— Lancaster Farming. Saturday. November 15.1969
4
From Where We
» t
Only Fanners Can Tell
It Like It Is
Recent studies slum that illegible hand
writing casts American business tens of
millions of dollars annually—to say nothing
of the extra time and effort* And indecipher
able shopping lists, notes, memos. even
love letters! result in countless head
aches for senders and receivers alike.
Poor letter writing, in terms of both
legibility and content, is a costly problem
not confined to the unlettered. Even many
well-educated people have little inkling of
how to put their thoughts into ink and there
by write a better letter
One big-city department store, for ex
ample. repot ts that approximately 20.000
unreadable sales slips hold up about SIOS,-
000 in purchases each year Slopp> numer
als. according to the United States Post
Office, account for mam of the 23,000,000
"dead letters” undelivered annually
Even farmers, though thej usually don't
like to write letters, find it necessarv at
times to e.xpiess themselves in written
form. The breeder of registered livestock
needs to answer inquiries aoout his slock
in such a manner that will induce the pro
spect to buj And when a member of the
family is awaj from home, letters must be
written. Farm correspondence is moie and
more necessary and must be done expres
sively and legibly so that others will under
stand.
The Writing Instrument Manufacturers
Association with headquarters in Washing
ton, D C , suggests that you watch out for
tricky letters such as “t”. “e”, “a”, and
“r”, making sure to close looped letters,
being doubly careful of numbers such as
“1”. and "7”, sitting comfortably and erect
ly when writing, and keeping writing tools
in order.
While some people with an acceptable
handwriting have difficulty m expressing
themselves, you needn’t write like a pro to
prevent your pros from becoming prosaic
The pen, mightier than the sword, can be
mastered much moie easily if you follow
these Association to the Letter
1. Don’t delay in reply ing. When y ou re
ceive a written message that calls lor a
»eply, promptly pick up a fountain pen or
ballpoint pen or one of the new markers
that come in almost 100 different colors
and shades and begin writing while yam
ideas and reactions are spontaneous Delay
develops guilt feelings which, in turn, foster
more delay. Write yvhat you genuinely feel
and even cliches will sound lively and
sincere.
2 Have a regular “write night.” Set
aside one evening a week and make it your
night to write all correspondence and bring
the farm accounts up to date. Have a regu
lar place for writing, too a spot where
there’s room lor keeping your address book,
writing instruments, stationery and account
books in one place
Farm News This Week
Local 4-H Group
Tops At Exposition Page 1
Grant Heilman Has New Studio;
Plans Open House Page 23
Farm And Home Plans
Benefit Antique Auction Page 1
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P 0 Box 268 - Lilxtz, Pa 17543
Office 1 22 E Mam St Lititz Pa 17543
Phone Lancaster 394 3047 oi Lititz 626 21 91
Everett R Newswanger Editor
Robert G. Campbell Advei Using Dnector
Subscnption pi ice S 2 pel jeai in Lancaster
County S 3 elsew hei e
Established Novembei 4, 1955
Published evei\ Satin da\ by Lancaster
Fanning Lititz Pa
Second Chtss Postage paid at Lititz Pa
17543
Member ot Newspaper ?, 'Tii Editors Assn
Stand...
3. Tell It like It Is. Much better than
struggling for witty lines, or "professional
soupding” paragraphs, (which tend to come
out pompous) relax, and just toll what you
want to say. It's the information, not the
w nting style, that the person you're writing
to really cares about.
4. Brief is better than grief. Why strug
gle and tense up? The person you’re writing
to is glad to know that you care enough to
w rite, and you accomplish both these bene
fits by sending even a few lines. So stop
and sign off when you’ve written whatever
comes to mind, rather than trying to think
of something more to add.
5. Tell the news. In your case, there
may be still other things to say, but for most
people, at least 9 areas are worth consider
ing in deciding what to write.
The past week what did joli do? Even
if >ou lust did the normal faim work, tell
what happened.
Changes ha\ e there been any among
larruh members and friends at your end.
New Purchases have you gotten a
tractor, a new corn crib or an addition to
the swine herd.
Politics what’s happening on the local
political scene, and what do you wish they’d
do in Washington about foreign and domes
tic issues.
Health are you in the pink? That’s
news worth mentioning.
Weather is especially interesting if it
has been unusual. Lots of rain? One glorious
day after another. Your letter reader will be
glad to sympathize or rejoice with you.
Cle\ er things the children said are al
ways a delight to read about and also a
pleasure to relate.
Vacation plans? Have you decided
where you're going? If not, what choices
are you thinking about?
Finally, (and this one wall make it
easier tor the other person to write to you)
what would you like to know in his or her
next letter? Ask and it shall probably be
related unto you.
Penmanship, according to Bradford R.
Boss, the President of the WIMA, is an art
form “The handwritten expression of
thoughts and ideas is the cornerstone of
culture,” he continues, “and the portability
ot a writing instrument has yet to be super
seded by any mechanical or electronic de
\ice for recording fact and fancy.”
Boss notes that writing instruments are
the basic tool of communication And, that
the pen or pencil is a most reliable way of
transmitting information
“Through writing instruments,’’ he re
lates, “the scribbles ot a child become more
than unintelligible lines on paper; the crea
tions of an adult mind are recorded tor
private or public interpretation and under
standing, and the uneducated may become
educated.”
According to Frank L. King, Executive
Vice President ot the Association, the com
mon belief that computers are replacing
handwriting is inaccurate. “There is,” he
declares, “a continuing increase in the use
ot writing and marking instruments along
with the expansion ot computer usage and
optical scanning equipment.” “This is all
part of the enormous communications explo
sion which is now taking place all o\ er the
world.”
Farmers are a part of this communica
tion explosion. And the ones who learn to
communicate best, will go further in our
society that is becoming urbanized. Onlj
farmers themselves can tell it like it is on
the farm. And they need to start now Even
if it is only in a friendly letter. At least
that’s the way it looks from where we stand
Local Weather Forecast
(From the I’. S. Weather Bureau at the
Harrisburg State Airport)
The tn e day forecast lor the period Sat- To Take Accuiate Soil Tests continue to that the ar
urday through next Wednesday calls for Many SQll les dte b iangements be "put in writing
temperatures to average much below noi- , , Hs
malwith daytime highs m the 40’s and over tdken thls fall Instead oi next and that all mterested paitieS
night lows in the 30 : s Moderating tempera- spnn § This 15 g° od manage- receive a copy. A written lease
tuics aie expected about Tuesday ment dnd nliows moie time to ™ a y hot
Precipitation may total one-half inch or Pkn the lime and fertihzei pm- lhe fc re shou f d be chan ’ ce of
more as snow Hurries Saturday and lam at gram. Samples should be taken mis-understandmg and disap
the end of the period from a dozen places throughout pomlraents.
10 BE6IN AGAIN
Leu on for November 16,1969
lotcrMinJ Scripfur*; Psalms 126. 137 I*6. Isa>ih
40 49 5) I*l6 Jeremiah3l
Itodiflf: Isaiah SI 1 4.
One winter day in 1945 in the
Auschwitz concentration camp,
one of the prisoners came to
speak to Dr. Viktor Frankl, him
self a prisoner there. He told
Frankl of an unusual dream. In
the dream a voice had told him
that he would be
granted the priv
ilege of asking
any question
and that ques
tion would be
answered. To the
dreaming man
there was one
question above
all others: when
Rev. Althouse would he be
liberated from the camp? The
answer that came to him in the
dream was "March thirtieth!”
The death of hope
Assuming the dream to be
prophetic, die man lived with
eager expectation. But as the end
of March drew near, the war news
reaching the camp made it seem
very unlikely that liberation
would come that soon. Thus on
March 29, this prisoner suddenly
became very ill, running a high
temperature. On the next day he
became delirious, lost comscious
ness, and by' the next day he was
dead.
To all appearances, says
Frankl, the man died of ty’phus.
Yet there was more to it than
that. A man’s morale and his
ability to fight disease are closely
related. "The ultimate cause of
my friend’s death,” sav Frankl,
"was that the expected liberation
did not come and he was severely
disappointed. This suddenly
lowered his body’s resistance
against the latent typhus in
fection. His faith in the future and
Ins will to live had become
paralyzed and his body’ fell
victim to illness and thus the
voice of his dream was right after
all.” (Viktor Frankl, Man’s
Search For Meaning, Washington
Square Press, Inc., N.Y., 1963).
Read Lancaster Farming
For Full Market Reports
To Attend Dali y Meeting
All milk produceis are urged
to attend one of .he milk mar
keting meetings scheduled on
November 18 and 19 to dtscuss
the proposed milk pi emotion
piogram Voting will be by mail
ballot eaily m Decembei We
uige all produceis to become
well acquainted with the pro
gram and then vote
litti and powar
The man Jiad Been doomed,
>t by h!» condition,-but by his
isi of faith and hope. That his
tuatlon was not hopeless is
jmonstrated In the survival of
ime of his fellow Inmates. So It
nv be with us too. Someone has
ild that there are no hopeless
tuallons, only men who have
.own hopeless about them. Often
our problem Is not that we are in
u hopeless situation, but that wo
have become hopeless about it.
Having lost our faith in the
future, we also lose our power in
the present.
Several years ago I attended
a church planning retreat in the
mountains and discovered during
the first night that I had not
brought sufficient cover. If that
has ever happened to you, then
you will appreciate what I went
through. I tossed and turned, con
tinually arranging and re-ar
ranging the blankets; but regard
less of what I did, I found I was
too cold to go to sleep. It was a
long, long miserable night. The
whole weekend seemed crammed
into those few hours. I’ll never
forget the joy and thanksgiving
with which 1 greeted the sound
of the rooster as he greeted the
first faint rays of light of the new
day. Although reveille was still
a little while off, I knew at last
that the night w'as over.
Ended!
This was also the essence of
the message of the Prophet of the
Exile . . . The night is overl The
night of Chaldean exile had been
an ordeal for the people, a time
of repentance, soul-searching,
and renewal. But now that time
was over: " Comfort, comfort my
people, says your God. Speak
tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry
to he that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned ..
(Isaiah 40:1,2)
Thev had lived in hope and
now their hope was fulfilled.
Isaiah was right. Soon afterward
the people who wanted to were
allowed to return to their home
land. They •would enter the
Promised Land a second time
and begin again.
So it is often for us, that when
we have suffered a while, when
we have repented and been re
newed, the opportunity to begin
again is given.
(Rosed *n outlines copyrighted hy lH* DiviSfen
•f Christian Education, National Council of Iha
Churches •( Christ in the USA. Release* py
Community Press Service)
ATTEND THE
CHURCH OF
YOUR CHOICE SUNDAY
now is
THE TIME...
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
the field or area to be tested
and a thorough job of mixing
and sewing should be perform
ed Samples taken carelessly
may not represent the area and
will not reflect the teal needs of
the soil.
To Put It In Writing
Many farm leases and agree
ments will be made and review
ed in the next few months We