coach, among whom were a foreign minister, two senators, and a member of the Cabinet; but the President quieted them, saying, "The man is perfectly right," and then to the policeman, "Get up here, and we'll drive to the station house."

The policeman clambered up and seated himself comfortably in the seat behind the President. Possibly he dreamed of praises from his chief for the object lesson he was administering to the "swells." If so, his dream was rudely broken in upon. A quiet voice asked in his ear, "Do you know whom you have arrested?"

"No, and don't care."

"Oh, all right," rejoined the soft voice. "I only thought you ought to know that it's the President."

"Wha-a-t!" gasped the agonized policeman as he leaned forward and took a look at the calm profile. There was no doubt and he begged them to let him go, but the President would have none of it.

When the station was reached, the captain turned white. Apologies were made, but the President insisted upon paying the proper fine.

Tell the story.

Why did the President insist on paying this fine? Was he right? Did the policeman do right?

(2)

Write the story from memory, being careful to use quotation marks correctly.

Find in the dictionary the meanings of the following words and be sure to use them in telling and writing

(3)

Find in a newspaper an item that you think interesting and that you think well written. Tell why you think it good.

Select some incident of the day and write a newspaper report of it. Try to say all that you want to say without using more words than necessary; yet make it interesting.

Every word should be used for a purpose.

XXII

TOPICS SUGGESTED FOR MAKING OUTLINES AND WRITING

The Story of Ponce de Leon.

The Story of Tecumseh.

Marion's Men.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition.

The Discovery of Gold in California.

XXIII

ABBREVIATIONS AND CONTRACTIONS

(1)

What is an abbreviation?

What mark is placed after it?

Find and write the abbreviations for all the states of the Union; for the days of the week and for the months. Write ten other abbreviations.

What is a contraction?

How is it written?

(2)

Write out all the familiar contractions that you can recall.

Should contractions be used commonly in writing? What is the difference between a contraction and an abbreviation?

Name a contraction that should never be used.

I have read your poems over and over and over again, and continue to read them at all my leisure hours; and they grow upon me at every re-perusal.

Your friend,

NATH. HAWTHORNE.

CONCORD, October 10, 1809.

MY DEAR LONGFELLOW:

First, I rejoice that you are safe at home, and as all mankind knows, full of happy experiences. . . . Next, I have to thank you for your punctual remembrance of Admiral Brown's commission.

With all kind regards,

MY VERY DEAR FRIEND:

R. W. EMERSON.

HARVARD COLLEGE,

July 8, 1875.

I have read your poem (Morituri Salutamus) twice this

morning, once aloud to my wife and sister. true, it is touching, it is beautiful.

It is new,

Your sincere friend and admirer,

it is

H. W. Longfellow.

BENJAMIN PIERCE.

Observe the different forms of heading, address, and closing used in these letters.

In

All of these forms are correct. Observe that in some the date is omitted. It is quite proper, in friendly letters, to place the date at the end of the letter. friendly letters, too, the day of the week is not infrequently included in the heading.

In writing letters to friends or in your language work, use various forms.

Sir: Dear Sir, My dear Sir, Dear Madam, My dear Madam, Dear Father, My dear Sister, My dearest Mother, Dear Friend, My dear Cousin, Dear John, My dear Longfellow, Good, kind Poet, Dear Doctor, My dear Teacher,

Dear Mr. Superintendent, Dear Mr. Clemens, Dear President Eliot.

These forms are all correct forms. In writing choose the one most appropriate.

After the salutation, any one of four forms of punctuation is correct, as in the following:- (1) Dear Sir, (2) Dear Sir,- (3) Dear Sir: (4) Dear Sir:

Copy:

(4)

Complimentary Closing Phrases

Yours truly, Yours sincerely, Yours respectfully, Yours very truly, Yours affectionately, Yours faithfully, Your friend, Your affectionate son, Yours with esteem, Yours with great respect, Your obedient servant.

The envelope should be plainly addressed, giving all the information needed to insure prompt delivery. In addition to the address of the person to whom the letter is to be sent, it is proper to place the name and the address, or merely the address, of the sender in the upper left-hand corner. This is usually printed on envelopes intended for business letters. Sometimes also further instruction is placed at the lower left-hand corner, as: "Please forward," or "Hold till called for," or "R.F.D.," meaning "Rural Free Delivery."

On envelopes to be sent to cities and towns having numbered houses and streets with names or numbers, the house and street should be designated. On those