A letter written on such lines follows:—
55 Henly Street, Baltimore, Md.
January 17, 1906.Messrs. John Hampton and Sons,
225 Fulton St., New York.Dear Sirs,—
I have heard through your agent here that you are looking for boys as messengers and errand boys. My family is about to move to New York and I wish to make application for one of those positions with your firm.
I am fifteen years old, in good health, and have just graduated from the public schools in this city. For the last three summers I have acted as errand boy for the firm of Clancy Brothers here, which work I am told by your agent is similar to what you wish. I inclose letters of recommendation from the head of that firm and from the principal of my school.
Hoping to hear from you favorably,
Very truly yours,
Peter Miller.Exercise 83.—I. Write the answer to the above.
II. Write, in the same manner, letter and answer, making a short outline first in each case:—
1. A letter to a bicycle firm, asking to be given the agency for your town or locality. State why you think their bicycles would sell well, and what your qualifications for the position are.
2. Letter to a large grocery store, offering to sell them homemade preserves, nuts, maple sugar, candy, popcorn-balls, or anything you can make or gather in the country.
3. Letter to a florist, offering to supply him with autumn leaves, ferns, country flowers of any kind, moss, birchbark, etc.
4. Letter to a country newspaper, offering to write a weekly news letter.
5. Letter to a country church, offering to repeat for them an entertainment which has been successful in your own church or school
Note.—Make the letters above complete in all details, as to distance from the city or country, cost of transportation, etc.; and in the answer give full terms and conditions.
6. Letter to a livery stable, asking their price for a sleigh ride for a party of twelve.
7. Letter to the owner of an athletic field, asking his price for the use of the field every Tuesday afternoon during April and May.
8. Letter to a firm of dealers in athletic goods, asking for a reduced rate for an outfit for basket-ball, baseball, etc., and giving reasons why you think you should have a reduction.
9. To a piano manufacturer, asking lowest prices for a piano for the school and easiest methods of payment, installments, etc. Explain that the pupils are attempting to raise the money by entertainments.
10. To a bank, inclosing check and asking them to deposit it to your brother's credit, and to send acknowledgment to his address.
Exercise 84.—Write the following: 1. To a carpenter, asking price of shelf for your class room. Give all necessary information about length, width, etc.
2. To a dressmaker, asking price for making a dress. Give all particulars.
3. To a department store, asking to open an account. Give references.
4. To the Gas Company, saying that you are about to leave town for a month and wish the gas turned off the house during that time.
5. To a theater, asking what reduction will be made if a number of pupils from your school buy tickets together.
6. To a railroad, asking what reduction in price will be made for a school excursion.
7. To a grocer, milkman, butcher, making arrangements for daily delivery of goods at your house.
8. To a caterer, asking prices for a large reception.
9. To the leader of a musical organization, asking his prices for playing at a school entertainment.
10. To a person who is to speak at your school, stating exactly what the occasion is, who will form his audience, how long he is expected to speak, etc.
51. Notices.—In olden times, when any one wished to announce a meeting or give some information of common interest, he hired the town crier. This was a man who went about the town with a horn or bell, attracting as many people as possible to him, and then crying out in a loud voice the news he had to tell. The notice you put up on the blackboard in your class room, the slip of paper you post on the walls of your schoolhouse, to announce an entertainment, an examination, or a meeting of one of your clubs, is the modern town crier. The notices which you see in the newspapers, telling people the time and date of a public meeting, or announcing church services, also take the place of a town crier. There is this difference. If the crier forgot to tell the people listening to him any important detail of his news, they could at once call out and ask him; but if a notice is incomplete, there is no way for the people interested to get the information needed.
If you will study notices of various kinds, you will see that good ones, that is, notices which are brief, clear, complete, and not clumsy, are not common; and, when you try to write them, you will probably find it more difficult than you thought to be a good town crier.
A meeting for the purpose of forming a club for the study of birds will be held on Thursday afternoon at half past three, in the Seventh Grade room. Any pupils in grades higher than the Fourth, who are interested in bird study, are eligible for membership, and are cordially invited to attend the meeting.
If a sufficient number appear before four o'clock, an expedition to the Wright Woods will be made, under the leadership of the teachers of the Seventh Grade.
In studying this notice you will see that a great deal is contained in it. Place, date, hour, and purpose of the meeting are contained in the first sentence. In the next is definitely stated the condition for membership in the club, and in the last is placed an inducement to make the meeting a large one.
Another example follows:—
A Christmas entertainment will be given by the pupils of the Eighth Grade on Friday afternoon at three o'clock, in the Seventh Grade room. A short play will be presented, and the Glee Club of the school will sing twice. Admission, ten cents. It is hoped that there will be a large number present, as the proceeds go to the piano fund.
Exercise 85.—1. The Bird Club is formed, and you wish to announce a field expedition, on a Saturday, when every one is to bring his lunch. State place and time and date of meeting; probable length of the expedition; cost, if any; special equipment, such as rubbers; and what will be done in case of bad weather.
2. Write a notice for a regular meeting of the Bird Club, giving topic to be discussed.
3. You wish to announce a competition for a prize for the best story about a bird, for the best drawing of a bird, for the best plan of work for the club, for the best description of one of its excursions. State conditions of contest, time when contributions must be handed in, maximum and minimum length of article or size of drawing, what the prize is, etc.
4. Similar notice for prize competition for best Christmas story, Fourth of July article, Thanksgiving poem, etc.; for the best amateur photograph of the school, for the best drawing.
5. Write notice for the formation of a Kodak Club; of a football team; of a walking club; of a dramatic society; of a literary society; of a glee club; of a general athletic association; of a school library; of a chess club.
6. Write notices for a regular meeting of these societies.
In writing notices for an address or entertainment it is often desirable to give a little space to a brief description or characterization of the speaker, as in the following:—
Dr. William T. Harris, the former National Commissioner of Education at Washington, will speak on Education and Philosophy at the morning session on Tuesday, at half-past nine o'clock, in the large Assembly Hall. Dr. Harris is one of the most distinguished of living educators. A general discussion will follow the address.
Exercise 86.—Write a notice for an address by the President of the United States, by a senator, by one of the clergymen of your town, by the superintendent of city schools, by the mayor of your town, by any public person whom you would like to hear.
Exercise 87.—1. Write a notice of a spelling match between two grades in your school, of an athletic contest of any kind, of a concert, of a play, of a school expedition to visit an historical monument, of the dates of a holiday, of a picnic, of a celebration of Washington's birthday, of a debate, of a celebration of Hallowe'en.
2. Write a notice stating that the skating is good on a pond near the school; that the pond is declared unsafe; that pupils are asked not to pass near a building that is being erected on the same street as the school on account of danger from falling timber; that pupils are requested to be very quiet in passing a house where some one lies seriously ill; that the city or village authorities have forbidden coasting down a certain street; that baseball is allowed on certain days in the park; that bonfires will be allowed in the streets in honor of some celebration; that the pupils of your school are expected to take part in the parade on Decoration Day, in any town celebration; that song birds are not to be killed; that a bridge near the school is unsafe; that all pupils must be vaccinated before a certain date.