tion a few of the most necessary rules.

The four chief punctuation points are the comma, semicolon, colon,
period. In the days of our grandmothers children were taught to "mind
their stops," with this rule for a guide: "Count one at a comma, two
at a semicolon, three at a colon, and four at a period, or 'full
stop.'"

In punctuating the date, address, closing and superscription of a
letter, certain rules are necessary. One of these is that a period
follows all abbreviations, such as those of title, state and county,
and separates and follows all initials, whether abbreviations of names
or titles; while the slight pause occurring between such abbreviations
is marked by a comma, and the end of the date, like the end of a
sentence, is closed by a period; for example: 540 West Main St.,
Galesburgh, Ill. Or, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Jan. 10, 189-.

A colon suggests something more to follow, hence in the salutation of
a letter we find a colon at the end, signifying that the body of the
letter is yet to come, as: "Dear Sir:" or, where the communication
begins on same line of salutation, we find both colon and dash, as:
"Dear Madame:--Yours of," etc.

Commas are used frequently to divide long complex sentences, and the
sentence is somewhat further broken by the use of the semicolon
between its more decided sections. Abraham Lincoln once said: "I throw
in a semicolon whenever I am at a loss what pause to use; it always
fits."

The complimentary close of the letter is followed by a comma and the
signature by a period. A period also separates and follows two or more
initials, as: Yours truly, (MRS.) ADELINE D.T. WHITNEY.

Writing the Superscription.

A very long complimentary conclusion should be punctuated like a
sentence, as: I am, dear madam, with the most profound esteem, Yours
truly, JAMES TALBOT.

The superscription on the envelope is to be punctuated according to
the above given rules. An interrogation point (?) should be used at
the end of all questions. It is in truth, as the small boy said, "A
little crooked thing that asks questions." The exclamation point (!)
expressing astonishment, the dash and parenthesis, need only be
employed by those thoroughly understanding their use. Quotation marks
(" ") should always be placed at the beginning and end of words quoted
from another; slang, or any fashionable "fad" if written, should be
quoted.

As for capitals, one should begin every sentence, all names of persons
an