163. THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE LETTER. In friendly letters much lat.i.tude is allowed in the body of the letter, but business letters should be brief and to the point. No letter, however, should be lacking in the courteous forms or in completeness.

164. FORM OF BODY. The body of the letter usually begins on the line below the salutation and is indented the same distance from the margin as any other paragraph would be indented. See model letters under --174.

In commercial letters paragraph divisions are made more frequently than in other composition. Each separate point should be made the subject of a separate paragraph.

165. FAULTS IN BODY OF THE LETTER. In letters that are intended to be complete and formal, avoid the omission of articles, p.r.o.nouns, and prepositions. Avoid also expressions that are grammatically incomplete. Only in extremely familiar and hasty letters should the "telegraph style" be adopted.

Bad: Received yours of the 10th. Have had no chance to look up man.

Will do so soon.

Good: I have received your letter of the tenth. I have had no chance as yet to look up the man, but I will do so soon.

Bad: Address c/o John Smith, Mgr. Penna. Tele.

Good: Address in care of John Smith, Manager of the Pennsylvania Telegraph.

Bad: In reply will say ...

Good: In reply I wish to say ...

Bad: Yours of the 10th at hand.

Good: Your letter of the 10th is at hand.

Bad: Your favor received ...

Good: We have received your letter ...

Bad: Enclose P. O. money order for $2.

Good: We enclose post office money order for two dollars, ($2).

Bad: We have read your plan. Same is satisfactory.

Good: We have read your plan, and it is satisfactory.

Avoid the use of abbreviations in the letter.

It is well to avoid the too frequent use of the p.r.o.noun _I_ in the letter, though care must be taken not to carry this caution to extremes. _I_, however, should not be omitted when necessary to the completeness of the sentence. Do not try to avoid its use by omitting it from the sentence, but by subst.i.tuting a different form of sentence.

There is no objection to beginning a letter with _I_.

Punctuate the letter just as carefully as any other composition.

Excepting in letters of a formal nature, there is no objection to the use of colloquial expressions such as _can't, don't,_ etc.

Unless you have some clear reason to the contrary, avoid the use of expressions that have been used so much that they are worn out and often almost meaningless. Such expressions as the following ones are not wrong, but are often used when they are both inappropriate and unnecessary.

Your esteemed favor is at hand.

In reply permit me to say ...

We beg leave to advise ...

We beg to suggest ...

Thanking you for the favor, we are ...

Please find enclosed ...

In answer to your favor of the tenth ...

We take pleasure in informing you ...

In reply would say ...

We beg to acknowledge receipt of your favor ...

Awaiting your further orders, we are ...

THE CLOSE

166. FINAL WORDS. Business letters frequently close with some final words, such as, _Thanking you again for your kind a.s.sistance, I am ..., A waiting your further orders, we are_ ..., etc. These expressions are not wrong, but are often used when not at all necessary.

167. THE COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE. The complimentary close should be written on a separate line near the middle of the page, and should begin with a capital letter. Appropriateness is the only guide to the choice of a complimentary close.

The following complimentary closes are proper for business letters:

Yours respectfully, Yours very truly, Yours truly, Very truly yours,

The following complimentary closes are proper for friendly letters:

Yours sincerely, Very truly yours, Yours very truly, Your loving son, Yours cordially, Affectionately yours,

168. FAULTS IN THE CLOSE. Do not use abbreviations, such as, _Yrs.

respy., yrs. try.,_ etc.

169. THE SIGNATURE OF THE WRITER. The letter should be so signed as to cause no doubt or embarra.s.sment to any one addressing a reply.

The signature should show whether the writer is a man or a woman; and, if a woman, it should indicate whether she is to be addressed as _Miss_ or _Mrs._ In formal letters it is customary for a woman to indicate how she is to be addressed by signing her name in the following manner:

Sincerely yours, Caroline Jones.

(Mrs. William Jones).

Very truly yours, (Miss) Matilda Stephens.

In signing a company name write first the name of the company, and after it the name of the writer. Example:

D. Appleton & Company, per J. W. Miller.