypewr i t ing . Stenographers ,aft er com plet ing their s tud i es , feel the need of som e pract icalm at erial to enable them to keep up their pract i ce and at the
sam e t im e increase their speed.
L IST OF CONTENTS.
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE IN SHORTHAND,No . 1 . Subject s
t reated : R ai lroad Correspondence — L aw (G eneral ) — L aw
(Pat ent s ) —L aw (Pens ions ) —Bankm g—Stock Brokers ’— Hard
ware— Lum ber— Boo ts and Shoes— Misce l laneous— Power ofAt torney F orm , etc.
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE IN SHORTHAND , No . 2. Subject streated . R eal E state Correspondence— F i nancial— L egal and
L aw Hardware Dry Goods Insurance E lectrical Boo t sand Shoes—Lum ber— Publ i sh ing— Mi scellaneous , e tc.
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE IN SHORTHAND , NO. 3. Subject streated : A dvert ism g Correspondence— Agen ts— A i i tom obi leB icycle —B0 11er Appliance , etc.
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE IN SHORTHAND,NO. 4 . Subject s
t reat ed : Boner Appl iance Correspondence—Bookbindm gB i i ilders
’ Co l lect ions Copying Offi ce— Co t ton Desks DryGoods— Drugs , et c.
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE IN SHORTHAND,No . 5. Subject s
treated . Dry Good s Correspondence —E lec tr ical Cons truct ionE xpress— F inanc al Stand ing
— F ire Insurance— F lour and F eed—F urn iture , e tc.
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE IN SHORTHAND . No . 8. Subjectstreated G rocer ies Hardware Ho te l— Inves tm ent— LegalL ife Insurance , etc.
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE IN SHORTHAND , No . 7. Subject streated : L ife Insurance— Lum ber— Municipal— Paper and
E nvelopes— Patent s and Trade Marks— Paten t F oods— Pens ions— P ianos - Pot tery , etc.
This work i s also publ ished in the fol lowingconven ient form s
in clo th binding .
B USINESS CORRESPONDENCE IN SHORTHAND , NOS. 1 and 2, in one
vo lum e . Cloth , g i l t , 80 pp. , 000 .
BUSINESS CORRESP ONDENCE IN SHORTHAND , Nos . 3 and 4, in one
vo lum e . Cloth . 80 P11 . 600 .
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE i N SHORTHAND , Nos . 5 and 6, in one
volum e . Cloth . 80 pp. . 600 .
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE IN SHORTHAND , NOS. 1 , 2, 3, and 4 .
I n one volum e . Special Shorthand E d i t ion wi thout Type K ey .
Cloth g i lt . 88 PR , 75C .
Shorthand in the Offi ce. 130 pp. , 40C . ; cloth , 5°C .
Graduated Dictation Books. 47 pp 1 00 . each . F or acquiringSpeed i n Shorthand and Typewr i t i ng . Adapted to any sys tem .
The reading m at ter is d iv ided on a new and im proved plan .
D ivided for speeds of and 1 60 words per m inut e .
No . J.,— Pol i t ical Speeches . No . 2.—S erm ons . No . 3.
Com m ercial . No .li . —Speeches and Addresses .
Kigdcin Shorthand, to the Graduated Dictation Book, Nos. 1 and 2.
each .
Pitm an ’s Com m ercial Correspondence in Shorthand. 224 pp. . clo th ,
850 . A ser i es of m ode l busm ess let t ers in engraved Phonography .
The let ters are exam ples of the bes t bus iness s tyle of the presentday , and i n thi s respect possess im portant advantages over o therpubl icat ions of a Sim ilar character .
Com m ercial Correspondence and Com m ercial English. 272 pp. .
clo th , 85C . A Pract i cal Manual of Com m ercial Correspondence .
form ing a key to Com m ercial Correspondence in Shor thand .
”
Al l the let t ers are coun ted for Shorthand and t ypewri t ing speedpract ice , and ed i t ions are publ ished in Spanish . F rench , andG erm an
, correspond ing page for page .
Instruction in Legal Work . 40 pp. , 250 . I n ord inary type . F or
Cour t St enographers and L aw Studen t s . R eprin ted from
P i tm an’
s Twent ieth Century D ictat ion and Legal F orm s .
”
Mili tary Phrase Book. 40 pp. , 400 .
E lectrical Term s and Phrases. 50 pp. , 500 .
Pitm an’s Shorthand Writer’s Phrase Books and Guides. Clo th .
Pr1ce, each 750 . These volum es form a new seri es of booksdes igned for pract ical Shorthand wri ters engaged in specialdepartm ent s of work . They com pri se a m os t com prehens iveand exhaus t ive l ist of phrases in ord inary type , fo llowed byengraved Shor thand form s . The fol lowing volum es are nowready : E LECTRICAL AND E NGINEERING . SHIP P ING . R EALE STATE , ARCH ITECTS, AND SURVEYORS. P RINTERS’ ANDPU BL ISHERS’ . R AIL ROAD . INSURANCE . MUN ICIPAL . STOCKB ROK ING . COMMERCIAL AND L EGAL .
6
Manual of Latin Phonography. B y R ev . W. TATLOCK , SJ. A n
adap tat ion Of Isaac P i t m ai i’
s Shorthand to the Lat in language .
Clo th , gi lt ,Japanese Phonography. E ngl i sh ,
exam ples , etc. ,in Japanese .
fi i fl i fi fi ifl fi Nihon-soSokkijutsu.
E DWARD G AUNTLETT’
S adaptat ion of P i tm an’
s Shorthand to the
J apanese language ; in Japanese . Wi th Book of E xerci ses ,com plet e, pri ce
Pitm an ’s Phonography adapted to E speranto. L im p clo th , 50C .
SHORTHAND RE ADING BOOKS.
The s tudent , to increase his speed ,and to im prove h is know
ledge of Phonography , cannot read too m uch well-engraved short
hand . One advant age of s tudying the Isaac P i t m an Syst em
and one which Canno t wel l be over-es t im ated— is , that the Short
hand l iterature in that sys tem is far in excess ofall o ther sys t em s
com bined .
We would em phas ize s t i ll fur ther the wealth of literaturethe I saac P i tm an system has . These publ i shers are
cont inually issuing new works in shorthand ,and this in i t se lf
should m ake their sys t em a great force in the shorthand world .
Bus iness Journal (New York ) .We wish to repeat What we have said before w ith refer
ence to the l i t erature sent out by Isaac P i tm an Sons , and
that is, that the very extens ive l ine they furn ish is Of i t self
the highest recom m endat ion for the system . No other system
furnishes as m uch.
” — A m erican P enm an (New York) .IN THE CORRESPOND ING STYLE .
Select R eadings, NO. 1 . 48 pp. , 200 . A n ent ire ly new book ofread ings . Part ial l i s t of select i ons A R ill from the TownPum p (NATHAN IEL HAWTHORNE ) ; The H eart of London
(CHARLESD ICKENS) TheMan in B lack (OL IVER G OL DSM ITH ) ;Househo ld Supers t i t ions ( J OSEPH ADD ISON ) Caught In theQ uicksand (VI CTOR HUGO) , etc.
Select R eadings, No. 2. 48 pp., 200 . Contain ing A F i rst Night
at Sea ( R ICHARD H . DANA ) ; Niagara (D I CKENS) ; TheCand id Man (B ULWE R et c.
Mugby Junction and Other Stories. B y CHARLES D ICKENS. 500 .
clo th , 600 .
A Shorthand Birthday Book ofDickens Q uotations. I n the Correspond ing Style of P i tm an
’
s Shorthand . Clo th, g ilt , 850 . Th i s
charm ing volum e contain s favori te quotat ions from the worksof Charles D i ckens for every day in the year . Three days to a
page , W i th am ple space for b irthday entr ies . Art i s t ically print edand very tas tefully produced .
The Chim es . 127 pp., 500 . clo th
, 60C . By CHARLES D ICKENS.
8
The Battle of Life. 1 30 pp., 400 clo th , 500 . B y CHARLESD ICKENS.
The Silver Ship ofMexico. 1 32 pp. , 400 . clo th, 500 . By J . H .
INGRAHAM .The Book of Psalm s. 160 pp. , clo th, 500 .
Self-Culture. 91 pp. , clo th , 500 . By P ROF . B L ACK IE .Gugliver ’s Voyage to Lilliput. 88 pp. , 400 . clo th, 500 . B y DEANW IRT.
Tales and Sketches. 96 pp. , clo th, 500 . B y WASHINGTONIRVING ; Wi th Prin t ed Key .
Crusoe. 309 pp. , 600 . clo th , 750 . By DAN IEL DEFOE .I llustrated . Th is work is extrem ely well adapted for use as a
shorthand reader,and
,in at tract ive clo th b ind ing , form s a
handsom e pr ize volum e .
The Vicar ofWakefi eld. I llustrated . 280 pp. , 500 . clo th, 600 .
IN THE R EPORTING STYL E .Miscellaneous R eadings. 61 pp.
, 35c. cloth , g ilt , 500 . An en t i re lynew seri es of Shorthand D i ctat ion E xerm ses Wi th print ed Key ,
and the m at ter counted for t est ing Of speed in Shorthand or
Typewri t ing .
Selections from Am u'ioan Authors. 1 12 pp. , 40c . ; clo th , 50C .
Wi th Key i n ord inary t ype at the foo t of each page , and con
tain ing the following se lect ions : The Buccaneer’
s Treasure( IRVING) My E d i t ing (TWA IN ) A Venerable Im pos tor(HARTE ) The Autocrat of the Breakfas t Table (HOLMES)The Way to Wealth (F RANKL IN ) ; The Te ll-Tale Heart
(POE ) G reatness in Com m on L ife (CHANN ING ) TheStory of a Drum (HARTE ) The Process ion of L ife (HAwTHORNE ) ; A Mel t ing Story (TWA IN ) ; “The Professor at
the Breakfas t Table ”
(HOLMES) .The Cricket on the Hearth. 132 pp. , 500 . clo th , 6oc . By CHARLESD ICKENS.
Brief R eporting Notes in Shorthand. or Shorthand Dictation Exercises. 48 pp. , 250 . Wi th pr int ed Key ,
and the m at ter coun t ed and
t im ed for t est ing of Speed e i ther in Shorthand or Typewri t ing .
The Sign ofFour. 171 pp., 500 . cloth , 600 . By A . CONA‘N DOYL E .
Th i s fam ous det ect ive s tory form s a very at tract ive book Of
phonograph ic read ing .
Tales from Dickens. 1 47 pp. , 50C . cloth , 600 . Contain ing TheTuggs
’
s at R am sgat e ,
”
The B loom sbury Chr is t en ing ,” TheG reat Winglebury Duel ,” and Mr . Watk ins To t t le
,from
Sketches by Boz,form ing Vol. 5 Of P i tm an
’
s Shorthand
L ibrary .
”
I n engraved shorthand ,R eport ing Style . Wi th 17
orig inal illustrat ions and head ing .
Around the World in E ighty Days . 184 pp. , 50a ; cloth , 600 .
By JI I L E S VERNE .The Haunted Man. 104 pp. ,
cloth , g il t , 600 . By CHAS.
D ICKENS. 21 Orig inal page I llustrat ions .
Thankful Blossom . 1 05 pp. , 406 . cloth, 500 . By B RET HARTE .A Christm as Carol . 1 1 1 pp. , 400 . clo th , 500 . By CHARL ESD ICKENS.
I High Speed in Shorthand How to Attain I t. 64 pp. , 40C . Wi thtype Key .
Scenes from Pickwick. By CHARLES D ICKENS. Clo th g .lt , 260 ppW i th pen i llus trat ions by CHARL ES R ICHARDSON . Pr ice S5C .
Thi s work contain s a select ion Of the fi nest scenes and incident sfrom D ickens ’s im m ortal m as terpiece , includ ing the fo llowingThe Cri cke t Match at Muggleton The Cr icket D inner at
the Blue L ion at Muggleton E atanswi ll E lect ion Mr .
P i ckwi ck andMrs . Bardell Barde ll v. P i ckwi ck Dodsonand F ogg The Chr is tm as Dinner at D ingley De ll TheP i ckwick ians on Skat es .
”
An y ed i t i on Of P ickwi ck m ay be usedas a key to the shorthand .
TShorthand Exam inations How to Prepare for and How to PassThem . 250 .
TWon— and Lost. 25C . By J OHN TAYLOR .i The Phantom Stockm an. 32 pp. , 200 . By G UY BOOTHBY .
G leanings, Nos. 1 and 2. 48 pp . each . E ach 200 . Con tain ingreproduct ions Of no table essays by T. A . R EED and o thers , or
shorthand m at ters , wi th prin ted Key .
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 62 pp. , 200 . By WASHINGTONIRVING . With pr in ted Key at the foo t of each page .
R ip Van Winkle. 32 pp. , 200 . By WASHINGTON I RVING . Wi th
prin ted Key .
The Bible in Shorthand. Clo th, beveled boar ds , red edges , $3 ;roan
, g i l t edges , m orocco , g ilt edges , E ach s t ylehas a s ilk m arker and com es boxed . Containing the Old and
New Tes tam ent s .
The New Testam ent. 368 pp. , roan,red edges , Turkey
m orocco , g i l t edges , $2. I n an E asy R epor t ing Style OfPhonography.
The Book of Com m on Prayer. 296 pp. , roan ,red edges ,
Turkey m orocco , g i l t edges , 82. I n an E asy R eport ing StyleOf Phonography .
The Church Services (ent ire ) . 935 pp. , roan , $3 ; m orocco , $4.
I n an E asy R eport ing Sty le Of Phonography .
TCom m ercial Shorthand. 400 . A R eading and D ictat ion Book ,Wi th Introduct ion by E . A . COPE .
TYPEWRITING.
Practical Course in Touch Typewriting. By CHAS. E . SM ITH , A uthorof Cum ulat iveSpeller.
”
E leventh E d it ion , rev i sed and enlarged ,
50C . clo th , 75C . A Scient ifi cMethod ofMas t er ing the Keyboardby the Sense OfTouch . The des ign Of th is work is to teach TouchTypewr i t ing in such a way that the s tudent wi ll Operate by touch— W i ll have an abso lut e com m and of every key on the keyboard ,
and be able to s tr ik e any key m ore read i ly Wi thout look ing thanwould be the case W i th the aid Of s ight . A separate Chart , contain ing Keyboard and D iagram s print ed in five colors , on a heavydouble-calendered cardboard ,
accom panies each Copy. Con tainsspecunens Ofactual Bus iness Let ters , Legal F orm s
,Specifi cat ions ,Instruct ions for the Use Of the Tabulator , e tc . ,all prin ted i n
actual t ypewriter type . I n order ing , s tate Whether Single or
Double Keyboard E di t ion or Ol iver E d i t ion is des i red . Adoptedb the New York
,Bos ton ,
Balt im ore, Syracuse , Denver, Boards0 E ducat ion.
Touch t ypewri t ing can be m ore eas i ly and qui ckly acquired
by going from the out s ide keys towards the cent er . I t is the
1 0
COMME RCIAL COR RE SPONDENCE,
BUSINE SS ENGLISH,SPE LLING
,E tc .
Pi tm an’s Twentieth Century Business Dictation Book and Legal
Form s. 272 pp., s t in boards and cloth back
, 75C . clo th , 3(E ighth E d i t ion . ) Containing an up
-to-date co llect ion Of genuinelet ters ( in ord inary t ype ) wh ich have been used i n the t ransact ionOf actual work in large Am erican bus iness houses
,claSSifi ed under
50 dis t inct l ines Of bus iness,each se t Of let ters separate ; Legal
F orm s ; and a jud i cious se lect ion of pract ice-m at ter for generald ictat ion . Also chapters on Spell ing , Punctuat ion ,
Capi tal izat ion
,and Short Pract ical Talks W i th the Am anuens is
, e tc. Thiswork , which is the m os t com plet e dictat ion course publ ished ,
isspecially com pi led for the t eacher , the beginner , and the advanceds tuden t . A ll progressive Schoo ls , wi thout reference to the systemof Shorthand taught , should ins is t upon each student procur inga copy . E very t eacher Of Shorthand or Typewri t ing Wi ll see at
a glance the im m ense value of th i s work as a m eans by whichs tudent s m ay s tudy Am erican busin es s correspondence as i tactually i s . All m at ter counted for speed tes t ing .
A lso published in two parts , as follows
Part 1 .-Business Dictation. 1 68 pp. , s t i ff boards and clo th back ,
500 . Con tain ing fifty d is t inct l ines of bus iness .
Part 2.— Legal Form s and Miscellaneous Selections, etc. wepp. ,
s t i ff boards and clo th back , 400 .
The Student ’s Practice Book. 241 pp. , clo th , 750 . A co llect ion Of
L et ters for Acquir ing Speed in Wr i t ing Shorthand . The Student’
s
P ract ice B ook is designed t o be used by pup ils on the com plet ionOf the study of the princ iples Of s tenography ,
as present ed in
Course in I saac P itm an Shorthand or the Shorthand I ns tructor .
I t is no t in tended prim ar i ly as a dictat ion book to be used on lyby the in s tructor , but rather as a book from wh ich defi nit elessons can be ass igned by a t eacher .
Pitm an ’s Cum ulative Speller. 1 1 2 pp. , clo th , 40C . By CHARLES E .
SM ITH , Author of A P ract ical Course in Touch Typewri ting.
A m odern and pract i cal spe l ler for Com m ercial E ducat ion . A s
the t it le ind icates , the plan is cum ulat ive . E ach lesson cons is t s
OfSixteen words , the fi rs t twelve Ofwh ich are t e-spel led phonet ical ly and defin ed . The sy llabicat ion ,
pronunciat ion ,and defin i t ion
of the rem ain ing four words should be ass igned to the s tuden t ,e i ther as hom ework or seat-work . A hom ework d ict ionary ,
containing all of these special words , is included in the spellerat the end Of the fi rst hundred regular lessons . This feature Of
the work is intended to afford the s tudent a ready m eans of
acquirin the d i ct ionary habi t— a habi tf‘
so essent ial to all whotake pr i e i n turning out accurate work . Nearlv all of the wordsass igned for hom ework ar e lat er on repeated in the regular lessons ,so that the lessons review them selves and reduce to a m in im um
the necess ity ofhaving special review lessons . Th is work con tainsa special chapter on the New Spe ll in ,
together wi th t he 300words recom m ended by the Sim pl ifi ed pell ing Board ,
and i s the
only business spe ller publ ished contain ing this feat i ire .
A spec ial edi t ion of Cum ulat ive Speller is also issued witha Shorthand Vocabulary for schoo ls teaching the Isaac P . tm an
sys t em . Clo th , g i l t , 1 45 pp. , 500 . Sam ple pages of ei ther edit i on
sent on request .
The Cum ulat ive Spel ler appealed to m e so s trong ly whenI was privdeged to exam ine the proof shee ts , that i t was
im m ed iate ly placed on our l i s t . I t has as m any advantages
as the Old t i m e spe ller had defect s . I t present s a un ique and
scient ifi c m ethod in deal ing wi th what has already been a m os t
unsat isfactory subject to the shorthand t eacher . I t g ives the
s tudent an extens ive shorthand vocabulary and facuity in
read ing h is Shorthand . I t also g ives h im a sat i sfactorym eaning for each word , and i t saves a vas t am ount Of the
t eacher’
s t im e .
— A . M. K ennedy, K ennedy Shorthand School.Toronto , Canada.
Punctuation as aMeans of Expression. I ts Theory and Pract i ce .
By A. E . L OVELL , MA . 500 . Th i s is m uch m ore than a m ere
s tat em en t Of rules . The author has wri t ten an in teres t ing and
helpful m anual Of the subject , that Wi l l great ly im press the
inte ll igent s tuden t and be m uch appreciated by all who value
clearness and thoroughness in wri t ing .
Style Book of Business English. 288 pp. , S5C . Sixth E d i t ion ,
R evised . F or Stenographers and Correspondent s . Th i s newtreat ise will especially appeal to the t eacher Of E ng lish whereveri t i s seen . Teachers Of this subject us ing this work can fee lassured of vas t ly bet ter resul t s than they have ever beforesecured . The new ed i t ion con tains a special chapt er on Cardi i idexi ng , L et ter
-fi ling ,and the Dut ies Of a v ate Secretary .
Adopted by the New York Board Of E ducat ion.
Pi tm an ’s Com m ercial Dictionary. The lates t and best pocket
d ict ionary . 384 pp . Clo th back , s t iff boards , 250 . F rench
m orocco, 500 . A t the sugges t ion Of a num ber Of t eachers who
have found the various present -day pocket d ict ionar ies incom
ple t e and i naccurate for com m ercial and publ ic schoo l work,we
have prepared th is work wh i ch contains m any features no t
found I n books of this character .
Book ofHom onym s. By B . S. BARRETT. 1 92 pp. ,clo th , g i l t , 75C .
The work was wri t ten from a pract i cal rather than from a theo
ret ical V iep in t,and all the exercises have been given repeat ed ly
to the author’
s classes dur ing the pas t e ight or t en years . I t i s
a book that should be in the hands Of every s tudent and wr i terof E ng l i sh ,
Of every am anuens i s,and especial ly of every wri t er
Of phonography ,who often finds the Sim i lar i ty of confl ict ing
out l ines SO perplex ing and confus ing . The object Of th is book18 to cover a fi eld no t heretofore explo i ted by any o ther t ext
book . I t is no t a gram m ar nor a spel l ing book , but is supple~
m ental to bo th,and contains inform at ion,
no t e lsewhere fur
n i shed, that canno t fai l to be serviceable to every person who
uses the E ngl i sh language .
WORKS ON SHORTHAND,COURT
RE PORTING,C IV I L SERV ICE
,E tc .
Life of Sir I saac Pi tm an. 392 pp . Clo th g i lt , g i l t top,Contains 50 i llustrat ions , includ ing photogravure, s teel , and
m any other full-page plat es , cons i s t ing of portrait s , views , andfacs im iles . Also a valuable b ibl iography of shorthand . Theonly authent ic b iography of the Inventor of Phonography.
History of Shorthand. 228 pp. , 750 clo th, By Si R ISAACP ITMAN . Third E d i t ion . Contain ing a descr ipt ion of the pr inC ipal system s of shorthand wh i ch have been publ i shed from the
t im e of Br i ght in 1 588, together W i th a short accoun t of theearly h is tory of the ar t
,and prefaced wi th a sum m ary of Phono
graphy . The book also contains 16 pages of alphabet s of theprincipal sys tem s , wi th num erous specim ens of shorthand . Thelarges t and m ost com plete h is tory of shorthand ever publ i shed .
Life and Work of Sir I saac Pitm an. I llus trated . 400 .
Pitm an’s Popular Guide to Journalism . 1 12 pp. ,
cloth, 50a.
Essentials of Phonography. 24 pp. , 200 .
Pi tm an ’s Shorthand and Typewriting Year Book and Diary. 400 .
The Bibliography of Shorthand. 256 pp. ,clo th,
By
'
Dr .
WE STBv-G IBSON . Co m pr i sm g a l i s t of all known pr int ed Worksand Manuscr ipt s on St enography and Phonography , by E ngl ish ,Co lonial
,and Am erican authors .
Civil Service Exam inations for Stenographers. 25c . By L EONHARDFE L I X F U L D,L L .M. , Ph .D . ,
E xam i ner,Mun i cipal C ivil ServiceCom m i ssion
,New York.
t The Stenographic Expert. F or Isaac P itm an wr i t ers . 284 pp. ,
clo th , B y WI L LARD B . BOTTOME , Ofiieial Court Stenographer , New York Suprem e Court
,and A m erzcan Cham pion
of 1 90 9 ; and WIL L IAM F . SMART, Holder of two Gold
Medals and P itm an’
s Speed Cert ifi cate for 2 20 words per m inute .
Th i s i s the m os t up-to-date , pract ical , advanced t ext-book for
Court Stenographers and E xper t s ever i ssued . Contains 96shorthand plates of Isaac P i tm an Shor thand ,
com prism g valuable l i st s of Court Phrases , Short Cut s , and Abbreviat ions , etc .
Wh i le especially adapted to Isaac P i tm an s tenographers , thiswork can be used to cons iderable advan tage by all P i tm anic
wr iters .
Mr . Nathan B ehrm ,an Isaac P i tm an wr i ter , and Cham pion
Shor thand Wr i ter of the World,and holder of the World ’s Speed
and Accuracy R ecord , says of this bookI t fi lls the long-fel t wan t of graduates of shor thand schoo ls
who are am bi t ious t o at tain to the h igher phases of report ing .
The l is t s of conflict ing and d iffi cul t words should prove of
great value to those who Wi ll thoroughly m as ter them,for
they W i l l thus have in concrete form the out l ines proven to
be the swd tes t and bes t by m any years of exper ience . I am1 4
How to Teach Book-keeping . 200 pp. ,clo th ,
Dictionary of Book-keeping. By R . J . PORTERS. 777 pp. , clo th ,
g i l t ,Pitm an’
s Business Man ’s Guide. 500 pp.
,clo th,
Where to Look. 1 28 pp. ,clo th, 850 . A com plete guide to all the
lead ing books of reference .
The Card Index System . I ts Pr inc iples , Uses , Operat ions , and
Com ponen t Part s . By R . B . B YLES. Clo th, 1 08 pp. ,
W i th 30i llus trat ions . 500 .
F iling System s. 1 92 pp. , clo th , g i l t , B y E . A . COPE . Thiswork suppl ies som e trus tworthy inform at ion as to the ch ief
charact er i st ics of m odern m ethods of fi l ing , and explains the
kind of ass i s tance that they are capable of rendering to their
users,and to show how they m ay be appl i ed for var ious purposes .
System atic Indexing. By I . KAISER . Clo th , g ilt , W i th 32illustrat ions and 1 2 co lored plates .
Pitm an ’s E conom ic History of England. 400 pp. ,
W i th diagram s .
Clo th , g ilt , By H . O . MERED ITH,M.A .
Pitm an ’s Com m ercial Geography of the World. 268 pp. ,
co loredplates and m aps . Clo th , g i lt , 850 .
Business Term s and Phrases. 1 64 pp.,clo th , 85C . Contain ing
explanat ions of t erm s,phrases , and abbrev iat ions , in E ngl i sh ,
W i th F rench, G erm an,and Span ish equivalen t s .
Pi tm an ’s Paper F lower Making . Clo th , 60C . Co lored plates and
1 50 i llus t rat ions .
TheWorld and I ts Com m erce. 1 30 pp.,and 35 m aps . Clo th ,
Dictionary of the World ’s Com m ercial Products . 1 63 pp. .
Second E d i t ion ,R ev i sed . Wi th equivalent s in F rench
,G erm an
,
and Spanish .
Clay Modelling for Infants. 128 pp. , clo th , 750 . B y F . H . B ROWN,
Wi th 80 m os t pract i cal and sugges t ive i l lus trat ions .
Th is book i s int ended as a guide for those t eachers who have
had l i t t le or no oppor tuni ty of acqui r i ng even the s l ightestknowledge of the subject and to Open up a fi e ld for those whoseat tainm ent s are such as W i l l enable them to develop the subjecton their own ind IV Idual l ines .
Cane Weaving for Children. 32 pp. , 200 . A n educat ional m e thod
of hand train ing . By L U CY R . L ATTER .E ncyclopaedia of Marine Law. 300 pp.
,cloth , g ilt , By
L AWREN CE DUC KWOR ’
I‘
H .
Insurance. 340 pp. , clo th , A Pract i cal E xpo s i t i on for theStudent and Bus iness Man . B y T. E . YOUNG , B .A . ,
E re-P res ident of the I ns t i tute of A ctuaries,and Mem ber of the
A ctuarial Soci ety 0/ A m erica. A thorough ly pract i cal Treat i sefor all engaged in Insurance work . Treat s fully of L i fe, F i re ,
and Mar ine Insurance . A work of l iv ing in t eres t , and Wi ll proveOf the ut m os t pract ical value . Adop ted by Yale Univers i ty .
Insurance Offi ce Organisation,Managem ent, and Accounts. 1 50 pp. ,
clo th ,A Com pan i on Volum e to I nsurance. By T. E .
YOUNG, B .A . ,and R I CHARD MASTERS.
I t covers pr im ar i ly the num erous po int s aris ing in Offi ce
organizat ion— books of account s , the arrangem en t of work
,
the s taff and i t s select ion , salar ies , prom o t ion, the t rain ing of
clerks , d i sm issals , ret irem ent and superannuat ion— toge ther
Wi th m any im por tant sugges t ions as to m at ters growm g out
of the conduct of the bus iness at the head Offi ce . Th i s workis an extrem e ly pract ical one , and there can hard ly be an
insurance offi ce in the coun t ry which would no t fi nd usefuland valuable sugges t ions therein ,
wh i ch ,if adopted or adapted ,
would im prove the records or m inim i se the offi ce work or bo th .
I t is of par t i cular value to those con tem plat ing the establ i shm ent ofnew i nsurance com panies .
” The Spectator, New York .
Pitm an ’s Secretary
’s Handbook. 1 60 pp. , clo th, g ilt , B y
HERBERT E . B L A IN .I have exam ined carefully your Secretary
’
s Handbookby Herbert E . B lain
,and can say that I could cons i s tent ly
recom m end i t as an invaluable aid to anyone who ho lds or
hopes to ho ld a pos i t ion as secretary to a m an in publ i c, pro
fess ional or busm ess l ife , or in corporat ion work. I n fact , i t
would be of in teres t to anyone who ho lds or hopes to ho ld anypos i t ion of trust or respons ibil i ty .— Byron H . Milner ,Wharton
School of F inance and Com m erce,Univers i ty of P ennsylvan ia,
P a.
Pi tm an ’s Business Methods and Secretarial Work for Girls and
Wom en. By H . R EYNARD . 89 pp.,cloth
, 80C .
Dictionary of Banking. 550 pp. ,half leather , g il t , A Com
plet e E ncyclopaed ia of the E ng l ish Bank ing L aw and Pract ice .
B yW. THOMSON .Practical Banking. Includ ing Currency . A G uide to Modern(E ng l i sh ) Bank i ng Pratct ice and the Principles of Currency .
By J . F . G . BAGSHAW and C. F . HANNAFORD . 820 pp. ,clo th ,
g i lt , Th i s work i s spec ially addres sed to s tuden t s of
bank ing , and to those who are engaged in com m ercial work i n
wh ich a knowledge of bank ing i s necessary . I t Wi l l also be of
serwce to bank ofli C Ials, espec ially those i n the early years of
thei r careers .
Accountancy . 31 1 pp. ,cloth , g i l t , By F RANCISW. P IX L EY .
A n ent irely new work deal ing W i th Accountancy , Cons truct iveand R ecord ing , from a theoret ical and a pract ical poin t Of V iew.
Audi ting, Accounting, and Banking. 819 pp. , cloth, gi l t ,By F RANK DOWL ER and E . MA R D I NOR H ARR IS.
How to Becom e a Q ualifi ed Accountant. 120 pp. , clo th , g i l t ,Money, Exchange, and Banking . 812 pp. . clo th , g i l t , B yH . T. E ASTON , A ssociate ofthe I nst i tute o/ Bankers . Treat s of theabove subject s in thei r pract ical , theoret ical , and legal aspect s .
Offi ce Organisation and Managem ent. 315 pp. , cloth, g il t ,By L AWRENCE R . D I CKSE E
,M.Com . ,
and H . E . B L A i N.
Stockbroker ’s Offi ce Organisation, Managem ent, and Accounts .
B y J U L IUS E . DA Y . 281 pp.,cloth
, g i l t ,Go ld Mine Accounts and Costing. 93 pp. , clo th, g i l t , ByG . W. TA i r .
The author of this book has had m any years’ pract ical
exper i ence in accoun t keep ing on the m ines in South Afr ica,
and the m ethod he sets out Wi ll be found of cons iderable use
to those keeping account s Of m ines Of all classes and in all
par ts of the world .
” — Capitali st .I 7
Pi tm an ’s Guide for the Com pany Secretary. 844 pp. ,
clo th, gi lt ,A pract ical m anual and work of reference Wi th regard
to the dut ies Of a Secretary to a Jo in t Stock Com pany . B yARTHUR COLES,The SocialWorkers ’ Guide. B y the R ev. J . B . HALDANE . 483 ppcloth
, g i l t ,
WORKS,ETC .
,FOR TE ACHE RS.
A ll Teachers of I saac P itm an’
s P honography are requested to send
their address for regi strat ion to I saac P itm an 6 Sons .
1' Methods of Teaching Shorthand. 1 60 pp.
,clo th, g i l t ,A Pract ical So lut ion of Classroom Problem s . Th i s book should
be in the hands of every progres s ive t eacher Of shorthand ,W i th
out reference to the sys t em taught . I t contains a descript ionof successful m e thod s of teach ing the subject based upon sound
pedagog ical principles . I t is the firs t book of i t s kind on the
m arket , and i t Wi ll serve as a guide to the prospect ive t eacherof shorthand and lead the exper ienced t eacher to analyze h i sm ethods in the l ight of the principles of teaching enunciat ed .
I t Offers t each ing sugges t ions at every s tage of the work , fromthe organ izat i on Of the class at the fir s t sess ion to the com plet ionof the course .
Notes on Lessons on Pi tm an ’s Shorthand. 1 1 2 pp. , clo th , g i l t , 75a.
Cons i s t s Of about 50 lessons , wi th each of the pr inciples fromthe Alphabe t to the D i s t inguish ing Out l ines carefully set out
with valuable h int s and m any useful exam ples .
Preparation for a Shorthand Teacher ’s Exam ination. By W.
WHEATCROFT. L im p cloth , 60C . Th is i s a valuable seri es Of
art icles wh ich has at tract ed m uch at tent ion in i t s ser ial form i n
P i tm an’
s Magazine 0 / B us iness . Most useful and rel iableadvice i s g iven for cand idates ent er ing for a Teacher
’
s D iplom a.
Pitm an’s Exam ination Notes on Shorthand. 48 pp. ,
cloth, 5°C .
I n th i s work the reasons for various features in the s t em are
d i scussed,and the clear-cut conci seness of the stan ard t ext
book rules i s,in som e ins tances
,am pl ifi ed . Short hand exam ples
Of the appl i cat ion of the rules are freely introduced .
Handbook for Shortt Teachers. Clo th , 600 . Contain ingInstruct ion to Teachers , L essons on the Text -books , e tc .
Teachers Will fi nd in th i s work a descr ipt ion of the best m ethod s
of successful shorthand teaching .
A Stereopticon Lecture on Shorthand. 82 pp. , 25C . A br ief his toryof wri t ing from i t s invent i on to the present t i m e
,Wi th spec ial
reference to Shorthand .
The Pi tm anic Guide. 24 pp. , 200 . Contain ing a ver i table m ine Of
inform at ion about the sys tem bo th for s tudent and t eachers ,especially those who have prev iously s tud ied other P i tm an ic
m ethods .
Chart of the Phonetic Alphabet. 22 X 35 in . 100 . Sam e m oun ted
on canvas ro llers and varn i shed, 75C . Contain ing the Shorthand
and Pr int ing Le t t ers .
w in High Schools . 24 pp . 1 00 copies , 500 . .500 Cop ies .
Stenography as a Stepping-Stone to Fortune. 12 pp . 1 00 Cop ies ,500 copies ,
The Ladder to Fam e. 8 pp . 1 00 cop ies , 300 . 500 cop ies ,Thglsgg
rthand R oute to Fam e. 12 pp . 1 00 copies , 400 . 500 00 p ies ,
R eport of a Special Com m ittee Appointed by the New York BoardofE ducation in R egard to the ofIsaac Pi tm an Shorthandin High Schools. 8 pp. 1 00 cop ies , , 500 cop ies , 81 .75.
PERIODICALS.
Pi tm an ’s Journal. Term s of Subscr ipt ion : Per Year in Advance ,
500 . Special Club rates on appl icat ion . Sam ple copy free. A n
Am er ican Magazine for Isaac P i tm an Teachers and Wr i ters .
Issued m onth ly ,except July and August . E ach num ber of
P ITMAN ’S J OU RNAL contains 24 pages (Size 75 x 92) and inc ludese ight co lum ns of beaut ifully engraved Phonography ,
furn i sh inginvaluable m eans for s tudy and pract ice to s tuden t s of the art .
Curren t t opics of interes t appear in every issue by contr ibutorsof reputat ion and exper ience , m ak ing the J OURNAL of the h ighes tusefulness to bo th the beg inner and experienced t eacher .
F acs im i le no tes and Pr i ze Com pet it ions are special features .
1 Bound vo lum es of P ITMAN ’S J OURNAL : Vol. I and I I,
each ; Vol. I I I to date ,
OTHE R SHORTHAND PER IODICALS.
ISAAC P ITMAN SONS, 2 WEST 4STH STREET, NE W YORK ,
are agent s and accept subscr ipt ions for the fo llowing E ng l i shpubl icat ionsPi tm an ’
s (English) Journal. F ounded by Sir Isaac P i tm an in 1842.
The o ldest and on ly weekly per i od i cal ( in any syst em ) in ex15 t ~
ence devot ed to SHORTHAND ,TY P EWR I TI NG ,and k indred subject s .
E ach num ber cons is t s of 88 pp. ,and com prises 1 2 COLUMNS OF
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1' Bound vo lum es of the J OURNAL from 1842 to 1875 are out Of
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Vo lum es from 1891 to present date , each,post free .
Handsom e covers for b ind ing the present or pas t year ly vo lum es .
T400 . each .
Pi tm an ’s Shorthand Weekly . 1 6 pp . B EAUTIFUL L Y P R INTED
in the R eport ing , Correspond ing , and L earner’
s St yles , and
profusely i llus trated . The content s cons ist of s tor ies and tales ,
serial and com plet e interest ing extract s am us ing paragraphsphonograph ic jokes and anecdo t es . Term s of subscr ipt ion sam e
as P ITMAN ’S (E NGL ISH ) J OURNAL .
t Bound vo lum es (half-yearly) of P ITMAN ’S SHORTHANDWEEKLY as fo l lows Vols . 1 to 10 out of prin t Vo l. 1 1 to the
present date , each .
Pitm an ’s Shorthand Budget. The m on thly ed i t ion of P .S.W.
E ach i s sue cont ains 82 to 40 pages Of E n aved Phonogra by ,
and fully i llus trat ed . Twe lve m onths,
s ix m on ths, 8 .00.
Sam ple , 1 5C .
R eporters’ Journal. Sam ple copy, 10c. Yearly subscr ip t ion ,pos t paid ,
E d i t ed by J . H . F ORD .
R eporters’ W e. Sam ple copy , 100 . Year ly subscrip t ion ,pos t paid
,F ounded by E . J . NA NKI VE L L .
Th'
ye
slc
’honographicMonthly. Sam ple copy , 100 . Yearly subscript ion ,
Thglsoh
ilorthand Gazette. Sam ple copy , 1OC . Year ly subscr ipt ion ,
The PhonographicObserver. Sam ple copy , 10C . Yearly subscript ion ,pos t paid ,
PHONOGRAPHIC STATIONE RY
AND SUPPLIE S.
R eporters’ Note-Book. F ono Ser ies . F or pen or pencil . Isaac
P i tm an Sons’
F ono Ser ies . Specm lly m ade— EL ASTICBOUND (no s t i tch ing ) , Open ing P ERFECTL Y FL AT. The pa or
contained in these no t e-books is expres s ly m anufactured,an is
Of a very super ior qual i ty . The peculiar fibre of sam e perm i tt ingof a high rate of speed in shorthand wr i t ing. The old s t yle no t e
book,Ou accoun t ofi t s cheap s t iffbinding , has a constant t endency
to close , and when forced Open wi ll no t lie flat . I n the IsaacP i tm an F ono
”
Ser ies this d iffi cul ty i s ent irely obviated, and
when the page is turned wi ll lie absolutely flat . This feature wi l lbe thoroughly appreciat ed i n rapid work . R uled in red un lesso therwise s tat ed . Sample pages of the difi erent ruli ngs sent on
request .
I have becom e so used to your NO . 5 No t e-Book , that Ican use no o ther . My co lleague (Mr . Beard ) in this
Court says that your books are the bes t he has ever used i n
twenty years’
experience .
" -P eter P . Mcl oughlin, Court ofG eneral Sessions
,New York C i ty.
NO 5 F ono Ser ies 200 pp., 5 x 8 in .
5 m arg inal l ine
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m arginal line and
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n 9“
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W A liberal reduct i on by the dozen copies . No te-Books Shouldbe ordered in quant i t ies to warran t send ing by express and thussaving extravagan t pos tage requ ired on th is Class of m at t er .
LOOSE R EPORTING SHE ETS.
No . 5 Fono Series R eporting Paper. Size 8} x 1 1 } in .
R uled wi th four vert ical lines d iv id ing the shee t in equal par t s .I n packages of Sheet s , num bered from 1 to Pr ice .
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The Phonog aphic Pin. 250 . Made in gold plate , Wi th the m ono‘
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t ional flower form ed by the e lem ent s , or curved consonants ands traight s trokes of the I saac P i tm an shorthand . The co lors areblue and whi te , and the let ters and out l ines are in go ld , whichm akes a very at tract ive com binat ion . This pin wil l be sent freeWi th a two-year subscr ipt ion to P ITMAN ’S J OURNAL . E very IsaacPi tm an wr i ter should have one of these p i ns .
PHOTOGRAPHS.
Mem orial Portrai t of Sir Isaac Pitm an. 600 . A high-class repro
duct i on of the Mem orial Port rai t accepted by the Nat ionalPortrait G allery of London . Size
,m ount ed on s t i fi cardboard ,
1 7i x 23} in . All 00 pies sent by m ai l in a strong cardboard tube .
P ITMAN’S PRACTICAL PRIME RS
OF BUSINE SS.
Advertising, or, The Art ofMaking Known. 95 pp. , clo th ,-500
By HOWARD B RIDGEWATER . Th is i s an in t erest ing pract icalexpos i t ion ,
wi th ful l i l lus trat ions , of the pr inciples of ModernAdver t is ing by a recognized author i ty . The var ious form s Of
A dvert ism g are fully described ,useful hint s are g iven on the
Psychology of Advert is ing , How to Deal Wi th Space , I llust t at ions
, Typography , Opt ical I llus ions , P icture R eproduct ion ,Advert is ing Ideas , Pos t er Work , Insurance ,and F inancial A dver
t i s ing ; and, fi nally, the Pos i t ion Of the Adver t is ing Agen t in theCom m ercial World is d i scussed .
Awork ofgreat interes t and profi t to Am erican advert isers .
—The Bankers’ Magazine, New York.
Handbook of Advertising . 1 33 pp. , cloth , g i l t , ByCHR ISTOPHER J ONES. A m anual for tho se who Wi sh to becom e
acquainted Wi th the Prm ciples and Pract ice Of Adver t i s ing .
The E lem ents of Insurance. 133 pp. , clo th , 500 . By J . E . E xe .
Th is book will appeal to a larger class than those who are con
nect ed only wi th com m erce . A m as tery of i t s content s W i ll gofar to d i spel the extraord inar y am ount Of ignorance concern inginsurance m ethods and
, whether the reader’
s int erest is ch ieflyto do Wi th fi re, l ife , accident , etc. , these pages wi l l wel l repayperusal .
The E lem ents of Banking . 1 32 pp. , cloth , 500 . By J . P . G am ay .
DeSigned to supply the m an in the s tree t Wi th a knowledgeof fi rst principles . I t i s a pract i cal com m en tary on law and
pract i ce of bank ing , and em braces everything necessary to an
ord inary bus iness m an on the subject of b i lls Of exchange ,prom issory no t es , and so forth
Guide to Indexing and Précis Wri ting . 1 1 0 pp. ,clo th, 500 . B y
Wi L L i AM J AYNE WESTON , M.A . The author of P itm an’s Guide
to Com m ercial Correspondence has arranged th is book on qui t e
original l ines . Precise ins truct ions and pract ical exam plesrender i t Of real value to cand idates for publ ic exam i nat ions .
P ITMAN’S COMMON COMMODITIE S
OF COMME RCE .
Each book in crown 8vc, cloth, with colored irontispiece and m anyillustrations, m aps, charts, etc. Price 750 . Th i s ser i es i s pub
li shed wi th the Objec t of enabl ing the bus iness m an or trader ,thoroughly to equip h im self for the effi cient perform ance of
h is specifi c work and to en l ighten the general reader’s m indregard in g som e of our com m onest com m od i t i es of com m erce .
I n each handbook a part icular produce is treat ed by an expertwri t er and pract ical m an of busm ess . Beg inn ing wi th the l ifehistory of the plant , or o ther natural product , he fo llows i t sdevelopm ent unt il i t becom es a com m ercial com m od i ty, and so
on through the various phases of i t s sale in the m arket and i t s
purchase by the consum er.
Tea. From Grower to Consum er. B y A . IB BETSON . The author
15 well known i n the Tea world through h is connect ion wi th
the im portant house of Messrs . Joseph Travers Sons . Mr.
Ibbe tson’
s pages g ive m uch help and inform at ion regard ing the
condi t ions of the Tea trade , the world ’
s consum pt ion of the
product , and the fluctuat ion in price ; the crops Of part icularsyears ; the m ys tery of the ar t of blend ing ; and so forth .
Cofi ee. From Grower to Consum er. By B . B . KE A BLE . Mr . Keable ,l ik e Mr. Ibbe t son ,is in the well-known house ofMessrs . Joseph
Travers Sons,and can subs tant iate his claim to be an
author i t y on Coffee . H is book Wi ll be found ,as in the case of
that ofTea, to trace the progress Of th is com m od i ty throughout .
Cotton. From the R awMaterial to the F inished Product. By R . J .
P EAKE . The author has had the suprem e advantage of be ingin close touch Wi th Mr . C. W. Macara,
Chair m an of the Com m i t t ee
of In t ernat ional F ederat ion of Mas ter Cot ton Sp inners and
Manufacturers , who has contributed advice and read the proofsof the book as i t passed through the Press . Th i s l i t t le handbookwil l be found to contain just the kind Of inform at ion that is
required on the greatest Of our nat ional indus tr ies .
Sugar (Game and Beet) . By G EORGE MARTINEAU ,C .B .
Linen. From the R awMaterial to the F inished Product. 1 30 ppclo th . B y AL FRED S. MOORE . I t I S som ewhat Singular that ,although L inen Manufacture is a m os t im port ant i ndus try, therehas not been h itherto a good popular non-techn i cal work descr ibing i t s h i s tory , the var ious s t eps of m anufacture , wages , cond i
t ions Of labor, m arket ing , fi nance, etc. This want has now been
suppl ied by the lat es t add it ion to the popular and at tract ive
seri es Of COMMON CoMMOD i r i E s OF COMMERCE .
0 11 (Mineral, E ssential, and Fatty) . By C . A . MITCHEL LR ubber. Production and Uti lization of the R aw Product . 120 pp. ,
clo th . By H . P . STEVENS and CL AYTON B EADL E .I ron and Steel. 120 pp. , clo th . By C . HOOD .Silk. I ts Production and Manufacture. 120 pp. , clo th . ByL UTHER HOOPER .Wool. From the RawMaterial to the Finished Product . BYJA .
H UNTER .The bes t book of i t s s ize and pr ice that we have ever seen
upon the subject of woo l and i t s m anufacture .— A m erican
Wool and Cotton R eporter, N. Y.
Coal. I ts Origin, Method of Working , and Preparation for theMarket . By F RANC IS H . WILSON , E di tor ofMin ing E ngineering ; Lecturer on Mining at the L eigh
Technical School.
Tobacco. From Grower to Sm oker. By A . E . TANNER , Chem icalOfiicer in the Custom s and E xci se Departm ent .
Fruit. 1 30 pp., cloth , $ 1 .00. By L U IGI CASA RTE L L I . This book
W i ll appeal to awide Ci rcle ofreaders , as i t touches on the popular_Side of a popular indus try . F ull inform at ion concerning the frui t si n com m on usage is g iven i n a pleasant and chat t y m anner .
P ITMAN’S TRADE MANUALS.
Price, each in cloth, post paid.
Various m anuals have been produced at d i fi eren t t im es deal ingwi th profess ional work , but the general trader has been ut terlyignored and neglected . I n these days , when com m erce has
becom e m ore than ever dependent upon proper organizat ion ,i t
i s im perat ive ly necessary that no branch Of trade should be leftout of cons iderat ion ,
and that every Opportuni ty should beafi orded to the zealous bus iness m an or h i s as s istant to becom e
acquainted Wi th the m ethod s which have led the leaders on to
success . The new vo lum es have been prepared Wi th the idea
of ass is t ing the earnes t business m an who i s engaged in trade to
render him se lf m ore effi cient than ever .
Drapery. By R I CHARD BEYNON . The advi ce given in these pagesproceeds from an author who is well known in the trade , and
who has devo ted his l ife to i t . He has t raversed the who lefi eld Of Drapery in a thoroughly pract i cal fashion ,
and even
Where h is Opin ions m ay be open to cri t ic i sm , he has so deal tW i th h is subject that the reader m ust acknowledge the respectwhich is due to one who has him self at tained a h igh posi t ion inhis part icular line .
Grocery. By W. F . TUPMAN . The author Of this volum e is wel lknown on account of the success which he gained by winn ingthe fi rs t prize in the G rocers
’ Com pet i t ive E xam inat ion,
and he has fo l lowed up that Success by a course of lectures , thesubs tance Of wh 0h is reproduced in this pract ical v .0 1um e
26
Spanish Com m ercial Phrases. 32 pp. , 250 . Wi th Abbreviat ionsand Translat ions .
Spanish Business Interviews. 96 pp. , cloth , 500 . Wi thCorrespondence, e tc. , each forrrung a com plete Com m ercialTransact ion
,includ ing Techn i cal Term s and Id iom at ic
E xpress ions,accom pan i ed by a cop ious Vocabulary.
Spanish Tourists ’ Vade Mecum . Clo th, 400 . E very-day Phrases .
Wi th Vocabularies , Tables , e tc . ,and the exact pronunciat ion of
every word .
Dictionary of Com m ercial Correspondence in French, Germ an,Spanish, and I talian. 500 pp. , cloth , Contain in g the
m os t com m on and ordinary t erm s and phrases Of a com m ercialnature .
Pitm an’s Com m ercial Correspondence in Spanish. 267 pp. , clo th ,
g i l t , The increas ing im portance of a study of the Span i shlanguage has induced the Publ i shers to issue an ed it ion of the ir
successful work , Com m ercial Correspondence (already pub
li shed in E ng l i sh , F rench ,and G erm an) in that language . The
work g ives all the let ters contained in the other ed i t ions,and
there is,in add i t ion ,
a ful l accoun t of the Span ish Weight s and
Measures and the Spanish Coinage .
Pitm an ’s R eadings in Com m ercial Spanish. 80 pp. , clo th; 500 .
Wi th No tes and Trans lat ions in E ngl i sh .
FR ENCH.
Pi tm an ’s Com plete F rench Course. 210 pp. , clo th , g i l t , 600 . F or
Se lf-Ins truct i on . Part I , cons i s t ing of G ram m ar to the end of
the R egular Verbs , Conversat ional Phrases and Sentences , Shor tStor ies , and F rench-E nglish and E ngl ish-F rench Vocabulari es .
Part I I , G ram m ar,including the Irregular Verbs , Conversat ional
Phrases and Sent ences,Select ions Of F rench Prose , and F rench
E ng l ish and E ng lish-F rench Vocabularies .
Pitm an’s Com m ercial French Gram m ar. 1 36 pp. , cloth,
I n th i s book, F rench gram m ar i s taught on norm al l ines,Wi th
the add it ion that all gram m at ical po int s are i llustrat ed bysentences in com m ercial F rench . The ee
'
C lSeS are wr i t t en W i th
a view to enabl ing the s tudent to read and wri te bus ines s let tersin F rench ,
and to unders tand Wi thout d iffi cult y com m ercial andfi nancial ar t icles in F rench books and newspapers . I t is thought
that the m ethod here adopted Wi ll he lp h i m to acquire rap id lya large F rench com m ercial vocabulary and phrase-l ist .
Pitm an’s French Course. Part I . 96 pp. , 20c . ; clo th, 25c . ;G ram m ar to end Of the R egular Verbs ; with exercises .
Pi tm an’s French Course. Part I I . Cloth , 250 .
Key to Part 1, French Course. Clo th , 50C .
Key to Part I I , French Course Clo th, 500 .
Pitm an ’s Practical French Gram m ar. 128 pp. , paper boards , 400 .
clo th , 500 . A nd Conversat ion for Self-Instruct ion ,wi th COpiousVocabulary and Im i tated Pronunciat ion . The L at est and Be st
Method for L earning F rench without a Mas ter .
A Child ’s First Steps in French. 64 pp. , cloth, 250 . A n elem entaryF rench reader Wi th vocabulary.
Pi tm an’s Chart of the French R egular Verbs. 100 . Term inat ions
of the F our Conjugat ions and a F ul l E xh ib i t ion of the Auxi l iaries .
Pitinan ’s French Com m ercial R eader. 208 pp. ,
clo th, g il t , 850 .
Deals in an interes t ing m anner Wi th the lead ing com m erC Ial and
Nat ional Ins t i tut ions of F rance . The read ing m at t er i s m os t
careful ly select ed ,and Whi le the student Of F rench I S im proving
h i s m ast ery Of the language , he i s at the Sam e t im e get t ing a
good ins ight in to F rench com m ercial m ethods .
English-French and French-English Dictionary of Business Wordsand Term s. Wi th a L i s t of Abbreviat ions in G eneral Use . Ves tPocket E d i t ion ,
Size 21» in . x 61 i h . , clo th , 540 pp. , Oneof the greates t d iffi cul t ies s tudent s of a foreign languageencounter is the m as tery of i t s purely com m er0 1al phraseo logy.
Com m er0 1al t erm s are no t a s trong feature of the ord inaryF rench-E ngl ish dict ionary in general use , while in m any theyare consp icuous ly m eagre ; therefore the present work, wh ichfurn ishes not only the words usually em ployed in com m erC Ial
correspondence, but a great m any com m erm al term s that are
no t given in the ordinary d ict ionar ies .
French Translation and Com pofi tion. 187 pp. , cloth, 850 .
Tourist ’s VadeMecum of French Colloquial Conversation. 91 pp. ,
clo th , 400 . A careful se lect ion Of every-day Phrases in constan t
use , wi th xVOcabular ies, Tables , and the E xact Pronunciat ion of
every Word . A n E asy Method of acquir ing a knowledge ofF rench suffi cient for all purposes for Tour i s t s or Business Men .
Com m ercial Correspondence in French. 240 pp. , cloth 850 . G ivesall the le t ters of the Com m ercial Correspondence trans latedinto F rench ,
and also a chapter on F rench Com m eI'
C ial Correspondence a L is t Of F rench Com m ercial Abbreviat ions F renchco inage , weight s , m easures , etc. ; together Wi th a num ber ofreduced facs i m i les ofac tual F rench bus iness form s and docum ent s .
Notes are added to each let t er .
French Business Letters. 31 pp. , 200 . Being a Pract ical HandbookOf Com m er0 1al Correspondence in the F rench language , withcopious not es in E ngl i sh .
French Business Letters (Second Series ) . 48 pp. , 250 .
Easy French Conversational Sentences. 32 pp. , 200 .
French Business Interviews. 1 04 pp. , clo th, 500 . WithCorrespondence
,Invo ices
,etc. ,
each form ing a com ple te Comm ercial Transact ion ,
includ ing Technical Term s and Id iom at ic
E xpressions , Wi th 00 p ious vocabulary and no tes in E ngl i sh.
30 pp., 200 .
French Phrases for Advanced Students. 97 pp. , 500 .
Madge’s Letters. 32 pp. , 200 . Introducing Id i om at ic E xpressions,
F rench and E ngl ish .
Advanced French Conversational Exercises. 32 pp. , 200 .
Les Bourgeois Gentilhom m e. 400 clo th , 500 . Mo l iere’s Com edyin F rench
,fully anno tated .
Dictionary of Com m ercial Correspondence in French, Germ an,Spanish, and I talian. 500 pp. ,
clo th ,Pitm anésr’clnternationalMercanti le Letters. E ngl ish-F rench. Clo th ,
g i lt ,Pitm an ’
s R eadings in Com m ercial French. 80 pp. ,cloth , 500 .
Wi th No tes and Trans lat ions i n E ngl i sh .
GERMAN.
Pi tm an’s Practical Germ an Gram m ar. 1 1 2 pp. ,
clo th , 500 .
A nd Conversat ion for Self-Ins truct ion ,Wi th 00 pious Vocabulary
and Im i tated Pronunciat ion .
Pi tm an’s Com m ercial Germ an Gram m ar. 182 pp. , cloth , gil t ,I n th i s book, G erm an gram m ar i s taught on norm al l ines
,Wi th
the add i t ion that all gram m at ical po int s are i llustrated bysentences in com m ercial G erm an . The exercises are writ tenwith a View to enablin the s tudent to read and wri te bus inesslet t ers in G erm an
,an to understand wi thout d iffi cul ty com
m ercial and fi nancial art icles in G erm an books and newspapers .I t is thought that the m ethod here adop ted will help h im to
acquire rapid ly a large G erm an com m ercial vocabulary and
phrase-l is t . Accidence and Syntax have been ,as far as poss ible ,blended , SO that the s tudent m ay at once m ake use of the
gram m at ical form s he has learnt .
Pitm an’s Germ an Course. Part I . 96 pp. , 200 . l im p cloth, 250 .
Key to Pi tm an’s Germ an Course. Part I . 500 .
Pitm an’s Germ an Com m ercial R eader. 208 pp. ,
clo th, g i l t , 850 .
I s prepared on s im ilar lines to the F rench Com m ercial R eader .
I t furnishes a pract ical introduct ion to G erm an com m ercialins t i tut ions and transact ions
, wi th ques t ions and exercises whichrender i t wel l sui t ed for use in schoo ls . Students are afi orded
the fulles t help possible from plates , illustrat ions , m aps,and
facs im i les Of G erm an com m ercial docum ent s .
Comm ercial Correspondence in Germ an. 240 pp. , clo th , 850 .
G ives all the let t ers of the Com m ercial Correspondence ”
trans lated in to G erm an, wi th useful notes at the foo t Of each
let ter . I t also contain s a chapter on G erm an Com m ercialCorrespondence , wi th a L i s t of G erm an Bus iness Abbreviat ions .
ITALI AN.
Pitm an’s Com m ercial I talian Gram m ar. 1 1 6 pp. ,
clo th ,
I n th is book , I tal ian gram m ar i s taught on norm al l ines , W i ththe add i t ion that all gram m at ical pom t s are illus trat ed bysent ences in com m ercial I tal ian . The exercises are wri t t en wi tha view to enabl ing the s tudent t o read and wri t e bus ines s let t ersin I tal ian ,
and to understand without d iffi cul t y com m ercial andfi nancial art icles in I talian books and newspapers . I t is thought
that the m ethod here adopted will help h im to acquire rapidly a
large I tal ian com m erC ial vocabulary and phrase-l i s t . A cm denceand Synt ax have been ,
as far as possmle , blended , so that the
s tudent m ay at once m ake use of the gram m at ical form s he has
learnt .Pinnangg’clnternationalMercanti le Letters. E ngl ish-I tal ian . Clo th,
g i lt ,Pi tm an ’
s I talian Tourist ’s Vade Mecum . With Vocabular ies ,Tables
, etc. 96 pp . Cloth , 400 .
HUGO’S SYSTEM.
1 Spanish Sim plifi ed. Clo th , 31-00
1 French Sim pli fi ed. Clo th ,
1 Germ an Sim plifi ed. Cloth,
1 I talian Sim plifi ed. Clo th,1 Portuguese Sim plifi ed. Cloth,
IMPORTANT NOTI CE .
I t is necessary to caution teachers andothers against purchasing books pur
port ing to represent the I saac Pi tm anSystem . as a wi de divergence of out lineswill be found in such works, and their
use will result not only in discouragem entto the student, but will also give endlesstrouble to the teacher. The onh' authoritative books containing correctly engravedout lines in accordance wi th the recentG E NTE NA R Y I MP R OVEME NTSare issued by the direct heirs of theInventor of Phonography, and bear the
im print of I saac Pi tm an Sons, 2 West45th Street, New York.
P ress 0 ] I saac P itm an 6 ' Sons , Bath, E ngland
