The letters, given on pages 144 to 159 in this portion of the book, numbering 36 in all, two each day for 18 days, have been graded, the smallest ones first, for the purpose of enabling students to learn the forms in each one, before the next is attempted, the letters increasing in size with each day, because many words and phrases in preceding ones will be found to be duplicated, in addition to the introduction of new words and forms, so that the last day's letters, which occupy a whole page, are almost as easy to the student when that stage of progress has been reached, as the first two small letters were to the one who had just finished the lessons.

These letters are selected from a large number of different businesses, representing nearly all the lines of trade in which a stenographer would be most likely to be employed, the entire set containing practically all the commercial phrases used in any business, together with their best shorthand forms, including those of each day of the week except Sunday, as well as the names of the months and all sorts of dates, all personal initials, the name of nearly every state and important city in the Union, every style of names of firms, and street or post office addresses, home or foreign. This list of mock letters, therefore, gives students more information in regard to correct shorthand outlines than the mere title or their appearance suggests, and, on this account, indispensable to the would-be amanuensis.

It is not necessary for the first two letters to be commenced on Monday, although that is the day named above the first set, on page 144, nor is it necessary that any of those days be set apart for those certain occasions, the letters being commenced as soon as the student is through the lessons of the theory, and has thoroughly reviewed them; the words Monday, Tuesday, etc., like the different months and other particulars of names and dates, being used herein merely to give the shorthand student practice on those words.

The best plan upon which to get the most good in the shortest time from these business letters, is for students to have some one dictate to them only two letters at a time, the student at once comparing his or her shorthand writing with the printed shorthand, noting every deviation therefrom, respecting shading, slant or curvature of characters, size, position, phrasing, etc., and practicing at least twelve times the proper form for each deviation. After this has been done with all the characters of one day's letters, the two letters of the next should be similarly taken from dictation, compared and practiced, and so on throughout the entire course.

Two letters a day are sufficient, with other practice, and they should not be studied beforehand by the student, as it is advisable to ascertain the weak points of the student's writing, which are best discovered by the mistakes made in writing from their own unaided knowledge. If they do not know how to write a word correctly by principle, they can spell it with the letters of the shorthand alphabet, which is a much better way to do than to study the business letters beforehand, for, if they do the latter, they will be writing from memory of sight, which is not the proper way to learn and will not designate a student's weak points.

As soon as any day's letters have been written from dictation, as well as the student can do it without much hesitation, then the student should compare his or her shorthand notes on plan above stated, practicing strictly as directed.

When the entire set is finished, continual review should be practiced upon them until they all can be written without a mistake or different junctures, unless it be some minor point of phrasing. It is just as important to thus continually review these business letters as it is the lessons of the theory, but the review need not interfere with your progress. Continue with the Actual Court Cases as soon as through the last day's letters herein, and review the letters between times, but be sure to so review them.

The student will note that at the end of every day of these letter exercises there is drawn a double line. This is done the next morning when commencing a new day's work, to show that the letters coming after it belong to another day, which is additionally shown by a date separated from the letters below it by a single line, just as each letter is separated from others by a single line.

In these lettters we have given the names of the persons to whom they are addressed, as well as the town, state, etc., all written in shorthand, because we desire the student to have practice in all kinds of but-lines.but this is not always done in business houses, as in some of them the stenographer is supposed to know the customers' names and the names of most of the correspondents of the firm. The employer generally prefaces a dictation by saying: "Take a letter to Mr. Smith, St. Louis," in which case the stenographer simply writes, "Smith, St. Louis, " in-his notebook beginning his letter. Sometimes, even the address is not given by an employer, as some of the letters are to firms well known, and the employer may simply say: "Take a letter to Fuller & Fuller," in which case just those names are written by the stenographer in the note-book preceding the dictation; and, if he or she remembers the address in full from previous knowledge, it is afterwards written out in full on the letter without further looking up, but, if the address is not known or remembered, the stenographer consults possibly the books of the firm, or, later on, if he is wise, he makes himself a little book which contains the names and addresses of correspondents, as they were given him.

Often, however, no names whatever are given, but the letters which the firm has received, are numbered by the employer or stenographer to accord with a number in the book of the stenographer, and then the stenographer, referring to the letter to which reply is made, gets the name and address to type-write on his letter sheet, with his transcribed letter. This latter is the general plan when a letter is to be answered, but when a firm is writing an original letter which is not a reply to any received, then the name and address is given, except in first named instances.