th more wit,
however, than good taste), "Yes, we do have correspondents here--but
they are all in the divorce courts."

CORRESPONDENCE FOR YOUNG LADIES

There are certain rules in regard to correct letter-writing which must
be followed by all who would "take their pen in hand." Young people are
the most apt to offend in this respect against the accepted canons of
good taste and it is to these that I would first address the contents of
this chapter. A young girl often lets her high spirits run away with
her amour propre, with the result that her letters, especially those
addressed to strangers, are often lacking in that dignity which is the
sine qua non of correct correspondence.

Consider, for example, the following two letters composed by Miss
Florence ......, a debutante of New York City, who is writing to a
taxidermist thanking him for his neat work in having recently stuffed
her deceased pet Alice. The first of these letters illustrates the evil
to which I have just referred, viz., the complete absence of proper
dignity. The second, written with the aid of her mama, whose experience
in social affairs has been considerable, shows the correct method of
corresponding with comparative strangers.

An Incorrect Letter from a Debutante to a Taxidermist Thanking Him for
Having Stuffed Her Pet Alice

DEAR MR. Epps:

Aren't you an old PEACH to have gone and stuffed Alice so
prettily! Really, Mr. Epps, I never saw such a knockout piece of
taxidermy, even in Europe, and I simply adore it. Mother gave a
dinner party last night and EVERYBODY was just wild about it and
wanted to know who had done it. How on EARTH did you manage to
get the wings to stay like that? And the eyes are just too
priceless for words. Honestly, every time I look at it, it's so
DARNED natural that I can't believe Alice is really dead. I guess
you must be pretty dog-goned crazy about birds yourself to have
done such a lovely job on Alice, and I guess you know how
perfectly sick I was over her death. Honestly, Mr. Epps, she was
such a PEACH of an owl. But I suppose it had to be, and anyway,
thanks just heaps for having done such a really perfectly
gorgeous bit of taxidermy.
Gratefully,
FLORENCE CHASE.
593 Fifth Avenue,
New York City.

The above is, you observe, quite lacking in that reserve with which
young ladies should always treat strange gentlemen and especially tho