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BUSINESS ENGLISH
A PRACTICE BOOK
BY
ROSE BUHLIG
LAKE HIGH SCHOOL, CHICAGO
D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO
Copyright, 1914,
By D. C. Heath & Co.
IG4
PREFACE
The author of this book and the writer of this preface have
never met. Their respective fields of labor are a thousand miles
apart. Yet such is the force of ideas that many of their thoughts
and sympathies are common.
Business English! The very name is an anomaly. From a
literary point of view there is no such thing. English is Eng-
lish whether it be used to express the creations of our imagina-
tion, our aesthetic appreciations, or our daily wants. There is
no magical combination of words, phrases, and sentences that is
peculiar and distinctive to business transactions. Business Eng-
lish as used in these pages means effective communication, both
oral and written. The author's aim throughout has been to
teach the art of using words in such a way as to make people
think and act. To do this she has applied the principles of lit-
erary composition to the highly complex and ever increasing
problems of our business life. She realizes that business is vital,
and that the problems of commerce are not to be met and
handled with dead forms and stereotyped expressions of legal
blanks.
To use our language effectively it is necessary to have an
understanding of its elements. Thus the author has very wisely
devoted much space to word-study and English grammar. This
is a field commonly neglected in books on the subject. The
people engaged in business are, on the whole, woefully weak in
the grammar of our language. It is believed that the treatment
herein will be a great aid in correcting this deficiency. If we
have ideas, we must express them in words, and our words
should be so chosen and arranged as not to offend, but to please
and interest. This result can be secured by a systematic study
of Part I.
292222
iv PREFACE
Part II deals with oral and written composition. Here the
author has arranged her subjects in such a way as to give the
whole a cumulative effect. The method throughout is induc-
tive, and sufficient examples are always given to warrant the
conclusions drawn. Most textbooks on Business Enghsh neglect
the subject of oral English. This book regards the spoken word
as important as the written word.
If there be any one feature in this textbook more to be com-
mended than another, it is the exposition in Part III. The
situations arising in many different kinds of business are here
analyzed. The author beUeves that the way to become a good
business correspondent is, first, to learn what the situation
demands and, second, to practice meeting the demands. We
must know before we write. Given a knowledge of the subject,
we must have much practice in expressing ourselves in such a
way as to make our composition effective. The author meets
this need by supplying many and varied exercises for practice.
These exercises are live, practical, and up-to-date. The prob-
lems to be solved are real, not imaginary. Thus the power to
be gained in meeting these situations and solving these problems
will prove a real asset to those who contemplate a business
career. It is confidently hoped that both teachers and pupils
will find in this work material which will help them to prepare
themselves to meet the many problems and demands of our
growing commercial needs.
Daniel B. Duncan
Columbia University
January^ I9i4«
CONTENTS
Part I— Word Study and Grammar
Chapter " Page
I Interesting Words i
H Pronunciation 7
III Spelling Rules 18
IV Word Analysis 29
V The Sentence and its Elements 41
VI The Noun and the Pronoun 57
VII The Adjective and the Adverb 75
VIII The Verb 83
IX The Preposition and the Conjunction . . . .116
Part II— Composition: Oral and Written
X Oral English 127
XI Choosing Subjects . 146
XII Punctuation 158
XIII The Clear Sentence 199
XIV The Paragraph 215
XV Business Letters 229
Part III — Composition: Business Practice
XVI Manufacture 270
XVII Distribution 282
XVIII Advertising 308
XIX Real Estate and Insurance . 321
XX Banking 33^
XXI The Corporation 353
Index 369
BUSINESS ENGLISH
PART I — WORD STUDY AND GRAMMAR
CHAPTER I
INTERESTING WORDS
Business English is the expression of our commercial life
in English. It is not synonymous with letter writing. To
be sure, business letters are important, but they form only a
part of one of the two large divisions into which the subject
naturally falls.
First, there is oral expression, important because so many
of our business transactions are conducted personally.
Thousands of salesmen daily move from place to place over
the entire country, earning their salaries by talking con-
vincingly of the goods that they have to sell. A still greater
number of clerks, salesmen, managers, and officials orally
transact business in our shops, stores, offices, and banks.
Complaints are adjusted; difficulties are disentangled; and
affairs of magnitude are consimimated in personal inter-
views, the matter under discussion often being thought too
important to be entrusted to correspondence. In every
business oral English is essential.
Second, there is written expression. This takes account of
the writing of advertisements, circulars, booklets, and pros-
pectuses, as well as of letters. And in the preparation of
these oral English is fundamental. It precedes and prac-
tically includes the written expression. For example, we
say colloquially that a good advertisement "talks." We
mean that the writer has so fully realized the buyer's point
of view that the words of the advertisement seem to speak
directly to the reader, arousing his interest or perhaps answer-
2 ' ' -{) <\\ ,W9REf STUDY
ing his objection. Oral English is fundamental, too, in the
writing of letters, for most letters are dictated and not writ-
ten. The correspondent talks them to his stenographer or
to a recording machine in the same tone, probably, that he
would use if the customer were sitting before him.
But in taking this point of view, we should not minimize
the importance of written business English. In a way, it is
more difficult to write well than it is to talk well. In talking
we are not troubled with the problems of correct spelling,
proper punctuation, and good paragraphing. We may even
repeat somewhat, if only we are persuasive. But in writing
we are confronted with the necessity of putting the best
thoughts into the clearest, most concise language, at the
same time obeying all the rules of spelling, punctuation, and
grammar. The business man must be sure of these details
in order to know that his letters and advertising matter are
correct. The stenographer, especially, must be thoroughly
familiar with them, so that she may correctly transcribe
what has been dictated.
Business English is much the same as any other English.
It consists in expression by means of words, sentences, and
paragraphs. Moreover, they are much the same kind of
words, sentences, and paragraphs that appear in any book
that is written in what is commonly called the literary style.
In a business letter the words are largely those of every day
use, and but few are technical. It is the manner in which
the words are put together, the idea back of the sentence,
that makes the difference. Business English calls for busi-
ness thinking, the development of which is of the utmost
importance.
We must know our tools before we can use them, and in
business English the tools are right words and sound ideas.
We must search for the one and develop the other. Both
tasks will be interesting. There is an exhilaration in the
choice of an expressive word and a satisfaction in the work-
INTERESTING WORDS 3
ing out of an effective idea, but the idea is useless without
the word to tell it. There is a power in words, but the power
comes only through study. "A word is short and quick, but
works a long result; therefore look well to words.'*
The study of words is interesting because words themselves
are interesting. Sometimes the interest consists in the
story of the derivation. As an example, consider the word
italic. Many words in this book are written in italic to draw
attention to them. Literally the word means "relating to
Italy or its people." It is now applied to a kind of type in
which the letters slope toward the right. The type was
called italic because it was dedicated to the states of Italy
by the inventor, Manutius, about the year 1500. An una-
bridged dictionary will tell all about the word.
The word salary tells a curious story. It is derived from
a Latin word, salarium, meaning "salt money.'* It was the
name of the money that was given to the Roman soldiers
for salt, which was a part of their pay. Finally, instead of
signifying only the salt money, it came to mean the total
pay.
Practically all of this information a good dictionary
gives. In other words, a dictionary is a story book con-
taining not one, but hundreds of thousands of stories.
Whenever possible it tells what language a word cp,me from,
how it got its different meanings, and how those meanings
have changed in the course of time. For it is natural that
words should change just as styles change, names of
ancient things being lost and names for new things being
made. As the objects themselves have gone out of use,
their names have also gone. When a word has gone en-
tirely out of use, it is marked obsolete in the dictionary.
On the other hand, new inventions must be named. Thus
new words are constantly being added to the language
because they are needed.
There is a large class of words that we shall not have
4 WORD STUDY
time to consider. They are called technical. Every pro-
fession, business, or trade has its distinctive words. The
technical words that a printer would use are entirely differ-
ent from those which a dentist, a bookkeeper, or a lawyer
would use. You will learn the technical terms of your
business most thoroughly after you enter it and see the use
for such terms.
If a dictionary will give us all of this information, it is
evident that it is a book to be respected and studied, for
it is by no means ^'dry." Of course it will do no good
to read it unless the words are learned; unless they are
spoken and written. There is pleasure in thus employing
new material, as everybody knows. Use your eyes and
ears. When you hear a new word, or read one, focus the
mind upon it for a moment until you can retain a mental
picture of its spelling and of its pronunciation. Then as
soon as possible look it up in the dictionary to fix its spell-
ing, pronunciation, and definition. Do this regularly, and
you will have reason to be proud of your vocabulary.
An excellent way to increase the number of words that
you know is to read the right kind of books. The careful
study of the words used in the speeches and addresses of
noted men is good practice. The conditions that called
forth the speech were probably important, and the speech
itself interesting, or it would not be preserved. When
a man has an interesting or important message to give, he
usually gives it in clear, exact, simple language. There-
fore the vocabulary that he uses is worth copying. As
for stories, there is a kind that furnishes a wealth of ma-
terial that modern authors are constantly using or referring
to, and this is found in stories of the Bible, stories of Greek
and Northern gods and goddesses, stories of the Iliad, the
Odyssey, the jEneid, stories of chivalry — all old stories.
Every one should know them well, because they are the
basis of many allusions in which a single word oftentimes
INTERESTING WORDS
suggests a whole story. The meaning of the word her-
culean, for instance, is missed if you do not know the
story of Hercules and know that he was famous for
his strength.
Exercise i
Atlas is an interesting word. Originally it was the name of
a Greek god, who carried the world on his shoulders. Then
it is supposed that in the sixteenth century the famous
geographer Mercator prefixed his collection of maps with
the picture of Atlas supporting the world. Thus a collec-
tion of maps in a volume came to be called an atlas. Con-
sult an unabridged dictionary for the origin of each of the
following:
rival
fortune
cereal
boycott
dollar
finance
china
derrick
bankrupt
milliner
Java
mercury
cash
pullman
cashmere
colossal
mint
grocer
macadam
turbine
Exercise 2
The days of the week and the months of the year are
interesting in their derivation. Monday, for example,
represents the day sacred to the Moon as a deity. Explain
the origin of each of the following:
Sunday Saturday May October
Tuesday January June November
Wednesday February July December
Thursday March August
Friday April September
Exercise 3
Look up the derivation of the following:
cancel bead ambition hospital
pecuniary paper influence pavilion
cheat book virtue mackintosh
speculation bayonet peevish chapel
phaeton tawdry disaster omnibus
WORD STUDY
Exercise 4
Explain the origin of each of the following:
curfew
tulip
turquoise
good-bye
pompadour
aster
amethyst
dismal
hyacinth
dunce
tantalize
titanic
dandelion
humor
umbrella
volcano
dahlia
villain
sandwich
tangle
begonia
echo
lunatic
babble
Exercise 5
Tell the image that each of the following suggests to
you:
howl sputter rasping munch
skim prance clatter trickle
squeal dick wheeze shuffle
moan thud trudge bulge
squeak patter chuckle gobble
squawk spatter toddling swish
Exercise 6
Bring to class a list of words which, because they are the
names of modern inventions, have come into the language
in modern time.
Exercise 7
How many words can you name which might be called the
technical terms of school life, words which always carry with
them a suggestion of the school room? Bring in a list of
twenty such words.
Exercise 8
How many words can you name which are used only in
the business world? Bring in a list of twenty such words.
Exercise 9
How many words can you name which apply particu-
larly to money and the payment or non-payment of
money? Bring in a list of twenty or more such words.
I
CHAPTER II
PRONUNCIATION
We are judged by our speech. If we clip syllables, run
words together, or pronounce them incorrectly, we shall
merit the criticism of being careless or even ignorant. Yet
clear enunciation and correct pronunciation are sometimes
difficult. We learn most words by hearing others say them,
and, if we do not hear the true values given to the different
syllables, we shall find it hard to distinguish the correct
from the incorrect forms. Children whose parents speak a
foreign language usually have to watch their speech with
especial care; Germans, for example, find difficulty in saying
th and Irish people in saying oi as in oil. The exercises in
this chapter are given for the purpose of correcting such
habits. The words in the exercises should be pronounced
repeatedly, until the correct forms are instinctive.
Train the ear to hear the difference between sounds, as
in just and in jest. Don't slide over the final consonant in
such words as going and reading. Watch words containing
wh. The dictionary tells us that where was originally written
hwar, the h coming before the w; and we still pronounce it
so, although we write the w before the h. The word whether
is of the same kind. The dictionary tells us that it was first
spelled hweder. Such words should be carefully noted and
their pronunciation practiced.
Then there is the habit of slurring syllables. We may
understand what is meant by the expression "Cm* on" or
"Waja say?'', but most of us would prefer not to be in-
cluded in the class of people who use either. Correct speech
cannot be mastered without an effort.
8 WORD STUDY
In the following exercises watch every vowel and every
consonant so that you may give each one its full value.
Exercise lo — Diacritical Marks
Although an a is always written a, it is not always given
the same quality or length of sound. When we discover a
new word, it is important that we know exactly the quality
to give each of the vowels in it. For this purpose diacriti-
cal marks have been invented. They are illustrated in the
following list from Webster's International Dictionary.
a as in ate, fate, lab'or
a
ii
ii
sen'ate, dericate, ae'rial
a
11
ii
care, share, par'ent
a
(C
a
am, add, ran'dom
a
a
ii
arm, far, fa'ther
a
((
ii
ask, grass, pass, dance
a
it
ii
fi'nal, in'fant, guid'ance
^
iC
a
all, awe, swarm, talk
e
(C
a
eve, mete, serene'
e
ii
a
event', depend', soci'ety
e
((
ii
end, met, excuse', efface'
e
iC
ii
fern, her, er'mine, ev'er
e
a
ii
re'cent, de'cency, pru'dence
i
((
a
ice, time, sight, inspire'
i
u
a
idea', tribu'nal, biorogy
i
n
ii
m, pin, pit'y, admit'
o
ic
ii
old, note, o'ver, propose'
6
11
ii
obey', tobac'co, sor'row
6
{(
a
orb, lord, or'der, abhor'
6
ii
a
odd, not, tor'rid, occur'
u
it
a
use, pure, du'ty, assume'
u
ii
ii
unite', ac'tuate, educa'tion
U
a
a
rude, ru'mor, intrude'
u
a
ii
full, put, fulfiU'
ii
a
a
up, tub, stud'y
ti
a
ii
urn, fur, concur'
f
a
ii
pit'y, in'jury, divin'itj^
66
ii
ii
fool, food, moon
do
ii
a
fd6t, wool, book
ou " " out, thou, devour'
oi " " oil, noi'sy, avoid'
PRONUNCIATION 9
a is called long a, and is marked with the macron
a is called short a, and is marked with the breve
a is called caret a, and is marked with the caret
a is called Italian a, and is marked with the diaeresis
a is called short Italian a, and is marked with the dot
e is called tilde e, and is marked with the tilde or wave
Exercise 11 — Vowels
Of the twenty-six letters in the alphabet, how many are
vowels? Name them. What are the other letters called?
Compare the a in hat and the a in hate. Which has
more nearly the sound of a in the alphabet? This is
called the natural or long sound of the vowel. The other
is called the short sound.
Drop the e from hate. Explain the result.
Name other monosyllables ending in e and containing the
long a sound.
Explain the difference in pronunciation between PetCj
pet, ripe, rip, hope, hop, cube, cub.
Find other monosyllables ending in e and containing a
long vowel that becomes short if the e is dropped.
Monosyllables ending in silent e usually contain a long
vowel sound, which becomes short when the final e is
dropped.
Exercise 12
Pronounce carefully the following words containing the
short Italian a:
advance
class
lance
plaster
advantage
contrast
last
pastor
after
enchant
mask
prance
basket
France
master
rafter
branch
glance
mastiff
shaft
brass
glass
pass
surpass
chaff
grass
past
task
Exercise 13
Pronounce the following carefully, noting each a that is
marked:
lO
WORD STUDY
half
idea
calm
audacious
path
can't
apricot
aghast
ask
catch
madr2,s
Mgebra
father
vacation
agile
forbade
dance
extra
cast
trance
lass
casket
grant
aviation
Exercise 14
Pronounce the vowel 0 in the following very carefully.
Don't give the sound feller or fella when you mean fellow.
fellow
swallow
theory
borrow
potato
follow
position
heroism
window
original
factory
donkey
pillow
evaporate
ivory
memory
chocolate
mosquito
Hcorice
oriental
Exercise 15
The vowel u needs particular attention. When it is long,
it is sounded naturally, as it is in the alphabet. Do not
say redooce for reduce.
reduce
picture
educate
figure
produce
stupid
judicial
duty
conducive
student
calculate
accumulate
endure
genuine
curiosity
Tuesday
duration
induce
regular
particular
singular
avenue
tune
institute
nutriment
constitution
culinary
January-
revenue
introduce
opportunity
manufacture
Exercise 16
Using diacritical marks indicate the value of the vowels
in the following. Try marking them without first consult-
ing a dictionary. After you have marked them, compare
your markings with those used in a dictionary.
pupil different diacritical gigantic
alphabet several radiating gymnasium
natural letter Wyoming system
result eraser typical merchant
PRONUNCIATION
II
Exercise 17
Pronounce carefully, noting that in each word at least
one consonant is silent, and sometimes a vowel as well.
Draw an oblique line through the silent letter or letters in
each.
through
chasten
sword
island
although
often
fasten
daughter
wrong
soften
calf
might
yacht
subtle
hasten
bouquet
gnaw
almond
naughty
honest
psalm
gHsten
thumb
palm
whistle
salve
should
knack
salmon
chestnut
knowledge
castle
answer
folks
listen
thigh
knot
right
debt
honor
Exercise 18
Pronounce the following, paying particular attention to
the vowels. Distinguish between the meanings of the words
in each group. -
accept
except
bile
boil
least
lest
prevision
provision
affect
effect
carol
coral
eleven
leaven
poor
pure
addition
edition
descent
dissent
neither
nether
radish
reddish
assay
essay
emerge
immerge
pasture
pastor
sentry
century
baron
barren
Francis
Frances
pillar
pillow
sit
set
been
bean
jest
just
gist
point
pint
wrench
rinse
12
WORD STUDY
Exercise 19
Enunciate the consonant sounds carefully in the follow-
ing. Distinguish between the meanings of the words in each
group.
acts
ax
close
clothes
treaties
treatise
rows
rouse
advice
advise
crossed
across
princes
princess
rues
ruse
alms
elms
formerly
formally
prince
prints
either
ether
bodice
bodies
grays
grace
price
prize
running
ruin
cease
seize
lose
loose
recent
resent
walking
walk in
chance
chants
plaintive
plaintiff
sects
sex
weather
whether
does
dose
doze
pair
payer
news
noose
worst
worsted (yarn)
Exercise 20
Pronounce the following, making sure that each syllable is
correct. Guard against slurring the words in the last column.
been
such
barrel
Did you?
gone
put
faucet
Don't you?
to
with
suburb
Go on.
for
tiny
hearth
Our education
aunt
and
nothing
You are
far
poem
office
You're not
our
catch
peril
We're coming
kept
toward
forbade
They're coming
says
donkey
spirit
What did you say?
rid
again
semi
Where are you going?
since
against
scared
Where have you been?
sleek
honest
saucy
I want to go.
creek
savage
turnip
I'm going to go.
where
swept
roof
To-morrow morning
boil
velvet
proof
Next month
hoist
direct
hydrant
Last Saturday
F
PRONUNCIATION
13
Exercise 21
Enunciate
carefully:
salary
gentleman
supple
gymnasium
because
library
subtle
perspiration
ideal
wrestle
italic
clapboards
suite
vessel
insect
cupboard
thirty
friendship
orchid
archangel
tomato
judgment
hovel
candelabra
grimy
cowardice
several
extraordinary
patron
miserable
pumpkin
civilization
omelet
guarantee
accurate
horseshoe
hundred
gelatine
guardian
laboratory
coupon
glycerine
delinquent
tenacious
awkward
parafiine
secretary
measure
hurrah
portrait
audacious
February
pigeon
mercantile
conquer
cellar
history
juvenile
conquest
perfect
diamond
thousand
congress
grandmother
asylum
overalls <
licorice
generally
Exercise 22
Be especially careful of the sounds th and wh. Add no
syllable to a word and omit none. Consult a dictionary
for any word below about which you are not certain:
when
length
diphthong
generally
where
strength
diphtheria
forget
while
height
anesthetic
recognize
wharf
width
betrothal
hungry
which
depth
theory
geography
wheel
there
theme
instead
wheeze
them
arithmetic
isolated
why
eleventh
bathe
writing
whiff
twelfth
lathe
kettle
whence
thought
believe
language
whet
throat
bronchitis
leisure
what
wreaths
government
volume
whale
paths
courteous
column
wheat
months
different
always
wheedle
mouths
engine
once
whelp
myths
English
twice
14
WORD STUDY
whimper
breadths
surprise
arctic
whip
moths
deaf
Italian
whit
bath
children
picture
whither
earth
cruel
often
Exercise 23 — Homonjons
A homonym is a word having the same sound as another
but differing from it in meaning. Use each of the following
in a sentence to show its meaning.
aloud ^ draft fowl principal
allowed draught foul principle
ascent
assent
faint
feint
gate
gait
peal
peel
aught
ought
canvas
canvass
great
grate
quire
choir
bad
bade
cereal
serial
hew
hue
seen
scene
bale
bail
cession
session
kernel
colonel
soul
sole
berry-
bury
cite
site
leased
least
strait
straight
boy
buoy
coarse
course
lesser
lessor
stair
stare
by
buy
compliment
complement
mite
might
sweet
suite
council
counsel
feign
fain
miner
minor
there
their
current
currant
flour
flower
need
knead
wood
would
Exercise 24
Do the same with the following:
aisle clause kill
isle claws kiln
sail
sale
PRONUNCIATION
IS
awl
all
climb
clime
key
quay
ring
wring
base
bass
draught
draft
lie
lye
serge
surge
blew
blue
dew
due
medal
' meddle
sole
soul
bough
bow
done
dun
peer
pier
shone
shown
bread
bred
dual
duel
pore
pour
steel
steal
bear
bare
flue
flew
profit
prophet
stationary
stationery
bridal
bridle
freeze
frieze
quarts
quartz
wade
weighed
capital
capitol
guilt
gilt
rest
wrest
wave
waive
ceiling
sealing
heard
herd
root
route
wrap
rap
Exercise 25-
- Syllabication
What is a syllable?
Choose a word and notice that every vowel sound in it
makes a syllable. Therefore, you never have two vowels
in one syllable unless the two are pronounced as one sound.
In pronouncing notice carefully to which syllable a con-
sonant belongs; as in dif-fer-enty beau-H-fyy daisy.
Divide the following words into syllables. If you cannot
decide with which syllable a consonant belongs, consult a
dictionary.
paper grocer rotate mystery
tomato erect repeat regular
vinegar polish general arithmetic
If a syllable, especially an accented syllable, ends in a
vowel, what is usually the length of the vowel?
i6
WORD STUDY
If the syllable ends in a consonant, what is usually the
length of the vowel of the syllable?
When a consonant is doubled, the division is usually made
between the two letters; as,
blot-ter skip-ping remit-tance
neces-sary throt-tle span-ning
As a rule, a prefix constitutes one syllable; as,
pro-long pre-fer con-stant de-fect ad-mit
re-ceive se-lect dis-trust e-merge im-merse
As a rule, a suffix constitutes one syllable; as,
labor-er soft-ly beauti-fy selec-tion
mole-cule revolution-ist percent-age fanat-ic
When two or more letters together give one sound, they
must not be divided; as,
math-ematics ex-change paragraph-ing abolish-ing
bow-ing toil-ing nation-al gra-cious
Can a word of one syllable be divided?
Do not divide a syllable of one letter from the rest of the
word. The division euer-y is wrong.
Exercise 26
Divide the following words into syllables, using the sug-
gestions given in the preceding exercise:
accountant dissatisfaction manufacturer
advertisement economy material
anecdote
annually
application
automobile
beginning
collection
comparison
competent
confirmation
consequence
correspondence
counterfeit
customer
employment
energetic
environment
especially
establishment
expenditure
factory
furniture
Ulustration
impression
improvement
judgment
machinist
mechanical
neighborhood
occupation
opportunity
organized
permanent
preparation
president
quotation
realize
receptacle
recognition
recommend
reference
repeatedly
salesman .
security
separate
signature
specification
stenography
suburban
superintend
systematic
telephone
treasurer
unanimous
unusual
PRONUNCIATION
17
Exercise 27 — Accent
What is accent?
Divide into syllables, indicate the accent, and pronounce
the following:
expand volume defect interesting
mischievous usually incomparable theatre
exquisite tedious hospitable generally
column inquiry impious
In the following words the meaning changes with the
accent. Use each word in a sentence to show its meaning.
ob'ject subject contrast desert
ob-ject' insult protest extract
tor'ment essay conflict compact
tor-ment' transfer compound survey
minute (notice the vowel change)
refuse (notice the consonant change)
Bring to class a list of words that you have heard mis-
pronounced in your classes. Be sure that you can pro-
nounce them correctly.
Exercise 28
The following words are frequently mispronounced. Di-
vide them into syllables, mark the accent, and pronounce
carefully.
municipal
exquisite
champion
accurately
interesting
gondola
inquiry
Genoa
influence
finance
inexplicable
aUas
illustrate
deficit
despicable
expert
inventory
pretense
mischievous
impious
alternate
dirigible
perfume
detail
CHAPTER III
SPELLING RULES
Exercise 29 — Plurals of Nouns
(a) dress, dresses (h) chair, chairs
splash, splashes wave, waves
business, businesses book, books
church, churches pencil, pencils
fox, foxes paper, papers
The usual way of forming the plural of English nouns is
illustrated by the words in column (b) above. What is it?
If you add s to the singular form dress, could you distin-
guish the pronunciation of the plural from the pronunciation
of the singular? Does this suggest a reason for adding es
to form the plural?
How many syllables must you use to pronounce the
plural of fox? Does this suggest another reason for adding
es to form the plural?
Every word that ends in a sibilant or hissing sound (ch,
s, sh, sSj Xy z) forms its plural like fox. Give several illus-
trations.
Rule I . — Nouns regularly form the plural by adding s^
but those ending in a sibilant must add es.
Exercise 30
(a) lady, ladies (b) valley, valleys
ally, allies alley, alleys
soliloquy, soliloquies journey, journeys
Name five words belonging to group (a) above. Does a
vowel or a consonant precede the y in each case?
Name other words belonging to the group (b) above. Does
a vowel or a consonant precede the y in each case?
SPELLING RULES
19
Rule 2. — Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant
(and nouns ending in quy) form the plural by changing y
to i and adding es.
Exercise 31 — Words ending in o
{a)
potato, potatoes hero, heroes mulatto, mulattoes
tomato, tomatoes buffalo, buffaloes cargo, cargoes
negro, negroes echo, echoes motto, mottoes
memento, mementos
canto, cantos
soprano, sopranos
(6)
solo, solos piano, pianos
halo, halos lasso, lassos
zero, zeros quarto, quartos
stilletto, stillettos
The older English words ending in 0 form the plural by
adding eSy as in potatoes; those more recently taken into
the language form the plural by adding 5, as in quartos.
leaf, leaves
loaf, loaves
half, halves
life, lives
self, selves
Exercise 32 —
calf, calves
sheaf, sheaves
wolf, wolves
beef, beeves
knife, knives
Nouns in f and fe
wife, wives
shelf, shelves
elf, elves
wharf, wharves (or wharfs)
With the exception of the words given above, nouns end-
ing in an/ sound form the plural in the regular way; as,
hoof, hoofs scarf, scarfs beliefs beliefs
chief, chiefs reef, reefs grief, griefs
Exercise 33 — Irregular Plurals
Some nouns form their plural by a change of vowel; as,
man men foot feet
woman women tooth teeth
goose' geese mouse mice
A few words retain the old time plural en; as,
brother brethren
child children ox oxen
20 WORD STUDY
A few words are the same in both singular and plural; as,
sheep, trout, deer
Some nouns have two plurals which differ in meaning; as,
Singular Plural
brother brothers brethren
penny pennies pence
pea peas pease
die dies dice
Consult a dictionary for the difference in meaning between
the two plurals of each word.
Exercise 34 — Compound Nouns
Singular Plural
brother-in-law brothers-in-law
father-in-law fathers-in-law
court-martial courts-martial
commander-in-chief commanders-in-chief
man-of-war men-of-war
major general major generals
goose quill goose quills
bill of fare bills of fare
spoonful spoonfuls
cupful cupfuls
Rule 3. — Compound nouns usually add the sign of the
plural to the fundamental part of the word.
Note. — In spoonfuls the thought is one spoon many times full.
Plural of Letters and Figures
Rule 4. — Letters and figures form the plural by adding
the apostrophe (') and sy as,
a a's 3 3's
w w's 5 5's
The same rule applies to the plural of words which ordi-
narily have no plural; as.
Don't use so many and^s and ifs.
SPELLING RULES
21
Exercise 35 — Foreign Plurals
Some nouns derived from foreign languages retain their
original plural. The following are in common use:
Consult a dictionary for their pronunciation and definition.
Singidar
Plural
Singular
Plural
crisis
crises
stratum
strata
thesis
theses
radius
radii
hypothesis
hypotheses
parenthesis
parentheses
focus
foci
synopsis
synopses
datum
data
basis
bases
alumnus
alumni
automaton
automata
alumna
alumnae
analysis
analyses
oasis
oases
nucleus
nuclei
axis
axes
phenomenon
phenomena
genus
genera
Some words admit of two plurals, one the foreign plural,
and one the regular English plural; as,
Singidar
Plural
beau
beaux
beaus
formula
formulae
formulas
vertex
vertices
vertexes
index
indices
indexes
cherub
cherubim
cherubs
seraph
seraphim
seraphs
bandit
banditti
bandits
Consult a dictionary to see whether there is any difference
of meaning between the two plurals of these words.
Exercise 36 — The Formation of Participles
Rap, rapping; rapped Reap, reaping, reaped
Rap is a monosyllable ending in a single consonant pre-
ceded by a single vowel. The final consonant in such words
is doubled before a suffix beginning with a vowel is added.
In reap the final consonant is not doubled because it is
preceded by two vowels.
22
WORD STUDY
2,ke the participles of the following
verbs:
chat lap suit
cheat leap sit
rot train sop
root trim soap
step
steep
trot
treat
Trap, trapping, trapped Track, tracking, tracked
Why is the final consonant in trap doubled before ing or
ed is added?
The final consonant in track is not doubled because track
ends with two consonants.
Pin, pinning Pine, pining
Pine drops the silent e because the tendency in English
is to drop endings that are not needed for pronunciation
before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel.
Form the participles of the following verbs:
knot
rob
flop
note
robe
elope
deal
swim
quit
(w is not here a vowel)
clap
strike
crawl
{w is here a vowel)
stop
oil
wax
{x equals cks)
peal
rush
bow
(w is here a vowel)
Exercise
37
Exercise 36 applies also to words of more than one syllable
accented on the last syllable, if they retain the accent on
the same syllable after the suflSx is added. Thus we have
Rule 5. — Monosyllables or words accented on the last
syllable, ending in a single consonant preceded by a single
vowel, double the final consonant before adding a suflix
beginning with a vowel.
Form participles from the following words that are accented
on the last syllable:
y^m pref<
^^P refei
SPELLING RULES
23
prefer
intervene
escape
refer
reveal
acquire
occur
repeal
secure
permit
pursue
conceal
interfere
erase
arrange
retain
control
acquit
expel
contain
forbid
incur
forget
repel
Form participles from the following words not accented
on the last syllable:
benefit travel marvel shelter
revel answer exhibit render
quarrel profit shovel limit
Words in which the accent changes do not double the final
consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel; as,
confer conference infer inference
refer reference prefer preferable
Explain why the final consonant is not doubled in each of
the following words:
neglect neglecting lean leaning
prefer preference select selecting
creep creeping receipt receipting
wonder wondering answer answering
Exercise 38
Rule 6. — In forming the present participle of verbs end-
ing in y^ retain the y before adding ing; as,
study studying obey obeying
carry carrying convey conveying
pity pitying
In forming the perfect participle, if in the present tense the
y is preceded by a consonant, the y is changed to i and ed
added; if the y is preceded by a vowel, the y is retained; as,
study studied carry carried pity pitied
but
obey obeyed convey conveyed
Compare with Rule 2.
24 WORD STUDY
Exercise 39
Rule 7. — In words containing a long e sound spelled
either ie or ei, el follows c; ie follows one of the other con-
sonants; as,
ei ie
deceive relieve siege
perceive believe yield
receive belief grief
conceive chief field
conceit priest piece
receipt niece wield
reprieve lien
Exceptions, — Either, neither, weird, seize, leisure.
The following couplet may help in remembering when to
write ie and when to write ei:
When the letter c you spy.
Put the e before the i.
Exercise 40 — The Pronunciation of c and g
The letter c is pronounced sometimes like 5 and sometimes
like k.
What sound does c have before a? Illustrate.
Before ^? Illustrate.
Before i? Illustrate.
Before ol Illustrate.
Before w? Illustrate.
Before 3;? Illustrate.
. If c is pronounced hke ^, it is called hard and is marked )?.
If c is pronounced like 5, it is called soft and is marked q. The
mark used to indicate the soft c is called the cedilla.
Make a statement telling when c is hard and when it is
soft.
What sound does g have before each of the vowels, as
in game, gone, gymnasium, Gunther, gentle?
Rxile 8. — C and g usually are soft before e^ i, and y.
SPELLING RULES 25
Exercise 41
Words ending in silent e, according to Rule 5, drop the
e before a suffix beginning with a vowel. Exceptions occur
when the e is needed to preserve the soft sound of c and g.
Tell why e is dropped in encouraging and retained in
courageous.
In words containing dg, di?, m judge and lodge, the d gives
the g the soft sound, and there is no need to retain the e
before adding a suffix, as in judgment.
Rule 9. — Words ending in silent e usually drop the e
before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel, unless the
€ is needed to preserve the pronunciation ; as after soft c
and g, when the suffix begins with a ox o.
Tell why the e is retained before the suffix in the following:
noticeable damageable pronounceable outrageous
courageous peaceable serviceable manageable
Tell why the e is dropped before adding the suffix in the
following:
managing curable erasure
besieging admirable realization
receiving obliging * precedence
perseverance
The fact that c has two different sounds causes a slight
peculiarity in words ending in c. Final c has the sound of
k. When words end in c, the letter k is usually added before
a suffix beginning with either e, i, or y, to show that c is not
pronounced like s; as,
frolic frolicked frolicking
If the k is not added, the c changes its pronunciation; as,
public publicity
Exercise 42
It follows by inference from Rule 9 that words ending in
silent e retain the e before a suffix beginning with a consonant;
as,
26
WORD STUDY
move
movement
disgrace
disgraceful
defense
defenseless
fate
fateful
arrange
arrangement
fierce
fiercely
noise
noiseless
manage
management
severe
severely
rude
rudeness
Exceptions.
— Truly, duly,
wisdom.
, awful, wholly.
Bring to class a list of twenty words that retain the final
e before a sufhx beginning
with a
consonant.
Exercise 43
What spelling rule does each of the following words
illustrate?
advantageous
mimicking
arrangement
gigantic
piece
receipt
boxes
libraries
keys
admittance
occurrence
acquittal
Exercise 44 — Abbreviations
Write abbreviations for the months of the year,
there any that should not be abbreviated?
The abbreviations for the states and territories are:
Are
Alabama, Ala.
Arizona, Ariz.
Arkansas, Ark.
California, Cal.
Colorado, Colo.
Connecticut, Conn.
Delaware, Del.
District of Columbia, D.C.
Florida, Fla.
Georgia, Ga.
Idaho, Idaho
lUinois, lU.
Indiana, Ind.
Iowa, la.
Kansas, Kans.
Kentucky, Ky.
Louisiana, La.
Maine, Me.
Maryland, Md.
Massachusetts, Mass.
Michigan, Mich.
Minnesota, Minn.
Mississippi, Miss.
Missouri, Mo.
Montana, Mont.
Nebraska, Nebr.
Nevada, Nev.
New Hampshire, N.H.
New Mexico, N. Mex.
New York, N.Y.
New Jersey, N.J.
North Carolina, N.C.
North Dakota, N. Dak.
Ohio, 0.
Oklahoma, Okla.
Oregon, Ore.
SPELLING RULES
27
Pennsylvania, Pa.
Philippine Islands, P.I.
Porto Rico, P.R.
South Carolina, S.C.
South Dakota, S.D.
Tennessee, Tenn.
Texas, Tex.
Utah, Utah
Vermont, Vt.
Virginia, Va.
Washington, Wash.
Wisconsin, Wis.
West Virginia, W. Va.
Wyoming, Wyo.
Note. — It is much better to write the full name rather than the
abbreviation whenever the former would make the address clearer,
especially as regards similar abbreviations, such as Cal. and Colo.
Exercise 45 — Abbreviations of Commercial Terms
A I, first class
@, at
acct., account
adv., advertisement
agt., agent
a.m., forenoon
amt., amount
app., appendix
atty., attorney
av., average
avoir., avoirdupois
bal., balance
bbl., barrel
B/L, bill of lading
bldg., building
B/S, biU of sale
bu., bushel
C.B., cash book
C, hundred
coll., collection, collector
Co., company*
C.O.D., cash on delivery
cr., creditor
cwt., hundredweight
D., five hundred
dept., department
disc, discount
do., ditto
dr., debtor, debit
doz., dozen
E. & O.E., errors and omissions
excepted -
ea., each
e.g., for example
etc., and so forth
exch., exchange
ft., foot
f.o.b., freight on board
gal., gallon
i.e., that is
imp., imported
in., inches
inst., this month (instant)
Jr., junior
kg., keg
lb., pound
ltd., limited
mdse., merchandise
mem., memoriandum
mo., month
M.S. (MSS)., manuscript
mtg., mortgage
N.B., take notice
no., number
O.K., aU right
per, by
p.m., afternoon
%, per cent
28
WORD STUDY
pkg., package
pp., pages
pr., pair
pc, piece
pk., peck
prox., next month
pt., pint
Sr., senior
St., street
str., steamer
ult., last month
U.S.M., United States Mail
viz., namely
vol., volume
W/B, way bill
wt., weight
CHAPTER IV
WORD ANALYSIS
To learn English words thoroughly we must spend some
thought on the way in which they are made up, on the lan-
guage from which they have been derived, and on the changes
in meaning made by adding prefixes and suffixes. Three
important influences in building the English have been the
Anglo Saxon, the Greek, and the Latin languages. The
simplest words in the language are Anglo Saxon. The fol-
lowing exercises illustrate how words have been multiplied
by Anglo Saxon prefixes and suffixes.
Exercise 46
Name as many words as you can that make use of each
of the following prefixes. Give only such as are recogniz-
able English words without the prefix.
a — aboard mis — misjudge
he — becalm un — unknown
fore — foretell up — uproot
Give the meaning of each of the prefixes used above.
What part of speech does each prefix make?
Exercise 47
Using the following Teutonic suffixes, form English words.
Be careful that the root taken alone is an English word.
dom — kingdom ness — goodness
hood — manhood ship — friendship
What does each suffix mean?
What part of speech does it make?
so WORD STUDY
Exercise 48
As above, form words using the following suffixes:
en — darken ful — fearful
en — golden ly — smoothly
ish — sweetish like — childlike
less — fearless some — lonesome
Define each suffix.
What part of speech does it make?
Exercise 49 — Greek Roots
Below is given a list of common Greek roots with the
English meaning of each. Form words using one or more of
the roots for each word, and define the words you make.
For instance, give the meaning of telephone ^ telegraph, and
monarch.
Greek English Greek English
phon — hear chron — time
tele — far cycl — circle
graph — write geo — earth
scop — see polit — government
micro — small era — rule
mono — one demo — people
arch — chief hydro — water
metr — measure poly — many
haro — pressure, weight pluto — riches
How many names of modern inventions have you made?
Exercise 50
What words belonging to your vocabulary end in the
following suffixes? Choose only such as have an English
word for the root.
Adjective Suflfixes
1. able, ible — able to be, fit to be
Readable, fit to be read.
2. al, eal, ial — relating to, having to do with
3. ant J ent — being, inclined to
WORD ANALYSIS 31
4. ate — having the quality of, inclined to
5. ic — like, relating to
6. ive — relating to, of the nature of, belonging to
7. ory^ ary — relating to
8. ous — full of, abounding in
Verb Suffixes
1. ate — to make
2. fy, ify — to make
3. ise, ize — to make
Noun Suffixes
1. age — condition, act, collection of
2. ance, ancy, ence^ ency — state of being
3. ary, ory — one who, place where, that which
4. ant, ent — one who
5. ist, ite — one who
6. ion, sion, tion — act of, state of being
7. ity, ty — quality of being
8. ment — that which, act or state of being
9. or, er, ar — one who
10. try — state of
11. tude, itude — condition of being
12. ure — condition of being, that which
Exercise 51
The following is a list of the more commonly used Latin
prefixes :
1. a, ah — away from
2. ad — toward
3. ante — before
4. anti — against
5. hi — two, twice
6. circum — around
7. con — together with, against
8. contra — against
9. de — from, apart from, down
from
10. dis — apart, not
11. dia — through
12. ex — out of
13-
m, en — mto
en — to cause to be
14.
in, un — not
15.
inter — between
16.
intra— toward the inside
17.
mono — one
18.
non — not
19.
oh — in the way of,
against
20.
per — through
21.
pre — before
22.
post — after
23.
pro — before
32
WORD STUDY
24. re —
■ again, back
28. super —
- above, moi
25. semi
— half, partly
than
26. se —
- away from
29. trans —
- across
27. suh-
— under, below
30. uni — one
Exercise 52
Analyze
the following
words, telling prefix, root, siifi&;
part of speech, and meaning:
business
package
truthfulness
unsuccessful
useless
anteroom
workmanlike
agreement
prefix
monotone
nervousness
uniformity
beautify
breakage
disrespectful
misguidance
semicircle
pleasant
perfection
crystallize
kingship
sameness
progressive
precaution
incase
subway
undeniable
imaginary
enrich
disown
displeasure
supernatural
pianist
readmit
endurance
melodious
bicycle
adjuster
reaction
interlineal
Exercise 53
When the prefixes ad^ con, and in are used to form English
words, the final consonant of each is often changed to the
initial consonant of the root to which it is joined.
Ad assumes the forms ah, ac, af, ag, aly an, ap, ar, as, at,
assimilating the d with the first letter of the word to which
it is prefixed; as,
ab-breviate al-literation ar-rest
ac-cept al-lot as-sign
ac-cumulate an-nex as-sist
af-fect an-nounce at-tract
af-flict ap-position at-tribute
ag-gregate ap-prove at-tune
Con assumes the forms col, cor, com, by assimilation; it
takes the form com before p; and it drops the n before a
vowel; as,
col-lateral com-mercial com-pose
col-lect cor-relate co-operate
corn-mission cor-respond co-ordinate
WORD ANALYSIS 33
In assumes the forms il, im, ir, by assimilation and takes
the form of im before p,
il-lusion im-migrate ir-ruption im-port
Exercise 54 — Peculiar Adjective Endings
The suffixes able and ihle are sometimes troublesome
because it is difficult to know which ending to write. As
a rule, if the new word was made from another English word,
the ending is able, as blamable. The words ending in ible
are derived from the Latin, and, as a rule, the ending cannot
easily be separated from the root and still leave the latter
an English word. Examples are:
divisible intelligible digestible audible
visible permissible flexible incredible
possible terrible horrible indelible
The suffixes ant and ent must also be carefully noted. No
rule can be given for using one rather than the other. When-
ever in doubt, consult a dictionary. Note the following:
ant ent
important independent
pleasant convalescent
triumphant competent
luxuriant convenient
stagnant confident
The endings eous and ious, where e and i are often con-
fused, are illustrated in the following:
eous
tons
hideous
delirious
miscellaneous
impious
courteous
studious
The endings cious and tious are shown in the following:
cious
tious
conscious
fictitious
precious
superstitious
delicious
cautious
gracious
ambitious
suspicious
nutritious
34
WORD STUDY
The endings gious and geous are illustrated in the following:
gious geous
religious courageous
Exercise 55 — Peculiar Noun and Verb Endings
Nouns in ance and ence:
ance ence
acceptance
intelligence
appearance
reference
annoyance
patience
acquaintance
negligence
remittance
diligence
ignorance
residence
Nouns in sion, cion, and Hon:
sion
cion
Hon
exclusion
coercion
acquisition
aversion
suspicion
precaution
Verbs in ise^ yze,
and ize:
ise
yze
ize
advise
analyze
baptize
supervise
paralyze
recognize
Verbs in ceed, sede, and cede:
ceed
sede
cede
exceed
supersede
concede
proceed
intercede
succeed
precede
Exercise 56
What other words can you form from the following?
xplain what prefixes or suffixes
you use
in each case and
hat part of speech you form.
success
consider
real
change
please
doubt
publish
attend
occur
apply
regular
satisfy
emphasize
industry
operate
assess
second
busy
practice
resist
WORD ANALYSIS
35
expense
distribute
organ
define
depend
locate
work
sense
attract
install
desire
preside
effect
vital
count
sign
Exercise 57
There are many words the meanings of which are easily
confused. The spelling and the definitions of such must be
mastered. Analysis in this exercise and in the one following
does not require separation into prefix, root, and suffix, but it
necessitates a careful study of the words, first, to note the
difference in spelling; second, to consult a dictionary, if
necessary, for the difference in meaning.
Define each word clearly.
Use each in a sentence to illustrate its meaning.
common — mutual
complementary — complimentary
continual — continuous
contraction — abbreviation
contradiction — denial
currant — current
defective — deficient
deprecate — depreciate
effective — efficient
eligible — illegible
eminent — prominent
expect — hope
intelligent — intelligible
accept — except
add — annex
advice — advise
affect — effect
after — afterward
ascend — assent
assure — promise
attain — obtain
benefit — advantage
brief — concise
center — middle
claim — maintain
combine — combination
Exercise 58
As above, define each word carefully and use it in a sen-
tence to illustrate its meaning.
healthful — healthy
inventory — invoice
invite — invitation
last — latest
later — latter
liable — likely — apt
loose — lose
proficient — efficient
proscribe — prescribe
purpose — propose
quiet — quite
recommend — recommendation
refer — allude
repair — fix
36
WORD STUDY
need — want requirement — requisite — requisition
perspective — prospective respectfully — respectively
positive — definite
practicable — practical
precede — proceed
principal — principle
scarcely — hardly
stationary — stationery
therefore — accordingly
500 SPELLING WORDS
Lesson i
business
losing
surprising
height
receive
loosely
Saturday
depth
beHeve
across
Wednesday
eighth
wholly
whether
excellent
daily
obliged
describe
exercise
Lesson 2
earnest
attached
decision
probable
seize
attacked
buying
usable
siege
gentlemen
studying
salable
friend
although
relying
desirable
Messrs.
thoroughly
occasion
honorable
Lesson 3
nickel
disappoint
knew
acquittal
stopped
disappear
design
occurrence
referred
disapprove
forty
compelling
planned
disagree
fourth
beginning
swimming
anxious
purpose
permitted
Lesson 4
submitted
all right
persuade
Norwegian
variety
already
pursued
possession
prairie
tongue
prepared
accumulate
neighbor
separate
repaired
dissatisfy
soldier
crystal
necessary
dissolve
Lesson 5
shoulder
their
awkward
opportunity
scheme
advise
mucilage v
development
schedule
advice
familiar
statistics
accurately
laboratory
peculiar
accidental
efficient
until
similar
competent
Spaniard
WORD ANALYSIS
37
Lesson 6
policy
patient
merchandise
conscious
rough
ancient
mercantile
precious
disease
partial
scarcity
suspicion?^
balance
facial
indebted
physician
decease
ambitious
estimate
Lesson 7
caution
ascend
noticeable
vengeance
emergency
assent
serviceable
address
compUance
minute
manageable
salary
reference
conceal
exchangeable currency
apparel
immense
advantageous withhold
typical
Lesson 8
edition
especially
appreciate
imitate
addition
pamphlet
essential
initial
identify
illustrate
eligible
official
illegal
February
legible
curtain
nuisance .
punctual
illegible
Lesson 9
adjacent
later
crystallize
lieutenant
lenient
latter
neutralize
anthracite
naphtha
weighed
conceit
bituminous
liquid
destroy
catarrh
rheumatism
gauge
indelible
colonel
influential
Lesson 10
sieve ^/
duly
interfered
analyze
attorneys
durable
transferred
analysis
specialty
mutual
reconcile
paralyze
sympathy
bargain
accidental
banana
campaign
misspell
irregular
molasses
Lesson 11
mattress
ached
designate
vicinity
recognize
social
available
guardian
technical /
hygiene \y
forfeit
adequately
celebrate
opposite
subordinate
porcelain
angel
parallel
sufficient
poultice
angle
38
WORD STUDY
Lesson 12
society
associate
rumored
remittance
sirloin
definitely
courtesy
remuneration
laborer
spherical
obstinacy
restaurant ../
visitor /
commercial
financial
government
souvenir
permissible
sapphire
Lesson 13
acquaintance
quite
appropriate
convenient
knowledge
least
distinguish
exaggerate
principal, a
written
mysterious
confidential
stationary, a
among
appearance
endeavoring
judgment
psalm
conference
immediately
Lesson 14
implement
assure
greatly
embarrassment
auxiliary
expect
grateful
organization
conciliate
prompt
deserve
advertisement
principle, n
eliminate
bureau
assessment
stationery, n
illuminate
deficient
accommodate
parenthesis
Lesson 15
proprietor/
coupon
indispensabl
e measure
length
innumerable
condemn
transient
vehicle
investigate
security
persistent
customer
incandescent
liniment
signature
costumcr
effervescent
mosquito
Lesson 16
mischievous
canal
company's
repetition
sulphur
channel
real estate
abbreviated
benefited
liquid
equivalent
unabridged
unanimous
recent
assignment
assurance
itemize
trough
extravagant
pneumatic J
Lesson 17
calcimine
precede
freight
authority
leisure ,y
proceed
achieve
mortgage
neuralgia
procession
between
specimen
dyspepsia
precision
imagine
solicitor
substantial
extinguish
autumn
cooperates
passenger
r
WORD ANALYSIS
39
Lesson i8
merely
mechanical
preliminary
omitted
cashier
permanent
miscellaneous
omission
urgent
prominent
subscription
committee
hesitate
precaution
incredible
commission
anchored
interval
anticipation
Lesson 19
precisely
specify
preparation
athletics
deceit
equity
coincidence
excursion
receipt
accrue /
irresolute
suggestion
obstacle
concrete
vaccination
courageous
promissory U-^
summary
glycerine
concession
Lesson 20
compulsory 1 -
deficit
sceptical '/
anniversary
rhythm '
mansion
conscience
presumption
rhubarb
mention
interruption
guaranteed
fatigue
reckoned
approximately prejudice /
synopsis
license
avoirdupois
privilege 1/
Lesson 21
emphatic
scholar
Elkhart
industrious
collision
scissors
Memphis
hideous :
delusion
career
Niagara
artificial
oxygen
sincere
Raleigh
cantaloupe
martyr
chiffonier
Oregon
unscrupulous
Lesson 22
apology
receipt
Cincinnati
sovereign
chemical
welfare
Des Moines
committee
frontier
feigned
Decatur
ingredients
fulfilled
chord
Dubuque
counterfeit
facsimile
scythe
Alleghany
responsible
Lesson 23
identical
exceed
Paducah
foreign
Cheyenne
succeed ,
Eau Claire
solemnity
metallic
secede /
Peoria
assassinate
nauseated
immigrant
Savannah
pneumonia
invariably
emigrant
Manila
diphtheria
injurious
40
WORD STUDY
Lesson 24
adoption
Minneapolis
fraudulent
mahogany
scientific
Indianapolis
negligence
corduroy
guidance
Syracuse
diligence
Schenectady
syllable
Milwaukee
ridiculous
duplicate
Fort Wayne
Valparaiso
comparative
reenforce
Lesson 25
Duluth
Massachusetts
preferable
periodical
Missouri
Connecticut
preferred
insertion
Wisconsin
enthusiastic
publicity
excursion
luxurious
acknowledgment
prevailing
plateau
twelfth
professional
damageable
tragedy
CHAPTER V
THE SENTENCE AND ITS ELEMENTS
In the preceding chapters we have seen words as they
are used singly. We studied their pronunciation and the
way in which they were formed to express a definite mean-
ing. In this chapter we shall begin a review of grammar,
a study of words not according to their pronunciation or
their definition, but according to their use as they are
arranged with other words to express complete ideas. The
simplest group into which words are thus arranged is the
sentence, consisting of two important parts, the subject
and the predicate. The subject is the part about which
the sentence tells something, and the predicate is the part
that tells about the subject; as.
Subject Predicate
The sun shines brightly
There are several different kinds of sentences, named
according to the meaning which they express. They are
as follows:
The declarative sentence states a fact.
The interrogative sentence asks a question.
The imperative sentence commands or entreats.
The exclamatory sentence expresses deep feeling.
Illustrations
Declarative: John closed the door.
Interrogative: Did John close the door?
Imperative: Close the door.
Exclamatory: What a noise the door made!
42 GRAMMAR
Sentences are classified, also, according to their structure
or form. If a sentence has one subject and one predicate,
it is a simple sentence. If it is made up of two independent
parts, it is a compound sentence. If it has one independent
part and one or more dependent parts, each of which con-
tains a subject and a predicate of its own, the sentence is
complex. The independent part of the sentence is called a
principal clause^ and the dependent part is called a subor-
dinate clause, A phrase is also a dependent part of a
sentence, but it differs from a subordinate clause in that
it contains no subject or predicate. Both phrases and
subordinate clauses are used as parts of speech, as nouns,
adjectives, or adverbs. Thus we have the following defini-
tions:
A simple sentence contains one principal clause.
A compound sentence contains two or more principal
clauses.
A complex sentence contains one principal clause and one
or more subordinate clauses.
A phrase is a group of related words used as a part of
speech. (See Exercises 68 and 69.)
A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a
predicate. A subordinate clause is used as a part of speech.
It usually has an introductory word to distinguish it from
a principal clause. (See Exercise 71.)
Illustrations
Simple sentence: To-day most of the world's big questions are
business questions.
Complex sentence: The view that business is only humdrum rou-
tine and sordid money -making needs revising, since
most of the world's big questions are business ques-
tions.
Compound sentence: Many people still belittle business, calling
it humdrum routine and sordid money-making, hut
this view needs revising.
m
THE SENTENCE AND ITS ELEMENTS 43
Phrase: (a) of the world's big questions.
(b) calling it humdrum routine and sordid
money-making.
Subordinate clause: (a) that business is only humdrum routine and
sordid money-making.
(b) since most of the world's big questions are
business questions.
Exercise 59
Write two of each of the following kinds of sentences:
a. Declarative, b. Interrogative, c. Imperative, d. Exclam-
atory.
Using each of the sentences below, tell
a. Whether it is simple, complex, or compound.
b. Its subject and its predicate.
c. Its phrases and its subordinate clause (if there are any).
1. Your subscription expires with this issue.
2. This special offer will continue until the tenth of November.
3. The last shipment of castings that you made to us is de-
cidedly unsatisfactory.
4. Your imitation typewritten letters have greatly assisted
us in the sale of our property, and we thank you for calling our
attention to them.
5. The advertised poster was sent to you to-day in a special
tube.
6. Without doubt you will be interested in the booklet which
we enclose.
7. The machine which is standing there has just been repaired.
8. The wheel that holds the type may be changed in an instant
by the operator.
9. Whenever he wishes, the operator may write in different
sizes of type on the same sheet of paper.
10. Many of our styles have been copied exactly from the best
designs that have recently been displayed in the Parisian exhibits.
11. Why are the department stores acquiring motor wagons?
12. One reason is the economy of the motor wagon.
13. Economy does not entirely explain the keenness which
department stores are displaying in acquiring motor wagons.
44 GRAMMAR
14. In such establishments the quick dehvery of merchandise
is a necessity.
15. The best means of transportation must be employed, or a
loss of trade will follow.
16. Any one can cite examples that prove that faults in delivery
cause a loss of trade.
17. Machine service develops fewer errors than horse service
(develops).
18. The area which department stores serve is being greatly
increased from year to year, and not even the establishment of
the parcel post has avoided the necessity for sending package
merchandise too far distant for conveyance by horses.
19. Electric machines usually make the house-to-house pack-
age deliveries, and gasoline trucks, besides hauling furniture,
transfer large loads from the store or warehouse to the distribut-
ing stations.
20. In one store each transfer truck is loaded twice daily with
fifty trunks containing parcels.
Exercise 60 — Sentence Errors
S.I. The Baby Blunder. — In writing, one of the
most elementary forms of correctness is shown in the proper
division into sentences. The ability instinctively to end a
sentence at the right place is called the ^* sentence sense.''
Students who do not possess it or who have not learned
the difference between sentences, subordinate clauses, and
phrases frequently make the mistake of setting off too
much or too little for one sentence. For example, they run
two sentences together as one; as,
Wrong: Motor wagons are economical, department stores of
all large cities are acquiring them.
The sentence, as written above, contains one form of the
sentence error — one of the worst possible mistakes in
writing. It is sometimes called the comma fault or the
haby blunder. For brevity we shall call \t S i (sentence error
number one). Motor wagons are economical is a principal
clause. Department stores of all large cities are acquiring them
is also a principal clause. Two such clauses may not stand
THE SENTENCE AND ITS ELEMENTS 45
in the same sentence separated only by a comma. To cor-
rect, divide into two sentences; as,
Right: Motor wagons are economical. Department stores of
all large cities are acquiring them.
Sometimes the thought in the two principal clauses is
closely connected. In that case they may be put into the
same sentence, provided they are properly connected or
separated. Use a comma plus a coordinate conjunction (as
and, or, hut) to connect them, or a semicolon (;) to separate
them.
Be particularly careful of the conjunctive adverbs so, then,
therefore, thus, also, still, otherwise, however, hence, conse-
quently, moreover, nevertheless. When they are used to join
the principal clauses of a compound sentence, a comma is
not sufficient punctuation between ^the clauses. A semi-
colon or a comma and a coordinate conjunction must be
used.
Wrong: He had been a good customer, so they were sorry to
lose his trade.
Right: He had been a good customer; so they were sorry to
lose his trade.
Right: He had been a good customer, and so they were sorry
to lose his trade.
S. 2. — The first form of the sentence error {S i) is made
by using too much for one sentence. The second form (S 2)
is made by using too little. It consists in writing a subordi-
nate clause or a phrase as a sentence; as,
1. Wrong: I told her I would attend to the matter at my
earliest convenience. Probably on my way from work in the evening.
2. Wrong: His doctor advised him to go to Arizona. Which
he decided to do.
Exercise 61
Each sentence should express one complete thought.
Some of the following are really two sentences (Si), and
some are only parts of sentences (5 2). Correct each, nam-
ing the mistake.
{^■' ■<
^^^
46 GRAMMAR
1. You will find the booklet interesting it is also instructive.
2. Up to last January he was a salesman for Colgate & Co. ^
since then he has opened a business of his own. ^
3. I didn't know you had come, when did you arrive?
4. Did any one take the newspaper, I left it here only a
moment ago.
5. I shall take my vacation in September have you had yours?
6. I must go now good-bye I'll see you on Saturday.
7. The opening sentence held the man's attention, he read
it again and again.
8. I'll have to run to catch the train, otherwise I shall be
late for work.
9. The advertisement is attractive, still it has not paid YieU.
10. We wished to reduce office drudgerv therefore we installed
adding and addressing machines.
11. These problems all require a knowledge of square root, for
example, take the fourth.
12. Do you expect to come home for Christmas or shall you
stay in New York.1 don't remember now which you said. ^
13. First I read a statement that recommended the bonds^then
I read an article that condemned them^without question jthe result
was that I didn't know what to do.
14. One-half of the statements are here; the others are in the
safe.
15. If your name is not correct on this envelope, please notify
us. we wish to insure your receiving our bulletin regularly^
16. The supply of fruit was greater than the demand; that is
why fruit was cheap.
17. Flies are dangerous. Especially in a sick room from which
they carry germs to others. ^^l^^.
18. In the country the trees were loaded with fruit, their
branches had to be propped so that they would not break.
19. When he was twenty- three years of age, Richard T. Crane,
the late millionaire , head of the immense Crane Manufacturing
Company, came to Chicago, he started a brass foundry, which
grew into the present giant establishment.
20. We spent last summer in the Bitter Root Valley^ we camped
within view of Willoughby Falls.
21. I want to congratulate you on your appointment. I heard
of it only yesterday.
22. It surely was not I whom you saw. I wonder whom it could
have been.
THE SENTENCE AND ITS ELEMENTS 47
23. Not one of us has a salary of three thousand dollars -so we
do not worry over the income tax.
24. Please send me the booklet you offered in the Business
Magazin^4.I'd also like particulars of your advertised discount
sale of typewriters.
25. Sooner or later shingles are sure to warp and curl^thus
they pull out the nails and allow the rain to beat in^furthermore,
shaded shingles soon rot and allow the water to soak through.
26. This sealing and stamping machine is endorsed by business
men in all our large cities-nevertheless it is not expensive.
27. If you wish to prove the excellence of our paper, just tear
off a corner of this sheet^hen tear off a corner of your present
letterhead^ with a magnifying glass examine both torn edges.
28. The superior paper will show long, linen fibers, the poorer,
on the other hand, will have short, woody fibers.
29. When a German army is on the march, it stops every
twenty minutes for a rest. Experiments Jaftving showf^ that a
soldier can cover more ground when he is given this period of
relaxation.
30. Two thousand convicts will be released, according to a
plan worked out by the governor;^ jSve hundred will be given their
freedom at once, and, if the plan is a success, one thousand five
hundred othejrs will be released. One-half their wages of fifty
cents a day mgo to their families and one-half to the penitentiary
fund. If thev leave the state or commit any crime while they
are on parole, j3 serve the balance of their term and an extension
of time. They will be put to work on roads and bridges .the coun-
ties need several thousand such laborers ^but cannot pay union
prices.
Exercise 62
Rewrite the following, dividing into sentences:
I
Dear Sir:
There is no safer way to invest money than in a good first
mortgage on city real estate, by a good mortgage we mean one that
is properly drawn and with such security as absolutely insures
the holder against loss ;we have made a specialty of first mortgage
loans,* and we offer investors the benefit of our wide experience
in such matters 'we investigate properties frequently and keep
investors infornaed on their investment we look after all details
48 GRAMMAR
and collections without extra charge^ you will find it to your
interest to consult us.
Yours truly,
Stick to your legitimate business^ do not go out into outside
operations^ f ew men have brains enough for more than one busi-
ness, to dabble in stocks; to put a few thousand dollars into a mine,
a few more into a manufactory, and a few more into an invention
is enough to ruin any man jbe content with fair returns do not
become greedy do not think that men are happy in proportion
as they are rich and therefore do not aim too high^be content with
moderate wealth make friends a time will come when all the money
in the world will not be worth to you as much as one staunch
friend.
Sacramento City is a great commercial center^ its wholesale
and jobbing business extends hundreds of miles to the north,
south, west, and east^it is fast becoming a substantial manufac-
turing center. large six and eight story buildings are rapidly taking
the place of the old two story structures .a new city hall has
just been completed which cost $150,000 aiid a new court house
$1,000,000* the city has recently issuea bonds amounting to
$800,000 for new schools ^scarcely a week passes without record-
ing some new enterprise ..all its main highways are macadamized',
so that automobile travel is possible every day of the year and
the farmer can haul his produce to market at a minimum cost
market conditions are good and any class of produce finds ready
sale at remunerative prices.- — (From an advertisement.)
Classify the sentences that you have formed in the fore-
going exercise:
1. According to meaning.
2. According to form.
Exercise 63 — Parts of Speech
There are eight different kinds of words called parts of
speech, which are used to make sentences. They are as
follows:
THE SENTENCE AND ITS ELEMENTS 49
Noun: The horse is brown.
Pronoun: He is the best horse of all.
Verb: He galloped to town.
Adjective: The brown horse is my favorite.
Adverb: He runs swiftly.
Preposition: We shall ride to town.
Conjunction: The night is clear and cold.
Interjection: Oh! My horse stumbled.
Thus a noun names something. A word that stands for
a noun is a pronoun. Sometimes a different part of speech
is used like a noun, and for the time being it becomes a noun.
The verb is a very important part of speech, since without it
there can be no sentence. The verb makes an assertion,
asks a question, or gives a command. Adjectives are words
that belong to or describe nouns or pronouns. Adverbs go
with or modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Preposi-
tions and conjunctions connect. Prepositions join their
objects to other words in the sentence; conjunctions join
words, phrases, or clauses. An interjection, such as the
exclamation oh, is used without having grammatical relation
to some other word in the sentence. A preposition always
takes an object, the preposition and its object making a
phrase. Grouping this information, we have:
Nouns are names of persons and things.
Pronouns are substitutes for nouns.
Verbs make assertions, ask questions, or give
commands.
Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns.
Parts Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
OF \ They usually answer the questions how? when? where?
Speech why? to what degree?
Prepositions join object nouns or pronouns to other
words in the sentence.
Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses.
Interjections are independent words used as exclama-
tions.
A word is not always the same part of speech. We may
say, "Did you starch the clothes?" in which case starch is
so GRAMMAR
a verb. A grocer may say, ^'The starch in these packages is
always clean." In this sentence starch is a noun. The
part of speech depends entirely on the way the word is used.
In the following, name the part of speech of each word in
italic. Judge by the way the word is used in the sentence.
1. The desks have green pads.
2. Green is a restful color.
3. In the valley is a millj which grinds flour. It is 3. flour
mill.
4. I saw him stretch out his hand.
5. The stretch of waste land amazed him.
6. Europeans say that Americans waste more than they use.
7. One of our great problems is how to lessen waste.
8. After the stormy night, the day dawned bright and clear.
9. He has been working night and day.
10. • The old man went home sad and weary.
11. Home is the best place in the world.
12. We must ^we you for such an off ense.
13. Your ^we is five dollars.
14. We use ^we sand in our concrete.
15. I can talk better than I c'an write.
16. John wrote the better circular.
17. Talking will not better the matter.
18. Young people should learn to respect their betters,
19. Suddenly there was a pause in the music.
20. Did you see those men pause ?
21. He was our guide for he knew the ins and outs of the
place.
22. Have you ever been in the house?
23. Where are you going — in or out?
24. Good apples are expensive.
25. The good of the people is our first consideration.
26. I shall not go if it rains.
27. What is the use of saying if?
28. I like to see her just like this, for in like mood I do not
know her like.
29. Little drops of water make the mighty ocean.
30. I can do little of the work until the typewriter is repaired.
31. Do not belittle your work.
32. She studies too little.
THE SENTENCE AND ITS ELEMENTS 51
Exercise 64
Each of the following may be used as different parts of
speech. Write sentences illustrating as many uses as possi-
ble for each word.
sound paper dress ring
light shoe box dawn
ride long ink curb
iron warm walk use
hear . cold rule cement
^ " Exercise 65
Tell which of the words in italic are adjectives and which
are adverbs. Remember that an adjective goes with a noun
or pronoun; an adverb with another adverb, an adjective, or
a verb, and usually answers the question how ? when ? where ?
why? how much? or how long?
1. You are walking too /a^^
2. Send perishable articles by /a^Hreight.
3. He has been a well man since he has stopped working
indoors.
4. He writes very well.
5. The fire is bright-,
6. It burns brightly.
7. That is a very poor reason.
8. The berries look good, but they taste sour.
9. They are not good berries.
10. The sun shone brilliant above us. (Compare with bril-
liantly.)
11. The bookkeeper looks angry.
12. He looked at us angrily.
13. The flowers are sweet.
14. They smell sweet. (May we say, The flowers smell sweetly ?)
15. Act frankly, speak gently.
16. Let your actions he frank, your speech gentle.
17. Laborers complain that they have to work too hard.
Exercise 66
Change the following adjectives to adverbs. In each
case use both parts of speech in sentences.
52 GRAMMAR
cold sure polite courteous
smooth exact precise easy-
bitter bad extreme nice
loud general honest glad
Exercise 67
Tell which of the words in italic are prepositions and which
are adverbs. Remember that a preposition begins a phrase.
It must be followed by an object.
1. He is the best man in the office.
2. John was leaving as I came in this evening.
3. He did not have his coat on.
4. It was hanging over his arm.
5. He stood on the top step several minutes, wondering whether
he should wear the coat.
6. The handle fell off as I took the cup off the shelf.
7. The aeroplane flies over the city.
8. I am going over to the factory.
Write sentences using abovCy across, down, up, underneath
both as adverbs and as prepositions.
Exercise 68 — Prepositional Phrases
Illustrations
Adjective: The opinions of some people must be taken with
caution.
Adverb: We shall return within a year.
Noun: From New York to San Francisco is a long trip.
What part of speech is each of the italicized phrases below?
Remember that an adjective modifies a noun; an adverb
modifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb.
1. The waves are rolling in, white with foam.
2. A million dollars was invested in the business.
3. I will abide on thy right side and keep the bridge with thee,
4. In summer milk soon turns sour.
5. I have come for help.
6. The people on the bridge cheered for hours.
7. He threw up his ha,t for joy.
8. On the table before them stood a deer roasted whole.
THE SENTENCE AND ITS ELEMENTS 53
9. We shall stay here until spring.
10. We came in sight of the king^s palace.
11. We drove to the factory today with the superintendent.
12. He works from sunrise to sunset.
Exercise 69
The phrase introduced by a preposition is the most common.
A list of prepositions follows. They should be learned.
except toward
for under
from underneath
in until
into up
of ^ upon
on with
over within
past without
through to the extent of
throughout from under
till according to
to except for
Write three sentences containing prepositional adjective
phrases.
Prepositional adverbial phrases may express the following
ideas:
Time, telling when something happened.
Place, telling where something happened.
Manner, telling how something happened.
Means, telling how something happened.
Cause or purpose, telling why something happened.
Degree, telling how long something lasted; how far it went;
how much it cost, etc.
Agent, telling hy whom it was done.
Accompaniment, telling with whom it was done.
Write a sentence containing a prepositional phrase telling:
1. when 6. how far
2. where 7. how much
3. why 8. by whom
4. in what way 9. with whom
5. how long 10. by what means
about
before
above
behind
aboard
below
across
beneath
after
beside
against
between
along
betwixt
amid
beyond
amidst
but (except)
among
by
around
concerning
athwart
down
at
during
54
GRAMMAR
Exercise 70
Name all the prepositional phrases in Exercise 179, ex-
plaining whether they are adjective or adverbial.
Exercise 71 — The Clause
A subordinate clause j like a phrase, is a group of words used
as a part of speech. The chief difference lies in that a clause
must have a subject and a predicate. Clauses are introduced
1. By relative pronouns:
who, whose, whom, which, what, that
2. By subordinate conjunctions:
when
because
than
unless
where
while
since
if
provided
whereas
tiU
until
as
as soon as
wherever
before
as if
as long as
whether
after
though in order that
although lest
why
that
for
whenever
Illustrations
Adjective
f A lamp that smokes
\ A smoking la,mp
is a torture to
a student.
Adverb:
When she was good
Sometimes
When she was bad
Sometimes
she
she
was very, very good,
was horrid.
Noun: I know
Does the clause or the simple adverb give the more definite
idea?
j where he lives,
1 the house.
Write three sentences illustrating adjective clauses, three
illustrating adverbial clauses, and three illustrating noun
clauses.
Exercise 72
Name all the clauses in Exercises 179, 185, and 186.
Explain the use of each.
THE SENTENCE AND ITS ELEMENTS 55
Exercise 73
Write sentences using each of the following words to
introduce a phrase, and to introduce a clause.
1. after 3. for 5. until
2. before 4. since
Remember that just as a preposition must be followed by
an object to form a phrase, a conjunction must be followed
by a subject to form a clause.
Illustration
T t ^ 1 . . r Christmas. — Object.
I have not seen him smce \ . ^ c^, ^
1 he went away. — Subject.
Exercise 74
Name the complete subject in the following. Then name
the simple subject, explaining by what elements — words,
phrases, or clauses — it is modified.
Name the complete predicate. Then name the simple
predicate, explaining by what elements the verb is modified.
1. Modern business cannot be carried on by old-fashioned
methods.
2. When a man engages in business, he buys or sells.
3. The great routes of trade have changed from time to time.
4. Your order will be filled within a few days.
5. Both blanks were properly filled out at the time.
6. Means of travel have developed from the slowly moving
caravan to the palatial railway coach.
7. Commerce originated when one human being demanded
something which had to be supplied by some one else.
8. The latest American and European styles will be displayed
in our new millinery department, which will be formally opened
on the first of March.
9. The prosperity of nations rests very largely on the six
inches of soil between the surface and the subsoil of the territory.
10. One of the greatest losses to the Ohio farm lands in the
floods of 1 9 13 came about because the water took off the top
56 GRAMMAR
soil from the hillside and valleys and carried the vegetable ma-
terial with it.
1 1 . The conserving of the top soil is one of the greatest problems
in national prosperity.
12. We trust that shipment about September 8 will be satis-
factory to you, as it is the best that we can do under the circum-
stances.
CHAPTER VI
THE NOUN AND THE PRONOUN
For the plural of nouns see Chapter III.
The classes to which nouns belong are distinguished as
follows:
A common noun is the name given to an object to denote
the class to which it belongs; as, hook, man,
A proper noun is the name given to a particular object to
distinguish it from others of the same class; as, Mary, Re-
publicans, England. Proper nouns should always be capital-
ized.
A collective noun is a name which in the singular denotes
a collection. It is usually plural in idea but singular in use;
as, congregation, crowd.
An abstract noun is the name denoting a quality of an
object; as, power, purity, strength.
A verbal noun is the name of an action. As its name
suggests, it is made from a verb; as, Sweeping is good
exercise.
Exercise 75
In the following sentences supply necessary capital letters.
Explain why the same word in one expression needs a capital
and in another does not.
1. I have just taken out an endowment policy in the north-
western mutual life insurance company.
2. There are many mutual life insurance companies in the
country.
3. His refusing the terms was practically a declaration of
independence.
4. On the fourth of July we celebrate the signing of the decla-
ration of independence, the first step in the revolutionary war.
58 GRAMMAR
5. Mexico has had many revolutionary wars.
6. And king Arthur said, ''The king who fights his people
fights himself."
7. When does the bank close?
8. I have an account with the first national bank.
9. This is the first national bank that was ever established in
this country.
Explain to which class each noun in the foregoing sentences
belongs. Be particularly careful to distinguish between
common and proper nouns.
Exercise 76 — Pronouns
The different classes of pronouns are distinguished as
follows:
The personal pronoun is used in place of the name of a
person or thing. The pronoun of the first person indicates
the speaker, the pronoun of the second person indicates the
person spoken to, and the pronoun of the third person indi-
cates the person spoken of. They are declined as follows:
First person
Singular
Plural
Nam.
I
we
Pass.
my, mine
our, ours
Obj.
me
Second person
us
Norn,
you (thou)
you (ye)
Poss,
your, yours (thy, thine)
your, yours
Ohj.
you (thee)
you
In modern usage you is used for both the singular and the
plural, but the verb that goes with you is always plural.
Third person
Singular Plural
Masc, Fern. Neut.
Nom. he she it they
Poss. his her, hers its their, theirs
Ohj, him her it them
THE NOUN AND THE PRONOUN 59
Note. — The forms mine, thine, yours, hers, ours, theirs, and some-
times his are possessive case in form, but nominative or objective case
in use. That pencil is mine really means, That pencil is my pencil.
Mine is used as a substitute for a possessive pronoun and the noun it
modifies.
The personal pronouns compounded with self are used in
two ways:
1. Emphatic pronouns; as,
The buyer himself told me.
2. Reflexive pronouns, referring back to the subject and
at the same time being in the objective case; as,
John slipped and hurt himself
The relative pronoun is so called because it relates or refers
to another word, called its antecedent, to which it joins the
clause that it introduces. The relative pronouns are whoy
which, what, that; and the compound relatives are whoever ,
whosoever, whichever, whichsoever, whatever, whatsoever.
They are declined as follows:
Singular and Plural
Nam. who which whoever whosoever
Pass. whose of which whosever whosesoever
Ohj, whom which whomever whomsoever
That, what, whichever, whichsoever, whatever, and whatso-
ever are not declined. They have the same form in the
nominative and objectives cases, and are not used in the
possessive case.
What is peculiar in that it never has an antecedent
expressed, but itself stands for both antecedent and relative.
It is called the double relative. Compare the following:
I did not hear the words that he said.
I did not hear that which he said.
I did not hear what he said.
' ''That is called the restrictive relative, because it limits or
restricts its antecedent to the meaning expressed in the
6o GRAMMAR
clause introduced by that. A restrictive clause, is one, there-
fore, that is needed to make the meaning of the sentence
clear. Compare the following:
Non-restrictive: John Brown, who has no disease, needs no
physician.
Restrictive: He that hath no disease needs no physician.
Notice that a restrictive, or necessary, clause is not sepa-
rated from the rest of the sentence by commas.
Who and which are sometimes used with restrictive force;
as,
1. Those who have finished their work may leave. (Not every-
body.)
2. Have you read the book which he recommended? (He rec-
ommended but one.)
Interrogative pronouns are used in asking questions. They
are who^ which , what. Who refers to persons; which refers
to persons or things, and is used to distinguish one object
from another; what refers to things. They are declined as
follows:
Singular and Plural
Nom. who which what
Poss. whose (of which) (of what)
Ohj. whom which what
The interrogative pronouns which and what are frequently
used as adjectives. In this case they are called pronominal
adjectives. Compare:
Pronoun: Which of these hats do you prefer?
Adjective: Which hat do you prefer?
The demonstrative pronouns are this and that with their
plurals these and those. They are always used to point out,
or demonstrate, the noun to which they refer. This and
these are used for objects near at hand, or recently named;
that and those are used for objects far away, or not recently
named.
THE NOUN AND THE PRONOUN 6 1
The demonstrative pronouns are frequently used as adjec-
tives; as,
Pronoun: That is my book.
Adjective: That book is mine.
Indefinite pronouns refer to objects or persons, but do not
define or limit them. The indefinite pronouns are each,
every, either, neither, one, none, other, another, few, all, many,
several, some, each other, one another, and the compounds
any one, some one, every one, something, nothing. Indefinite
pronouns are frequently used as adjectives. Each, every,
either, one, another, any one, some one, every one, whether they
are used as pronouns or as adjectives, are singular in number.
If another pronoun is used to refer to one of them, it must
be in the singular number.
Exercise 77 — Classes of Pronouns
In the following sentences, explain which pronouns repre-
sent the person speaking, which represent the person spoken
to, and which represent the person spoken of. Tell which
pronouns ask questions; which are used as adjectives;
which are used to connect subordinate clauses to the word
for which they stand. If the antecedent is expressed, point
it out.
1. Who is talking?
2. The man who is speaking is the head of the credit depart-
ment.
3. If you are going, get ready.
4. Which is the better piece of cloth?
5. This is the better piece of cloth.
6. The one who wishes to succeed must exercise great care
in his work.
7. He that would succeed must work.
8. Many men fail because of laziness.
9. What did you say?
10. Can you guess whom I saw?
11. He himself told us.
12. A cousin of ours is coming to town.
62 GRAMMAR
13. The man whose life is above criticism need fear no one.
14. Whoever lives the truth need fear no criticism.
15. I wish you would remove those files.
16. Ink that is thick makes illegible writing.
17. What paper should I destroy?
18. I cannot understand what any one is saying.
19. This is not my umbrella. It is yours.
20. No friend of his would talk in that way.
21. This is no book of theirs; it belongs to us.
22. Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
23. I shall ask whomever I see.
24. Each of us has his work assigned.
25. Every boy has his work assigned.
Exercise 78
In the following sentences he, his, they, their, them, it, or
its should be inserted. Give the reason for your choice.
^ I. No man is allowed to leave desk untidy.
..^2. Every one must put tools away before leaving the
shop.
-^ 3. Every office worker is required to be in place at
eight-thirty every morning.
.^ 4. In my business a person must learn to make up mind
quickly.
_^. It was cold this morning. Every one wore — -- wraps.
6. Every clerk must do own work.
7. If an employee has ideas for the improvement of the busi-
ness, is requested to report suggestions to the superin-
tendent.
8. The superintendent is anxious to have every workman
feel that (has, have) a definite place in the organization,
and that if (does not, don't) do work, the business
will suffer.
9. No goods will be accepted unless (are, is) in good
condition.
10. Every newspaper is anxious to increase classified
advertising.
11. No one cares to see friends frown.
12. Every one must agree that (has, have) faults.
13. Not one of the banks had deposits decreased.
THE NOUN AND THE PRONOUN 63
14. Will any one let me take umbrella?
15. Every one says that had a delightful evening.
16. Who was it said I had book?
17. Does each state pay over a part of taxes to the federal
government?
18. Every one will find in the current publications a wealth
of information applicable to specific needs, much of which
will wish to file for easy reference, no matter in what depart-
ment of the world's work interest centers.
19. If any one could tell beforehand when opportunities
would arrive, might be ready to grasp each as came.
20. If every one here would follow the directions that — —
(has, have) received, would make fewer mistakes in shipments.
21. Any one who wishes may give opinion.
22. No one need expect to leave before work is finished.
23. Every one in the office took vacation early this year
except me.
24. Each of the twenty banks sent representative to the
meeting.
25. On applying for a position, each man is given a blank
that must fill out carefully, making answers as definite
as possible.
Some of the following are right, and some are wrong.
Correct those that are wrong, explaining why they are
wrong.
1. Neither one of them know what they are expected to do.
2. Applicant after applicant handed in their names.
3. If any one has a complaint to make, he should report it
in writing to the superintendent.
4. Have either of the stenographers finished their letters?
5. I wish everybody would do their own work and let me do
mine.
6. Each man did his work faithfully.
7. Has neither the carpenter nor the plumber yet brought
his tools?
8. Every one of the clerks must hand their report to the head
bookkeeper before five o'clock.
9. One of them must have neglected to hand in his report.
10. Man after man yesterday promised me that they'd be on
hand to work this morning, and not one of them showed themselves.
64 GRAMMAR
Exercise 79
In the following exercise, tell which of the italicized pro-
nouns introduce restrictive, and which introduce non-restric-
tive clauses:
1. This is the best bargain thai we have ever offered.
2. This is Mr. Burton, whose work I recommended to you.
3. The city that I enjoyed most was Quebec.
4. I enjoyed walking on the old wall //?a/ still surrounds the
town.
. 5. The club to which I belong will hold a meeting next week.
6. The club that I belong to will hold a meeting next Monday.
7. All those whose daily work showed an improvement were
given an increase in salary.
8. The horse that ran away belonged to my partner.
9. The greatest man is he who feels himself the least.
10. An old story tells us that when Caesar, who was a great
Roman emperor, returned from a conquest which has ever since
been famous, he brought back to Rome a formula that has revo-
lutionized the world. It was a formula for making soap, and was
considered one of the greatest treasures that was captured during
the campaign. Caesar immediately saw the value that it would
have in the eyes of the world, and he forced the soap-makers to
reveal their secret.
11. The garrison is a handful of invalid soldiers, whose princi-
pal duty is to guard some of the outer towers.
12. This is the gentleman whom we met in Boston.
13. Mr. Carter, who was a member of our Boston firm, will
take charge of our city sales.
14. We honestly believe that our latest Style Book, which
came with this letter, offers you more for every dollar that you
spend than you can get elsewhere.
Exercise 80 — Case
Case is that modification of a noun or a pronoun which
denotes its relation to other words in the sentence. There
are three cases: the nominative , the objective^ and the posses-
sive. Although nouns are used in all three cases, no change
of form occurs except in the possessive case.
THE NOUN AND THE PRONOUN 65
The nominative case is used in the following ways:
1. The principal use of the nominative case is as subject
of the sentence; as,
Noun: The business is prosperous.
Pronoun: It has been established for five years.
2. Sometimes a noun or pronoun is used to complete the
meaning of such verbs as be, become, seem, appear, taste, feel.
Such a noun is in the nominative case, and is called a predi-
cate nominative, or a subjective complement; as.
Noun: Mr. Brown is the manager.
He seems a gentleman.
Pronoun: I think it is she.
3. A noun in apposition with another noun in the nomina-
tive case is also in the nominative case; as,
Mr. Brown, the manager^ is very capable.
The man to whom you should apply is Mr. Brown, the manager.
4. Sometimes a noun or a pronoun is used in direct address
or in an exclamation, without having any grammatical
relation to the rest of the sentence. It is then said to be
nominative independent; as,
Mr. Brown, a gentleman wishes to speak to you.
A strike! Why are they declaring a strike?
You I I thought you were in South America.
5. Sometimes a noun or pronoun is used with a participle
to express an adverbial relation. Such a noun is in the
nominative case, and is called nominative absolute, because
it has no grammatical relation to any other part of the
sentence; as,
Mr. Brown having gone, we told the gentleman to see Mr.
Jones.
He being the guide, we asked no questions.
It is much better to use a clause to express such an idea; as,
As Mr. Brown had gone, we told the gentleman to see Mr.
Jones.
66 GRAMMAR
Write a sentence containing a noun and one containing a
pronoun in each of the following uses of the nominative case:
1. Subject.
2. Predicate Nominative.
Write a sentence containing a noun used
1. In direct address.
2. In exclamation.
3. In apposition with another noun in the nominative case.
Exercise 81 — The Objective Case
A noun or a pronoun may be used in the objective case
in the following ways:
1. Direct object of a transitive verb; as,
I have a good position.
Do you know him ?
2. Object of a preposition; as,
I have just returned from the library.
Bring the book to me,
3. Indirect object of such verbs as ask^ give^ teach, showing
the person for whom or to whom the action is done; as.
She brought her mother some flowers.
I gave her singing lessons.
4. A noun as second object after verbs of making, choosing,
calling, electing; as,
They chose John secretary.
5. A noun in apposition with another objective; as.
Send your report to the secretary, John Wilson.
6. Adverbial modifier; as.
We are going home.
Write a sentence containing a noun and one containing a
pronoun in each of the following uses of the objective case:
THE NOUN AND THE PRONOUN 67
1. Direct object of a transitive verb.
2. Indirect object.
3. Object of a preposition.
Write a sentence containing a noun used as
1. Adverbial objective.
2. Second object.
3. Appositive of another noun in the objective case.
Exercise 82 — The Possessive Case
To form the possessive case of nouns add an apostrophe
and 5 to all singular nouns, and to all plural nouns that do
not end in s; if a plural noun ends in ^ add only an apos-
trophe; as, child^s, children's, hoys'.
Exception. — When, in long words, the additional s m the
singular would cause a disagreeable sound, some writers use
only the apostrophe; as.
We awaited the princess's decision.
We awaited the princess' decision.
It is often better in such cases to use a phrase; as,
We awaited the decision of the princess.
Thus, an of phrase is often used instead of the possessive
case. In speaking of an inanimate object it should always
be used instead of the apostrophe and S] as, the top of the
mountain and not the mountain's top.
When, as in the name of a firm, two or more nouns are
taken together with the idea of common possession, the sign
of the pQssessive is added to the last noun only. If separate
possession is implied, the sign of the possessive is added to
each noun; as.
Have you seen Wilson df King's new building?
This is Mary and Helenas room.
Is this Mary^s or Helen's coat?
A noun or pronoun is in the possessive case before a verbal
noun ; as,
68 GRAMMAR
I prefer to have JohrCs studying done before dinner.
I prefer to have his studying done before dinner.
Write sentences expressing relation between the words
in the following pairs. Use one of them in the possessive
case or use an oj phrase, whichever seems better. Remember
that things which have no life cannot really possess anything.
I.
the manager, desk
6.
city, harbor
2.
desk, top drawer
7-
proprietor, private office
3.
book, cover
8.
typewriter, keys
4.
city, mayor
9-
ledger, first page
5.
city, fire department
10.
room, ventilation
Exercise 83
Which of the italicized words would you use? Why?
1. Have you heard of Mr. Bennett, Mr. Bennett's being
appointed chairman of the meeting?
2. It will probably delay him, his coming here.
3. I don't understand him, his refusing to accept the position.
4. We have heard a great deal of him, his making a success
of photography.
5. The man's industry has resulted in him, his gaining fame.
6. Will you sign this permit for us, our visiting the factory?
7. What do you say to us, our making some candy?
8. I am very sorry that me, my interrupting you yesterday
delayed your work.
9. The machine is in excellent condition. There is no reason
for it, its needing any repair.
10. Everybody, everybody* s being on time is absolutely necessary.
Exercise 84
Each of the following sentences is incorrect because the
sign of the possessive case has been omitted. Insert the
apostrophe or the apostrophe and 5,. wherever either is
needed.
1. There is a new boys school in our town.
2. James brother John is our new bookkeeper.
3. For entrance to this course three years work in mathe-
matics and one years work in German are required.
THE NOUN AND THE PRONOUN 69
4. This new building will be occupied by J. M. Hopkins mail
order department.
5. The superintendents inspection was thorough.
6. The trouble will be in John agreeing to the proposition.
7. All applications for help should be made to the Womens
Committees. .j
8. The employees rest rooms are on the sunny side of the
building. ,
9. Our fifteen years experience in selling bonds has convinced
us that investments paying a low rate of interest are the safest.
10. In to-days mail I received a very large order from Graham
& Moore's successors.^
11. Jones Brothers new store is on the corner of Madison
Street.
12. Last month sales show an increase of two thousand dollars.
13. Everybody s business is nobody s business.
14. It is when to-morrows burden is added to the burden of
to-day that the weight is more than a man can bear.
15. The present governor was the peoples choice.
16. I prefer Tennysons poems to Longfellows.
17. I have read both Longfellow and Tennysons poems.
18. I bought the book at Barlow and Companys new store.
19. We are going to insist on Mary taking a long vacation
this year.
20. I have had the pleasure of staying at both your friends
houses.
Exercise 85 — The Apostrophe
Some of the following sentences are right, and some are
wrong. Correct those that are wrong, explaining why
they are wrong.
1. The man who's coming this way is Mr. Burton.
2. Whose coat is that?
3. The man who's place you are taking has been with this
firm for twenty years.
4. The next one whose to give a report is the treasurer.
5. The next one whose report we must hear is the treasurer.
6. Don't you think it's too early to start?
7. He is a ladies tailor.
8. Remember your to let us know at once who's elected.
9. Its too late "how to change its wording.
70 GRAMMAR
10. Mr. Jones' house is being repaired.
11. The Joneses' house is being repaired.
12. There coming as fast as their horse will bring them.
13. I think you're t)^ewriter needs cleaning.
14. Your coming too, are'nt you?
15. Every business has it's problems.
16. The Bon Ton has a big sale in mens' and womens' coat's.
17. Why, it's March! No wonder their having a sale.
18. We shall give you a special discount if you will send your
dealer's name.
19. Most of the dealer's advertise very little.
20. It's just a year ago since we received your last order.
21. Its not willingness we lack; it's time.
22. If you use our safety device, you may leave you're window
open with security, and you will arise refreshed, ready for a big
days work.
23. Lets take our vacation when they take their's.
24. I think we shall have to take our's in August. Two of us
must stay during July, for the work will not do it's self, you know.
25. In any explanation it should be the writers purpose to so
describe his good's that the reader will desire them. A good
salesman never shows a necktie in a box. He takes it out and
with a deft twist forms it's length into a four-in-hand over his
finger. The customer then sees not only the scarf, it's color and
its weave, but he sees it in it's relation to himself, as it will look
when it's tied.
Exercise 86
Supply who or whom:
1. did you take me for?
2. The shipping clerk, I consider responsible for the
mistake, must go.
3. The shipping clerk, I feel certain is responsible for
the mistake, must go.
4. is it?
5. shall I say called? ,a
6. do you wish to see?
7. did you say was elected?
8. He is the one every one thought should be elected.
9. Choose the one you think wiU give the best service.
10. Choose the one you think you can trust.
r
THE NOUN AND THE PRONOUN 71
11. She asked me did it.
12. do you think is the best salesman in the firm?
13. do you regard as the best salesman in the firm?
14. was that you were talking to?
15. He is the one I was speaking about.
16. do we play next week?
17. He is a workman can be trusted.
18. He is a workman upon you can depend.
19. This letter comes from Robert, we all know very well.
20. This letter comes from Robert, we all know writes
good letters.
21. do you consider to be most capable? [The subject
of the infinitive to he must be in the objective case.]
22. This booklet was written by the man Mr. Bardon
considers [to be] the best correspondent in our office.
22,. He is the one every one believes to be worthy of the
highest honors.
24. The critic every one thought gave the most truthful
account of the performance is a man of great culture.
Supply whoever or whomever:
1. Give the book to needs it.
2. Give it to you think best.
3. I send can be trusted.
4. Send me is there.
5. Send me you find there.
6. reaches the line first will receive the cup.
7. The cup will be given to reaches the lines first.
8. In the country lane he spoke to he met.
9. you choose may compete for the prize.
10. you bring is welcome.
Exercise 87
. Read the following sentences, using one of the forms in
italic. Be able to give a reason for your choice.
1. He — him and / — me are going camping next summer.
2. It is a question that refers to you and / — me.
3. It is a question between you and / — me,
4. I am sure that it was she — her.
5. I am sure that we saw you and he — him.
72 GRAMMAR
6. We — us boys are going camping.
7. Will you go camping with we — us boys?
8. They — them and their cousins are going camping.
9. We bought a large piece of ground so that my brother
and / — me could have a garden.
10. It was bought for he — him and / — me.
11. Is that he — him entering the gate? Yes, that is he —
him.
12. Who — whom should I meet at the station but old Mr.
McGregor, who — whom I had not seen for several years.
13. If I were he — him, I should start at once.
14. There is no need of him — his staying any longer.
15. He does not work so rapidly as / — me.
16. Mary and she — her work in the same office.
17. There is no danger of me — my failing.
18. Please let she — her and / — me do the work together.
19. There is no use of us — our trying any more.
20. Us — our giving up now will spoil everything.
21. My mother objected to me — my going.
22. Why did you insist upon us — our coming to-day?
23. I hardly think it is he — him who — whom is to blame.
24. I should like to be she — her.
25. They — them that do wrong shall be punished.
26. They — them that do wrong I shall punish.
27. He — him that is your friend you can call upon in your
hour of need.
2S. He — him that is your friend will respond to your call.
29. The manager praised both the bookkeepers and we — us
girls.
30. Was it you who called? Yes, it was / — me.
31. It surely was not / — me whom you saw.
32. He reproved us both but / — me more than she — her,
SS. Are you sure it^s / — we whom he appointed?
34. If it's really / — me who was appointed, I'm sure I should
have been notified.
35. I'm sure it can't be / — me.
Exercise 88 — Same as a Pronoun
One of the worst constructions found in business letters
of today is the use of same as a pronoun. The word may
be an adjective or a noun but never a pronoun.
THE NOUN AND THE PRONOUN 73
Wrong: Will you please fill out the enclosed blank and return
same as soon as possible?
Right: Will you please fill out the enclosed blank and return
U as soon as possible?
In each of the following sentences substitute a noun or
a pronoun for same:
' I. Will you not send us a check by Friday so that we may
use same for our pay roll on Saturday?
2. Do you wish to bid for our cinder output this year? We
have a sample car that we shall be glad to have you inspect if you
think you will have any use for same.
3. We have no use for the material this year, but we thank
you for giving us an opportunity to bid for same.
4. If you are dissatisfied with the machine, return same at
our expense.
5. You state that you sent us an order on June 10, but we
cannot find any trace of same.
6. We are in the market for two dozen Standard clothes
wringers, and we should be glad to receive your lowest price on
same.
7. We have given you credit for this amount and desire to
thank you for your promptness in sending same.
8. We have your letter of November 6 and thank you for same.
9. If you think you can use this type of machine, we shall
be glad to send you same on ten days' trial.
10. We have decided to use your machine if you will give us a
satisfactory guarantee as to strength, efficiency, and freedom from
leaks. As soon as possible let us hear from you in regard to same.
Exercise 89 — Nouns and Pronouns Incorrectly Used
Wrong Right
1. We saw lots of curious things. We saw a number of curious things.
2. Do you know that party? Do you know that man?
3. I stayed at home the balance of I stayed at home the rest of the
the day. day.
4. What business have you to go? What right have you to go?
5. The dress will be done in a The dress will be done in a few
couple of days. days.
6. I'll walk a piece with you. I'll walk a short distance with you.
7. Did you get a raise in pay? Did you get an increase in pay?
7
74 GRAMMAR
Wrong Right
8. I'll send you a postal. I'll send you a postal card,
g. Christmas is still a long ways Christmas is still a long way off.
off.
10. What line of business are you What kind of business are you in
in now? now?
11. If you expect to open a grocery, If you expect to open a grocery, let
let me give you a little ad- me give you a little advice 07t
vice along that line. the subject.
12. Have you anything new in the Have you any new neckwear?
neckwear line ?
13. I have a date with the dentist. I have an appointment with the
dentist.
14. Have you a date for this even- Have you an engagement for this
ing? evening?
15. He always does his work in He always does his work well.
good shape.
16. That is a good write-up on the That is a good article on the tariff.
tariff.
17. Yourself and friends are in- You and your friends are invited.
vited.
18. Don't they have street cars in Are there no street cars in your
your town? town?
19. It said in this morning's paper This morning's paper said that the
that the traffic men would traffic men would strike,
strike.
20. The book what he advised is The book that he advised is not
not fiction. fiction.
CHAPTER VII
THE ADJECTIVE AND THE ADVERB
As a rule, adverbs present more difficulty than do adjec-
tives. Careless pupils frequently use an adjective when an
adverb is necessary; as,
Wrong: He solved the problem very quick.
Right: He solved the problem very quickly.
Wrong: This is real good candy.
Right: This is really (or very) good candy.
Until the habit of correct usage is formed, every sentence
must be watched. When a word modifies a verb, an adjec-
tive, or an adverb, another adverb must be used, and an
adjective may not correctly be substituted. As a rule,
adverbs express the following ideas:
Time: We arrived early.
Place: We have been here since January.
Manner: He walked steadily onward.
Cause: Why did you refuse the offer?
Degree: I am very much surprised.
Number: I did it once not Pwice.
Assertion: ) t j
Denial: j" I do «"' agree.
Adverb modifying a verb: See how slowly the man walks!
Adverb modifying an adjective: The weather has been extremely
warm. '
Adverb modifying an adverb: He dictates very rapidly.
It must be remembered, however, that verbs of the
senses — taste, feel, look, smell, sound, and the like — are
sometimes almost equal in meaning to the verb be. In
76 GRAMMAR
that case, they are followed by adjectives and not by
adverbs; as,
Adjective: He looked angry.
Adverb: He looked angrily at us.
Exercise 90
Name the adjectives in the following selection, explaining
with what noun each belongs.
Name the adverbs, explaining what part of speech each
modifies.
Since 1904 the number of live cattle exported from this country
has been steadily growing smaller. Exports of dressed beef
have also shrunk to such insignificant proportions that the United
States is no longer an important factor in the foreign markets
for beef. Often has it been said that the competition of cheap
Argentine beef has deprived us of foreign markets. It woulcj,
be more nearly true to say that foreigners buy the inferior article
only because we cannot supply them with all they want of the best
grade. Take, for instance, the Englishman's willingness to pay
considerably more for American corn-fed beef than for Argentine.
The raising of cattle is important, also, from the standpoint
of the leather business. Obviously, with a 21 per cent increase
in population in each decade, many more shoes are necessary.
Automobile and other industries are making constantly increas-
ing demands for leather. Shoes cannot become cheaper in the
face of increased demand and diminished supply. Too much
depends upon the cattle industry for us to allow it to wane.
Exercise 91
Which of the italicized, words should you use in the follow-
ing, and why? JltJ^^
-^ \. Why do you walk so slow — slondy f
2. Speak louder — more loudly.
3. I cannot explain why he spoke so gentle — gently.
4. The automobile was going very snmjt — swiftly.
5. The well has been dug very deep — deeply.
6. He is not near — nearly so tall as you are.
7. Are you cutting that even — evenly ?
THE ADJECTIVE AND THE ADVERB 77
She does pen and ink sketches beautiful — beautifully.
Why can't I grow quicker — more quickly ?
I feel bad — badly this morning.
Can you do all I have asked? Easy — easily.
She does her work good — well.
She does her work fine — r finely.
I am real — very much surprised to see you.
He became real — very angry.
I'm afraid it's not near — nearly big enough.
She works twice as quick — quickly as you do.
He sure — surely is a good speaker. He seems sure — surely
of himself.
«*«^.I9. Are you going? Sure — Surely?
20. He says he is near — nearly starved.
21. He worked steady — steadily all morning. The others did
not work near — nearly so hard.
22. I am speaking as serious — seriously as I can.
1^^-23. The orange tastes bitter — bitterly.
24. Don't you think he has been acting queer — queerly?
"-25. The coat is finished mce — nicely, *jfe><^-i/
> —- — ^^Exercise92 ' I
Explain the proper position of the italicized adverbs in
the following sentences. Remember that an adverb must
stand as closely as possible to the word that it modifies, but
remember also that an infinitive, although made up of two
parts, is one word and should not be split by an adverb.
1. I merely want the Milwaukee list of customers.
2. You almost write like her.
3. Your writing is like hers almost.
4. I can not find one of the papers I had on the desk.
5. He told me to carefully Sidd the figures in the column.
6. I expect to quickly finish my dictation.
7. I don't e^ew understand, the first problem in the lesson.
8. Don't say you don't ever expect to go to school again.
9. All the statements are not on niy desk.
10. He promised to quickly settle the matter.
11. I wish you to clearly understand the situation.
12. I only have two more items to enter.
13. I only expect to take a short vacation this year.
78 GRAMMAR
14. He only spoke of two causes of the loss in trade.
i5.« I only decided to take the Western instead of the Eastern
trip at the last moment.
Exercise 93 — Comparison
Most adjectives are compared to express different degrees
of quality. There are three degress of comparison, the
positive, the comparative, and the superlative. When the
object modified by the adjective is not compared with
another, the first or positive degree is used. When two
objects are compared, the second or comparative degree is
used to denote more or less of the quality expressed by the
adjective. Wlien several objects are compared, the super-
lative degree of the adjective is used to express the highest
or the lowest possible degree of the adjective.
The usual method of comparing an adjective is to add
er to the positive to form the comparative, and est to form
the superlative. Frequently, however, especially for an
adjective of two or more syllables, the comparative is formed
by prefixing more or less to the positive, and the superla-
tive by prefixing most or least. Besides the adjectives in
these two classes there are some which do not follow any
regular method and must, therefore, be watched a little
more closely.
The following table illustrates the different methods of
comparison :
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
bright
brighter
brightest
dangerous
more dangerous
most dangerous
beautiful
more beautiful
most beautiful
good
better
best
bad
worse
worst
ill
worse
worst
Be careful to avoid using a double sign for the compara-
tive degree; as.
Wrong: This writing is more neater than yours.
THE ADJECTIVE AND THE ADVERB 79
Some adverbs are also compared; as,
Positive Comparative Superlative
well better best
quickly more quickly most quickly
Some adjectives and adverbs cannot be compared because
the positive degree in itself expresses a complete or absolute
meaning; as,
absolute,-ly
eternal
perfect
sufficient
circular
extreme
perpendicular
supreme
continual
faultless
perpetual
unanimous
dead
full
right
unique
decisive
impossible
round
universal
empty
incurable
square
white
Compare those of the following adjectives that may be
compared. Explain why some do not admit of comparison.
great spotless expensive wise
tall dear parallel high
desirable east old new
honorable early exclusive blank
Exercise 94
In the following exercise, select the correct one of the two
italicized forms. Remember that the comparative degree is
used in comparing two objects, the superlative in compar-
ing three or more.
1. I had three pens. I have lost the better — best one. /
2. I have two clerks. \ John is the older — oldeft.
3. Of the two colors, I think the tan is the more — most
becoming to you.
4. You are the taller — tallest of all the boys.
5. Of two professions, choose the more — most honorable.
6. He is the faster — fastest workman in the shop.
7. Which of your hands is the cleaner — cleanest ?
8. Which do you like better — best^ skating or sleighing?
9. Which of your eyes has the better — best vision?
10. Of all the shops, she likes LesHe's better — best.
8o GRAMMAR
11. Which is more — most durable, serge or broadcloth?
12. Which tree lives longer — longest, the poplar or the elm?
13. Which is the best — better policy, honesty or dishonesty?
14. He is the wittier — wittiest one in the class.
15. He is the wittier — wittiest boy in the class. There is only
one boy in the class besides him.
16. Of our twenty salesmen, he is considered better — best
because he is quicker — quickest witted than any other.
17. You should not mention the two men in one breath. The
former — first is famous and the latter — last infamous.
18. Which of you two do you think deserves more — most
praise?
19. Which of you two deserves less — least praise?
20. Which of you two can run the faster — fastest?
Exercise 95
Remember that the double negative is wrong; as,
Wrong: I haven't no paper.
Right: I have no paper.
Correct any of the following sentences that contain this
mistake:
1. None of them didn't come.
2. I cou\dp!t do the problem neither.
3. This paper isn't very good, I don't think.
4. Couldn't you find no better pen?
5. I didn't choose none of them.
6. I don't see nothing to complain of.
7. He couldn't hardly see across the street.
8. We didn't find the paper nowhere.
9. They can't scarcely believe the report.
10. She couldn't stay with us only a few minutes.
Exercise 96 — Fewer, Less
Fewer refers to a smaller number by counting, less refers
to a smaller quantity by measuring. Insert the correct word:
1. You are making mistakes each day.
2. I am having difficulty in writing shorthand.
3. There are houses on this street than I had thought.
THE ADJECTIVE AND THE ADVERB 8i
4. The farther inland we went the signs of habitation we
saw.
5. Each year there is opportunity for an uneducated man
to rise.
6. Each year there are opportunities for the uneducated
man to rise.
Most, Almost
Most refers to quantity or number; almost means not
quite. Insert the correct word:
7. -^^ people enjoy their work.
8. I have finished the course in stenography.
9. European cities are beautiful.
10. all European cities are beautiful.
Real, Very
Real is an adjective meaning actual; very is an adverb
of degree. Insert the correct word:
11. I'm glad to see you.
12. Is your comb amber?
13. The men of the Titanic were heroes.
14. He is a good soloist.
15. She is entertaining in conversation; it was a
pleasure to meet her.
Exercise 97 — Adjectives and Adverbs Incorrectly Used
Wrong Right
1. I don't like those kind of pens. I don't like that kind of pens.
2. What sort of a course are you What sort of course are you taking?
taking?
3. His statements made me mad. His statements made me angry.
4. Yours respectively. Yours respectfully.
(Consult a dictionary for the correct use of respectively)
5. Do you want in ? Do you want to come in ?
6. Go some place with me. Go somewhere with me.
7. My father is some better. My father is somewhat better.
8. He comes every once in a while. He comes occasionally.
9. Did you recognize the girl who Did you recognize the girl who
drove past ? drove hy ?
10. The two are both alike. The two are alike.
82
GRAMMAR
any
Wrong
11. He is liable to come
minute.
12. That ring has sl funny design.
13. I'd sooner stay at home.
14. Are you most ready?
15. I'm kind of sleepy.
16. What size hat do you wear?
17. This here book is the one I wish.
18. He spoke angry like.
19. His ideas are no good.
20. He seldom ever makes a mis-
take.
.21. I didn't work any last night.
22. I walked this far yesterday.
23. I want to see you hadly.
24. He sells insurance on the side.
25. Don't talk out loud.
26. She is very disappointed.
Right
He is likely to come at any minute.
That ring has an odd design.
I'd rather stay at home.
Are you almost ready?
I'm rather sleepy.
What sized hat do you wear?
This book is the one I wish.
He spoke angrily.
His ideas are worthless (or not good).
He seldom {hardly ever) makes a
mistake.
I didn't work at all last night.
I walked as far as this yesterday.
I want to see you very much.
In addition to his other business he
sells insurance.
Don't talk aloud.
She is very miich disappointed.
(Before a perfect participle too or very may not be used without the
addition of the adverb much)
27. She is a cute (or cunning) child. She is a pretty child.
(Look up the words cute and cunning in a dictionary)
28. He was lying face down on the He was lying face downward on the
grass. grass.
CHAPTER VIII
THE VERB
Verbs may be transitive or intransitive,
A verb is transitive when it needs an object to complete
its meaning; that is, when the action passes over (Latin,
transire, to pass over) from the subject or doer to the object
or receiver; as.
He hit the ball.
A verb is intransitive when it needs no object to complete
its meaning; as.
The crowd cheered.
Some intransitive verbs require a predicate noun or pro-
noun in the nominative case, or an adjective, to complete
their meaning. They are the verbs be^ become, appear,
seem, feel, taste, look, smell; as.
Adjective: The berries taste sour.
Noun: John is my brother.
Pronoun: It is /.
Such verbs are sometimes called copulatives.
Exercise 98
Tell whether each verb in the following sentences is tran-
sitive or intransitive and whether it is followed by a noun
or a pronoun in the nominative or the objective case or by a
complementary adjective.
I. Primitive people have left traces of very early commercial
relations.
84 GRAMMAR
2. Explorers visited the Ohio valley and found articles of
remote manufacture. '
3. Checks and drafts are great conveniences to the business
man.
4. The United States Supreme Court made a decision that
labor unions are punishable under trust penalties.
5. A labor union is different from a trust.
6. This is the opinion of the labor leader.
7. What is your opinion?
8. The total value of merchandise sent to Latin-America from
the United States exceeds that supplied by any other single
country.
Write three sentences illustrating transitive verbs.
Write three sentences illustrating intransitive verbs.
Write three sentences illustrating copulative verbs.
Exercise 99 — Voice
Voice is that property of the verb that shows whether the
subject acts or is acted upon. If the subject acts, the verb
is in the active voice. If the subject is acted upon, the verb
is in the passive voice. Every sentence containing a transi-
tive verb must have the following parts:
Agent (doer) Action Receiver
The runaway horse injured John.
When the sentence is in the order shown above, the sub-
ject is the agent, and the verb expresses the action of the
agent. When the sentence is written in this order, the
verb is said to be in the active voice.
However, without changing the meaning of the sentence,
we may change the order of the ideas; thus.
Receiver Action Agent
John was injured by the runaway horse.
The receiver of the action has become the subject, and the
agent has become part of the predicate, being expressed in
the phrase by the runaway hor^^, When the sentence is
THE VERB 85
expressed in this order, the subject receiving or "suffering"
the action, the verb is said to be in the passive voice. Only
transitive verbs, therefore, may be changed to the passive
voice.
Note. — There are certain intransitive verbs that sometimes have
a preposition so closely connected with them that the two are treated
almost like a transitive verb, and may be made passive; as,
Active: The audience laughed at the speaker.
Passive: The speaker was laughed at by the audience.
Write five sentences in the active voice.
Change them to the passive voice.
Of the sentences that you have written, is the active or
the passive form better? Which is more direct in its
wording? Which, then, is the better form to use regularly?
Exercise 100 — Number and Person
The number of the verb is decided by the number of the
subject. If the subject is a singular noun, or a pronoun that
stands for a singular noun, it requires a singular verb; if
the subject is plural, it requires a plural verb. As a rule,
there is no difference between the singular and the plural
forms of the verb except in the form for the third person
singular; as,
I say We say
You say You say
He says , They say
But as the third person of the verb is the one most often
used, it must be carefully noted.
The following subjects of verbs are singular and require
a singular verb to accompany them:
I. A collective noun that denotes a group of objects
acting as one thing; as.
The crowd is scattering.
86 GRAMMAR
2. A group of words which, Hke a collective noun, is
plural in form but singular in meaning; as,
Thirty dollars is what I paid for the ring.
3. A singular noun modified by every, each, one, no,
many a; or the pronouns each, everybody, either, neither,
and none when it means not one; as.
Each of us has his lesson.
Many an opportunity has been wasted.
Everybody is here now.
4. Nouns or pronouns joined by or, either — or, neither
— nor; as,
Either John or his father is coming.
5. Two nouns joined by and, denoting one person or
thing; as.
The bookkeeper and stenographer is an expert.
Note. — If two persons are meant, the article should be repeated
before the second noun.
The following subjects of verbs are plural and require
plural verbs:
1. A collective noun denoting plurality; that is,
referring to the individuals that compose the group; as,
The class are all studious.
2. A compound subject joined by and, when the
objects joined are different; as,
The door and the window are both open.
3. The pronoun you, though it may denote only one
person; as,
Right: You were right.
Wrong: You was right.
THE VERB
91
Active Voice
Tense
Primary
Present
Past
Future
Perfect
or
Secondary
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
Future Perfect
I write (simple form)
I am writing (progressive
form)
I do write (emphatic form)
I wrote (simple)
I was writing (progressive)
, I did write (emphatic)
f I shall write (simple)
I I shall be writing (pro-
[ gressive)
I have written (simple)
I have been writing (pro-
[ gressive)
[ I had written (simple)
"! I had been writing (pro-
[ gressive)
I shall have written (simple)
I shall have been writing
(progressive)
Exercise 103
Conjugate the following in the active voice:
1. Simple past tense of walk.
2. Present progressive tense of walk.
3. Present perfect of drive. (See Exercise 108 for the prin-
cipal parts.)
4. Present perfect progressive of drive,
5. Future progressive of ride.
6. Past of ride.
7. Present progressive of ride,
8. Past emphatic of ride.
9. Past perfect of ride.
10. Present perfect progressive of ride.
92 GRAMMAR
Give a synopsis of the progressive tenses of begin, using
he as the subject.
Exercise 104 — Shall and Will
The auxiliary verbs used to form the future tenses are
shall and will. The two must be carefully distinguished
because they denote different ideas, according to the person
with which they are used. The rule is, to express simple
future time, use shall in the first person, ivill in the second
and third persons.
The future tense of the verb walk is conjugated as follows:
I shall walk We shall walk
You will walk You will walk
He will walk They will walk
This is the form to use when you expect the action to
take place naturally.
On the other hand, instead of letting things take their
natural course as they do in the simple future, you may
force them to take place. You may, for example, be deter-
mined to walk, or determined to make some one else walk.
In that case the use is reversed; as,
I will walk We will walk
You shall walk You shall walk
He shall walk They shall walk
This form is used whenever the speaker has authority to
bring about the action indicated by the verb.
In questions of the first person always use shall. In
questions of the second and third persons use the same
form that you expect in the answer; as,
Shall you be at home to-morrow? I shaU.
In the following sentences insert shall or mil, giving the
reason for your choice:
1. I finish the work by three o^clock, I think.
2. To-morrow he feel sorry for this; I vow it.
THE VERB 93
3. I am sorry, but I not be able to finish the work before
next week.
4. you finish your business course in February or in
June? I finish in June, I think.
5. he finish in February? No, he finish in June.
6. The foreman declares he not have another chance.
7. He see his mistake when it is too late.
8. They surely be at the station to meet me.
9. I'm afraid you be kicked if you go near that horse.
10. If he doesn't take the examination, he fail.
11. I am determined that I win.
12. I sail probably on the fifteenth.
13. He be twenty-one to-morrow.
14. I go in spite of him.
15. you go by train, do you think?
16. I be greatly obliged if you send the book at once.
17. I promise you John know his lesson to-morrow.
18. you be at home this evening?
19. the train be on time?
20. the store be open this evening?
Conjugate the future and future perfect tenses of the
following verbs:
drive
see
go
run
sweep
ride
choose
sing
eat
seU
Exercise 105 — Should and Would
Should and would are the past tenses of shall and will
and, in general, express the same ideas as do shall and willy
except that should sometimes means ought; as,
You should not speak in that way.
Wouldy also, sometimes indicates an action that occurs
frequently; as,
She would often sit at the window all the morning.
The use of should and would in indirect statements and
questions is sometimes puzzling. First of all, decide whether
shall or will would be used in the direct form of the sentence.
94 GRAMMAR
If the direct form uses shall, use should in the indirect; if
the direct uses will, use would in the indirect; as,
Direct: The market will improve.
Indirect: He said that the market would improve.
In conditional clauses {if), use should for all persons.
Insert should or would,
1. If I knew his address, I send him a telegram.
2. He promised that he not make the mistake again.
(The direct form would read, I will not )
3. I promised that I not make the mistake again.
4. You promised that you not make the mistake again.
5. Do you think that I go?
6. I if I were you.
7. I think he know better than to apply for that
position.
8. John said that, no matter what we thought, he not go.
9. If you decide to accept the offer, let me know at
once.
10. I am sorry he did that. He not, of course.
11. If I see him, I'd let him know.
12. If he come during my absence, ask him to wait.
13. I think you would be more careful.
14. Let me know if you not be able to come.
Exercise 106
Change the italicized verbs to past tense, future, present
perfect, past perfect, future perfect. Wherever necessary,
add sufficient to make the meaning of the tense clear; as,
Present: The manager is now in his office.
Past: The manager was in his office a few minutes ago.
Future: The manager will he in his office to-morrow at ten 0^ clock.
Present Perfect: The manager has been in his office all the morn-
ing. (It is still morning.)
Past Perfect: The manager had been in his office only a few
moments when the president arrived.
Future Perfect: In about five minutes the manager will have been
in the president's office exactly three hours.
THE VERB 95
1. The cashier opens the safe in the morning.
2. The mechanic earns good wages.
3. The buyer leaves to-night.
4. The bookkeeper makes out the statements.
5. The correspondent writes the booklets.
6. The advertising manager approves the copy.
7. The adding machine is broken.
8. The chief clerk attends to the incoming mail.
9. The superintendent visits the factory every day.
10. The salesman is selling five thousand dollars' worth of goods
a week.
Exercise 107
The present tense is used to indicate facts that were true
in past time and are still true. Omit the incorrect form in
the following sentences:
1. He glared so fiercely that I couldn't remember what my
name was — is, nor where I lived — live,
2. What was — is the name of that book that you enjoyed
so much?
3. Didn't you know that the lion is — was called the king of
beasts?
4. They told me that the legal rate of interest at present is —
was six per cent.
5. Have you ever heard him try to prove that black is — was
white?
6. What is — was the name of the banker who lectured to
us yesterday?
7. I never could remember what the important products of
my county are — were.
8. The advocate of Equal Suffrage argued that mothers
need — needed the ballot to protect their children.
9. She said that a democracy is — was a government of the
people, by the people, and for the people, and that women are —
were people as well as men.
10. The speaker asserted that this country needs — needed a
tariff to protect home industries.
Exercise 108 — Principal Parts
No one can be certain of using the correct form of a verb
unless he knows the principal parts. Some verbs are regular;
96
GRAMMAR
that is, they form their past tense and their perfect parti-
ciple by adding ed to the present tense; as,
Present Past Perfect Participle
walk walked walked
Some verbs, however, are very irregular, having a different
form for each of the principal parts. A list of such verbs
follows:
^resent
Past
Perfect Participle
arise
arose
arisen
awake
awoke or
awaked awaked
be
was
been
tear (carry)
bore
borne
beat
beat
beaten
become
became
become
begin
began
begun
bid
bade
bidden
bite
bit
bitten
blow
blew
blown
break
broke
broken
choose
chose
chosen
come
came
come
do
did
done
draw
drew
drawn
drink
drank
drunk
drive
drove
driven
eat
ate
eaten
fall
feU
fallen
fly
flew
flown
forbid
forbade
forbidden
forsake
forsook
forsaken
freeze
froze
frozen
give
gave
given
go
went
gone
grow
grew
grown
hide
hid
hidden
know
knew
known
lie (to rest)
lay
lain
ride
rode
ridden
ring
rang
rung
Present
rise
run
see
shake
show
shrink
sing
slay
slide
sow
speak
spring
steal
strive
swear
swell
swim
take
tear
throw
wear
weave
write
THE VERB
97
Past
Perfect Participle
rose
risen
ran
run
saw
seen
shook
shaken
showed
shown
shrank
shrunk
sang
slew
sung
slain
slid
slidden
sowed
sown
spoke
spoken
sprang
stole
sprung
stolen
strove
striven
swore
sworn
swelled
swelled, swollen
swam
swum
took
taken
tore
torn
threw
thrown
wore
worn
wove
woven
wrote
written
Exercise 109
Some verbs, though irregularly formed, have the past
tense and perfect participle alike. A list of such verbs
follows:
Present
Past
Perfect Participle
bend
bent
bent
behold
beheld
beheld
beseech
besought
besought
bind
bound
bound
bleed
bled
bled
bless
blessed, blest
blessed, blest
bring
brought
brought
build
built
built
bum
burned, burnt
burned, burnt
8
GRAMMAR
Present
Past
Perfect Participle
buy-
bought
bought
catch
caught
caught
cling
clung
clung
clothe
clothed, clad
clothed, clad
creep
crept
crept
deal
dealt
dealt
dig
dug
dug
dream
dreamed, dreamt
dreamed, dreamt
dweU
dwelt
dwelt
flee
fled
fled
grind
ground
ground
hang
hung, hanged
hung, hanged
have
had
had
hear
heard
heard
hold
held
held
kneel
knelt
knelt
lay-
laid
laid
lead
led
led
leap
leapt
leapt
lend
lent
lent
pay
paid
paid
say
said
said
shine
shone
shone
sit
sat
sat
sleep
slept
slept
sling
slung
slung
speed
sped
sped
spin
spun
spun
stand
stood
stood
sting
stung
stung
strike
struck
struck
string
strung
strung
sweep
swept
swept
swing
swung
swung
teach
taught
taught
think
thought
thought
weep
wept
wept
win
won
won
wind
wound
wound
wring
wrung
wrung
r
THE VERB
Exercise no
99
Some verbs have all three forms alike. A list of such
follows:
Present
bet
burst
cast
cost
cut
hit
hurt
knit
let
put
rid
set
shed
spread
sweat
wet
Past
bet
burst
cast
cost
cut
hit
hurt
knit
let
put
rid
set
shed
spread
sweat
wet
Perfect Participle
bet
burst
cast
cost
cut
hit
hurt
knit
let
put
rid
set
shed
spread
sweat
wet
Exercise in
Choose the correct form of the italicized words below, and
give the reason for your choice.
1. If it donH — doesnH fit you, we shall alter it.
2. I knew — knowed I was right.
3. Aren't — ain't you glad we came?
4. AinH — isn't he well?
5. We done — did the right thing.
6. Let — leave the book on the table.
7. Let — leave me do as I planned.
8. Mary has broke — broken her arm.
9. My mother has gone — went to Boston.
10. Where was — were you yesterday?
11. When the dinner bell rang — rung^ we all come — came
running in.
12. He donH — doesnH know what you said.
13. To what hospital have they taken — took him?
14. I saw — seen him a few minutes ago.
lOO GRAMMAR
15. I saw — seen him yesterday.
16. I should have — of brought my book.
17. My winter coat is wore — worn out.
18. Have you ever rode — ridden in an aeroplane?
19. I have shown — showed you all the styles I have.
20. DonH — doesn't it seem odd that he donH — doesnH come?
21. She donH — doesnH remember you.
22. We began — begun the work yesterday.
23. I'm afraid my foot is froze — frozen.
24. We ran — run all the way.
25. IVe shook — shaken him three times, but he don't — doesnH
awake.
26. The bell rang — rung just before you entered.
27. She sang — sung very well.
28. He swam — swum all yesterday morning.
29. Why donH — doesn't some one tell John that his coat is
tore — torn ?
30. DonH — doesnH mother know that the vase is broke —
broken?
Exercise 112 — Troublesome Verbs
Lie, Lay
Lie is intransitive; /a}' is transitive. Lie ^igni^es to rest;
lay, to place. Insert the correct form in the following:
1. He told me to — ^^^— the book on the table. It -^- — there
now. ^ >i.^,9A \
2. I -^^^~ all day waiting for help to arrive.
3. Where did you the purse?
4. I -r-t^\it on your desk.
5. I have , — r- the letters on your desk.
6. They told me to ^r^— down. I -t?— - down for about two
hours.
7. As I wished to bleach the clothes, I them on the grass.
8. the bundle down and listen to me.
9. You will probably find your cap ing where it has
since you dropped it.
10. They let the field fallow.
11. How long has it fallow?
12. Yesterday he *-^— on the grass almost all day.
13. The hunter still and watched.
14. He his gun beside him and waited.
THE VE^B TOI
15. It will -A-^undisturbed till morning.
16. p"''' down awhile before dinner.
17. I don't know how long he has — — here.
18. He let his tools — -^ in the rain.
Exercise 113 — Troublesome Verbs
Sit, Set •
Sit is intransitive and signifies to rest. Set is transitive
and means to place. Insert the correct form:
1. I have -7— the ferns in the rain.
2. -7--^ down for a few minutes.
3. She drew up a chair and down, while we were ting
down the probable expenses of the new house.
4. Why don't you us a good example?
5. ting the table is not strenuous enough for one who
has been ting all day.
6. The hen is — ^ — ting on her eggs.
7. The man is ting out trees.
8. stiU; I'U go.
Fly, Flow, Flee
Remember that birds fly; rivers flow; hunted creatures
flee.
9. Still the river on its accustomed course.
10. Every autumn the birds south.
11. The birds have not yet away.
12. The deer before the dogs.
Rise, Raise
Rise is intransitive; raise is transitive.
13. I have been trying all morning to this window.
14. I set the bread to — — .
15. He will surely ^ — -in his profession.
Teach, Learn
16. Will you me how to play tennis?
17. I thought you had how to play tennis.
18. I (past tense) her the new system of filing.
I02 GRAMMAR
May, Can
May signifies permission; can denotes possibility.
19. I use your book?
20. you write shorthand ?
21. I go with* you?
22. My mother says that I go with you.
Might, Could
Might is the past tense of may, and could is the past
tense of can.
23. He said that I go.
24. He do the work if he wished.
25. Did you say I use your typewriter?
Exercise 114 — Accept, Except
Accept means to receive. Except as a verb means to ex-
clude; as a preposition it means with the exception of. Insert
the correct form in the following:
1. Did you the position? Yes, no one applied for it
'■ me.
2. I have no other reason for not ing your invitation
that I shall not be in the city.
3. Mary all ed the invitation.
4. He would not the money on one condition.
5. Why do you him from the general offer that you are
making?
6. I agree with you on one point.
7. He ed the rebuke in silence.
8. We were forced to their conditions.
9. He said he would not the money that he knew
he could return it.
10. You have answered everything what I asked you.
Exercise 115 — Affect, Efifect
A feet means to influence. It is always a verb. Effect sls
a verb means to bring to pass; as a noun it means result.
Insert the correct form in the following sentences:
I. His opinion does not the case.
V
THE VERB
103
2. How does war trade?
3. His walking has had a good upon his health.
4. The ruling did not the wholesale dealers, but it had
a big upon us.
5. What did the loss have upon him?
6. The failure of the bank ed the small depositors but
had no upon the big business men.
7. The of the law has been startling because of the
number of people ed by it.
8. They ed the consolidation, but thereby produced a
bad upon the price of their stock.
9. The accident seriously ed his nervous system. In
fact, the of the fall is only gradually disappearing.
10. Did the celebrated physician really a cure?
Exercise 116 — Lose, Loose
Lose is a verb, while loose is usually an adjective. The two
should be carefully distinguished. Insert the correct form:
1 . I have a note book with leaves.
2. Aren^t you afraid you will some of the leaves of
that book?
3. Be careful that you don't that bolt.
4. Do you remember that you had warned me that I'd
the button on my coat? I did it not five minutes
afterward.
5. One of the hinges of the door has become .
6. Do not the change in that pocket.
7. He will the parcel as the cord is .
8. Did you the leaf journal?
9. She may the money, as the clasp of her purse is .
10. I keep my journal paper together by a rubber band
so that there will be no chance of ing it.
Exercise 117 — Had ought
Wrong: We had ought to go.
Right: We ought to go.
Wrong : We had ought to have gone.
Right: We ought to have gone.
I04 GRAMMAR
Correct the following sentences:
1. I had ought to have studied harder.
2. You ought to do it, hadn't you?
3. Hadn't you ought to have gone?
4. Yes, I had ought to have gone yesterday.
5. Do you think I had ought to have accepted?
6. He had ought to come to-morrow.
7. The tickets had ought to have come from the printer's
yesterday.
8. We had not ought to stay out so late.
9. You had ought to wear your coat.
10. He had ought to have become naturalized.
11. You had ought to have washed the dishes before you went
out.
12. You had ought to take an umbrella.
13. You had ought to have heard what she said.
14. We hadn't ought to disagree.
15. You ought to have invested, hadn't you?
Exercise 118
Conjugation of the verb be in the
Indicative Mode
Present Tense
Singular
Plural
I am
We are
You are
You are
He is
They are
Past Tense
I was
We were
You were
You were
He was
They were
Future Tense
I shaU be
We shall be
You will be
You will be
He wiU be
They will be
THE VERB
Present Perfect Tense
los
I have been
You have been
He has been
We have been
You have been
They have been
Past Perfect Tense
I had been We had been
You had been You had been
He had been They had been
I shall have been
You will have been
He will have been
Future Perfect Tense
We shall have been
You will have been
They will have been
The verb he is used to form the progressive tenses of the
active voice (See Exercise 102) and the simple tenses of
the passive voice; as,
Passive Voice
Present Tense
Plural
Singular
I am followed
You are followed
He is followed
I was followed
You were followed
He was followed
I shall be followed
You will be followed
He will be followed
We are followed
You are followed
They are followed
Past Tense
We were followed
.You were followed
They were followed
Future Tense
We shall be followed
You will be followed
They will be followed
io6
GRAMMAR
Present Perfect Tense
I have been followed We have been followed
You have been followed You have been followed
He has been followed They have been followed
Past Perfect Tense
I had been followed We had been followed
You had been followed You had been followed
He had been followed They had been followed
Future Perfect Tense
I shall have been followed We shall have been followed
You will have been followed You will have been followed
He will have been followed They will have been followed
If we add the progressive form wherever it may be used,
we have the following synopsis of the indicative mood:
Tenses
Primary
Passive Voice
p I am followed (simple)
I am being followed (progressive)
Past
I was followed (simple)
I was being followed (progressive)
, Future I shall be followed
f Present Perfect I have been followed
Perfect \ Past Perfect I had been followed
i Future Perfect I shall have been followed
Exercise up
Conjugate the following in the passive voice:
1 . Simple present of pay»
2. Progressive past of pay.
3. Present perfect of throw.
4. Future of praise.
5. Past perfect of /(?rge/.
THE VERB 107
6. Progressive present of choose,
7. Past progressive of choose.
8. Future of choose.
9. Future perfect of choose.
10. Past perfect of choose.
Exercise 120
Supply the verb forms indicated. Use the active unless
the passive is definitely called for.
1. The vegetables (present perfect of lie) in water all the
morning.
2. Rumors (past progressive passive of spread) far and wide
that Germany would fight England.
3. I thought the gingham (past perfect passive of shrink)
before the dress (past passive of made).
4. I am afraid my ear (present progressive oi freeze).
5. Is it true that your ring (present perfect passive of steal)}
6. A sudden storm (past of arise) yesterday afternoon, and a
little boy (past passive of drown) in the river where he and several
of his companions (past perfect progressive of swim) since noon.
7. I (present perfect of speak) of the matter to no one.
8. I suppose that it (present perfect passive of break).
9. I must (present perfect of show) him twenty different styles,
but he (past of choose) hone of them, for as soon as I (past of show)
him one, he (past of shake) his head.
10. She (past progressive of wring) out the clothes when the
door bell (past of ring).
11. I am afraid my purse (present passive of lose).
12. The knight (past of say) that he (past perfect of decide)
(infinitive of follow) the quest.
13. I thought I (past perfect of bring) you the morning paper.
14. He (past of swim) the river twice yesterday.
15. There he stood (present participle of ring) the dinner bell.
16. His coat (present perfect passive of wet) through more
than once.
17. The trip (past of cost) him a hundred dollars.
18. I (past of see) the superintendent yesterday, but he said
that there (present of be) no vacancies at present.
19. They (past of lay) the clippings on the desk, and then they
(past of sit) down.
io8 GRAMMAR
20. As he (past of speak) ^ he (past progressive of shake) from
head to foot.
21. The clouds (past of lie) low on the horizon.
22. The building in which I work (present perfect passive of
hum).
23. Your employer (present perfect of deal) fairly with you.
24. I (present perfect of have) the same position for three
years.
25. I (future of lend) him no money.
26. The floor (past passive of lay) by an expert workman.
27. The beads (past passive of string) on a waxed thread.
28. He (present perfect of throw) the whole office into con-
fusion.
29. Before he came forward, he (past of set) the child down.
30. After the storm, leaves and twigs (past progressive of lie)
thick upon the roads.
31. He (past of drive) to town yesterday. He (future of go)
again to-morrow.
32. The dictionary (present progressive of lie) on the table
where you (past of lay) it.
33. The dog (past of lay) the bone down, and then he (past of
lie) down.
34. He (past of set) the chair by the window and then (past of
sit) down.
35. I think we (future of see) him as we pass, for he usually
(present of lie) on a couch by the window.
36. The snow (past perfect progressive of Jail) for several
hours and now (past of lie) deep on every path.
37. Everything (present perfect passive of lay) in readiness.
38. (Present participle of lie) in the hammock, he soon fell
asleep.
39. I saw the man (present participle of lie) on the ground.
40. After he (past perfect of lie) there a few minutes, he sud-
denly (past of sit) up.
41. The biplane, which (past perfect progressive of lie) in the
hangar since it (past perfect passive of raise) from the water in
which it (past perfect of lie) for two weeks, (past of rise) up over
the city.
42. Large crowds (past progressive of sit) on the fields, (present
participle of wait) for the aeroplane (infinitive of rise) .
43. Many people (past perfect of set) tents on the field during
the night and now (past progressive of get) sl good view of the flight.
THE VERB 109
44. All eyes (past progressive of turn) toward the aeroplane,
which (past progressive of rise) steadily.
45. The biplane (past of rise) until it (past perfect of rise) about
five hundred feet above the tallest building; then it (past passive
of raise) about fifty feet more to get it out of an air current that
(past progressive of raise) one end of it.
Exercise 121 — Infinitives and Participles
Infinitives are verb forms that are used as nouns, as adjec-
tives, or as adverbs. Participles are verb forms that are
used as adjectives. Thus at the same time each acts as two
parts of speech. As verbs both have the meaning of the
verbs from which they are made; both have tense and voice;
both may be modified by adverbial expressions; and, if they
are made from transitive verbs, both may take objects.
The Participle
The tenses and voices of the participle are as follows:
AcTn^E Voice
Simple
selling
having sold
Present
Progressive
Perfect
having been selling
Passive Voice
being sold
Present
Perfect
having been sold
The participle frequently introduces a phrase. Usually
the phrase is used like an adjective; occasionally it is used
like a noun (sometimes called the gerund phrase).
no GRAMMAR
Adjective: Seeing your perplexity, I'll offer a suggestion.
(Notice the punctuation.)
Noun (Gerund) : Flaying tennis is good exercise.
The Infinitive
The infinitive is distinguished by the word to, either
expressed or understood. The tenses and voices of the
infinitive are as follows:
Active Voice
Simple
to sell
Present
Progressive
to be selling
to have sold
Perfect
to have been selling
Passive Voice
to be sold
Present
to have been sold
Perfect
The infinitive is often used to introduce a phrase; as,
Noun : To get to the top of the hill was a difficult matter.
Adverb: I went to buy the sugar.
Adjective: It's a drawing to be proud of.
Grouping all the facts that we have thus far learned about
phrases, and expressing them in diagram form, we have the
following :
Phrases may be classified:
According to Form According to Use
Prepositional Adverbial
Participial (Gerund) Adjective
Infinitive Noun
r
THE VERB III
I
The prepositional and infinitive phrases may have all three
uses; the participial phrase has two — adjective and noun
(gerund).
Variety of Expression
Phrases are important because, like clauses, they help us
to vary the form of our sentences. They help us, above all,
to avoid the childish so habit. Thus, instead of They wished
to make the ice smooth so they flooded the pond, we may use,
for example:
Subordinate clause: Because (as, since) they wished to make the
ice smooth, they flooded the pond.
Participial phrase: Wishing to make the ice smooth, they
flooded the pond.
Infinitive phrase : To make the ice smooth, they flooded the pond.
Gerund phrase : Flooding the pond made the ice smooth.
Prepositional phrase modifying noun subject: The flooding of
the pond made the ice smooth.
Recast each of the following sentences in at least two of
the ways shown above:
1. They wished to finish the work -so they stayed till six
o'clock.
2. John hoped to arrive before the others so he started early.
3. He saw that the cars were not running so he walked so he
would be on time.
4. They needed some gasoline so they had to stop at a garage.
5. He wished to make a tool chest so he bought some lumber.
6. They saw that he liked to read so they gave him several
books.
7. She wished to make a good appearance at the party so she
bought a new dress.
8. He was in a hurry so he walked fast.
9. We were afraid that we'd be late so we ran.
10. The campers thought they'd like a fire so they gathered a
quantity of dry leaves and wood.
11. I was very tired when I reached home so I couldn't go to
the lecture.
112 GRAMMAR
12. The work was difficult so it took three hours to finish it.
L^. The clock needed repairing so he took it to a jeweler's.
14. The coat did not fit so she sent it back.
15. She didn't know where to take the train so she asked a
policeman.
Exercise 122 — Mode
Mode is the form of the verb that indicates the manner of
expressing the thought. The modes, or moods, that every-
one should be able to distinguish are the indicative and the
subjunctive. If the verb indicates a fact, we say it is in the
indicative mode; if it expresses a supposition, a doubt, a
statement contrary to fact, or a wish, we say it is in the
subjunctive mode.
You are good. (A fact — indicative.)
I wish I were good. (Contrary to fact, a wish — subjunctive.)
In form the indicative and the subjunctive differ in the
present and the past tenses of the verb to be, as follows:
Indicative of be
Present Past
I am We are I was We were
You are You are You were You were
He is They are He was They were
Subjunctive of be
Present Past
If I be If we be If I were If we were
If you be If you be If you were If you were
If he be If they be If he were If they were
Other verbs in the subjunctive mode do not end in 5 in
the third person singular number, but use the same form
as the other persons in the singular number; as, if he go, if
she walk.
If, though, although, or lest usually introduce the subjunc-
tive form.
THE VERB 113
In modern English, the use of the subjunctive is becom-
ing rare except in the past and past perfect tenses in state-
ments contrary to fact, and in wishes, which are really
statements contrary to fact; as,
1. If I were a king (but I'm not), I'd see that my laws were
obeyed.
2. I wish I were a king! (but I'm not).
3. If I had been careful, my work would be good. (I was not
careful.)
4. I wish I had been careful! (I was not.)
Notice that the verb is in the past or in the past perfect
tense.
There are some careful writers who still use the present
subjunctive to show a possibility; as,
Lest he start too late, remind him again that he must meet the
4:15 train.
In the following sentences, which form is better? May
any of the sentences use either form?
. I. I wish I was — were rich.
2. If I was — were you, I should go at once.
3. If his work was — were exact, he would have no trouble in
holding a position.
4. If it was — were true, why didn't you say so?
5. If he was — were a millionaire, he could not have been
more lavish.
6. If such a thing was — were possible, our government would
be no government.
7. If the election was — were postponed, we should have been
informed. ,
Exercise 123
Insert was or were in each of the following sentences, in
each case giving a reason for your choice. Remember that
the indicative was is used to denote a statement of fact
in the past time, and the subjunctive were (singular and
plural) is used to denote a possibility, something that is
114 GRAMMAR
supposed to be true, or a statement entirely contrary to
fact, as in a wish.
1. I wish I going with you.
2. As he not well, he could not go.
3. If he well, he could go.
4. If he attentive in class, he would not fail.
5. They treated me as if I one of the family.
6. When I in the South I visited New Orleans.
7. Suppose she your guest, how would you entertain her?
8. He would appear very tall it not for the breadth of
his shoulders.
9. We decided that if it stiU raining by seven o'clock,
we should not go.
10. If our strawberries ripe, I'd give you some.
11. If the package left yesterday, as you say, it must
have been while I not at home.
12. If he late yesterday, he must start earlier to-day.
13. If every man honest, business life would be very
pleasant.
14. I saw that he not interested.
15* If he not interested, he surely looked as if he .
16. I certain that the bonds safe, I should invest in
them.
17. As the tablecloth stained, we laid it on the grass to
bleach it.
18. If that stained tablecloth mine, I'd try bleaching it.
19. If I as interested in farming as you are, I'd buy a
farm.
20. If her work best, why didn't she get the higher salary?
Exercise 124 — Verbs Incorrectly Used
Wrong Right
1. Let the book on the table. Leave the book on the table.
2. Leave me go with you. Let me go with you.
3. Don't blante it on me. Don't accuse me.
4. Do you carry stationery? Do you sell stationery?
5. The child aggravates me. The child irritates me.
6. Please except my invitation. Please accept my invitation.
7. Where have you located? Where have you settled?
(Locate is a transitive verb.)
THE VERB
"S
8. I expect you are very busy.
9. I disremember seeing him.
10. Do you mind where you saw it?
11. Where are you stopping?
12. Did you extend an invitation to
him?
13. This clock needs fixing.
14. I should admire to go.
15. I'd love to go.
16. He didn't show up on time.
17. I had a strange thing happen
to me yesterday.
18. I didn't get to go.
19. Loan me your pencil.
I suppose you are very busy.
I don't remember seeing him.
Do you remember where you saw it?
Where are you staying?
Did you invite him?
This clock needs repairing.
I should like to go.
I'd like to go.
He didn't appear on time.
A strange thing happened to me
yesterday.
I was unable to go.
Lend me your pencil.
{May I borrow your pencil ? is correct. Loan is a noun.)
20. I can't seem to understand that
problem.
21. I don't take any stock in such
schemes.
22. How do you size up the situa-
tion?
23. I beg to state . . .
I seem unable to understand that
problem.
I have no confidence in such schemes.
What do you think of the situation?
Omit.
(This expression has been so overdone in business letters that it
should be avoided)
24. He dove off the pier.
25. He claims that he was deceived.
26. Can I take your pencil?
27. We expect to get up a club.
28. Did you notice how that show
window was got up?
29. It is going on ten o'clock.
30. He said to go at once.
He dived off the pier.
He asserts (maintains) that he was
deceived.
May I take your pencil?
We expect to organize a club.
Did you notice how that show
window was decorated ?
It is almost ten o'clock.
He said that we should go at once.
CHAPTER IX
THE PREPOSITION AND THE CONJUNCTION
Prepositions
It is important in the study of prepositions to observe
that there are certain words that are followed by certain
prepositions. To change the preposition is to convey a
different meaning from the one that the speaker intended,
or to convey no meaning at all. A partial list of such words
with their appropriate prepositions follows:
accompanied
accompanied
with
by
anything having no life
anything having life
acquit
of
accuse
of
adapted
adapted
adapted
to
for
from
a thing
a course, because of one's nature
an author
agree
agree
agree
to
with
upon
a plan or proposition
a person
something that must be decided
angry
angry
at
with
a thing
a person
compare
compare
with
to
to bring out similar qualities
without analyzing
comply
with
confer
confer
on
with
meaning to give to
meaning to talk to
conform
to
correspond
correspond
to, with
with
a thing, denoting similarity
meaning to write to
THE PREPOSITION
117
confide
confide
in
to
meaning to put faith in
meaning to commit to one^s 1
different
from
dependent
dependent
on
for
a person
a thing
independent
of
disappointed
in
employed
employed
employed
at
in
by
a certain place or salary
a certain kind of business
a certain person or company
enter
enter
upon
at
duties
a door
followed
by
influence
over, upon
expect
of
participate
profit
in
by
remonstrate
remonstrate
against
with
a thing
a person
Exercise 125
Insert the correct preposition in the following:
1. I shall comply your request.
2. The chairman came upon the platform accompanied
the speaker.
3. He took a walk accompanied his dog.
4. The lecture will be accompanied stereopticon views.
5. Strikes are usually accompanied — — riots.
6. The years of prosperity were followed — -^- years of fapiine.
7. He was accused —ay- theft, but was acquitted — -^ the
accusation. |^, ^
8. She is well adapted -^^'the position that is open.
9. An electric iron is especially ad^ted v---'^"^ summer use.
10. The selection was adapted \'''^ Irvingv
11. This cloth is well adapted -rW^ summer clothing because
it is very light in weight. ^
ii8 . GRAMMAR
Va-
12. I agree — — you that the plan is impracticable.
13. Let us agree now ^'Y-a, place to spend our summer vaca-
tion. \
14. That is not a propositionjnJ^ which I shall agree.
15. It is silly to be angry \A,^i an inanimate object.
16. Don't be angry -—^\a person because he tells you your
faults. I
17. His report corresponds in all respects -^=^^ yours.
18. Mr. Giles suggested that you would be glad to have us
correspond — '•^ you concerning our new bond issues./
19. I shall confer — W— my lawyer. t^^sA/^
20. The public has conferred a, great honor -^^ mm.
21. One should always profit -'^■M his experiences.
22. The new device is entirely different f-»;— the dd.
23. I am employed /-^^ a fairly large ^alary -r--r- a business
that is growing daily. a
24. All employees must conform ^''' the rules.
25. I am confiding -^'-^ you because I know that I can trust
you. ^ ^^
26. She confided her child ^ the care of her brother.
27. She is dependent W'^A^er brother ^\ '' ■' support. .
28. You can have an influence (or good'^^-^ him. q
29. I have remonstrated ^«;'*^-the change several times. Vw
30. Perhaps he will change his plans if we remonstrate ^^^— -
him at once.
Exercise 126 — Prepositions Incorrectly Used
Each of the incorrect sentences given below contains an
unnecessary preposition. When the meaning of "Where
are you going? ^' is entirely clear, there is nothing gained
by saying "Where are you going to?^^ Omit such super-
fluous prepositions.
Wrong
1. I took it off i/" the shelf. I took it off the shelf.
2. I shall accept of your hospi- I shall accept your hospitality.
tality. '
3. Where are you at? Where are you?
4. Where are you going w ? Where are you going?
THE PREPOSITION 119
5. It is a building oiL/>ww twenty It is a building twenty to thirty
to thirty stories in height. stories in height.
6. Look out/Qf the window. Look out the window.
7. John copies aft^r his father in John copies his father in every-
everythin^ / thing.
8. I am wondering aboiut what I I am wondering what I should do.
should do. /
9. I shall consult wiih my lawyer. I shall consult my lawyer.
10. He sat opposite i(? me. He sat opposite me.
11. I shall leave later on. I shall leave later.
and for to
12. I shall try and go. I shall try to go.
of for have
13. I might of gone. I might have gone.
-{ The wrong preposition
14. He fell in the water. He fell into the water.
15. She died with diphtheria. .: She died of diphtheria.
16. Divide the work between the Divide the work among the four
four of us. of us.
{Between may be used in speaking of only two persons or things)
17. It will be done inside of an It will be done within an hour.
hour.
18. Are you angry at me? Are you angry with me?
■^' ■ ■■ '
Preposition must be used
19. It's no use to try. It's of no use to try.
20. My sister stayed home. My sister stayed at home.
21. Why do you act that way? Why do you act in that way?
22. We left the third of June. We left on the third of June.
Exercise 127
The object of a preposition is always in the objective case.
Some people have great difficulty in recognizing that in such
expressions as for you a^td me, the pronoun me is as much
the object of the preposition for as the pronoun you. Both
I20 GRAMMAR
words must be in the objective case. It is incorrect to say
for you and /.
In the following sentences omit the incorrect italicized
form:
1. The invitation is for father ana\( — me. ^
2. Every one has finished his work except \e — kun and \ —
3. It^s a question that you and / — nJe must decide; it refers
to you and \ — me alone. /
4. Girls like you and she — her should have a good influence
over the others. /
5. All but you and / — me have left.
6. He did it for you and 1 — me.
7. No one objected but they — them and we — us,
8. She sat opposite you and / — me.
9. They were sitting near you and / — me.
10. We expect you to return with mother and / — me.
11. He wanted my brother and / — me to go into business
with his brother and l^e — him.
12. Neither s^d—her nor her sister have I seen for several
months.
13. My companion and / — mie took up the trail of the bear
at once. For some distance it led h^ — him and ij — me over
the soft, yielding carpet of moss and j)ine needles, ^d the foot-
prints were quite easily made out.
14. He — him and / — nie had, of course, to keep a sharp look-
out ahead ana around for the grizzly.
15. All are going on the excursion except he — him and / —
me,
16. He — him and / — me went fishing.
17. The rule applies to we — us all — the manager, they —
them who keep books, you, and / — me.
18. She beckoned to my companion and / — me.
19. The letter was to be read by the president or / — me.
20. He did it for the sake of my father and / — me.
21. We study Shakespeare with her sister and she — her,
22. She — her and her sister went to the lecture with my sister
and / — me.
23. They sent for she — her and / — me, not you and he — him,
24. The program was arranged by the president and / — me.
THE CONJUNCTION I2i
25. They found that his father and he — him had already left.
26. Mother is going to buy a birthday present to-day for she —
her and / — me.
27. The play is interesting not only to you older people but to
we — us younger ones also.
28. They expected the work to be done by she — her and I —
me.
29. The dispute between his neighbor and he — him over their
lot line was settled by the surveyors this morning.
30. He wants to speak to you and / — me.
Exercise 128 — Than, as
Than and as are not prepositions but conjunctions. They
are used to introduce subordinate clauses. Usually the
clause is incomplete, the omitted part being easily under-
stood from the preceding clause, which must be com-
pleted to show the case of the noun or the pronoun that is
expressed; as,
Right: She is as tall as I [am].
Right: She is taller than he [is].
Right : I should invite you rather than her [than I should invite
her].
Use the correct one of the italicized pronouns in the follow-
ing sentences:
1. 1^11 agree that he is richer than / — njfe^ but riches are not
everything. .
2. I shall send her rather than tie — him.
3. No one felt sorrier than 5/?e — ^.
4. No one knows more about an automobile than he — biifL.
5. You are more capable of doing the work than he —Jptm.
6. We were nearer the goal than you or he — h^-
7. You finished the work almost as qy,ickly as she — li^eff.
8. She writes fully as well as he — h^.
9. The manager said he would rather send me than Ue — him.
10. I secured a position sooner than she — )ter. ^
11. It seems to me that they ought to go rather than we — us.
12. I am surprised that you arrived sooner than they — them.
13. They should have elected him rather than / — me.
122 GRAMMAR
14. I am not so well-fitted as he — him to hold the position.
15. You are more popular than he — him.
Exercise 129 — Correlatives
There are certain conjunctions, called correlatives, that
are used in pairs. They are
both — and as — as, so — as
either — or not only — but also
neither — nor whether — or
so — that such — as
Illustrations
Both — and He has both skill and energy.
Either — or I shall leave either Monday or Tuesday.
Neither — nor I can neither sing nor play.
So — that It rained so hard that we stayed at home.
As — as We shall come as early as we can.
So — as She is not so tall as you are.
(Used in negative expressions.)
Not only — but also We saw not only Mr. Brown but his wife
also.
Whether — or Whether I return to work or stay at
home depends on my mother's health.
Such — as We shall buy only such goods as we
think we can sell.
Be very careful not to use the correlative so as incorrectly for so that.
So as is used in negative expressions of comparison; so that is used
to express result.
Wrong: We went early so as we could get good seats.
Right: We went early so that we could get good seats.
In the illustrations given above, notice that the correlatives
always join two similar or coordinate expressions. It is
important that they be placed each immediately before one
of the two coordinate expressions.
Wrong : I neither can sing nor play.
Right: 1 can neither sing nor play.
THE CONJUNCTION 123
Recast the following sentences, placing the correlative
conjunctions before coordinate expressions:
1. Either you ordered it late or not at all.
2. He said he neither had money nor time.
3. We not only bought the books you wished but the games
also.
4. We like the place in which we live both on account of its
quietness and its pleasant surroundings.
5. I shall either go to Quebec or Montreal.
6. Either he must spray his trees or expect no fruit.
7. I neither like the appearance of the shop nor the attitude
of the clerks.
8. They did it both for the sake of your brother and you.
9. This sample not only is much darker but heavier also.
10. They are barred who neither can read nor write.
Exercise 130 — Either — or, Neither — nor
These conjunctions are correctly used in speaking of two
things only. Care must be taken to use or with either and
nor with neither. In comparing three or more things use
any of them, none of them, or 'no.
In the following sentences use only the correct italicized
forms :
1. Neither effort nor — (fr money was spared in the under-
taking.
2. I have considered planting maple, oak, and elm trees,
but neitfier — none of them seems to grow well in this climatey
3. We do not believe in either enduring oppression rwir —
or killing the oppressor. We believe in arbitration.
4. He has jio — neither time, patience, nor — or energy.
5. If you 4sk me Xvhich of the three I prefer, 1^11 be frank
and tell you I like ndther — none of them.
6. Three courses will be given in the subject this year; you
may take either — any one of them.
7. I had already passed three branch roads, but neither —
none of them had looked familiar to me.
8. I hardly think he accepted any — either of the two offers
he received.
124 GRAMMAR
9. Neither the doctor or — nor his wife was at home.
10. Both the books look shop-worn. I'll take neither — none.
Exercise 131 — Except, Without, Unless
Except and without are prepositions, and are used, there-
fore, to introduce phrases; unless is a conjunction, and is
used to introduce a clause.
In the following sentences insert the correct form, giving
a reason for your choice:
I., ''"^ — you leave at once, you will miss your train.
2. I cannot learn to swim, '^^^^ ' some one teaches me.
3. I cannot learn to swim ^^'■"^' a teacher.
4. No one could do the work t— ^-- me.
5. John expects to learn t— — studying.
6. John wiU discover that he cannot win promotion he
works hard.
7. No one can learn how to spell first learning how to
observe.
8. No one will learn to spell he learns to observe.
9. No one will succeed he has energy and patience.
10. No one will succeed energy and patience.
11. You cannot succeed in any way by seizing each oppor-
tunity as it comes.
12. It is impossible to grow beautiful flowers the soil is
good.
Exercise 132 — Like, as
Like is followed by a noun or pronoun in the objective case.
As i^di conjunction and introduces a clause, and is therefore
followed by a verb. Like is not a conjunction and there-
fore may not be substituted for as or as if.
Wrong : I wish I could play like you can.
Right: I wish I could play as you can.
Insert the correct word in the following sentences:
■ '\ •
1. The picture looks just ' you.
2. I haven't a voice — — my brother's.
3. I cannot sing -- — my brother can.
p
THE CONJUNCTION 125
4. He walks just -i/^ you do.
5. I hope you will all enjoy the trip -{/— I did. .X^
6. For pleasure and exercise I think there is no game ^^-—
tennis.
7. He said that the town looked just — *^=^ it had when he was
a boy.
8. I cut the paper just h^ you said I should.
9. He talks -r*^ his father.
10. He has the same sort of drawl :''- ' his father [has].
11. She was there Ar— you said she would be.
12. They worked ±— beavers.
13. He looked -r— a tramp.
14. To give the stitch the proper twist throw the thread over
the needle -^ — I do.
15. He walks - — — he were lame.
Exercise 133 — As — as, So — as
Use as — as in stating equality; use so — as in negative
comparisons.
1. You will find the new clerks fully — *^-— courteous as were
the old.
2. You will not find the new clerks — f^ courteous as were the
old.
3. Elms do not grow — — well in this climate as do poplars.
4. We did not carry — ^ much advertising this year as we
did last year, and we find that our receipts are smaller.
5. Under our system of individual instruction a student may
advance -4-— rapidly as his ability permits.
6. You are not '; tall as your sisteir.
7. I do not seem to learn languages -7-^ easily as mathematics.
8. This house is not — f^ large as the other.
9. He is 1-' active as he was twenty years ago.
10. He is not -— -- active as he was twenty years ago.
Exercise 134 — Miscellaneous Blunders
To, Too, Two
To is a preposition; too is an adverb, and means exces-
sively or also; two is a numeral adjective. Insert the correct
form in each of the following sentences:
126 GRAMMAR
1. The sisters discovered that it was late for the
4:15 train.
2. It is dark in that corner; come the light.
3. He spends much time in dreaming, little in
working.
4. He would have done better if he had not given little
heed the advice of his older brothers.
5. more hours were passed in the all weary task of
waiting.
6. It was cold stay out more than hours.
7. You may go , but don't stay long.
8. stay there for week's would be tiresome.
9. The doctor said that the men were sick go
home alone, and I thought so .
10. About hours ago I met Mary who said that she was
going the country .
There, Their
11. are seven brothers in family.
12. books are on the table.
13. is no doubt that knowledge of mathematics is
greater than knowledge of English.
Were, Where
^ 14. have you been?
15. you ever on a farm alfalfa is grown?
16. you when the report was read?
17. I was just you ,
Of, Have
18. You should read more distinctly.
19. I could done the work if I had had more the
necessary tools.
20. If I had tried harder, I might done the work better.
PART II — COMPOSITION: ORAL AND
WRITTEN
CHAPTER X
ORAL ENGLISH
Exercise 135
Retell a story that you know or one that the instructor
has read to you. See if you can tell the whole story in fairly
long sentences without using a single and. You will be
allowed to use three and^s. As soon as you say the third,
you must take your seat. Let the class keep count.
The story may be an anecdote, a fable, or any other short
incident that can easily be told in one or two minutes. You
probably have read many such or have heard your father and
your mother tell them. A joke that can be told in two or
three sentences will not be long enough.
The excessive use of and spoils the telling of many stories.
It is a mistake to think that the gap between the end of
one sentence and the beginning of the next appears as great
to the listener as it does to us as we are deliberating what
to say next. To avoid the gap we bridge the two sentences
with and. Its use in this way is hardly ever necessary if we
think out a sentence to the end before we begin to speak it.
When we have finished the thought, we should finish the
sentence without trying to bind it artificially to the next
one. The sentences will be bound together if the thought
of one grows out of the thought of the preceding one.
If the unfolding of the idea does not seem sufiicient to tie
the parts, there are better expressions to use than and.
There are short expressions like in this way^ likewise^ moreover,
thuSy therefore, besides, as might be expected, and too. Another
128
COMPOSITION
way to avoid and is to change the form of the sentence:
(i) Better than the form, *'I opened the window and saw,^
is, '^Opening the window, I saw;" (2) Better than "I am
going to the store and buy some sugar,'' is, "I am going to
the store to buy some sugar;'' (3) Better than *' There was
a boy and his name was John, " is, "There was a boy whose
name was John;" (4) Better than "I reached home and
found that my cousin had arrived," is, ^'When I reached
home, I found that my cousin had arrived." In place of
and J therefore, we may use (i) participles, (2) infinitives,
(3) relative pronouns, and (4) subordinate conjunctions.
Above all, avoid and everything^ as in, "I washed the
dishes and swept the floor and everything." To try thus to
complete an idea that is already complete shows childishness.
Exercise 136
Very likely in telling the story as suggested above you
found yourself frequently using the word so to connect two
sentences. Perhaps, too, you used why to begin sentences.
Now tell one of your own experiences, being careful not
to use and, so, or why. Introduce as much conversation as
possible. What, if any, is the advantage of telling a story
in the first person? Why is it good to introduce conversation?
In your conversation make use of several of the following
words:
replied
answered
asked
whispered
agreed
exclaimed
spoke
cried
shouted
inquired
explained
remarked
questioned
promised
interrupted
repeated
maintained
quoted
continued
objected
returned
suggested
rejoined
added
Exercise 137
Far too many boys and girls pay but little regard to
the matter of choosing the word that will give the exact
r
ORAL ENGLISH 129
meaning that they wish to convey, and in order to lend
force to their words they have formed the habit of speak-
ing in superlatives, like the girl who said, "We had a per-
fectly grand time, but I'm so beastly tired now that I'm
nearly dead," and yet she showed no evidence of suffering.
Isn't it a pity that our beautiful English language should
be so degraded in common usage that it loses all its force
and meaning? Instead of convincing people that she really
was tired, the girl quoted above made herself ridiculous by
her exaggeration. Yet isn't the quotation a fair example of
the speech of many boys and girls? Surely everything
about us is not either grand or beastly. The habit thus
formed is difficult to break, but it must be broken if we wish
to speak our language correctly. •
Make a list of the slang phrases that you have acquired.
For each one substitute a good English expression.
The reason we must watch our oral English closely is that
it is in our conversation that our habits of speech are formed.
The expressions we use then we unconsciously employ when
we are writing or talking to the class. If we are accustomed
to use considerable slang when we speak, we shall have
difficulty in eliminating it from our writing or in finding a
good word to express the idea for which we usually use slang.
As a rule, slang and extravagant expressions of all kinds are
used to serve such a variety of meanings that the use of them
tends to limit the vocabulary to these expressions. Consider
slang something undesirable and stop using it.
Exercise 138
Look up the words in each of the following groups. You
will notice that there is a resemblance of meaning between
all the words of each group, but that there is also a shade of
difference in meaning that distinguishes each word from its
I30 COMPOSITION
companions. Discover that shade of difference. Use each
word in a sentence.
1. Lovely, beautiful, pretty, handsome.
2. Awful, terrible, horrible, dreadful, fearful.
3. Nice, pleasant, delightful, dainty, fine, agreeable.
4. Grand, imposing, splendid, impressive.
5. Love, like, adore, admire, revere.
6. Smart, clever, bright, quick-witted.
7. Fierce, ferocious, wild.
8. Guess, think, suppose, imagine.
9. Hate, dislike, despise, abhor, detest.
10. Scholar, student, pupil.
Exercise 139 ^
Carelessness in speaking frequently results in wordiness,
since the speaker in an effort to be clear or forceful repeats
the idea two or three times. Such speech is tiresome. In
each of the following sentences there are too many words to
express the idea. See how many you can omit and yet pre-
serve the meaning. Sometimes the sentence needs revision.
1. I haven't got any time.
2. Where does he live at?
3. Don't stand up; there's a chair.
4. The woman she had an accident.
5. You had ought to take more exercise.
6. I was just going to go.
7. I excuse you because you are a new beginner.
8. I can finish the work in three days' time.
9. The offices are both alike in all respects.
10. He engaged the both of us.
11. We applied to Mr. Abbot, he being the manager.
12. My mind often reverts b*ck to the time when I began in
business.
13. That hi^ building that-ts going up on Twelfth Street is
going to be twenty stories high when it is finished.
14. From his appearance he looked to be in very poor cir-
cumstances.
15. He is afraid of the results that will ensue if he follows the
course that he has planned.
ORAL ENGLISH
131
16. The present state of affairsj^that is now confronting the
public \has become what it -now is because the citizens are not
public spirited. *
17. The reason why I was not at work yesterday was because
I was not feeling as well as I might. .4
18. I shall never forget the terrible sights •thaH[~-saw the time
-that I witncssedjjthe street car collision.
19. I have been debating in my mind whether I ought to accept
the offer.
20. He was a mere Httfe* child when he first began to work
in the mine.
21. Mix together betfe the butter and the sugar, and rub the
t-wo-of them to a cream.
22. The two pieces of cloth are j«9t-exaetly the same in every
way.
2$. You will find this chair equally as comfortable as the
other.
24. He said that when he started in his business tks^ he had
almost no capijtal at all. .; ,
25. It was"?&e office of Morgan & Son where I got my
experience.
26. China is undergoing a vast change, at the present time.
27. At about the age of fourteen ^^ears he left his home town.
- 23. They did it gladly, and willingly.
29. He always shows great deference and respect when he
speaks to those w4icuare in authority.
30. He is the proprietor and~ewner-of the News.
31. You can easily get the training that will make you a com-
petent and. efficieftt higtpsaiaried-^ained man.
32. For sale, a large, eommedieus. house, arranged with every
convenience^ to, make it- -comfortable.
SS. We are making all the necessary improvements (:hat are
needed.
34. I went to high school to take u^stenography.
Exercise 140 — Making a Speech
One of the most profitable exercises to cultivate clear
thinking and consequent clear expression is the making of
speeches, usually spoken of as oral themes. In this exer-
cise a pupil stands before the class to talk upon a subject
132 COMPOSITION
about which he has thought, but upon which he has written
nothing. He has two objects in view. First, he must
choose those facts that will make his subject clear and inter-
esting to his audience. Second, he must deliver them well;
that is, he must stand in a good position before the class,
use good grammar, no slang, and enunciate so that every
one in the room can understand him. If his speech is to be
longer than one paragraph, he should have an outline pre-
pared, in which each division is clearly indicated, as well
as the important details within each division.
In making a speech, the best way is to start with a clear
statement of the subject. Suppose you take (9) below.
You might begin, "I am going to talk of a street car transfer.
First, I shall tell you how it looks; and second, how it is
used. Then first, a street car transfer — (describe it fully).
In the second place, it is used — (give details)." After you
have explained fully, to show that you have said all you
intend to say, finish with a sentence of conclusion. There-
fore, consequently, for these reasons, thus we may see, are
instances of words which may be used to begin a sentence
of conclusion.
Use each of the following questions as the subject for a
speech. Answer each question clearly and completely. Use
illustrations to show exactly what you mean.
I. What does it mean to be a hero?
^•'- 2. What does it mean to be successful?
3. What does it mean to be unfortunate?
4. What does it mean to be generous?
5. What does it mean to be lenient?
6. What does it mean to be mercenary?
7. What does it mean to be difi&dent?
8. What does it mean to be penurious?
9. What is a street car transfer? How does it look and how
is it used?
10. What occupation do you wish to follow, and why? What
preparations are you making?
ORAL ENGLISH 133
11. Why do we have a smoke ordinance?
12. Why must buildings have fire escapes?
13. Why do the farmers of Kansas insure their barns against
cyclones?
14. What is fire insurance?
15. Why is ventilation important?
^^^16. Why do so many immigrants come to this country?
17. Why do cities grow?
18. Why was the steam engine an important invention?
19. Why was the telephone an important invention?
20. What is the principle of vaccination?
21. What is the principle of anti-toxin?
22. Of what good is the trade union to the laborer?
' 23. Why does the employer object to the union?
24. What is a monopoly?
25. What is meant by a corner in wheat?
Exercise 141
In your neighborhood you have frequently noticed a lawn
and a garden that are very poorly kept, the garden needing
weeding and^the lawn both weeding and mowing. Imagine
that you go to the owner to make him a proposition. You
know the man slightly, and you have heard that he has a
quick temper. Know exactly what work you will offer to
do and how often you will do it. Be careful of your first
sentences. Let them be especially courteous, so that you
may not offend the gentleman by suggesting that he does
not take care of his property. Tell him frankly that you
would like to earn some money.
In this exercise the class will represent the owner. More-
over, they will watch carefully so that they may point out
to the speaker wherein his speech was not quite courteous
or not quite clear.
Exercise 142
From one of the newspapers cut an advertisement of a
position for which you think you can apply. Bring the
134 COMPOSITION
advertisement with you and convince the class that you
are fitted for the position.
In this exercise you must be exact. Choose an advertise-
ment for a kind of work about which you know something.
If you have ever had any experience that would fit you for
the position, do not fail to tell of it, since experience counts
for much in the employer's estimate of an applicant.
Let the class judge whether the speaker has been con-
vincing and whether he has shown the properly courteous
attitude toward an employer. Let them ask themselves
such questions as : Is he alert in his manner? Does he make
one feel that he is capable? Does he stand and talk as if
he has confidence in himself? Is he too meek? Does he
seem over-confident? Let each be able to offer suggestions
for improvement.
Exercise 143
Imagine that you are an agent. Choose an article that is
especially useful to housekeepers. Try to sell it to the class,
or choose an individual member to whom you wish to sell
it. Bring a sample with you for the purpose of demonstrat-
ing its usefulness.
As in the preceding exercise the speaker must strive to
be convincing. He must know all there is to be known about
the article that he is demonstrating. If it is at all possible,
he should have used it in order that he may explain exactly
how it is operated and why it is better than a similar article
that the housekeeper probably is at present using.
Exercise 144
You wish to start a business and need a certain amount of
money. Try to convince the instructor or a selected pupil
that you need it.
Be sure that you are able to tell definitely the kind of busi-
ness for which you wish the money, where you will start the
ORAL ENGLISH 135
business, why you think that this particular location is good,
when you will be able to return the money, and what security
you can give.
Don't make the mistake of choosing something too big
for a boy or a girl to carry through. Perhaps the following
will be suggestive:
-- I. A newspaper stand.
2. A miniature truck farm in the empty lot next door.
3. A pop corn wagon.
4. A fruit cart or stand.
5. A shoe shining stand.
6. Raising ferns or flowers for sale.
7. Buying vegetables from a farmer and selling them to house-
wives.
8. Printing business cards and blotters on a small press.
9. Making place cards.
10. Making valentines.
11. Painting holiday postal cards or fancy cards for Christmas,
Easter, Thanksgiving, and the like.
12. Printing on postal cards pretty scenes that you have
photographed perhaps in your town or at a summer resort.
13. Making and selling cakes, doughnuts, and the like.
14. Selling crocheted or embroidered articles.
Exercise 145 — Elements of Success
Prepare a short speech on each of the following. Wher-
ever possible make your statements clear and forceful by
using illustrations or examples.
1. Cheerfulness helps to bring success.
2. The habit of neatness is an asset.
3. The habit of punctuality is a necessity.
4. He was not promoted because he watched the clock.
5. He was not promoted because his excuse was always, "I
forgot.''
6. He was not promoted because he learned nothing from his
mistakes.
7. He was not promoted because he was always grumbling.
8. He was not promoted because he was content to be a
second-rate man.
136 COMPOSITION
9. He was not promoted because he ruined his ability by
half-doing things.
10. He was not promoted because he did not learn to act on
his own judgment.
11. One to-day is worth two to-morrows.
12. Experience is an expensive teacher.
13. Be not simply good — be good for something.
14. Not failure, but low aim, is crime.
15. To be successful one must have confidence in himself.
Exercise 146
As in the preceding exercise prepare a speech on each of
the following:
1. A dishonest person cannot succeed.
2. There is no excuse for discouragement.
3. You may secure a position through another's influence,
but you keep it through your own merit.
4. There is always room at the top.
5. There is no such thing as luck.
6. The proper attitude toward an employer is one of deference.
7. A business woman should dress simply.
8. Perseverance is the key to success.
9. To accomplish much one must work systematically.
10. It is possible to cultivate a good memory.
11. The ability to converse is a business asset.
12. The habit of exaggeration is dangerous.
Exercise 147 — Successful Men and Women
How can one measure the success of men or women?
Is it by the money they make? the land they acquire? the
fame they win? the good they do? By what means have
they won success? Was it through favorable circumstances?
strength of character? favoritism? physical strength? mental
energy? daring? doing what they thought was right in spite
of opposition? or simply doing nothing and waiting for
success to come?
Study the life and character of one or more of the following.
Are they or have they been successful? What qualities of
ORAL ENGLISH 137
character do you recognize in them? Would you care to
be like any of them?
Make a list of the habits that you recognize in their life
and in the way they worked.
Make a list of the characteristics of the ones that you study.
Florence Nightingale Frances Willard Bismarck
David May dole Ella Flagg Young Gladstone
R. L. Stevenson Helen Gould Shepard Marshall Field
Booker T. Washington Jane Addams Carnegie
Captain Scott Napoleon J. Pierpont Morgan
Mary Antin Franklin Edison
Daniel Boone Lincoln Roosevelt
Mary Lyon Nathan Hale Goethals
Exercise 148 — Debating
A very great asset in business is the ability to see the
truth or the falsity of a statement, and to advance proofs
for or against it. This ability we shall try to acquire through
the practice of debating; that is, through the making of
speeches in which students take opposite sides of the same
subject, trying by the presentation of facts and illustrations
to prove that the side which they represent is the correct
one. The statement that is thus argued is called a proposition.
Debating is excellent practice, as it teaches not only clear-
cut reasoning, but forceful expression. When a debater
gives several arguments, if he fails to make them convincing,
if he introduces irrelevant matter, or, though he has pre-
pared strong proofs, if he expresses them in incorrect English,
the result will be poor. In working out a debate, therefore,
observe the following carefully:
1. Know your subject thoroughly. If you have insuffi-
cient knowledge, you cannot be convincing.
2. Understand your point of view exactly and explain it
clearly. If you and your opponent have different ideas of
the word trusty for example, you can never argue on a
138 COMPOSITION
subject that concerns the trusts. Define your position first
of all.
3. After you have gathered your facts, study them as a
whole. What three arguments, let us say, stand out clearly
in your mind as being irrefutable because of the strong
proofs you have to back them? These are the ones that you
should use; the rest will probably be of little value. Plan
to give the weakest of the three first, so that your argument
will gain force as you advance.
4. Work out the details of each argument. A mere state-
ment of each is not enough. It must be supported by many
facts and illustrations.
5. Prepare an outline. It will show you whether your
arguments follow each other clearly, whether you have so
arranged them as to secure climax. (See Exercise 152.)
6. In talking, follow the plan explained in Exercise 140,
being especially careful in conclusion to summarize the
proofs that you have presented.
The conclusions that you reach in your arguments must
be based upon statements that are true. In the following,
some of the statements are false, and therefore the con-
clusion that is based upon them is false. Point out wherein
the falsity consists. In others of the following, irrelevant
matter has been introduced. Point it out, explaining why
it is irrelevant.
1. We shall forget a great many facts that we learn at school.
Therefore it is useless to learn them.
2. Oil should be used instead of water in sprinkling our
streets, because oil does not evaporate so quickly as water, and
so does not allow the dust to rise. Moreover, as the street must
be cleaned before the oil is laid, there is less dust to rise. When
the oil lies on the streets, it is very sticky, and clings to every-
one's shoes. In this way it is tracked into the houses and stores,
making everything dirty. Therefore I think the streets should
be oiled instead of being watered.
ORAL ENGLISH 139
3. Half of the keys would not work on the typewriter that I
used yesterday. This machine will work no better, as it is made
by the same company.
4. Last year September was very warm, and the winter was
extreme. This year September has been very warm, and there-
fore the winter will be extreme.
5. My cousin never went to high school, and when he went
to work he earned eight dollars a week. I have gone to high
school for one year. Therefore I shall receive more than eight
dollars a week when I go to work.
6. When you are working, your employer will never ask you
the definition of a noun. Therefore it is unnecessary to know
any grammar.
7. Every one should be punctual in doing his work. If he is
punctual, he will be promoted and earn a larger salary. Money
is a very important item in this world, but it is not everything.
A person must be satisfied with his work so that he can do it
cheerfully; otherwise he will not succeed. Therefore I think
every one ought to be on time.
8. The day is either sunny or it is not sunny. To-day is not
sunny; therefore it is sunny.
9. It always rains when I wear new shoes. I am wearing new
shoes; therefore it wiU rain to-day.
Exercise 149
Find three reasons for each of the following propositions.
State them concisely, reserving the strongest for the last.
As above, find three reasons against each of the following.
Expand one of the reasons that you advanced for one of
the propositions given below. Using your statement as
the opening sentence, develop it into a paragraph by expla-
nations and illustrations.
1. The high school should have the same session as the
grades.
2. The high school session should begin at eight o^clock and
close at one, with no recess for luncheon.
3. Final examinations shall be abolished.
4. Every high school should teach manual training.
5. Every high school should offer business courses.
I40 COMPOSITION
6. Every high school pupil should receive a business training.
7. Stenography (or bookkeeping) is a more important study
than wood-working.
8. If a pupil fails in the first semester of a subject, he should
be allowed to try the second without repeating the first.
9. A pupil should not be expected to learn a lesson that he
does not enjoy.
10. Moving picture shows do more harm than good.
Exercise 150
Let three or four pupils write upon the blackboard three
arguments in support of the same one of the following propo-
sitions. Then let the class choose from all the arguments
given those three or four that they think are best, giving in
each case reasons for their choice.
In the same way let them work out the negative of the
same proposition.
1. Every city should have a public park in the business
district.
2. The large department stores should be abolished and
smaller stores, selling only one kind of commodity, established.
3. The mail order house should be abolished.
4. It is bad business policy to conduct cut-price sales.
5. The newspapers are the greatest educators of the time.
6. Billboard advertisements destroy the beauty of a city.
7. Women should be allowed to vote.
8. Labor unions are a benefit to the public.
9. All government should be conducted on the civil service
plan.
10. Underselling a competitor ruins trade.
Exercise 151
One or two weeks in advance let the class choose three
members for each side of one of the following propositions.
On the day of the debate let the rest of the class act as judges
to decide which side has presented the most convincing argu-
ments in the best English.
ORAL ENGLISH 141
1. It is better to be a farm hand than a factory employee.
2. Every girl should prepare herself to earn her own living.
3. Trusts should be regulated, not abolished.
4. Strikes should be considered illegal.
5. Advertising has increased the cost of Hving. (See Exercise
152.)
6. Communism would lower the cost of living.
7. The business of a city should not be centralized.
8. Labor troubles are brought about because the poor ape the
rich.
9. Contentment is better than wealth.
10. Tariff increases the cost of living.
Exercise 152 —Outline for a Debate
Choose two or four members of the class to develop each
side of the following debate. Wherever possible, definite
figures should be used.
Resolved, That Advertising has Increased the Cost of
Living.
Affirmative
I. Modern advertising is world-wide in extent.
{a) Practically all classes of articles are now extensively
advertised,
(i) Food stuffs; e.g., breakfast foods.
(2) Clothing; e.g., men's suits.
(3) Luxuries; e.g., automobiles.
(4) Investments; e.g., real estate.
(&) Every possible medium is used.
(i) Newspapers.
(2) Magazines.
(3) Billboards and street cars.
(4) Circulars and booklets.
II. An enormous amount of money is spent in advertising,
(a) The use of advertising agencies is growing more
widespread,
(i) One agency has made the statement that it has nine
men whose salaries amount to $227,000 annually.
Qt) More and more companies are engaging advertising
managers.
142 COMPOSITION
(i) They draw large salaries.
(x) In many cases, $10,000 annually.
(c) Advertising rates are very high; for example,
(i) The rate for a certain magazine is $1000 a page
per issue.
(2) Metropolitan newspapers charge as high a rate
as $500 a page per issue.
(d) Many advertisers use each issue of a number of me-
diums, making the cost run to an enormous total;
for example,
(i) Cream of Wheat is advertised in every issue of
almost every magazine.
III. The consumer pays for the advertising.
(a) The price that the consumer pays for an article must
cover the cost of production and the expense of
distribution, leaving fair margins of profit, since
(i) The manufacturer will no longer produce if his
profit ceases.
(2) He is not willing to take the cost of advertising
from his profit in manufacturing.
(3) The dealer will not take the advertising cost from
his own profit.
IV. Advertising increases prices.
(a) The cost of manufacture and the expense of distribu-
tion have been steadily lowered, and yet prices of
articles have steadily advanced; therefore
(i) The rise is not due to the cost of manufacture.
(2) Nor to the expense of distribution.
(b) Competition necessitates an increased amount of
advertising,
(i) If one firm begins to advertise, its competitors,
for self-protection, must follow suit.
(c) Competitive advertising raises expenses above the
point where there is a fair profit at the old price,
(i) For a given kind of goods there is usually a certain
volume of business, which grows with population.
(2) If all the firms competing in those goods increase
their expenses by advertising, they must raise
prices to make the same profit as previously.
(d) Advertised articles cost more than the unadvertised.
(i) Bulk rolled oats vs. package rolled oats.
(2) Bulk pickles and relishes vs. advertised brands.
(3) Bulk macaroni vs. package goods.
ORAL ENGLISH 143
Negative
I. The present increased advertising is the result of normal
growth.
(a) Multiplied manufactures necessarily multiply adver-
tisements.
(i) Every day new products are being put on the
market.
(2) No product has the chance of a sale until it is
known.
(3) In the present scope of community life the adver-
tisement is the most convenient means of acquainting
consumers with new products.
(b) Any unusual increase in advertising has a reasonable
explanation,
(i) Automobile advertising has increased as the auto-
mobile has replaced the wagon and carriage, because
of
(x) Greater convenience.
(y) Lower operating cost.
(2) Prepared breakfast food advertising has increased
as these foods have replaced cooked foods, because of
(x) Greater convenience.
II. Increased advertising is done on the scale of old prices.
(a) Merchants dare not raise prices to make the con-
sumer pay for the advertising, since
(i) They must compete with manufacturers who do
not advertise and who have no overhead advertising
expense.
(b) The most widely advertised articles are the inex-
pensive necessary accessories,
(i) Food products.
(2) Soaps and soap powders.
(3) Toilet articles.
(c) They have not advanced in price,
(i) Quaker Oats.
(2) Ivory Soap; Sapolio.
(3) Mennen's Talcum Powder.
III. Widespread advertising works to the advantage, not the
disadvantage, of the consumer.
(a) It gives new opportunities
(i) To compare values.
144 COMPOSITION
(2) To buy to the best advantage; for example,
(x) In advertised bargain sales.
(b) It reduces the cost of production and the selling ex-
pense, thus tending to lower the price,
(i) By increasing sales, it reduces the cost per article.
(x) Maximum purchasing power means minimum
cost to the manufacturer.
(2) In taking the place of salesmen, it reduces expenses,
thus lowering the price; for example,
(x) In man order firms.
(3) Therefore the advertising expense is unimportant
in influencing a higher price.
IV. The most marked price advances have been in the unad-
vertised necessaries of life.
(a) In breadstuffs.
(i) Less in quantity for higher prices than formerly.
(b) In meats and poultry.
(i) An advance of from 25 per cent to icx^ per cent and
more.
(c) In butter and eggs.
(i) An advance similar to that shown in meats and
poultry.
Exercise 153— Additional Subjects for Debates
1. The wages of women should be the same as those of men in
the same occupation.
2. The government should grant old age pensions.
3. Employers should be liable for the life and health of em-
ployees.
4. The boycott is a legitimate method of obtaining employees'
demands.
5. National expositions do not benefit the cities in which
they are held.
6. Railroad combination lowers rates.
7. Piece-work should be prohibited by law.
8. National party lines should be discarded in municipal
elections.
9. City governments should be allowed to decide their prob-
lems without intervention of the state legislature.
10. Municipal offices should be appointive and not elective.
1 1 . The commission form of government is best for large cities.
ORAL ENGLISH 145
12. Immigration is the cause of municipal evils.
13. A personal property tax cannot be levied with fairness.
14. The United States should not further extend its colonial
dependencies.
15. The President should be elected by a direct vote of the
people.
16. Ex-presidents of the United States should become life
members of the Senate.
17. The President and the Vice-President should be prohibited
from taking part in political campaigns.
18. The United States should subsidize a merchant marine.
19. Foreign-built ships, owned by Americans, should be granted
the privilege of American register.
20. The governors of states should not have the power to pardon.
21. A three-fourths vote of a jury should be sufficient to render
a verdict in criminal cases.
22. The coast defenses of the United States should be increased.
23. The farmer is to blame for the high prices.
* 24. The results of Arctic explorations have not justified the cost.
CHAPTER XI
CHOOSING SUBJECTS
In Chapter X definite subjects were assigned for talks.
Getting a subject for yourself sometimes seems difiicult;
you are likely to think that there is no topic upon which
you can say more than a few sentences. Isn't it true that
when you are talking to your friends you seldom are at a
loss for something to say? Of course, what your companion
says often suggests an idea on which you give your opinion.
You speak about things that interest you, and the words
come fairly easily. Why not apply the same principle to
more formal composition, whether oral or wTitten? Unless
a subject interests you, do not use it. But be careful that
you do not reject it as uninteresting until you have thought
about it carefully, considering it from all sides. Often one
subject will suggest another akin to it, but more interesting
to you because you know more about it. For this reason
choose very simple subjects, and become thoroughly familiar
with them by thinking or reading about them, before you
attempt to explain them.
Sometimes, again, you will find that the subject you have
chosen is not good because it is not definite enough. You
hardly know where or how to begin to explain it, because
it suggests no definite ideas. Perhaps, for instance, you
have decided to write on the automobile aijd can think
of nothing to say until you remember that you once
saw an automobile race about which you can tell several
interesting details; or you have seen an automobile acci-
dent and can write on the topic A Runaway Electric, If
CHOOSING SUBJECTS 147
you can speak or write on topics taken from your own
observation, your composition will probably be good. You
know the facts, you have an interest in the subject, and you
will very likely say something of interest to others. Sub-
jects taken from school life or neighborhood happenings,
especially such things as you yourself have seen, are
excellent. Perhaps on your way to school you noticed that
several old houses are being torn down. You remember
that you heard that a candy factory is to be erected. At
once several suggestions for themes will come to you; as,
Why the Factory is Being Erected in this Neighborhood, How
Neighborhoods Change in a Large City, The Work the Wrecking
Company Carries on. Perhaps your father owns property
in the neighborhood, and you could write on How Real
Estate Values have Changed in this Neighborhood.
Next to your own experience, the best source from which
to draw subjects is your reading. This may be divided into
(i) books, (2) magazines and newspapers. Recall one of
the books that you read in the grammar grades, perhaps
The Courtship of Miles Standish. Drawing your material
from this source, you can write A Picture of Early Plymouth
Days, or a sketch of Miles Standish's character, using the
title Practice What You Preach. But to try to tell the whole
story to any one in two or three minutes would result in
failure, for it would be a subject entirely too big to treat
in so short a time. All the interesting details would have
to be omitted, and, if the details are omitted, the story loses
its vitality.
It is the newspaper or the magazine, however, that offers
us the most available source of subjects. Practically all
that we know of the modern world and of the wonderful
progress being made in invention and discovery, as well as
of the accidents and disasters that take place, we have
learned first from the newspaper and have verified later
by the articles in magazines. Every issue of a newspaper or
148 COMPOSITION
of a magazine contains suggestions for many subjects. Such
magazines as The World's Work, System, The Outlook, The
Technical World, and other magazines that deal with techni-
cal subjects in a popular way are excellent for this work.
A third important source of subjects is the studies that
you are now pursuing. Every new study affords a new
point of view, which should suggest many topics for oral
and written themes. Sometimes a good subject is the com-
parison of two of your studies by which you try to show,
perhaps, how the one depends on the other.
The subject, of course, is but the beginning of the com-
position. Developing the subject is fully as important as
having a subject to develop. The ability to develop a sub-
ject clearly is very important in the business world. A
business man sells his goods either by talking or by writing;
by the salesman or by the letter and the advertisement.
Unless the salesman talks in a convincing way, he probably
will sell few goods. He must know not only what to say,
but how to say it.
Exercise 154 — The Subject as a Whole
First, you must see your subject in its entirety, as one
thing. Ask yourself, *'Just what does my title mean?"
and if you have not as yet selected a title, study your sub-
ject from all sides until you can see how to narrow it to
certain definite dimensions. Now you have set a sort of
fence around your subject. Nothing outside must enter,
but nothing inside must escape. The length of the com-
position you are to write usually helps you decide on the
Hmits of your subject. If you are writing a book on Africa,
you might include all that the title suggests to you of explo-
ration, colonization, civilization, and Christianization. But
if you are writing a very short theme — not over three
pages — it is evident that the subject must be narrowed.
Would The Transvaal be good? The Jungles of Africa?
CHOOSING SUBJECTS 149
Roosevelt in Africa ? African Mission Stations ? When I
think of Africa I think of Stanley ?
Which of the following subjects would be good for short
compositions, either oral or written? The oral theme should
occupy two or three minutes, the written perhaps three
pages. What is the objection to a one word subject?
1. Manufacturing. 11. The dead letter office.
2. Household uses of electricity. 12. The clearing house.
3. The Constitution of the United 13. Business.
States. 14. Honesty in business.
4. Why we celebrate the Fourth 15. Physicians should adver-
of July. tise.
5. The destruction of our forests. 16. Paper.
6. Europe. 17. How an electric bell works.
7. The westernizing of China. 18. Electrifying the railroads.
8. How railroads build cities. 19. How to make candy.
> 9. The fire drill at school. 20. Vocational education in
10. Education. Germany.
Exercise 155 — The Divisions of the Subject
After you have selected your subject, decide into what
elisions it naturally falls. If it is of the proper length, it
probabiywill divide itself into twojor three divisions. Each
of these will constitute one-half or one-third of your com-
position, and within each division illustrations, reasons, and
explanatory details will appear. Arrange the divisions in
the order in which they naturally come, according to their
relative time of happening or according to their relative
importance, reserving the most important for the last.
Sometimes this sort of division is difficult to make, because
a subject can frequently be treated from different points of
view, the point of view deciding the divisions. Sometimes
you will find that you have made a number of small divi-
sions, in each of which you can say only one or two sentences.
This will at once suggest that you have not found the main
parts of the subject, but have made unimportant divisions.
I50 COMPOSITION
Again, it may seem that you cannot divide your subject
into satisfactory parts. In that case, you probably do not
know enough about it. Think about it again, and, if you
find that you really cannot divide it, choose another.
Choose one of the following subjects. Is the title definite
and clear? If it is not, change it so that it will be. For
example, Photography (5) is not a definite title. No one
could attempt to explain the entire subject of photography
in a few minutes. A better title for a theme would be one
of the following: How to Develop a Negative; How to In-
tensify [or reduce] a Negative ; Our Camera Club ; The Photog-
raphy Exhibit at the Art Museum; Kinematography ; Flash
Light Pictures without Smoke or Odor ; The Conditions Neces-
sary for a Good Snap Shot Picture; The Advantages of Using
a Developing Machine; How My Camera Helped Pay for
My Vacation, Can you suggest still others?
After having selected your title, decide into what divisions
the subject naturally falls. For example, let us take (2)
below. A Ball Game is not a definite title. Instead, let us
choose Last Saturdays Football Game, As stated above, a
subject may be treated from different points of view, the
point of view deciding the divisions. Thus, in treating
Last Saturdays Football Game, we may divide:
Last Saturday's Football Game
I. The first quarter.
II. The second quarter.
III. The third quarter.
IV. The fourth quarter.
b
Last Saturday's Football Game
I. The excitement for a week before the game.
II. The tension during the struggle.
III. The celebration after the game.
CHOOSING SUBJECTS 151
c
The Two Decisive Plays in Saturday's Game
I. The long forward pass.
11. The end run to the five-yard line.
Still other divisions may be made if we consider the subject
from the point of view of the teams or the players themselves.
Can you suggest any such divisions?
In the same way choose one of the subjects given below.
Change it, if necessary. Then wTite out the topic of each
division in as few words as possible.
1. An important electrical device.
2. A ball game.
3. Getting dinner.
4. The aeroplane.
5. Photography.
6. How styles change.
7. The back-to-the-farm movement.
8. Why oriental rugs are expensive.
9. Wireless telegraphy.
10. The business course in this school.
Exercise 156 — The Outline
If your theme consists of more than one division, before
you begin to speak or write you should prepare a definite
working plan or outline. It should include enough to
suggest the first sentence of each division and the more
important details within each. The outline will help you
in speaking or writing to arrange the topics so that they
will follow one another clearly. If you have an outline,
there will be much less danger of including details which
do not belong to the subject and omitting details which
should appear.
In the following very simple outlines notice the use of
indentation:
152 COMPOSITION
The Problem of Keeping our Cities Clean
I. The cleaning of streets.
(a) In summer.
(i) The cost of sprinkling.
(b) In winter.
(i) The cost of removing snow.
II. The cleaning of alleys.
(a) The disposal of garbage.
III. The smoke nuisance. •
(a) Smoke consumers.
(b) Smoke inspection.
Public Gymnasiums
I. Definition of a public gymnasium.
(a) Location.
(b) Equipment.
(c) Management.
n. Benefits to the public.
(a) Keeps children off the streets,
(i) Congested districts.
(b) Develops them physically.
(c) Affords them pleasure.
(i) Outdoor and indoor games.
(2) Bathing at beaches connected with gymnasiums.
One more suggestion is in place here. In writing an
outline, be careful that you express similar subdivisions of
a topic by similar grammatical elements. For example, in
the first outline above, (a) under I is a phrase; (b) under I
should be a similar phrase. It would be incorrectly worded
Winter or What the winter problem is. What is the advantage
of such similarity?
Using the divisions you made for one of the subjects under
Exercise 155, develop an outline for a theme.
CHOOSING SUBJECTS 153
Exercise 157
Choose one of the following subjects; restrict it or expand
it, if necessary; select a proper title; write an outline; and
then write or deliver your composition, following your outline
closely. Notice that the shorter your title the more it
includes, and therefore the longer your composition must be
to deal adequately with the subject.
1. Giving talks before a class develops self-reHance.
2. Most inventors would not have succeeded without per-
severance.
3. The more training a man has, the better chance he has to
succeed.
4. Most rich men learned tO'save early.
5. The value of courtesy in a retail business.
6. The dangers of football.
7. The various methods of heating a house.
8. The sporting page often sells the newspaper.
9. Educational features of the modern newspaper.
10. Our national game.
11. Baseball is a better game than football.
12. The use of machinery has lowered the cost of manufactured
articles.
13. How to prevent taking colds.
14. Athletic contests develop courage.
15. Qualities essential to good salesmanship.
16. Our debate with .
17. The qualities of a good street car advertisement.
18. A good cartoon.
19. Learning to swim.
20. The trials of washing day.
21. Birds as money savers.
22. Birds as destroyers.
2s. Open air as a cure for tuberculosis.
24. Making a raft.
25. Every one should open a savings account.
26. Laziness.
27. Tennis is better than baseball.
28. Our respiratory system.
29. The bad effects of ridicule.
30. The good effects of ridicule.
154 COMPOSITION
Exercise 158
Recall one of the books that you have read recently.
Name two subjects that it suggests to you and that you
can talk about. Write a careful outline for each of them,
and be prepared to speak on one.
Exercise 159
Name a subject taken from one of your studies, history
for example. Let it be definite enough so that you can tell
all the details that you know about it in a speech lasting
two or three minutes. Use examples and illustrations to
make the subject interesting and clear. Prepare an outline.
Exercise 160
Reproduce an article that you have read in a current
magazine. Be careful that you make the material your
own before attempting to retell it. Do not under any
circumstances try to memorize the article. Understand
fully what it says, make an outline of the facts that you
wish to reproduce, and then give them as if they were your
own ideas. At the beginning of your speech tell the name
and date of the magazine from which you are taking the
facts.
Exercise 161
As has been said, most of us get our ideas of what is
taking place in the world from the articles that we read in
current newspapers and magazines. We cannot always form
our opinion from what one newspaper on one day says of a
particular event. We must read what it tells us for several
days and, if possible, consult other newspapers on the same
subject, for it is wxll known that not all newspapers are
non-partisan. If one in the city is known to be so, that is
the paper to read for the material for this exercise. Then,
if we can read what one of the magazines says on the same
CHOOSING SUBJECTS 155
subject, our knowledge will probably be more definite and
more nearly true.
Let the class be divided into different sections, repre-
senting different kinds of news; for example, national,
local, foreign, and business news. Under national news,
you can perhaps find articles on national politics, legisla-
tive measures being discussed at Washington, rumors of
war, immigration; under local news, anything pertaining
to the city or the state in which you live; under foreign
news, anything of interest to any of the other countries of
the world; under business news, the prices of food products,
strikes, panics, and their effect on business conditions.
These are but suggestions. Such topics change so rapidly
that nothing more definite can here be given.
When you have been assigned to one of these divisions,
prepare a talk on a topic that you understand thoroughly.
Begin your talk with a clear statement of your subject, as
explained in Exercise 140; amplify it by details or illustra-
tions; and end with a sentence of conclusion, forecasting
the future of your topic or restating what you have proved.
Exercise 162
For a week follow the same current event as recorded in
the newspaper, taking notes as you read. Then choose
from all your material only those facts that belong strictly
to one topic. Write an outline, setting forth the facts in
logical order. Deliver the speech, following your outline
closely.
Exercise 163
Let the class choose four or six members one week in
advance, who are to prepare a debate on a topic of current
interest. Let the other members of the class act as judges
or volunteer on either side, as the instructor may see fit.
Such debates should occur as often as possible.
IS6 COMPOSITION .
Exercise 164
About once a month devote a day to the production of a
class paper. Let the class choose a name. During the
first year let the items be developed into paragraphs. Longer
compositions should be reserved for the second year.
Suggestions for Articles for the Paper
1. A column of interesting business items clipped from leading
papers.
2. An important news item that would make a good "story."
3. Original editorials on one or more of the following:
a. Needs or improvements in city, school, or home.
h. Recent city news.
c. Business news.
d. State news.
e. National news.
/. Foreign news.
4. Personal experiences, amusing incidents, or anecdotes,
preferably of the business world.
5. For sale advertisements, or "want ads" that the class would
imderstand.
Exercise 165
Criticise the following outlines. Each topic is supposed
to represent a division in thought.
I
Tee Wheat Harvest
1. A group of reapers.
2. Their costumes.
3. The field.
4. Starting the harvest.
5. Carting the sheaves to the bam.
6. The stacks.
7. The field after the harvest.
CHOOSING SUBJECTS 157
The Tongue
1. What it is.
2. It is a good thing.
3. It instructs.
4. Evils done by the tongue.
5. Especially slander.
6. Conclusion.
3
The Newspaper Strike
1. The cause.
(a) Strikers want higher wages.
(b) Poverty of the families of the strikers.
(c) Police have to protect newsboys against strikers.
2. Disadvantages.
(a) Newspapers are losing business.
(b) Newsboys sympathize with strikers.
3. Riots.
(a) Newsboys hurt and newspapers burned.
(b) Police cannot watch all sections of city.
4. Conclusion.
CHAPTER XII
PUNCTUATION
When we speak, we make our meaning clear by the expres-
sion that we put into our words and sentences. Some sen-
tences we say all in one breath and with not much change in
emphasis from one word to the next. We may be pretty
sure that such a sentence is short and simple, with all its
elements arranged in their natural order. In this respect
compare the sentences given below.
Notice that the following sentence is spoken as one word
group:
Steam and electricity are making one commercial community
of all nations.
A part that is subordinate in idea is subordinate in tone;
as.
Steam and electricity, which are the greatest of all discoveries^
are making one commercial community of all nations.
In the usual order of the sentence the subject comes first.
Sometimes for emphasis a participial phrase or an adverbial
clause precedes the subject. Such inversion is always
indicated; as,
// the grape crop is large, the price of grapes is low.
Sometimes a word or phrase is thrust into the sentence
to give clearness or force; as,
If, on the other hand, the season is poor, the price of grapes is
high.
What, thenj determines the price of grapes?
PUNCTUATION 159
We cannot become good speakers until we learn to subordi-
nate in tone those groups of words that are subordinate in
idea, and to bring out clearly those groups which, for one
reason or another, are emphatic. The same thing is true
in music. We cannot become good musicians until we learn
phrasing; that is, until we learn to group the notes to form
distinct musical ideas. But when we write our thoughts,
we cannot indicate the tone in which the words are spoken.
We must show in some other way which groups of words
belong together, which are important, and which are subor-
dinate in idea. For this purpose punctuation marks have
been invented. When we write, we unconsciously speak
the thoughts to ourselves; we hear the divisions between
the parts of ideas; and, if we understand punctuation, we
indicate the divisions.
Questions
1. Why in writing and printing do we separate one word
from the next? In ancient writing this was not done.
2. Why do we separate one sentence from the next?
3 . We use punctuation marks for the same reason. Explain.
4. The word to keep in mind in punctuation is separate.
If two words belong together in idea, the two making one
idea, allow them to stand unseparated. If they give two
ideas, separate them by a mark of punctuation. What is
the difference in thought in the two sentences that follow?
(a) She is a pretty, energetic girl.
{h) She is a pretty energetic girl.
Exercise 166 — The Apostrophe C)
The apostrophe (') is used —
I. To show the possessive case of nouns (See Exercise 82);
as.
The hoy^s writing is excellent.
i6o COMPOSITION
2. To indicate the omission of one or more letters; as,
ril attend to the matter.
3. To show the plural of letters, figures, and words that
usually have no plural; as.
Your 3^s are too much like your 5^5, your a^s like your u's.
Don't use so many and's.
Write sentences in each of which you use one of the follow-
ing words correctly:
you're
we're
who's
they're
your
were
whose
there
it's
he's
don't
their
its
his
doesn't
Explain why the apostrophe is used in the following:
1. I've received no reply.
2. This month's sales exceed last month's by one thousand
dollars.
3. Politics doesn't affect the matter very much.
4. The mistake was caused by his making his 7's like his 9's.
5. Have you received the treasurer's report? No, I haven't.
Point out the mistakes in the following:
1. For sale, A ladies fur coat.
2. The boy's have gone skating.
3. We wo'nt worry over the political situation.
4. Lets decide now where were to spend our vacation.
5. Dot your is and not your us.
6. Is this book your's or her's?
Exercise 167
Capitals are used for —
1. The first word of every sentence.
2. The first word of every line of poetry.
3. The first word of a quotation (See Exercise 169).
4. The first word of a formal statement or resolution; as,
Resolved, That women shall be given the right to vote.
PUNCTUATION i6i
5. The first word of every group of words paragraphed
separately in an itemized list, as in an order for
merchandise.
6. The pronoun / and the interjection 0 (not oh),
7. The words Bible and Scripture^ the books of the Bible,
all names applied to the Deity, and all personal pro-
nouns referring to Him.
8. All proper nouns, proper adjectives, and words that are
considered proper nouns; as,
a. Names of the days of the week, holidays, and months
of the year, but not names of the seasons.
b. North, South, etc., when they refer to sections of
the country, but not when they refer to a direction
or a point of the compass.
c. Official titles or titles of honor when they are used
in connection with names, but not when they are
used without names; as,
Vice-President Roosevelt, ex-President Roosevelt.
Nominations are now in order for vice-president.
d. Names of political parties.
e. Names of religious sects.
/. Names of important events or documents; as,
The Revolution, The Declaration of Independence.
g. The salutation in a letter; as,
Dear Sir, Gentlemen.
h. Words indicating relationship, when they are used
in connection with a proper name, or when used
alone as a name, but not when used with a posses-
sive pronoun; as.
We expect Aunt Ellen at four o'clock.
I expect my mother at four o'clock.
i62 COMPOSITION
9. The important words in the title of a book, play, or com-
position. Prepositions, articles, and conjunctions are
not capitalized; as.
The CaU of the Wild.
10. Such words as Paragraph, Article, or Section, when
accompanied with a number; as,
Paragraph 26, Article 3.
11. See Exercise 75.
Exercise 168
The period (.) is used -^
1. To indicate the end of a declarative sentence; as.
The business is prosperous.
2. To indicate an abbreviation; as.
The firm of Clark Bros, has opened a new office at 144 Pleasant
St., Erie, Pa.
The interrogation mark (?) is used —
To indicate the end of a sentence that asks a question;
as,
When did you order the goods?
The exclamation mark ( !) is used — .
To indicate the end of a sentence or other expression that
shows strong feeling; as.
Such demands are inhuman!
Frequently, all that shows exactly how the writer wished
his thought to be understood is the punctuation. The
same words may express different ideas according to the
mark of punctuation that follows them. Read the 'follow-
ing to show the meaning that the writer wished to convey
by each. Explain the circumstances under which each might
have been spoken.
PUNCTUATION 163
1. The price is too high.
2. The price is too high!
3. The price is too high?
4. The crop will not be good. There'll be no corn.
5. Corn! There'll be no corn!
6. You didn't tell him that.
7. You didn't tell him that!
8. You didn't tell him that?
9. You are enjoying yourself.
10. You are enjoying yourself?
1 1 . You are enjoying yourself !
Exercise 169 — Quotation Marks (** '*)
1. When a speaker's words are quoted exactly, they should
be enclosed in quotation marks. This is called a direct
quotation.
He said, "The business is growing."
Notice that the word said is followed by a comma, and that
the quotation begins with a capital letter.
2. If the quotation itself is a question, although it forms
part of a declarative sentence, it requires an interrogation
mark before the quotation mark; as,
Have you been waiting long?
She opened the door and said, ''Have you been waiting long?"
3. The same applies to a quotation that requires an
exclamation mark; as.
Look!
He cried, "Look!"
4. When the words of explanation follow the quoted
words, the punctuation is as follows:
(a) When the quotation is a declarative sentence, put a
comma after the quotation and begin the words of explana-
tion with a small letter; as,
"The business is growing," he said.
1 64 COMPOSITION
(b) When the quotation is a question, conclude it with an
interrogation mark, and begin the words of explanation with
a small letter; as,
" Have you been waiting long ? " she asked.
(c) When the quotation is an exclamation, conclude it with
an exclamation mark, and begin the words of explanation
with a small letter; as, V
"Lookl" he cried.
5. When the author's words of explanation interrupt the
speaker's words, the punctuation is as follows:
(a) When the interrupted parts are not naturally separated
by any punctuation mark, the comma is used as follows:
I do not believe that the report is true.
"I do not believe," he said, "that the report is true."
Notice in what way the quotation marks show that the
words he said do not belong to the quoted words.
ib) Whatever mark of punctuation would naturally appear
between the interrupted parts must be used; as,
(i) I shall buy the Boston ferns; they seem to require but
little care.
"I shall buy the Boston ferns," she said; "they seem to require
but little care."
(2) Oh! The flames are higher!
"Oh! " she cried. "The flames are higher! "
4. Division into sentences is made within a quotation
just as elsewhere. When the thought ends, the sentence
must end. The different sentences, however, must not be
divided by quotation marks; as,
"The train came in," said he, "half an hour ago. I do not
see them in the waiting room. I think they did not come."
5. When a quotation is very long, consisting of several
paragraphs, quotation marks should be placed at the begin-
ning of the quotation, at the beginning of each succeeding
PUNCTUATION 165
paragraph, and at the end of the quotation — not at the end
of each paragraph.
6. When a quotation occurs within a quotation, the one
within is distinguished by single marks; as,
John explained, "After I had told Mr. Brown how I thought
the work could be done more easily, he said, 'Thank you for your
suggestion.' '^
7. Any words quoted from a book or article, or any words
quoted with a special significance, such as slang, should be
enclosed in quotation marks; as.
The day of the salesman who is satisfied with the "good old
way '' is fast passing.
8. A formal question, statement, or resolution for a debate
is not enclosed in quotation marks; as,
The question we are to discuss is, Shall women vote?
Exercise 170
Punctuate the following, dividing into sentences wherever
the sense demands division:
1. Thank you for your suggestion said Mr. Brown ^
2. Mr. Brown said thank you for your suggestion
3. Thank you said Mr. Brown for your suggestion
4. If you will ask the shipping clerk I volunteered I think
you can get definite information
5. How can we enforce the law asked the man
6. The law cried the man how can we enforce the law
7. Tell me said the man how we can enforce the law
8. Tell me this said the man how can we enforce the law
/ 9. The question before us is how can we enforce the law
. 10. John whispered did you hear his mother say yes you may
go
11. As I was walking along the river he continued I heard a
voice cry help
12. Halt shouted the captain the bridge is down
13. The captain shouted halt the bridge is down
14. We cannot cross said the captain the bridge is down
i66 COMPOSITION
15. The bridge is down said the captain and I fear there is no
other way to cross
16. Is the bridge down asked the captain does no one know
another way to cross
17. The captain said the bridge is down do you know another
way to cross
18. What shall we do asked a soldier if the bridge is down
19. Do cried the captain swim that's what we'll do
20. As we were riding along spoke up one of the soldiers I heard
a farmer shout you fellows better try the bridge lower down
Exercise 171 — Indirect Discourse
In the preceding exercise we saw different forms of direct
quotations, or direct discourse. In each case, the speaker's
words were quoted exactly. When the substance of the
thought is given in slightly different form, we have an
indirect quotation, or indirect discourse, in which no quota-
tion marks are used. An indirect quotation is usually a
subordinate clause depending on a word of thinking, saying,
tellingj or the like. Indirect statements are usually intro-
duced by thaty and indirect questions by when, where, why,
whether, if, who, which, what, and the like. When a sentence
is changed from direct to indirect discourse, the person and
usually the tense of the direct quotation are changed; as,
Direct: He said, "I do not believe the report.'*
Indirect: He said that he did not believe the report.
Direct: He said, "Germany is over-populated."
Indirect: He said that Germany is over-populated. (See
Exercise 107.)
Direct: She said, "I did my work before I went to school."
Indirect: She said that she had done her work before she went
to school.
Direct: "I have finished my work," said the girl.
Indirect: She says that she has finished her work.
Direct: "Why didn't he succeed?" I asked.
Indirect: I asked why he had not succeeded.
r
PUNCTUATION - 167
Direct: ^^ When may I go?" she inquired.
Indirect: She inquired when she might go.
In the following change the italicized parts to direct quo-
tations. Do not change the paragraphing.
The Seal's Lesson
The baby seal said that he could not swim.
His mother answered that he could try.
The little fellow persisted that he could never learn.
His mother looked at him sternly, and said that every seal
must learn to swim.
He replied that the water was cold and that he liked the sand
better y but because his mother insisted, he slid into the water
whimpering.
After he had gone a short distance, he turned around and called
out that the water was much pleasanter than the sand.
His mother said that she knew that it would be so. She said
that young people must, do as they are told because they have not
had enough experience to judge for themselves.
A Faithful Servant
A certain old time king said that he needed a servant who could
be depended upon. He said he knew that such a man is difficult to
secure^ and in the hope of getting the right one, he would hire two.
When he had engaged them, he took them to a well and, show-
ing them a large basket, told them to fill it with water. He said
that he would return at night to see what they had done.
The men were very much in earnest when they began the work,
but, after pouring five or six bucketfuls of water into the basket,
one of them stopped and said that he did not see any use in doing
that because, as soon as he poured the water in, it ran out again,
and his time was lost.
His companion replied that the kind of work that their master
gave them was no concern of theirs; that they were paid to do the
work; and, whether it seemed useful to them or not, they ought to
do it.
J
1 68 COMPOSITION
The first speaker said that the other man could do as he pleased^
hut, as for him, he did not expect to waste his time on such foolish
work. Throwing his bucket down, he walked off.
The one that was left continued at the work until about sunset,
when he had nearly emptied the well. Looking into the basket,
he saw something glittering. Stooping to look more closely, he
found in the basket a ring of great value which his bucket had
scooped up from the mud at the bottom of the well. He said
that now he knew why the king had wanted the water poured into
the basket.
Shortly afterward, when the king came up with some of his
ofhcers and saw the ring in the basket, he knew that the man
had obeyed him, and he said that he knew he could trust him,
and as a reward for obedience he would make him master over other
servants.
Exercise 172 — The Paragraph in Dialogue
In conversation the words of each speaker, together with
the author's words of explanation, form one paragraph.
Whenever the speaker changes, the paragraph changes; as,
"Mimer," boldly said the god Odin to the gray old guardian
of the well where wit and wisdom lie hidden, "Mimer, let me
drink of the waters of wisdom."
"Truly, Odin,'' answered Mimer, "it is a great treasure that
you seek and one which many have sought before but who,
when they knew the price of it, turned back."
Then replied Odin, "I would give my right hand for wisdom
willingly."
"Nay," rejoined the remorseless Mimer, "it is not your right
hand, but your right eye, you must give." — Keary: The Heroes
of As gar d.
However, when one speaker talks at length, what he says
is formed into paragraphs according to the divisions into
which it falls. (See Chapter XIV.)
When a short quotation is simply part of a paragraph, it
is punctuated as follows:
This, however, was of use to me, the impression continuing on
my mind. Often when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary
PUNCTUATION 169
thing, I said to myself, "Don't give too much for the whistle/'
and I saved my money.
Paragraph the following:
On the next morning we had gone but a mile or two when we
came to an extensive belt of woods, through the midst of which
ran a stream, wide, deep, and of an appearance particularly
muddy and treacherous. In plunged the cart, but midway it
stuck fast. Then approached the long team and heavy wagon
of our friends, but it paused on the brink. '^Now my advice
is, — " began the captain, who had been anxiously contem-
plating the muddy gulf. "Drive on! " cried R. But Wright, the
muleteer, apparently had not as yet decided the point in his own
mind. He sat still in his seat on one of the shaft-mules, whistling
in a low, contemplative strain to himself. "My advice is," re-
sumed the captain, "that we unload; for I'll bet any man five
pounds that if we try to go through, we shall stick fast." "By
the powers, we shall stick fast ! " echoed Jack, the captain's brother,
shaking his large head with an air of conviction. "Drive on!
drive on!" petulantly cried R. "Well," observed the captain,
turning to us as we sat looking on, "I can only give my advice;
and if people won't be reasonable, why, they won't, that's all!"
— Parkman: The Oregon Trail.
Rebecca walked up the lane and went to the side door. There
was a porch there. Seated in a rocking-chair, husking corn, was
a good-looking young man. Rebecca was a trifle shy at this
encounter, but there was nothing to do except explain her
presence; so she asked, "Is the lady of the house at home?" "I
am the lady of the house at present," said the stranger with a
whimsical smile. "What can I do for you?" "Have you ever
heard of the — would you like — or I mean, do you need any
soap? " queried Rebecca. "Do I look as if I do?" he responded
unexpectedly. Rebecca dimpled. "I didn't mean that; I have
some soap to sell; I mean I would like to introduce to you a very
remarkable soap, the best now on the market. It is called the — "
"Oh! I must know that soap," said the gentleman genially.
"Made out of pure vegetable fats, isn't it? " "The very purest,"
lyo COMPOSITION
corroborated Rebecca. "No acid in it? " "Not a trace." "And
yet a child could do the Monday washing with it and use no
force?" "A babe," corrected Rebecca. "Oh! a babe, eh?
That child grows younger every year, instead of older — wise
child! " — Wiggin: Rebecca of Sunny brook Farm.
Change the following from indirect to direct discourse and
paragraph :
When Whittier went on his first fishing trip, it was a day in
early summer. The long afternoon shadows lay cool on the
grass. The boy said that the flowers seemed brighter and the
birds merrier than ever before. When they came to a bend in
the river, his uncle said that this was a good place to try. He
told the boy to throw out his line as he had seen others do and
move it on the surface of the water in imitation of the leap of a
frog. The boy did as he was told, but he caught no fish. His
uncle said that he should try again. Suddenly the bait sank out
of sight, and the boy cried out that he had caught a fish at last.
As he spoke, he pulled up a tangle of weeds. His uncle said that
he should try again, because fishermen must have patience. In
a moment the boy felt something tug at his line, and as he jerked
it up, he saw a fine pickerel wriggling in the sun. In uncon-
trollable excitement he called out to his uncle, telling him to look
at the big pickerel. His uncle said that the boy didn't have
it yet, and as he spoke there was a splash in the water, and the
boy's hook hung empty. His uncle assured him that there were
more fish in the river, but the boy would not be comforted. His
uncle smiled shrewdly and told Whittier to remember never to
brag of catching a fish until it was on dry land. He said that
he had seen older people doing that in more ways than one, and
so making fools of themselves. He said that it was better not to
boast of doing a thing until it was done.
Exercise 173 — The Comma(,)
Rule I. — The comma is used to separate a direct quota-
tion from the words of explanation.
For illustration see the foregoing exercises.
Write the following from dictation; then compare your
version with the original:
PUNCTUATION 171
Literature, the ministry, medicine, the law, and other occu-
pations are hindered for want of men to do the work. When
people tell you the reverse, they speak that which is not true.
If you desire to test this, you need only hunt up a first-class editor,
reporter, business manager, foreman of a shop, mechanic, or
artist in any branch of industry and try to hire him. You will
find that he is already hired. He is sober, industrious, capable,
reliable, and always in demand. He cannot get a day's holiday
except by courtesy of his employer, or of his city, or of the great
general public. But if you need idlers, shirkers, half-instructed,
unambitious, and comfort-seeking editors, reporters, lawyers,
doctors, and mechanics apply anywhere. — Mark Twain.
In the above point out the instances where the comma
is used —
1. When several nouns follow one another, all being in
the same case.
2. When several adjectives follow one another, all modify-
ing the same noun.
3. When a succession of phrases modifies the same noun.
This kind of succession is called a series. The comma is
used to separate the different members of a series. Notice
that the comma is used between the last two members before
the coordinate conjunction as well as between the other
members.
Rule 2. — The comma is used to separate the members of
a series.
Exercise 174
Divide the following into sentences and supply the neces-
sary commas:
Abraham Lincoln was a tall, strong^ powerfully^ built boy* he
could lift a load cut down a tree or build a fence more quickly
than any one else in the neighborhoods his perseverance in his
boyhood helps us to appreciate the firm true steady hand that
guided our country through its great crisis . tincoln unceasingly
showed his wise brain, his great courage and his kindness of heart
his character was not made in a day nor a month nor a year it
172 COMPOSITION
was built up after years of yearning years of striving and years
of hard work.
2
Dear Sir:
You can make no mistake in buying BCL Power Co. bonds now
the company supplies power to mines and towns of Colorado
Utah and Idaho it furnishes electric Hght and power to Ophir
Ouray Ames Pandora and other towns in Colorado in Utah it
supplies light to Mescal Eureka Provo Logan and Bingham it
also furnishes power for the street railway systems of Salt Lake
City Farmington and Ogden.
The bonds offer such good security good interest and ready
convertibility that we expect our allotment to be heavily over-
subscribed will you therefore send us your order before Monday
Yours truly,
3
Imagine the scene: a little hollow in the prairie forming a
perfect amphitheater the yellow grass and wild oats grazed short
a herd of horses staring from the slope I myself standing in the
middle like a ring-master in a circus and this wonderful horse
performing at his own free will. He trotted powerfully he
galloped gracefully he thundered at full speed he lifted forelegs
to welcome he flung out hind legs to repel he leaped as if springing
over bayonets he pranced and curvetted as if he were the pretty
plaything of a girl and finally he trotted up and snuffed about
me — just out of reach.
4
Dear Madam:
Our Style Book shows you the best of the season's styles for
ladies misses and children it contains illustrations of the latest
kinds of long coats of skirts in the most fashionable cuts and
materials of hats that are new and particularly becoming and of
dresses with the newest sleeves and- collars we are especially sure
that you will like our waists they are artistic in design styHsh
in cut and excellent in workmanship they are selected from the
leading fashion centers are the creations of the best costumers and
always have individuality twenty years of selling goods by mail
have given us experience skill and knowledge that make it certain
we can please you.'
The enclosed coupon is good for fifty cents on a five dollar order
one dollar and twenty-five cents on a tei^ dollar order and two
PUNCTUATION 173
dollars on an order for fifteen dollars or more this offer expires
September 30.
Yours truly,
Increased wages shorter hours and perhaps lower efficiency
for the hours worked have done more to raise the cost of living
than almost anything else this higher cost of production we
see on the farm in the factory in transportation in merchan-
dising and even in domestic service we cannot double the cost of
excavating brick-laying plumbing and decorating and expect not
to double the rents that we must pay the cost of building has
increased as the demands of laborers increased as their hours of
work decreased and as their wages advanced the materials that go
into a building the transportation of that material the labor of
assembling it and the labor of fashioning it into a building have
all advanced in price.
Moreover, high living has a great deal to do with the high cost
of living our demands are constantly expanding we think we
must have more conveniences more luxuries more clothes and
more amusements than our fathers had with a return to the thrift
of our fathers with a return to their desire for work we shall
no longer feel the grip of the high cost of living there is a real
danger to our nation in our extravagance in our indifference to
cost in our sweep toward ease and idleness and in our growing
antipathy for work.
Exercise 175
Write five sentences illustrating series of words; five
illustrating series of phrases; and five illustrating series of
clauses.
Exercise 176
Write the following from dictation:
The Government's Laundry
Some of the paper money in circulation is so dirty that one
feels the need of gloves in handling it, and the suspicion that it
174 COMPOSITION
is germ laden might well be verified. It has often been said that
money spreads contagious diseases, nor can such a statement be
questioned when one remembers that money goes into every kind
of home and is handled by many infected persons. The govern-
ment has long felt that something should be done to lessen this
means of spreading disease, and a machine has finally been in-
vented that will wash and iron the dirtiest bills until they look
almost as fresh as new ones. The entire cost of operating the
device is hardly fifty cents for each thousand bills, but it is esti-
mated that it will save the government as much as a million
dollars a year.
2
Luck and Labor
Luck is ever waiting for something to turn up; labor with
keen eyes and strong will turns something up. Luck lies in bed
and wishes the postman would bring him news of a fortune;
labor turns put at six o'clock and with busy pen or ringing ham-
mer lays the foundation of a competence. Luck whines; labor
whistles. SLuck relies on chance; labor on character. — Cobden.
The selections given above illustrate the compound sen-
tence. Notice the thought expressed in these sentences.
There is usually an idea of balance or contrast, and the two
halves of the sentence express the two halves of the idea.
The two members are usually distinct enough to require
a comma before the conjunction. If the conjunction is
omitted, a semicolon must separate the two members, as in
the second selection above.
Rule 3. — The comma is used before the coordinate con-
jtmction in a compoimd sentence. If the conjtmction is
omitted, a semicolon must be used.
Exercise 177
Separate the following into compound sentences and
punctuate:
I
Sawdust as a fire extinguisher sounds absurd but recent experi-
ments in Boston have proved it to be successful in quenching fires
PUNCTUATION 175
in tanks of oil and other inflammable liquids the Boston experi-
ments were conducted with tanks of burning varnish but the same
principles seem to apply to tanks of burning oil the floating saw-
dust forms a blanket that shuts off the air from the flames and the
lack of oxygen causes the fire to die out the experiments were tried
with both wet and dry sawdust and the dry material seemed to
extinguish the fire as quickly as the wet.
Select the kind of business that suits your natural inclination
and temperament, some men are naturally mechanics others have
a strong aversion to machinery because they do not understand
it some men are imaginative others are purely practical some
prefer active work others like sedentary employment all should
select those occupations that suit them best.
3
Certain Western railroads have long felt the need of a new
material for sleepers and they have been experimenting for some
time past with cocobolo or Japanese oak the wood is so hard
that it is almost impossible to drive spikes into it and screwed
spikes in bored holes are used these sleepers will cost a trifle more
than those made from American oak but they are expected to
last twenty-five or thirty years the reason for experimenting with
foreign woods is that native oak is becoming scarce and it is
deemed wise to search in time for a substitute.
4
Hogs are splendid mortgage-lifters but farmers are just begin-
ning to find it out there is never a time that the hog cannot be
sold at a profit and there is surely no better machine to condense
corn into a more valuable product there is hardly a farm in the
country that could not profitably raise large numbers of hogs and
the only pity is that farmers are so slow to realize the fact all
the hog needs is a chance to grow and he will add wonderfully
to the wealth of the country.
Exercise 178
When an adverbial clause or a participial adjective phrase
is put at the beginning of a sentence to secure emphasis,
176 COMPOSITION
it is called an initial clause or participial phrase. Rewrite
the following from dictation, noticing the punctuation of
initial elements:
If a city is to be kept in good condition, every citizen must
pay his share of the expense. If the dreadful epidemics are to
be exterminated, there must be a good board of health to see
that everything is kept sanitary. When the health officers do
their work well, the health of the city improves. In order that
the decrees of the health department and of the courts may be
enforced, there must be a good police department. Besides
having these advantages, cities need good streets and good schools.
Because all of these good things cost a great deal of money, high
taxes must be levied to pay for them.
Rule 4. — An initial clause or participial phrase must be
set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma.
Exercise 179
Punctuate the following:
Cotton was not very long ago raised entirely for the fleecy
product although the seed used to be considered worse than
rubbish heaps there now come from it millions of dollars in profit
the disposal of the seed was a matter of great concern to the
ginners if it was not hauled away to rot it was usually dumped
into a neighboring stream and there it did much harm even if
we had the space it would be impossible to explain all the products
now made from the seed paper and an excellent meal for cattle
may be made from the hulls but the most important products
are made from the kernels besides making meal for cattle they are
readily converted into crude oil according to the degree of refining
that it receives this oil may appear as oil for miner's lamps lard
compounds or salad oils as an illustration of the way in which
modem manufacturers utilize former waste products the cotton
seed is supreme.
2
When you sell your old clothes to the ragman do you know
that they come back to you as writing paper because the metal
PUNCTUATION 177
buttons buckles and hooks that are often left on the garments
cannot be converted into paper they used to be a source of
annoyance to the papermaker although the cloth sorters tried to
remove them before the garments went into the pulp vats some
were overlooked if any found their way into the pulp they tore
holes in the paper and often damaged the rollers in order that
such danger may be avoided the pulp is now passed through a
series of magnetized rakes to which every bit of metal clings as
the rakes are passed to and fro when a quantity of such bits of
iron is collected it is sent to the foundry to return to us in many
new forms.
Though clerks in offices banks and stores complain that their
living expenses are increasing while their incomes are unchanged
they do little to earn an increased income if they perform their
duties faithfully and well if they merely show their employers
that they are good clerks they will remain clerks when a man
is filling a position acceptably few business firms will remove him
for the purpose of experimenting with him in some other place
if a man wishes to secure and hold a responsible position he must
show that he is capable if he desires to advance he must keep on
constantly reading studying and discussing business as soon as
he realizes this truth he will keep his mind on the alert to
absorb anything pertaining to commerce in general and to his
own business in particular in order that he may be assured of
success he must keep in touch with the ever changing commercial
conditions provided he does not engage his mind with such prob-
lems provided he does nothing to attract the attention of those
higher up provided he does not try to raise himself above average
ability he will remain wholly occupied in holding his present place.
4
When the bubonic plague broke out in Porto Rico and Havana
rats were put to death in great numbers along the Atlantic coast
because of the established fact that the plague is carried by rats
that infest the holds of ships all ships that came from the infected
ports to the United States were fumigated for the purpose of kill-
ing any rats that might be in the holds if the rats are kept out the
United States authorities have no fear that the plague will ever
reach this country.
178 COMPOSITION
Exercise 180
Write five sentences containing initial participial phrases.
Write five sentences containing initial adverbial clauses.
Exercise i8i
The comma is used to separate the month from the year,
the city from the county or state, the company from the
place in which it is operated, or the like; as.
In December, 191 2, I wrote to you from Seattle, Washington.
This use of the comma indicates that words have been
omitted, the sentence above really meaning,
In December of the year 191 2 I wrote to you from Seattle in
the state of Washington.
The same use is shown in such sentences as,
Of the three stenographers Mary received fifteen dollars a
week; Ellen, twelve; Susan, ten.
Rule 5. — The comma is used to indicate the omission of
words.
Supply the necessary commas in the following:
1. The bonds will be taken over on or before October i 1934.
2. On January i 1913 the company had outstanding $4,000,000
of stock of the par value of one dollar a share.
3. The offices are at Salt Lake City Utah.
4. The transaction was officially conducted between the
Power Bond & Share Co. New York and the Pacific Power Co.
Tacoma Washington.
5. A late announcement of the Census Bureau tells us that
the center of population of the United States is four and one-
quarter miles south of Unionville Monroe County Indiana.
6. Many mechanical devices in common use may be traced
to the patterns furnished by nature. Thus the hog suggests the
plow; the butterfly the ordinar>'' hinge; the toadstool the um-
brella; the duck the ship; the fungus growth on trees the bracket.
7. The per capita saving in the banks of the United States
PUNCTUATION 179
in 1820 was twelve cents; in 1830 fifty-four cents; in 1840 eighty-
two cents; in 1850 $1.87; in i860 $4.75; in 1870 $14.26; in 1880
$16.33; in 1890 $24.75; in 1900 $31.78; in 1910 $45.05; and it
is still increasing.
8. The population in 1820 was 10,000,000 and in 19 10
90,000,000.
9. Mexico draws about 55% of her imports from the United
States; Nicaragua about 50%; the other Central American states
from 35 to 75%; Venezuela 31%; Cuba 52%.
10. In one decade Germany's exports to Latin-America have
shown an increase of 222%; those of the United Kingdom an
increase of 115%; and those of the United States an increase
of 130%.
Write five sentences illustrating Rule 5.
Exercise 182 — Explanatory Expressions
There are a number of expressions — words, phrases,
and clauses — which are inserted into the sentence for
clearness or emphasis. They add 'a bit of explanation but
are not absolutely necessary. In other words, they might
be omitted, and the sentence would still be clear. These
may be of various kinds but are all similar in use. They
should be separated from the rest of the sentence by
commas.
A. The apposUive is a word or a group of words that is
inserted to explain the noun that it follows. (See Exercise
80.)
Explain the use of the commas in the following sentences:
1. William E. Curtis, one of the world'' s ablest newspaper corre-
spondents, in his will expressed the hope that his grandson would
continue his life-work, a recital of the good that men had done and
not of the crimes they had committed.
2. The new device, the adding machine, has greatly lessened
office drudgery.
3. Wall street, the great center of business life, fixes stock
prices.
i8o COMPOSITION
4. The people in moderate circumstances, the excellent middle
class of a country, suffer most from the strain of high prices.
5. The 'Montreal Tramways Company, the first company to
introduce pay-as-you-enter cars, started its business in the winter
of 1 86 1 with a very simple equipment, two horse-drawn sleighs.
6. The Early Gem musk melon, one of the best shipping mel-
ons grown, is a cross between the Rocky Ford and the Emerald
Green varieties.
7. In making up our collections and bargain offers for this
year, we have arranged to put up a "Surprise Box," one hundred
packages of selected vegetable and flower seeds.
8. The Chinese Giant, a new variety of sweet pepper, produces
branching plants about two feet in height.
9. Amundsen, the discoverer of the south pole, is a native of
Norway.
Rule 6. — The comma is used to separate an appositive
from the rest of the sentence.
Write five sentences illustrating the use of the comma to
set off an appositive..
Exercise 183 — Explanatory Expressions
Similar in use to appositives are —
B. Words, phrases, or clauses that separate the subject
from the predicate verb, the verb from its object, or the
like.
In the natural order of the sentence the verb immediately
follows the subject and the object follows the verb. When,
for the purpose of explanation, something is inserted between
the two, it should be set off from the rest of the sentence
by commas. Words that are thus inserted are called ap-
positive or parenthetical expressions and are illustrated in
the following:
In Ohio and Kentucky enterprising individuals, evidently taking
the suggestion from the popular rural delivery service, have established
ice cream routes. Ice cream wagons travel the country roads
at stated times so that, with no more trouble than is required to
answer the postman^s whistle, dwxllers on the farms can now secure
PUNCTUATION i8i
the hot weather luxury at reasonable prices. The plan, so far as
one can tell from present indications ^ gives promise of meeting
with great success.
Rule 7. — Parenthetical expressions should be set off by
commas.
Punctuate the following:
The politics of the city as well as those of the nation must be
kept clean. The most intelligent men of the community not the
least intelligent should make our political speeches and be our
political leaders. The very opposite we must confess is what we
see too often. Many business men steadily pursuing their own
ends during the day feel that they cannot devote time to politics.
We need not search far to discover that too many of them even
if they have the time do not care to give it. At election the most
influential business and professional men either through lack of
interest or through laziness stay at home instead of going to the
polls. The men who are elected in nine cases out of ten are not
fit to hold office. The blame belongs every one will agree to those
who do not vote.
2
England as most people know is becoming vastly interested
in the production of cotton in the Soudan. This state of affairs
for more reasons than one is a matter of interest to the American
manufacturer as well as to the American cotton planter. Egyp-
tian cotton ranking next to our own sea-island in length and
strength of fiber is wanted because of the brilliant finish it gives.
For the manufacture of fine goods including sateens India linens
and mercerized goods as well as for mixing with silk it has been
found very valuable. Cotton growers expect that the enlarge-
ment of the Assouan dam will eventually redeem about a million
acres from the desert in Lower Egypt and although not more than
half will probably be planted to cotton it will increase Egypt's
output about twenty-five per cent. Our Department of Agri-
culture after having experimented for ^ears has developed and
acclimated in California a variety of Egyptian cotton superior
several experts say to the real Egyptian. It now rests with the
planters any one can see to decide whether American manufac-
turers will get their fine cotton at home or abroad. — The Wall
Street Journal,
i82 COMPOSITION
3
For several reasons some of them certainly unworthy people on
both sides of the Atlantic are talking of the perils of a "yellow"
invasion. It is true that in the past various invasions have been
attended with evil but civilization has passed on into an age
when migrations even the mightiest that the world has seen are
taking place silently and steadily for the good of all. There is
no reason to suppose that the overflow and interflow of nations
heretofore synonymous with the progress of humanity should
bring to us anything but good. Commerce is to lead the van in
the new movement of the nations as it has in the past and the
merchant consciously or unconsciously is going to anticipate and
guide the statesman. — The Commercial a^id Financial Chronicle.
4
The prevailing spirit at least among a certain class of young
business men seems to be that the saving of little things in the
course of the day consumes time entirely out of proportion to the
value of the things saved but like aU general rules it is carried too
far by young men who could hardly employ their time to better
advantage than in saving good though minor materials that
would otherwise be lost. The man who originated .the idea prob-
ably found it correct for himself but like all principles catering
to indifference regarding details the idea is too readily adopted
by many young men who can ill afford its practice. No one
wishes a man to be parsimonious but he should not allow anything
to be wasted which can with a reasonable exercise of effort be
saved.
Exercise 184 — Explanatory Expressions
C. Independent elements are words, phrases, or clauses that
have no direct grammatical relation with any other word
in the sentence. They are really a kind of parenthetical
expression, but have less connection with the sentence than
those given under B.
The following is an argument against the trusts. The
italicized expressions are independent elements. What dif-
ferent kinds do you discover?
Gentlemen^ the big problem before us to-day, therefore, is the
trusts. Shall the people control the trusts, or shall the trusts
PUNCTUATION 183
control the people? To state the question differently ^ shall we all
continue to keep a voice in government, or shall we turn our
power over into the hands of a few and let their word be law?
This centralizing of power, hy the way, was the evil men tried to
remedy by forming republics, and shall we Americans, do you
think J be willing to sacrifice all that has been gained for us of
liberty? The answer being self-evident, let us proceed. It seems
that the little violator of law can be punished; the big violator
cannot, or, at any rate, is not punished. The trusts, most people
know, are formed to destroy competition. Their reason for
destroying competition, evidently, is to swell profits by charging
all that the trade will bear. The trust, finally, is not a method
of doing business, but a scheme for levying tribute.
Rule 8. — Independent elements are separated from the
rest of the sentence by commas.
Punctuate the following:
I
New York, May 12, 19 — .
Mr. Thomas R. Stevenson,
5010 Prospect Ave.,
Milwaukee, Wis.
Dear Sir:
You are no doubt now planning your summer vacation before
you make any new plans however consider the opportunity that
we are offering you to see a new and marvelously beautiful world
for little more very likely than the cost of an ordinary vacation
at the summer hotel to which you usually go.
The idea of summer travel in the Tropics it may be is new to
you comparatively few people unfortunately have yet awakened
to its possibilities they do not realize at least not fully that the
climate in Jamaica Panama and the Central and South American
countries is practically the same throughout the year moreover
the transportation rates are much lower than they are in the
North and the incidental expenses of travel such as carriage fare
and the cost of curios are considerably less rough weather too is
almost unknown in the summer.
Possibly as you live on the shores of Lake Michigan you have
been considering a week's cruise of the great lakes at an expense
certainly of $40 or more and along coasts that you have seen
doubtless many times before we offer a number of trips varying
i84 COMPOSITION
in length from twelve to twenty-four days and in cost from $50
to $130 to Jamaica Panama and Central and South America thus
for ten dollars more you may sail twice as long pass shores much
more beautiful visit cities far more strange and return with a
new almost magical store of memories.
You are wondering perhaps how it is that we can oiffer these
remarkably low rates the reason briefly told is that our ships
carry an exceptionally large amount of freight however do not
think merely because our ships carry freight that they are not
splendidly equipped for passenger travel on the other hand they
are so luxuriously furnished that they are especially fitted for
tropical cruises you are missing an unusual opportunity we assure
you if you do not more fully investigate our offer.
Yours very truly,
2
We are learning year by year that as a rule financial independ-
ence cannot be secured by most men except by saving the
savings bank is of course the first place to invest savings because
it will receive small sums and pay an interest on them when a
man's savings however have reached $1000 for example what
shall he do with his money he has not the time or the knowl-
edge probably to watch his investments he wishes therefore
to put his money where it will be safe where it will earn a fair
rate of interest and if possible where he can on short notice
convert it into cash.
3
A man is an investor usually at least by virtue of his savings
a woman on the other hand invests because she has received a
legacy this may take the form of course of property securities
cash or life insurance it is the function of sound investment
most people know to surround funds of this nature with strong
security the selection of conservative investments it is evident
must be made with care those companies naturally that deal
in conservative securities are the ones a prospective investor
should consult.
4
Not long ago the editor of a financial journal received a letter
of inquiry from a woman she had she said only two thousand
dollars if she invested it as some of her friends had advised her
to do in a well-known security she could not live on the proceeds
PUNCTUATION 185
she had consequently made a connection with a brokerage house
and was making a living by buying and selling speculative stocks
her list by the way showed a profit of $500 in four months what
she wanted to know of course was how she could make the gain
a second time in effect she was told to take her profits and run
as fast as she could she will not in all probability take the
advice and in a few months possibly weeks she will write again
for help in rescuing her last few hundred dollars she will have
learned at last that the way to keep her money is to save it but
she will not by that time in all likelihood have any money to save.
Exercise 185 — Explanatory Expressions
D. The explanatory relative clause.
Similar to the appositive is the explanatory relative clause.
Like an appositive, it is inserted into the sentence for the
purpose of explanation and is separated from the rest of the
sentence by commas. Because of this similarity, it is some-
times called an appositive relative clause.
Great care must be taken in punctuation to distinguish
a clause that may be omitted from the sentence without
destroying the meaning from one that may not be omitted.
The appositive clause may be omitted. A restrictive clause,
because it restricts the meaning of the word it modifies, may
not be omitted. Because it is needed for the sake of clear-
ness, it is not separated from the rest of the sentence by com-
mas. To distinguish an appositive clause from a restrictive
clause, the former is called a non-restrictive clause.
Notice the difference between the following:
1. The Commonwealth Edison Company, which controls the
electric light and power supply of Chicago^ was organized in 1907
by the consolidation of the Chicago Edison Company and the
Commonwealth Electric Company.
The sentence makes complete sense without the relative
clause.
2. The concern thcU controls the electric light and power supply
of Chicago is the Commonwealth Edison Company.
1 86 COMPOSITION
The relative clause must be used to understand the
sentence.
In (i) the relative clause gives an additional idea. In (2)
it limits or restricts the meaning of the concern. The non-
restrictive clause is shown in (i), the restrictive clause in (2).
Dictation to illustrate non-restrictive clauses:
It is estimated that Chicago annually uses 93,450,000 gallons
of milk, for which it pays over $28,000,000. To supply this
amount 120,000 cows are needed, which are owned by 12,000
dairy farms. Health officers conduct a systematic dairy farm
inspection, which has for its purpose the exclusion of diseased
milk. Farm owners, who formerly objected to the inspection, now
see that cleanliness is profitable. Authorities have discovered
that milk, which easily absorbs germs, is dangerous except when
produced under sanitary conditions, and now dairies are allowed
to sell only clean, pure milk, which is milk given by a healthy
cow.
Phrases as well as clauses may be restrictive. In the
following sentences decide whether the italicized expres-
sions are restrictive or non-restrictive. State whether they
are phrases or clauses. Do any of the sentences need
commas?
1. The man wearing the hrown coat is my brother.
2. My brother bought a new coat which is hrown.
3. The lesson that I take at nine o'clock is English.
4. In English which I take at nine o'clock we are studying
punctuation.
5. I am going to work in every city that I visit.
6. I am going to work in any city where I can find employment.
7. I am going to work in Denver where my uncle lives.
8. The house on the hill is the oldest in town.
9. The house that is the oldest in town is used as a museum.
10. The Franklin Museum which occupies the oldest house in
town is a very interesting place.
11. The town museum is the place that I like to visit.
12. The chimney that was blown down last night in the storm
should have been mended long ago.
PUNCTUATION 187
13. The old ruined tower which has long been a picturesque
sight in the village was blown down last night.
14. We counted ten chimneys that were blown down last night,
15. The stenography system that I studied is Munson's.
16. I think she uses Munson's which she considers a good system
of stenography.
1 7. Last year I pursued a course in stenography which I enjoyed
very much.
18. The book that we use in class has a brown cover.
19. The only milk that is fit to drink comes from a clean dairy.
20. Systematic inspection has been carried on which has
residted in securing better milk.
Rule 9. — A non-restrictive clause should be separated
from the rest of the sentence by commas.
Exercise 186
Punctuate the following:
1. We have an enormous crop of cotton the value of which is
estimated at one billion dollars.
2. "The root of the mail order evil is the idea which the
retail mail order houses have been able somehow to instill into
the minds of the buying public that the local merchants ask ioo
much for their goods."
3. Mr. Hilton who was sales manager at that time induced
the company to adopt this -system. ^
4. The lecture will be delivered by Mr. Brenton who is the
head of the advertising department of Whitlock & Co.
5. Our dog ^ whose fur was wet by his plunge into the lake
came running toward us.
6. Genevieve who had always been the leader in the games
was not present.
7. A late product of the brain of George Westinghouse who
was the inventor of the air brake and numerous electrical devices
is an air spring for automobiles. This little article has been
patented by Mr. Westinghouse who has the sole ownership. The
spring which has already proved popular with automobile owners
fits over the end of the regular spring and "makes good roads
out of bad ones."
8. Careful selection of investments upon which the safety
of your money depends is often difiicult. Careful watching of
1 88 COMPOSITION
investments which is fully as essential is much harder. Let us
tell you about our Investment Service which does this watching
for you and keeps you fully protected.
9. As a direct result of the conference between the railroad
and steamship interests of the South-Atlantic and Gulf cotton
ports which was held recently at Hot Springs Va. an organiza-
tion which will be known as the South Atlantic and Steamship
Cotton Inspection Bureau has been created. The bureau will
have a chief inspector who will supervise the conduct of its busi-
ness at all ports and will arrange for the employment of the in-
spectors. According to the rules and regulations copies of which
have been received by the cotton agencies and the export depart-
ments of the various New Orleans firms any bale that shows
external damage from water mud bad bagging or other causes
must be condemned and its condition noted and reported.
10. How would you like to wear a hat that has been handed
down through six generations in each of which it was a treasured
possession? The Italian peasants who love finery are proud to
do that very thing. Very few of the poorer people who live in
Italy own a hat. When you see a beautifully woven Leghorn hat
which is also very dirty on the head of a little peasant child you
may be pretty sure that she is celebrating her birthday by wear-
ing the family heirloom. These hats which are sometimes willed
to a favorite relative and which in some instances go the round
of the family are considered almost priceless. It is a frequent
sight along the dusty roads outside the little towns to see untidy
old women who are sauntering along twisting twine as they go
all vanity under the flopping brim of an antiquated hat. This is
almost the only souvenir that tourists* money cannot buy. — The
Chicago Tribune.
Exercise 187 — Explanatory Expressions
E. Unless the subordinate element that comes at or near
the close of the sentence is very closely connected with
the idea of the rest of the sentence, it should be set off by
commas; as,
A signature clerk will easily recognize any alteration in a sig-
nature, although thousands of checks pass through his hands daily.
He gave a statement of the affairs of the company, explaining
that he wished to make a loan.
PUNCTUATION 189
Rule 10. — An adverbial clause or a participial phrase
coining at the end of the sentence should be set off by a
comma.
Punctuate the following:
1. Popular-priced goods are the safest for a retail stock how-
ever you consider the subject.
2. A sheriff seldom finds large quantities of popular-priced
goods on hand when he comes to take possession of any retail
store .although he usually finds expensive articles.
3. They bring higher prices relatively than the heavier things
even when they are disposed of under forced sale.
4. The catalogue houses have little fear for five-and-ten-cent
stores because sixty-eight per cent of their business is in big
goods such as furniture vehicles sewing-machines clothing and
relatively expensive things. They do not wish to increase the
sale of popular-priced articles although their catalogue may be
full of them because it costs them more to pack one hammer or
trowel than the profits can stand.
5. Steel conditions remain about as they have been for several
weeks excepting that the price of rails has been advancing for
the last few days.
6. Steel men are of the opinion that to increase prices too
rapidly would spoil a good market because most of the mills are
so filled up with orders that they would not be able to take
advantage of increased quotations for some time to come.
7. The steel business for the last three months has been very
encouraging as it shows that railroads are dropping their policy
of waiting until the last minute to buy. It will probably mean
more normal operation of mills instead of spasmodic workings as
has been the case for the last few years.
8. Boraxated soap chips will benefit your tableware and your
hands making dishwashing a pleasure instead of a task.
9. The man who works to the limit of his physical powers is
as foolish as the manufacturer who immediately invests all his
profits in his business neglecting to have a reserve fund for unex-
pected demands.
10. A wide-awake manager tries plan after plan testing and
re-testing them until he can apply them to his company^s needs.
Write four sentences illustrating Rule 10.
I90 COMPOSITION
Exercise i88
Be able to justify the use of each punctuation mark in
the following selection from The Washington Star:
The Dead Letter Sale
Ten thousand pieces of mail matter in the dead letter sale!
That means 10,000 extremely careless people who have tried to
use the postal service during the last year and whom all the
expertness of the postal officials has not been able to assist in
getting their letters and packages to their destinations. Come
to think of it, that means a remarkable degree of thoughtlessness
and inattention to detail on the part of the senders of mail matter.
It would naturally seem that any one intrusting a letter or a
parcel to the post would make sure of a properly written address
or a sufficient wrapping, but the experience of many years proves
that a large percentage of people are either too much in a hurry
or too trustful to the carefulness and shrewdness of the postal
authorities to attend to these details themselves. A good many
senders of mail matter forget that their own particular item is
only one of millions, that it is handled speedily and often roughly,
that it must travel perhaps hundreds of miles and be shifted about
from hand to hand, and that in this course strings will be untied,
seals broken, and flimsy wrappings lost.
But the chief difficulty lies in illegible addressing. By no
means all of the dead letter pieces have been sent by iUiterate
people struggling with their chirography. It is not a lack of
education, but a lack of care, that is the root of the trouble. Again,
comparatively few people take the precaution to write the name
and address of the sender on mail matter or give any indication
of the sort to enable the post-office to return it, in case it cannot
be delivered. If this warning were observed, the annual dead
letter sales would be of trifling proportions.
Why is there no comma after each of the following?
1. getting their letters (Sentence 2)
2. properly written address (Sentence 4)
3. too much in a hurry
4. forget (Sentence 5)
5. hundreds of miles
6. mail matter (Sentence 9)
PUNCTUATION 191
Exercise 189
Study the punctuation in the following selections from
The Wall Street Journal; then write them from dictation:
Trouble in Introducing Steel
"Strange as it now seems," said one of Carnegie's "young
men," now the vice-president of a large and prosperous corpora-
tion in New York, "in the early days of the steel industry we had
the greatest difficulty in the world in weaning the old manu-
facturers away from the use of wrought iron/ though they ad-
mitted the superiority of steel. They would look at it, test it,
and agree that it seemed to possess all the desirable qualities
claimed for it,' but it was more or less untried by time, and they
preferred to stick to the old wrought iron, with which they were
familiar.
"I remember one old chap with whom I had wrestled long,
but in vain, coming into my office and picking up a long, soft
steel rivet, which had been bent double and hammered flat.
"^How many did you break in making this? ' he asked, picking
it up and examining it curiously.
"'That's the first one we hammered over, and, what is more
to the point, we can do it with all steel of that type,' I replied.
"The polite incredulity in his face stirred my professional
pride, and I said, ' If I let you go to the mills, pick out a dozen of
those rivets just as they come from the rolls, and hammer them
with your own hands, will you use that steel hereafter, if it comes
up to the test ? '
"He said he would, and the rest was easy, for it is much easier
not to break than to break that kind of steel. Before long the
old man came back with perspiration dripping from the end of
his nose but with the light of conviction shining in his eye. The
firm had a new customer."
2
Conservation
Leslie M. Shaw, former Secretary of the Treasury, was in New
York, attending a meeting of a board of which he is a member.
Something was said about the present-day discussion of money
192 COMPOSITION
power, and Shaw said that it reminded him of a speech he had
made in Seattle in the campaign of 1896.
"I was speaking to a filled hall and had almost finished/' said
Shaw, "when a long- whiskered man arose about the middle of
the hall and held up his hand, saying he wanted to ask a question.
''^Go ahead,' I said.
'^^How, then, Mr. Speaker, do you explain the unequal distri-
bution of wealth? ' was his question.
*' When I answered him with, *In the same way that I explain
the unequal distribution of whiskers,' bedlam broke loose.
"As soon as I could get quiet restored, I said: 'Now don't
think I returned the answer I did to make fun of your whiskers.
You will observe that I have no whiskers, as I dissipate them by
shaving them off. Nature gives me abundance of whiskers, and,
if I conserved them as you do, I also should be abundantly sup-
plied. Now, it is the same way with money. The man who
conserves his money has more than his share, as with whiskers;
while the man who dissipates his money is without his allotment.' "
Exercise 190 — The Semicolon (;)
The semicolon is used between the propositions of a com-
pound sentence when no coordinate conjunction is used.
(See Exercise 176, 2.)
It is not work that kills men; it is worry.
It is important not to overdo this use of the semicolon.
Do not use it unless the two principal clauses of the
sentence taken together easily form one idea.
Especial care must be taken not to confuse coordinate
conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs. The following are
conjunctive adverbs: then, therefore, consequently, moreover,
however, so, also, besides, thus, still, otherwise, accordingly.
When they are used to join principal clauses, they should
be preceded by a coordinate conjunction or a semicolon; as,
Fruit was plentiful, and therefore the price was low.
Fruit was plentiful; therefore the price was low.
When there is a series of phrases or clauses, each of which
is long and contains commas within itself, the sentence
PUNCTUATION 193
becomes clearer if the members of the series are separated
by semicolons instead of by commas; as,
You know how prolific the American mind has been in inven-
tion; how much civilization has been advanced by the steam-
boat, the cotton-gin, the sewing-machine, the reaping-machine,
the typewriter, the electric light, the telephone, the phonograph.
Write the following from dictation :
No man can deny that the lines of endeavor have more and
more narrowed and stiffened; no one who knows anything about
the development of industry in this country can fail to have
observed that the larger kinds of credit are more and more difficult
to obtain, unless you obtain them upon the terms of uniting your
efforts with those who already control the industries of the country;
and nobody can fail to observe that any man who tries to set him-
self up in competition with any process of manufacture which
has been taken under the control of large combinations of capital
will presently find himself either squeezed out or obliged to sell
and allow himself to be absorbed. — Woodrow Wilson: The New
Freedom,
2
If the total amount of savings deposited in the savings banks
were equally divided among the population of the country, the
amount apportioned to each person in 1820 would have been
twelve cents; in 1830, fifty-four cents; in 1840, eighty-two cents;
in 1850, $1.87; in i860, $4.75; in 1870, $14.26; in 1880, $16.33;
in 1890, $24.75; in 1900, $31.78; in 1910, $45.05, and it is steadily
increasing. Remember the fact that the population had increased
from 10,000,000 in 1820 to over 90,000,000 in 1910; the "rainy
day" money, therefore, assumes gigantic proportions.
3
In Germany, says The Scientific American , wood is too expensive
to be burned, and it is made into artificial silk worth two dollars
a pound and bristles worth four dollars a pound; into paper,
yarn, twine, carpet, canvas, and cloth. Parquet flooring is made
from sawdust; the materials may be bought by the pound and
then mixed, so that the householder can lay his own hardwood
floors according to his individual taste and ingenuity.
194 COMPOSITION
4
The country gentlemen and country clergymen had fully ex-
pected that the policy of these ministers would be directly opposed
to that which had been almost constantly followed by William;
that the landed interest would be favored at the expense of trade;
that no addition would be made to the funded debt; that the
privileges conceded to Dissenters by the late king would be cur-
tailed, if not withdrawn; that the war with France, if there
must be such a war, would, on our part, be almost entirely naval;
and that the government would avoid close connections with
foreign powers and, above all, with Holland. — Macatday.
Exercise 191 — The Colon (:)
The colon is always used to indicate that something of
importance follows, usually an enumeration or a list of
some kind, or a quotation of several sentences or para-
graphs; as,
1. Three things are necessary: intelligence, perseverance, and
tact.
2. The buffalo supplies them with almost all the necessities
of life: with habitation, food, and clothing; with strings for their
bows; with thread, cordage, and trail-ropes for their horses; with
coverings for their saddles; and with the means of purchasing all
that they desire from traders.
3. Quoting from the current number of the Magazine, he
read: (four paragraphs).
Punctuate:
1. For the first fifty miles we had companions with us Troche
a little trapper and Rouville a nondescript in the employ of the
fur company.
2. About a week previous four men had arrived from beyond
the mountains Sublette Reddick and two others.
3. Reynal was gazing intently he began to speak at last
"Many a time when I was with the Indians I have been hunting
gold all through the Black Hills there's a plenty of it here you
may be certain of that I have dreamed about it fifty times " etc.
4. Objects familiar from childhood surrounded me crags and
rocks a black and sullen brook that gurgled with a hollow voice
among the crevices a wood of mossy distorted trees.
PUNCTUATION 195
Exercise 192
The colon is used after thus, as follows j the following, or
similar expressions; as,
Name the adverbs in the following: He left hurriedly rather
early in the morning.
The colon is not used after namely, as, that is, for example,
for instance, and the like. Such expressions are preceded
by the, semicolon and followed by the comma.
Punctuate the following:
1. The Christmas presents that he wants are the following
a toy train a toy automobile a toy circus and a printing press.
2. Do the exercise thus first lunge to the left second raise the
arms forward and third wind the wand.
3. We are offering for sale three residences of the size that you
wish namely 438 Bishop Ave 1614 Winchester St and 2015 Logan
Square.
4. The following are the two that we liked best 438 Bishop
Ave and 2015 Logan Square.
5. One use of the comma is to set off an appositive for example
Mr Kearne the buyer has left the city.
6. The comma is used to set off an independent adverb as
We have not yet decided however when we shall leave.
7. The plan is this I'll do the work and you pay for the materials.
8. The officers are as follows Edward Lawrence for President
John Kelly for Secretary and Fred Morrison for Treasurer.
Exercise 193 — The Dash( — )
The dash is used to separate parenthetical expressions that
have very little connection with the rest of the sentence; as,
In New York the Harlem River tunnel was comparatively a
simple one, but the first East River tunnels — the two subway
tubes from the Battery to Brooklyn — presented all the difi&culties
known to subaqueous construction.
These tunnels extend on under the great Pennsylvania terminal
building — another of the same decade's accomplishments — to
East Thirty-fourth Street.
196 COMPOSITION
The dash is also used to indicate a sudden change or break
in the thought; as,
1 . When the millennium comes — if it ever does — all of our
problems will be solved.
2. "I believe — " began the lawyer.
"Believe!'' interrupted his client. "I don't want you to
believe. I want you to know."
The dash is used before a word that summarizes the pre-
ceding part of the sentence; as,
He had robbed himself of the most precious thing a man can
have in business — his friends.
After a comma the dash has the effect of lengthening the
separation; as.
One thing the Puritans desired, — freedom to worship God.
Exercise 194 — Parenthesis Marks ()
Parenthesis marks are used to enclose explanatory expres-
sions that are not an essential part of the sentence; as,
The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that
the receipts of cattle at the six leading markets (Chicago, St.
Louis, Kansas City, South Omaha, St. Joseph, and Sioux City)
from January i to August i of this year are 15 per cent less
than they were in the corresponding period of last year.
Wrong. — Do not use parenthesis marks to cancel a word
or a passage. A line should be drawn through a word that is
wrong.
Bring to class five sentences that illustrate the correct
use of parenthesis marks.
Exercise 195 — The Hjrphen (-)
The hyphen is used when a word has been divided. It is
always used at the end of the line and never at the beginning.
When several short words are taken together to form one
word, they are hyphenated; as,
PUNCTUATION 197
a one-hundred-pound bag of coffee
As a rule, when two words taken together are each accented,
they must be written with the hyphen. When only one is
accented, no hyphen is used; as,
follow-up, first-class, self-reliant, railroad, steamship
As a rule, nouns which are compounded of a participle
and a noun use the hyphen; as,
talking-machine, driving-wheel
When fractions are written out, the hyphen is used; as,
one-third, three-fifths
In other numerals expressing a compound number the
hyphen is also used; as,
twenty-one, sixty-six
Exercise 196
Selections for dictation taken from Harper^s Weekly:
I
The Secret Blotter
Every foreign office acts on the theory that an army of spies
is constantly on the alert to steal its secrets, and infinite pre-
cautions are taken to baffle their efforts. Shortly after blotting
paper was first used, it was discovered that it was quite possible
to cause a blotting pad to give up jealously guarded secrets by
simply holding it in front of a mirror. Long after the commercial
world had forgotten the existence of such a thing, the British
Foreign Office used a sand shaker to dry its important written
documents. Afterward a specially manufactured black blotting
paper was used, but this was not found to be absolutely spy-proof,
and a return to the sand shaker was being considered when some
one suggested the simple expedient of a small absorbent roller.
These rollers have since been used for drying diplomatic docu-
ments. When such a roller has been run up and down and across
a document once or twice, the cleverest spy in the world is at
liberty to try to decipher the impressions.
1 98 COMPOSITION
A Mummy's Doll
There is a doll in the British Museum that is more than three
thousand years old. When some archaeologists were exploring
an ancient Egyptian tomb, they came upon a sarcophagus con-
taining the mummy of a little princess seven years old. She was
dressed and interred in a manner befitting her rank, and in her
arms she held a little wooden doll. The inscription gave the name,
rank, and age of the little girl and the date of her death, but it
said nothing about the quaint little wooden doll. This, however,
told its own story; it was so tightly clasped in the arms of the
mummy that the child, it was evident, had died with her beloved
doll in her arms. The doll occupies a place in a glass case in
the museum, and there a great many English children go to gaze
upon it.
JcA^
//^^f
CHAPTER XIII
THE CLEAR SENTENCE
Business men like to talk of brevity. They tell you that
a talk or a letter must be brief. What they really mean is
that the talk or the letter must be concise; that it must
state the business clearly in the fewest possible words.
Don't omit any essential fact when you write, but don't
repeat. If you can express an idea in ten words, don't use
twenty. In a later exercise we shall meet the sentence.
The size of the crops is always important, and it is especially
so to the farmer, and this is because he has to live by the
crops. The writer of that sentence was very careless. He
had a good idea and thought that, if he kept repeating
it, he would make it stronger. Just the reverse is true.
The sentence may be expressed in a very few words: The
size of the crop is vitally important to the farmer.
If you wish to secure conciseness of expression, be espe-
cially careful to avoid joining or completing thoughts by these
expressions: and, so, why, that is why, this is the reason,
and everything.
In this chapter we shall consider some of the larger faults
that should be avoided in sentences.
Exercise 197 — Unity of the Sentence
Give the definition of a sentence.
How many thoughts may one sentence express?
What is likely to happen when two thoughts are joined
by and? What, then, is the danger in using the compound
sentence?
200 COMPOSITION
The compound sentence is good to use to express certain
ideas, especially the contrast; as,
It is not work that kills men; it is worry.
It is not the revolution that destroys the machinery, but the
friction [but it is the friction].
The sentences which most clearly and easily give us one
thought are the simple and the complex sentences.
Compare the following sentences. Which of them leave
one idea in your mind?
The tongue is a sharp-edged tool.
A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with
constant use.
A sharp tongue is like an edged tool, and it grows keener with
constant use.
Exercise 198
The following is wordy. Rewrite it, condensing as much
as possible. Use simple and complex sentences rather than
compound.
In the early summer the corn crop frequently seems to be very
poor, and so reports begin to circulate that corn will be high in
the autumn, but when the autumn really comes. Wall Street,
that great center of business life, begins to see that the reports
have been greatly exaggerated and that crops really will be very
good, and so business begins to pick up. The size of the crop
largely settles the volume of the next season's business, because
so great a part of the world's business activity is made up of buy-
ing and selling the actual potatoes and com and wheat and cattle
or the products made from these, and when the crop is poor there
are a great many people concerned, because they will be poor
just as the crops are poor, and this applies to the farmer as well
as to the dealer.
The size of the crops is always important, and is especially so
to the farmer, and this is because he has to live by the crops. A
man may be living in the city and working for a salary and begin
to see that his work is not supporting him, and if he is an ambi-
tious man, he will change his occupation. This the farmer cannot
do because he has made an enormous investment; in the first
r
THE CLEAR SENTENCE 201
place, he has invested in his land, and then in his seed and farm
implements, and this investment often means all the available
money the farmer has, and often it means a mortgage on his farm.
He puts the mortgage on his farm in hope of getting a good crop,
and when his hope is not realized, he is in trouble, because he
may lose his whole farm if he cannot pay the installments of inter-
est due on his mortgage; but then, on the other hand, if we con-
sider the other side of the question, when the crop is large, the
situation is altogether different. Even if the farmer has put a
mortgage on his farm, he gets enough money from his produce
to pay the debt of that mortgage, and he need not worry how he
is to live during the next winter.
The town merchants depend on a good crop, because, if the
farmer has not a good return from his fields, he • will have almost
no ready money, and so he cannot buy much clothing or household
furnishings. In Iowa, for instance, there is a little town in the
center of a corn-raising community, and it is here that the farm-
ers congregate to do their buying, and in this town there is quite
a large department store, and it is run by a woman. She does
most of her buying in the autumn and she prefers to do it person-
ally, and so she likes to make a trip to New York for the purpose,
but she never sets out until she knows that the corn crop is good.
And the reason for this is that she knows that it will cost her hun-
dreds of dollars to make the trip East, to stay at a good hotel, and
to spend the requisite length of time choosing her purchases at
the different wholesale houses, and she knows that if there is
no corn crop she will sell very few coats and hats and lace cur-
tains, and it will never pay her to run up her expenses into the
hundreds of dollars, but she will buy as best she can from the
drummers, and buy only a little, and thus the size of the crop
determines how much the farmer can buy, and, therefore, how
much the wholesale and retail dealers can sell.
Exercise 199 — Subordination in the Sentence
Sentences containing compound predicates may be made
more direct in thought if one of the verbs is changed to a
participle or an infinitive, because the predicate will then
express only one action; as,
I. The carpenter threw down his hammer and walked out of
the shop.
202 COMPOSITION
2. Throwing down his hammer, the carpenter walked out of
the shop.
3. I went downtown and applied for the position.
4. I went downtown to apply for the position.
Change the following sentences so that one action is
denoted by the predicate of each:
1. A teamster drove out of the alley east of the theater and
swung his horses directly in front of a Madison street car.
2. The tongue struck the front of the car and bored a hole
in the fuse box.
3. The fire spread and burned the roof of the car.
4. The half dozen passengers were badly frightened and got
out quickly.
5. Several people ran and turned in a fire alarm.
6. In a few minutes the fire engines arrived and began to
fight the flames.
7. Crowds came from all directions and silently watched the
flames.
8. The people poured out of the theater and cheered the fire-
men.
9. The half dozen passengers soon recovered and stood on the
curbstone in the crowd.
10. The firemen did their work quickly and departed amid
the cheers of the crowd.
Exercise 200 — Combination of Short Sentences
Sometimes short sentences are bad because two or three
of them are needed to express one complete thought. If
that is the case, they should be combined, the most im-
portant detail being put into the principal clause, and the
other details into modifiers, as in the preceding exercise.
Make use of —
1. Adjectives.
2. Adverbs.
3. Participial phrases.
4. Infinitives.
5. Relative pronouns.
6. Subordinate conjunctions.
THE CLEAR SENTENCE 203
Below, the first and second sentences together make one
thought, which is expressed in the third.
John is a good reporter.
That is why he earns a good salary.
Because John is a good reporter, he earns a good salary.
Combine the sentences of each group below into a single
sentence, either simple or complex, omitting as many words
as possible but no ideas:
1. We stayed at home for two reasons: first of all, we thought
Baltimore might be unpleasantly warm. Then, the other reason
was that we thought we ought to economize.
2. In China the wedding takes place at the bridegroom's
house. This has been decorated with strips of bright red paper,
and they have the word '^Hsi" on them. This means ''Live in
happiness.''
3. First in the procession come the standard bearers. They
are hired for the occasion. These men have red coats put on over
their dirty clothes. The men they hire are usually beggars.
4. Six years ago I went sailing on Lake George with my father.
I was ten years old at that time. Two other men went along with
us. The boat that we went in belonged to my father and these
men.
5. The wind was high and it would come in gusts. This
made it hard to sail. It shifted the sails so quickly that it would
throw the boat over on one side.
6. Several times the boat leaned over at an angle of forty
degrees. This let the water come in on that side. When this
happened, we all had to jump to the other side. We did this so
that the boat would right itself.
7. The heart is the most important organ in the body. This
is because if the heart stops beating, you cannot live. Besides,
all the other organs are connected with it. It is something like
the main spring in a watch.
8. This is a good machine. And since that's the case, I don't
see why it is that it doesn't work as it should.
9. In every business there are many bad debts. Some can
be collected and others cannot be. This is because the men who
made them were given credit, and they didn't have any money.
10. The night was dark, and there were no stars. The fisher-
204 COMPOSITION
men stood on the shore, and they gazed at the wild sea. A storm
had arisen, and they could not go out in their boats.
Exercise 201
As in the preceding exercise, rewrite the following, omit-
ting as many words as possible, but no ideas. Use shorter,
simpler expressions wherever possible.
Uncle Sam now has an aerial navy, but it's a small one, and
foundations of it were recently laid. This was done when con-
tracts were signed for the delivery of three aeroplanes and they
are the first aeroplanes that the United States bought. These
aeroplanes are of the latest development. They are all capable
of rising from land or water. They are able also to land on
water or on the deck of a ship, and they can carry at least one
passenger and are equipped with wireless outfits. Two of them
are Curtis machines and the third is a Wright, and they ranged
in price from $2,700 to $5,500.
2
The United States produces more steel than any two European
countries, and it is continuing to produce more. Moreover, it
has the productive capacity to produce more than any other three
or four countries put together. This capacity is being still further
increased. At the present time, there is one very important steel
company. It is very large, and seems to wish to monopolize the
entire iron and steel industry. Even at this time it owns half
the principal plants that are now producing steel and iron, and
controls half the trade of the entire steel and iron industry, and
when such a thing happens, it is a matter of international concern.
3
Condense the following into a single sentence, either
simple or complex:
The iron and steel industry is very important, and it includes
a great deal. First, the ore has to be mined, and then the work
includes everything up to making the finest wire for , musical
instruments. Or, to put it another way, you can say from smelt-
THE CLEAR SENTENCE 205
ing the ore to building a battle ship. This is a very interesting
occupation and, as said before, very important. There is hardly
anything more interesting or important except agriculture.
Exercise 202 — Dangling Expressions
Sometimes a sentence is not clear because it contains a
participle which does not modify anything in the sentence.
A participle is part verb and part adjective. As a verb, it
expresses the idea of the verb from which it is derived. As
an adjective, it must modify a noun or a pronoun. The
important point is that this noun or pronoun must be ex-
pressed in the sentence and not lie in the mind of the writer,
as it does in the following:
Riding from Saugatuck to Holland last year, the country
showed unmistakable signs of lack of rain.
Here the writer means, We saw that the country, etc., but
he says that the country rode from Saugatuck to Holland.
Again, an expression may be used which is really an incom-
plete clause. Do not use such a clause, unless the under-
stood subject is the same as the subject expressed in the
independent proposition.
Wrong: When almost exhausted, the camp was reached.
Right: When almost exhausted, we reached the camp.
Recast the following sentences, correcting the dangling
expressions :
1. You should not stop studying your lessons until thoroughly
prepared.
2. In talking to the postman yesterday, he said that his route
had been changed.
3. Owing two months' rent, the foreman laid me off.
4. Before becoming a physician, the law sets a very severe
examination.
5. Having eaten our luncheon very hastily, the typewriters
were soon clicking merrily again.
2o6 COMPOSITION
6. The difficulty could easily be settled, going about it in the
right way.
7. Although determined to get my money, the task was harder
than I had expected.
8. Having installed an adding machine, our office work could
be done in half the time.
9. On entering the car, the first thing that caught my atten-
tion was the sign at the end.
10. Silk should be washed with warm water and a mild soap,
being careful not to rub it.
11. The house was redecorated, making it clean and home-
Hke.
12. The book should be carefully studied, reviewing each
chapter after it is read.
13. Going to work this morning, an accident happened.
14. Having entered college, Mr. Brown watched his son's
progress with pride.
15. Soon after abandoning the boat, it sank.
16. They say he will be lame, caused by a fall on the ice while
skating.
^ 17. While trying to break the half mile record, his back was
injured.
18. Many people object to football, because in tackling the
boys' hearts are weakened.
19. He did not wish to take up an extra study, thus lessening
his chance of being eligible for athletics.
20. While a child, my father often told me stories of Indian
days.
21. Absorbed all day in superintending his work, in the evening
the newspaper brought him political news enough to fill the hours
between dinner and bed-time.
22. Discussing the happenings in the ward with an old crony,
his daughter would often sit near him listening.
23. He is failing in his work, caused by his laziness.
24. Although a good tonic, I did not gain weight while
taking it.
25. In the new telephone, upon lifting the receiver, a ticking
sound is heard.
26. Leaving the window open when she went to lunch, of course
the papers were disarranged on her return.
27. Dictionaries must be returned to the desk after using.
THE CLEAR SENTENCE 207
Exercise 203 — Pronouns with Uncertain Antecedents
Sometimes the meaning of a sentence is not clear because
the pronouns have uncertain antecedents.
1. Sometimes a pronoun may refer to either of two
antecedents; as,
Wrong: He gave his brother John the umbrella and then he
left.
Right: He gave the umbrella to his brother John, who then left.
2. Sometimes the sentence must be entirely recast and
a direct quotation used before the pronouns can be made
clear; as,
Wrong: Tom told his father that his suit case was lost.
Right: a. Tom said, '^Father, your suit case is lost.''
b. Tom said, ''Father, my suit case is lost."
3. Sometimes the pronoun refers to a word that has not
been expressed or to an idea. In that case, the antecedent
must be supplied; as.
Wrong: If any one wishes to contribute to the cause, let him
send it in the enclosed envelope.
Right: If any one wishes to contribute to the cause, let him send
his contribution in the enclosed envelope.
Wrong: I wouldn't wear mittens. Nobody does that nowadays.
Right: I wouldn't wear mittens. Nobody wears them nowa-
days.
4. A sentence containing an indefinite they or it is cor-
rected thus:
Wrong: Don't they have street cars where you live?
Right: Are there no street cars where you live?
Recast the following:
1. She asked her mother if she could go, and she said she
thought she ought to stay at home.
2. John told James he was sure he did not know the office
that he meant.
3. George told his father his watch had stopped.
2o8 COMPOSITION
4. The manager asked the clerk to bring his book.
5. A light touch is important in a typewriter, because it makes
it easy to write upon it.
6. The size of the crops is important to the farmers, because
they have to live by them.
7. They decided to reorganize the company, which is always
a difficult task.
8. They went into the hands of a receiver, which is an indica-
tion that the affairs of the company had been poorly managed.
9. There is a boat on the lake over which there is a pleasant
view, in which there is a club for working girls.
10. He stole some money which brought about an investigation.
11. She asked her aunt how old she was.
12. John is famous for telling anecdotes, and he got it by
remembering every story he reads.
13. The sleighing party last night was a success, which is not
always the case.
14. He told a lie, which is a bad thing to do.
15. They engaged a gardener, which doubled their monthly
expenses.
16. Why don't you get some of that new fur trimming for
your blue dress?
17. They had an accident on the street car this morning.
18. In the newspaper it said that the lecture would begin at
8:15.
19. They don't find iron in Illinois, do they?
20. Do they have the original paintings in our art gallery?
21. It says ''Closed" on that door.
22. It doesn't mention a bank draft in this book.
23. They have a great many foreigners in New York City.
24. John accompanied his brother to the city where he bought
a typewriter.
25. I had expected to take the 9:30 train, but I couldn't do it.
26. Going up to the horse he put a lump of sugar into his
mouth.
27. In letter writing one should always be exact and arrange
them in the customary form.
28. Those hooks are not rust-proof because the back of my
dress is stained with it.
29. The telephone is a great convenience to all. They are
now used in almost every house.
THE CLEAR SENTENCE 209
30. As we game down the road, it sounded like a train, which,
as we approached, grew louder and louder.
Exercise 204 — Misplaced Modifiers
Sometimes a sentence is not clear because a modifier does
not stand close to the word it modifies.
Wrong: I can't even do the first problem.
Right: I can't do even the first problem.
Change* the order of words in the following sentences,
placing each modifier as closely as possible to the word
which it modifies. Some of the sentences are incorrect
because they contain split infinitives. (See Exercise 92.)
1. I only waited for him about ten minutes.
2. She stood at the window, trying to close it with a troubled
face.
3. The city is supplied with water from cold springs which
flow nearly a hundred million gallons of the purest liquid that ever
burst from the earth, daily .^
4. The famous S. F. ice cream is made in this factory con-
taining fifty per cent pure cream.
5. A man should not be allowed^ to cast a vote, who cannot
read and write.
6. After taking the medicine for a short time, the appetite
is improved, and a desire is created for food, that has not existed
before.
7. In real value, this magazine towers head and shoulders
over all others to the woman who is in charge of her home.
8. There are pages of fashion news and embroidery hints and
news articles of the day that will appeal to the husband and
father as the others do to the wife and daughter as well as depart-
ments for the children.
9. The number of the sewing machine is 37A with a drop
head.
10. They neither are gentle nor well-mannered.
11. I only heard about the trouble yesterday.
12. He left the same station at which, thirty years before, he
had arrived very humbly, in his own special car.
13. He urged his brother to buy a home in his letter.
2IO COMPOSITION
14. The lighting system has been developed to a really remark-
able degree of perfection for the trains.
15. The dynamo is so arranged that when the train is standing
still or only traveling twenty miles an hour, the lamps are lighted
from a storage battery.
16. The batteries must be large enough during the run to carry
the entire lighting load.
17. Please send me 6 Dining Tables No. 46 that extend to
ten feet as soon as possible.
18. Large trees grow on each side of the house which is a ram-
bling affair shutting out the light.
19. They decided to give a bonus to the one doing the best
work, amounting to fifty dollars.
20. We had almost got to the comer before we saw the fire.
21. I don't ever remember having seen so big a fire.
22. Remember to thoroughly oil the machine.
23. Do you need to in any way alter the machine?
24. If we expect to completely fill the order to-day, we need
more help.
Exercise 205 — Omission of .Necessary Words
Sometimes a sentence is not clear because a word has been
omitted that is necessary .to the sense; as,
Wrong: The two officers that they elected are the president and
secretary.
Right: The two officers that they elected are the president and
the secretary.
Wrong: His writing is as good or better than yours.
Right: His writing is as good as or better than yours.
Wrong: The library is where we go to read.
Right: The library is the place where we go to read.
State the difference between the following typewriter
ribbons:
1. A red and blue and black ribbon.
2. A red and a blue and black ribbon.
3. A red and blue and a black ribbon.
4. A red and a blue and a black ribbon.
THE CLEAR SENTENCE 21 1
Supply the omitted part in each of the following:
1. I always have and I'm sure I always shall be considerate
of others' feelings.
2. They have a stenographer and bookkeeper, who are kept
busy all day.
3. I believe he has already or will soon begin the work.
4. The cushions of the rocker are much softer than the arm-
chair.
5. The arrangement of your flat is much more convenient
than our house.
6. The number of shelves in your sideboard is just the same
as our china closet.
7. I think the articles you ordered will arrive as soon or sooner
than you expect.
8. She is as tall or taller than you.
9. When your message arrived, I had already or at least had
decided to begin cutting the goods.
10. It may not be better but it is fully as good as the other
article.
11. I think you cook fully as well if not better than your sister.
12. His poems hold a place in our hearts second only to the
Bible.
13. Your idea is as good if not better than mine.
14. We decided to make the change both for the sake of health
and economy.
15. You will find the armchair fully as comfortable, if not
more so, than the rocker.
16. The river is where we had the most fun.
17. I know you better than Mary.
18. She went to the park but I didn't care to.
19. We didn't object to the scheme as much as you.
20. A conservatory is where there are all kinds of flowers.
Exercise 206 — Shift in Construction
Sometimes the meaning of the sentence is obscure because
there has been a shift in construction. Do not change sub-
ject, person, tense, or any grammatical form without a good
reason. Remember that and is a coordinate conjunction.
If there is an adjective before and, there must be an adjec-
212 COMPOSITION
tive after it. If a clause precedes, a clause must follow.
In other words, and joins two members of exactly the same
structure. And may not join one word and a phrase, nor
may it join a prepositional and a participial phrase. Both
members must be alike. In the following extract, parallel
constructions are used correctly. Be able to tell what kinds
of elements are used and how they are parallel.
To eat your cake and keep it too; to wear a gown with the air
of originality and distinction, and keep a full purse; to have
your house display taste and refinement, and be praised as an
economical housewife; to dress your children daintily, and save
money for their education — use ABC transfer patterns. By
their aid you can make an inexpensive waist look like a French
blouse, have table linen of unrivaled elegance, and dress your
babies in the most approved style. These patterns cost, —
some ten, some fifteen cents. They cover the entire field of
dress, — waists, tunics, panels, infants' clothes, underwear, men's
apparel, and neckwear; and of household articles, — towels, table-
linen, and pillow tops.
Recast the following sentences, correcting the shift of
construction in each:
1. In the large department stores every clerk is to report
on her way to lunch and coming back.
2. When one hears a cry of *' Fire," your first thought is to run.
3. He seemed fond of his work and to have skill in doing it
quickly.
4. I decided on taking the trip and to keep my expenses within
fifty dollars if possible.
5. X Y Z Cleaner is good for softening water and other
household uses.
6. Because of the rise in the price of meats and owing to the
fact that grocers charge more for butter and eggs, people find it
hard to live.
7. The ofiice is well-heated and with plenty of light.
8. The crowds began to watch the fire and cheering loudly.
9. I heard the opera last year and have gone again this year.
10. It was wonderful to see how fast they worked and their
accuracy.
THE CLEAR SENTENCE 213
11. I can't decide whether to take up stenography or if book-
keeping is better.
12. He taught us the principles of letter writing, and some-
what of advertising was taken up.
13. Hoping that the work progressed, and unless a landslide
occurred, the Americans expected to remove 5,000,000 cubic
yards each year.
14. The study of the earth has always been stimulated by two
fundamental passions of humanity — a desire for wealth and
because of their curiosity.
15. He insists on our taking the trip and to go without
further delay.
16. In reviewing, it is well to go over each part of the course
carefully, and you should make a note of every point which you
do not understand, and let each ask those questions which he
himself cannot answer.
17. Mr. Fitzmorris is a man of great technical skill and who
has handled the situation capably.
18. It will cost her hundreds of dollars to make the trip East
and spending the requisite length of time choosing her purchases
at the different wholesale houses.
19. He had assumed control of the office, planned the adver-
tising, and the finances were also directed by him.
20. We have decided to go on the excursion to the Capitol
and at the same time visiting Uncle John.
Exercise 207
What prevents clearness in the following?
1. The Federal Government began an investigation into fire
conditions in Europe in 1907, through our consuls.
2. It cost $2.39 a year for fire in the United States between
1 901 and 19 10, for every man, woman, and child, and Germany
does not even pay nineteen cents.
3. The number of our fires is increasing, which is worse.
4. In ten years our population has increased 73 per cent and
134 per cent is the increase in fires.
5. Having considered the details, the conclusion is easily
drawn that fire is a disgrace.
6. He only gets to the office at ten o'clock.
7. Having settled the plan of attack, the rest was simple.
214 COMPOSITION
8. The manager warned him not to make the mistake again
and adding that mistakes are costly.
9. To keep flannels from shrinking, wash in the following
way, and you will find it very satisfactory.
10. To open a fruit jar run a knife under the edge and it comes
off easily.
11. I didn't even finish half the questions.
12. Electric lights are economical, clean, and give more light
than gas.
13. You should buy your suit now, both for the sake of econ-
omy and style.
14. If in doubt as to the best word, a book of synonyms
should be consulted.
15. The comma fault is where two principal clauses are run
together without a coordinate conjunction.
Rewrite the following so that it will be correct, concise,
and clear:
The Europeans were anxious for trade with the East, for
they were dependent upon them for spices and luxuries. The
three routes were through the Mediterranean Sea, over the Suez
Peninsula, down the Red Sea, and across to India. Another was
through the Mediterranean and then through Arabia. The other
was from the Mediterranean and then through the Black Sea and
then by land to India. It became necessary to seek a new route
because the Turks held Constantinople, and all vessels had to pass
through the Mediterranean, and the Turks held this by pirates.
The first explorers were working under the leadership of the King
of Portugal, and they solved the problem by going around Africa
and then to the Indies, but this was too long, and so explorers
tried other ways, and the result was the discovery of America.
CHAPTER XIV
THE PARAGRAPH
The sentences developing each of the divisions of a com-
position make one paragraph. A paragraph, therefore, is
the treatment of one of the natural divisions of a subject.
The length depends on the topic to be treated. Two cautions
may be given :
I. Do not write paragraphs containing only one sentence.
Such paragraphs do not represent divisions of the subject.
They are simply statements which have not been expanded
as they deserve, or they are sentences that should be
placed with the preceding or succeeding sentences in order
to make a good paragraph. Some business men use the
one-sentence paragraph too frequently in their letters or
advertisements. It is usually a poor plan, because the
reason a writer divides his composition into paragraphs is
to aid the reader to follow the thoughts he is presenting.
When the reader sees the indentation that indicates a new
paragraph, he thinks that the writer has said all that he
intends to say on the topic in hand and now intends to
open ^ new topic. It is confusing to find that the new para-
graph is simply another sentence on the same topic as the
preceding paragraph. Notice the jerky effect of the follow-
ing extract from a letter:
We are sending you a coDy of our latest catalogue, which gives
illustrations and prices of all our stock.
The illustrations are all made from actual photographs and
are faithful in representing the shoe described.
Bear Brand Shoes are shipped in special fiber cases, thus lessen-
ing freight bills and eliminating the annoyance of shortage claims
because they cannot be opened without immediate detection.
2i6 COMPOSITION
Errors of any kind should be reported without delay.
Imperfect or damaged goods must be returned for our inspec-
tion; otherwise no allowance will be made.
2. Do not go to the other extreme, writing paragraphs of
great length. Much depends, of course, on the matter to
be treated, but, as a rule, in a student's theme a paragraph
should be not longer than one page. If one of the divisions
of your subject is necessarily long, subdivide it, allowing
a paragraph to treat each of the subdivisions.
Whether it is to be long or short, a paragraph must treat
but one topic; from the first sentence to the last, it should
be the development of one idea. Moreover, this topic must
be revealed to the reader in no unmistakable way. Some-
times the subject is so simple that the topic may easily be
gathered from the details given, but usually it is well to
have one sentence that in a brief or general way states the
topic. This is called the topic sentence. It may be at or
near the beginning; in this case the rest of the paragraph
defines or illustrates what it states. It may, however, be
found at almost any point in the paragraph, not infrequently
acting as a sentence of conclusion, summing up the details
that have been presented.
A paragraph that begins with a topic sentence sometimes
ends with a sentence of conclusion. The first sentence
states the topic, the following sentences explain or illustrate
it, and the last sentence summarizes or otherwise indicates
that the topic has been completed. This form has been
called the hammock paragraph, because it has a solid "post"
at each end with a mass of details "swinging" between.
It is a good form to use in writing paragraphs on given
subjects, when each paragraph is to stand alone, complete
in itself, not forming part of a longer composition. The
practice of writing such paragraphs induces clear, forceful
thinking.
THE PARAGRAPH 217
Exercise 208
Study the foHowing paragraphs for —
1. Topic sentence, if there is one.
2. Development of the topic.
3. Sentence of conclusion, if there is one.
The problem in many large firms is how to develop office effi-
ciency to the highest possible degree. In this respect the monthly
examination scheme has been found a great success. The exam-
ination consists of a list of questions about ^merchandise and
business procedure. The questions are given out on the last
Saturday of the month, and the answers are returned for criti-
cism on the following Wednesday. The employees are told that
they may consult as many authorities as they wish, but each man
must write his own paper. A poor percentage in three of these
tests usually means dismissal. Thus the inefficient are dropped,
and the ambitious who have studied are recognized. The vice-
president of one concern that uses this system says that it is a
strong reminder to his men that they must make themselves
worthy of the organization. Besides maintaining an even stand-
ard of efficiency, the plan has resulted in developing a number of
valuable executives, whose latent powers were brought out by the
rigidness of the tests.
2
Every month the department head in one big eastern concern,
watch in hand, times a large force of typists individually, testing
how rapidly they can write a letter of 200 words from their short-
hand notes. Rapidity, punctuation, spelling, and neatness are
carefully recorded. This plan has had a desirable influence in
bringing stenographers up to grade in their daily work, because
a good examination mark is reduced one-half by careless daily
work, and a poor examination mark correspondingly raised by
excellent daily work. When both examination average and daily
average are excellent, the stenographer's salary is increased;
when both are below good, the stenographer is dismissed. In
this way the standard of stenographic work is kept high.
2i8 COMPOSITION
3
In his effort to succeed many a young business man overlooks
the detail of business courtesy. He does not realize the value that
a buyer places upon that commodity. The more experienced
man, however, knows that courtesy does more to hold a buyer
than do bargain sales. In our large cities merchants have in-
curred great expense to fit up rest rooms where customers may
spend an idle hour, write letters on stationery that is provided,
and read the latest magazines. In the rural districts, where such
luxuries are often impossible, the merchant provides chairs for
his customers and a place for stationing their teams. The coun-
try merchant, however, can often accomplish his object more
quickly than the city dealer by spending an hour gossiping with
his customers. He recognizes the fact that buyers are flattered
when the proprietor himself takes the time to say a few words
to them. He knows just as well as his city competitor does,
that if a buyer feels at home in his store, sales are practically
guaranteed.
4
The rural landscape of Norway, on the long easterly slope that
leads up to the watershed among the mountains on the western
coast, is not unlike that of Vermont or New Hampshire. The rail-
way from Christiania to the Randsf jord carried us through a hilly
country of scattered farms and villages. Wood played a promi-
nent part in the scenery. There were dark stretches of forest on
the hilltops and in the valleys; rivers filled with floating logs;
sawmills beside the waterfalls; wooden farmhouses painted white;
and rail-fences around the fields. The people seemed sturdy,
prosperous, independent. They had the familiar habit of coming
down to the station to see the train arrive and depart. We might
have fancied ourselves on a journey through the Connecticut
valley if it had not been for the soft sing-song of the Norwegian
speech and the uniform politeness of the railway officials.
— Van Dyke: Fisherman'^s Liick.
5
The plan of the Spectator must be allowed to be both original
and eminently happy. Every valuable essay in the series may be
read with pleasure separately; yet the five or six hundred essays
form a whole, and a whole which has the interest of a novel. It
must be remembered, too, that at that time no novel, giving a
THE PARAGRAPH 219
lively and powerful picture of the common life and manners of
England, had appeared. Richardson was working as a composi-
tor. Fielding was robbing birds' nests. Smollett was not yet
born. The narrative, therefore, which connects together the
Spectator's essays gave to our ancestors their first taste of an
exquisite and untried pleasure. That narrative was, indeed, con-
structed with no art or labor. The events were such events as
occur every day. Sir Roger comes up to town to see Eugenio, as
the worthy baronet always calls Prince Eugene, goes with the
Spectator on the water to Spring Gardens, walks among the
tombs in the Abbey, and is frightened by the Mohawks, but
conquers his apprehension so far as to go to the theater when the
"Distressed Mother" is acted. The Spectator pays a visit in
the summer to Coverley Hall, is charmed with the old house, the
old butler, and the old chaplain, eats a jack caught by Will Wimble,
rides to the assizes, and hears a point of law discussed by Tom
Touchy. At last a letter from the honest butler brings to the
club the news that Sir Roger is dead. Will Honeycomb marries
and reforms at sixty. The club breaks up, and the Spectator
resigns his functions. Such events can hardly be said to form a
plot; yet they are related with such truth, such grace, such wit,
such humor, such pathos, such knowledge of the human heart,
such knowledge of the ways of the world that they charm us on
the hundredth perusal. We have not the least doubt that if
Addison had written a novel on an extensive plan, it would have
been superior to any that we possess. As it is, he is entitled to be
considered not only as the greatest of the English essayists, but
as the forerunner of the great English novelists.
— Macaulay: Essay on Addison,
Exercise 209
Prepare a paragraph developing each of the following
topic sentences:
1. The kitchen was a cheerful place. (Tell all the details
that will explain the word cheerful.)
2. In the kitchen the preparations for the feast went on merrily.
(Give the details that will help one get the picture.)
3. Examinations are helpful to the student. (In what ways
are they helpful? If possible, use examples to illustrate the
point.)
220 COMPOSITION
4. Winter is more enjoyable than summer. (Contrast the
pleasures of the one with those of the other, showing that those
of winter are more enjoyable.)
5. Riding a motorcycle is apt to make a boy reckless. (De-
velop by using examples.)
6. A man must like his work if he is to succeed in it.
7. Farm lands vary in price.
8. The farmer feeds the world.
9. Every department store should have regular fire drills.
10. Every sale ought to be an advertisement.
Exercise 210
Paragraph the following so that the paragraphs will
represent^ the divisions in thought. If there are any topic
sentences, underline them.
I have often noticed that every one has his own individual
small economies, careful habits of saving fractions of pennies in
some one peculiar direction, any disturbance of which annoys him
more than spending shillings or pounds on some real extravagance.
An old gentleman of my acquaintance, who took the intelligence
of the failure of a Joint Stock Bank, in which some of his money
was invested, with a stoical mildness, worried his family all
through a long summer's day because one of them had torn (in-
stead of cutting) out the written leaves of his now useless bank-
book. Of course, the corresponding pages at the other end came
out as well, and this little unnecessary waste of paper (his pri-
vate economy) chafed him more than all the loss of his money.
Envelopes fretted his soul terribly when they came in. The
only way in which he could reconcile himself to such a waste
of his cherished article was by patiently turning inside out all
that were sent to him, and so making them serve again. Even
now, though tamed by age, I see him casting wistful glances at
his daughters when they send a whole inside of a half-sheet of
note paper, with the three lines of acceptance to an invitation
written on only one of the sides. I am not above owning that
I have this human weakness myself. String is my foible. My
pockets get full of little hanks of it, picked up and twisted to-
THE PARAGRAPH 221
gether, ready for uses that never come. I am seriously annoyed
if any one cuts a string of a parcel instead of patiently and faith-
fully undoing it fold by fold. How people can bring themselves
to use India-rubber bands, which are a sort of deification of string,
as lightly as they do I cannot imagine. To me an India-rubber
band is a precious treasure. I have one which is not new — one
that I picked up off the floor nearly five years ago. I have really
tried to use it, but my heart failed me, and I could not commit
the extravagance. Small pieces of butter grieve others. They
cannot attend to conversation because of the annoyance occa-
sioned by the habit which some people have of invariably taking
more butter than they want. Have you ever seen the anxious
look (almost mesmeric) which such persons fix on the article?
They would feel it a relief if they might bury it out of their sight
by popping it into their own mouths and swallowing it down;
and they are really made happy if the person on whose plate it
lies unused suddenly breaks off a piece of toast (which he does not
want at all) and eats up his butter. They think that this is not
waste. Now, Miss Matty Jenkins was chary of candles. We
had many devices to use as few as possible. In the winter after-
noons she would sit knitting for two or three hours t- she could do
this in the dark or by firelight — and when I asked if I might not
ring for candles to finish stitching my wristbands, she told me to
"keep blind man's holiday." They were usually brought in with
tea, but we burnt only one at a time. As we lived in constant
preparation for a friend who might come in any evening (but who
never did), it required some contrivance to keep our two candles
of the same length, ready to be lighted, and to look as if we burnt
two always. The candles took it in turns; and then, whatever
we might be talking of or doing. Miss Matty kept her eyes habitu-
ally fixed upon the candle, ready to jump up and extinguish it
and light the other before they had become too uneven in length
to be restored to equality in the course of the evening.
— Adapted from Mrs. Gaskell's Cranford,
2
Dear Madam:
We are sorry to say that we have no more house coats No.
SP62 in size s^ at $4.50. As we advertised, SP62 is not a regular
stock number, but represents a collection of $5, $6, and $7.50
coats remaining after the holiday sales and reduced to insure their
222 COMPOSITION
being sold before spring. At the opening of the sale there were
only a few coats in size 38, and they were sold almost at once.
In our catalogue, pages 68 to 71 inclusive, you will find descrip-
tions of all our stock house coats. On page 68 you will see No.
450HC, our regular $4.50 coat. If you would like us to send you
one of these in size 38, we shall forward it to you at once. How-
ever, if you would like a $5, $6, or $7.50 coat, you will, no doubt,
send us the difference in price on receipt of this letter. Of course,
the more expensive garments are made of better materials, but all
our coats show the same excellent workmanship. The best way
for you to get the exact shade of trimming that you wish is to
send us a sample of the goods that you would like to match. We
assure you that we shall take all possible care to send you the
proper color.
Yours truly,
Exercise 211
Paragraphs may be developed in different ways. For
example, if you were going to write on the process of mak-
ing a layer cake, you would explain in detail the different
ingredients in the mixture, the proportion of each, and the
steps in the process before the product could be sold as a
layer cake.
By the use of explanatory details develop the following:
1. Making a kite.
2. Making a baseball.
3. Making fudge.
4. How to play checkers.
5. The manufacture of soap (or any article in a grocery).
6. The manufacture of a tin can.
7. The manufacture of pins.
8. Every man must have an ambition.
9. Why I intend to enter business.
10. The greatest modern invention.
By the use of examples to illustrate your point develop
the following:
1. Electricity is making housework easy and pleasant.
2. Many sons of poor parents have won great wealth.
THE PARAGRAPH 223
3. The wireless apparatus has saved many lives.
4. A boy can show that he is a good citizen.
5. Young Americans have little respect for authority.
By the use of comparison and contrast develop the
following :
1. Improvements in modern lighting systems.
2. Improvements in modem heating systems.
3. Improvements in modern means of locomotion.
4. Two kinds of work, pleasure, or study.
5. Why I intend to have a business of my own.
6. The study that I like best.
By explaining cause and effect develop the following:
1. The advantages of public gymnasiums.
2. The success of loose leaf devices.
3. The objections to football.
Exercise 212
Develop the following into paragraphs; in each case be
able to show what method or methods you have employed:
1. A man who cannot read and write English should not be
allowed to vote.
2. Postal savings banks inspire the savings habit.
3. Women — the mothers of children — should vote.
4. Women should not vote because they do not read the
newspaper.
— 5. The effect of school slang is bad.
6. I wish I had seen the coronation of George V. Every
fairy story I had ever read would suddenly have become real.
7. Canada would gain by reciprocity with the United States.
8. The United States would gain by reciprocity with Canada.
9. Our forests should be preserved.
10. The waste of lumber by forest fires results from careless-
ness.
11. The waste of lumber in cutting railroad ties is too great.
12. The rotation of crops enriches the soil.
13. Apples are more easily gathered than cherries.
14. Efforts should be made to keep the birds in our city parks.
224 COMPOSITION
15. Every boy should learn a trade.
16. Peddlers should not be allowed to call their wares.
17. Great crowds gathered in the city during aviation week
(or any celebration).
18. The electric toaster is good for hurry-up breakfasts.
19. Ironing with an electric iron is more convenient than with
the old-fashioned kind.
20. The wireless apparatus makes sea voyages safer than
before.
21. A mixed diet is best.
22. Cats should be exterminated because they spread disease,
23. The parcel post will decrease the profits of the express
companies.
24. A good book is opened with expectation and closed with
profit.
25. Merchants should charge for delivering purchases.
26. The object of the Child Welfare Exhibit is to promote the
best interests of chidren.
27. One of the best enactments of our time is the Child Labor
Law.
Exercise 213 — Smooth Connection
We may as well confess at the beginning that smooth
connection between sentences and paragraphs is a hard thing
to learn. Primarily, it depends on clear thinking. In Ex-
ercise 135 we saw that the idea of one sentence must grow
out of the idea of the preceding one. It is the same
with paragraphs. The thought must develop gradually
from one to the next. Each paragraph, we know, represents
a unit within the larger unit of the composition; each
represents a division of thought. Not infrequently the
thought of one division differs considerably from the thought
of the next. The tying together of such units is sometimes
hard. It may be done in one of the following ways:
1. By repeating at the beginning of the new paragraph
or sentence part of the preceding paragraph or sentence.
2. By using pronouns to refer to what has gone before.
3. By using connecting links, sometimes called transition
THE PARAGRAPH 225
words because they indicate the transition from one
division to the next. Besides those mentioned in Exercise
135, we may use a numeral connection, as, in the first place,
in the second place; or an expression much like a nu-
meral, as, furthermore, in the next place; or an expression
showing that an adverse idea is to be presented, as, on the
other hand, however, in spite of this, nevertheless. But what-
ever you do, choose the right link, especially if you use such
a one as possibly, probably, perhaps, certainly, surely. Use
the one that expresses your idea exactly. Have none rather
than the wrong one.
In the following the first and second paragraphs are con-
nected according to (i) above; the second and third are
connected according to (3) above.
There comes to every prosperous man a time when he wishes
to know the best way of securing a steady income from his accu-
mulated savings without the burden of responsibility of managing
some property in order to gain his income. The merchant may
not wish to put back into the business all the earnings he gets
from it, and yet he wishes to prepare for his old age. The farmer
may wish to give up active work, but he realizes how soon his
broad acres may deteriorate through soil-robbery when he rents
his property "on shares." With such a problem before him the
thoughtful man makes an effort to learn how to act to secure a
good income all his life.
One of the first things he learns, if he studies the situation care-
fully, is that there is a wide difference between an income derived
from one's business ability, such as the profit secured from run-
ning a store, factory, jobbing house, or farm, and the income which
is derived as the result of money " working '^ by itself. In the
first case, a man must of necessity keep up his business responsi-
bilities; in the other, once he has selected a safe investment,
practically all he has to do is to collect his income from time to
time as it falls due. There is in the latter no depreciation of
land, buildings, machinery, or the like; no insurance payments
to worry about; no crop failures to consider.
It is evident, then, that if one wishes to put surplus money away
— say the proceeds from the sale of a business or a farm — and
226 COMPOSITION
get a steady income from it without bother or worry, the most
important thing to consider is how to go about it to select some-
thing which, once purchased, will turn out to be a safe investment.
Exercise 214
In the following paragraphs taken from Robert Louis
Stevenson's The Philosophy of Nomenclature, point out all
the transition words that join (i) sentence to sentence, and
(2) paragraph to paragraph:
To begin, then: the influence of our name makes itself felt
from the very cradle. As a schoolboy I remember the pride with
which I hailed Robin Hood, Robert Bruce, and Robert le Diable
as my name-fellows; and the feehng of sore disappointment that
fell on my heart when I found a freebooter or a general who did
not share with me a single one of my numerous praenomina.
Look at the delight with which two children find they have the
same name. They are friends from that moment forth; they
have a bond of union stronger than exchange of nuts and sweet-
meats. This feeling, I own, wears off in later life. Our names
lose their freshness and interest, become trite and indifferent.
But this, dear reader, is merely one of the sad effects of those
''shades of the prison house'' which come gradually betwixt us
and nature with advancing years; it affords no weapon against
the philosophy of names.
In after life, although we fail to trace its working, that name
which careless godfathers lightly applied to your unconscious
infancy will haye been moulding your character and influencing
with irresistible power the whole course of your earthly fortunes.
But the last name is no whit less important as a condition of suc-
cess. Family names, we must recollect, are but inherited nick-
names; and if the sobriquet were applicable to the ancestor, it is
most likely applicable to the descendant also. You would not
expect to find Mr. M'Phun acting as a mute or Mr. M'Lumpha
excelling as a professor of dancing. Therefore, in what follows,
we shall consider names, independent of whether they are first
or last. And to begin with, look what a pull Cromwell had over
Pym — the one name full of a resonant imperialism, the other
mean, pettifogging, and unheroic to a degree. Who would expect
eloquence from Pym — who would read poems by Pym — who
THE PARAGRAPH 227
would bow to the opinions of Pym? He might have been a den-
tist, but he should never have aspired to be a statesman. I can
only wonder that he succeeded as he did. Pym and Habakkuk
stand first upon the roll of men who have triumphed, by sheer
force of genius, over the most unfavorable appellations. But
even these have suffered; and, had they been more fitly named,
the one might have been Lord Protector and the other have
shared the laurels with Isaiah. In this matter we must not forget
that all our great poets have borne great names. Chaucer,
Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Wordsworth, Shelley —
what a constellation of lordly words! Not a single commonplace
name among them — not a Brown, not a Jones, not a Robinson;
they are all names that one would stop and look at on a door-
plate. Now, imagine if Pepys had tried to clamber somehow into
the enclosure of poetry, what a blot would that name have made
upon the list! The thing is impossible. In the first place, a
certain natural consciousness that men have would have held
him down to the level of his name, would have prevented him
from rising above the Pepsine standard, and so haply withheld
him altogether from attempting verse. Next, the booksellers
would refuse to publish, and the world to read them, on the mere
evidence of the fatal appellation. And now, before I close this
section, I must say one word as to punnable names, names that
stand alone, that have a significance and life apart from him that
bears them. These are the bitterest of all. One friend of mine
goes bowed and humbled through life under the weight of this
misfortune; for it is an awful thing when a man's name is a joke,
when he cannot be mentioned without exciting merriment, and
when even the intimation of his death bids fair to carry laughter
into many a home.
So much for people who are badly named. Now for people
who are too well named, who go topheavy from the font, who are
baptized into a false position, and who find themselves beginning
life eclipsed under the fame of some of the great ones of the past.
A man, for instance, called William Shakespeare could never dare
to write plays. He is thrown into too humbling an apposition
with the author of Hamlet. His own name coming after is such
an anti-climax. *'The plays of William Shakespeare?" says the
reader — "O no! The plays of William Shakespeare Cockerill,"
and he throws the book aside. In wise pursuance of such views,
Mr. John Milton Hengler, who not long since delighted us in this
favored town, has never attempted to write an epic, but has
228 COMPOSITION
chosen a new path and has excelled upon the tight-rope. A
marked example of triumph over this is the case of Mr. Dante
Gabriel Rosetti. On the face of the matter, I should have advised
him to imitate the pleasing modesty of the last-named gentleman,
and confine his ambition to the sawdust. But Mr. Rosetti has
triumphed. He has even dared to translate from his mighty
name-father; and the voice of fame supports him in his boldness.
Exercise 215
Turn back to Exercise 210, i. How are the different
paragraphs that you have made connected?
CHAPTER XV
BUSINESS LETTERS
Not long ago the head of one of the biggest mail order
firms in this country said: '' Business needs the boys and the
girls. Do not let them think they can be but cogs in the
great system of wheels. More to-day than at any previous
time the world needs men and women who can speak and
write themselves into English. Four hundred million dollars
is wasted every year in unprofitable advertising alone, and
as much more in bad handling of good prospects and loss of
customers through inefficient letters. We look to the future
generation to conserve a part of this enormous loss. If a
single page advertisement in a single issue costs $7500,
what you say on that page is important. Look into any
current magazine, and you will be tremendously impressed
with the importance of EngUsh in this branch alone, not
to mention its importance in letter writing.''
There is no greater power in business to-day than the
ability to use convincing English in correspondence and in
advertising. Any one who can write good letters, letters
that you feel you really must answer, has success ahead of
him, because the market of a good letter is practically un-
restricted. Wherever a letter can penetrate, it may create
desire for an article and make sales.
But what is a good letter? Nothing more than a bit
of good EngUsh. Can you write clear, direct, crisp, yet
fluent English? Then you can write good letters — but
not till then.
In modern business the letter has become the advertiser,
the salesman, the collector, and the adjuster of claims. An
advertisement must be attractive; it must arouse the interest
230 COMPOSITION
of the one who sees it. A salesman must understand human
nature; he must forestall objections by showing the cus-
tomer how he will- gain by buying. The collector and the
adjuster of claims must be courteous and at the same time
shrewd. If a letter is to meet all of these requirements
it cannot be dashed off at a moment's notice. It must be
thought out in detail and written carefully to include all
that should be expressed. This means, especially in a sales
letter:
1. An unusually worded opening that puts the writer's
affairs in the background and the reader's gain in the fore-
ground. Begin with you^ not we. The reader is interested
in himself, his own progress, his own troubles, and not in
the possessions of the writer, except as the writer can show
that those possessions affect him.
2. A clear, simply worded explanation of the purpose of
the letter.
3. Proof of advantages to the reader.
4. Persuasion or inducement to act now.
5. Conclusion, making this action easy.
Above all, if a letter is to be good, it must not be too
short. In the pursuit of brevity too many pupils in business
English make the mistake of writing altogether too little to
get the reader's attention; and if his attention is not
aroused, the letter fails. The letter should be long enough
to suggest interest in the welfare of the reader and enthu-
siasm for the subject under discussion.
Enthusiasm in business involves knowledge both of your
project and of your customer. You cannot attempt to
write a letter of any kind unless you know the facts that
require it. Perhaps it is a complaint that you must try
to settle. Without a knowledge of the facts, of the truth or
the untruth of the claim, how can you write the letter?
Sometimes it requires both time and study to gather the
necessary details, but they must be gathered.
BUSINESS LETTERS 231
When you have your details and begin writing, be sincere.
You must be so absolutely in earnest that the reader will
at once feel and begin to share your enthusiasm.
Knowledge of the person to whom you are writing is fully
as important as knowledge of your subject. You must get
his point of view, understand his character, and appeal to
the qualities that you recognize in it, to the desires or ambi-
tions that it shows. To a certain extent all of us are
alike. There are certain fundamental interests that we all
possess; these may safely be appealed to at almost all times.
But our employment, our habits of life, our ways of thinking
make us different. The same argument, probably, will
not always bring satisfactory replies from a manufacturer,
a farmer, a judge, a minister or priest, a carpenter, and a
woman. Some people like to receive a long letter that goes
carefully into detail; others will not take the time to read
such a letter. Each customer must be studied. This is so
difficult a matter that no one can expect to learn it all at
once.
Finally, from the first word to the last be courteous. No
matter how righteous your indignation, be courteous. You
cannot afford to lose your temper. Courtesy does not imply
flattery nor a lack of truth. Your letter can be strong and
yet polite in tone. Lose your temper, and your letter will
probably fail. Keep your temper, show thoughtfulness for
the reader's interest, and your letter will more likely fulfill '
its purpose.
Exercise 216 — The Form of the Letter
Before we look at some actual letters to judge of their
effectiveness, we must learn the conventional form of a
letter, the parts which many years of use have shown to
be necessary. There are six parts to a formal or business
letter:
232 COMPOSITION
1. The heading, which includes the writer's address and the
date.
2. The introduction, which includes the name and the address
of the one to whom you are writing.
3. The salutation; for example, Dear Sir:
4. The body of the letter, the important part.
5. The courteous close; for example. Yours truly,
6. The signature.
Each part ends with a period except the salutation, which
ends with a colon, and the courteous close, which ends with
a comma. The various groups of words within the heading
and the introduction are separated by commas.
Why does the salutation end with a colon?
Why does the courteous close end with a comma?
The Arrangement
In the following, notice the spacing. If the heading is
short, it is put on one line; as,
Heading Hilliard, Fla., June 30, 19 14.
Introduction Mr. Thomas Barrett,
Boston , Mass.
Salutation Dear Sir:
Body
Courteous close Yours truly,
Signature Samuel Garth
If the heading is long, arrange it in one of the following
ways:
I
334 Lexington Ave., Chicago,
May 19, 191 5.
Mr. Thomas Barrett,
Boston, Mass.
Dear Sir:
BUSINESS LETTERS
2
233
Mr. Thomas Barrett,
Boston, Mass.
Dear Sir:
Mr. Thomas Barrett,
Boston, Mass.
Dear Sir: ,
Mr. Thomas Barrett,
Boston, Mass.
Dear Sir:
334 Lexington Ave.,
Chicago, 111., May 19, 191 5.
334 Lexington Ave.,
Chicago, 111., May 19, 191 5.
334 Lexington Ave.,
Chicago, 111.,
May 19, 1915.
Pay particular attention to every punctuation mark used
above. Each one is important.
There seems to be a tendency in some business firms to
begin each item of the introduction flush with the margin.
This form has arisen, probably, because it is easier to bring
the carriage of the typewriter back to the margin than it
is to indent. It is advisable, however, to use one of the
forms illustrated.
Arrange the following headings, supplying capitals and
punctuation marks:
1. 55 water st mobile ala June 16 19-
2. calmar iowa September i 19-
3. 453 marquette building Chicago ill jan 5 19-
4. 123 salem st springfield mass June 23 19-
5. highland park grand haven mich may 3 19-
6. 220 broadway new york n y february 15 19-
7. 78 main street portland Oregon december 10 19-
8. 32 lincoln st kansas city mo oct 2 19-
234 COMPOSITION
9. room 15 13 2 1 Pennsylvania ave Washington d c sept 2 19-
10. 25 chestnut st Philadelphia pa april 14 19-
11. 212 tribune building new york n y march 2 19-
12. 98 dorchester ave boston mass feb 12 19-
13. 24 milk st boston mass June 14 19-
14. 231 west 39th st new york city march 4 19-
15. 345 newark ave jersey city n j (supply date)
16. 44 fifth ave detroit mich sept i 19-
17. 102 west 42d st denver Colorado (date)
18. Explain the difference between (16) and (17). Notice
that the name of the street in each case is a numeral. Why is
it spelled out in (16) and not in (17)?
Exercise 217
Supplying the name of the firm and the business engaged
in, write letter heads using the items given in Exercise 216.
For example:
Barrett, Brown & Co.
Groceries
55 Water Street
Decorah, Iowa, — 19
When may & be used?
What is the advantage of using a letter head?
In making letter heads, imagine you are a printer. Arrange
the items so that they may show to the best advantage.
Let your lines of printing or writing be of different lengths.
Add any details that you wish, such as trade-mark designs
or the names of ofiicers.
Arrange and punctuate:
1. citronelle business mens association citronelle alabama
may 2 19- mr John harvy 19 e monroe st rochester n y dear sir
2. 173 broad way new york June 10 19 — mr waiter thomas 191
e main st waltham mass dear sir
3. 25 broad st maplewood n h messrs hausen & ottman 18
la salle station Chicago ill gentlemen (supply date)
BUSINESS LETTERS 235
4. John randolph & co druggist 14 Jefferson st Charleston s c
jan 8 19 — gerhard mennen & co newark n j gentlemen (letter head)
5. 43 south 5 th ave madison wis aug 8 19 — the white mountain
freezer co nashua n h gentlemen
Address an envelope for each of the above, using the
following as a model.
Barrett, Brown & Co.,
55 Water Street,
Decorah, Iowa.
Exercise 218 — Cautions
The Heading
Always date your letters.
Give your full address, even if you are certain that the
one to whom you are writing knows it.
The Introduction
The person addressed must always be given a title. If you
address one man, use Mr. ; if a firm, use Messrs. ; if a woman.
Miss or Mrs. If a man has a title like Professor or Doctor,
it should be used, and Mr., of course, omitted.
Hon, (Honorable) is used for a person who holds, or who
has held, a public office. It is a very formal title.
Esq. (Esquire) is a legal form used by some correspondents
in addressing any man. It is an English usage. It always
follows the name, and, if it is used, Mr. is omitted. In this
country Mr. is preferable.
In writing to a man in his official capacity, the following
form is correct when there is no street number or when the
title is short. Notice that Mr. is omitted.
236 COMPOSITION
G. N. Fratt, Cashier,
First National Bank,
Racine, Wis.
The following is correct when the title is long:
Mr. John Frederick Pierce,
Ass't. Engineer of Bridges and Buildings,
607 White Building, Seattle, Wash.
Notice that in the last example, the city and the state
are put on the same line as the street in order to make the
three lines of about the same length. Four lines might have
been used.
The Salutation
If you address one man, the salutation is Dear Sir; as,
Mr. John Pierce,
Seattle, Wash.
Dear Sir:
If you address a firm, the salutation is Gentlemen; as,
Messrs. Brownleigh & King,
Portland, Oregon.
Gentlemen:
If you address a woman, married or single, the salutation
in business letters is Dear Madam; as.
Mrs. John Pierce,
Seattle, Wash.
Dear Madam:
2
Miss Florence Pierce,
Seattle, Wash.
Dear Madam:
A more familiar form of salutation is either of the
following:
BUSINESS LETTERS 237
Miss Florence Pierce,
Seattle, Wash.
My dear Miss Pierce:
2
Miss Florence Pierce,
Seattle, Wash.
Dear Miss Pierce:
In using Hon,, the salutation is usually Sir,
The Courteous Close
The courteous close corresponds in tone to the salutation.
If the salutation is Dear Sir, Gentlemen^ or Dear Madam, the
courteous close should be one of the following:
Yours truly,
Yours very truly,
Very truly yours.
Respectfully yours.
Yours respectfully.
Sincerely yours.
Very sincerely yours,
If the salutation is Sir, the courteous close should be
Respectfully yours or Yours respectfully.
If the body of the letter and the courteous close do not
agree in tone, the effect is often ridiculous. Suppose, for
instance, that the courteous close of (2) under Exercise 220
were Yours respectfully. What would be the effect?
The Signature
If an unmarried woman is signing a business letter, she
should avoid confusion by prefixing (Miss) to her name.
A married woman should sign her own name, as, Alice
Pierce; she should indicate her title, as Mrs, John F, Pierce,
either below the other or at one side.
No other title should be prefixed to a signature.
238 COMPOSITION
If a letter is signed by the name of a firm, the signature
of the one who dictated the letter is usually added; as,
Yours very truly,
Smith Lumber Co.
by
This sort of signature gives a letter the '^personal touch.''
Explain.
Folding a Letter
Business letter paper is about eight by ten inches. In
folding a letter sheet, (i) turn the lower edge up to about
one-eighth of an inch from the top; press the fold firmly,
keeping the edges even; (2) turn the paper so that the
folded edge is at your left hand; (3) ioldfrom you a little
less than one- third the width of the sheet; (4) fold the
upper edge down toward you so that it projects a trifle
beyond the folded edge. Without turning it over, pick it
up and insert it in the envelope, putting in first the edge
that was folded last.
Write the address and the salutation for:
1. A business house in your town.
2. Mr. John R. Tobin, president of the Detroit State Bank,
Detroit, Mich.
3. Miss Mabel Gunther, Shullsburg, Wis.
V 4. Professor C. M. Watson, Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass.
5. John F. Campbell, Manager Bond Department, First Trust
and Savings Bank, Boston, Mass.
-in 6. Taylor and Critchfield, Chicago, 111.
^7. Mrs. Thomas D. MacDonald, 126 E. Second Street, Wash-
ington, la.
Write the courteous close and the signature for:
1. A letter from a business house in your town signed by F. R.
Wilson.
2. A letter from Miss Mabel Gunther (2 above).
3. A letter from Professor C. M. Watson (4 above).
4. A letter signed by John F. Campbell (5 above).
BUSINESS LETTERS 239
5. A letter from Taylor and Critchfield signed by you yourself.
6. A letter from Mrs. Thomas D. MacDonald (7 above).
Exercise 219 — Ordering Goods
If an order includes a number of separate items, it is
usually written on a separate sheet of paper. Firms often
supply blanks for this purpose. If the order is short, it
forms part of the letter. In any case, each item is placed
on a separate line, so that the items may be checked as
the order is filled. In the following, notice the arrange-
ment and the punctuation:
Hamilton, Montana, Feb. 16, 19 14.
Messrs. MacBride & Dickens,
New York, N. Y.
Gentlemen:
At your earliest convenience please ship me the following via
the Northern Express Co. from St. Paul:
6 doz. A 68 assorted sizes Men's Black Caps @ 1.50 9.00
5 doz. D 71 Men's Cotton Handkerchiefs @ .60 3.00
5 doz. X 30 Men's Linen Handkerchiefs @ 2.00 10.00
$22.00
Enclosed find a draft on New York for twenty- two dollars.
Yours truly,
S. D. Jgnsen
Write the letters outlined below:
1. Order fifty copies of the Business Arithmetic that you are
using. How shall you pay for them?
2. Clip from a newspaper an advertisement of groceries. Im-
agine that you are a housekeeper, and spend ten dollars to the best
advantage, ordering several articles,
3. Bring in an advertisement of household necessities — linens,
tinware, etc. Spend five dollars, buying several articles.
4. Bring in an advertisement of furniture. Write a letter
ordering enough to furnish a parlor or a dining room. Have the
amount charged to your account.
5. A magazine offers one of several books as a premium with
a year's subscription. Answer the advertisement.
240 COMPOSITION
Exercise 220 — The Tone of the Letter
Undue familiarity or an evidence of loss of temper will at
once frustrate the object of a letter. A dignified letter never
shows either. Just what constitutes a dignified letter is hard
to define but fairly easy to feel. This much is certain: it must
be simple in structure, direct in its wording, and so sincere in
feeling that no one will doubt its truth. Any extravagance
of language, therefore, has no place in a dignified letter.
Study the following to see whether they show dignity:
I
Tuesday, 5 p.m.
Miss Sarah Howard,
Denver, Colorado.
Dear Madam:
I have a great piece of confidential news for you.
Take advantage of the remarkable offer our company is making
to you, and it will mean thousands of dollars in your pocket.
Understand that this offer is not open to every one. You have
been especially selected. You are the only one in your town who
will hear of this remarkable offer.
2
Elsworth, Brown & Co.,
120 Jefferson Ave.,
Detroit, Mich.
Gentlemen:
What is the matter with our last order? Have you people
gone out of business, or are you asleep? If we don't get that order
by the third, you'll never hear from us again.
3
A letter to Mrs. Bixby, written Nov. 21, 1864.
Dear Madam:
I have been shown in the file of the War Department a state-
ment of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the
BUSINESS LETTERS 241
mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which
should beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But
I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may
be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. I pray
that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your
bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the
loved and lost and the solemn pride that must be yours to have
laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln
Exercise 221
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 to take the entrance examinations
of your state university. Write to him, asking that he recom-
mend 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
242 COMPOSITION
reads such a letter unless he has to, and surely that is not
the kind we wish to practice writing. Let us look at a few
of the expressions that we should be careful to avoid.
I. Sometimes a writer tries to impress a reader with the
volume of business he is doing by showing haste in his corre-
spondence; as, in
1. Omitting the subject; as,
Wrong: In reply to your question will say
Right: In reply to your question I will say
2. Omitting articles and prepositions; as.
Wrong: Direct package care Western Canning Co.
Right: Direct the package in care of the Western Canning Co.
3. Using abbreviations
a. Of the introduction. Write out the introduction
in detail, both name and address. Abbreviating
this part of the letter is highly discourteous.
b. In the body of the letter; as,
Wrong: The Co. sent a no. of large orders last year.
c. Of the courteous close; as.
Wrong: Yours etc.
Wrong: Yours resp'y.
^ 4. Using a phrase as a sentence; as,
Wrong: Yours of the 6th at hand and contents noted.
It is much better to refer indirectly to the receipt of a
letter; as.
In the order you sent us Aug. 5
The same sort of mistake is seen in the all too frequent
closing:
Wrong: Hoping that we hear from you soon,
Yours truly.
Right: Hoping that we hear from you soon, we are
Yours truly.
BUSINESS LETTERS 243
Why use such an expression at all? Avoid hoping, trust-
ing, awaiting, or any other artificial closing.
II. Sometimes a writer makes an effort to be extremely
courteous, but fails because he uses hackneyed wording; as,
1. Kindly. — A good word in itself but greatly abused.
2. We beg to state. — Never use beg in this sense. You
have no right to beg attention; earn it.
3. Your favor, your esteemed favor, your valued favor. —
Say, Your letter.
4. Will you be so good as to. — Belongs in the class with
beg to state. Make your requests courteously, but directly.
5. Would say. — Avoid this expression.
III. Sometimes in an effort to be clear a writer uses same
as a pronoun; as.
Wrong: If the books are not satisfactory, return same.
This is one of the worst of the distinctly business blunders.
Same is never a pronoun. Write to a man as you talk to
him and you will not use same in this way. (See Exercise 88.)
IV. Sometimes in order to get attention a writer will use a
liberal sprinkling of dashes and capitals, probably in imita-
tion of advertising copy. Better than such artificial means
is the attraction of a well worded letter.
Criticise the following letters, pointing out all the expres-
sions that should be improved. Rewrite the letters.
I
Gentlemen:
We beg to acknowledge your esteemed favor of Apr. 6. In
regard to shoes received by you in poor shape as per complaint,
would say that on receipt of same will try to locate cause of trouble.
If due to defect in manufacture, will credit you with value of
same.
Hoping this is satisfactory to you.
Yours truly.
244 COMPOSITION
2
Dear Sir:
Yours of March i8 at hand. Referring to matter of short
weight, I beg to call your attention to C & A car 87324, which you
loaded for us March 7 at your Auburn mine, gross weight 121,400
lbs. This car was check weighed at Peoria March 11 on your
company^s scales and showed gross weight 113,200 lbs. or shortage
8,200 lbs. Having investigated car, I find same was in good order
and no indication of leakage, and it would appear to be a case of
carelessness at time of loading. Therefore will request you to
kindly send me cr. memo, on 8,200 lbs.
Yours truly,
Exercise 223 — The Sales Letter
The object of the sales letter is to make the reader buy.
How can you do it? To begin with, get his point of view —
that of the user. Then imagine that he is present and talk
to him on paper. Get his interest with your opening sen-
tence. Explain what you have to sell. Show him that he
needs it. Whet his desire to possess it, and, finally, make
it easy and imperative for him to order today.
The opening paragraph is all-important. It may make or
mar a letter. If it is stilted or lacks directness, if it hasn't
the personal, natural tone that makes the reader feel you
are talking to him, or if it is stereotyped in its wording, the
letter will probably go to the waste-basket.
Contrast the two letters that follow. Both were written
to accompany a catalogue. Notice that the first begins
and ends in a stereotyped way; has too few details to arouse
interest; asks for an order but has no inducement to give
one now; and, throughout, lacks the personal, convincing
tone that makes the second a good selling letter. Notice
that the second begins with you, not with we, and keeps the
same you attitude to the end.
Turn back to the five essentials of a letter given on page
230. See if you can differentiate the five in the second letter.
BUSINESS LETTERS 245
I
Dear Sir:
In compliance with your request of recent date we are sending
you our latest general catalogue, inasmuch as we do not know
which department catalogue you wish. We also have specialized
books for jewelry, furniture, hardware, and drygoods. On
request we shall be glad to send any one of these also.
We carry the biggest line of Variety Store Leaders in the coun-
try, and our goods are always of the best. We take particular
pains to acquaint our customers with the latest thing in the trade,
and to give business-getting suggestions. Our Co-operative
Bureau cheerfully answers all inquiries.
Trusting we shall hear from you with an order, we are
Yours truly,
2
Dear Sir:
Under separate cover you will receive a copy of our latest gen-
eral catalogue, published especially for owners of Variety Stores.
We are sending you the general catalogue because we do not
know whether you are interested in a particular department.
However, if your business specializes in any one class of goods
— such as jewelry, furniture, hardware, or drygoods — we
shall be glad to supply you with the departmental book you need.
On the enclosed postal card simply check the one you wish, and
mail the card to-day. We shall foward the catalogue at once.
You may know that we always have on hand between
two hundred and two hundred and fifty different Variety Store
Leaders, affording you a wide selection of high-class goods of the
finest materials, the neatest workmanship, and the latest styles
at very low prices. After glancing over the catalogue you will
agree with us that in every department of our huge business a
dollar has full purchasing power.
A unique feature of our business, moreover, is the Co-operative
Bureau, which you will find a decided help in building up your
business. Each week the Bureau sends out a Bulletin, acquaint-
ing our customers with important business events in the larger
trade centers, with suggestions for new advertising and selling
methods, with notices of new stock additions that make espe-
cially good leaders, and with advice how best to display them.
The Bureau invites correspondence and sends customers, abso-
246 COMPOSITION
lutely free of charge, advice on new store arrangements, window
decorations, and advertising plans.
Your first order makes you a co-operating member and entitles
you to all the privileges of the Bureau and the services of an insti-
tution with wide experience and with a recognized reputation for
square-dealing. Fill out the enclosed order blank, mail it to-day,
and receive this week's Bulletin by return mail. It contains
several splendid suggestions for novel, inexpensive advertising.
Yours truly,
The letter given above is personal and yet dignified.
Usually that is the best style to use, and the one that we
wish to practice writing. Sometimes, however, results can
best be obtained by using the colloquial or even jocular tone
illustrated in the following letter sent to a retailer in
Ottumwa, Iowa:
Dear Sir:
We sell cheese, a new brand, the finest kind you ever tasted,
put up in the most attractive package, to sell at the most attract-
ive price. Called Par Excellence Creme, wrapped in silver foil
with a gold label, it sells for fifteen cents and costs you ten. Ever
hear a better proposition?
Better buy now before your rival gets ahead of you. Every-
body's calling for it. Why? Because we're advertising every-
where. It has been out only one month, and yet sales have trebled
our highest expectations. Half the sales of a new cheese depend
on the package and the price ; the other half depend on the qual-
ity. All three are right in Par Excellence Creme.
Mr. S. R. King, our Iowa representative, tried to see you last
week, but, unfortunately, he was unable to find you in. Now,
he carries a full line of our samples, and it's worth the time it
takes just to see how good they look, even if you don't care to
buy. How about it? Don't you want to see them? Mr. King
will be in Ottiunwa next Wednesday.
Yours truly,
This style is commonly called *' snappy." It has its advan-
tage, but should be used only rarely. Above all, if you do use
it, avoid the dash. Notice how the dash spoils the following:
BUSINESS LETTERS . 247
Dear Sir:
Have you ever eaten that king of nuts — the budded or grafted
paper shell pecan — the nut whose kernel is as nutritious as beef
and as sweet and delicious as honey — the nut that is so delight-
fully palatable and so wholesome, the discriminating epicures of
two continents have set their seal of approval on it — creating a
demand that literally cannot be supplied — even at prices ranging
as high as a dollar a pound.
To use the dash in this way seems to imply that you do
not understand punctuation or sentence structure. If the
paragraph is rewritten, removing the dashes and dividing
into sentences, we get a much stronger appeal. The dash
makes for weakness rather than for strength because it
suggests hysterics.
Dear Sir:
Have you ever eaten the king of nuts, the budded or grafted
paper shell pecan? The kernel is as nutritious as beef and as
sweet as honey. It is so wholesome and so delicious that dis-
criminating epicures of two continents have set their approval
on it, creating a demand that literally cannot be supplied, even
at prices ranging as high as a dollar a pound.
A very good way to open a sales letter is to get the atten-
tion by a bit of narration containing direct quotations, as
shown in the following:
Dear Sir:
"It saves seven per cent."
So said Mr. John H. Samuels, a manufacturer of Birmingham,
Ala.
He had watched his bookkeepers at their work, and it seemed
to him that their main business was turning and flattening the
springy pages of the bulgy ledger. Ten seconds were wasted, he
said, every time a page was turned — almost every time an entry
was made — and hardly more than two minutes were needed to
make the entry. That was enough. Each of his twenty men
was wasting seven per cent of his time.
'^Try hinged paper," suggested the head bookkeeper.
Accordingly, Mr. Samuels tried several kinds of hinged paper,
248 . COMPOSITION
only to find that the hinged section tore, broke, or cracked. The
time that the clerks now saved in flattening the leaves they wasted
in rewriting the pages that had torn out.
He had no more faith in hinged papers by the time that he saw
the advertisement of the Benton hinge. "As strong as the rest of
the paper! *' he scoffed. ''We'll see about this! "
"Send me a sample,'' he wrote us. "If your ad tells the truth,
you get my order."
We sent it. He tested it. He pulled it, crumpled it, ruled on
it, erased it on both sides, and even creased it. But it did not
break.
Very cautiously and doubtingly he tried the paper in one\
ledger for one month. He found that the book rolled flat when-
ever it was opened, that no hinge tore, and that every page could
be used from binder to outer edge.
"It does the work," he told our salesman at the end of tl
month. "It saves seven per cent. Send me a consignment^
If you, too, are paying seven per cent of your bookKepers'
salaries for waste motion, let us send you a sample. It will cut
down your expenses as it cut down Mr. Samuels\
Remember that you put yourself under no obligation to us.
You take no risks. Simply promise to use the paper if we send
it free.
Yours truly,
Exercise 224
Study the following letters and letter openings for good
and bad qualities:
I
Dear Sir:
People who have not had much of what the world calls "good
luck" find it hard to believe an opportunity when it comes —
they don't feel sure about it — on the other hand, people who
have had many opportunities have a natural confidence that
every opening presented is intended for them and they grasp it
with an assurance that begets success.
You may be one of those who have not had many chances to
do what you would like to do and therefore not sure that my offer
is an opportunity. For that reason let us again go over the
points of advantage. ... *
BUSINESS LETTERS 249
2,
Dear Sir:
I am taking the liberty of writing you again because I fear you
do not fully realize the value of the proposition I am offering you.
Why, man, it's the opportunity of a life-time! . . . (extended
for three pages.)
3
Dear Sir:
If we wanted to know just what kind of person you are, do
you know where we'd go to find out? We'd ask your old friends
and neighbors, who know all about you from close association.
If you want to find out about us — what we are doing and what
improvements we are making in southern Florida — the best
place to get this information is from the people of Florida, who
know the facts from first-hand observation. The enclosed clip-
ping is an editorial expression — not a paid advertisement — from
the Ft. Meyers Press. The editor is under no obligation to us
and is merely expressing the opinion of the people here. . . .
4
New York, Right Now.
A Deal or Importance
It affects YOU! It is so important I must forego the pleasure
of a personal letter in order to write 5,000 people to-day — 500 of
whom — the wide-awake ones who read this letter through —
will be able to coin it into dollars — real money — money you
can spend.
What we now offer you has never before been offered by any
body in the world. It is a combination we are fortunate enough,
just at this time, to be able to offer you, because of an important
deal we have just closed — a deal that may easily spell dollars
to you. Read every word of this letter — it may be — possibly
is — the only thing to make you a successful and wealthy man
5
R F D 4 Logansport, Ind.
8-26-1 I.
Mr. M. H. Smith, etc.
Dear Sir:
I acknowledge getting your telegram over the telephone yester-
day, and if I had been in funds would have answered by return
250 COMPOSITION
telegram, but such is life. I accommodated a friend by loaning
him $750, which will probably be paid the last week of never. I
thank you for the offer, and when I am in funds will call on you
either personaUy or by letter. y^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^
Exercise 225 — Opening an Account
Imagine that you are manager of a wholesale dry goods
house. You have received an order from P. H. Powley, 23
Water street, Franklin, Mich. As you do not know Mr.
Powley, write him, stating in as courteous a way as possible
that, as this is his first order, he must either furnish refer-
ences or send a remittance. Make your letter direct and
personal. Include some good selling talk.
The exercise above illustrates the method that might be
adopted in case of a small order. If Mr. Powley had sent
a large order, the wholesale house would no doubt con-
sult a financial agency to discover his financial condition;
his rating, it is called. If his name were not found in the
book of the agency, the wholesale house would require Mr.
Powley to send a correct account of his financial standing;
that is, a list of his assets and liabilities. If he refused, they
would not do business with him. Why? The principal
financial agencies are Bradstreet and Dun. Besides these,
there are many mercantile agencies. They give any infor-
mation that is required concerning a business man. All
such information is confidential.
In connection with this exercise study the letters that
follow:
I
Request to Open an Account
Madison, Wis., Sept. 16, 191 5.
Wilson, Brighton, & Co.,
, 68 Broadway, New York.
Gentlemen:
Until recently I was in the employ of Samuel Stratton & Co.
of Milwaukee, but I have now started a business of my own, for
BUSINESS LETTERS 251
which I should like to open an account with your house. As to
my business ability and financial standing, I refer you to my late
employers, Samuel Stratton & Co. of Milwaukee, and to the
Madison State Bank of this city.
If on investigation you decide to accept me as a customer,
will you please send the goods on the enclosed order, deducting
your usual discount for cash? Upon receipt of the goods and of
the invoice, I shall at once forward a sight draft on the Broadway
National Bank of your city.
Respectfully yours,
George R. Scott
2
Dear Sir:
In seeking information through the usual outside channels for
basing credit for you, we find our reports have not been sufficient
in detail to permit us to arrange this matter satisfactorily. These
reports all speak very highly of you in a personal way, but do not
give us the required information financially.
We assume you want our goods for your Christmas trade. It
is imperative, therefore, that we ship immediately. We suggest
that on this order you send us a draft, in consideration of which
we shall be pleased to allow you a special discount of 4%. Under-
stand that we suggest these terms on this first order only, as we
feel confident that we can easily arrange a credit basis for future
shipments. We sincerely trust you will take no offense at the
above suggestion, as we have made it in your interest.
Yours very truly,
3
Dear Sir:
Thank you for the order you sent us yesterday. Its size con-
firms the belief we have always held that D is a rapidly
growing business center, the right place for a retailer to settle
and prosper.
After careful consideration of your letter, however, we have
decided to hold back your order for a short time. You cannot
regret this more than we do. We do not like to lose your account,
and yet, under the circumstances, we feel we cannot send you the
order. We hope you can sell the property you mentioned in your
letter and thus clear up the balances against you. Then we
shall gladly open an account for you.
252 COMPOSITION
We are especially sorry we cannot send the order at once, as
you no douDt need your fall stock now. Don't you think it would
be the best solution if you would send us your remittance for $250
now, so that we may send the goods? We know what it means
to buy in the open market so late in the season. We assure you
that on receipt of a remittance the order will go through imme-
diately.
Yours truly,
Exercise 226
1. Order from the Grand Rapids Furniture Co., Grand Rapids,
Mich., 5 mahogany rockers, i Turkish rocker, 2 brass beds, 12
dining room chairs, 2 dining room tables. Supply catalogue
numbers and give shipping directions.
2. The Grand Rapids Furniture Co. replies, acknowledging
the receipt of the above order (give date) but stating that you
did not mention how you would pay for the goods. On receipt of
a certified check to cover the amount, or of the names of two
reliable references, they will be pleased to send you the order.
Make this a good sales letter.
Exercise 227
1. You are a florist of Rockford, 111. Write to S. M. Porter
& Son, 155 S. State Street, Chicago, saying that this fall you are
opening a new department of Landscape Gardening. Judging
by advance orders, you will need approximately 200 shade trees,
maples and poplars; 200 fruit trees of various kinds; and several
hundred flowering shrubs. You will probably duplicate the
order in the spring. Ask for terms, saying that you would like
to open an account. Give two references.
2. S. M. Porter & Son reply, acknowledging your order, and
saying that they will be pleased to do business with you on sixty
days' credit, terms 50 and 5%. If this is satisfactory, they wiU
add your name to their books. Make it a sales letter.
Exercise 228
I. Samuel Radford of Douglas, Mich., wishes to buy a motor
boat. He orders of the Modern Steel Boat Co., manufac-
turers of high grade motor boats, Detroit, Mich., boat No. 172,
page 425, catalogue No. 10. The price as listed is $192. He ac-
cepts the offer they made him — (date), of (terms) and en-
BUSINESS LETTERS 253
closes a certified check for the amount. He gives full shipping
directions. (Be sure you can do this.) He asks how cheaply
he can obtain cushions for the boat.
2. The company reply: They have shipped the boat. (Is
this sufficiently detailed?) A set of new cushions to fit the boat
costs $25. They have a set of secondhand cushions in excellent
condition for $15. If Radford desires either of these, he should
wire at once at their expense.
3. Telegraph his decision.
Exercise 229
1. Messrs. Lee and Watkins, druggists of Gallon, Ohio, wish
to open an account with Pierce, King & Co., 17 S. Albany St.,
Baltimore, Md., for the purchase of large orders on ninety days'
credit. They say they do a very large business as they have
the only drug store within a radius of several miles. They give
several names as references. Write the letter.
2. You are a traveling salesman for Pierce, King & Co. They
write you at the Union Hotel, Columbus, telling you of the fore-
going letter, a copy of which they enclose, and asking you to in-
vestigate the standing of Messrs. Lee and Watkins.
Reply that you visited the drug store in question on a Tues-
day (give date), because in your experience the early part of the
week is very quiet in the business of small towns. Say that two
clerks were kept busy constantly and that several people spoke
of the enormous business done on Saturdays and market days.
The firm has good credit in the town. You are satisfied that the
gentlemen in question are reliable.
3. Write from Pierce, King & Co. to Messrs. Lee and Wat-
kins, acknowledging the receipt of their letter (date) and ex-
pressing pleasure in being able to enter their name on the firm's
books. Write as courteous a letter as you can.
4. Imagine that the salesman's reply (2) had been unfavorable.
Write to Messrs. Lee and Watkins, refusing them credit but
trying to get their cash business.
Exercise 230 — Letters Requesting Payment
It is better not to make threats in a collection letter except
as a last resort, and then the threat should be carried out. It
is advisable in a first letter of the kind to take for granted
254 COMPOSITION
that a customer is honest and that the failure to pay is
an oversight. If some inducement for further purchases is
included in the letter in the form of good selling talk, a
remittance will probably be sent, and perhaps another order
as well.
If the customer, however, takes no notice of the first letter,
a second, making the request for payment more urgent,
may follow. The tone of the second letter and subsequent
letters will depend on the value that you put on the cus-
tomer's trade. Finally, if he ignores all of these letters,
dally no longer. Say that if payment is not made by a
certain date, you will draw on him at sight. If he does
not honor the draft, put the matter in the hands of your
attorney.
Study the following letters. Select from them those that
you think would make a good series:
I
Dear Sir:
Ten days ago we mailed you a statement of your account,
which was due at that time. As we have heard nothing from
you, we have concluded that the letter must have miscarried.
We are, therefore, enclosing a duplicate of the former statement.
We trust that it will reach you safely and have your prompt
attention.
Yours very truly,
2
Dear Sir:
Evidently you, too, are experiencing the increase in business
that our customers in general are reporting. In the rush of orders
you probably have overlooked the fact that your account with
us is three weeks over-due. Your remittances hitherto have been
very prompt, and we trust that this reminder will be treated
equally promptly.
By the way, have you found that the Holeless Socks are coming
up to our guarantee? From all parts of the country we are get-
ting flattering reports in the form 6f big orders. We feel that
they merit their popularity, and with the extensive advertising
BUSINESS LETTERS 255
campaign that we have inaugurated they are bound to continue
in favor.
We are especially prepared at present to give you an attractive
price, enabling you to realize large profits on these socks. If you
need more of them, we can make shipment at once.
Yours very truly,
3
Dear Sir:
In looking over our accounts, we find that your purchases have
lately been increasing considerably, and that your payments have
been few and unimportant. Statements have been sent regularly,
we believe, but have probably been overlooked because of the
stress of your other affairs. Such things, of course, can happen
with any of us,' especially when we have many other matters to
look after.
We have always valued your account, and we greatly desire
our pleasant relations to continue. As the amount that you owe
us is now long over-due, we would appreciate your returning the
enclosed bill to be receipted during the next few days.
Yours very truly,
4
Dear Sir:
Your attention has twice been called to your account for $ ,
but for some reason you do not reply to our letters.
Our terms, as you know, are thirty days, and we cannot allow
a longer extension except by special arrangement. We have
borne the matter very patiently, realizing that unusual conditions
sometimes prevent one's doing as he desires. At the same time,
it is entirely out of reason that your account should still be owing
at this time. May we not expect your remittance by return
mail?
Should we not hear from you by the 15th, we shall draw on
you, and, if you have not remitted in the meantime, please pro-
vide for our draft upon its arrival.
Yours truly,
5
Dear Sir:
On March 15 we drew on you for $250. Our draft has been
returned to us by the Blank Bank, unpaid.
256 COMPOSITION
• Your account is long past due, and, although we are willing to
do almost anything to accommodate our customers, we feel that
in your case the time for concessions has passed. We desire your
check at once for the balance due us.
You are credited with using considerable money in your business,
and it would seem that you should without difficulty be able to
take care of amounts such as you owe us. If we do not hear
from you by April i, we shall send a second draft. If you permit
this to be returned unpaid, we shall be compelled to take action
to force collection. We wish to express the hope, however, that
you will not allow this to be done.
Yours truly,
Exercise 231
Letter (2) above is written primarily to get a check for
the over-due account and incidentally to get another order.
Suppose that the customer sends an order and no money.
You do not wish to extend further credit until the old balance
is paid. Write a tactful letter, saying that you will hold
back the order until you receive a check to pay the over-due
account.
Exercise 232
Write the letters in the following transaction:
1. J. F. Brookmeyer, Peru, Ind., is a dealer in shoes. He
opened an account with you a month ago. He has purchased
shoes to the amount of $250. You rendered an account on the
first of the month, two weeks ago. Write a letter saying that
you do not carry over accounts from month to month, as your small
margin of profit makes it impossible for you to carry an irregular
account. Make it a courteous sales letter as well as a collection
letter.
2. J. H. Brookmeyer sends a certified check for the full amount,
apologizing for the delay.
Exercise 233
I. John R. Phillips, 32 New York Building, Seattle, Washing-
ton, owes you $470. Write him, saying that you need the
money. Give a good reason. Make it a courteous, friendly letter.
BUSINESS LETTERS 257
2. Mr. Phillips has not answered (i). Write him again, saying
that if you do not get a remittance by , you will draw on
him at sight.
3. Your bank notifies you that your draft has been returned
unpaid. Write Phillips, asking for an explanation. Say that
unless you hear by , you will bring suit.
4. PhiUips writes an apologetic letter, giving illness as the
reason for his non-payment. He says he was in the hospital and
did not receive letters (i) and (2). He encloses fifty dollars and
promises to pay at least half the balance next month, the full
amount within sixty days. Write his letter.
5. Accept this offer.
Exercise 234 — Answering Complaints
1. A mail order house discovered that its files contained the
names of 10,000 people who had once been customers but who
had not bought anything for the last two or three years. Write
a letter in the name of the manager frankly asking why the
customer has stopped buying. Advertise the stock.
2. One correspondent in reply demands a return of $16,
which he had paid for a coat that was "not worth a cent." How
would you reply to this letter so that the one making the complaint
would send in an order? Write the letter.
In connection with this exercise study the following letter:
Dear Sir:
We wish to acknowledge your letter of April 16, in which you
say that on April 14 you received a bill for five S & Q Railway
bonds, which Mr. Wensley had sold you on the nth at 100 and
interest; that you sent us your check for the amount on the same
day; and that on the i6th, two days afterward, you received a
letter from us, offering a new block of these bonds at 99 and
interest.
This complication was brought about through a peculiar chain
of circumstances, an explanation of which, we feel, is only just
both to you and to us. When Mr. Wensley came to the office on
Saturday, the 12th, he told us that he had your order for five of
these bonds at looi and interest. The market price was then
100 and interest, and we were very glad to give you the benefit
of the more favorable price. At that time we had no intimation
2S8 COMPOSITION
that more of these bonds were coming on the market. Quite
unexpectedly on Monday we received notice from our Boston
office that they had in view a new block of the bonds. Even at
that time we did not know definitely that we would get them.
On Tuesday, again quite unexpectedly, we were instructed by our
Boston office that the bonds had been secured and were to be
offered immediately at 99 and interest. So suddenly did the
entire transaction take place that we were unable to prepare a
new circular, and on Tuesday night we merely sent out a letter,
telling our customers that we had an additional block of these
bonds. In fact, the new circular will not be ready until about
noon of to-morrow.
We realize that you should have been informed of the new
price. The bonds, however, came on the market so quickly and
in taking care of the details of the offering we were so busy that
the matter, unfortunately, was overlooked. We are glad, there-
fore, to make adjustment of the price now by having our banking
department send you our check for $50.
It is unnecessary for us to say, we presume, that we regret this
occurrence and to assure you that had we known of the new bonds
on Saturday we would have advised you to hold off your purchase
until the offering was ready. We feel that you know us and the
policy of our house well enough to be sure that we would not will-
fully take advantage of you in this way. We trust that the
arrangement that we have made satisfactorily straightens out
the matter.
Yours very truly,
Exercise 235
1. What is the advantage of the policy shown in the follow-
ing suggestion from System?
The manager of a retail establishment says: ''We never
refuse to refund money. If a dissatisfied customer returns a
purchase, before we ask what the trouble is we refund his money
gladly. When he is free to walk out of the store with his money,
we try to find the source of the trouble. Generally we can adjust
the difficulty and make a sale."
2. State the advantage in the policy of a large clothing
concern which follows the sale of every suit or overcoat
BUSINESS LETTERS 259
with a letter to the customer, asking him whether the pur-
chase is proving satisfactory.
3. Write such a letter.
Exercise 236
1. Conrad H. Harwood of 122 Winter Street, Vandalia, 111.,
writes to Wilson, Black & Co., manufacturers of shoes, 100 Second
Street, Lynn, Mass., asking why they are not sending his order of
(the goods ordered) of (date). He is losing sales
because of the delay. If the goods are not received before ,
Harwood will cancel the order.
2. Wilson, Black & Co. acknowledge the receipt of Harwood's
letter and say that this is the first notice they have received of
such an order. The first letter must have miscarried. They
have shipped the goods. Be very courteous.
Exercise 237
1. C. F. Gardner, a merchant of 432 Puyallup Ave., Tacoma,
Wash., has received notice from the CM. & P.S.R.R. freight
ofiice that a box of goods has arrived from Messrs. Fiske & Jones,
Detroit, Mich. Gardner ordered the goods a month ago. He
writes Messrs. Fiske & Jones that he refuses to accept the goods
because of the delay. He has bought elsewhere in the mean-
time.
2. Fiske & Jones apologize for the delay and explain that it
was due to the unreliability of one of their shipping clerks, who
has since been discharged. They had known nothing of the
matter until Gardner's letter of complaint arrived. They assure
him that he will never suffer another such inconvenience.
3. Fiske & Jones telegraph the CM. & P.S.R.R. to return the
goods at Fiske & Jones's expense. Write the telegram.
Exercise 238 — Letters of Application
A letter of application usually has three parts. In writ-
ing such a letter, first, tell where you saw the advertisement
and apply for the position; second, tell your qualifications
and give your references; third, end the letter appropri-
ately, possibly asking for an interview.
26o COMPOSITION
This is a difficult kind of letter to write. Not only should
it be neat in appearance and clearly written, but it should
be so carefully worded that it will show enough of the writer's
individuality to distinguish it from a form. Be neither
hesitant nor bold, but tell your qualifications in a simple,
straightforward way.
Study the following letters. Are they convincing? Do
they show the personaHty of the writers, or are they mere
forms?
I
Gentlemen:
Your advertisement in to-day's Record for a salesman who
knows the tea and coffee business interests me. I should like
you to consider my application for the position.
Since my graduation from the Blank High School, four years
ago, I have been employed as salesman for the Economy Whole-
sale Coffee Co., a firm doing business in this city and its outlying
districts. During these four years I have gathered a wide knowl-
edge of the principles of the buying and selling of coffees and teas
and of the grades and blends of both, just the training, it seems to
me, that you wish to secure.
You may depend upon my taking an active interest in your
business, because I have an intense desire to advance. I myself
vouch for my honesty and earnestness, and Mr. Robert Brown of
the firm mentioned above has assured me that he will supply you
with any information that you may wish as to my character or
ability. He endorses my desire to secure a broadei opportunity.
If the position that you have to offer is one in which there is
a real future for an energetic, capable man, I should like to have
an interview with you.
Yours very respectfully,
2
Dear Sir:
I am answering your advertisement in to-day's Record for a
clerk because I wish to get started in the wholesale dry goods
business, my idea being to work into the sales department. If
the position that you advertise affords such an opportunity, I
wish to apply for it.
BUSINESS LETTERS 261
I have had a little experience in the retail dry goods business,
having worked as clerk for Mr. Amos Jones of this city during
the past two summers. What I have seen and learned of the
business makes me feel that I have ability as a dry goods sales-
man. I shall be glad to work hard in a clerical position if only
I get a chance to learn and to advance.
I am eighteen years of age and have just graduated from the
Blank High School, where I took the four-year commercial course.
This, as you know, includes business arithmetic, bookkeeping,
and some business practice. During the last- two years I was
business manager of the high school paper. This position gave
me considerable experience in handling details rapidly and in
soliciting advertising. It is this latter experience that makes me
feel that I would have success in selling.
I am confident that I can please you, and I should be grateful
if you will grant me an interview. Mr. Amos Jones, 815 E. 47th
St., will be glad to give you any information that you may wish as
to my work, and if you desire I can furnish other references. ^
Yours respectfully,
Exercise 239
Apply for the following positions:
1. OFFICE MAN — who can handle correspondence and general office
work for growing North side manufacturing company. Good
opportunity for the right man. State experience and salary
expected. Address A. H. Stanton, 1 7 Elm St.
2. MAIL ORDER MAN — up-to-date, experienced; must have ability
and be capable of handling a large volume of correspondence; must
also be a pusher and systematizer. In reply give references, age,
and detailed experience. Address X. W. 291 News.
3. AMBITIOUS YOUNG MEN — who are willing to start at the
bottom to learn steel and iron business; must be high school or
college graduates, or have equivalent education, and furnish excep-
tional references; very good opportunity for the future. Address
A. F. 361 Times.
4. BRIGHT YOUNG MAN — for office work in large manufacturing
plant. Northwest side; must be neat, quick, and accurate at
figures. State age, experience, and salary expected. Address
J. F. Holtz & Co., 320 W. Exchange St.
262 COMPOSITION
5. OFFICE CLERK — a girl who can write a plain, rapid, legible hand;
desirable, permanent position, and excellent chance for advance-
ment. Give age, experience, if any, and where formerly employed.
Salary $6.00 to start. Address T. P. 514 Chronicle.
6. HELP WANTED — salesman having established trade on rubber or
leather footwear in Michigan, northern Indiana, northwest Ohio,
or eastern Wisconsin. Good chance to become connected with
live middle- western jobbing house. Give late experience. Address
G724 Boot and Shoe Recorder, Boston, Mass.
Exercise 240 — Contract for Painting Iron Work
1. James W. Walker & Co., 325 Second St., Pittsburgh, are
receiving bids for painting the iron v^ork of the bridge to be
constructed over the Cheesequake Creek at Morgan Station,
New Brunswick, N. J. The Barnard Emerson Co., of Harrisburg,
Pa., write saying they would like to figure on the work. They
ask 'James W. Walker & Co*, to send plans and specifications.
Write the letter sent by the Barnard Emerson Co.
2. James W. Walker & Co. reply that they are sending plans
and specifications. They say that bids must be in by March 10.
Write the letter.
3. The Barnard Emerson Co. write that page two, line four,
of the specifications for the bridge to be constructed (state in
detail) reads "and paint all beams underneath two coats of dark
green," and page four, line ten, reads "all upright beams above
and underneath to be painted two coats of light green between
shades three and four." They ask which is correct. Write the
letter. Be exact.
4. James W. Walker & Co. reply that page two, line four, is
correct. Explain in detail.
5. The Barnard Emerson Co. agree to do the work on (repeat
exactly what bridge you mean) for three thousand dollars. They
guarantee to finish the work by April 30, according to the speci-
fications. They will forfeit fifty dollars for every day after that
date until the bridge is finished. Write the proposal or bid.
6. James W. Walker & Co. write, saying that they accept the
bid above and that they enclose duplicate contracts, one of which
they have signed and which the Barnard Emerson Co. is to keep.
The other the Barnard Emerson Co. is to sign and return to
James W. Walker & Co.
BUSINESS LETTERS 263
Exercise 241 — Contract for the Delivery of Property
1. The Arlington Coal Company, Old Colony Building, Chi-
cago, 111., write to the Red Rock Coal Company, Auburn, 111.,
saying that they need several cars of egg coal per week through-
out the year. They ask if the Red Rock Coal Co. wish to offer
some on contract. If so, they must state how the coal is screened,
and give their lowest price. Write the letter.
2. The Red Rock Coal Co. reply that they will offer egg coal
for shipment at the rate of two cars per week throughout the year,
at $1.15 per net ton, cars f.o.b. mines. If a contract were drawn
up for three or more cars per week, they would give the coal for
$1.1 2 J per net ton. They say their egg is an excellent steam pro-
ducing coal and gives general satisfaction. It is shipped from the
Red Rock mine via the Chicago & Alton Railroad, freight rate
being 82^ per ton. Write the letter.
3. The Arlington Coal Co. write that the Red Rock Coal Co.
may send a one year contract drawn in triplicate for three cars of
egg coal per week at $1.1 2i per net ton, cars f.o.b. mines. Of
course it is understood that the usual clauses regarding accidents
or other unavoidable happenings on either side will be inserted.
Write the letter.
Exercise 242 — Contract for Construction
News Item. — Bids will be received until Dec. 12 by
the Chairman of the Board of Public Works, North Bend,
Washington, for the construction of a solid concrete bridge
over the Snoqualmie River at North Bend; double arch, with
one pier in the river; span of arch 92 feet; width of bridge
50 feet. Plans may be had by addressing the Chairman.
The McClaine Construction Co., of Spokane, Wash., send in a
bid for $25,000, guaranteeing to use Atlas Portland cement,
crushed rock for the coarse aggregate, and torpedo sand for the
fine aggregate, the concrete to be reinforced with the Kahn sys-
tem of reinforcement as set forth in the specifications. The com-
pany specify, further, that they shall be paid extra for excavation,
on the scale of 25^ a yard for earth, 75izf a yard for loose rock
and hard pan, and $1.00 a yard for solid rock. Write the letter
that they send.
264 COMPOSITION
Exercise 243 — Form Letters
It frequently happens in business that you receive a
number of letters requiring practically the same answer.
In such cases, the best plan is to have one letter that is as
good a letter of its kind as you can write. Use that as an
answer to all those to which it can be made to apply.
You may have to add a bit of information or change a word
here and there, but, practically, you are using the same
form for all the letters. When you have mastered the
form, the answering of letters of this class will be a simple
matter. The letter accompanying a catalogue may easily
be a form. (See the second letter in Exercise 223.)
The danger, however, is that the use of form letters tends
to make work mechanical. When letters are different, they
must receive different replies. A form letter should never
be used just because it is easy to use when it does not
really apply.
Mandel Bros., Chicago, 111., announce their annual sale
of silk remnants. Make this a good advertisement that will
reach several classes of customers. Have in it as one item
white wash silk of heavy quality, 36 inches wide, at 47 cents
a yard.
1. Make out a sales letter for the above.
2. Several mail orders have been received in excess of the
supply. Make out a form letter that could be sent when the
money is returned. What is the advantage of a form letter in
this case?
Exercise 244 — Circular and Follow-up Letters
There is a class of letters that usually originates in the
advertising department of a firm. They are not sent out to
answer inquiries, but to solicit new customers and to keep
old ones. Such letters are printed in large numbers in
imitation of typewriting, and the introduction and the
salutation are afterward carefully filled in on the type-
BUSINESS LETTERS 265
writer. The intention, of course, is to make the recipient
feel that he has received a personal letter. Firms are
generally careful to fill in the signature in pen and ink.
These are called circular letters. (See the last letter in
Exercise 223.)
These letters are very important and each year more
numerous. Frequently a series of them is written, each one
expanding one argument in a series of arguments. If all the
letters are read, one after the other, you have a complete
list of reasons why you should buy the particular article
which the letters advertise. These letters are sent out regu-
larly, so that the effect of one may not quite wear off before
the next arrives. It is frequently the case that not until
the third or fourth letter is sent out does any reply come.
Such letters should be definitely planned in order to present
arguments that are true and attractive. They must be
simply and clearly written. They are called follow-up letters.
The following series of follow-up letters was intended to be
sent to women who keep no maids. The series was planned
to contain five letters. Write two more, using different
appeals from those in the letters here given.
I
Dear Madam:
Do you remember the fairy tale of Little Two-Eyes?
A fairy, out of pity for the child's hunger, spread a table before
her each day as she was watching the goat in the field, and when
her appetite was satisfied all the child had to say was, "Table clear
yourself," and the dishes magically disappeared.
"This is a beautiful way to keep house," was Two-Eyes' ver-
dict, and every woman, thinking of her own distaste of dirty
dishes, will agree.
"How I hate dishwashing!" You have said it hundreds of
times — after every meal, probably.
"I like to cook and bake," you declare. "They are really
interesting. There is fun in trying new recipes — but the dishes! "
You enjoy giving luncheon and dinner parties. It is a de-
lightful way of meeting one's friends. Moreover, you are justly
266 COMPOSITION
proud of your skill in cooking, and you like to show your beauti-
ful china. But what a damper it is on your spirit of good-fellow-
ship, after the guests are gone, to have to spend an hour or more
washing the dishes. Then you would like to say, with the child
in the story, '* Dishes wash yourselves!'' Wouldn't you?
Well, you may. For thirty days — ninety meals — we will
put the Fairy Dishwasher in your home, without charging you a
penny.
The machine is simplicity itself. Wheel the cabinet into your
dining room, alongside your serving table, and, as a course is
finished, without rising from your place, stack the dishes into the
washer. When you have finished the meal, wheel the cabinet
into your kitchen, make the connection, and turn the switch.
In a few minutes the dishes are washed and dried. Having
friends in to dinner is fun when the Fairy washes the dishes.
Let the Fairy do yours. Simply return this letter to us in the
enclosed envelope, making sure that your name and address are
correct, and we'll send you the Fairy. Use it three times a day
for thirty days. Then if you think you can get along as well
without the machine, all that you need to do is to send us a postal
card, telling us so. We'll take back the Fairy and ask no ques-
tions.
But send to-day.
Yours very truly,
2
Dear Madam:
Did you ever envy another woman's smooth, white hands?
You looked at hers, and then you looked at yours; you sighed
and thought, ''It's dishwashing."
But what can you do? Haven't you tried everything to make
dishwashing less drudgery? Haven't you tried patent soaps and
tepid water, only to find that the dishes were not clean? Haven't
you tried dish mops, scrapers, and rubber gloves, only to find
that the mop and the scraper saved but one hand? As for rubber
gloves, as likely as not, the first time you used them they were
caught on the prong of a fork and were thereafter useless. Yes,
you've tried everything; haven't you?
No, you haven't. You have not tried the only sure help that
there is. Stop your drudgery and let the Fairy wash your dishes.
For thirty days — ninety trials — we will put the Fairy Dish-
washer in your home, absolutely free of charge, guaranteed to
BUSINESS LETTERS 267
wash and sterilize your dishes in boiling water, without a touch
of your hand.
Do your manicuring while the Fairy does the dishes.
Pay no money, but send the enclosed postal card to-day. It
will bring the Fairy at once.
Very truly yours,
3
Dear Madam:
An extra hour of leisure every day! What is it worth to you?
Think what you could do if some one would give you an extra
hour of leisure every day. There's the book you would like to
read, the call you ought to make, the embroidery you wish you
could finish. There are the thousand and one things that a house-
keeper continually wishes she could do — but where can she get
the time?
And yet you waste at least an hour each day washing dishes
when the Fairy Dishwasher will not only save you the time but
rid you of a distasteful task. You pay i6f cents a day for five
months and the Fairy does your dishes every day; you buy
yourself an extra hour every day, — you are an hour ahead
every day for the rest of your life.
Is it worth the price?
Remember that we allow you to use the Fairy for thirty days
— ninety meals — before you pay a penny. Then for five months
you send us five dollars a month, and we guarantee that you will
declare it the best twenty-five dollars that you ever spent.
Send the enclosed postal card to-day. It will bring the Fairy
and a booklet of full directions.
Very truly yours,
Exercise 245
You have bought a big tract of land in Alabama. You
wish to sell a part uncleared, to set out a part in pecan trees,
and to devote a part to truck farms. Write three letters
to the same man, making each one stronger than the one
before. Keep in mind the five essentials of a good letter.
(See page 230.)
I. Offer the uncleared land at a very low price. Offer as
many inducements as you can, such as desirability of location,
268 COMPOSITION
fertility of the soil, and comparison in price with other land in
the same neighborhood.
2. You received no response from (i). Try to sell the sec-
tion in which you are planting pecan trees. What inducements
could you offer that might reach a man who was not affected
by (i)?
3. You received no response from (i) or (2). Try to sell a
truck farm. What inducements could you offer that might lead
a man to buy a truck farm when he had no interest in either
uncleared land or pecan trees?
Exercise 246
1. The Modern Magazine offers a set of Mark Twain's com-
plete works absolutely free if you subscribe for one year for the
Modern Magazine and the Household Magazine at the regular
price of $2 for the Modern Magazine and $1.50 for the House-
hold Magazine. This offer expires (date). Write the letter.
2. You have not responded. The Modern Magazine feels
that you could not have understood its offer. These are no cheap
books. To prove this, the firm is willing to send you the books
to allow you to examine them before you send any money. If
you accept them, pay the express agent; if not, return the books
at the expense of the Modern Magazine, Remember that this
offer expires (date).
3. You have not responded. The magazine extends the time.
Give a reason for the extension of the time.
What criticism can you make on (3)?
Exercise 247
A druggist was obliged to move from his corner store four
doors east on a side street. He decided to advertise by send-
ing a series of follow-up letters embodying the following
ideas:
1. Change of location because .
2. Stick to your druggist because he holds the key to your
health.
3. What is the reason that my trade is staying with me?
(Prizes for the best answer.)
BUSINESS LETTERS 269
4. The reasons why trade stays with me — what my patrons
say.
5. The pure food question — why we must handle only fresh
drugs.
6. We are registered pharmacists — what this means to you.
7. Why our sales expense is smaller now than formerly — how
you profit.
Exercise 248
A furniture house selling goods on monthly payments
decides to advertise by sending a series of follow-up letters,
using the following reasons why you should buy, one in each
letter:
1. Variety of stock, assuring you that they can please, no mat-
ter what you wish. Amplify.
2. Reliability of the firm.
3. The small profit on which they run their business gives you
an excellent opportunity of buying good values at low prices.
4. Buying on the ''easy payment '^ plan enables you to have
the use of your furniture while you are still paying for it.
Why is (4) a poor argument?
Exercise 249
Write a series of letters to sell an electric washing machine,
using the following items:
1. The machine is ball bearing; therefore very easy to work.
You can sit down while you do your week's washing. The only
work required is hanging the clothes out of doors.
2. It saves laundry bills.
3. Summary of (i) and (2). The investment required is not
large. Special plans for payment.
4. Durability of the machine.
5. Summary of the above. Present figures showing that
during the time that has elapsed since (i) was received the
machine might have been paid for out of the money spent for
laundry bills.
PART III — BUSINESS PRACTICE
CHAPTER XVI
MANUFACTURE
The following chapters will furnish exercises in composi-
tion, both oral and written, based upon the various phases
of business. They are intended to show the application of
the principles underlying manufacturing, buying, and sell-
ing. Of course, we cannot expect to go into great detail in
any one of the divisions. That must be reserved for future
study, perhaps reserved until the time that you enter a
particular business. We must remember that our first
consideration is the study of English, the problem of clear-
cut expression. Underlying clear-cut expression is clear-cut
thinking. It cannot be repeated too often that without
a definite thought there can be no definite wording of the
thought. To say, "I know, but I don't know how to tell
it,'' shows a lazy brain. Learn to exercise your thinking
powers so that you can force them to stay upon a subject
until you have thought it out carefully and can express it.
All of the oral exercises in the following chapters require
careful preparation. This does not mean that they should be
written out before the recitation, but it does mean that they
must be carefully thought out. The preparation need not take
a particular form. The main thing is that you know exactly
the points that you wish to make before you begin to speak.
If the exercise calls for a paragraph, have clearly in mind the
plan by which you expect to expand your thought. Perhaps
you expect to begin with, or to lead up to, a topic sentence.
Remember that this may be done in several ways. Choose
MANUFACTURE 271
whichever plan seems best. If the exercise does not call
for a particular form, such as a paragraph or a debate, you
are left free to develop your thought in the way that you
think fits your subject best and to the length which you
think it demands.
There are many different kinds of businesses. We shall not
attempt to consider any except the most common and fun-
damental. Some, like farming or mining, consist in bringing
forth certain products from the ground. Such products
are called raw materials, of which an example is wheat.
Some raw materials are sold and used unchanged, but most
of them go through the process of manufacture in order to
be directly usable. The miller is an example of a manufac-
turer, because from wheat he makes flour. In this chapter
we shall study the principles underlying manufacture.
The exercises do not by any means exhaust the subject.
Each one is to be considered as a nucleus about which others
are to be grouped. If you live in a manufacturing district,
other subjects will easily suggest themselves. If you have
studied Industrial History or Commercial Geography, you
probably have in mind a number of topics for discussion.
If you know but little about raw materials, read some of
the books suggested in Exercise 257. At all events let your
work be definite. Whatever statements you make be able
to substantiate by an illustration of something that you
have seen or heard or read.
Exercise 250 — Manufacture
Almost all the things we eat, wear, and use every day are
manufactured articles. Each one of them requires its own
particular process in the making, involving the necessity
in most cases of complex and expensive machinery, of expert
workmen, and of still more expert management. Take, for
example, the shoes we wear, in the manufacture of which
an amazing number of complicated machines and of expert
272 BUSINESS PRACTICE
workmen is necessary. According to the United States
Department of Labor, men's rough shoes go through eighty-
four distinct processes performed by skilled workmen and
automatic machines. No less amazing is the amount of
work turned out by these machines. It has been estimated
that the McKay machine, which attaches the soles to the
uppers, sews up in about one hour and a half one hundred
pairs, an amount which it would take ninety-eight hours, or
about eleven whole working days, to sew by hand.
Each manufacturing business has peculiarities, machinery,
methods, and even a language of its own; sometimes men
must spend years in the study of the technicalities of certain
manufacturing businesses before they become expert in them.
It is evident that we cannot take up any one of them here
except in so far as the principles of one apply to all, and
these can be set down only very briefly.
The first essential to successful manufacturing is correct
buying. In fact, in some businesses this is so essential that
the buyer gets a larger salary than the manager himself.
We can see the reason for this when we consider that a
good buyer must understand not only the materials that
he buys, but also the manufacturing processes, so that,
knowing the process through which the raw materials will
go in his particular business, he will buy those materials
that will make the most profitable manufactured articles.
The next essential, and in most cases the most important
one from the manufacturing standpoint, is a management
capable of producing the best product at the least cost. The
managers decide what shall be produced and how; they hire
the workmen and decide what each shall do; they decide
what shall be done by hand and what by machinery; and
they choose the machines. Sometimes they go even so far
as to determine exactly the method in which each task shall
be done, and whenever they see that it would be advantageous
to install a machine, they do so. Pursuing this policy, a
MANUFACTURE 273
Chicago yeast concern not long ago put in three machines
for wrapping the small yeast cakes, eliminating the services
of 140 girls and cutting the cost of wrapping to three-fifths
of what it had been. In the steel business the early success
of Andrew Carnegie and the famous Bill Jones was largely
due to the fact that on several occasions they did not hesitate
to break up half a million dollars' worth of machinery and
replace it with newer and more efficient kinds.
The third essential to manufacturing success is aggressive
marketing of the product. From the standpoint of money
success this is probably the most important consideration;
so important is it, in fact, that it will be more fully discussed
in the chapter following.
Exercise 251 — Manufactured Articles
Oral
1. Define the word industry. When is a business called an
industry? (Consult an unabridged dictionary.)
2. a. Name several raw materials.
h. Name some industries whose business it is to produce
raw materials.
3. Name some companies or industries whose business it is,
or whose principal function it is, to manufacture from
raw materials.
4. Name some companies or groups of companies that make
articles more useful by transporting them to places where
they are needed.
5. Name some wholesale houses. In what does their busi-
ness consist?
6. Name several kinds of retail businesses. In what does
their business consist?
7. Name some companies that manufacture only one article.
8. Name some companies that manufacture more than one
article, but all of the same class. This is the largest
group.
9. Name some companies that manufacture several different
kinds of articles.
274 BUSINESS PRACTICE
10. Name some companies which, in manufacturing one prod-
uct, make a secondary or by-product.
11. Name a number of by-products and what they are by-
products of.
Oral or Written
In each of the following emphasize the labor involved,
not the machinery used; prepare outlines:
1. Select any manufactured article that you have seen on a
grocer's shelves, and trace it through (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6)
above, from the raw material until the product is in the house-
keeper's hands. If possible make your information exact by
visiting a factory in which the article is made. The information
contained in advertisements of well-known articles may help
you.
2. Trace the labor that is necessary to put a loaf of bread on
the table.
3. Trace the changes that the mineral undergoes to be suitable
for the making of edged tools, such as knives or axes.
4. Trace the changes that cotton must undergo before it is
suitable for wearing as a dress or a pair of stockings.
5. Trace the changes that wool undergoes before it can be worn
as a sweater or a winter coat.
6. Trace the changes that the skins of animals undergo before
they can be worn as a mufif.
7. Trace the changes that silk undergoes before it can be worn
as a neck-tie.
8. Trace the changes that hemp undergoes before it can be
used as a rope.
9. Trace the changes that hides undergo before they can be
worn as shoes.
10. Trace wood from the tree to a piece of fine furniture or to
the case of a musical instrument.
11. Trace the steps in the process of making maple sugar.
12. Trace the steps in making a piece of glazed pottery.
13. Trace clay to bricks.
14. Trace flax to a table-cloth.
15. Trace the steps necessary to make a five dollar gold piece.
MANUFACTURE 275
Exercise 252
Subjects for Themes, Oral or Written
The following are suggestions for theme subjects on manu-
facture. Develop one or more as the teacher directs.
1. Household uses for asbestos.
2. Making turpentine from wood.
3. A convenient electrical device.
4. The advantages of the fireless cooker.
5. The advantages of concrete as a building material.
6. The way to make a plaster cast.
7. How iron castings are made.
8. Artificial flowers from feathers, paper, or cloth.
9. How a suction sweeper works.
10. The safety match.
11. The uses of wood pulp.
12. Patent roofing.
13. The manufacture of plate glass.
14. Utilizing cotton seed.
15. The advantages and the disadvantages of using baking
powder.
Exercise 253
Suggestions for Debates
1. The average young man has a better chance to succeed in
business than in a profession.
2. A manufacturing business offers a better opportunity for
a young man at the present time than a mercantile business.
3. Manufacturing industries would suffer if immigration were
restricted.
4. The labor union should be abolished.
5. The labor union has no right to restrict the number of
apprentices.
6. The profit-sharing plan produces greater efficiency in the
working-force.
Exercise 254
Imagine that you are Stanley M. Benner, 171 South St.,
Buffalo, N. Y., proprietor of a factory making men's shirts
and collars.
276 BUSINESS PRACTICE
1. Write an order to The American Printing Mill, 1038 Canal
St., Passaic, N. J., for several bolts each of percale, madras, corded
madras, and silk striped madras. Use catalogue numbers.
2. Write another order to The Trescott Silk Mill, 976 River
St., Paterson, N. J., for several bolts each of No. 62, No. 14, '
and No. 20 shirtiiig silks. No. 62 being a striped silk and
the others figured. Be definite in ordering the colors that you
wish.
3. You have received an order from Spencer & Mitchell, 1925
Pearl St., Albany, N. Y. Write a letter, thanking them for the
order and explaining when and how the goods will be sent.
4. You have received an order from William F. Atwood, 590
Jackson St., Wilmington, Del., for a certain style of collar on
which there has been a run. Write a letter, explaining that it will
take about three weeks to fill the orders that you now have for
this collar and that you therefore cannot send Mr. Atwood's
goods before the end of the month.
5. The goods have arrived from The Trescott Silk Mill. You
find, however, that two bolts of No. 14 are badly soiled. Write
a letter, saying that you are returning the bolts and asking to have
the matter adjusted.
6. A. W. Trescott, President of The Trescott Silk Mill,
replies, expressing regret that the goods were soiled and saying
that two clean bolts of No. 14 are being sent at once. Write his
letter.
7. You have on hand about 50 gross men's striped madras
collars, for which there is no longer a call. Write to Markham
Bros., wholesale jobbers, 1765 Greenwich St., New York City,
asking what price they will offer for the lot.
8. Answer the letter, offering $1.50 a gross for the collars.
9. Accept the offer.
10. Owing to the mildness of the winter, you fear that you
will not sell your stock of men's flannel shirts. Write a circular
letter, offering the shirts in lots of 25 dozen each, assorted sizes
and colors, at a 35% reduction in price. Address one letter to
Frederick H. Howard, a dealer at 775 Cedar St., Harrisburg, Pa.
11. A teamsters' strike has delayed your shipments. You
have received so many complaints of the non-arrival of goods
that you decide to prepare a form letter that will answer all the
complaints. Address one letter to William A. Spaulding, 2937
Waterman St., Providence, R. I.
MANUFACTURE 277
12. Miss Sarah MacComb has a small dry goods store in
Norwich, Conn. She has owed you $125 for six months. You
have been lenient with Miss MacComb because you know that
she has had difficulty in meeting her bills. However, you feel
that she should pay at least a part of her indebtedness to you.
Write a courteous letter, longer and more persuasive than if it
were to go to a man, demanding payment but retaining the cus-
tomer's good will. This is a difficult letter to write. Prepare it
carefully.
Exercise 255
1. You have been manager of the Forsyth Furniture Co.,
Grand Rapids, Mich. You have financial backing for $25,000
and are looking for a location for a factory of your own. Write
the same letter to the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of
Great Falls, Mont.; Memphis, Tenn.; Houston, Texas; Indian-
apolis, Ind. Ask the Secretary to tell you the prospects for such
a factory in his city, and what inducements the city will offer you.
(By writing to different cities, the teacher can obtain their booklets
and their special offers to manufacturers.)
2. Investigate the conditions in one of the cities mentioned
above and reproduce the letter that the Secretary wrote.
3. Of the four cities. Great Falls appeals to you as the best
location for your factory. Write again, asking the Secretary
especially about the water power facilities offered and the rates
charged for electrical power.
4. He replies that Great Falls has the most extensive power
in the United States, the hydro-electric power being ready for
aelivery in any quantity at exceptionally low rates. He tells of
the many factories that are already located in Great Falls
because of its water power facilities.
5. Great Falls is your choice. After your factory is built
and your machinery installed, write to the Secretary of the Sand
Point Lumber Co., Sand Point, Idaho, asking him to submit
figures for a contract for supplying all your fir lumber. Tell
him you think you will use about a million board feet a year.
6. The Secretary replies, offering you a contract on the follow-
ing terms: For all amounts under. 2 50,000 feet a year, a rate of 12
cents a foot; under 500,000, 11 cents; over 500,000, 10 cents.
All goods are to be billed at the highest rate and rebates made
at the end of the year, terms of payment being 90 days, 5% for
30 days.
278 BUSINESS PRACTICE
7. Write to the Central American Supply Co., Tehuantepec,
Mexico, ordering 50,000 feet No. i Mahogany Veneer. Have it
charged to your account, which you have previously opened.
8. Write to Gregory Bros., wholesale dry goods merchants,
1 2 141 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, Minn., ordering 15 bolts No.
7 Green Denim; 10 bolts No. 09 Green Panne Velvet; 50 yds.
No. 216 Tapestry; 50 yds. No. 16 Tapestry; 100 bolts Green and
100 bolts Brown No. 5 Guimpe. Instruct them to ship the goods
at once and draw on you at sight through the First National
Bank of Great Falls. (See page 344.)
9. Write to the Excelsior Varnish Co., Merchants' National
Bank Building, St. Paul, Minn., ordering articles such as varnish,
stains, oils, enamels, and finishing wax.
10. Write an order to a St. Louis firm for leather.
11. Write an order to a Spokane firm for springs.
12. Find out where a Great Falls merchant would buy oak and
birch, and write an order for each.
13. Write to the Hanover National Bank of New York City
(because you happen to know the cashier of that bank), explain-
ing that you are having a very decided increase in your business
and that, in order to take care of the demand, you require a loan
of $10,000. Explain further that the rates are too high in Great
Falls for you to take a loan there. Say that you are enclosing
a statement of your assets and liabilities.
14. A dealer in Portland, Ore., writes, complaining that he has
not yet received the goods that he ordered ten days ago. Write
the letter.
15. Reply that shipment has been delayed because of a strike
that has temporarily closed your factory. The trouble is now
settled, and the goods will probably be forwarded within three
days.
Exercise 256
Topics for Investigation and Discussion
Principles involved in manufacture:
I. The location of a factory-.
a. Where necessary raw materials can be obtained easily and
cheaply.
b. Where land is not expensive.
MANUFACTURE 279
c. Where the coal or water supply will make power in-
expensive.
d. Where transportation facilities are good.
2. The advantages of using machinery in manufacture.
a. Relative amount of work turned out.
h. Relative cost of work turned out.
c. Relative cleanliness of work turned out.
d. Relative uniformity of work turned out.
3. The number of working hours.
Some factories have made the experiment of reducing the
number of working hours from ten to eight without reducing the
wages of the workers. They have found that the quantity of
work turned out is increased and the quality improved. Can
you explain why?
4. The advantages of the profit-sharing plan, both for
employer and for employee.
This is a plan by which a certain per cent of the profits of the
business is divided annually among the employees. (See a very
interesting article in System for March, 191 1, or read Profit -sharing
between Employer and Employee by N. P. Oilman.)
5. Specialized labor.
There was a time when a man made all the parts of a pair of
shoes. Why in modern factories does he make only one part?
Which system tends to make shoes of uniform workmanship? Is
uniformity a good quality in manufacture? This principle applies
to any kind of factory.
6. Special products.
Suppose that you manufactured a large number of styles of
millinery, or novelty, footwear. Would you expect your profits
on these to be larger or smaller than on your staple styles? Give
reasons and illustrations.
7. Why is there a struggle between labor and capital?
8. What is the cause of strikes?
9. Are strikes a good thing for manufacture?
10. A visit to a shoe factory (or any other factory).
28o BUSINESS PRACTICE
Exercise 257
Books that will Suggest Topics for Talks
If you have access to a public library, you can probably
obtain some of the following books. They are all simple
and interesting, and any of them will suggest several topics
for talks.
Allen, N. B., Industrial Studies.
Baker, R. S., Boys' Books of Inventions.
Barnard, Charles, Tools and Machines.
Carpenter, F. G., How the World is Fed; How the World is Clothed;
How the World is Housed; Geographical Readers.
Chamberlain, J. F., How We are Fed; How We are Clothed.
Chase, A. and Clow, E., Stories of Industries (two volumes).
Cochrane, C. H., The Wonders of Modern Mechanism.
Cochrane, Robert, Romance of Industry and Invention.
Doubled AY, Russell, Stories of Invention.
FoRMAN, S. E., Useful Inventions.
Gibson, C. R., The Romance of Modem Manufacture.
Lane, M. A. L., Industries of To-day.
Little Chronicle Co., Industries of a Great City.
MowRY, W. A. and Mowry, A. M., Inventions and Inventors.
Parton, J., Captains of Industry (two series).
RocHELEAU, W. F., Products of the Soil; Minerals; Manufactures.
TowLE, G. M., Heroes and Martyrs of Invention.
Williams, A., How it is Made.
Exercise 258
Study the punctuation of the following; then write from
dictation:
I
It is stated that practical experience with gas mantles made of
artificial silk — that is, silk made from wood pulp — has proved
them to be far superior to those made of cotton, especially where
the mantles are exposed to excessive vibration. Several German
towns are said to be obtaining exceptionally good results from
these new mantles used in conjunction with pressure gas, and it
is asserted that the mantles are in good condition after being
used for seven or eight weeks. Artificial silk, according to re-
ports, has also been used experimentally by several manufacturers
MANUFACTURE 281
of incandescent gas mantles in the United Kingdom. The reports
are all very encouraging, except that there seems to be one diffi-
culty that is purely mechanical — the knitting of the artificial
silk. The knots and other imperfections in the yarn cause a
considerable amount of waste. However, the knitting-machine
makers are experimenting to overcome it. — Daily Consular and
Trade Report.
2
As the production of wool in this country, although approxi-
mating 320,000,000 pounds a year, does not begin to meet the
demands for the raw material, there is a yearly importation of
from 156,000,000 to over 300,000,000 pounds. When each new
census reveals the fact that there are fewer sheep of shearing age
in the country than there were ten years before, the question
of wool production becomes one of still greater importance. A
solution may be found in a Peruvian product. A variety of cotton
grows in Peru whose long, rough, crinkly fiber mixes so readily
with wool that manufacturers use it in connection with wool in
manufacturing '^all wool" goods. It grows on a small tree that
yields two or three crops a year for seven or eight years. The
area, however, in which it is being successfully cultivated in Peru
is so limited that the annual output is only about 16,000,000
pounds, of which the United States takes approximately 5,500,000
pounds. As the region in which it thrives is practically rainless,
perhaps a way may be found to persuade the rough Peruvian to
make a home for itself in the hot and arid regions of our Southwest.
It would be a triumph of agriculture, certainly, to raise vegetable
wool in regions not fitted for real sheep. — The Wall Street Journal,
3
The Casting of Metals
As is well known, some metals are unsuitable for casting, while
others, like iron, can readily be cast into any desired shape. The
property of casting well, it is said, depends upon whether the metal
contracts or expands in solidifying from the liquid form. Iron,
like water, expands in solidifying, and hence the solid metal may
be seen floating in the liquid iron about it. The expansion causes
it to fill the die into which it is poured, and so it can be cast easily.
Gold and silver contract in cooling, and are, therefore, not suitable
for casting. — Harper^ s Weekly.
CHAPTER XVII
DISTRIBUTION
Correct buying and the most efficient methods of manu-
facture play a large part in the successful carrying on of a
business, but the most important consideration is the success-
ful marketing or distributing of the product after it has been
manufactured or bought. Very few products are so superior
in quality that they sell themselves purely on merit. Com-
petition in business to-day is so keen that, in order to find
a market for his product, a merchant must create a demand
for it. Thus at its very foundation, distribution is merely
a process of creating a demand and then filling that demand.
For instance, the retail merchant is concerned with bringing
the customers to his store rather than to his competitor's
across the street. The wholesale merchant is concerned with
having the retailers handle his goods rather than those of
another firm. The mail order merchant is concerned with
getting the farmer's business before some other dealer gets
it. The salesman is concerned with writing the order before
a rival from another house writes it.
In the first place, the merchant must handle those things
that his customers consider necessary or desirable. Over-
coats cannot be sold in August, ashsifters on the equator,
nor electric fans in Iceland. Different peoples, different
times, and different conditions create different demands,
and it is the merchant's business to study those demands
and to fill them. In the second place, he must leave no stone
unturned in endeavoring to make his product more desir-
able than that of his competitors. This may mean extensive
advertising campaigns, expensive displays, outlay for costly
DISTRIBUTION 283
catalogues and booklets, the expenditure of money for
inducements to bring customers, or the hiring of expert
salesmen. In fact, thousands of plans are carried out every
year in this endeavor to increase trade.
The getting of new and additional business, however, is
only one of the important considerations that the merchant
must always have in mind. He must also keep what busi-
ness he already has by maintaining the standard of his goods
and by giving his customers satisfactory service. One of
the first essentials in this question of service is promptness
and exactness of delivery. In this the merchant must depend
very largely on the transportation companies, and there-
fore a brief study of these facilities will be especially in
place at this point.
Transportation
Transportation is an essential item in the problem of dis-
tribution. If you wished to drink a cup of coffee and found
that none could be had except in Brazil, you would begin to
realize how much the steamship company and the railroad
company have done in transporting and hauling it where
you might buy it. The same is true of our oranges from
California and Florida, our apples from Washington and
Oregon, and our grain from the Middle States. In fact,
in the case of many products the most important item is
not growing them, but bringing them to market, since the
transportation charges are often much greater than the actual
cost of producing. Thousands of barrels of apples rot on the
ground every year because their quality does not warrant
the high transportation charges, the lack of transportation
rendering them useless. In a smaller measure, the delivery
wagons in our cities and towns are essential to us because
they save us the trouble of carrying our purchases about.
Thus, the element of transportation enters into our lives
every day, saving us inconvenience, bringing to us neces-
284 BUSINESS PRACTICE
sities that we demand and luxuries that we like, and, at
the same time, increasing the price of commodities.
Common carriers, as transportation companies are called,
are of two general classes:
1. Those operating on water — the steamship companies.
2. Those operating on land — the railroad companies.
The Steamship Company
Steamship companies operate three general kinds of lines:
(i) lines consisting of the largest and fastest steamers which
carry only passengers, mail, and valuable parcels; (2) lines
using slower steamers which carry both passengers and freight;
' and (3) lines employing vessels — steamers, sailing vessels,
and barges — which carry only freight. The cost of hauling
cargoes by water is in every case less per mile than that of
carrying the same quantity of goods on land. It costs, for
example, over four times as much to carry a bushel of wheat
from Chicago to New York by rail as it does to carry it across
the Atlantic. It is for this very reason that the traffic on
our navigable rivers, the Ohio and the Mississippi, and on
the Great Lakes is so heavy. Whenever a cargo can be
shipped as well by water as by rail and there is no hurry for
delivery, it is shipped by water. However, because so much
of our freight must be rushed from place to place, the rail-
roads get the bulk of the inland traffic.
The Railroad Company
The services of the railroad company embrace the hauling
of freight, the carrying of passengers, and the transporting of
express and of mail. The hauling of freight is the most
important item in the railroad business, about three-quarters
of the total income being derived from this source. Each
year over one billion tons of freight are turned over by
shippers to the railroads, who use almost two and one-half
DISTRIBUTION 285
million freight cars to carry it. About one-half of this ton-
nage is minerals, mainly ore and coal; about one-seventh
consists of manufactured articles; and one- twelfth of agri-
cultural products. Commodities are grouped into from ten
to fourteen classes, on each one of which the freight rate is
different from that of the others. By freight rate is meant
the cost of shipping a certain unit, usually 100 pounds
or a ton, from one place to another; it is dependent
on the distance. There are certain bulky commodities like
coal, livestock, lumber, grain, and cement, which are almost
always handled in carload lots. They are not included in
the freight classification, but have a special ex-class freight
rate. Freight rates depend also on whether the goods are
shipped by slow or local freight or by fast or through freight.
There are a hundred different kinds of papers used in
carrying on the railroad freight business. Only four of the
most important will be considered here. When a shipper
turns over his goods to the railroad company at its freight
depot, he gets from the agent a receipt for freight, which is
merely a receipt for the goods he has turned over. In the
ordinary course of business these receipts are exchanged at
the company's office for a hill of lading in triplicate. The
original and one copy are given to the shipper. The second
copy is kept by the railroad. This bill of lading may be
of two kinds, straight or order. If a straight bill of lading
is given, the original is sent to the person to whom the goods
are shipped, who is called the consignee, who on the presen-
tation of the bill of lading is entitled to the goods after
paying the charges. An order bill of lading is much like
a check, in that it can be assigned to another person. Like
the straight bill it states the name of the consignee or
the person for whom the goods are. intended and his
address, but the ' consignee cannot get possession of the
goods until he has paid for them. To collect payment,
the shipper attaches to the order bill of lading a draft for
286 BUSINESS PRACTICE
the amount of the goods and the freight, and through his
bank and the bank of the consignee the amount is collected.
The consignee then gets possession of the order bill of lad-
ing, which entitles him to possession of the goods. This is
more fully explained on page 344. The railroad's most
important paper is the way billj which shows the conductor
or the agent of the company just what articles are included
in the shipment, so that it can be checked when unloaded.
When the goods arrive at their destination, the consignee
is notified and is sent a freight hill showing the freight
charges. When he presents his bill of lading and pays the
charges, the freight bill is receipted and the goods are his.
In quoting prices on goods, manufacturers and distribu-
tors usually designate whether they will pay the freight or
whether it is to be paid by the consignee. In the latter case
the price is quoted f. o. b. at the place from which the goods
are shipped, which means freight on board at that point.
That is to say, if a distributor located at Detroit quotes his
automobiles f. o. b. Detroit, he means that he will see that
the goods get into the railroad company's hands at Detroit,
but that the consignee pays the freight from Detroit to the
destination. The latter is the common practice in shipping.
In the following exercises we shall treat the subject of
distribution under four heads:
I. The Retail Merchant.
II. The Wholesale Merchant.
III. The Mail Order Merchant.
IV. The Salesman.
I. — The Retail Merchant
Exercise 259
Oral
You are opening a grocery store. Remember that your
object is to sell the largest possible amount of goods.
Develop each of the following suggestions:
DISTRIBUTION 287
1. What kind of location would you desire?
2. How would you have the front of your store painted?
Would you try to make it stand out from the rest?
3. Do you think it would pay you to have the interior newly
and brightly redecorated? To put in the best and brightest
lights?
4. What quality of stock would you select? The same for
all neighborhoods? Give your reasons. Would advertised
brands bring you more trade?
5. Do you think window display would pay? Would you
recommend freak or ordinary displays? Price-marked or non-
price-marked? Give your reasons.
6. Does the delivery wagon pay? Would it be advisable to
buy a new wagon and a good horse? What other considerations
would enter?
7. Would you sometimes cut the price of some necessity to
draw people? Give reasons for your answer.
8. Is it a good thing to have a general cut-price-sale to bring
customers to your store? Even if you lose money by it?
9. Would you give credit? Would the class of people you
served come into consideration?
10. Is the use of trading stamps and premiums good policy?
11. Why do you often find a meat market in connection with
a grocery?
12. There are two kinds of retail meat markets: (i) the one
that sells goods which can be retailed at a low price, and (2) the
one that sells superior goods at a higher price. Which policy
would you follow and why?
13. Could a retailer combine the two spoken of in (12)? Con-
sider cost, space, satisfaction of the customer.
14. Would you advertise by means of handbills? By circular
letters?
15. What would you do if another grocery opened across the
street from yours?
Exercise 260
Written
I. You have bought Burton & Sanders' grocery at Fort Wayne,
Indiana. Send out a circular letter advertising the new White
Front Grocery and telling what the policy of the new manage-
ment will be. Explain that the opening sale will begin next Mon-
288 BUSINESS PRACTICE
day and that a special feature of the sale will be twenty pounds
of granulated sugar for eighty cents with a two dollar order.
2. At the same time have an article appear in a local news-
paper, telling that Burton & Sanders have sold their store to
you and that you are making extensive improvements, especially
in sanitary means of handling provisions. In addition, let the
article give an account of your business career in another town.
Would such an article be of value to you? Write it.
3. Write to Peabody, Harper & Co., Rush Street Bridge,
Chicago, 111., saying that you would like to open an account with
them. Give as references a bank in your town and one in
Logansport, where you used to live. Ask Peabody, Harper & Co.
what terms they can offer you.
4. You have decided to advertise in a local paper. Write
to the advertising manager, asking him for yearly rates for a half-
column every evening and a quarter-page every Friday.
5. Find out what are the advertising rates of a paper in your
town and answer (4).
6. Reproduce a letter that a woman living in town sends,
ordering two dollars worth of groceries and requesting that you
send, in addition, the twenty pounds of sugar you advertise in
(i). She encloses a check for $2.80.
7. You are in receipt of a letter from Peabody, Harper & Co.,
answering your inquiry in (3) and offering you sixty days' credit
and 2% discount for payment within ten days. Write the letter.
8. Send an order to Peabody, Harper & Co. for $200 worth
of groceries. Among the items let there be 6 cases of canned
tomatoes, first quality, at $1.75 a case. Ask them to send the
goods by the Pennsylvania R. R.
9. You find that your business is increasing and you need
another clerk. Write an advertisement for one.
10. Write a letter answering the advertisement, telling why
you would be a good clerk, although you have had no experi-
ence.
11. Peabody, Harper & Co. write, confirming your order in
(8) and enclosing a straight bill of lading.
12. When the goods arrive, you find no tomatoes among them.
Write a complaint to the wholesale house.
13. Peabody, Harper & Co. reply to your letter in (12), apolo-
gizing for the mistake, explaining how it occurred (supply an
explanation), and telling you that they have sent one case by
express at their expense. The rest will follow by freight.
DISTRIBUTION 289
14. The tomatoes sent by freight do not arrive. Write to the
grocery company, asking the latter to send out a "tracer "; that
is, to request the railroad company to trace the goods on its lines.
15. The grocery company telephones the railroad company,
requesting the latter to trace the goods and to report. The
grocery company also writes a letter confirming its request. Write
the letter.
16. (a) The railroad company reports that by mistake the goods
were carried through to Lima, but that they are being returned
to Fort Wayne, (b) The grocery company informs you of the
developments and hopes that the delay has caused you no great
inconvenience. Write both letters.
Exercise 261
1. You wish to get a partner to open a meat market in con-
nection with your grocery. Write to a friend in Lafayette, Ind.,
who you think will be interested, proposing it to him. Tell him
of the opportunities, as you see them, of business in Fort Wayne
and the surrounding country. Tell him that with $4,000 addi-
tional capital you and he could set up a much larger establish-
ment, invest in a motor wagon, and thus secure the trade of the
outlying districts.
2. Your friend replies that the proposal appeals strongly to
him, but that he has only $2,000 in cash. However, he holds a
mortgage for $2,000 on (state the location of the house) in
Lafayette, and, if he can sell the mortgage, he will be glad to
avail himself of the offer.
3. After the partnership is formed, your partner writes to Orr
& Locket, 14 W. Randolph St., Chicago, 111., ordering the follow-
ing to be shipped by Pennsylvania R.R.: i Refrigerator No. 361;
2 Meat Blocks No. 3; i Scale No. M. 30; ^ doz. Saws No. S3
(16 in.); ^ doz. Saws No. s^ (22 in.); J doz. Knives No. 955;
I doz. Knives No. 490; J doz. Steels No. S2; J doz. Cleavers
No. 09; i doz. Block Scrapers. He explains that he is the same
man who formerly had a meat market in Lafayette.
4. Orr & Locket acknowledge the receipt of the order, enclose
the invoice, and offer him 5% discount for pa3anent within 30 days.
Write the letter.
5. A Detroit manufacturer sends you f.o.b. prices on his
motor wagons. Investigate the prices and write the letter.
6. Order one of them. (Remember the f.o.b. item.)
290 BUSINESS PRACTICE
7. He writes confirming your order, saying that the car is now
in the shipper's hands and that his bank has sent the order bill of
lading with draft attached to the First National Bank of your
city. Write the letter. (See page 344.)
8. At the same time the shipper's bank sends a letter to the
First National Bank of your city enclosing the order bill of lading
with draft drawn on you for collection. A copy of this letter is
also mailed to you. Write it.
9. You telephone your bank to draw on your account for
the amount of the draft and to send you the bill of lading. You
confirm this understanding by a letter. Write it.
10. Your bank writes, confirming the telephone conversation
and enclosing the bill of lading and a receipt for the correct
amount. You present your bill of lading, pay the freight charges,
and get your motor wagon. Write the letter the bank sends.
11. The automobile manufacturer has meanwhile received
through his bank a credit for the amount you paid for the car and
writes acknowledging its receipt. Write the letter.
Exercise 262
Choose four or six members of the class, one-half of whom
are to argue in favor of the policy indicated in the plan out-
lined below and one-half of whom are to argue against it.
A certain grocer opened a store with the determination of
doing a strictly cash business, and of making no deliveries
unless the purchaser paid for the delivery. This was his
plan as suggested by System:
1. To those who would carry their own purchases he sold
everything for cash much lower than any other grocer in town
sold it.
2. If the customer bought very bulky goods, or if he did not
wish to be his own delivery man, the grocer charged him for
delivery a certain percentage of the total of his cash purchases.
Yet the customer bought more cheaply than he could buy in any
other grocery in town.
3. Those who wished to pay once a month instead of at every
visit he advised to deposit a certain sum of money with him as
banker and to buy against that, paying cash prices and receiving
3% interest on the amount left on deposit.
DISTRIBUTION 291
II. — The Wholesale Merchant
Exercise 263
Oral
Each of the following should be developed into a paragraph:
1. You are a manufacturer and wholesale distributor with a
factory on the outskirts of a town; would you have a warehouse
in the center of the town? Give reasons for your answer.
2. What would be the advantage of having your warehouse
near the railroad freight depots? Near the docks?
3. What would be the advantage of being located in a large
city with many railroads and with water transportation facilities
— Chicago, for example?
4. Speed gets orders. With this in view, what would you
recommend with respect to the equipment for handling? What
would you suggest about the number of people through whose
hands the order would have to go before being shipped?
5. If you were looking for big trade in a big city, what kind of
stock would you carry? Musical instruments? Clothing?
6. Would it be a good plan to make a specialty of certain
brands for leaders and to quote a special price on them?
7. If you were just starting a wholesale hardware or grocery
business, state which you think would be the better policy: (i)
to concentrate on one kind of goods in one territory and to take
on other kinds and territories later, or (2) to work all kinds of
goods as widely as possible from the very beginning. Explain .
fully.
8. Would you bear part of the expense of retailers' advertis-
ing, especially of window displays, provided they handled your
goods?
9. Would it be good business for the salesmen of the firm to
suggest selling methods to retailers and to plan window displays
for them? Give your reasons.
10. Do you think it would increase sales to offer a money prize
to the retailer selling the largest amount of a certain kind of your
goods, the sale of which you wished materially to increase?
11. Tell which you think would be the better policy: (i) to
undersell your competitors for a time and then, when you had the
trade, to raise your prices, or (2) to set one price and maintain it
from the beginning. Give your reasons.
292 BUSINESS PRACTICE
12. If you were getting out a new brand of carpenters' tools,
where would you advertise? Would you conduct an extensive
national campaign?
13. If you were bringing out a new soap or washing powder,
where would you advertise? Would you conduct an extensive
national advertising campaign? What would your answer be
if you were introducing a new brand of crackers?
14. Would bringing out novelties from time to time help the
sale of your staple articles? Explain.
15. Do you think it would pay to send circulars to the house-
wives of a certain locality to get the local grocers' trade? After
you had the local grocers' trade?
Exercise 264
Written
1. You are Thos. H. Peabody of Peabody, Harper & Co.'s
wholesale grocery. Prepare a circular letter, announcing your
removal to a new building. The letter will be printed in imi-
tation of typewriting and the introduction filled in later on the
typewriter. Remember you are seeking patronage. Address
one letter to Walter T. Barth, 350 E. Water St., Milwaukee, Wis.
2. Write an advertisement to appear in the January number
of The Grocer and Country Merchant, a grocers' trade journal.
It will announce your change of location.
3. You receive an order from a retailer in which he asks for
a certain brand of cofifee that you do not carry. Write a letter
telling him you do not handle that brand and offering him another.
Make the letter as courteous as possible.
4. Write an advertisement for (i) a bookkeeper; (2) a stenog-
rapher.
5. Answer (i) or (2) above.
6. Write an advertisement for a traveling salesman.
7. Answer (6) telling why you think you could sell groceries
although you have had no experience.
8. Write a circular letter to send to the trade setting forth
the merits of a new brand of canned fruit. Say that you are
offering the brand at a very attractive price in the expectation
that retailers will make it a leader. Write to Mr. Barth (i).
9. You have made a contract with the manufacturers of the
canned fruit mentioned in (8), by which you secure the exclusive
DISTRIBUTION 293
sale but take the responsibility of advertising. Write to an ad-
vertising agency saying that you are considering a three months'
advertising campaign. Explain that you do not wish the expense
to exceed five thousand dollars.
10. The advertising agency replies that, as five thousand dollars
is a comparatively small sum for a campaign, it would suggest
that the advertising be confined to one class: street car, bill-
board, newspaper, or magazine. Write the letter.
11. Notify the agency of your choice, giving your reasons.
12. Write a series of three letters to send to housewives, ad-
vertising the canned fruit, with the purpose of having them ask
for this brand at their grocers': (i) Telling the name of the canned
fruit, its excellence, its price, and where it may be bought; (2)
Asking if the housewife has as yet bought any, and if she has not,
telling her she can get a sample at her grocer's on presentation of
this letter; (3) Asking how she liked the fruit and quoting a letter
of recommendation received from Mrs. A., who lives in the neigh-
borhood. Urge her to buy, but not too abruptly. A letter to a
woman should be fairly long. (See page 265.)
Exercise 265
1. For two months you have been without a credit man. You
wish to be very careful in your choice because of the importance
of the position. J. B. Wright of 439 Russell Ave., Indianapolis,
is a personal friend of yours. He has heard that you need a credit
man and he recommends Joseph Haddon, who worked for him
three years in that capacity until a year ago when he went to
Colorado because of the ill-health of his wife. Meanwhile, Mr.
Wright's son has been acting as his credit man. Mrs. Haddon
has now recovered, and her husband is anxious to get another
position. Reproduce Mr. Wright's letter.
2. Write the letter Mr. Wright sends Mr. Haddon in Colorado,
suggesting that the latter apply for the position.
3. At the same time Joseph Haddon writes, applying for the
position. Write the letter of application.
4. Send to The Grocer and Country Merchant for a year's sub-
scription.
5. Joseph Haddon, whom you have engaged, is proving to be
a very alert credit man. He has made a study of your credit
files and has discovered that you have a great many accounts of
long standing that ought to be collected. He prepares a courteous
294 BUSINESS PRACTICE
letter to send to the debtors, telling them that he has just been
made credit man and that he personally would like to get into
closer touch with their particular situation to find out how soon
he might expect a remittance from them so that he could plan
the future of his department.* Write the letter. (See page 254.)
6. A number of retailers remit the amount that they owe.
Some explain their situation in detail, but a great many do not
respond to (5). Write another letter, still courteous, but more
emphatic than (5) to those who did not respond. (See page 255.)
7. Still a number do not respond. Write a third letter, say-
ing that you will place the matter in the hands of your attorney
unless you receive a remittance within ten days.
8. Mr. Haddon discovers that there are about a hundred
retailers who used to be customers, but who have bought nothing
for about two years. He reports this to the sales manager, Mr.
James Wood worth, who writes a letter to the retailers to induce
them to send another order, using the canned fruit spoken of in
(8) of Exercise 264 as a means of interesting them.
9. Nathaniel Sears, a dealer in general merchandise at Joplin,
Mo., writes to you asking for an open account. He says that he
did a $10,000 business last year and that, apparently, sales this
year will be larger. He gives no references. You refer the matter
to Mr. Haddon, who looks up Mr. Sears in Bradstreet and then
writes to one of your salesmen at St. Louis, asking him to investi-
gate the financial standing of Mr. Sears. Write to the salesman.
10. After three days the salesman reports that Mr. Sears seems
to be doing a good business, but he thinks the dealer is living
beyond his means. He owes two wholesale houses $500 and $850
respectively; his property in Joplin is heavily mortgaged, and
yet he is making extensive improvements on his residence; his
son and his daughter are at expensive boarding schools. Write
the letter. Be exact in your information.
11. As Mr. Woodworth, write Mr. Sears a courteous letter,
refusing him credit but attempting to secure his cash business.
12. Charles Freeman, 141 Park Place, Newark, Ohio, writes
in answer to (5) saying that he is unable to pay his account of
$500. After the harvest his outstanding bills will be paid by the
farmers, and then he can remit. He says he is willing to give his
90 day note for the amount he owes.
13. Mr. Haddon writes accepting the note.
DISTRIBUTION ^ 295
III. — The Mail Order Merchant
Exercise 266
Oral
1. Suppose you were starting a mail order business. Would
it make any difference in possible profits if your center of opera-
tions were in a large or a small city? Give your reasons.
2. Would you try to be near good transportation?
3. What kind of stock would you advertise principally: bulky
articles or those easily handled? expensive goods or those of more
moderate price?
4. Your catalogue is your salesman. What would this state-
ment suggest about the cost of running your business as compared
with that of Peabody, Harper & Co., who employ five salesmen?
5. How would you bring special attention to your leaders in
your catalogue?
6. Why is it advisable not to give your catalogue away free,
but to charge a nominal sum for it?
7. Would you sell as cheaply as you could or would you try
to sell for as high a price as possible even if you sold less?
8. Is it profitable for a mail order merchant to sell one spool
of thread or one pocket-knife? Consider the handling and the
packing.
9. Why can the mail order merchant sell more cheaply than
the country dealer?
10. a. How is the parcel post favorable to the mail order
dealer?
h. Why did the country merchant object so strenuously
to the passage of the parcel post law?
11. Some distributors who handle only one kind of article some-
times pay the freight. Would this plan be advisable for a mail
order house to adopt?
12. Since the purchaser pays the freight, is it advisable for
him to buy a large or a small order at one time?
Exercise 267
Written
I. A customer who wishes to buy some furniture complains
that he can purchase what he wishes from another firm that will
pay the freight. Write a letter meeting his objection.
296 ^BUSINESS PRACTICE
2. You have just added a new clothing department and have
published a special clothing catalogue, which you will be glad
to send to your customers free of charge. Write a letter telling
of the new department and drawing special attention to your
three-piece serge suit for $15. Enclose a sample of the cloth.
3. Write, especially to farmers, saying that with the facilities
now offered by the parcel post you are able to supply their wants
quickly; as, for example, for a broken part of a piece of farm
machinery. Write a fairly long letter in a friendly tone.
4. In the fall write a letter, addressing the farmers' wives,
saying that, as winter is at hand, it would be well for them to put
in a supply of groceries when prices are reasonable. Enclose a
folder giving some attractive bargains.
5. Write a letter, saying that you have just put up a new
building. Invite your customer to come to see it. Explain that
every afternoon from 2 to 4 o'clock there will be a band concert
in your large visitors' hall.
Exercise 268
1. Let one pupil be chosen to dictate to the class each
of the letters outlined below. He is to use no notes. The
class will represent stenographers.
2. Discuss and improve the letters that have been
dictated.
1. Borroughs & Brown, a- mail order firm at N. nth and
Callowhill Streets, Philadelphia, send you their catalogue and a
letter. Write the letter.
2. Write, stating that in their catalogue No. 6, page 673,
Borroughs & Brown list a washing machine such as you wish,
called the ''Pride Swing" washing machine. No. 4-A-459. The
measurements as listed are: depth 13 inches, diameter 21 inches.
The price is $5.25. This is too small for your purpose. Ask if
they can supply you with the same style 30 inches in diameter.
Ask the price.
3. Borroughs & Brown write that they have no such machine
in stock, but, since there have been many requests lately for a
larger machine, they have decided to consult the factory, and if
it is advisable, they will reproduce the ''Pride Swing" machine
in larger size. (Letter head.)
4. Borroughs & Brown, Dept. 18, House Furnishings, write to
DISTRIBUTION 297
the W. F. Wiggins Mfg. Co., Saginaw, Mich., stating that they have
had several orders for a larger ''Pride Swing" washing machine
which the Wiggins Company manufacture. Burroughs & Brown
ask concerning a 30-inch machine. Write the letter.
5. The W. F. Wiggins Mfg. Co. telegraph Borroughs & Brown
that before they can state a price on a 30-inch "Pride Swing"
machine, they must make samples, calculating cost of materials
and workmanship. Write the telegram. Confirm by letter.
Write the letter.
6. Borroughs & Brown write you, giving the information con-
tained in (5) above.
7. The W. F. Wiggins Mfg. Co. write Borroughs & Brown,
stating that after several experiments they find that the coil
springs by which the *' Pride Swing" machine is operated are
too weak for the larger sized tub. The manufacture of suitable
springs will cause some delay in their final report.
8. Ten days later. Telegram. The W. F. Wiggins Mfg.
Co. to Borroughs & Brown, stating that they have now perfected
a ''Pride Swing Special" machine; width 30 inches, depth 18
inches; price $8, with a discount of 50%.
9. Borroughs & Brown write you that they have perfected a
''Pride Swing Special" washing machine. No. 4-B-459, 30 inches
in diameter, 18 inches in depth, price $7. Add a courteous
close.
10. Order five machines. Give full shipping directions. Say
that you will pay according to the offer made on page 25, catalogue
No. 6; viz., $20 upon receipt of the goods and $5 per month until
they are paid for. Give two references.
11. Borroughs & Brown telegraph the W. F. Wiggins Mfg. Co.
ordering 100 machines, five of which are to be sent directly to
you. Write, confirming the telegram.
12. Two weeks later than letter (10) write again, explaining
that you have not received the machines you ordered. Ask the
reason for the delay.
13. Two weeks later than (11) write a telegram from Borroughs
& Brown to the W. F. Wiggins Mfg. Co., asking why the machines
have not been sent.
14. Send a telegram from the W. F. Wiggins Mfg. Co. to Bor-
roughs & Brown, saying that, owing to a teamsters' and shipping
clerks' strike, they have not been able to fill any of their orders
for the last two weeks. The machines have been sent. (State
how and when.) Write a letter, confirming the telegram.
298 BUSINESS PRACTICE
15. Borroughs & Brown write to inform you that the strike
was the cause of the delay in the shipment of the machines you
ordered . The machines were shipped . Add a cour-
teous close.
Exercise 269
Conduct a transaction of your own, using the above as
a model, except in the method of payment.
IV. — The Salesman
Salesmanship is a branch of distribution about which
many volumes have been written. We cannot consider it
minutely from the personal view of the salesman, but can
only touch upon it from the point of view of distribu-
tion. The salesman is merely a force in distribution like
correspondence, circulars, and advertising. But the sales-
man has the advantage over these in that he is able to
bring his personality to bear in the problem of getting
business. It is by means of his personality that the sales-
man gets the attention and confidence of the customer, —
a thing which is extremely hard to do in a letter, a circular,
or an advertisement. Securing a buyer^s confidence is very
important, because no suspicious customer has ever yet
bought anything.
In addition to a pleasing personality a good salesman must
have a wide and thorough knowledge of his wares. If he
does not know his goods, the sale drags; whereas, if he knows
everything good there is to be known about them, his enthu-
siasm instills enthusiasm into the customer.
After bringing his knowledge and his enthusiasm into play,
he must next call on his perseverance and his tact; perse-
verance to keep at the customer until he gets the order, and
tact to know in each case just how to go about getting the
order and just when to stop. Many salesmen talk too much;
many more do not talk enough.
DISTRIBUTION 299
Exercise 270
Oral
In talking on any of the following subjects be sure you
know just what you are going to say before you begin, and
then say it clearly and convincingly. Don't say too much
and don't say too little. Just exactly how much you
should say no one can tell you. You must watch your
audience. If they look puzzled, give more details; if they
look bored, try shorter, more concise sentences, or bring
your talk to a close. After you have explained all your
points, sum them up briefly at the end. Remember that
your talk must, first, attract attention; second, hold the
interest; and third, create enthusiasm and desire to buy.
To supplement what facts you get from observation, study
advertisements and catalogues to get material for (9) to
(20) below:
1. Get up a talk to persuade a freshman or a group of fresh-
men to subscribe to the school paper.
2. To persuade girls to contribute to a fund to be used to buy
suits for the football team.
3. To induce particularly uninterested freshmen to buy
tickets for a school activity; for example, a debate.
4. As a real estate agent induce a classmate to establish a
home in your neighborhood.
5. Try to sell the manager of the baseball team a new line of
athletic goods.
6. Try to sell a set of Dickens' (or any other author's) works
to a boy who is not fond of reading. You must enjoy the books
that you recommend.
7. Try to sell the class or the teacher a new kind of loose
leaf note book for science or English work.
8. As an agent for the publishers try to sell this text book to
your English class or to your English teacher.
9. You are trying to sell an automobile to a farmer. By
means of concrete examples develop the following items into a
talk:
a. The business opportunities to be gained.
b. The social opportunities to be gained.
300 BUSINESS PRACTICE
10. Get up a talk to sell a runabout to a physician who
has a small practice. Suppose that he owns a horse and a buggy.
Be tactful.
11. You are a salesman for an automobile house and are trying
to sell a gasoline car to a man who is partial to an electric car.
Meet the objections to the gasoline car and put forward its
advantages.
12. You are trying to sell an electric runabout to a woman.
Develop the following into a talk:
a. Ease of operation.
h. Noiselessness and comfort.
c. Elegant appearance.
13. You are trying to sell the manager of a local express com-
pany a motor truck. Gather all the data you can and present it
in a talk on why he should replace his horses and wagons with
motor trucks. Be as specific as possible.
14. Get up a talk showing why a man with considerable means
should trade his two year old car as part payment for the latest
model.
15. Get up a talk to sell a phonograph.
16. To sell an electric washing machine.
17. To sell a piano.
18. To sell a vacuum cleaner.
19. To sell a subscription to a magazine.
20. To obtain an order for groceries or teas and coffees. The
offer of premiums might add to the effectiveness of your talk.
Exercise 271
The following paragraph was adapted from William C.
Freeman's Advertising Talks.
George Washington's Cherry Tree Story has served a good
purpose through all of these years. "I cannot tell a lie " is a phrase
that has been used in every schoolroom in America to impress
upon young minds the importance of truth telling. The phrase
is also serving its purpose outside the schoolroom. In all pro-
fessions and in all kinds of business, men know that in order to
make good they must tell the truth. There never was, in all the
history of the country, a greater movement than now toward
universal truth telling. There is not even that winking at ''white "
DISTRIBUTION 301
lies that used to prevail. The man who does not make a direct
statement, who does not earn a reputation for being honest, has
no chance of succeeding. Time was when the trickster was re-
garded as shrewd and was accepted in the community as being
right both socially and commercially. To-day the man who has
money without a reputation for integrity is a bankrupt, as far as
real friends and public opinion are concerned. The expression
"I cannot tell a lie" has been changed to-day to "I will not teU
a lie even if the lie seems more expedient than the blunt truth."
So George Washington's Cherry Tree Story is as good to-day as
it ever was.
Prepare paragraphs on the following suggestions, expand-
ing each by examples:
1. As a salesman, be honest with your customers.
2. Cultivate tact.
3. Cultivate a conscience.
4. Learn to avoid friction.
5. Acknowledge your mistakes^
6. Don't criticise.
7. Don't procrastinate.
8. Don't boast.
9. Don't buy your clothes on time.
10. Don't borrow from fellow clerks.
11. Don't think your employer can't see whether you are
working.
12. Don't sell a merchant a larger order than he can move.
13. Study the duties of the man ahead of you.
14. New ideas count with your employer.
15. He can who thinks he can.
Exercise 272
Written
1. A request has come in from your territory for your auto-
mobile catalogue. Write a letter to accompany the catalogue,
inviting the inspection of your cars. Make it as personal as
possible.
2. You have just been talking with a prospective buyer. Drive
home some of the strong points of your car in a letter exploiting
strength, reliability, and speed. Use the following as a basis of
your letter: The Up-to-the-minute car breaks the record from
302 BUSINESS PRACTICE
New York to San Francisco, making the trip in ten days, fifteen
hours, and thirteen seconds.
3. You have just shown your motor truck to a business man.
Strengthen the impression you made on him by writing him a
letter summing up the important advantages of the motor truck.
Use the following extract from a letter:
"It has not missed a single trip since I have had it, and it takes
the place of three wagons and twelve horses. My route from
Waltham is so long that a pair of horses going over it one day has
to be laid off the next.
"This truck makes three trips each day. I have had it on the
road nearly four months and have covered over four thousand
(4,000) miles with no expense for repairs."
4. A prospective customer has lost interest. Try to arouse
him once more by telling him of a particularly good sale recently
made, or of a new model just received, or of a new device lately
perfected. Your object' is to get him to inspect your cars again.
5. Write a letter to a wealthy man who bought one of your
cars two years ago, offering him half of what he paid for the car
in exchange for a new model. Make him see that it would be to
his advantage to accept the offer.
6. Write an advertisement to appear in a local newspaper
asking for an automobile salesman.
7. Answer the advertisement, telling why you think you could
sell cars, although you have had no experience.
8. Write a letter to a friend telling him you have been offered
the agency for the Up-to-the-minute car. Ask him to be your
partner, and try to show him why you will succeed. He will be
expected to bear half the office expenses, and he will get half the
commissions.
Exercise 273 — Suggestions for Debates
1. The mail order house ruins the trade of the country
merchant.
2. The giving of free samples does not attract desirable
purchasers.
3. The use of trading stamps should be abolished.
4. The motor wagon is more advantageous for the average
grocer than the horse and wagon.
5. All manufactured food products should be sold in sanitary,
sealed packages.
DISTRIBUTION 303
Exercise 274
Oral or Written
Prepare paragraphs on the following:
1. A merchant must know his neighborhood before he buys
his stock.
2. Selling by weight rather than by measure benefits dealer
and consumer.
3. Giving short weights does not prove profitable.
4. The price of a certain kind of goods, or of an article, that
is going out of style should be reduced to move it quickly.
5. If merchants did not deliver purchases, goods would be
cheaper.
6. Hard work and patience spell the merchant's success.
7. The middle man gets the bulk of the profit.
8. The telegraph is a great aid to the business man.
9. There is a difference between day and night telegraphic
rates.
10. Money may be sent by telegraph.
11. The night letter is very useful to the merchant.
12. The parcel post is a great help to the farmer.
13. The parcel post tends to increase the business of the mail
order firms.
14. The object of an automobile exhibit is to sell cars.
15. The five-and- ten-cent stores have succeeded because .
Exercise 275
Prepare paragraphs on the following :
1. The importance of transportation facihties to the farmer.
2. The importance of transportation facilities to the manu-
facturer.
3. The steamship in international trade.
4. Transportation before the days of the railroad.
5. The influence of the railroad in the advance of civilization.
6. Electrifying the railroads.
7. Speed, the cause of railroad accidents.
8. The observation car.
9. The care of food in the refrigerator car.
10. The work of the railroad repair-shop.
304 BUSINESS PRACTICE
11. The advantage of railroad transportation over water
transportation.
12. The advantage of water transportation over railroad trans-
portation.
13. Why the larger railroads in our country run east and west.
14. The advantages of the pay-as-you-enter car.
15. The importance of the interurban electric railroads in
country trade.
16. The disadvantages of the elevated system in large cities.
17. Congestion in the business district of a large city.
18. The underground system as a solution for congested traffic.
19. The work of a transfer company.
20. The motor truck decreases the business of the express
companies.
21. The automobile decreases railroad suburban business.
Exercise 276
Topics for Investigation and Discussion
1. The work of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
2. How railroads control other railroads.
3. Railroad earnings.
4. Different kinds of railroad traffic.
5. The relation between the express companies and the rail-
roads.
6. Railroad rates and rebates.
7. Government ownership of railroads.
8. The influence of the Panama canal in the growth of busi-
ness in the southern states.
9. . The influence of the canal in the growth of business in the
central West.
10. The influence of the canal in the growth of business in
South America.
11. The deep water way.
12. The parcel post zones.
Exercise 277
Books that will Suggest Topics for Talks
Bolton, S. K., Successful Women.
Chamberlain, J. F., How We Travel.
Drysdale, W., Helps for Ambitious Boys; Helps for Ambitious Girls.
DISTRIBUTION 305
Fowler, N. C, Practical Salesmanship; Starting in Life.
Hale, E. E., What Career?
HiGiNBOTHAM, H. N., The Making of a Merchant.
Laselle, M. a. and Wiley, K. E., Vocations for Girls.
LuNDGREN, Charles, The New Salesmanship.
Lyde, L. W., Man and his Markets.
Mallon, I. A. S., The Business Girl.
M ANSON, G. J., Ready for Business.
Marsden, O. S., The Secret of Achievement; The Yoimg Man Entering
Business.
Mitten, G. E., The Book of the Railway.
Moody, W. D., Men Who Sell Things.
Reed, et al., Careers for the Coming Men.
RocHELEAU, W. F., Transportation.
Rollins, F. W., What can a Young Man do?
Stockwell, H. G., Essential Elements of Business Character.
Stoddard, W. O., Men of Business.
The Vocation Bureau, Boston, Vocations for Boys. (Pamphlets on
The Grocer, The Machinist, The Architect, etc.)
White, S. J., Business Openings for Girls.
Exercise 278
Write the following from dictation:
Transportation is a great business as well as manufacturing or
farming. History tells us that very early people did not have a
settled home, but, when the grass began to give out in one part
of the country, several members of the community, perhaps whole
tribes, took their belongings on their backs and sought for a new
place to settle. It is reasonable to suppose that they wished to
keep up some sort of intercourse with their friends. At once
difficulties arose, since hostile tribes lived between them and their
old home. It was a brave man, indeed, who ventured to encounter
the dangers of the trip between the settlements. Such a set of
men arose in the peddlers, who set out alone or in caravans with
articles of produce or manufacture and braved the dangers even
of a desert to exchange what they carried for the produce of the
old home. This is the earliest form of transportation. Compare
this simple form with the modem railroad, steamship, and express
3o6 BUSINESS PRACTICE
2
Capturing the Latin American Trade
No empty iteration of the Monroe doctrine, no reservation of
canal privileges, will capture the trade of Latin America. This
will be accomplished only by efforts to produce and to sell those
countries the kind of goods that they want; measured, labeled,
and packed their way; offered in the language that they under-
stand; and, moreover, sold at attractive prices. Our consuls
abroad report that in all these essentials American dealers are
deficient and that British, French, and German manufacturers
fill the South American markets.
To these rivals must be added another, for, in spite of old South
American prejudices against Spain and Spanish goods, the Span-
iards are quietly regaining their footing in those republics of
whose trade a century ago the home country enjoyed the monop-
oly. Her advantages, we know, are a common language and
familiarity with the ways of life and the tastes of the buyers.
Spain produces just the kind of wine, olive oil, and canned goods
that South America wants; she turns out the kind of paper, the
patterns of cotton goods, the styles of tools and implements,
the clothing, shoes, and weapons used in Latin America; and the
result is that she gets the trade. One-sixth, at least, of her entire
exports goes to her former possessions.
South Africa has been successfully operating an agricultural
parcel post. By its instrumentality gold, diamonds, minerals,
wool, feathers, saddlery, boots and shoes, confectionery, fruit,
plants, seed, butter and eggs suitably packed, and other farm
products are transported, and the producer and consumer have
been brought together. From the report of the Department of
Posts and Telegraphs we learn that the scheme has worked well,
is a recognized and popular feature of the postal system, and is
entirely feasible. The sparse settlements and widely scattered
population have not operated to bar its success, as was feared at
the time of its introduction.
4
The duty of applying the remedy for wrecks rests, primarily,
with the railroad managers. And what is the remedy, and how
is it to be applied? It would seem that there can be but one
DISTRIBUTION 307
answer: there must be stem discipline for taking risks. There
must be thorough instruction as to what risks are and how to
avoid them, just such instruction as the ^'safety first" movement
is leading up to, but extended to every man in every department
of every road. In addition, the promise that no engineman will
be censured for losing or not making up time or for not running
fast when it is not considered safe to do so must be changed to
the positive, unequivocal statement that there will be a substan-
tial penalty for every case of running fast when it is not safe to
do so. — Railway Age Gazette.
More and more attention, each year, is being given by the rail-
road managers to the locating of new kinds of industry along their
Hues. The roads in the West and the South nearly all have
efficient industrial departments, land departments, or immigra-
tion departments. Their men seek out new industries, meet the
steamers to tempt immigrants into their region, arrange for the
purchase or rental of lands, and get together reports of the soil,
the products, and the advantages of any desired location. Per-
haps the greatest effort, however, is bent upon the location of
new factories along the route. In one year one southern railroad
induced more than seven hundred men to establish industries along
its lines, after the railroads had made complete and painstaking
investigation of all the conditions that would confront the pro-
spective manufacturers.
CHAPTER XVIII
ADVERTISING
Advertising is one of the most vital forces in the problem
of distribution. Every advertisement is a salesman and is
written and sent out with the idea of doing the work of one.
It may bring in actual orders or it may merely do "mission-
ary work"; that is, it may introduce a certain article or
product and educate the people to see its advantages so that
when next they desire that particular sort of article, they
will order the one that they have seen advertised.
Many an article that has had practically no sale has by
means of an effective advertising campaign been brought to
a point of wide distribution and ready sale. How many
safety razors would the manufacturers sell if they had never
advertised their product? Very few. But when day after
day, everywhere a man looks — in street cars, newspapers,
magazines, and on billboards — he sees staring at him a
reason why he should use a safety razor, he soon comes to
feel that he needs one. It is just the same as though the
country were covered with salesmen who were constantly
after each one of us to get us to see the advantage of the
safety razor. The advertised articles may in themselves be
no better than the unadvertised brands, but advertising has
created a demand for the one over the other. The secret
of selling success is creating a demand.
The importance of advertising is demonstrated by an
experience which the city of Chicago had on Wednesday,
March 2, 1911. On the afternoon before, a dispute arose
between two newspapers and their printers, ending in a
temporary strike of the printers. As a result, all papers
ADVERTISING 309
published on March 2 contained only four pages each, in
contrast to the usual twenty-four, because they contained
not a single advertisement. Fortunately, the strike lasted
only one day, as the local printers were at once reprimanded
by the International Typographical Union. But the losses
that newspapers and retail business men suffered on this one
day convinced them of the power of advertising. Street
cars, downtown streets, and department stores were almost
empty. To be sure, billboards still proclaimed their wares,
but, as soon as newspaper advertising ceased, the great
mass of shopping stopped.
Exercise 279
Oral
1. What are some of the advertising methods used in a retail
business?
2. What are some of the advertising methods used in a whole-
sale business? Where are the advertisements published?
3. What is the principal advertising medium of the mail order
house? Explain why it is effective.
4. What is classified advertising? Why are newspapers
anxious to increase it? Name several reasons.
5. What is '^display" advertising as distinguished from
classified? What is the principal medium of this kind of adver-
tising?
6. Give several instances of advertising by means of the
distribution of ''novelties," such as calendars. Is such adver-
tising effective?
7. Is the distribution of samples good advertising? Be
specific in your answer.
8. Is it a good thing to have a trade-mark? Name some
trade-marks that you think are good advertising.
9. Is a bargain table good advertising? What is its advantage
in a retail store?
10. What class of advertising is done in the classified columns
of a newspaper?
11. What class of articles and products is advertised in the
street cars and trains? Expensive or inexpensive? Things you
use every day or not?
3IO BUSINESS PRACTICE
12. Are articles advertised by billboards usually widely adver-
tised articles or not?
13. What kind of articles would you advertise in:
1. The newspaper rather than the magazine?
2. The magazine rather than the newspaper?
3. The street car rather than on the billboard?
4. The trade papers rather than the newspapers?
14. Suppose you were bringing out a new soap and you could
use only one of the following mediums: (i) newspapers; (2) local
and trade magazines; (3) street cars; (4) billboards and posters.
Which would you choose and why? Would your answer be the
same if you had real estate to sell? A new machine? If you
were producing a new play?
15. News Item. — The University of Wisconsin has issued
a bulletin, stating that of all the money spent for food, shelter,
and clothing 90% is spent by women. Would the following be
good advertising for a magazine: "The women of the country
read this paper" ? Give reasons for your answer.
16. Do handbills suggest cheapness to you?
Exercise 280
Oral
Discuss the value of each of the following as forms of
advertising:
1. Location.
2. Furnishings of the office or the store.
3. Letter headings.
4. Window displays.
5. Electric (or other) signs.
6. Moving electric signs.
7. Colors (especially reds, greens, and yellows) as against
black and white.
8. White lettering on a black background.
Exercise 281
Fundamentally, the same principles apply to the advertise-
ment as apply to the sales letter (See page 230). First of
all, you must look at your goods from the standpoint of
ADVERTISING 311
the user; see his gain in buying rather than your profit in
selling. Your products, then, will probably fall into one
of the following general classes:
1. Something entirely new for which you must create a
demand by showing its advantage to the buyer, arousing his
sense of need and, consequently, his desire to possess.
2. Something new but filling a long-felt need — "Just what
youVe been looking for'' — the value of which will appeal to the
buyer almost as soon as the product is explained. Comparison
with the article that now imperfectly fills the want suggests itself.
3. A new brand of an old staple, like crackers, of which the
superiority must be dwelt upon to induce buyers to ask for it.
Even after the article is selling well, continuous advertising is
necessary to keep the name before the public.
A paying advertisement appeals to a large class of people
or, better still, to several classes. For a moment let us
analyze a few of the appeals to which almost every one
responds; let us consider the reasons back of our purchases.
Why do we buy one article and not another? We buy it
first, perhaps, because we ne6d it or think we need it; second,
because we think it will taste good or be comfortable or
good-looking or because it will afford us amusement; third,
because we think it is better, though possibly more expen-
sive, than any other brand on the market, and our pride
or our desire to emulate responds to it; fourth, because we
think it is good for our health or our safety; and, fifth,
because we shall save money or make money thereby.
Summing up, we may say that the motives to which
appeals may safely be made are:
1. Need, conscious or unconscious (usefulness, quaUty, or
durabihty).
2. Comfort, amusement, or appetite.
3. Pride, desire to emulate, or vanity.
4. Health or caution.
5. Money (economy).
312 BUSINESS PRACTICE
CKp from magazines and bring to class good advertise^
ments that appeal to the motives named above. Try to
find those advertisements that make an appeal to only one
motive in one advertisement.
Exercise 282
The following catch phrases have been taken from adver-
tisements in various places. Tell (i) whether their appeal
is general; (2) whether they induce one to buy; and (3) if
they do, which of the motives given above have been used
by the advertiser. Frequently more than one motive is
used in one advertisement.
1. For a delicatessen store: Good things to eat.
2. For a chewing gum: The taste lasts.
3. For a motor washer: Two cents a week pays your wash-
ing bill.
4. For a refrigerator: Are you poisoning your family?
5. For a summer drink: It's wet.
6. For stockings: Wear like 60, look like 50, cost but 25.
7. For a shaving soap: Comfort for your face, economy for
your purse.
8. For a liniment: Don't rub — it penetrates.
9. For a hair tonic: What does your mirror say?
10. For a clothing store: Exclusive styles for exclusive
women.
11. For an inexpensive scouring powder: Why pour money
down the sink?
12. For canned goods: When company comes.
13. For a varnish: Water won't hurt it.
14. For bread: The human hand never touches it.
15. For a fountain pen: It can't leak.
Exercise 283
Bring to class two advertisements containing catch phrases
that you think are good. To which of the motives given
above does each appeal?
ADVERTISING 313
Exercise 284
Bring in two advertisements of articles that have sug-
gestive names. What is the value of a suggestive name?
Exercise 285 — Good and Bad Headlines
A good headline has the following qualities:
First, it should be short. Professor Walter Dill Scott
determined by experiments that the average person can
ordinarily attend to only about four visual objects at the
same time — four letters, four words, four simple pictures,
or four geometrical figures. As the headline of an advertise-
ment is intended to be taken in at one glance, it should,
therefore, be not longer than four words — preferably less,
provided the interest of the phrase is the same. Short words,
too, can be taken in more readily than long words.
Second, the best headline is a command. People in-
stinctively obey a command, unless it is so worded that they
rebel against the manner of expression.
Third, a good headline is suggestive. It touches upon
the things that the reader is thinking about. It shows that
the article that is offered for sale has a close connection
with the interests that absorb the reader's mind. It is a
direct answer to his thoughts, feelings, hopes, or worries.
The following headlines were taken from the advertise-
ments in one issue of a magazine. Judge of their effective-
ness, using the three principles given above as a basis for
your decision:
1. Get That Job!
2. Foot Comfort.
3. Ventilate, but Don't Catch Cold!
4. A New Filing Cabinet.
5. Are You Open to Conviction?
6. Low Priced Envelope Sealer.
7. Shave for ic Without Stropping.
8. What a Wonderful Trip!
314 BUSINESS PRACTICE
9. Save 30% on Your Furniture.
10. You Have a Right to Independence.
11. Just Out!
12. Get the Dust Out of Your Home — It's Dangerous.
13. The Easiest Riding Car in the World.
14. Our Seeds Grow.
15. That Raise! (Sub-heading in smaller type: What Would
a Raise in Salary Mean to You?)
Exercise 286
Some advertisers choose headlines merely for the purpose
of attracting attention, forgetting that the headHne should
suggest what the following illustration and text explain.
A few years ago a well-known automobile company ran an
advertisement with the headline $1000 Worth of Folly. The
headline was followed by a picture of the automobile. The
advertisement was intended to convey the idea that, as this
car might be bought for $3000, any one paying $4000 for an
automobile was foolishly squandering $1000. As a matter
of fact, the only suggestion that the reader got from the
advertisement was that any one who paid $1000 for the
illustrated car would be a fool.
1. Bring to class an advertisement in which the headline has
no connection with the rest of the advertisement, being used
merely to catch the attention.
2. Find an advertisement in which the headline suggests the
opposite of what the advertisement is intended to convey.
3. How might either advertisement be improved?
Exercise 287
Still-life advertisements are not interesting. The picture
of a furnace, or a typewriter, or a house attracts less atten-
tion than the same objects with human beings represented
moving in the picture.
Bring to class two advertisements of the same kind of
article, in one of which a still-life illustration is used and
in the other of which human beings are used to center the
attention upon the article that is offered for sale.
ADVERTISING 315
Exercise 288
Bring to class (i) an advertisement that is not good be-
cause it contains too much — lacks a center upon which the
attention naturally focuses; and (2) an advertisement that
is good because it has a definitely defined center of attraction.
Exercise 289
Bring to class an advertisement in which the principle of
balance is used to advantage, two illustrations, one on each
side of the text, being used to convey one impression.
Exercise 290
In writing the following, try to embody the principles that
have been brought out in previous exercises:
1. An entertainment is to be given in the school hall. Write
an advertisement to appear in the school paper.
2. Write an announcement of the same entertainment — to
be posted on the bulletin board.
3. Write an advertisement for a debate.
4. For a football, baseball, or basket-ball game.
• 5. For an inter-class contest.
6. You have permission to secure advertisements to be printed
in the program of the entertainment spoken of above. Suppose
that you are to write the copy for the different advertisements.
Use one-eighth, one-quarter, one-half, or one page, as you wish.
Advertise a grocery.
7. A meat market.
8. A dry goods store.
9. A candy store.
10. A bakery.
11. A bank.
12. A tailor's shop.
13. A photographer's studio.
14. A barber shop.
15. A drug store.
3i6 BUSINESS PRACTICE
Exercise 291
1. Write a handbill announcing a 20% discount sale to run
three days in your dry goods store.
2. Describe a chair, table, or other article of furniture in your
own home. The description is to form part of an advertisement
to appear in a mail order catalogue.
3. You are advertising a new brand of coffee in the street car.
Write the card. Would you use an illustration? If so, of what
kind?
4. As in (3) advertise a new brand of pork and beans.
5. As in (3) advertise a shoe sale.
6. Advertise a well-known brand of soap in a magazine. Use
your own idea. Would you use an illustration?
7. How would you advertise an automobile which has proved
its merits? Remember, your object is to keep the name before
the public. How would you advertise a new make of automo-
bile? How much space would you use in either case? Write both
advertisements.
8. A half-page advertisement by the Hudson Cereal Company,
no Hudson St., New York, of their Nervo-Cereal Coffee con-
tains the item: "Can you thread a needle, holding the thread one
inch from the end? If you cannot, you are nervous. Is coffee
to blame? " Exploit the aroma and flavor of the cereal coffee.
9. The Central Packing Company is running a series of adver-
tisements of their Premium Extract of Beef. This one is to appear
just before Thanksgiving. Entitle it ''Four Delicious Dishes
for the Thanksgiving Dinner," and then in as attractive a form as
possible give four recipes, making a point of the necessity of using
Premium Extract for the right flavor. At the end sum up the
merits of Premium Extract and mention the silver premiums
given with the certificates under the metal caps.
10. The Bay City Mill Co., Bay City, Mich., sells fine finished
lumber suitable for making furniture at home. Prepare an adver-
tisement to show how simple it is to make tables and chairs at
home with their plans and their specially cut lumber. Illustrate
by giving the plans and working directions for making a useful
table, showing how easy it is with their specially cut lumber. Set
an attractive price on the lumber necessary to make this table.
Sum up by exploiting a book of plans, which may be had for the
asking.
ADVERTISING 317
Exercise 292
The following paragraph is taken from Professor Scott's
Theory of Advertising. What is the subject of the paragraph?
Is there a topic sentence? By what plan is the paragraph
developed?
Many of those who use illustrations for their advertisements
follow the philosophy of the Irish boy who said that he liked to
stub his toe because it felt so good when it stopped hurting. Many
of us are unable to see how the boy had made any gain after it
was all over, but he was satisfied, and that was sufficient. The
philosophic disciples of the Irish boy are found in advertisers who
have certain things to dispose of which will not do certain harmful
things. First they choose an illustration which will make you
believe that what they have to sell is just what you do not want,
and then in the text they try to overcome this false impression
and to show you that what they have to offer is not so bad after
all. Most of us are unable to see how the advertiser has gained,
even if he has succeeded in giving us logical proof that his goods
are not so bad as we were at first led to think. We are not logic-
ally inclined, and we take the illustration and the text, and we
combine the two. The best that the text can do is to destroy
the evil effect of the illustration. Of course, when we read in
the text that the illustration does not correctly represent the
goods, we ought to discard the illustration entirely and think
only of the text, but, unfortunately, we are not constructed in
that way. The impression made by the illustration and that
made by the text fuse and form a whole which is the result formed
by these two elements.
Write paragraphs on each of the following:
1. Advertising is essential in modern business.
2. Advertising helps the housewife economize.
3. The study of advertisements saves the shopper's time and
strength.
4. Advertised goods cost more than the unadvertised brands.
(Give the reasons.)
5. Trade-marked and advertised goods have increased the
cost of living.
6. Increased advertising causes the styles to change quickly.
3i8 BUSINESS PRACTICE
7. Every advertisement must catch and hold the attention.
Some accompHsh this object by causing a laugh. (Describe one
such.)
8. Some advertisements hold the attention because they
appeal to our love of the mysterious. One such is (describe
it).
9. Some advertisements succeed because of their clever color
scheme.
10. Every successful advertisement contains a convincing
argument.
11. Mouth to mouth advertising is the best and the cheapest.
12. Advertised goods are better because they have to be.
13. The consumer pays for all the advertising.
14. The cost of advertising is paid by the competitors who do
not advertise.
15. Advertising tends to create uniform prices.
16. The advertising expert is a student of men.
Exercise 293
Give your opinion as to the effectiveness of the following
advertisements:
A department store that was anxious to increase its trade on
Mondays and Wednesdays included the following coupons in
its circular advertisement one week:
THIS COUPON AND 19c THIS COUPON AND 50c
Monday only Wednesday only
good for ggod for
6 Spools J. 6* P. Coats* Misses' or Children's
Best 6 Cord Machine White Canvas Pumps
Thread 2 strap model, heavy or light soles,
Regular 30c value * trimmed with dainty bow on
vamp. All sizes up to 2.
$1.50 value
2
$10,000 IN Cash to Charity
We ask our customers to decide by their votes the 250 insti-
tutions who shall receive this amount. Each ten cents' worth
purchased entitles the purchaser to one vote.
ADVERTISING 319
3
The following appeared in the center of a page otherwise blank.
On the opposite page appeared the advertisement of a well-known
article.
The announcement on the
following page is so im-
portant that we have de-
cided to leave this page
blank.
4
The following was part of a circular:
Following our annual custom we will again this year give away
absolutely free a beautiful silk flag to every customer making a
purchase of $1 or over, Tuesday and Wednesday, July 2 and 3.
5
The following appeared in a newspaper:
A Word of Appreciation
We have now been in our new location somewhat over a month.
Our business has been all that we expected; in some departments,
indeed, there is an increase, notably in the neckwear, ready-to-
wear clothes, hats, and tailoring departments.
Naturally, we had an abundance of faith in our new location;
nevertheless, we must confess that there were times when we had
anxious moments. We discovered, however, that our moving
was at the "psychological moment"; we soon learned that in the
minds of the people there was but one thought — success for
Michigan Avenue.
We have always felt that there was a closer bond of sympathy
between our customers and us than is usually the case between
buyer and seller. The unusual interest taken in our new store
and in our success has more than confirmed us in this impression.
Our experience during the last forty days has really made life
worth living.
The minds of hundreds of our customers have reverted to the
beginning of our business in our old Dearborn Street store,
twenty years ago, and they have made comparisons between that
and the wonderful establishment we now possess; they have done
it in a way that would almost suggest that it was their business
320 BUSINESS PRACTICE
that they were talking of rather than ours. It made us feel that,
although we have made our mistakes, nevertheless we must have
served the public well, and we insert this article in the hope that
a few of our well-wishers may read it and understand that we
appreciate and are grateful.
Exercise 294
Books that will Suggest Topics for Talks
Balmer, Edwin, The Science of Advertising.
Bellamy, Francis (ed). Effective Magazine Advertising.
Bridgewater, Howard, Advertising, or The Art of Making Known.
Calkins, E. E. and Holden, R., Modern Advertising.
Cherington, Paul T., Advertising as a Business Force.
Deland, L. F., Imagination in Business.
De Weese, Truman A., Advertising (The Business Man^s Library,
Vol. vii).
Edgar, Albert E., How to Advertise a Retail Store.
Fowler, N. C, Building Business.
Scott, W. D., The Theory of Advertising.
CHAPTER XrX
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
Lands, buildings, and houses are called real property or real
estate, and the business pertaining to them, the real estate
business. Every one of us has more or less to do with this
business. If we do not own property, we pay rent. Rent
is the money paid for the use of a piece of land, or a building,
or part of a building, and is usually paid at certain stated
intervals of time — monthly, for example. The owner of
the building is called the landlord; the one who rents, the
tenant. Sometimes there is no condition as to how long
a tenant shall remain in one place and pay rent, but, as a
rule, the landlord requires the tenant to sign a lease. This
is a contract between the landlord and the tenant, stating
that in consideration of the landlord's furnishing the tenant
a place in which to live with certain conveniences — such
as heat, hot water, and other services — the tenant agrees
to pay rent for a certain length of time, usually a year or
more. If the tenant moves out before his lease expires and
refuses to pay the rent, he breaks the contract and, as is
usually the case when a contract is broken, a lawsuit may
follow. In large cities where land is in some places very
valuable, owners may not care to sell the property on which
others wish to build, but lease it to the builders for a certain
term of years, usually ninety-nine years.
Suppose you no longer wish to pay rent, but to own the
house in which you live. If you buy a piece of property
from John Smith and pay him your money for it, you wish
to be assured that after a few months John Smith will not
322 BUSINESS PRACTICE
come to you and claim the property as his. To protect
you John Smith gives you a deed to the property. A deed is
a contract between the buyer and the seller of the property.
It states that, in consideration of the buyer's paying a cer-
tain stipulated sum of money, the seller releases and conveys
the property to the buyer. This deed shows that you now
own the property. At the same time you should receive a
clear title to the property; that is, you wish to be sure that
no one else has a claim on the property. If John Smith
guarantees that the title is clear, he gives you a warranty
deed for the property, in which he will "warrant and defend
the same against all lawful claims whatsoever.'' If, how-
ever, he simply turns over the property to you as it stands,
he gives you a quitclaim deed, in which " he relinquishes or
quits all his interest in it. If you have no debts on the
property, you own it in fee simple.
Very often in buying property, the purchaser pays only
a part of the purchase price himself, paying for the balance
by borrowing the necessary amount from a third party.
For example, if the house you bought from John Smith cost
$6,000 and you had only $4,000, you would be forced to
borrow the other $2,000 to pay John Smith. You would
then go to your bank or to some person who had money to
invest and would borrow the required amount, and to
guarantee that you would pay the money back, you would
give a mortgage on the property. A mortgage is a contract
which states that, in consideration of one party giving the
second party a certain sum of money, the second party
agrees to pay interest on that money at a stipulated rate,
and at the end of a certain length of time agrees to pay the
money back; and that, in case the second party does not
pay back the amount at the end of the time, the first party
is empowered to take possession of the property, to sell it,
and to get the amount due him. This last procedure is
called foreclosing the mortgage. It is a common practice to
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE 323
mortgage property; almost all the property in a city is
mortgaged.
Some men and firms make a special business of transferring
property, buying and selling it for others, making leases,
and collecting rents. They are called real estate agents,-
and for their services get a commission, which is a certain
percentage of the purchase or the selling price and a certain
percentage of the amount of rent collected. This percent-
age varies according to whether the amount of money
involved is large or small, the percentage being larger when
small sums of money are involved than when large sums
are involved.
Exercise 295
Oral
1. What is a lease?
2. Explain why owners of valuable property lease it.
3. What is a deed? Explain the two kinds.
4. What is meant by a clear title?
5. What is meant by fee simple?
6. Why is it important to be careful about the title?
7. What is a mortgage?
8. Explain why property is often mortgaged. Does the mort-
gage benefit the owner? Explain.
9. What is meant by foreclosing?
10. What is an agent? How is he usually paid?
11. Why do people employ real estate agents to take care of
renting? To sell their property?
12. Why is property near a railroad valuable? For what?
13. Why is a corner lot worth more than an inside lot?
14. Why is property on a car line more valuable than on a side
street?
15. What effect would the building of a new street car line
have on the value of adjacent property? Why ?
Exercise 296
Oral
I. Suppose that you are a landlord and that in your lease no
mention is made of giving your tenants janitor service, but you
324 BUSINESS PRACTICE
yourself take care of the furnace. Other landlords in the block
supply janitor service. After one of your tenants has moved in,
he demands that the back porch be scrubbed once a week and
the garbage emptied daily. What would you do? Consider the
points for and against.
2. Suppose some boys playing ball on the street break a plate
glass window in the store you own. Would you expect your
tenant to pay for repairs?
Written
3. Write to Francis L. Russell, a real estate agent, asking his
terms for collecting the rent of (tell the location of the
house, the number of the tenants, and the rent you receive).
4. As if you were Francis L. Russell write a reply, saying that
you will undertake the collection for a commission of 5%.
5. Imagine you are a tenant in the same building. The
kitchen sink cannot be used in your fiat because of a stoppage
in the plumbing. You have told the agent once. Write him
(see 3) again, stating that unless he sends a plumber you will not
pay your next month's rent. (Is there any reason for writing
this, rather than telephoning it?)
6. The plumber has submitted a bill of $5.98 for the repairs
suggested in (5). The agent writes to the landlord, enclosing a
check for the rent that he has collected, less the amount of the
plumber's bill and his commission.
7. You are a lawyer. Write to the landlord, informing him
that the mortgage which his client holds against the landlord's
property expires in thirty days. Ask the landlord whether he
expects to pay the money or whether he wishes a renewal of the
loan for three years. Your client is willing to give such a renewal.
8. The landlord replies that he is enclosing $100 to pay the
interest due on the mortgage and that he desires a renewal of the
loan. If the lawyer will prepare the papers, he will come to sign
them at the specified time. Write the letter.
9. You are an insurance agent. Write to the landlord that
the fire insurance on his property expires in sixty days. Ask him
to allow you to write a new policy. Inform him that the rate
now will be 3! % instead of if % as it was formerly, because a
garage has been erected one door north of his property. (Why
should the rate be higher?)
10. One of the tenants has paid no rent for two months. You
decide that he never will be able to pay. As landlord you make
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE 325
out and deliver to him a Five days^ notice of removal. At the same
time, you write a letter to your lawyer, explaining the state of
affairs and asking him to take charge of enforcing the notice.
(This means that if the tenant does not move, the case must come
up in court. If it is decided in the landlord's favor, the tenant
must move. If he refuses, the lawyer engages a constable to eject
him.) Write the letter.
11. Francis L. Russell writes three short advertisements, offer-
ing for sale (i) a large 12 room residence, mortgage $6,000, price
$15,000; (2) a 3 apartment building, clear, price $16,000; (3) a
large 12 apartment building, mortgage $25,000, price $41,000, terms
to suit. Where would you advertise? Write the advertisements.
12. You get inquiries about all of the above. Write answers
describing the buildings more fully, and make appointments with
the writers to inspect the property.
13. A man is interested in the 12 flat building, but he has only
$10,000. Offer him the property for $40,000 on these terms:
$10,000 down, a first mortgage for $20,000 to run 10 years at 5%,
and a second mortgage for $10,000 to run 5 years at 5!%, $2,000
to be paid each year with interest. Make it as attractive as
possible. Tell him you will arrange for the mortgages.
14. {a) Write to your bank, the First National, and explain
that, although the first mortgage on the 12 flat building for $25,000
still has 3 years to run, you would like to arrange for a 10 year
mortgage for $20,000, if your prospective buyer takes the property.
{h) Write to George R. Scott, who owns the building, offering him
the second mortgage. Explain that although it is a second mort-
gage the fact that $2,000 of the principal is paid each year makes
it attractive. (How would the owner benefit if the buyer failed
to make his payments after 2 years?) Sign yourself Francis L.
Russell.
15. You have put through the deal. Write to the new owner,
offering to take care of the renting for a commission equal to 2|%
of the amount collected.
Exercise 297 — Farm Lands
I. You own a large tract of land in the South, West, or
Southwest. Choose your own locality. Prepare a pamphlet
setting forth the advantages of this particular spot in a
series of paragraphs: (i) scenery, (2) climate and health-
326 BUSINESS PRACTICE
fulness, (3) crops, (4) profits from the crops, (5) price of
labor, (6) chances for pleasure, e.g., hunting, fishing, etc.,
(7) transportation facilities, (8) price of the land. Use a
firm name and address.
2. Arrange and punctuate:
Nov. I, 19- [For the introduction supply the same firm name
used in (i)^. Gentlemen I have just returned from an extended
trip through (the district spoken of above) with reference to the
forty acres I purchased from you I desire to say that I am con-
vinced that it will prove a paying investment I am so pleased that
I shall certainly try to induce several of my friends to purchase
near my site while on the property I carefully inspected the farm
worked by Mr S R Jackson I must say what he is accomplishing
the immense crop of vegetables and fruit he is marketing amazed
me no doubt what he is doing I may do for I made sure by careful
examination that the soil on my land is exactly like his you may
depend upon it that within the next two months I shall move my
family upon the land for I am eager to develop it sincerely yours
F W FarreU
What advantage would there be in including such a letter
as (2) in the booklet spoken of in (i)?
3. To prove the possibilities of the land spoken of in (i),
you intend to start a model farm. Advertise for a farmer.
Your plan is to give him 60 acres to develop for himself, in
return for which he shall demonstrate the possibilities of
the land.
4. Write a letter applying for the position. You must
have farming experience, some money, a knowledge of crops,
and a good deal of enthusiasm.
5. Write an advertisement of your land for a big news-
paper. Exploit its most striking features, especially the
price. Study such advertisements before you write
yours.
6. Reproduce a letter you received in answer to (5),
asking for more information concerning the lands.
7. Write the reply to (6). Say you are enclosing the
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE 327
booklet spoken of in (i); tell of the model farm being es-
tablished (3) ; and induce the inquirer to become a purchaser.
8. Prepare a series of three follow-up letters to be sent out
to prospective purchasers who write as in (6) but who do
not answer your letter in (7). Make each letter set forth
one of the following advantages of buying a piece of your
land: (i) The profits from the crops are large; (2) The
conditions are ideal — mention climate, water, neighbors,
transportation; (3) It is a good investment, since the land
will certainly rise in value — tell of other land in the neigh-
borhood that has risen in value within the last year. Arrange
the letters in the order that you think will be most effective.
Exercise 298
Topics for Investigation and Discussion
1. The cause of changes in city real estate values.
2. The price of downtown property in your town.
3. The rise in property values in the last few years.
4. The causes of the rise.
5. Stove heated or steam heated property — which is the
better income producer?
6. The Mortgage. — (a) Why people mortgage their property;
(b) Why people loan money on mortgages.
7. The increase in the total value of farm lands during the
last ten years.
8. The decrease in the value of farm lands in the East.
9. The reasons for the growth of the West.
10. Will the South be a new West?
11. The reclamation of swamp lands.
12. The success of irrigation.
Exercise 299 — Insurance
An exposition of the subject of insurance is hardly in place
here, especially as every one, to a certain extent at least, is
acquainted with the fundamental reasons why insurance is
purchased. The questions below should be used as a rudi-
mentary review that will prepare for the letters that follow.
328 BUSINESS PRACTICE
Oral
1. What is the object of insurance?
2. What is meant by a policy?
3. By the premium?
4. By the beneficiary?
5. By life insurance?
6. By fire insurance?
7. By accident insurance?
8. By marine insurance?
9. What is the difference between a straight life and a 20 year
endowment policy?
10. Between the above and a 20 year pay policy?
11. Between the above and a term policy?
12. Why is it that the mortgagee, and not the owner, holds
the fire insurance policy? Why must the amount of insurance
equal or exceed the amount of the mortgage?
Written
1. You are an insurance agent. A man came to your oflSce
to-day to inquire about a life insurance policy. Write him a letter,
repeating what you told him, advocating his taking out a straight
life policy.
2. A new building has just been erected in your neighborhood.
Write to the owner, soliciting him to let you write the fire insur-
ance policy.
3. Write to a man who rides downtown on the train every
day. Convince him that he needs to take out an accident insur-
ance policy. Point out that the premium is only $25 a year. If
the man is injured he will receive $25 weekly; if he is killed by
accident, his beneficiary will receive $5,000; if he is killed on a
train or in an elevator, $10,000.
4. Write to one of your clients, informing him that the premium
on his life insurance policy falls due in ten days.
5. Write to another of your clients, informing him that the
insurance on his property runs out in ten days. Inform him that,
if he wishes the policy renewed, he should let you know at once
and remit the premium.
6. From the client mentioned in (5) you receive a letter in
which he explains that the paint store which formerly adjoined
his property has been replaced by a grocery. He would like a
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE 329
new policy at a lower rate. Reproduce the letter. A paint store
is insured at the highest, or hazard, rate. The rate on property
adjoining a paint store would also be very high.
7. You investigate the matter and find that the facts are as
stated in (6). Write youir client, offering him a rate of i^% and
enclosing a bill for $45.
8. He repHes that, since the risk of fire is now so much less,
he wishes to take only $2,000 worth of insurance. He asks you to
write such a policy, and he encloses his check for $30. Write the
letter.
9. A man writes to you, saying that he wishes to take out an
endowment policy for his fifteen year old daughter, who has
already been examined. He wishes to give the insurance to her
as a birthday present. He encloses a check for the premium and
asks you to send the contract to her on her birthday (Name the
date). Write the father's letter.
10. Write a letter to accompany the birthday present. Re-
member you do not know the daughter.
Exercise 300
Write the following from dictation :
Must Reform our Farming
The average yield of wheat in the United States for the five
years ending in 19 10 was eight-tenths of a bushel per acre more
than in the five years ending in 1905, but it was less than four-tenths
of a bushel more than for the ten ending in 1900. The average
corn product for the ten years ending in 19 10 was a little less than
for the ten years ending in 1875. Thirty-five years had not ad-
vanced us a step. European countries — Great Britain, France,
Germany — with inferior soils and less favorable climate produce
crops practically double our own. In our studies of conservation
we find no waste comparable, either in magnitude or importance,
to this. The farm will fail, and the foundations of our prosperity
be undermined, unless agriculture is reformed. The percentage
of our people actively engaged in farming had fallen from 47.36
in 1870 to an estimated 32 in 1910. Every man on the farm to-day
must produce food for two mouths against one forty years ago.
— J, J.Hill.
330 BUSINESS PRACTICE
The Farming Specials
One of the latest and most successful activities of the railroads
is the practice of carrying knowledge of the best farming methods
to the farmers by means of special trains equipped like agricultural
colleges. These trains, bearing experts and all the equipment
for exhibiting the new methods of agriculture, bring the knowledge
to the farmers free, and the railroads are glad to give it, for every
bit of knowledge comes back to them in a hundred fold profit in
freight. In the summer eager audiences all over the country
listen to the preaching of better methods and larger crops. Dozens
of special trains travel through the agricultural regions dissemi-
nating information. The " Breakfast Bacon Special " has been run
to encourage Iowa farmers to raise more hogs to take advantage
of the high price of bacon. The Cotton Belt Route southwest
of St. Louis runs the ''Squealer Special" to prove to the Arkansas
and Panhandle farmers the money-making advantages of blooded
hogs over the razor-back variety. Down the Mississippi Valley
the Illinois Central sends the "Boll Weevil Special" to conduct
a campaign against that pest. The Harriman lines have six
trains operating in California every year. In one year they visited
more than seventy-five thousand people. Better farming specials
run in practically every state south of the Ohio and Potomac and
west of the Mississippi. The New York Central also has two
trains in operation in New York. — The Business Almanac,
A large proportion of farmers give little or no attention to the
selection of seed; yet it has been demonstrated that a careful
selection would add hundreds of millions of dollars to the total
value of the crops. If, for example, a variety of wheat were
developed capable of producing one more kernel to the head, it
would mean an addition, so Burbank says, of 15,000,000 bushels
to our average wheat crop. It is possible, however, to do even
more than this. At the Minnesota station a variety, selected for
ten years according to a definite principle, yielded twenty-five
per cent more than the parent variety. Applied to our average
crop, that increase would amount to 185,000,000 bushels, worth
about $140,000,000. As for com, it has been officially stated that
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE 331
our average yield could easily be doubled. After exhaustive exper-
iments the Department of Agriculture says that by merely testing
individual ears of seed corn and rejecting those of low vitality an
average yield of nearly fourteen per cent could be secured, adding
about $200,000,000 to the value of the crop. Does scientific seed
selection seem worth while? — The Wall Street Journal,
CHAPTER XX
BANKING
Imagine that you are a druggist in a small town. Sup-
pose that a woman comes in to buy two ounces of camphor
and in exchange gives you three eggs. In a few moments,
perhaps, a man enters to buy a safety razor and brings with
him wheat enough to pay the bill. Another, again, wishes
to trade a turkey for a fountain pen. You can readily see
the inconvenience to which you would be put in such ex-
change of actual commodities; yet this was the method used
in primitive times, a method called barter.
To overcome the inconvenience of barter, as civilization
advanced, it became necessary to establish a common
medium of exchange, which could be accepted for anything
one had to sell and with which one could buy anything he
wished. This is what we call money. To meet the require-
ments, money must not be bulky, must be durable, and must
not readily change in value. In civilized countries gold and
silver are the bases of exchange.
But gold and silver are heavy and inconvenient to carry
about in large, or for that matter in small, quantities, and
for convenience the following kinds of paper money have
been established:
1. Gold Certificates are issued with the government's guar-
antee that there is gold deposited in the Treasury equal to
the amount of the face of the bill. At any time the one hold-
ing such a bill may demand of the Treasury that he receive
gold for it.
2. Silver Certificates are similar to gold certificates, except
that silver is deposited in the Treasury instead of gold.
BANKING 333
3. United States Treasury Notes are promissory notes of
the government to pay the sum indicated. They are not
payable on demand.
4. National Bank Notes are promissory notes issued by the
national banks and are payable on demand of the bearer.
Before a national bank may issue such notes, it must own
United States government bonds of at least the amount for
which it issues notes. These bonds are held by the Treas-
urer of the United States as security that the bank will pay
its notes. According to the Owen Glass Bill, passed in
December of 1913, national bank notes may at the option
of the banks be gradually withdrawn from circulation.
Credit
Credit is a promise to pay at some future time for a thing
which you receive now. Its use is probably as old as the
practice of exchange and quite as important. The simplest
and most extensive form of credit is "book" credit, such as
you get at the grocer's or butcher's or at the department
store. To explain a little more complex kind of credit:
Suppose you owe Smith one hundred dollars. At the same
time Smith owes Jones one hundred dollars. Because you
owe Smith, he may give Jones an order to collect the money
from you. With this order Jones may pay his lawyer, let
us say. Perhaps the lawyer has bought a bill of goods from
you. He pays you with the same order. You destroy the
"note," and thus four actual transactions have been taken
care of without the use of any money. The business insti-
tution which deals especially with credits is the bank.
Banks
A bank which fulfills every banking function must have
these three departments: (i) the commercial department,
(2) the savings department, (3) the trust department. Some
institutions specialize in one department more than in either
334
BUSINESS PRACTICE
of the others, and thus, taking the name from their prin-
cipal function, banks are known as follows: (i) commercial
banks or banks of deposit, (2) savings banks, (3) trust
companies.
Banks of Deposit
Banks of deposit or commercial banks are business men's
banks. Their two principal functions are (i) receiving money
for safe-keeping on deposit, and (2) loaning money to busi-
ness men at interest. The deposit function is based on
confidence and credit. The business man takes his money to
the bank not only because it is convenient for him to do so.
Deposit Slip
MARINE l^ATIONAL BANK
OF BUFFALO
Qeposited to Credit oF
Buffalo, N. Y. Cl^QyU -
: ^3 1918
but also because he
has confidence that
the money will be
more carefully protect-
ed than if he kept it
in his own possession.
In depositing his
money in the bank,
the business man uses
a deposit slip such as
the one illustrated
here. The teller puts
down the amount in
the bank book of the
depositor, who is cred-
ited with that amount
on the bank's books. He is entitled to draw just that much
actual cash or that much credit in the form of checks, (Sec
page 339.) Most firms do not deposit a simi of money and
then promptly draw it out again in the form of checks to
pay current liabilities, but maintain a fairly steady balance
in the bank. On large average monthly balances most
banks allow interest, varying from one per cent on balances
rf ■
DOLLARS
CT3.
(JllflRFNOY
38-
18-3
nnin^
.<?// VFff^
7.^
nHFn.Kfi,
/o^^^J>y^./S..M
70
GA'^j^aJ^.
w
MUnilNT^
3 6S
^5
BANKING 335
of one thousand dollars to three per cent on balances of
ten thousand dollars or more.
Discount
Because a large bank has many depositors, the aggregate
of all the balances makes a considerable sum of money.
Bankers have learned by experience just what proportion
of their deposits they can depend on to remain steadily on
deposit as a balance, and thus they know what proportion
of their deposits it is safe to use for the purpose of discount.
The simplest case of the discount function is the discount
of a promissory note. In the note shown in the illustration
poo Springfield^ Mass,, Ciyio(f. 3, /^/5
<. f. after date, I promise to pay
to the order of. /. /.
dollars with interest.
Value received.
Promissory Note
after ninety days John H. Blodgett will receive from Lucius
Thomas five hundred dollars with interest. But perhaps
Blodgett cannot wait ninety days for his money. In this
case, he takes the note to his banker, who will pay him the
five hundred dollars less a certain percentage or discount,
which is the bank's profit on the transaction. The bank
then collects the note when it becomes due.
Collateral
Instead of cashing a note held by one of its customers, the
bank may itself loan money at interest for a short period
of thirty, sixty, or ninety days, taking the note of the busi-
336 BUSINESS PRACTICE
ness man to whom the money is loaned. In most cases,
however, unless the bank knows the business man well, a cer-
tain amount of collateral is demanded as an assurance that
the borrower will pay the loan when it becomes due. The
amount of collateral deposited with the bank is usually io%
to 25% in excess of the amount loaned, and it may take the
form of stocks or bonds; mortgages on real estate; liens on
stock, fixtures, or personal property; or warehouse receipts.
When the amount borrowed is paid, the collateral is re-
turned; if it is not paid within a reasonable time, the col-
lateral is sold, and the amount loaned, with interest to date,
is taken from the proceeds.
There are, of course, other functions of banks of deposit
practised quite generally by all banks, and these will be ex-
plained later. The functions just described, however, dis-
tinguish banks of deposit in a general way from the other
two classes.
Savings Banks
A savings bank accepts from its depositors small amounts
of money which are not subject to withdrawal by check, but
on which it pays a low rate of interest. As a general rule,
an account may be opened with one dollar; and when the
initial deposit is made, the depositor is furnished with a pass
book, similar to the bank book, in which further deposits,
interest credits, and withdrawals are recorded. Interest is
compounded every four or six months, and money must, as
a general rule, remain on deposit until an interest payment
date before the depositor receives any interest on it. The
usual rate of interest is three per cent, although four is often
paid. Frequently, before banks allow deposits to be with-
drawn, they demand a certain number of days' notice,
usually thirty. It is well to investigate the conditions under
which the depositor places his money in the safe-keeping of
the bank, because the withdrawal requirements are often
BANKING 337
stringent. Because of the stability of this class of deposit,
banks are always anxious to increase their savings accounts,
as a large proportion of the funds may be used for loans.
A form of the savings bank established in the United States
in 191 1 is the postal savings bank, in which the post-office
is made the depository for savings. The post-office in the
town deposits its funds in the local national or state bank,
which, as security for safe-keeping, must deposit with the
Treasurer of the United States bonds at least equal in value
to the amount of savings deposited in the bank. Postal
savings banks are practically absolutely safe, because, if the
bank which takes care of the funds should fail, the bonds
may be sold, so that the savers will receive their money.
From deposits made in the postal savings bank, the return
to the depositor is only two per cent, whereas the return
from deposits made in the bank's own savings department is
three, three and a half, and sometimes four per cent.
Trust Companies
The Richards^ Baby Stocking Fund
A miner named Richards was killed in an accident in an Alaska
mine. Among his possessions were found a number of letters and
a baby stocking containing a little gold dust. The letters told
that Richards had a little six-year-old daughter, who was now left
destitute. The rough miners made up a fund of $2,500 in gold
dust, depositing it with the United States Commissioner of the
Territory of Alaska, to be held by him until the proper disposition
of it could be made. A committe was appointed, who agreed that
one hundred dollars a year for ten years should be used to give
the child a common school education, and then five hundred dol-
lars each year to give her a college education. A legal guardian
was appointed, and the Kansas City Trust Company asked to act
as co-guardian to invest the money and make the required remit-
tances. The funds were first deposited by the commissioner in a
bank in Portland, which sent them to the Kansas City Trust Com-
pany. Correspondence was of course carried on at the same time,
the Kansas City Trust Company agreeing to accept the trust with-
338 BUSINESS PRACTICE
out remuneration. They have invested the money in five per cent
bonds, thus increasing the fund yearly.
This is called a trust because the money is entrusted for
safe-keeping and investment to the bank, which is called the
trustee. A bank may also become the trustee for property
left at the death of a person, both when there is a will and
when there is none. When there is no will and the bank takes
charge of the afifairs of the deceased, the bank is called the
administrator; when there is a will, the executor. Another
important function of the trust company is acting as receiver
for a company which has failed; that is, adjusting the com-
pany's affairs in the way fairest both to the stockholders
and to the company's creditors. The trust company often
acts, also, as agent for its clients' property, performing the
same duties as a real estate agent.
Form of Remittance
Banks as a class are distinguished one from the other
according as they specialize in one or more of the functions
described above. However, there are certain services that
all banks perform and certain facilities that they all offer
in connection with the payment of money from one person
to another. These concern the forms of remittance.
If you have studied business arithmetic or bookkeeping,
you very likely know the definite forms that are used. At
all events, you know that currency should never go through
the mails. The following is a brief review of the more
important forms that may be used. Study the illustrations
carefully, noticing particularly the similarity of form in all.
Uniformity in such matters is desirable because it saves
time as well as misunderstandings. The forms we shall
consider are:
I. The check
a. Personal
h. Certified
BANKING
339
The money order
a. Express
h. Postal
The bank draft
The time draft
The sight draft
Check. — A check is a written order on a bank, signed by
a depositor, directing the bank to pay a certain person a
certain sum of money. When the bank pays the order, it
deducts the amount from the depositor's account. The
one who signs the check is called the drawer or maker; the
person to whom or to whose order a check is made payable
is called the payee; the bank on which a check is drawn is
called the drawee.
Date yVLMj^ I 190 o
^^
BuFFALO.N.Y ^^^-^ / 1916 HO lib
OF (j^O-^AA^
or eurrALQ.
^^Zpt^ a^^^^y^
Dollars
4fj2,t,aJUiO:(^ftih
Check and Stub
Of course, before you could write a check for one hundred
dollars, you must have deposited at least one hundred dollars
in the bank on which the check, is drawn. The bank supplies
you with a check book, consisting of blank checks, each
attached to a stub. When you write a check, you put the
same information on the stub to be kept for reference. Then
you tear off the check through the perforated line, using
it to pay for whatever you may have purchased.
Certified Check. — Suppose, however, that you are writing
this check to pay a debt to a stranger who lives in another
340 BUSINESS PRACTICE
city. He may hesitate to accept it as money. That he may
have no cause to doubt your ability to pay the check, you
take it to your bank to have the cashier investigate your
account. If he finds that you have sufficient funds, he
writes or stamps Accepted or Certified on the check and signs
his name. At the same time the amount of the check is
deducted from your account. Such a check is accepted
without question when the holder is properly identified.
Endorsement. — If A gives you his check for twenty-five
dollars, you could not receive the money until you had en-
dorsed the check; that is, put your name on the back,
which is, in effect, giving a receipt for the money. You
may do this in various ways. You may endorse:
1. In blank; that is, merely write yourname across the back.
2. In full, by saying, ''Pay to the order of " and signing
your name.
3. By restricting the payment to a particular person; as,
"Pay to " This check cannot now be cashed by anyone
except the one named in the endorsement.
When CouNTEnstONEO ^^^^^^^^ 7-5997858
»y AOCHT AT POINT or isStjC
/^ C' /* / A<|REC3 TO TRANSMIT AND ""y"^- ^ 'f
PA3fTOTHE0RDrR0F_
The Sum OF (L/^V^lAy?^ <2>>^^t?«^^ .tsoDollars
C^'l^A-CC^ Statl or C/^^c
Date.
FEB.&I 1915
IV UASURC.AlTCNATlON.eerACCMCNt
-on MUTIkATIOM Of THIS OROCN RCMOCRS IT VOlO: (_
Express Money Order
Express Money Order, — An express money order is much
like a check, except that it is drawn on an express company
instead of on a bank and reads, for example: Continental
Express Company agrees to transmit and pay to the order
BANKING 341
of — (the one to whom you are sending the money) — (the
amount). The order is signed by the treasurer of the com-
pany and countersigned by the agent who sells it. You can
buy such an order at any express ofl&ce. It may be endorsed
like a check.
[Name of office issuing the order] NO.
DATE
THE POSTMASTER AT [Name of office on which order is drawn]
WILL PAY THE SUM OF DOLLARS I CTS.
DOLLARS CENTS I
words for dollars figures for cents
TO THE ORDER OF [Name of person to whom order is payable]
[Signature of] POSTMASTER
NAME OF REMITTER
Postal Money Order
Postal Money Order, — The other form of money order,
the postal, is an agreement signed by the postmaster of one
city that the postmaster of another city will pay the amount
of money named in the order to the person named in the
order.
Bank Draft. — A bank draft is very much like a check,
except that instead of two individuals dealing with each
other two banks conduct the transaction, their places of busi-
ness being in different cities or villages. A bank draft is
sometimes called a bank check, because in the case of both
a draft and a check one party draws upon another with whom
the first has funds deposited. As a general rule, banks and
business houses require that remittances be sent to them
by drafts drawn on New York or Chicago banks, as there is
a charge called exchange made in the collection of checks
drawn on local banks.
In the draft that follows, the State Bank of Utah, of which
Henry T. McEwan is Assistant Cashier, makes out the
draft. The bank which is ordered to pay the money is the
342 BUSINESS PRACTICE
National Park Bank of New York. The money is to be paid
to Henry L. Fowler. The State Bank of Utah is called the
3ANK, I
Y. N. Y. >
TO THE National park bank, ( /fttif^/t^f J- frX^wMhoM.^.^
NEW YORK CITY.
<ZiU^^aA^
Bank Draft
drawer; the National Park Bank of New York, on whom the
draft is drawn, is the drawee; Henry L. Fowler is the payee.
The payment indicated above
Endorsement ^^g probably made without act-
ually sending the money from
Salt Lake City to New York.
It was done in this way:
Henry L. Fowler of Salt
Lake City owes one hundred
dollars to a man living in
an Eastern city, let us say Charles Emery of Rochester,
N. Y. Mr. Fowler goes to the State Bank of Utah in
Salt Lake City and "buys a draft on New York,"
made payable to himself. The bank makes out the above,
charging Mr. Fowler one hundred dollars plus a fraction
of one per cent for its trouble. Mr. Fowler endorses it
in full to Mr. Emery of Rochester and sends the draft to the
latter. He has the draft made payable to himself so that the
S^OAf^ to- tk& cyvcL&v ojj'
BANKING 343
endorsement will constitute a full record of the transaction.
Mr. Emery takes the draft to his own bank in Rochester,
endorses it in blank, and receives the one hundred dollars.
Thus Mr. Fowler has paid out the money and Mr. Emery
has received it.
The way the banks conduct the transaction is as follows:
There are certain big money centers in the country; e.g..
New York, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco. Important
banks in other places have money on deposit in at least one
bank in each of these centers. The banks which thus deal
with one another are called correspondents. The National
Park Bank is the correspondent of the State Bank of Utah.
When Mr. Emery cashes the draft at his Rochester bank, the
latter sends it to its New York correspondent, and at the
same time charges the correspondent one hundred dollars.
The correspondent presents the draft to the National Park
Bank, which pays the money and charges the same amount
to the State Bank of Utah. Explain how this settles the
transaction.
Time Draft, — A time draft is much like a bank draft, in
that two banks conduct the principal part of the transac-
$Shzt BUFFALa^^^^^^2.7 1915
jSyOiftu i^Lvi^ .a^^^h/t<l<ct^ Pay towe order of
S \ mee received aBdebar^e to itccoimt of
Time Draft
tion for two individuals, but no money is actually paid at
the time the draft is drawn. The details of a transaction of
this kind are explained on the following page.
344 BUSINESS PRACTICE
Horace Prang of 1008 Elm Street, Columbus, Ohio, owes
Loetzer & Co. five hundred dollars, due August 27, 191 5.
Loetzer & Co. make out the draft above and deposit it in
the Bank of Buffalo. The latter sends the draft to its cor-
respondent in Columbus, which presents the draft to Horace
Prang. If he is willing to pay the note when it falls due, he
writes across the face of it, '^ Accepted, ^^ adds the date, and
signs his name. It is now returned to the Bank of Buffalo.
The Bank of Buffalo will then discount the draft for Loetzer
&Co.
Sight Draft, — A sight draft is much like a time draft,
except that the amount is paid by the person on whom it is
drawn as soon as it is presented, instead of after a stipulated
length of time.
w : :
Si
$ 4t^.— Buffalo. N.Y.. J^. ^ 1915.
COr^'^'^^yuyh^ pj^Y TO the ORoen or the
Marine: National Bank of Buffalo,
^^ff^tA^L^jC^^^^^UAjtU, a,4^^'iw^u:tpj^ ^ - Dollars.
VALUE RECEIVED AND CHARGE TO THE ACCOTTNT OF
Sight Draft
Suppose the Empire Elevator Co. of Buffalo has sold $420
worth of grain to the Smith Milling Co. of Springfield, Mass.
When the grain is loaded on the cars, the railroad company
gives the Empire Elevator Co. a bill of lading. Now, the
Smith Milling Co. must possess this bill of lading before it
can take the grain from the cars at Springfield. The Empire
Elevator Co. deposits the bill of lading with the above draft
in the Marine National Bank of Buffalo. This bank sends
both to its correspondent in Springfield. The Springfield bank
presents the draft to the Smith Milling Co., who may take
BANKING 345
the grain from the cars on payment of the draft. In case
of non-payment, both draft and bill of lading are returned
to the Marine National Bank of Buffalo, and the Empire
Elevator Co. must make arrangements for the return or the
disposal of the grain.
Exercise 301
1. F. R. Thompson, sales manager of the New York Trust
and Savings Bank, sends a circular letter to a number of banks,
saying that he is enclosing a booklet that describes a number of
bonds suitable for the security of postal savings deposits, the
legality of which has been carefully investigated. In his letter
he mentions especially Omaha, Nebraska, School 4^% bonds,
price to net 4.40%; Seattle, Washington, Harbor 5% bonds, price
to net 4i%; and Hoquiam, Washington, Bridge 5^% bonds, price
to net 5%. Reproduce the letter, addressing it to W. W. Fallows,
Cashier of the Mercantile National Bank of Pueblo, Colorado.
2. Mr. Fallows answers, saying that his knowledge of the
postal savings law is vague and that he would be glad if Mr.
Thompson would give him definite information on the subject.
3. Mr. Thompson replies that he is enclosing a copy of the
postal savings law. He assures Mr. Fallows that he can serve the
latter both in buying the proper securities and in depositing them
with the Treasurer of the United States. Application for such
deposits must be made by the bank itself. Mr. Thompson will
gladly inform him if Mr. Fallows does not know the steps to
be taken or the report to be submitted.
4. Punctuate, using a letterhead:
Mercantile Trust Company New York City Dec 219- manager
the bank of Scotland 30 bishop E C London England dear sir we
are sending you herewith advice of the issuance of our circular
letter of credit No. 262 in favor of Miss Helen Jackson for 300
pounds sterling Miss Jackson is at present in Paris France and the
letter of credit has been forwarded to Messrs Thomas Cooke and
Son I Place de V Opera Paris we have requested Messrs Thomas
Cooke and Son to forward to you two specimens of Miss Jacksons
signature which we have signed and forwarded to Messrs Thomas
Cooke and Son for that purpose so that you may have these
signatures before any drafts against the letter of credit are pre-
sented to you yours very truly James R Hudson treasurer.
346 BUSINESS PRACTICE
What is a letter of credit? How did Miss Jackson get it?
The Bank of Scotland is the correspondent of the Mercantile
Trust Company. Explain.
Why should the New York bank forward Miss Jackson's sig-
nature?
5. Write the letter that the Mercantile Trust Company sends
to Messrs. Thomas Cooke and Son.
6. Write the letter that Messrs. Thomas Cooke and Son send
to the Bank of Scotland.
7. W. T. Randall, cashier of the Milwaukee Trust and Savings
Bank, Milwaukee, Wis., writes a letter, the purpose of which is to
secure savings accounts. A club of 500 members is to be formed.
Each member is to buy a share by paying one dollar and to pay
one dollar per week per share, the amount to draw interest at 3%.
After forty-eight weeks he gets credit for fifty dollars per share,
thus securing over 5% interest on his money. Make the offer
attractive.
8. Some time ago a bank in your city discounted a note held
by George Carpenter, signed by Martin Kugerman. The note
falls due in ten days. As cashier write to Mr. Kugerman, telling
him that you hold the note and that you hope he will be able to
remit on the day of maturity.
9. Your bank loaned Clarence Went worth $500 for ninety
days, taking as security $700 worth of collateral. The note falls
due in a week. Write to Mr. Wentworth, reminding him that
the note falls due and asking him whether he wishes to pay it off
or whether he wishes it extended.
10. John Elsworth, who has an account with you, writes, saying
that by registered mail he is sending you certificates of 20 shares
Union Pacific common stock, 50 shares National Biscuit Co. pre-
ferred stock, 5 (bonds) American Telephone and Telegraph con-
vertible 4j's, 3 (bonds) New York and East River Gas Co. first
mortgage 5's. He asks you to take care of them and collect
dividends and interest when they are due, crediting them to his
account.
11. Your correspondent, the First National Bank of Janesville,
Wis., writes, asking you to forward by registered mail $5,000 in
currency.
Exercise 302
I. Mr. Henry Carroll of Wausau, Wis., writes to Mr. Randall
(Exercise 301, 7), asking him to buy 10 shares of C. & N. W. R. R.
BANKING 347
preferred stock at 134 or better. When they are bought, he adds,
they can be sent through any bank in Wausau.
2. Mr. Randall replies by sending the 10 shares of stock to the
bank's correspondent in Wausau, the First National Bank, telling
the latter to deliver them to Mr. Henry Carroll on payment of
the enclosed draft for $1340 with exchange. Write the letter.
3. A dressmaker in South Bend, Ind., has applied to Marshall
Field & Co., Retail, State and Washington Streets, Chicago, for
a charge account. The department store makes inquiries con-
cerning her at her bank, the Commercial and Savings Bank of
South Bend. Write the letter.
4. The bank replies that she has maintained a small but
steady balance, that she has never overdrawn her account, and
that in their opinion her credit would be good up to $100 monthly.
Write the letter.
5. Theodore Buchanan of St. Louis sends Philip Newborg of
your city a check for $100 with which he pays a debt to Charles
Springer of Minneapolis. Springer endorses it and deposits it
in the Security National Bank. The check is returned marked
N.S.F., and the Security National Bank notifies Springer of
the situation and of the fact that his account has been charged
with $104, the amount of the draft plus expenses.
6. One of the depositors of the Milwaukee Trust and Savings
Bank brings to the Cashier a note which is about due, and
asks the bank to collect it. The maker of the note is William T.
Adams of Seattle. The Cashier writes to the bank's correspond-
ent in Seattle, the Scandinavian American Bank, asking the
latter to collect. Write the letter. (See Exercise 301, 7.)
7. The Scandinavian American bank writes to William T.
Adams, telling him that it holds a note signed by him, due ,
and asking him to make prompt payment. Write the letter.
8. Mr. Adams pays the note. The Seattle Bank notifies the
Milwaukee Bank, enclosing a draft for the amount. Write the
letter.
9. See Exercise 301, 10. As John Elsworth's banker send the
coupons for the American Telephone and Telegraph bonds to
your correspondent in New York, the National City Bank,
because the interest is payable in New York. Ask the bank to
make the collection. Write the letter.
10. The National City Bank makes the collection and informs
you by means of a printed form that it has credited you with the
amount, $112.50. The form is just like a letter except that it is
348 BUSINESS PRACTICE
already printed with blanks left for the name and the address
and for itemizing the coupons collected. Write such a form.
11. One of your depositors has overdrawn his account. Notify
him of the fact. Do this courteously so that the depositor may
have no reason to withdraw his account.
12. In your city there is a real estate dealer who often has
large sums of money idle for a short time because, when he sells
one piece of property, he does not always have another immedi-
ately in view. He is not a depositor in your bank. Write to
him, inducing him to take out a Certificate of Deposit at such
times and telling him that the advantages of such a certificate are
that he will get 3% interest on the money deposited and that he
may draw out the money at any time.
13. One of your depositors has written to you, asking for a
loan of $5,000 for nine months. Write to him, saying that it is
not your practice to make time loans for definite periods longer
than six months, as it is not a good plan thus to tie up your deposits.
Explain that as most of a bank's deposits are payable on demand,
you would suggest his taking out a demand loan for $5,000, pay-
able on the demand of the bank. Under ordinary business con-
ditions such a loan might easily run for nine months.
14. R. F. Marsden, President of the Truesdale Cotton Mill,
Birmingham, Ala., has written to you, asking whether he can
secure a loan next fall on the cotton in the mill as collateral.
Reply that you feel certain that satisfactory arrangements could
be made if the cotton were stored in an accredited warehouse, so
that you could accept the warehouse receipt as collateral.
Exercise 303
Punctuate and paragraph the following letter, which ex-
plains one function of a trust company:
Dear sir as you are one of our clients you are familiar with the
reputation of this bank for sound banking and conservative
investments you may not however be aware that we have a fully
equipped trust department prepared to act in any of the numerous
capacities in which the services of trust companies have proved of
special value at this time we wish to call your particular attention
to the service which this department is prepared to render as
trustee under agreement it is natural that one who has accumu-
lated property should desire to superintend or direct its disposition
formerly this was done by will now however as the complex laws
BANKING 349
of the various states frequently necessitate the payment of double
or triple inheritance taxes it is becoming a more and more common
practice for a man during his lifetime to administer his own estate
so to speak this may be accomplished through the establishment
of a trust with respect to either a part or all of one's prop,erty it
can be accomplished not only with absolute safety to the donor
but with entire secrecy as well the terms of the trust being regarded
as absolutely confidential furthermore the donor has the satis-
faction of disposing of his property during his lifetime in accord-
ance with his desires the life of a trust company unlike that of any
individual is of perpetual duration death does not interfere with
its management of the trust estate its financial responsibility and
the safeguards thrown around trust estates by the state laws
insure the safety of a trust fund if you are interested in this subject
let us discuss it with you either in person or by correspondence
when this bank is named in a trust capacity no charge is made
for service or advice in connection with the drafting of the trust
instruments yours truly
Before writing the following, re-read The Richards' Baby
Stocking Fund, page 337.
1. Suppose that you were a newspaper correspondent in Alaska
at the time Richards was killed. For your home paper write an
account of the finding of the baby stocking. In what ways would
this account differ from a magazine article on the same subject?
2. As if you were the United States Commissioner of the Ter-
ritory of Alaska, write to a Portland bank saying that you are
sending the $2,500 to them, and asking them to put the funds in
the care of a reliable trust company.
3. The Portland bank writes to the Kansas City Trust Com-
pany, asking if the latter will accept the trust. Write the letter.
4. The Kansas City Trust Company repHes that it will accept
the trust without remuneration. Write the letter.
5. The Portland bank informs the United States Commissioner
of the Territory of Alaska of the disposition of the funds. Write
the letter.
Exercise 304
Topics for Investigation and Discussion
1. The panic of 1907 and some of its lessons.
2. Future banking reform.
3. Government supervision of banks.
3 so BUSINESS PRACTICE
4. Unscrupulous banking companies.
5. Clearing house certiJ&cates.
6. Postal savings banks.
7. The work of the clearing house.
8. The need of banks in a community.
9. The development of real estate firms into banks.
10. The Owen Glass Currency Bill.
Exercise 305
Books that will Suggest Topics for Talks
Crocker, U. H., The Cause of Hard Times.
Fonda, Arthur J., Honest Money.
GiBBS, H. C, A Bimetallic Primer.
McAdams, Graham, An Alphabet in Finance.
Newcomb, Simon, The A B C of Finance.
Norton, S. F., Ten Men of Money Island, or The Primer of Finance.
Reeves, John, The Rothschilds: The Financial Rulers of Nations.
White, Horace, Money and Banking.
Exercise 306
Write the following from dictation:
The Daily Routine of the Clearing House
Each bank sends two clerks to the Clearing House: a deliver-
ing clerk and a settling clerk. There are three rows of seats run-
ning through the clearing room lengthwise, one in the center and
one on each side parallel with it. The settling clerks occupy these
seats and each one has a sufficient amount of desk room in front
of him to do his work on, his space being separated from his neigh-
bors' by a wire screen. The delivery clerks, with their packages
of checks in separate envelopes, stand in the open space in front
of the settling clerks. At two minutes before 10 o'clock the man-
ager, whose station is an elevated open space at the extreme end
of the room, strikes a bell."
The movement has all the precision of a military drill. When
the second bell sounds, at exactly 10 o'clock, each delivery clerk
takes one step forward, hands the proper package to the settling
clerk of the bank next to him, drops the accompanying ticket
showing the amount into an aperture like a letter box, and places
BANKING, 351
before the settling clerk his schedule, on which the latter places
his initials. Thus the procession moves uninterruptedly until
each delivery clerk has presented to each settling clerk the proper
package and ticket. Usually this part of the operation is com-
pleted in ten minutes. Meanwhile the proof clerk, who occupies
a desk near the manager, has entered the claims of each bank
under the head "Bank Cr." on a broad sheet of paper.
Inasmuch as the amount of each bank's claim against the
Clearing House (entered under the head "Banks Cr.") is the sum
of all the tickets which its delivery clerk has pushed into the
letter boxes of the other banks, it follows that all the tickets of
all the banks should equal all the entries under that head. The
next step in the operation is for each settling clerk to arrange the
amounts of all the tickets in his letter box in a column, add it
up, and send the amount to the proof clerk, who transcribes and
arranges it according to the bank's number under the head
"Banks Dr.," so that the debit of Bank A shall be on the same
line with its credit.
Then the difference between the two will show how much the
bank owes the Clearing House or how much the Clearing House
owes the bank. The time occupied by the settling clerks in
arranging their tickets and adding up the columns is about half
an hour. As fast as these footings are completed, they are sent
to the proof clerk, who puts them in the debit column opposite
the credits of the banks, respectively. When all are completed,
if no error has been made, the footings of the credit and debit
columns must be exactly equal and the footings of the two other
columns, which show the differences, must be exactly equal.
Then these differences are read off slowly and in a distinct tone by
the manager, so that each settling clerk can write down the sum
that his bank has to pay or to receive. As time is money at the
Clearing House, a fine is exacted for every error and every delay
in making footings, for every disobedience of the orders of the
manager, or for every instance of disorderly conduct. — Horace
White: Money and Banking.
The Treasury, in connection with its money washing, has asked
national banks to exercise more care in sending in money for
redemption. Banks frequently put into the same bundle good
notes, bad notes, and notes of different denominations. When
they are mixed in this way, it requires a good deal of work to
352 BUSINESS PRACTICE
separate the money. The Treasury thinks that the banks could
do this work, so that, when the money reaches Washington, it could
easily be separated by packages instead of each package having
to be separated first. The Assistant Secretary says he believes
that, when he gets the subject worked out in detail, new washed
money will be returned to the bank in any denomination desired
on the same day that it is received; that money unfit for launder-
ing will be destroyed and new money issued. This expeditious
handling of money sent in for redemption cannot, however, be
attained, he admits, without the co-operation of the banks. In
a short time, he believes, all banks will see that it is to their
benefit to do this.
CHAPTER XXI
THE CORPORATION
The study that we have thus far made of the various
kinds of businesses would be incomplete did we not briefly
outline the different types of organization by which modern
business is conducted. This will natually lead us to a dis-
cussion of stocks and bonds, which are of great importance
in every big business and of interest to individuals as means
of investment. However, as the subjects are probably out-
side the experience of most students, we shall treat them
as simply as possible, letting the chapter stand rather for
the information it contains than for its application to the
study of English expression.
Business to-day is carried on in three different ways;
viz., by individuals, by partnerships, and by corporations.
The grocer, the butcher, the baker, or any one man who
carries on a business is an example of the first. If, however,
the grocer and the butcher, or the grocer and the baker,
combine their businesses for the good of both, they form
a partnership. When the amount of capital necessary for
carrying on the business becomes so large that the money
of many people is needed, a corporation is formed. The
amount of money which any one individual invests in the
company is represented by a certain number of shares of the
capital stock of the company, entitling him to his portion
of the dividends, or interest on the money he has invested.
These shares of the capital stock are transferable and can
be bought and sold like an automobile or a house. Since
there is no time limit as to how long a corporation may do
business, a change in the ownership of part of the stock, or
354 BUSINESS PRACTICE
the death of a stockholder, is not accompanied by the same
result as in a partnership, where the death of one of the
partners sometimes breaks up the business. Furthermore, in
a partnership each one of the partners is personally liable for
any debts made by any of the partners in behalf of the busi-
ness, whereas the personal possessions of a stockholder in a
corporation cannot be held as security for any debts incurred
by the corporation. These are two of the more important
advantages of corporate organization over partnership.
The Finances of a Corporation
It has been estimated that if one were to count money,
dollar by dollar, one dollar every second for eight hours six
days a week, it would take him six weeks to count one mil-
lion dollars, and over one hundred years to count a billion
dollars. This may help us to appreciate the sums of money
spoken of in the following: In 19 14 the market value of
the Commonwealth Edison Company of Chicago was over
$83,000,000. The valuation placed on the properties of the
Chicago Railways Company in 19 14 exceeded $79,000,000.
The Union Pacific Railroad Company had invested in its
properties in 1914 approximately $500,000,000. The capital
obligations of the United States Steel Corporation in 19 14
were over $1,500,000,000. There are hundreds of such or-
ganizations in our country, the investments in which run to
and beyond $50,000,000 each. It must be plain that, except
in a very few cases, these vast amounts of money do not
represent the investment of one, or of a few, but of many
persons. In uniting their capital, these persons decrease the
cost of making or distributing the product and so increase
their profits.
Stocks
When a large company of this kind is organized, a certain
amount of money is agreed upon to be the capital of the
THE CORPORATION 355
company, and it is divided into small portions, ordinarily
$100 each, called shares. The total of the shares is called
the authorized capital stock. These shares are sold, the pur-
chasers of the shares being called shareholders, or stockholders ,
of the company. The number of shares a person holds de-
termines what part of the profits he is entitled to. For
example, if a company is organized for 1000 shares of $100
each, or a capital stock of $100,000, and you owned 100
shares, you would be entitled to one-tenth of the divided
profits of the company. Such profits of the company,
divided proportionately among the stockholders, constitute
the dividends.
Often the capital stock is of two kinds, preferred and
common, as in the case of the Union Pacific R. R., which has
$200,000,000 of authorized preferred stock and $296,178,700
of authorized common stock. As the names signify, preferred
stock is ordinarily better than common stock, the dividends
on preferred stock being paid before any dividends are paid on
common stock and usually at a stated rate of interest; as, 4,
5, or 6 per cent. In the case of the Union Pacific, this rate is
4 per cent. If the company earns only enough profits to pay
the dividends on the preferred stock, the common gets no
dividends. On the other hand, if the profits are enormous,
the common occasionally gets more than the preferred.
Par and Market Value
The par value of a stock is the face value of one share of
stock, indicated on the face of the certificate. This may be
$10 or $50 or $100, whatever the amount agreed upon for one
share when the company is organized. The amount most
commonly used as par is $100. The market value of the
stock, however, need not be this amount, but may be greater
or less, dependent on how successful the company is and
what rate of dividends it pays. If a company's standing
is very good and the dividends are high (over 6 per cent),
356 BUSINESS PRACTICE
the stock will probably sell on the market above par. If
the company's finances are in a doubtful condition and there
are evidences that the company will pay small dividends,
if any at all, the market price of the stock will fall below
par. For example, in January, 19 14, Union Pacific R. R.
common stock sold for about $158 per share, because the
finances of the company were in good condition and the com-
pany had paid 10 per cent dividends steadily each year since
July 1, 1907. If, however, any occasion should arise to make
the public doubt the payment of future dividends at the same
rate, the stock would probably decline. To go to the other
extreme, in the same month Wabash R. R. common stock
sold as low as $8| per share, although the par is $100. This
was because for some years the company had paid no divi-
dends and was then in the hands of receivers. To take a
middle case in the same month and year, Erie R. R. first
preferred stock sold at about $45 per share, notwithstanding
the fact that since 1907 no dividends had been paid. The
reason for this seemingly high price was that the company
had for some time been reconstructing its property, had
gradually increased its business, had earned a $9,000,000
surplus in 1913, and had a good outlook to a dividend in
the near future.
These are not the only influences that affect the price of
stocks. The old factor of supply and demand has a great
influence on price. If, for example, a financier decides to
buy a large "block'' of some stock, the market will almost
immediately be affected, and that stock will go up. One
example will suffice. In 1901 E. H. Harriman set out to
buy $155,000,000 worth of Northern Pacific stock in the
open market to gain control of the Northern Pacific railroad.
Of course, the market felt the demand, and the price of
the stock rose from a little above par until it touched $1,000
a share before it started back to normal. When Mr. Harri-
man unloaded that same stock in 1906, because he failed
THE CORPORATION 357
to gain control, the market went down so considerably that
he lost $10,000,000 and almost caused a panic.
Often the stocks of a company sell below par because
the stock is watered; that is, the company has issued more
stock than there is value invested in the property. Many
of our railroads, for example, were built on borrowed money
— that is, from the proceeds of the sale of bonds — and, to
make the bonds sell more readily, stocks were given away
with them. This, of course, increased the capitalization
greatly without increasing the value. The temptation
in forming new companies, especially in mining schemes
and wildcat ventures, is to water the stock heavily by voting
a large block of stock gratis to the organizers. Before one
invests in any of these companies, he should thoroughly
investigate them. Sometimes companies water their stocks
when their dividends have become very large and they wish
to bring the rate down to that commonly paid. The Wells
Fargo Express Company did this in 1910, presenting their
stockholders with $16,000,000 worth of new stock without
any new investment in the property.
Bonds
Suppose that A owns a house with a store in it, and in
the store he carries on a grocery business. Suppose that by
enlarging his store and putting in a bigger stock of goods he
can make more money. The improvements will cost $1,000,
but he hasn't the money. He goes to B to ask B to lend
him $1,000 for five years, offering B the house as security.
B gives A the $1,000 and in return gets a certain amount of
interest each year and A's mortgage note against the property.
This means that, if at the end of five years A cannot pay
the $1,000, B has the right to sell A's house and collect the
money due him.
When a corporation borrows money to extend its proper-
ties, plants, or rights, the transaction is really the same,
358 BUSINESS PRACTICE
although the form is somewhat different. Just as all the
capital stock of a corporation is divided into shares owned
by a number of people, so, when the corporation borrows
money, the amount borrowed is divided into smaller parts of
$500 or $1,000 each, called bonds, which the corporation sells
through its bankers to people who have idle money to in-
vest. Twice each year, as stated in the bond, the corporation
pays interest on the borrowed money at the rate, probably,
of 4, 4I, 5, or 6 per cent. After a definite number of years,
as stated in the bond, the corporation is obliged to pay back
the amount of money that it borrowed. This is called re-
deeming the bonds. To show that it intends to pay back
the amount borrowed at the end of the time stated, or re-
deem the bonds when they become due, the corporation
puts a mortgage on its real estate, buildings, machinery, and
equipment. When the bonds become due — or mature, as it
is called — if the corporation does not pay back the amount
borrowed, the holders of the bonds may take possession of
the company's real estate, buildings, machinery, and equip-
ment on which the company has placed the mortgage and
may sell them to recover the money they have loaned.
Thus, while the stockholders of a corporation have no assur-
ance that they will ever get their money back or will ever
get any interest on it, the holders of carefully selected bonds
are reasonably sure of getting a certain amount of interest
each year and of getting their money back when the bonds
mature. Shares of stock represent the investment made by
the stockholders who own the company, whereas bonds rep-
resent the investment of those who loan money to the com-
pany. We can readily see, then, that the stockholders take
the greater risk. For this reason it is expected that stocks
should yield a higher profit than bonds, and this is usually
the case.
The greater portion of the bonds that are issued by cor-
porations run for long periods — twenty, forty, fifty, and
THE CORPORATION 359
even one hundred years. At times when money rates are
high, corporations that need funds are reluctant to pay a
high rate for so many years, and so they issue short time
bonds to run from two to five years, in the hope that at
the end of the time money rates will be lower and more
favorable to their issuing long time bonds. Many com-
panies, especially industrial corporations and railroads, have
issued obligations to pay, notes running from six months to
five years. They are not usually secured by a mortgage
on the property but are merely the company's promise to
pay, the interest and the principal taking precedence over
the dividends on the preferred and the common stocks.
Corporate Organization
Before a corporation can carry on its business, it must
obtain a charter from one of the states of the United States,
whose laws it must obey. The laws of some states are more
lenient than those of others, allowing the corporations more
privileges. New Jersey is thus lenient; consequently we find
many large corporations — such as the United States Steel
Corporation, the American Sugar Refining Company, and
others — organized under the laws of New Jersey. After the
charter is granted and the stock bought by the stockholders,
the latter have a meeting, at which they elect a small number
of men to be directors, who, as the name signifies, conduct
the business of the company for the stockholders. They
choose a president, one or more vice-presidents, a treasurer,
a secretary, and any other officers necessary to carry on the
business under the control of the directors. The term of
office of the directors is usually so fixed that the term of a
part of them expires each year, so that each year the
stockholders have an annual meeting at which they elect
new directors or re-elect the old ones whose term has
expired.
360 BUSINESS PRACTICE
The Railroad
Corporations divide themselves into three large groups;
viz., railroad companies, public utility corporations, and
industrial corporations. Of these, the group composed of
the largest and most powerful corporations is the railroad
group.
Railroads have two general sources of income, the larger
being the revenue received from operating trains, both
freight and passenger; and the smaller being the return
from investments in other companies, from real estate, and
from the rental of lines, terminals, stations, and cars to other
railroads. To carry on the second or smaller part of its
business, the company needs an organization much like any
other business, but to conduct the first part it requires a
special organization. This divides itself into four depart-
ments, usually with a vice-president at the head of each:
(i) the traffic department, (2) the operating department,
(3) the finance and accounting department, and (4) the
legal department.
It is the duty of the traffic department to get the busi-
ness for the company and adjust all traffic claims. In
short, it does everything to increase the business and the
earnings. This department naturally divides into the
freight traffic and passenger traffic departments, with a
superintendent or manager at the head of each.
After the traffic department has solicited the business for
the company, it is the duty of the operating department to
render the services required by the traffic department. The
work is done by four large divisions: (i) the engineering
or construction department, whose duty it is to build the
roads over which the company may operate; (2) the main-
tenance-of-way department, whose duty it is to see that the
roadbed and rails are kept in good order and repair; (3)
the equipment department, whose duty it is to see that the
THE CORPORATION 361
company is supplied with proper locomotives and cars and
to see that such equipment is kept in repair; and (4) the
transportation department, which has to do with the
operating of the trains.
The financial policy of a railroad is usually in charge of
one of the vice-presidents, who must be a man of experi-
ence in financial matters and who acts with the approval
of the directors. The accounting department is more im-
portant than may appear at first sight. Railroads are
now under the supervision and regulation of the govern-
ment, and one of the rights that the government has is
to examine the books of the company at any time and to
require all companies to submit a monthly report to the
government.
The legal department of a railroad is especially important
for two reasons: (i) In performing its services, the company
has business dealings with a large number of persons, and
in the adjustment of claims against the railroad, expert
legal advice is constantly necessary. (2) The railroad, as
stated above, is under the regulation and control of the
state and the national governments, and the enforcement
of this regulation makes the railroad a party to numerous
proceedings in the courts and before the Interstate Com-
merce Commission. The large railroads operate in from ten
to twenty states. It can thus easily be seen that the legal
department has a great deal more to do than if the railroad
operated under but one political power.
Public Utility Corporations
Public utility corporations supply services without which
the people of to-day could not very well live. They are
those supplying water, light, heat, power, telephones, local
transportation, gas, etc. They may properly be called pubHc
necessity corporations. The nature of these businesses
362 BUSINESS PRACTICE
practically gives them a monopoly in their locality; this is
the reason that they have grown so enormously during the
last thirty years. The Commonwealth Edison Company,
which supplies a large part of Chicago with light and
power, began in 1887 with a capital of $500,000 and in
1 9 14 its capital obligations had a market value of over
$83,000,000. The American Telephone and Telegraph
Company began in 1885 with $12,000,000 of capital stock
and in 1914 had practically $340,000,000. The other public
service corporations have kept pace, according to the growth
of the locality they serve. In the depression of 1907 this
class of corporation kept steadily increasing the volume of
its business when all others went back a step. Since these
corporations are dependent on the local community for
their business, if the community grows the company must
grow, and usually faster than the community. For this
reason the stocks and bonds of these companies are usually
a good investment.
It is a common practice for municipalities to demand a
share of the profits of the company, by way of a fixed
sum, a certain percentage of the gross profits, or a share
of the net profits. For example the city of Chicago receives,
from the Commonwealth Edison Company each year 3 per
cent of its gross receipts from the sale of current and 10
per cent of its gross receipts from the rental of conduit space,
amounting in 19 13 to more than $300,000, quite a consid-
erable sum. The Chicago Railways Company and the
Chicago City Railway Company, the two large street car
companies of Chicago, after deductions for expenses and
charges and 5 per cent on the amount invested are made
from the gross income, pay to the city 55 per cent of the
surplus earnings, keeping for themselves 45 per cent.
Whenever these companies pay part of their earnings to
the municipality, they are really under municipal super-
vision, and their books and accounts are open to examina-
THE CORPORATION 363
tion by the city at any time. These companies are called
quasi-municipal corporations.
Industrial Corporations
As the name indicates, industrial corporations are those
that carry on our industries. They are by far the largest
class of corporations and have among their number some
very powerful companies, whose assets run up toward the
billions. This class of corporations has not had the gradual,
steady growth of the public utility corporations, but in the
case of the most successful, the growth has been amazing.
The Standard Oil Company for many years prior to its dis-
solution had paid dividends on its capital stock of about
$100,000,000 at the rate of 40 per cent a year. The Steel
Corporation is said to have produced a thousand millionaires
and is still producing them. This class of corporations has
not been so closely under the supervision of the federal and
municipal authorities as the railroads and public utility cor-
porations, and their financing has been carried on in a looser
fashion than that of the other two classes. For this reason
the securities of these corporations are not generally regarded
as highly as those of the other two. However, the federal
government has taken and is taking steps to regulate these
corporations, and this will tend to bring them eventually to
the standards of the railroad and public utility corporations.
Exercise 307
Oral
Explain carefully:
1. What is a corporation?
2. What is a share of stock?
3. What is a bond? a security?
4. Explain the difference between par and market values.
5. Why do stocks and bonds vary in value?
364 BUSINESS PRACTICE
6. What is the difference between preferred and common
stock?
7. What are dividends?
8. What is meant by watered stock?
9. What are the advantages of a corporation over a partner-
ship?
10. The following was copied from a morning paper. Explain
it.
"The Canadian Westinghouse Company, Ltd., declared its
regular quarterly dividend of i|% and an extra dividend of 1%
on its stock, both payable Jan. 10.''
11. Explain the following bond quotations:
Municipal Bonds
Security Maturity Yield per cent about
Albany, Ga., 5's Nov. i, 1941 4.75
King Co., Wash., 4j's Nov. i, 193 1 4.50
Railroad Bonds
Atchison, Topeka, & Santa
F6, general mortgage, 4's Oct. i, 1995 4.20
Louisville and Nashville,
unified mortgage, 4's Feb. i, 1946 . 4.35
Public Service Corporation Bonds
New York Telephone Co., 4's Nov. i, 1939 4.75
Chicago Railways, first
mortgage, 5's Feb. i, 1927 4.99
12. Why are the bonds of successful public utility corporations
a good investment?
13. Which company do you think would grow faster, a light and
power company or a gas company? What effect would the growth
or the failure to grow have on the price of the stocks of each?
14. Should a street car company pay part of its earnings to
the city?
15. If the population of a city doubled, what effect would
there be on the price of public utility stocks?
THE CORPORATION 365
Exercise 308
Topics for Investigation and Discussion
1. Harnessing our streams to secure electric power.
2. The growth of the Interurban.
3. In your own town:
a. Have gas rates increased or decreased? Can you ex-
plain the change?
h. Have electric light rates increased or decreased? Can
you explain the change?
4. Street railway, electric light, and gas company franchises.
5. The earnings of the street car company in your city.
6. Municipal ownership of public utility corporations.
7. The effect of mergers and consolidations of big corporations.
8. The effect of a trust on competition.
9. Trusts and prices.
10. Government suits against trusts.
11. The tariff and the steel industry, the wool industry, and
the sugar industry.
12. Railroad rate increases.
Exercise 309
Write the following from dictation:
In New London, Connecticut, stands the oldest grist mill in the
country. It is a picturesque building, having a water wheel Hke
the one that it originally used when New London was first settled.
The town was in the center of an agricultural community,
and a mill to grind corn was a need that soon manifested itself
to the settlers. Accordingly, in 1650 at a town meeting, six
men were chosen to build a mill. John Winthrop and his heirs
were granted the right to carry on the grist mill as long as they
maintained the building placed in their charge. This is one of
the first monopolies recorded in New England history.
The same standards by which a farming or a manufacturing
investment may be judged are not applicable to a mining invest-
ment. A farmer may earn eight per cent on his capital, and with
care his investment may increase in value. A manufacturer
366 BUSINESS PRACTICE
may earn eight per cent on his investment, and, if he keeps up his
machinery, his business may be as valuable ten years, or even
twenty years, hence; but a mine, after each dividend is paid, is
that much nearer its end. Now, it is well known among mining
men that the average life of a gold or silver mine is under, rather
than over, ten years. There are exceptions to this rule, of course,
but, granting that the life of a certain gold or silver mine is to be
ten years, then, in order to pay back both principal and interest,
dividends of at least sixteen per cent should be distributed. Cop-
per mining, of which the statistics have been most accurately
kept in New York and Boston, offers many inducements to the
investor; but too much care cannot be taken in the matter of
selection, for copper stocks, in not a few instances, have been
boosted out of all reason. As with gold and silver mines, so it
is with copper mines. They have so much ore to begin with, and
after each dividend are that much nearer to the day when they
will close down. For such mines, provided they have a good
lease of life, eight per cent or even ten per cent may be regarded
as only moderate returns. These are merely samples of some
general principles to be followed. — Roger W. Babson.
Dear Sir; ^
At the close of a year which has presented many perplexing
problems, not only to investors and dealers in bonds, but also to
borrowing municipalities and corporations, there are several
factors in the situation which in our opinion offer strong encour-
agement to every one in any way interested in bond investments.
Of special significance is the marked change in sentiment which
has recently taken place. There is every indication that this
country enters the new year with an unusually substantial feel-
ing of confidence. While a notable increase in the demand
for bonds would undoubtedly bring out a large amount of new
financing, on the other hand, there has been an accumulation
of funds during the period of depressed markets, and it is gen-
erally understood that investment dealers are carrying compara-
tively small amounts of bonds.
January has an almost unbroken record of higher average bond
prices than the average prices in December. It is not our inten-
tion to predict an advance this January, although there are un-
questionably many reasons for anticipating at least a moderate
improvement; but, viewing the question in its broader aspects,
we find many convincing arguments in favor of the purchase of
THE CORPORATION 367
bonds at this time. It is recognized that the decline in prices
has been due to a variety of causes, which, except in a few indi-
vidual cases, are not the result of any depreciation in real values.
Basic conditions are admittedly sound. We, accordingly, not
only recommend the judicious purchase of bonds for the invest-
ment of surplus funds, but also suggest consideration of the ad-
visability in some cases of converting short time securities into
. long time bonds.
What conditions could be more favorable from the standpoint
of the purchaser of bonds than an extremely low level of prices;
a wide-spread belief that fundamental conditions are sound; a
general feeling of confidence that the problems which have tended
to disturb business during the past year have been, or are being,
solved; and a conviction • that we are entering upon a period of
probable ease in money rates?
Very truly yours.
INDEX
Numbers refer to pages
A, Italian, 9.
Abbreviation, objectionable, of the
introduction of a letter, 242; of the
courteous close, 242.
Abbreviations, of states, 26-27; of
commercial terms, 27-28; of titles
in letters, 235; objectionable in the
body of the letter, 242.
AhU and ihle, 2>2>'
Absolute use of the nominative case,
65.
Abstract noun, defined, 57.
Accent, indication of, 17; words chang-
ing meaning with change of, 17.
Accept and except, 102.
Account, opening an, 250; letters for
opening an, 250 fif.
Accounting department of a railroad,
work of the, 360-361.
Active voice of verbs, defined, 84;
conjugation of, 88 flf.
Ady prefix, 32.
Adjective, the, defined, 49; and the
adverb, 75 ff.; following verbs of
the senses, 75; clause, 54; com-
parison of, 78.
Adjective endings, pecuUar, 2>2> ff-
Adjective modifiers, 49.
Adjective pronouns, use of, 61. •
Adjectives and adverbs, confused, 51;
incorrectly used, 81-82; real and
very, 81; most and almost, 81.
Adjectives, punctuation of series of,
171 ff.
Adjectives to be distinguished, 80-
81; fewer and less, 80; almost and
most, 81.
Adverb modifiers, 49.
Adverb, the, defined, 49; and the
adjective, 75 ff.
Adverbial, clause, 54; modifier, case
of, 66.
Adverbs, conjunctive, 45; and ad-
jectives confused, 51; and preposi-
tions confused, 52; ideas denoted
by, 75; modifying different parts
of speech, 75; correct position of,
77; absolute use of, 79; incorrectly
used, 81-82.
Advertised articles, classes of, 311.
Advertisements, motives appealed to
in, 311; catch phrases used in,
312; suggestive names used in,
313; good and bad headlines for,
313; of still-life, 314; without a
definite center, 315; illustrating
the principle of balance, 315; exer-
cises to write, 315 ff.; paragraph
topics dealing with, 317 ff.; some
examples of, 318 ff.
Advertising, 308 ff.; importance of,
308; different forms of, 309-310;
fundamentals of, 3 10-31 1; outline
for debate on, 141 ff.; bibliography
for, 320.
Afect and efect, 102-103.
Afi&rmative of debate on advertising,
141 ff.
After, as preposition and conjunction,
55-
Agent, 134, 299-300; commission of,
323.
Agreement, grammatical, 71-72, 85
ff.
Amusement, motive appealed to in
advertising, 311.
Analysis, word, 29 ff.
Ance and ence, 34.
And, in compound sentence, 45,
173 ff.; in series, punctuation
with, 171 ff.; used in joining
parallel expressions, 211 ff.; for
to, 119; excessive use of, 127-
128.
37°
INDEX
Anglo-Saxon prefixes and suffixes,
29 ff.
Answering complaints, letters to be
used in, 257 ff.
Ant and ent, S3-
Antecedents, uncertain, 207 ff.
Apostrophe, the, used to form the
possessive case, 67, 69, 159; used to
indicate the omission of letters,
160; to show plural of letters and
figures, 160.
Appeals made in advertisements,
311-312.
Application, letters of, 259 ff.
Appositives, case of, 65, 66; punctua-
tion with, 179-180.
Article, incorrect omission of in
business letters, 242.
As, case following, 121; a conjunction,
124; followed by an understood
verb, 124; punctuation with, 195.
As — as, used in expressions stating
equality, 125.
As follows, punctuation with, 195.
Alias, story of the derivation of, 5.
Authorized capital stock, 355.
Baby blunder, 44.
Balance, principle of, used in adver-
tisements, 315.
Bank draft, 341-343.
Banking: inconvenience of barter,
332; kinds of paper money, 332-
SSS; credit, 333; discount, 335;
collateral, 335; promissory note,
336; forms of remittance, 338 ff.;
letters pertaining to, 345 ff.; topics
for investigation and discussion,
349-350; bibliography for, 350;
dictation exercises on, 350 ff.
Banks, departments of, 333; of
deposit, 334 ff.; savings, 334, 336
ff.; trust companies, 334, 337 ff.
Be, conjugation, indicative, 104;
subjunctive, 112; used to form
progressive tenses, 88 ff., 105; used
to form passive voice, 105 ff.
Before, used as preposition and con-
junction, 55.
Beg to state, 243.
Bibliography, on manufacture, 280;
on distribution, 304-305; on ad-
vertising, 320; on banking, 350.
Bill of lading, 285; straight or order »
285.
Blunder, baby, 44.
Body of the letter, 232.
Bonds, 357 ff.; redemption of, 358;
maturity of, 358; long period, 358;
short time, 358.
Breve, 9.
Brevity in business letters, mistaken
for conciseness, 199.
Business letters, 2295.; essentials of,
230; the form of, 231; the arrange-
ment of, 232; cautions in writing,
235 ff.; directions for folding, 238;
to order goods, 239; the tone of,
240; mistaken ideas in writing,
241 ff.; to make sales, 244; to
accompany a catalogue, 245 ff.;
to open an account, 250; to make
collections, 253 ff.; to answer
complaints, 257 ff.; applying for
positions, 259 ff.; form, 264; cir-
cular and follow-up, 264 ff.
Business news, to suggest topics for
talks, 155.
Business thinking, importance of, 2.
c and g, pronunciation of, 24.
Can and may, 102.
Capital stock, explained, 353; pre-
ferred, 355; common, 355; par
and market values of, 355 ff.
Capitals, use of, 160 ff.
Caret, the, 9.
Carriers, common, 284.
Case, defined, 64; nominative, 64 ff.;
objective, 64, 66; possessive, 64,
67; exercise in, 70 ff.; following
prepositions, 66, 119.
Cause and effect, paragraphs de-
veloped by, 223.
Caution, its appeal in advertising,
311-312.
Cautions in writing business letters,
235 ff.
Cede, ceed, sede, 34.
Certificate, the gold, 332; the silver,
332.
Certified check, the, 339-340.
Check, the, 338 ff.; personal, 339;
certified, 339-340.
Choosing subjects, suggestions for,
146 ff.
INDEX
371
Cion, sion, Hon, 34.
Cious, tious, ss-
Circular letters, 264 ff.
Class paper, suggestions for a, 156.
Classes of advertisements, 311.
Clause, the, defined, 42; principal,
42; subordinate, 42; incorrectly
used as a sentence, 45; introduc-
tory words for, 54; adjective, 54;
adverb, 54; noun, 54, modifiers,
54; introduced by than or as, 121;
initial, punctuation of, 176; re-
strictive and non-restrictive, 59-
60; punctuation of relative, 185
ff.; coming at the end of the sen-
tence, punctuation of, 188-189;
incomplete, 205-206; misplaced,
209 ff.
Clauses, punctuation of series of,
171 ff.
Clear title to property, explained,
322.
Clearing house, daily routine of,
350-351-
Clearness of the sentence, mistakes
that prevent: dangling expres-
sions, 205 ff.; pronouns with un-
certain antecedents, 207 ff.; mis-
placed modifiers, 209-210; omis-
sion of necessary words, 210-21 1;
shift of construction, 211 ff.
Close, courteous, of business letters,
232, 237.
Coherence between sentences, 127-
128; 224 ff.; between paragraphs,
224 ff.
Collateral, 335-336.
Collection letters, 253 ff.
Collective noun, defined, 57.
Colon, use of the, 194.
Colonization, 307.
Combination of short sentences to
secure unity, 202 ff.
Comfort, its appeal in advertising,
311-312.
Comma fault, the, 44 ff.
Comma, use of the, in direct quota-
tions, 163 ff.; in series, 171 ff.;
in compound sentences, 45, 173
ff.; to set off initial clauses or
participial phrases, 175 ff.; to
separate the month from the year,
etc., 178; to indicate the omission
of words, 178; to set off apposi-
tives, 179 ff.; to set off parentheti-
cal expressions, 180 ff.; to set off
independent elements, 182 ff.; to
set off non-restrictive clauses, 185
ff.; to set off modifiers coming at
the end of the sentence, 188 ff.
Command used in good headlines of
advertisements, 313.
Commercial department of a bank
333-
Commercial terms, abbreviations of,
27-28.
Commission, agent's, 323.
Common carriers, 284.
Common noun, defined, 57.
Common stock, 355.
Companies, kinds of, 273.
Company, the steamship, 284; the
railroad, 284 ff. (See Corporation^
353 ff.)
Comparative degree, of adjectives,
78; of adverbs, 79.
Comparison and contrast, paragraphs
developed by, 223.
Comparison, of adjectives, 78; of
adverbs, 79; negative, 125.
Complaint, letters answering, 257 ff.
Complement, subjective, 65
Complex sentence, defined, 42.
Composition, oral and written, 127 ff.
Compound nouns, plural of, 20.
Compound relatives, 59.
Compound sentence, defined, 42;
punctuation of, 45, 173 ff.
Con, prefix, 32.
Conciseness of expression, 199.
Condensation to secure clearness,
200
Conjugation, of write, active voice,
88 ff.; of be, 104 ff.; of follow,
passive voice, 105 ff.
Conjunction, and the preposition,
116 ff.
Cbnjunctions. Coordinate, 45; punc-
tuation with, 45, 173 ff.; distin-
guished from conjunctive adverbs,
45. Subordinate, list of, 54;
than and as, 121. Correlative,
122.
Conjunctive adverbs, 45; distin-
guished from coordinate conjunc-
tions, 45; punctuation with, 45.
372
INDEX
Connection, smooth, 127-128, 224
ff.; methods of securing, 224 ff.
Conservation, 191-192.
Consignee, 285.
Consonant, final, doubling of, 22;
silent, words containing, 11.
Construction, letters dealing with
contract for, 263; shift of, 211.
Contract, letters deaUng with, for
painting iron-work, 262; for the
delivery of property, 263; for
construction, 263.
Contraction, apostrophe used with,
160.
Coordinate conjunctions, 45; punc-
tuation with, 45, 173 ff.
Coordinate expressions, 122 ff.
Copulative verbs, defined, 83.
Corporate organization, 359.
Corporation, the, 353 ff.; finances of,
354; capital stock of, 354 ff.;
dividends of, 355; stockholders of,
355 ; bonds of, 357 ff.; organiza-
tion of, 359; directors of, 359;
railroad, 360-361; public utility,
361-362; industrial, 363; topics
for investigation and discussion
on, 365; dictation exercises . on,
365 ff.
Correlatives, defined, 122; correct
position of with coordinate expres-
sions, 122-123; either — or and
neither — nor, 123.
Cost of hving, paragraph on,
173.
Cotton seed, paragraph on, 176.
Cotton in the Soudan, paragraph,
181.
Could and might, 102.
Courteous close, in business letters,
232, 237.
Courtesy in business letters, 231, 240.
Credit, 333.
Credit letters, 250 ff.
Currency, bill, 333; legislation, 333,
349.
Current events, to suggest subjects
for talks, 155.
Dangling expressions, 205 ff.
Dash, use of, 195 ff.; too free use of
in business letters, 243, 247.
Dead letter sale, 190.
Debate, outline for a, 141 ff.; sub-
jects for, 139 ff-, 144; on manufac-
ture, suggestions for, 275; on
distribution, 290, 302.
Debating, 137 ff.; proposition for,
137; six rules for, 137 ff.; false
conclusions in, 138; irrelevant
matter in, 138.
Declarative sentence, defined, 41.
Declension of pronouns, personal,
58; relative, 59; interrogative, 60.
Deed, 322.
Degrees of comparison, 78-79.
Demonstrative pronouns, 60.
Departments, of banks, 333; of
railroads, 360.
Deposit, banks of, 334; slip, 334.
Details, explanatory, necessary to
secure interest, 147; paragraphs
developed by, 222.
Development of paragraphs, methods
of, 222-223.
dg, words containing, 25.
Diacritical marks, 8, lo.
Diaeresis, 9.
Dialogue, paragraphing in, 168 ff.
Dictation exercises, for series, 171;
for compound sentences, 173-174;
for initial clauses or participial
phrases, 176; for parenthetical
expressions, 180-181; for independ-
ent elements, 182-183; for non-
restrictive relative clauses, 186;
for the semicolon, 193-194; on
manufacture, 280-281; on distribu-
tion, 305 ff.; on real estate, 329
ff.; on banking, 350 ff.; on cor-
porations, 365 ff.
Direct discourse, 163 ff.; use of
comma in, 170.
Directors of corporations, 359.
Discount, 335.
Discourse, direct, 163 ff.; indirect,
166 ff.
Discussion and investigation topics,
on manufacture, 278-279; on dis-
tribution, 304; on real estate, 327;
on banking, 349-350; on the cor-
poration, 365.
Dishwasher, letters to sell a, 265 ff.
Distribution. Transportation an es-
sential element, 283 ff.; the steam-
ship company, 284; the railroad
INDEX
373
company, 284 £F.; the retail
merchant, 286 ff.; the whole-
sale merchant, 291 fif.; the mail
order merchant, 295 ff.; the sales-
man, 298 ff.; suggestions for de-
bates, 302; subjects for para-
graphs, 303 ff.; topics for investi-
gation and discussion, 304; bibli-
ography, 304 &.; dictation exer-
cises, 305 ff.
Dividends, 355.
Dividing a subject into its natural
divisions, 149 ff.
Dot, 9.
Double relative, 59.
Doubling final consonants, rule for, 22.
Draft, bank, 341 ff.; tiiie, 343-344;
sight, 344-345-
Dropping of final e, 22, 25.
Druggist, outline of advertising
letters sent by, 268-269.
Durability, its appeal in advertising,
311-312.
E, final, retained, 25.
Early monopoly, an, 365.
Economy, its appeal in advertising,
311-312.
Effect and affect, 102.
Efficiency, office, 217; stenographic,
217.
ei or ie, 24.
Either — or, 123.
Electric washing machine, outline of
letters to sell, 269.
Elements, independent, case of, 65;
punctuation of, 182.
Emphatic pronouns, 59.
Emulation, its appeal in advertising,
311-312.
ence and ance, 34.
Endings, peculiar adjective, 33;
peculiar noun and verb, 34.
Endorsing a check, methods of, 340.
English, oral, i, 127 ff.; written, i.
(See Punctuation, The Clear Sen-
tence, Business Letters.)
ent, ss.
Enthusiasm in business, 230.
eous, ss.
Essentials, of a sales letter, 230; in
manufacture, 272-273; of an ad-
vertisement, 3 10-31 1.
Every, number of, 86.
Examples and illustrations, para-
graphs developed by, 222.
Examples of advertisements, 318 ff.
Except, a preposition, 124; incor-
rectly used as a conjunction, 124.
Except and accept, 102.
Exclamation mark, use of, 162.
Exclamatory sentence, defined, 41.
Explanatory details, paragraphs de-
veloped by, 222.
Explanatory expressions, punctua-
tion of, 179 ff. Appositives, 179;
parenthetical expressions, 180; in-
dependent elements, 182; explana-
tory relative clauses, punctuation
of, 185; subordinate elements
coming at the end of the sentence,
188.
Exports in cattle, paragraph on, 76.
Express money order, 340-341.
Expression, conciseness of, 199;
variety of, in.
/ and fe, plurals of nouns ending in,
19.
False conclusions in debating, 137-
138.
Farm lands, 325 ff.; outline of letters
to sell, 267-268; letters pertaining
to, 325 ff.; topics for investigation
and discussion on, 327; dictation
exercises on, 329 ff.
Farm reform, 329.
Farming specials, 330.
Favor, your esteemed, and similar ex-
pressions, to avoid, 243.
Fee simple, 322. ,
Fewer and less, 80.
Figures, plural of, 20, 160.
Final consonant, rule for doubling,
22.
Final e, dropped, 22, 25; retained,
25-26.
Finance department of a railroad,
360-361.
Finances of a corporation, 354.
Fly, flow, flee, loi.
Folding a letter, directions for, 238.
Follow, conjugation of in the passive
voice, 105 ff.; synopsis of, passive,
106.
Following, the, punctuation after, 195.
374
INDEX
Follow-up letter, the, 264 S.
For, as preposition and conjunction,
55.
Foreclosing a mortgage, 322.
Foreign plurals, 21.
Foreign news, to suggest subjects for
talks, 155.
For example, punctuation with, 195.
For instance, punctuation with, 195.
Form letter, the, 264.
Form of the business letter, 231.
Formation, of participles, 21 fif.; of
possessive case, 67; of infinitives,
no.
Freight bill, 286.
Freight, receipt for, 285.
Furniture, outline of letters 'to sell,
269.
Future tense, 88 ff.; progressive, 89;
perfect, 90.
G, pronunciation of, 24.
Gas mantles, paragraph on, 280-281.
Gold certificates, 332.
Good and bad headlines in advertise-
ments, 313-314.
Government's Laundry, the, 173-174.
Greek roots, 30.
Had ought, 103.
"Hammock" paragraph, 216.
Have and of, 119.
Heading of the business letter, 232,
235-
Headhnes of advertisements, good
and bad, 313-314.
Health, its appeal in advertising,
311-312.
Herculean, 5.
Homonyms, 14-15.
How to advance, paragraph on, 177.
Hoping and similar expressions, to
avoid, 242-243.
Hyphen, use of, 196.
Ible, 33.
Ideas, mistaken, in letter writing,
241 ff.
ie or ei, 24.
Illustrations and examples, para-
graphs developed by, 222.
Imperative sentence, defined, 41.
In, prefix, 33.
Income of railroads, 360.
Incorrectly used, nouns and pro-
nouns, 73-74; adjectives and ad-
verbs, 81-82; verbs, 114-115;
prepositions, 11 8-1 19.
Indefinite it or they, 207 ff.
Indefinite pronouns, 61; used as
adjectives, 61.
Independent elements, case of, 65;
punctuation of, 182.
Indicative mode, defined, 112; oi be,
112.
Indirect discourse, 166 ff.
Indirect object, 66.
Industrial corporations, 363.
Industry, 273P.
Infinitive, defined, 109; tenses and
voices of, no; split, 77, 209.
Initial clause or participial phrase,
punctuation of, 176.
Insurance, 327 ff.; letters pertaining
to, 328 ff.
Insurance and real estate, 321 ff.
Interesting words, i ff.
Interjection, 49; 0, 161.
Interrogation mark, use of, 162;
position of with quotation marks,
163 ff.
Interrogative pronouns, declined, 60.
Interrogative sentence, 41.
Intransitive verb, 83.
Introduction of the letter, 232, 235-
236.
Investigation and discussion, topics
for, on manufacture, 278-279; on
distribution, 304; on real estate,
327; on banking, 349-350; on the
corporation, 365.
Investments, mining, 365-366.
Investors, 184, 185.
ious, 33.
Irregular plurals of nouns, 19.
Irregular verbs, principal parts of, 95
ff.
ise, ize, yze, 34.
// used indefinitely, 207 ff.
Italic, derivation of, 3.
Itahan a, 9.
Its and it's, 160 ff.
k, insertion of, 25.
Kindly, abuse of, 243.
INDEX
375
Labor, 274.
Local news, to suggest subjects for
talks, 155.
Land business, the, 325 ff.
Latin-American trade, the, 306.
Latin prefixes and suffixes, 31.
Lay and lie, loo-ioi.
Learn and teach, loi.
Lease, 321.
Least, used in the superlative degree,
78.
Legal department of a railroad, 360-
361.
Length of good headlines in advertise-
ments, 313.
Less and fewer, 80.
Letter beginnings, 240, 247, 248-249.
Letter, to investors, 47; to accom-
pany a style book, 172; to sell a
trip on the water, 183-184; to sell
a house coat, 221-222; ordering
goods, 239; from A. Lincoln to Mrs.
Bixby, 240-241; to accompany a
catalogue, 245 ff.; to sell cheese,
246; to sell hinged paper, 247-248;
to open an account, 250-251;
credit, 251-252; requesting pay-
ment, 254 ff.; answering a com-
plaint, 257-258; of appUcation,
260-261; follow-up, 265 ff.; from
a bank, soliciting a trust (to be
punctuated), 348-349; market,
366.
Letters, plurals of, 20.
Letters, business, in the manufac-
turing business, 276 ff.; in the
retail business, 287 ff.; in the
wholesale business, 292 ff.; in
the mail order business, 295 ff.; to
help the salesman, 301; pertaining
to banking, 345 ff. (See Business
letters, Letter.)
Lie diVid lay, lOO-ioi.
Like, followed by the objective case,
124.
Loose and lose, 103.
Lose and loose, 103.
Luck and labor, paragraph on,
174.
Macron, the, 9.
Magazine advertising, 311 ff.
Mail order business, the, 295 ff.
Manufacture, 270 ff.; essentials in,
272-273; subjects for themes on,
27s; suggestions for debates on,
275; letters in, 276 ff.; topics for
investigation and discussions on,
278 ff.; bibliography for, 280;
dictation exercises in, 280 ff.
Market letter, 366.
Market value, 355 ff.
Marks, diacritical, 7; question, 162;
quotation, 163 ff.
Materials, raw, 274.
Maturity of bonds, 358, 364.
May and can, 102.
Merchant, the retail, 286 ff.; the
wholesale, 291 ff.; the mail order,
295 ff.
Methods of endorsing a check, 340.
Might and could, 102.
Mining investment, principles of,
365.
Misplaced modifiers, 209-210.
Mispronounced, words commonly,
13, 17.
Mistaken ideas in letter writing,
241 ff.
Mode, defined, 112; indicative and
subjunctive of 6e, 112; subjunctive
denoting possibihty, 113.
Model letters. (See Letter.)
Modern business done by letter,
229 ff.
Modifiers, adjective and adverb,
word, 49; phrase, 52 ff.; clause,
54~55; used to secure unity, 202;
misplaced, 209-210.
Money, 332; kinds of paper, 332
ff.; its appeal in advertising, 311-
312.
Money order, express, 340r34i;
postal, 341.
Monosyllables ending in silent e,
9.
Month from year, comma used to
separate, 178.
More or less, used in the comparative
degree, 78.
Mortgage, 322, 357 ff.; foreclosing
a, 322.
Most or least, used in the superlative
degree, 78.
Motives to which advertisements
appeal, 311.
376
INDEX
Namely, punctuation with, 195.
Names, suggestive, in advertising,
313-
National bank notes, 333.
National news, to suggest subjects
for talks, 155.
Necessary words, omission of, 210-
211.
Need, its appeal in advertising, 311-
312.
Negative comparison, 125.
Negative, outline for a debate on
advertising, 143 ff.
Neither — nor, 123.
News, to suggest topics for talks, 155.
Nominative absolute, 65.
Nominative case, 64 fif.; as subject,
64; as subjective complement
(predicate nominative), 65; as
appositive, 65; independent, 65;
absolute, 65.
Nor, 123.
Notes, 359; promissory, 336.
Noun, defined, 49; clause, 54; and
the pronoun, 57 ff.; common, 57;
proper, 57; collective, 57; ab-
stract, 57; verbal, 57; modified
by every and similar words, 86;
collective, number of, 86.
Nouns, rules for plurals of, regular,
18; ending in y, 19; ending in 0,
19; ending in / and /e, 19; irregu-
lar, 19-20; compound, 20; foreign,
21; possessive case of, 67; incor-
rectly used, 73-74; joined by or,
86; punctuation of series of, 171 ff.
Number of verb, 86.
0, capitalization of, 161.
0, plural of nouns ending in, 19.
Object, of a preposition, 55, 66; of a
transitive verb, 66; indirect, 66;
second, 66.
Objective case, 64, 66; as direct
object of a transitive verb, 66; as
object of a preposition, 66, 119;
as indirect object, 66; as second
object, 66; as appositive, 66; as
adverbial modifier, 66; following
like, 124.
Observation, subjects taken from,
146 ff.
Obsolete words, 3.
Of and have, 119.
Of phrase substituted for the possess-
ive case, 67.
Oh, 161.
Omission, of letters, 1 60; of necessary
words, 210 ff.; of subject in busi-
ness letters, 242.
Opening an account, letters for,
240 ff.
Operating department of a railroad,
360.
Oral English, exercises in, 127 ff.
Oral expression, 127 ff.; variety of,
III.
Oral reproduction, from magazines,
147; from newspapers, 154 ff.
Oral exercises, in general, 127 ff.; on
manufacture, 273 ff.; in the retail
trade, 286; in the wholesale trade,
290 ff.; in the mail order business,
295; in connection with the sales-
man, 299 ff.
Order bill of lading, 285.
Ordering goods, letter for, 239.
Order, express money, 340-341;
postal money, 341.
Organization, corporate, 359; of a
railroad, 360.
OutHne, for a debate, 141 ff.; h(^w
to make an, 151 ff.
Paper money, kinds of, 332 ff.
Paragraph, the, 215 ff.; in dialogue,
168 ff.; proper length of, 215-216;
topic sentence in, 216 ff.; "ham-
mock," 216; how developed, 222-
223.
Paragraphs on, Sacramento City, 48;
exports in cattle, 76; cost of living,
173; the government's laundry,
173-174; luck and labor, 174;
sawdust, 174-175; a new kind of
wood, 175; hogs as mortgage
lifters, 175; cotton seed, 176;
making paper, 176-177; how to
advance, 177; bubonic plague,
177; pohtics of a city, 181; cotton
in the Soudan, 181; the ''yellow"
invasion, 182; saving, 182, 184,
193; investors, 184, 185; Chicago's
milk supply, 186; the dead letter
sale, 190; industries, controlled,
193; the secret blotter, 197; a
INDEX
377
mummy's doll, 198; office effi-
ciency, 217; stenographic effi-
ciency, 217; business courtesy,
218; the rural landscape of
Norway, 218; the Spectator, 218-
219; income, 225; gas mantles,
280-281; production of wool, 281;
casting metals, 281; transporta-
tion, 305; the Latin- American
trade, 306; the parcel post in
Africa, 306; the remedy for wrecks,
306-307; colonization, 307; farm
reform, 329; farming specials, 330;
selection of seed, 330-331; the
clearing house, 350-351; washed
money, 351-352; an early monop-
oly* Z^S) mining investments,
365-366.
Paragraphs, subjects for. See Sub-
jects.
Parenthesis marks, use of, 196;
wrongly used to cancel expressions,
196.
Parenthetical expressions, punctua-
tion of, 180 fif.
Participle, defined, 109; tenses and
voices of, 109; the dangling, 205-
206.
Participles, formation of, 21; of
verbs in y, 23.
Participial phrases, punctuation of,
176 £f.; 188 ff.
Parts of speech: The noun and the
pronoun, 49, 57 ff.; the adjective
and the adverb, 49, 75, ff.; the
verb, 49, 83 ff.; the preposition
and the conjunction, 49, 116 ff.;
the interjection, 49.
Parts, principal, of irregular verbs,
95 ff.
Par value, 355.
Passive voice, defined, 84; conjuga-
tion of follow, in the, 105 ff.;
synopsis ol follow in the, 106.
Past tense, 88; progressive form of,
89; emphatic form of, 89; perfect,
90.
Payment, letters requesting, 253 ff.
Perfect tenses, 89 ff.
Period, use of, 162.
Personal pronouns declined, 58.
Personality essential in a salesman.
Persons of the pronouns, 58.
Phrase modifiers, 52 ff.
Phrases, prepositional, 52 ff.; ad-
verbial, 52-53; adjective, 52-53;
classification of, no; punctuation
of series of, 171 ff.; initial particip-
ial, punctuation of, 176; incor-
rectly used as a sentence, 45, 242.
Plurals, of nouns, 18 ff.; of letters
and figures, 20, 160; of foreign
nouns, 21.
Positive degree, 78, 79.
Possessive case, 64, 67; rules for
forming, 67; separate possession,
in the, 67; with verbal nouns, 67
ff.; of phrase substituted for, 67;
use of the apostrophe in the, 159.
PossibiHty, use of the subjunctive
. mode to show, 113 ff.
Postal money order, 341.
Predicate, of the sentence, 41; nomi-
native, 65.
Preferred stock, 355.
Prefix, usually constituting a syllable,
16; Anglo-Saxon, 29; Latin, 31;
ad, con, and in, 32-33.
Present tense, 88; progressive, 88;
emphatic, 88; perfect, 89.
Preposition, defined, 49; phrase in-
troduced by, 52; followed by the
objective case, 66, 119; and the
conjunction, 116 ff.; the wrong,
119; necessary, 119.
Prepositional phrases, 52-53.
Prepositions, and adverbs confused,
52; list of, 53; used with certain
verbs, 11 6-1 17; incorrectly used,
118-119.
Pride, its appeal in advertising, 311-
312.
Principal clauses, 42.
Principal parts of irregular verbs,
95 ff.
Progressive tenses, 88 ff.; 105.
Promissory note, 335.
Pronominal adjectives, 60.
Pronoun, defined, 49; and the noun,
57 ff.; incorrect use of same as a
pronoun, 72-73.
Pronouns, 58 ff.; personal, declined,
58; emphatic, 59; reflexive, 59;
list of relative, 54; declension of
relative, 59; compound relative,
378
INDEX
59; double relative, 59; restrictive
relative, 59 ff.; interrogative de-
clined, 60; demonstrative, 60;
indefinite, 61; adjective, 61; pos-
sessive in form, not in use, 59
(note); incorrectly used, 73 ff.;
joined by or, 86.
Pronunciation, 7 ff.; slurring sylla-
bles in, 7; of c and g, 24.
Proper noun, defined, 57; capitaliza-
tion of, 57, 161.
Proposition for debate, 137.
Public utility corporations, 361 ff.
Punctuation, 158 ff.; apostrophe,
159 ff.; capitals, 160 ff.; period,
162; interrogation mark, 162; ex-
clamation mark, 162; quotation
marks, 163 ff.; comma, 170 ff.;
semicolon, 192 ff.; colon, 194 ff.;
dash, 195 ff.; parenthesis marks,
196; hyphen, 196 ff.; of series,
170 ff.; of compound sentences, 45,
173 ff.; of initial clause or parti-
cipial phrase, 175 ff.; of explana-
tory expressions, 179 ff.; after as
follows, etc., 195; after namely,
etc., 195.
QuaHty, its appeal in advertising,
311-312.
Questions for discussion on, manufac-
ture, 273-274; the retail merchant,
286-287; the wholesale merchant,
291-292; the mail order merchant,
295; advertising, 309-310; real
estate, 323; the corporation, 363-
364.
Quitclaim deed, 322.
Quotation marks, use of, 163 ff.
Quotations, use of comma in, 170 ff.
Railroad, the, 360; sources of income
of, 360; organization of, 360;
departments of, 360 ff.
Railroad company, the, 284, 360.
Raise and rise, loi.
Raw materials, 274.
Reading, subjects taken from, 147 ff.
Real and very, 81.
Real estate and insurance, 321.
Real estate business, 321 ff. Rent,
321; lease, 321; warranty deed,
322; quitclaim deed, 322; clear
title, 322; fee simple, 322; mort-
gage, 322; foreclosing a mortgage,
322; agent and commission, 323;
letters in, 324 ff.; topics for in-
vestigation and discussion, 327.
Receipt for freight, 285.
Redemption of bonds, 358.
Reflexive pronouns, 59.
Reform, farm, 329.
Relative pronouns, list of, 54, 59;
dechned, 59; double, 59; restric-
tive, 59 ff.; compound, 59.
Relative value of different forms of
advertising, 310.
Remedy for wrecks, 306-307.
Remittance, forms of, 338 ff. Check,
339; certified check, 339 ff.; en-
dorsement, methods of, 340; ex-
press money order, 340; postal
money order, 341; bank draft, 341
ff.; time draft, 343 ff.; sight draft,
344 ff-
Rent, 321.
Reproduction, oral, from magazines,
147 ff.; from newspapers, 154 ff.
Requesting payment, letters, 253 ff.
Restricting the subject, 150.
Restrictive relative pronouns, 59 ff.
Retail merchant, the, 286 ff.
Richards' baby stocking fund, 337.
Rise and raise, loi.
Roots, Greek, 30.
Rules. For spelling: regular plurals
in s and es, 18; changing final y to
i, 19; nouns in 0, 19; nouns in /
and fe, 19; plural by change of
vowel, 19; by adding en, 19; no
change for the plural, 20; two
plurals, 20; compound nouns, 20;
plurals of letters and figures, 20;
foreign plurals, 21; doubling final
consonant, 21-22; retaining y
before ing, 23; ie or ei, 24; soft
c and g, 24; dropping final silent
e, 25; retaining final e, 25-26.
For punctuation: the apostrophe,
to show the possessive case of
nouns, 159; to show omission
of letters, 160; to show plurals of
letters, figures, and words not
regularly nouns, 160; capitals,
160 ff.; the period, 162; the in-
terrogation mark, 162; the ex-
INDEX
379
clamation mark, 162; quotation
marks, 163 fif.; comma in direct
quotations, 170; comma in series,
171 ff.; comma in compound
sentence, 173 ff.; comma after
initial clause or participial phrase,
175 fif.; comma to separate month
from year, etc., 178; comma to
show omission of words, 178;
comma to set off appositive, 179
ff.; comma to set off parenthetical
expressions, 180 ff.; comma to set
off independent elements, 182 ff.;
comma to set off non-restrictive
relative clause, 185 ff.; comma to
set off subordinate element at the
end of the sentence, 188 ff.; the
semicolon, 192 ff.; the colon, 194
ff.; the dash, 195 ff.; parenthesis
marks, 196; the hyphen, 196.
S I, comma fault, 44.
S 2, use of phrase or clause as sen-
tence, 45.
Sacramento City, paragraph on, 48.
Salary, 3.
Sales letter, the, 244 ff.
Salesman, the, 298 ff.; letters to help
the, 301-302.
Salutation, the, of business letters,
232, 236-237.
Same, not a pronoun, 72-73; dis-
tinctly business blunder, 243.
Saving, paragraphs on, 182, 184, 193.
Savings banks, 334, 336; postal, 337.
Savings department of bank, '332.
Saw and seen, 99-100.
Sawdust, paragraph on, 174.
Second object, 66.
Secret blotter, the, 197.
Sede, cede, ceed, 34.
Selection of seed, 330-331.
Semi-colon, uses of, 45, 174, 192 ff.
Sentence, the, and its elements, 41
ff.; subject of, 41; simple, 42;
complex, 42; compound, 42; com-
pound, punctuation of, 45, 174;
predicate of, 41; declarative, de-
fined, 41; interrogative, defined,
41; imperative, defined, 41; ex-
clamatory, defined, 41; simple,
defined, 42; compound, defined,
42; complex, defined, 42; errors, 44.
Separation, the keynote of punctua-
tion, 159.
Series, punctuation of, 171 ff.
Set, and sit, 10 1.
Shall and will, 89, 92.
Shareholders, 355.
Shares, of capital stock, 355.
Shift in construction, 211 ff.
Short sentences, combination of,
202 ff.
Should and would, 93-94.
Sight draft, 344-345.
Signature, the, in business letters,
232, 237-238.
Silent consonant, words containing,
II.
Silent vowels, 11.
Silver certificates, 332.
Simple sentence, defined, 42.
Since, as preposition and conjunc-
tion, 55.
sion, tion, cion, 34.
Sit and set, 10 1.
Slang, 129.
Slurring of syllables, 7.
Smooth connection, 127-128, 224;
methods of securing, 224.
Snappy style, in letter writing, 246.
So — as, in negative comparisons,
125.^
So habit, to avoid the, iii, 128.
Soudan, cotton in the, 181.
South Africa, parcel post in, 306.
Specials, railroad farming, 330.
Spectator, The, paragraph from Ma-
caulay, 218-219.
Speech, parts of, 48 ff.
Speech, plan in making, 131 ff.;
outline for, 151 ff.
Spelling, rules, 18 ff.; 500 words for,
36 ff.
Split infinitive, 77, 209.
States, abbreviation of names of,
26-27.
Steamship company, the, 284.
Steel, trouble in introducing, 191.
Stenographic efficiency, 217.
Still-life advertisements, 314.
Stock, capital, common and pre-
ferred, 353, 355; authorized capi-
tal, 355.
Stockholders, 355.
Stocks, of a corporation, 354 ff.
38o
INDEX
Straight bill of lading, 285.
Style, in letter writing, 244 ff.
Subject, as a whole, 148; divisions of,
149 ff.; making outline of, 151 &.;
restricting the, 150, 153; of the
sentence, 41, 65; simple, 55; com-
plete, 55; of subordinate clause,
55; compound, number of, 86;
incorrect omission of, in business
letters, 242.
Subjective complement, 65.
Subjects, how to choose, 146 ff.; for
debates, 141, 144, 275, 290, 302; for
compositions on manufacture, 274,
275, 278-279; on distribution, 299,
301, 303, 304; on advertising, 317,
318; suggested by personal ex-
perience, 147; suggested by read-
ing, 147, 154-
Subjunctive mode, defined, 112; of
be, 112; used to denote possibility,
113.
Subordinate clauses, adjective, ad-
verb, noun, 54; subject of, 55.
Subordinate conjunctions, list of,
54-
Subordination, in the sentence, 201
ff.
Subscription, outline of letters to
sell, 268.
Success, elements of, 135.
Successful men and women, 136.
Sufl&x, usually constituting a sylla-
ble, 16; Anglo-Saxon, 29; adjec-
tive, 30; verb, 31; noun, 31; able
and ible, 33; ant and ent, 33.
Suggestions for debates, 139 ff., 144;
on manufacture, 275; on distribu-
tion, 290, 302.
Suggestive names in advertisements,
313; headlines, 313-314-
Superlative degree, of adjectives, 78;
of adverbs, 79.
Superlatives, to be avoided, 129.
Syllabication, 15.
Syllables, slurred, 7; division of
words into, 15 ff.
Synopsis of write, active voice, 91.
Teach and learn, loi.
Technical words, 4.
Tense, defined, 88; of participle, 109;
of infinitive, no.
Tenses, distinguished, 88 ff. (See
Present tense, Past tense. Perfect
tenses.)
Than and as, case following, 121,
That, restrictive relative, 59 ff.
That is, punctuation with, 195.
The following, punctuation with, 195.
Themes, oral, 127 ff. (See Oral
themes.)
There, their, 126.
Thinking, business, 2.
Thus, punctuatioi; with, 195.
Tilde, 9.
Time draft, 343-344.
Tion, sion, cion, 34.
Tious, troublesome ending, 33.
Title, clear, to property, 322.
Titles, 150; of ofl5cials and of honor,
161; of books and plays, 162.
To, too, two, distinguished, 125-126.
Tone, of the letter, 240.
Topic sentence, in the paragraph,
216 ff.
Topics for investigation and discus-
sion, on manufacture, 278-279;
on distribution, 304; on real
estate, 327; on banking, 349-350;
on the corporation, 365.
Trade, Latin-American, 306.
Traffic department of railroad, 359.
Transitive verb, followed by objec-
tive case, 66; defined, 83.
Transportation, 283.
Troublesome verbs, 100 ff.; lie and
lay, 100 ff.; sit, set, loi; fly, flow,
flee, loi; rise, raise, loi; tecu:h,
learn, loi; may, can, 102; might,
could, 102; accept, except, 102;
afect, efect, 102 ff.; lose, looser
103.
Trust companies, 334, 337.
Trust department of a bank, 332.
Uncertain antecedents, pronouns
with, 207 ff.
United States treasury notes, 333.
Unity, in the sentence, 199; in the
paragraph, 216.
Unless, a conjunction, 124.
Until, as preposition and conjunction,
55-
Usefulness, its appeal in advertising,
311.
INDEX
381
Utility corporations, public, 36 £F.
Value, par of stock, 355 ff.; market,
355 ff.
Vanity, its appeal in advertising,
311.
Variety of expression, in.
Verb, the, 83 £f.; defined, 49; transi-
tive, 66, 83; intransitive, 83;
copulative, 83; active voice of,
84; passive voice of, 84; number
of, 85; person of, 85; singular
with certain words, 85 ff.; plural
with certain subjects, 86; tense of,
88 ff.; shall and will, 92; should
and would, 93; conjugation of
be, 104 ff.; be used to make pro-
gressive tenses, 105; be used to
make passive voice, 105 ff.; the
participle, 109; the infinitive, no;
mode, 112 ff.; conjugation of
write, active voice, 88 ff.; oi follow,
passive voice, 105 ff.; synopsis of
write, active voice, 91; synopsis of
follow, passive voice, 106.
Verbal noun, defined, 57; possessive
case with, 67 ff.
Verbs, incorrectly used, 114; parti-
ciples of verbs in y, 23; taking two
objects, 66; taking indirect and
direct objects, 66; principal parts
of irregular, 95 ff.; troublesome,
100 ff.; lie, lay, distinguished, 100;
sit and set, distinguished, loi; fly,
flow, flee, distinguished, loi; rise
and raise, distinguishied, loi;
teach and learn, distinguished, 10 1;
may and can, distinguished, 102;
might and could, distinguished, 102;
accept and except, distinguished,
102; ajffect and efect, distinguished,
102; lose and loose, distinguished,
103; had ought, incorrectly used,
103; certain prepositions used with,
116 ff.
Very and real, distinguished, 81
Voice, active and passive, defined,
84; of the participle, 109; of the
infinitive, no.
Vowels, pronunciation of, 9; length
of, in monosyllables ending in e,
9; words containing silent, n.
Warranty deed, 322.
Washed money, 351-352.
Washing machine, letters to sell,
outline, 269.
Watered stock, 357.
Way-bill, railroad, 286.
Were, where, distinguished, 126.
What, double relative, 59.
Who, and which, used restrictively,
60.
Who and whom, 70 ff.
Whoever and whomever, 71.
Wholesale merchant, the, 291 ff.
Why, childish use of, 128.
Will and shall, 89, 92 ff.
Will you be so good as to, 243.
Wish, subjunctive to express, 113.
Without, a preposition, 124; incor-
rectly used as conjunction, 124.
Word analysis, 29 ff.
Words, interesting, i ff.; obsolete, 3;
technical, 4; similarly pronounced
14, 15; frequently mispronounced,
13, 17; containing dg, 25; ending
in silent e, retain or drop e, 25;
analysis of, 32; easily confused,
list of, 35 ff.; 500 for spelling, 36
ff.; used as different parts of
speech, 51; omission of, punctua-
tion to show, 178.
Wordiness, 130 ff, 200-201.
Would and should, 93 ff.
Would say, to be avoided, 243.
Write, conjugation of, active voice,
88 ff.; synopsis of, passive voice,
91.
Writing advertisements, exercises in,
315-316.
Written composition, i, 127 ff.
Written expression, i, 127 ff.
Y, nouns ending in, plural of, 19.
''Yellow" invasion, paragraph on
the, 182.
You attitude, the, in letter writing,
244.
Yze. ize, ise, 34.
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