every day send out letters which are almost ridiculous because of the
stiff and pompous way they are written.

The following letter was sent recently by one of the oldest furniture
houses in America:

DEAR MADAM:

Herewith please find receipt for full payment of your bill.
Please accept our thanks for same.

Relative to the commission due Mrs. Robinson would say that if
she will call at our office at her convenience we shall be glad
to pay same to her.

Thanking you for past favors, we beg to remain,

Yours very truly,

Contrast that with this:

DEAR MRS. BROWN:

We are returning herewith your receipted bill. Thank you very
much.

If you will have Mrs. Robinson call at our office at her
convenience we shall take pleasure in paying her the commission
due her.

Yours very truly,

Here is another letter so typical of the kind that carelessness
produces:

DEAR SIR:

I have your letter of the 27th inst. and I have forwarded it to
Mr. Stubbs and will see him in a few days and talk the matter
over.

I remain
Yours sincerely,

Would it not have been just as easy to write:

DEAR MR. THOMPSON:

Thank you for your letter of the 27th. I have forwarded it to Mr.
Stubbs and will see him in a few days to talk the matter over.

Your sincerely,

In the preparation of this volume a letter of inquiry was sent out to a
number of representative business houses all over the country. It was a
pleasure to read the excellent replies that came in response to it. One
letter reached its destination in the midst of a strike, but the
publicity manager of the firm sent a cordial answer, which began:

Your very courteous letter to Mr. Jennings came at a time when
his mind is pretty well occupied with thoughts concerning the
employment situation in our various plants.

We shall endeavor, therefore, to give you such information as
comes to mind with regard to matters undertaken by the company
which have contributed to the standard of courtesy which exists
in the departments here.

We select another at random:

It pleases us very much to know that our company has been
described to you as one which practises courtesy in business. We
should like nothing better than to have all our employees live up
to the reputation credited to them by Mr. Hai