find the other employes, as well as Mr. Hammond and myself, always ready to advise and assist you.

"The two qualities which every business man requires in his office assistants are neatness and accuracy. I mean neatness in personal appearance, as well as neatness in work. Neatness without accuracy, of course, has no value, but accuracy without neatness is annoying and unsatisfactory.

"We shall expect you to familiarize yourself with the names, terms, etc., peculiar to this business. We want you to examine all the labor-saving devices in the office and become familiar with their use. We want you to promote the interests of the firm in every way in your power."

36. The evils inseparably

37. The whole world can

a man than they can

Which Word?

Add, Annex.

to the present condition are numerous.

no more to the real and intrinsic value of to his stature.

38. I then purchased a stock of dry-goods, to which in due time I

44. The gratitude of most men is but the secret desire of obtaining more

45. A good education has always its

the same

although all can not derive from the cultivation of their talents. will this law be to you?

of great labor or hazard undertaken if we

we persuade ourselves

46. Of what
47. There would be few
had not the power of magnifying the
to expect from them.

Adventure, Enterprise.

48. I am resolved to try my fate or, failing in the
49. The firm needed money with which to carry out the

ORDERS, REMITTANCES and ENCLOSURES

LESSON XIII.

The first letter that your employers have called upon you to write is one ordering goods.

There are two correct ways to send an order for goods by mail. The first, and common way, is to include the order in a letter. The second, is to enclose with the letter a separate sheet containing a list of the goods wanted, together with the date, address of the buyer and shipping directions. This way is sometimes preferable where the list is long. It also gives the seller an opportunity to keep the letter in his office, while the order is given to the shipping clerk, who sees that the goods are selected, packed and sent forward. Many business houses have order blanks for this purpose.

Whether the order is made a part of the letter or is placed on an order blank, only one item should be placed on a line. This enables the shipper to check the items as the order is filled, avoids confusion and greatly lessens the chances for errors to occur in filling orders.

When the order is included in the body of the letter, place it in the middle of the page from right to left.

Punctuation. The items in an order may be separated by commas, but generally all punctuation is omitted. Such expressions as "Please send the following" and "Please ship the following goods" should be followed by a colon, as they constitute, with the list which follows, but one sentence.

Capitalization. It is a custom with bookkeepers, when making entries on their books, to capitalize the names of the various kinds of merchandise in which their firm deals, and this custom is carried out in ordering goods. Capitalize the name of each article ordered and the words used to distinguish it from other varieties of the same class of goods. Examples: 3 chts. English Breakfast Tea. 4 pcs. Black Satin Duchesse.

Paragraphing. The sentence following the order always be

gins a new paragraph.

848 Hamilton St.,

Midland, Mass., May 6, 1909.

Hall & Collins,
Boston, Mass.

Gentlemen:

Please ship to me by Boston & Albany freight the following:

12 brls. Pillsbury's Best Flour

8 13 Granulated Sugar

5 chts. Japan Tea

5 mats Java Coffee

Please allow me the usual discount for cash in ten days.

You have been instructed to order of Bigelow & Edson, Fall River, Mass., 6 pcs. Roll Cambric, 3 pcs. Pepperell Drill, 3 pcs. Champion Cheviot, 7 pcs. Gordon Prints, 4 pcs. Hamilton 30 in. Tick.

As this is the first order that has been sent to Bigelow & Edson, you will refer them to the Commercial Bank, city, as to the financial standing of the firm.

Write a letter including this order and enclose it in an envelope properly directed. Sign the firm name, per your name.

(Note. Cloth is usually sold at wholesale by the piece, and the number of yards in a piece varies. No account is taken of smaller fractions than fourths of a yard. In the above order the first item will be billed to you something like this: 6 pcs. Roll Cambric 45 441 47 42 443 43. The small figures are fourths.)

(Note. It is suggested that the class study in connection with this lesson, Section I of the Appendix.)

LESSON XIV.

Marshall & Hammond received yesterday a large order from Hess & Palmer, Albany, N. Y., dated three days ago. The goods were shipped via N. Y. C. freight this morning.

Write to Hess & Palmer. Tell them when the order was received; thank them for it; tell when and how goods were shipped; that invoice is enclosed. Express the hope that the goods will prove satisfactory and that further orders may be received.

Exactness and Brevity.

It is well to consider now some of the common errors which the beginner makes in writing business letters in order that we may avoid them at the outset. Very often the inexperienced letter writer, in his endeavor to be terse and "business-like," goes so far as to leave out some of the essential elements of the letter or even so far as to abbreviate words. He writes, "Yours received" or "Yours at hand," when he should write, "I have your letter of June 27" or "Your letter of June 27, asking for catalog, is received." He leaves out, perhaps, the subject of a sentence and writes, "Will send catalog and samples," when he should write, "We will send catalog and samples." He abbreviates words and writes, "Yours, etc.," when he means "Yours very truly," or "Yours resp." for "Yours respectfully."

As another example of the brevity which is undesirable, compare the following letter with the one in which all the facts are stated..

Undesirable Brevity in a Letter.

Lir. J. C. Carpenter,

Whittier, Cal., 6 - 27, '05.

Los Angeles, Cal.

Dear Sir,

Yours at hand. Have placed the amount enclosed to your

credit.

Thanking you, we remain,

Yours, etc.,

0. B. Griffin & Co.

Good Form of Letter of Acknowledgment.

Whittier, Cal., June 27, 1905.

Mr. J. C. Carpenter,

416 Pacific Ave.,

Los Angeles, Cal.

Dear Sir,

We are in receipt of your letter of the 24th inst. enclos

ing check for One Hundred Seventy Four Dollars ($174.00) in payment of invoice of May 26.

Thanking you for the remittance and assuring you that your further orders will receive our beat attention, we remain,

Yqurs very truly,

0. B. Griffin & Co.

It is customary with most correspondents to mention the date of the letter they are answering; as, "We have received your letter of the 8th inst. containing order." On the other hand, many correspondents omit the date and say, "We have received your letter containing order." The first form is preferable in most cases, as it enables the one who receives the answer more easily to find in his files the copy of the first letter. Possibly he has sent more than one order and in that case might have difficulty in telling which one was referred to. Some firms have a printed request in their letter heads that, in answering, the writer refer to a certain number which is inserted or to the number and date. This enables them to turn to their files and at once find the copy of their first letter.