In writing the following letters, be definite and courteous:
1. You have advertised your eight-room, furnace-heated house for sale for $3,500. A letter of inquiry desires particulars. Answer it.
2. You live on a side street, which for the last week has not been lighted. Write to the editor of the paper, or to a town official, whichever you think would remedy the matter. Be courteous. A letter to an editor is begun: To the Editor of ——.
3. The cars on which you ride every day are very dirty. Write to the mayor. He is addressed: Hon. ——.
4. You wish to have a telephone installed. Make application.
5. Two weeks ago you wrote (4). Still you have no telephone. Write again, stating the substance of (4) and asking the reason for the delay.
6. Write the telephone company's reply. Be very courteous. What good reason could you give for the delay?
7. You understand that your Congressman has the privilege of recommending a young man for the entrance examinations of your state university. Write to him, asking that he recommend you. Remember that he is a stranger to you. What should you tell him?
Exercise 222—Mistaken Ideas in Letter Writing
It is too bad that, to a number of people, the term business letter conveys the idea of a colorless, stilted composition full of trite and almost meaningless business formulas. No one reads such a letter unless he has to, and surely that is not the kind one should practice writing. Below are given a few of the expressions that should be avoided.