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Title: News Writing
The Gathering , Handling and Writing of News Stories
Author: M. Lyle Spencer
Release Date: December 26, 2009 [EBook #30765]
Language: English
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NEWS WRITING
THE GATHERING, HANDLING
AND WRITING OF NEWS STORIES
BY
M. LYLE SPENCER, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, LAWRENCE COLLEGE
ON THE STAFF OF "THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL"
D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO
COPYRIGHT, 1917,
BY D. C. HEATH & CO.
TO
THOMAS B. REID
DEAN OF THE WISCONSIN NEWSPAPER MEN
PREFACE
The first week of a reporter's work is generally the most nerve-racking
of his journalistic experience. Unacquainted with his associates,
ignorant of his duties, embarrassed because of his ignorance, he wastes
more time in useless effort, dissipates more energy in worry, and grows
more despondent over his work and his career than during any month of
his later years. Yet most of his depression would be unnecessary if he
knew his duties.
To acquaint the prospective reporter with these duties and their proper
performance is the purpose of this volume, which has been written as a
practical guide for beginners in news writing. Its dominating purpose is
practicalness. If it fails in this, its main purpose will be lost.
Because of this practical aim the attempt has been made to approach the
work of the reporter as he will meet it on beginning his first morning's
duties in the news office. After an introductory division explaining the
organization of a newspaper and acquainting the beginner with his
fellows and superiors in the editorial rooms, the book opens with an
exposition of news. It then takes up sources of news, methods of getting
stories, and the preparation of copy for the city desk.
In discussing the writing of the story, it has seemed necessary to
devote much attention to the lead, experience showing that the point of
greatest difficulty in handling a story lies in the choice of a proper
and effectively worded lead. Likewise, it has been necessary to discuss
the sentence at great length and to touch the paragraph only lightly,
because the one is so much a matter of individual judgment, the other
subject to such definite laws,--laws of which, however, most cub
reporters are grossly ignorant. In some classes in news writing the
instructor will find it possible and advisable to pass hastily over the
chapter on The Sentence, but as a rule he will find a careful study of
it profitable. In Part III, that dealing with types of stories, emphasis
has been laid on interview, crime, and sports stories, because it is
these that the cub reporter must be most familiar with on taking up his
work in the newspaper office. For the same practical reasons the volume
omits editorial and copy reading, and makes no attempt to teach the
beginner to be a dramatic critic or a city editor. It aims to give him
only those details and that instruction which shall make him a
competent, reliable reporter for the city editor who first employs his
services.
The book is written also with the belief, based on practical experience,
that news writing as a craft can be taught. It is not contended that
schools can produce star reporters. The newspaper office is the only
place where they can be developed. But it is maintained that the college
can send to the city room men and women who have been guided beyond the
discouraging defeats of mere cub reporting, just as schools of law,
medicine, and commerce can graduate lawyers, doctors, and business men
who know the rudiments of their professions. And this contention is
based on experience. During the last four years the studies here offered
have been followed closely in the class room, from which students have
been graduated who are now holding positions of first rank on leading
American dailies. Some too, though not all, had had no previous
experience in newspaper work.
All the illustrations and exercises except two are taken from published
news articles, most of the stories being unchanged. In some, however,
fictitious names and addresses, for obvious reasons, have been
substituted.
For aid in the preparation of this volume my thanks are due to Mr. C. O.
Skinrood of _The Milwaukee Journal_, Mr. Warren B. Bullock of _The
Milwaukee Sentinel_, and Mr. Paul F. Hunter of _The Sheboygan Press_,
who have made numerous criticisms upon the book during its different
stages. Their suggestions have been invaluable. For permission to
reprint stories from their columns my thanks also are due to the
_Appleton Post_, _Atlanta Constitution_, _Boston Transcript_, _Chicago
American_, _Chicago Herald_, _Chicago Tribune_, _Des Moines Register_,
_Indianapolis News_, _Kansas City Star_, _Los Angeles Times_, _Milwaukee
Journal_, _Milwaukee Sentinel_, _Minneapolis Tribune_, _New York
Herald_, _New York Sun_, _New York Times_, _New York Tribune_, _New York
World_, _Omaha News_, _Philadelphia Public Ledger_, and the _Washington
Post_.
M. L. S
APPLETON, WISCONSIN
_March 12, 1917_
CONTENTS
PART I
ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPER
I. INTRODUCTION 3
II. THE EDITORIAL ROOMS 5
III. THE MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT 13
IV. THE BUSINESS DEPARTMENT 20
PART II
THE NEWS STORY
V. WHAT NEWS IS 25
VI. NEWS SOURCES 34
VII. GETTING THE STORY 42
VIII. ORGANIZATION OF THE STORY 57
IX. THE LEAD 68
X. THE BODY OF THE STORY 84
XI. THE PARAGRAPH 97
XII. THE SENTENCE 99
XIII. WORDS 116
PART III
TYPES OF STORIES
XIV. INTERVIEWS, SPEECHES, COURTS 125
XV. ACCIDENT, CRIME 149
XVI. SPORTS 164
XVII. SOCIETY 199
XVIII. FOLLOW-UPS, REWRITES 212
XIX. FEATURE STORIES 224
XX. CORRESPONDENCE STORIES 235
APPENDIX
STYLE BOOK 249
MARKS USED IN CORRECTING COPY 273
CORRECTED COPY 275
SPECIMEN PROOF 276
TERMINOLOGY 278
EXERCISES 285
INDEX 353
PART I
ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPER
NEWS WRITING
ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPER
I. INTRODUCTION
=1. The City Room.=--The city room is the place where a reporter
presents himself for work the first day. It is impossible to give an
exact description of this room, because no two editorial offices are
ever alike. If the reporter has allied himself with a country weekly, he
may find the city room and the business office in one, with the owner of
the paper and himself as the sole dependence for village news. If he has
obtained work on a small daily, he may find a diminutive office, perhaps
twelve by fifteen feet, with the city editor the only other reporter. If
he has been employed by a metropolitan journal, he will probably find
one large room and several smaller adjoining offices, and an editorial
force of twenty to thirty or forty helpers, depending upon the size of
the paper.
=2. Metropolitan Papers.=--The metropolitan paper, of course, is the
most complex in organization, and is therefore the one for a beginner to
examine. The chances are two to one that the cub will have to begin on a
so-called country daily, but if he knows the organization of a large
paper, he will experience little trouble in learning the less
complicated system of a small one. For this reason the reader is given
in Part I an explanation of the organization of a representative
metropolitan newspaper.
=3. All Papers Different.=--The reader is cautioned, however, against
taking this exposition as an explanation of anything more than a typical
newspaper. The details of organization of various papers will be found
to differ somewhat. The number of editors and their precise duties will
vary. One journal will be a morning, another an afternoon, paper; a
third will be a twenty-four-hour daily, employing a double shift of men
and having one city editor with day and night assistants. One paper will
have a universal copy desk with a single copy editor handling all
departments. Another will have, instead of a state editor, a section
editor, a man who handles all special matter not carried by the press
service from possibly half a dozen states. Thus the organizations vary
in certain minor details, sometimes materially so; but, on the whole,
one general system will prevail. And it is to give the student an
understanding of a typical newspaper plant that Part I is written.
II. THE EDITORIAL ROOMS
=4. Beginning Work.=--As stated in the preceding chapter, the place at
which the reporter presents himself for work the first day is the city
room. Before coming, he will have seen the city editor and received
instructions as to the time. If the office is that of a morning paper,
he will probably be required to come some time between noon and six P.M.
If it is that of an afternoon paper, he will be asked to report at six
or seven A.M. Let us suppose it is a metropolitan afternoon journal and
that he is requested to be in the office at seven, the hour when the
city editor appears. The ambitious reporter will always be in his place
not later than 6:45, so that he may see the city editor enter.
=5. Copy Readers.=--When a reporter appears on his first morning, he
will find a big, desk-crowded room, deserted except for two or three
silent workers reading and clipping papers at a long table. These men
are known variously as the gas-house gang, the lobster shift, the
morning stars, etc. They are the reporters and copy readers who read the
morning papers for stories that may be rewritten or followed up for
publication during the day. They have been on duty since two or three in
the morning and have prepared most of the material for the bull-dog
edition, the morning issue printed some time between 7:00 and 10:00 A.M.
and mainly rewritten from the morning papers. On the entrance of the new
reporter they will look up, direct him to a chair where he may sit until
the city editor comes, and pay no more attention to him. They, or others
who take their places, edit all the news stories. They correct spelling
and punctuation, rewrite a story when the reporter has missed the main
feature, reconstruct the lead, cut out contradictions, duplications, and
libelous statements, and in general make the article conform to the
length and style demanded by the paper; and having carefully revised the
story, they write the headlines and chute it to the composing room. On
the whole, these men are the most unpopular on the force, since they are
subject to double criticism, from the editors above them and the
reporters whose copy they correct. The city editor and the managing
editor hold them responsible for poor headlines, libelous statements,
involved sentences, and errors generally; the reporters blame them for
pruning down their stories, changing leads, and often destroying what
they regard as the very point of what they had to say.
=6. Other Reporters.=--As the new reporter waits by the city editor's
desk, he will notice the arrival of the other members of the staff, who
immediately begin their work for the day. One of these is the labor
reporter. His business is to obtain and write news relating to labor and
unions. Another is the marine reporter. He handles all news relating to
shipping, clearing and docking of vessels, etc. Another reporter handles
all stories coming from the police court. Another watches the morgue and
the hospitals. Another, usually a woman, obtains society news. Still
another visits the hotels. And so the division of reporters continues
until all the sources of news have been parceled out.
=7. The City Editor.=--Then the city editor enters. If the reporter
wishes to make good, let him love the law of the city editor. He is the
man to whom all the reporters and some of the copy readers are
responsible, and who in turn is responsible to the managing editor for
the gathering and preparation of city news. He must know where news can
be found, direct the getting of news, and see that it is put into the
paper properly. When news is abundant, he must decide which stories
shall be discarded, and on those rarer occasions when all the
world--the good and the bad--seems to have gone to sleep, he must know
how to make news. Every story written in the city room is first passed
on by the city editor, who turns it over to the copy readers for
correction. Even the length of each story is determined by him, and
often the nature of it, whether it shall be humorous, pathetic, tragic,
or mysterious. To his desires and idiosyncrasies the reporter must learn
quickly to adapt himself. Sometimes the city editor may err. Sometimes,
during his absence, he may put in authority eccentric substitutes,
smaller men who issue arbitrary commands and require stories entirely
different in style and character from what is regularly required. But
the cub's first lesson must be in adaptability, willingness to obey
orders and to accept news policies determined by those in authority. He
must therefore follow to the letter the wishes of the city editor (or
his assistants) and must always be loyal to him and his plans.[1]
[1] For an admirable exposition of the way in which the city
editor handles his men and big stories, the student is
advised to read two excellent articles by Alex. McD.
Stoddart: "When a Gaynor is Shot," _Independent_, August
25, 1910, and "Telling the Tale of the Titanic,"
_Independent_, May 2, 1912.
=8. The News Editor.=--As a reporter's acquaintance grows, he will come
to know other editors in the city room,--the news, telegraph, state,
market, sporting, literary, dramatic, and other editors. Of these the
news editor, sometimes known also as the make-up or the assistant
managing editor, is most important. He handles all the telegraph and
cable copy and much of what is sent in by mail. He decides what position
the stories shall take in the paper, which articles shall have big heads
and which little ones, which shall be thrown out, and in general
determines the make-up of the pages. The news editor is always a bright
man of wide knowledge, thoroughly conversant with state and national
social and political movements, and more or less intimately acquainted
with all sections of the United States.
=9. Telegraph Editor.=--Next to the news editor, and usually his chief
assistant, is the telegraph editor. On some papers the two positions are
combined. This man handles all telegraph copy from without the state,
including that of the press bureaus and special correspondents in
important American and European cities. Frequently in the largest news
offices there are as many as a dozen telegraph operators who take his
stories over direct wires. Like the news editor, he must be a man of
wide acquaintance in order to know the value of a story from a distant
section of the United States or the world. Since the outbreak of the
European war, his has been an unusually responsible position because of
the immense amount of war news and the necessity of knowing the exact
importance of the capture of a certain city or the fall of a fort.
=10. State Editor.=--Next comes the state editor, who is responsible for
all the state news and helps with the telegraph copy and local news when
it becomes too bulky for the other copy readers to handle. The state
editor manages the correspondents throughout the state and is
particularly valuable when his paper is in the capital city or the
metropolis of the state. Most of his copy comes by mail or long-distance
telephone from correspondents residing or traveling in the state. Nearly
all this copy needs editing, coming as it does largely from
correspondents on country dailies and weeklies. In addition to editing
stories sent in by correspondents, the state editor keeps a space book,
from which he makes to the cashier in the business office a weekly or
monthly report of the amount of material contributed by each
correspondent.
=11. Sporting Editor.=--Unless given a place in the sporting department,
the reporter will not soon meet the sporting editor, who, with his
assistants, is usually honored with a room to himself and is independent
of the city editor. But some day, by accident perhaps, the cub will get
a peep through a door across the hallway into a veritable den. That is
the sporting room. The four walls are covered with cuts of Willard,
Gotch, Johnston, Matthewson, Travers, Hoppe, and dozens of other
celebrities in the realm of sports. There the sporting editor--often a
man who has been prominent in college athletics--reigns. Because of the
intense interest in sports he must publish the news of his department
promptly, and in consequence he often is privileged to make expenditures
more freely than other editors. The sporting editor of a big daily must
be an authority in athletic matters and should be able to decide on the
instant, without looking up the book of regulations, any question
relating to athletic rules or records.
=12. Exchange Editor.=--Another editor, who usually will be discovered
in a room by himself, is the exchange editor. He will be found all but
buried in piles of exchanges, now and then clipping a story not covered
on the wires, an editorial, a criticism of his own paper, or a comment
of any kind that may be worth copying or following up. He must know
thoroughly the bias of his paper, to know what to clip and publish.
Favorable references to his paper he reprints. Criticisms he refers to
the managing editor, who reads them and throws them into the waste
basket, or else keeps them for a reply in a later issue. Most of the
jokes, anecdotes of famous men and women, stories of minor inventions
and discoveries, and timely articles relating to current events,
fashions, beliefs, etc., published on the editorial page and in the
feature sections of the Sunday issue, are the result of the exchange
editor's long hours of patient reading of newspapers mailed from every
section of the United States.
=13. The Morgue.=--One of the chief duties of many exchange editors is
to supply the morgue with material for its files. The morgue, sometimes
called the library, is an important adjunct of every newspaper office.
In it are kept, perhaps ready for printing, obituaries of well-known
men, stories of their rise to prominence, pictures of them and their
families, accounts of great discoveries, inventions, and disasters, and
facts on every conceivable newspaper topic,--all ready for hasty
reference or use. If the President of the United States were to drop
dead from apoplexy, the papers would have on the streets in a quarter of
an hour's time columns of stories giving his whole career. When the
steamer _Eastland_ turned over in the Chicago River, causing the death
of 900 persons, the papers published in their regular editions boxed
summaries of all previous ship disasters. When Willard knocked out
Johnson at Havana, reviews of Willard's and Johnson's ring careers were
printed in numerous dailies. All such stories are procured from the
morgue, from files supplied mainly by the exchange editor. In some of
the larger offices, however, these files are maintained independently of
the exchange editor, and are under the charge of the librarian and a
staff of assistants who keep catalogued lists of all maps, cuts,
photographs, and clippings. On a moment's notice these may be obtained
for use in the paper.
=14. Other Editors.=--Other editors, who may be passed with brief
mention because of their minor importance in this volume, are the
market, dramatic, literary, and society editors, and the editorial
writers. The market editor handles all matters of a financial nature.
Sometimes on the largest dailies there are both a market and a financial
editor, but usually the work is combined under a single man whose duties
are to keep in close touch with markets, banks, manufactories, and large
mercantile companies, and to write up simply and accurately from day to
day the financial condition of the city and the country. The duty of the
literary editor is often little more than book reviewing. Frequently he
does not have an office in the building, and on small papers his only
remuneration is the gift of the book he reviews. The society editor, in
addition to reporting notes of the social world, generally handles
fashion stories, answers letters regarding etiquette, love, and
marriage, and edits all material for the woman's page. The work of the
editorial writers is explained by their name. They quit work at all
sorts of hours, take two hours off for lunch, and are known in the city
room as "highbrows." But many an editorial writer who comes to work at
nine in the morning has worked very late the night before, searching for
facts utilized in a half-column of editorial matter.
=15. Cartoonists and Photographers.=--The business of the cartoonist is
to draw one cartoon a day upon some timely civic or political subject.
He is responsible to the managing editor. Under him are other
cartoonists who illustrate individual stories or do cartoon work for
special departments of the paper. The sporting editor has one such man,
and the city editor has one or two. Finally, there are the
photographers, subject to the city editor, who rush hither and thither
to all parts of the city and state, taking scenes valuable for cuts.
=16. The Managing Editor.=--The men whose work we have been discussing
thus far are those whom the reporter meets in his daily work. Above all
these is an executive officer whom the cub reporter rarely sees,--the
managing editor, who has general supervision over all the news and
editorial departments of the paper. He does little writing or editing
himself, his time being taken up with administrative duties. All unusual
expenditures are submitted for his approval. The size and make-up of the
paper, which varies greatly from day to day on the large dailies, is a
matter for his final decision. The cartoonist submits to him rough
drafts of contemplated drawings. The city, telegraph, and news editors
confer with him about getting important stories. The Sunday editor
consults with him with regard to special features. To him is submitted a
proof of every story, which he reads for possible libel and for general
effectiveness. Now and then he returns a story to the city editor to be
lengthened or to be pruned down. Occasionally he may kill an article.
Always he is working at top speed, from the time he gets to his office
at 8:00 A.M., or 2:00 P.M., until he sits down to compare his paper with
the first edition of rival publications. For the managing editor
scrutinizes with minute care every daily in the city, and when he finds
anything to his paper's discredit, he begins an immediate investigation
to learn how the slip happened and who was responsible.
=17. Editor-in-Chief.=--Above the managing editor is the
editor-in-chief, often the owner of the paper. Of him the sub-editors
say that his chief business is playing golf and smoking fat cigars. As a
matter of fact, his duties are at once the most and the least exacting
of any on the paper. He is either the owner or the personal
representative of the owner, who looks to him for the execution of his
policies. But since such policies necessarily must be subject to the
most liberal interpretation, the final responsibility of the editorial
rooms falls on the shoulders of the editor-in-chief. To make known the
plans of the paper, the editor-in-chief holds with the editorial
writers, the managing editor, and the city editor weekly, sometimes
daily, meetings, at which are discussed all matters of doubt or
dissatisfaction relating to the editorial rooms.
=18. Conclusion.=--In conclusion, then, we have the editor-in-chief, who
is responsible for the general policies of the paper. Immediately
beneath him is the managing editor, who executes the editor-in-chief's
orders. Responsible to the editor-in-chief or the managing editor are
the editorial writers, the news, city, sporting, exchange, literary, and
dramatic editors, and the cartoonist. Beneath the city editor are a few
of the copy readers and all the reporters. Such is the organization of
the editorial staff of a typical metropolitan newspaper.
III. THE MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT
=19. Division.=--Beyond the editorial rooms is the mechanical
department, with which every reporter should be, but rarely ever is,
acquainted. Because of the heavy machinery necessary for preparing and
printing a paper, the mechanical department is often found in the
basement. This department is divisible into three sub-departments, the
composing room, the stereotyping room, and the press room.
=20. The Copy Cutter.=--When a story has been revised by the copy reader
and given proper headlines, it is turned over to the head copy reader or
the news editor, who glances over it hastily to see that all is rightly
done and chutes it in a pneumatic tube to the basket on the copy
cutter's table or desk in the composing room. The copy cutter in turn
glances at the headlines and the two or three pages of copy, and records
the story upon a ruled blank on his desk. Then he clips the headlines
and sends them by a copy distributor to the headline machine to be set
up. The two or three pages of copy he cuts into three or four or five
"takes," puts the slug number or name on each, and sends the "takes" to
different compositors, so that the whole story may be set up more
quickly than if it were given all to one man. If the time before going
to press is very short, the pages may be cut into more takes. The slug
names, sometimes called guide or catch lines, are marked on each take to
enable the bank-men to assemble readily all the parts after they have
been set in type.
=21. The Linotype Machine.=--Each compositor on receiving his take
places it on the copy-holder of his linotype or monotype machine and
begins composing it into type. The linotype machine consists of a
keyboard not unlike that of the typewriter, which actuates a magazine
containing matrices or countersunk letter molds, together with a casting
mechanism for producing lines or bars of words. By touching the keys,
the compositor releases letter by letter an entire line of matrices,
which are mustered automatically into the assembling-stick at the left
and above the keyboard, ready to be molded into a line of type. When the
assembling-stick is full of matrices, enough to make a full line, the
operator is warned, as on the typewriter, by the ringing of a tiny bell.
The machinist then pulls a lever, which releases molten lead on the line
of matrices and casts a slug of metal representing the letters he has
just touched on the keys. The machine cuts and trims this slug of lead
to an exact size, conveys it to the receiving galley for finished lines,
and returns the matrices to their proper places in the magazine for use
in a succeeding line. When the operator has composed twenty or
twenty-five of these slugs, his take is completed. He then removes the
slugs from their holder, wraps them in the manuscript, and sends them to
the bank to be assembled with the other takes of the same story. The
proof of the compositor's take looks something like the matter at the
top of the next page.
The big _three's_ are the compositor's slug number. This take was set up
by the workman operating machine number 3. The _Loops_ is the catch
line, or slug name, by which the story is known, every take of the story
being named _Loops_, so that the bank-men may easily get the parts of
the story together. The letters at the right of _Loops_, in the same
line, are merely any letters that the compositor has set up at random by
tapping the linotype keys to fill out the line.
----------------------------------------
THREE THREE
----------------------------------------
LOOPS... ... ... ...) rna..8an........
ARMY BIRDMEN BREAK
RECORDS FOR LOOPS
San Diego, Cal., Sept. 25.--Sergt. William Ocher and Corporal
Albert Smith, attached to the United States army aviation corps
at North Island, made fifteen loops each while engaged in
flights, shattering army and navy aviation records. Both
officers used the same machine equipped with a ninety horsepower
motor, and designed for long distance flying.
This take, which was picked up at random in the editorial rooms of the
_Milwaukee Journal_, was followed by this:
----------------------------------------
SEVEN SEVEN
----------------------------------------
Folo Loops........................ETAOIN
FALLS 1,000 FEET, UNHURT.
Omaha, Sept. 25.--Francis Hoover, Chicago aviator, fell 1,000
feet at David City, Neb. He alighted in a big tank and was not
injured.
The compositor in this case was at machine number 7, and the slug name
given the story was _Folo Loops_: that is, it was a follow story, to
come after the one slugged _Loops_.
=22. The Proofs.=--On receipt of the different takes by the bank-man,
the various parts of the story are assembled, with the proper head, in a
long brass receptacle called a galley, and the first, or galley, proof
is "pulled" on the proof press, a small hand machine. Three proofs are
made. One goes to the managing editor, on whom rests responsibility for
every story in the paper; one to the news editor; and one, with the
original copy, to the head proofreader, who is responsible for all
typographical errors. The head proofreader in turn gives the proof to an
assistant and the manuscript to a copyholder, who reads the story to the
assistant for the detection of typographical errors. A corrected galley
proof will be returned in the form shown in the specimen proof sheet
printed on page 276.
=23. The Form.=--After all corrections have been made and the position
of the story in the paper has been determined by the news editor, it is
inserted in its proper place among other articles which together make up
a page of type, or what printers know as a form. This form is locked in
an enveloping steel frame, called a chase, and carried to the
stereotyping room, the second department in the mechanical composition
of the paper. In the small newspaper offices, the sheet is printed
directly from the form. But since the leaden letters begin to blur after
15,000 impressions have been made, and since it has been found
impossible to do fast printing from flat surfaces, it is necessary for
the larger papers to cast from four to twelve stereotyped plates of each
page.
=24. Stereotyping Process.=--These stereotyped plates are circular or
semicircular in shape, so that they fit snugly on the press cylinders.
They are made in the following way: When the form is brought into the
stereotyping room, it is placed, face up, on the flat bed of a strongly
built press. Over the face of the columns of type are spread several
layers of tissue paper pasted together. Upon the paper is laid a damp
blanket, and a heavy revolving steel drum subjects the whole to hundreds
of pounds of pressure, thus squeezing the face of the type into the
texture of the moist paper. Intense heat is then applied by a steam
drier, so that within a few seconds the moisture has been baked entirely
from the paper, which emerges a stiff flat matrix of the type in the
form.
=25. The Autoplate.=--This matrix in turn is bent to the shape of the
impressing cylinder that later stamps the page, and is put into an
autoplate, or casting machine, which presses molten metal upon the paper
matrix, cools the metal, and turns out in a few moments the finished,
cylindrical plates ready to be put on the press for printing. Duplicates
follow at intervals of from fifteen to twenty seconds, so that several
impressions of the same page may be made at once in the press room and
the whole paper printed more quickly than if a single impression of a
page were made at one time.
=26. The Press Room.=--The press room, the third and final stage in the
mechanical composition of the paper, is where the printing is done on
highly complicated machines. The larger the number of pages of the paper
printed, the more complicated the presses, the marvel of them being
their adaptability to running full, or half, or third capacity,
according to the needed output, or to printing a double or triple number
of small sized papers in a third or half the usually required time. The
large presses of the great dailies print, fold, cut, paste, and count,
according to the size of the sheet, 50,000 to 125,000 papers an hour. A
double sextuple press has a limit of 144,000 twelve-page papers an hour.
=27. The Printing Press.=--It is on the cylinders of these presses that
the circular stereotyped plates are fitted, two plates filling nicely
the round of the cylinder. All the plates for the inside pages of the
paper are stereotyped and screwed on their cylinders a half-hour or more
before press time, the pages with the latest news being held until the
last possible moment. Usually the last page to come is the title page,
and as soon as the last locking lever has been clamped, the wheels of
the big press begin to turn. As the cylinders with their plates revolve,
raised letters on the surface of the plate come in contact, first with
the inked rollers, then with the paper, which is spun from large rolls
and drawn through the press, obtaining as it goes the impression of the
pages of type. As the printed ribbon of paper issues from beneath the
cylinders, it is cut into pages, folded, and counted, ready for the
circulation department. The whole period of time elapsing between the
chute of the last story from the city room and the delivery of the
printed pages to the newsboys will not have exceeded ten minutes.
=28. Speed in Printing.=--Even this brief time is materially cut when
great stories break. The result of the Willard-Johnson fight in 1915 and
all the details up to the last few rounds were cried on the streets of
New York within two minutes after Johnson had been knocked out in
Havana. This was made possible by means of the "fudge," a device
especially designed for late news. This is a small printing cylinder,
upon which is fitted a diminutive curved chase capable of holding a few
linotype slugs. When the fudge is used, a stereotyped front page of the
paper is ripped open and a prominent blank space left, so that if the
press were to print now, the paper would appear with a large unprinted
space on its front page. To this blank space, however, the fudge is
keyed, so that as the web of paper passes the main cylinder, the little
emergency cylinder makes its impression and the page appears to all
appearances printed from a single cylinder.
=29. Speed Devices.=--The value of the fudge, of course, is that, by
printing directly from the linotype slugs, it saves the time expended in
stereotyping. Its speed, too, is increased by reason of the fact that
every great newspaper has in the press room near the fudge a composing
machine to which a special telegraph wire is run, and a special operator
to read the news direct from the wire to the compositor. This enables
the papers to meet the baseball crowd on its way home with extras giving
full details of all the plays, and during the last quarter of the
football game to sell in the bleachers a complete account to the end of
the first half. But even this speed is not always sufficient. Where the
outcome of a big piece of news may be predicted, advance headlines are
set up and held ready to be clamped on the press. In the case of the
Willard-Johnson fight, two heads were held awaiting the knockout: JESS
WILLARD NEW CHAMPION and JACK JOHNSON RETAINS TITLE. When President
McKinley died in September, 1901, one prominent Milwaukee newspaper man
held locked on his presses from 8:00 A.M. until the President died at
midnight the plates that would print the whole story of Mr. McKinley's
life, assassination, and death. Then when the flash came announcing the
dreaded event, the presses were started, and ten seconds afterward
newsboys were crying the death of the President of the United States.
Such are some of the devices editors use to publish news in the shortest
possible time.
IV. THE BUSINESS DEPARTMENT
=30. Divisions of the Business Department.=--When the paper issues from
the press, it passes into the hands of the circulation manager, whose
duties are in an entirely different department of the newspaper
organization,--the business department. This department is divided into
two or three more or less closely connected divisions, presided over by
the circulation manager, the advertising manager, and the cashier. Over
all these is the business manager, who supervises the department as a
whole.
=31. The Circulation Manager.=--The work of the circulation manager has
been termed simple by outsiders. But the simplicity exists only for
outsiders. The distribution of a hundred thousand to a million papers a
day is not a small task in itself, particularly when one considers the
scores of trains to be caught, the dozens of delivery wagons and wagon
drivers to be guided, and the hundreds of newsboys and newsstands to be
supplied with the very latest editions at the very earliest moment. Yet
the circulation manager's duties are even more multifarious than this.
All the canvassers for new subscriptions are under his supervision. The
organization of the newsboys for selling his paper is his duty,--and it
is marvelous how the good-will of the newsboys, even when they handle
all rival publications, can boost the sales of some particular
circulation manager's papers. The advertising of the paper's past and
forthcoming news features, such as stories by special writers, exclusive
dispatches, etc., are the brunt of his work, because in so far as he
makes people believe in the superiority of his news, they will buy the
papers. Even the outcries against public grievances and the publication
of subscription lists for charitable purposes are often the thoughts of
the circulation manager, because they invite more readers. Some
managers, under the guise of helping the down-and-outs, even publish
free all "Situations Wanted" advertisements, because they believe that
the loss in advertising will be more than paid for by the gain in the
number of readers, with the resultant possibility of higher advertising
rates or more advertising in other departments because of the increased
circulation.
=32. The Advertising Manager.=--Closely associated with the circulation
manager is the advertising manager, who is dependent upon the former for
his rates. It makes a great difference with the advertising manager's
rates whether the circulation is a hundred thousand or a quarter of a
million, and whether the circulation is double or one half that of the
rival morning publication. The advertising manager's duties are as
manifold as those of his associate. He directs the advertising
solicitors and advises prospective advertisers about the place, prices,
space, and character of their advertisements. A chewing tobacco ad is
worth little in the column bordering the society section; the back page
is far more valuable for advertising than the inside; and the columns
next to reading matter are worth more than those on a page filled only
with advertisements. The advertising manager, too, has the power of
accepting or rejecting advertisements. Liquor, soothing syrup, and
questionable ads are barred by many managers. Some will not even accept
so-called personal ads. Yet at the same time that they are rejecting ads
in this class, such managers are straining every point to gain desirable
ones. One way of obtaining these is by advertising solicitors. Another
is by advertising in one's own paper and in publications in other
cities. Many of the metropolitan dailies exchange whole and half-page
advertisements, directing attention to their circulation figures and the
number of agate lines of advertising matter printed within the
preceding month or year. Some of these papers publish audited
statements, too, of the relative number of advertising lines printed by
their own and rival publications. But the advantage is always in their
own favor.
=33. The Cashier.=--The third division of the business department is the
cashier's office, frequently known as the counting room. Briefly put,
the cashier directs the pay-roll and all receipts and disbursements of
the paper. He keeps the books of the publishing company. From him the
reporter receives his pay envelop, and to him are sent all bills for
paper, ink, machinery, telegraph and telephone messages, and similar
expenses. Rarely has the cashier served an apprenticeship in the
editorial department, but he knows thoroughly the business of
bookkeeping, money changing, banking, and similar work, which is all
that is required in his position.
PART II
THE NEWS STORY
THE NEWS STORY
V. WHAT NEWS IS
=34. Essentials of News Writing.=--To write successful news stories,
four requisites are necessary: the power to estimate news values
properly, the stories to write, the ability to work rapidly, and the
power to present facts accurately and interestingly.
=35. The "Nose for News."=--Recognition of news values is put first in
the tabulation of requirements for successful writing because without a
"nose for news"--without the ability to recognize a story when one sees
it--a reporter cannot hope to succeed. Editorial rooms all over the
United States are full of stories of would-be reporters who have failed
because they have not been able to recognize news. The following is a
genuine first paragraph of a country correspondent's letter to a village
weekly in Tennessee:
|There is no news in this settlement to speak of. We|
|did hear of a man whose head was blown off by a |
|boiler explosion, but we didn't have time to learn |
|his name. Anyhow he didn't have any kinfolk in this|
|country, so it don't much matter. |
Then follow the usual dull items about Henry Hawkins Sundaying in
Adamsville and Tom Anderson autoing with a new girl.
=36. Need of Knowing News.=--The fault with this correspondent was that
he did not know a good story. He lacked an intuitive knowledge of news
values, and he had not been trained to recognize available news
possibilities. A clear understanding of what news is, and an analysis of
its more or less elusive qualities, is necessary, therefore, before one
may attempt a search for it or may dare the writing of a newspaper
story.
=37. Definition of News.=--In its final analysis, news may be defined as
any accurate fact or idea that will interest a large number of readers;
and of two stories the accurate one that interests the greater number of
people is the better. The student should examine this definition with
care as there is more in it than at first appears. Strangeness,
abnormality, unexpectedness, nearness of the events, all add to the
interest of a story, but none is essential. Even timeliness is not a
prerequisite. If it were learned to-day that a member of the United
States Senate had killed a man in 1912, the occurrence would be news and
would be carried on the front page of every paper in America, even
though the deed were committed years ago. And if it should transpire
that Csolgosz was bribed by an American millionaire to assassinate
President McKinley in 1901, the story would be good for a column in any
paper. Freshness, enormity, departure from the normal, all are good and
add to the value of news, but they are not essential. The only
requirements are that the story shall be accurate and shall contain
facts or ideas interesting to a considerable number of readers.
=38. Accuracy.=--The reason for emphasizing so particularly the need of
accuracy in news requires little discussion. _Accuracy First_ is the
slogan of the modern newspaper. If a piece of news, no matter how
thrilling, is untrue, it is worthless in the columns of a reputable
journal. It is worse than worthless, because it makes the public lose
confidence in the paper. And the ideal of all first-class newspapers
to-day is never to be compelled to retract a published statement. This
desire for accuracy does not bar a paper from publishing, for example, a
rumor of the assassination of the German Crown Prince, but it does
demand that the report be published only as an unverified rumor.
=39. Interest.=--The statement, however, that interest is the other
requisite of news requires full explanation, because the demand
immediately comes for an explanation of that elusive quality in news
which makes it interesting. In other words, what constitutes interest?
Any item of news, it may be defined, that will present a new problem, a
new situation, that will provoke thought in the minds of a considerable
number of readers, is interesting, and that story is most interesting
which presents a new problem to the greatest number of people. It is a
psychological truth that all men think only when they must. Yet they
enjoy being made to think,--not too hard, but hard enough to engage
their minds seriously. The first time they meet a problem they think
over it, and think hard if need be. But when they meet that problem a
second or a third time, they solve it automatically. A man learning to
drive a car has presented to him a new problem about which he must think
keenly. The steering wheel, the foot-brake, the accelerator, the brake
and speed levers, the possibility of touching the wrong pedal,--all
demand his undivided attention and keep him thinking every moment of the
time. But having learned, having solved his problem, he can run his car
without conscious thought, and meanwhile can devote his mind to problems
of business or pleasure. As Professor Pitkin says:
Whatsoever we can manage through some other agency we do so
manage. And, if thinking is imperative for a while, we make that
while as brief as possible. The baby thinks in learning to walk,
but as soon as his feet move surely he refrains from cogitation.
He thinks over his speech, too, but quickly he outgrows that,
transforming discourse from an intellectual performance to a
reflex habit. And he never thinks about the order and choice of
words again, unless they give rise to some new, unforeseen
perplexity; as, for instance, they might, were he suddenly
afflicted with stammering or stage fright. This is no scandal,
it is a great convenience. Thanks to it, men are able to concern
themselves with fresh enterprises and hence to progress. Indeed,
civilization is a titanic monument to thoughtlessness, no less
than to thought. The supreme triumph of mind is to dispense with
itself. For what would intellect avail us, if we could not
withdraw it from action in all the habitual encounters of daily
life?[2]
[2] _Short Story Writing_, pp. 64-65.
=40. What Provokes Thought is News.=--Men apply the same principle, too,
in their news reading. Whatever presents a new problem, or injects a new
motive or situation into an old one, will be interesting and will be
read by those readers to whom the problem or situation is new. It is
not, therefore, that American men and women are interested in the sins
and misfortunes of others that they read stories of crime and unhallowed
love, but that such stories present new problems, new life situations,
or new phases of old problems and old situations. A story of innocence
and hallowed love would be just as interesting. When the newspapers of
the United States make the President's wedding the big story of the day,
it is not that they think their patrons have never seen a wedding, but
that a wedding under just such circumstances has never been presented
before. And every published story of murder or divorce or struggle for
victory offers new thought-provoking problems to newspaper readers. Men
are continually searching for new situations that will present new
problems. And any story that will provoke a reader's thought will be
enjoyed as news.
=41. Timeliness.=--But there are certain definite features that add
greatly to the interest of stories. Timeliness is the first of these.
Indeed, timeliness is so important in a story that one prominent
writer[3] on journalism deems it an essential of a good story. Certainly
it figures in ninety per cent of the published articles in our daily
newspapers. The word _yesterday_ has been relegated to the scrap heap.
_To-day_, _this morning_, _this afternoon_ should appear if possible in
every story. And the divorce that was granted yesterday or the accident
that happened last night must be viewed from such an angle that _to-day_
shall appear in the write-up. Close competition and improved machinery
have made freshness, timeliness, all but a requisite in every story.
[3] Professor Willard Grosvenor Bleyer. See his
_Newspaper Writing and Editing_, p. 18.
=42. Closeness of the Event.=--Next to nearness in time comes nearness
in place as a means of maintaining interest. Other things being equal,
the worth of a story varies in inverse proportion to its closeness in
time and place. A theft of ten dollars in one's home town is worth more
space than a theft of a thousand in a city across the continent. A visit
of Mrs. Gadabit, wife of the president of our city bank, to
Neighborville twenty miles away is worth more space than a trip made by
Mrs. Astor to Europe. Whenever possible, the good reporter seeks to
localize his story and draw it close to the everyday lives of his
readers. Even an accidental acquaintance of a man in town with the noted
governor or the notorious criminal who has just been brought into the
public eye--with a brief quotation of the local man's opinion of the
other fellow, or how they chanced to meet,--is worth generous space in
any paper. Oftentimes a resident man or woman's opinion of a statement
made by some one else, or of a problem of civic, state, or national
interest, is given an important place merely by reason of the fact that
the story is associated with some locally prominent person. Always the
effort is made to localize the news.
=43. The Search for Extremes.=--Again, say what one may, the American
public loves extremes in its news stories. If a pumpkin can be made the
largest ever grown in one's section, or a murder the foulest ever
committed in the vicinity, or a robbery the boldest ever attempted in
the block, or a race the fastest ever run on the track, or anything else
the largest or the least ever registered in the community, it will be
good for valuable space in the local news columns. A record breaker in
anything is a new problem to the public, who will read with eager joy
every detail concerning the attainment of the new record.
=44. The Unusual.=--The exceptional, the unusual, the abnormal is in a
sense a record breaker and will be read about with zest. A burglar
stealing a Bible or returning a baby's mite box, a calf with two heads,
a dog committing suicide, a husband divorcing his wife so that she may
marry a man whom she loves better,--such stories belong in the list with
the unique and will be found of exceptional interest to readers.
=45. Contests.=--The description of a contest always makes interesting
news. No matter whether the struggle is between athletic teams, business
men, society women, race horses, or neighboring cities, if the element
of struggle for supremacy can be injected into the story, it will be
read with added zest. Such stories may be found in the search of
politicians for office, in the struggles of business men for control of
trade or for squeezing out competitors, in contests between capital and
labor, in religious factions, in collegiate rivalry, and in many of the
seemingly commonplace struggles of everyday life. The individual,
elementary appeal that comes from struggle is always thrilling.
=46. Helplessness.=--Opposed to stories depicting struggle for supremacy
are those portraying the joys or the sufferings of the very old or very
young, or of those who are physically or mentally unable to struggle.
The joy of an aged mother because her boy remembered her birthday, the
undeserved sufferings of an old man, the cry of a child in pain, the
distress of a helpless animal, all are full of interest to the average
reader. Helplessness, particularly in its hours of suffering or its
moments of unaccustomed pleasure, compels the sympathy of everyone, and
every reporter is delighted with the opportunity to write a "sob story"
picturing the friendlessness and the want of such unprivileged ones.
These stories not only are read with interest, but often prove a
practical means of helping those in distress.
=47. Prominent Persons.=--Directly opposed to stories about helpless
persons or animals are those of prominent men and women. For some reason
news about the great, no matter how trivial, is always of interest, and
varies in direct proportion to the prominence of the person. If the
President of the United States drives a golf ball into a robin's nest,
if the oil king in the Middle West prefers a wig to baldness, if the
millionaire automobile manufacturer never pays more than five cents for
his cigars, the reading public is greatly interested in learning the
fact. Nor is it essential that the reader shall have heard of the
prominent man. It is sufficient that his position socially or
professionally is high.
=48. Well-known Places.=--The same interest attaches to noted or
notorious places. A news item about Reno, Nevada, is worth more than one
about Rome, Georgia, though the cities are of about the same size. A
street traffic regulation in New York City is copied all over the United
States, notwithstanding the fact that the same law may have been passed
by the city council in Winchester, Kentucky, years before and gone
unnoticed. And so with Coney Island or Niagara Falls or Death Valley, or
any one of a hundred other places that might be named. The fashions they
originate, the ideas for which they stand sponsors, the accidents that
happen in their vicinity, all have specific interest by virtue of their
previous note or notoriety. And if the reporter can fix the setting of
his story in such a place, he may be assured of interested readers.
=49. Personal and Financial Interests.=--Finally, if a news story can be
found that will bear directly on the personal or financial interests of
the patrons of the paper, one may be sure of its cordial reception. If
turkeys take the roup six weeks before Thanksgiving, or taxes promise a
drop with the new year, or pork volplanes two or three cents, or an ice
famine is threatened, or styles promise coats a few inches shorter or
socks a few shades greener, the readers are eager to know and will
applaud the vigilance of the editors. For this reason, a reporter can
often pick up an extra story--and reporters are judged by the extra
stories they place on the city editor's desk--by occasionally dropping
in at markets, grocery stores, and similar business houses and inquiring
casually for possible drops or rises in price. For the same reason, too,
new styles as seen in the shop windows are always good for a
half-column. And one cannot think of covering a dressmakers' convention,
an automobile show, a jewelers' exhibition, or a similar gathering
without playing up prominently the new styles. A clever San Francisco
reporter covering a convention of insurance agents once produced a
brilliant story on new styles in life insurance policies.
=50. Summary.=--By way of summary, then, it may be said that the only
requirements of an event or an idea to make it good story material are
that it be presented accurately and that it possess interest for a
goodly number of readers; and any fact or idea which presents a
situation or poses a problem differing, even slightly, from preceding
situations or problems encountered by the readers of a paper is sure to
possess interest. Timeliness is of vital worth, but is not a necessity.
The geographical nearness of an event adds to its value, as does the
fact that the event or the product or the result is a record breaker or
is unique in its class. Contests of all sorts invariably possess
interest, and stories of the helplessness of old persons, children, or
animals never fail to have an emotional appeal. Any news item concerning
a well-known person or place is likely to attract attention, and any
story that touches the home or business interests of the public is sure
to command interested readers. All these features are valuable, and any
one will contribute much to the worth of a story, but none is essential.
The prerequisite is that the news shall be true and shall present a new
situation or problem, or a new phase of an old situation or problem.
VI. NEWS SOURCES
=51. Second Essential of News Writing.=--As explained in the preceding
chapter, the first essential in news writing is a proper appreciation of
news and news values. The second essential is the possession of a story
to write. This chapter will discuss news sources, leaving for Chapter
III an explanation of the methods of getting stories.
=52. Gathering News.=--The prospective reporter who supposes that
newspaper men wander aimlessly up and down the streets of a city,
watching and hoping for automobiles to collide and for men to shoot
their enemies, will have his eyes opened soon after entering a news
office. He will learn that a reporter never leaves the city room without
a definite idea of where he is going. If newspapers had to police the
streets with watchers for news as the city government assigns officers
of the law, the cost of gathering news would be prohibitive.
=53. Police as News Gatherers.=--As a matter of fact, a paper has
comparatively few paid men on its staff, though it has hundreds of
non-paid watchers who are just as faithful. The police are the chief of
these. As every reporter knows, a policeman is compelled to make to his
captain a full and prompt report of every fire, robbery, murder,
accident, or mishap involving loss of, or danger to, life or property
occurring on his beat. This report is made to the local precinct or
station, whence it is telephoned to police headquarters. At the central
station the report is recorded in the daily record book of crime, known
familiarly to the public as the "blotter." Not all of the reports
recorded on the police blotter are made public, because hasty
announcement of information received by the police oftentimes would
forestall expected arrests; but such information as the desk sergeant is
willing to utter is given out in brief bulletins, sometimes posted
behind locked glass doors, sometimes simply written in a large ledger
open to public inspection. Whether written in the ledger or displayed on
a bulletin board, these bulletins are known always as slips, of which
the following are typical examples:
Oct. 4 Suicide Attempt
Theodore Pavolovich, 24 yrs., arrested Oct. 1, 1915,
fugitive, abandonment, Chicago, attempted suicide by
stabbing with a fork while eating dinner. Sent to
Emergency Hospital, ambulance 4.
12:50 P. M. Conway
Oct. 4 Clothing Found
Woman's coat, hat, and purse found on bank of Lake
Michigan, foot of Pine St., 4:10 P. M. Skirt taken
from water, same place, 4:30 P. M., by patrolman
Heath. Clothing identified as Mrs. George Riley's,
18 Veazy St., missing since noon.
4:40 P. M. Nock
Oct. 18 Leg Broken
Mary Molinski, 40 yrs., single, 492 Grove St., fell
down stairs, 7:05 P. M. Leg broken. Conveyed to St.
Elizabeth Hospital by patrol 3.
7:30 P. M. Pct. 3.
Oct. 19 Calf Carcass Found
Calf carcass, black and white hide, weight about
85 pounds, found at 11th and Henry Ave.
6:30 A. M. Oper
These slips need little explanation. The name signed to each is that of
the police officer reporting. The _Pct. 3_ signed after the third
indicates merely the local precinct from which the report was made. The
time at the end of each slip signifies the exact time at which the
report was received at police headquarters.
=54. Arrest Sheets.=--In addition to the slips there are the "arrest
sheets," on which all arrests are recorded. These sheets are open always
to public inspection, as the public has a right to know of every arrest,
lest a man be imprisoned unjustly. On page 37 is given a verbatim
reproduction of the arrests recorded in a city in the Middle West. The
_M_ or _S_ at the top of the fifth column stands for _married or
single_, and _R_ and _W_ at the top of the eighth, for _read and write_.
The _D and D_ charge against the second offender is _drunk and
disorderly_. It will be noted that the cases entered after ten o'clock
had not been disposed of when this sheet was copied. From these arrest
sheets and the slips, as the reader may readily see, the reporter is
able to get a brief but prompt and accurate account of most of the
accidents and crimes within the city. And with these advance notices in
his possession he can follow up the event and get all available facts.
=55. Other News Gatherers.=--But there are numerous other non-paid news
gatherers. Doctors are required to report to the health department every
birth, death, and contagious disease to which they have been called in a
professional capacity. To the coroner is reported every fatal accident,
suicide, murder, or suspicious death. The county clerk keeps a record of
every marriage license. The recorder of deeds has a register of all
sales and transfers of property. The building inspector has a full
account of buildings condemned, permits granted for new buildings, and
fire devices required. The leading hotels have the names of important
guests visiting or passing through the city. Thus by regular visitation
of certain persons and places in the city, a newspaper through its
representatives, the reporters, is able to get most of the news of its
neighborhood.
AN ARREST SHEET
=======+=======+========+====+====+=======+===+=====+=============
Name | Ad- | Occu- | A | M | Where | C | R | Charge
| dress | pation | g | or | born | o | and |
| | | e | S | | l | W |
| | | | | | o | |
| | | | | | r | |
-------+-------+--------+----+----+-------+---+-----+-------------
John | 16 | Cook | 32 | S | U.S. | W | Yes | Vagrancy
Glass | Lake | | | | | | |
| St. | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Chas. | 124 | Tailor | 28 | M | " | " | " | D and D
King | John | | | | | | |
| St. | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Ben | 50 | Ped- | 41 | M | " | " | " | Violating
Loti | Third | dler | | | | | | Health
| St. | | | | | | | Laws
| | | | | | | |
Nell | 38 | House- | 19 | S | " | " | " | Drunk
Smith | West | work | | | | | |
| Ave. | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Nick | 1630 | Barber | 24 | M | " | " | " | Abandonment
White | D St. | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Edw. | 6 | Broker | 47 | M | " | " | " | Violating
Meyer | Palm | | | | | | | Speed Laws
| St. | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Jane | 2935 | House- | 44 | M | " | " | " | Keeping
Gray | Elm | wife | | | | | | Disorderly
| St. | | | | | | | House
| | | | | | | |
Peter | 66 | Line- | 23 | S | Ger. | " | " | Seduction
Amt | State | man | | | | | |
| St. | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Alex | St. | But- | 24 | M | U.S. | " | " | Fugitive
Bass | Louis | cher | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Geo. | 1916 | Watch- | 31 | M | " | " | " | Murder
Holt | 4th | man | | | | | |
| St. | | | | | | |
-------+-------+--------+----+----+-------+---+-----+-------------
=======+=========+=========+=======+=======+======+=============
Name | Comp- | Officer | Date | Time | Cell | Disposition
| lainant | & Pre- | | | & |
| | cinct | | | Ward |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
-------+---------+---------+-------+-------+------+-------------
John | Jacobs | Jacobs | Oct. | 8:00 | 6 3 | 10
Glass | | 3 | 15 | AM | | days
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
Chas. | Hays | Hays | " " | 8:30 | 7 3 | Bound
King | | 6 | | AM | | over
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
Ben | Jones | Oper | " " | 10:40 | 8 3 |
Loti | | | | AM | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
Nell | Hays | Hays | " " | 10:50 | 2 2 |
Smith | | 7 | | AM | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
Nick | Chief | Olson | " " | 11:10 | 3 2 |
White | Police, | 3 | | AM | |
| Atlanta | | | | |
| | | | | |
Edw. | Thiel | Thiel | " " | 3:25 | 4 2 |
Meyer | | 8 | | PM | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
Jane | J. B. | Walker | " " | 11:10 | 7 1 |
Gray | Katz | 1 | | PM | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
Peter | Vera | Towne | " " | 11:30 | 6 1 |
Amt | Mann | 4 | | PM | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
Alex | Chief | Bower | " " | 11:45 | 5 1 |
Bass | Police, | 2 | | PM | |
| St. | | | | |
| Louis | | | | |
| | | | | |
Geo. | Mrs. | Owens | " " | 11:50 | 2 1 |
Holt | Holt | 3 | | PM | |
| | | | | |
-------+---------+---------+-------+-------+------+-------------
=56. Regular News Sources.=--Places that serve as news sources are known
as "beats" or "runs." The chief ones and the kinds of news found at each
are:
Associated Charities Headquarters: destitution, poverty, relief
work.
Boards of Trade, Brokers, Commission Men: market quotations;
sales of grain, stocks, and bonds; financial outlook.
Boxing Commission: boxing permissions and regulations.
Building Department, Real Estate Dealers, Architects: new
buildings, unsafe buildings.
Caterers: banquets, society dinners.
Civic Organizations: reform movements, speakers, etc.
Civil Courts: complaints, trials, decisions.
Commercial Club: business news.
Coroner's Office: fatal accidents, murders, suicides, suspicious
deaths.
County Clerk: marriage licenses, county statistics.
County Jail: arrests, crimes, executions.
Criminal Courts: arraignments, trials, verdicts.
Delicatessen Stores: banquets, society dinners.
Fire Department Headquarters: fires, fire losses, fire
regulations, condemned buildings.
Florists: banquets, dinners, receptions, social functions.
Health Department: births, deaths, contagious diseases, reports
on sanitation.
Hospitals: accidents, illnesses, deaths.
Hotels: important guests, banquets, dinners, social functions.
Labor Union Headquarters: labor news.
Morgue: unidentified corpses.
Police Headquarters: accidents, arrests, crimes, fires, lost and
found articles, missing persons, suicides, sudden or suspicious
deaths.
Political Clubs and Headquarters: county, state, and national
political news.
Probate Office: estates, wills.
Public Works Department: civic improvements.
Railway Offices: new rates, general shipping news.
Referee in Bankruptcy: assignments, failures, creditors'
meetings, appointments of receivers, settlements.
Register of Deeds: real estate sales and transfers.
Shipping Offices: departure and docking of vessels; cargoes,
shipping rates, passenger lists.
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: arrests,
complaints, animal stories.
Superintendent of Schools: educational news.
Vice Commission: arrests, complaints, raids.
=57. News Runs.=--These runs are distributed among the different
reporters, sometimes only one, sometimes three or four to a person. On a
small paper all of the runs, or all to be found in that town, may be
given to one reporter, the number assigned depending upon the size of
the town, the nature of the territory covered, and the willingness or
unwillingness of the owners to spend money in getting news. On the
larger papers, however, police headquarters generally provide work for
one man alone, known as the "watcher." In many cases he does no writing
at all, but merely watches the slips and the sheets for reports and
arrests, which he telephones to the city editor, who assigns other
reporters to get the details and write the stories. Another reporter
watches the city clerk's office and perhaps all the other departments in
the city hall, which he visits at random intervals during the day, but
without such close attention to any one office as is given to police
headquarters. Still another goes to the shipping offices and two or
three other places which he will visit ordinarily not more than once a
day. But whether he goes five times a day or only once, a reporter is
held responsible for all the news occurring on his run; and if he falls
short in his duty or lets some more nimble-witted reporter scoop him on
the news of his beat, he had better begin making himself friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness to receive him into their habitations; for a
scoop, even of a few minutes, by a rival publication is the unpardonable
sin with the city editor. The wise reporter never neglects any news
source on his run.
=58. Dark Runs.=--Before we take up methods of getting stories, one
other news source should be noted,--what reporters know as "dark runs,"
runs that are consistently productive of news, but which must be kept
"dark." Such places are garages, delicatessen stores, florists' shops,
and similar shops providing flowers, cakes, and luxuries for private
dinners and receptions. An unwritten law of trade makes it a breach of
professional etiquette for a shopkeeper to tell the names of purchasers
of goods, but many a proprietor, as a matter of business pride, is glad
to recount the names of his patrons on Lakeside Drive and their splendid
orders just given. Garage men, too, wishing it known that millionaire
automobile owners patronize their shops, often are willing to tell of
battered cars repaired by their men. All such sources are fertile with
stories. Many a rich man's automobile crashes into a culvert or a
telegraph pole and nobody knows of it but the mechanic in the repair
shop. Many a prominent club-man indulges in orgies of revelry and
dissipation of which none knows but the caterer and a few chosen,
non-committal friends. Many a society leader plans receptions and
dinners of which the florist learns before the friends who are to be
invited. And by skilfully encouraging the friendship of these tradesmen,
a shrewd reporter can obtain exclusive facts about prominent persons who
cannot understand, when they see their names in the morning paper, how
the information was made public. These "dark runs" justify diligent
attention. They produce news, and valuable is the reporter who can
include successfully a number of such sources in his daily rounds.
=59. Value of Wide Acquaintance.=--Attention may be directed, too, to
the need of deliberately cultivating friendships and acquaintances, not
only on these "dark runs," but wherever one goes--both on and off duty.
In the stores, along the street, on the cars, at the club, the alert
reporter gathers many an important news item. The merchant, the cabman,
the preacher, the barkeeper, the patrolman, the thug, the club-man, the
porter, all make valuable acquaintances, as they are able often to give
one stories or clues to the solution of problems that are all but
invaluable to the paper. And such facts as they present are given solely
because of their interest in the reporter. One should guard zealously,
however, against betraying the confidence of such friends. The reporter
must distinguish the difference between publishing a story gained from a
stranger by dint of shrewd interviewing, and printing the same story
obtained from a fellow club-man more or less confidentially over the
cigars and coffee. The stranger's information the reporter must publish.
No newspaper man has a right to suppress news obtained while on duty or
to accept the confidence of anyone, if by such confidence he is
precluded the right to publish certain facts. The publication or
non-publication of such news is a matter for the city editor's decision
alone. But a story obtained confidentially from a friend at the club or
in the home of a neighbor may not be used except with the express
permission of those persons. Many a man has seen himself and his paper
scooped because he was too honorable to betray the trust of his friends;
but such a single scoop is worth nothing in comparison with the
continued confidence of one's friends and their later prejudiced
assistance. Personal and professional integrity is a newspaper man's
first principle.
VII. GETTING THE STORY
=60. Starting for a Story.=--In the preceding chapter attention was
directed to news sources, to definite places for obtaining news. The
reporter's situation changes radically, however, when he is sent for a
story and is told merely that somebody at Grove and Spring streets has
been shot. There are four corners at Grove and Spring streets, and the
shooting may have occurred, not on the corner, but at the second or
third house from any one of the four corners, and maybe in a rear
apartment. On such an assignment one should have on hand cards and
plenty of paper and pencils. Every reporter should keep several sharp,
soft lead pencils. Folded copy paper is sufficient for note-taking. The
stage journalist appears always with conspicuous pencil and notebook,
but the practical newspaper man displays these insignia of his
profession as little as possible. A neat, engraved business card is
necessary because often it is the only means of admittance to a house.
=61. Use of the Telephone.=--If the name of the person shot at Spring
and Grove streets has been given him, the reporter may look it up in the
telephone and city directories, in order to get some idea of the man and
his profession. If the house has a telephone, the reporter may sometimes
use this means of getting information, but this step generally is not
advisable, as the telephone cannot be trusted on important stories. A
person can ring off too easily if he prefers not to answer questions,
and his gestures and facial expressions, emphasizing or denying the
statements that his lips make, cannot be seen. The telephone is rather
to be used for running down rumors and tips, for obtaining unimportant
interviews, and for getting stories which the persons concerned wish to
have appear in the paper. If in this case the reporter has doubts about
the shooting, he may telephone to a nearby bakery or meat market to
verify the rumor, but he had better not telephone the house. Let him go
there in person.
=62. City Maps.=--If the reporter does not know the name of the
individual shot or the location of Grove and Spring streets, he should
consult his city map to learn precisely where he is going. If he is in a
hurry, he may examine the map on his way to the car line, or while he is
calling a taxi. Actually he ought to know the city so well that he need
not consult a map at all (and the man whose ambition is to be a
first-class reporter will soon acquire that knowledge), but to a
beginner, a map is valuable.
=63. Finding the Place.=--Having arrived at Grove and Spring streets,
the reporter should go first to the policeman on the beat. Unless the
shooting is one that for some reason has been hushed up, the policeman
will know all the main details. Usually, too, if approached courteously,
he will be glad to point out the house and tell what he knows. If he
knows nothing or pretends ignorance, the reporter must seek the house
itself; nor must he be discouraged if he fails to get his information at
the first, second, or third house, nor indeed after he has inquired at
every door in the adjacent blocks. There are still left the neighborhood
stores,--the groceries, bakeries, saloons, meat markets, and barber
shops,--and maybe in the last one of these, the barber shop, a customer
with his coat off, waiting for a shave, will remember that he heard
somebody say a man by the name of Davis was shot "around the corner."
But he does not know what corner, or where the man lives, or his
initials, or who gave him his information.
=64. Regular Reports to the City Editor.=--The reporter's first step now
is to go to the corner drugstore and examine the telephone and city
directories for every Davis living in the neighborhood. While in the
drugstore he may call up the city editor and report progress on the
story. When away on an assignment there is need always of reporting
regularly, particularly if one is working on an afternoon paper. Some
city editors require a man to telephone every hour whether he has any
news or not. A big story may break and the city editor may have nobody
to handle it, or the office may have fuller information about the story
which the reporter is investigating. Besides, on an afternoon paper
where an edition is appearing every hour or so, every fresh detail,
though small, may be of interest to readers following the story.
=65. Retracing One's Work.=--If no Davises are listed in the city or
telephone directories, or none of those whose names appear knows
anything of the shooting, the reporter's work of inquiry is still
unfinished. He must go back to the patrolman on the beat and inquire if
any person by the name of Davis has recently moved into the
neighborhood,--since, for instance, the last city directory was
published. Failing again, he must make once more the rounds of the
houses on or near the four corners and of the neighborhood shops,
inquiring in each instance for Mr. Davis. If there is a grocery store, a
bakery, or a laundry in the vicinity, he must be sure to inquire there,
particularly at the laundry, as the proprietors of those places are the
first to get the names of newcomers in a neighborhood. The laundries
must have names and addresses for deliveries, while housewives exchange
gossip daily in the other places between purchases of vegetables and
yeast cakes.
=66. Need of Determination.=--If the reporter still fails, he must not
give up even yet without first resorting to every other measure that the
special circumstances of the case make possible. There is never a story
without some way to unearth it, and every such story is potentially a
great one. A telephone message to the leading hospitals may bring
results. Inquiry at the corner houses in the four adjoining blocks may
disclose a Mr. Davis. Inquiry of the children skating along the sidewalk
may unearth him. But in any event, the reporter must not give up until
he has investigated every available clue. The city editor does not want
and will not take excuses for failures to bring back stories; he wants
stories.
=67. Gaining Access for an Interview.=--If at his last place of inquiry,
perhaps from one of the skating children, the reporter learns it was not
Mr. Davis at all who was shot, but Mr. Davidson, who may be found three
blocks down at Spring and Grosvenor streets, his task now immediately
changes to gaining access to Mr. Davidson, or to Mrs. Davidson, or to
some one in the building who can give him the facts. Here is where his
card may serve. If Mr. Davidson has rooms in a hotel, he may send his
card up by a bellboy; if in a club, he may give it to the porter at the
door. If the house at Spring and Grosvenor streets, however, is plainly
one where a card would be out of place, he may simply inquire for Mr.
Davidson. It is not at all improbable that Mr. Davidson was only
slightly injured and one may be permitted to see him. If, however, the
person answering the door states that Mr. Davidson cannot be seen, as he
was injured that morning, the reporter may express his interest and
inquire the cause, thus making a natural and easy step toward what
newspaper men generally consider the most difficult phase of
reporting,--the interview.
=68. Requirements for Interviewing.=--Broadly speaking, there are six
requirements for successful interviewing: a pleasing presence, the
ability to question judiciously, a quick perception of news even in
chance remarks, a retentive memory, the power to detect falsehood
readily, and the ability to single out characteristic phrases.
Technically, an interview is a consultation with a man of rank for the
sake of publishing his opinions. In practice, however, because the term
_man of rank_ is hazy in its inclusiveness, the word has come to mean
consultation with any person for the purpose of reporting his views. And
in this sense the word _interview_ will be used in this volume.
=69. A Pleasing Presence.=--The first requisite for successful
interviewing, a pleasing presence, must be interpreted broadly. In the
term are included immaculacy of person and linen, as well as tact,
courtesy, and all those qualities that make for ease of mind while
conversing. Clothes may not make a man, but the lack of them will ruin a
reporter. An unshaven face or a collar of yesterday's wear will do a
newspaper man so much harm in some persons' eyes that all the shrewd
questions he can ask during the interview will be of little value. Lack
of tact in approaching or addressing a man will have the same
unfortunate result. Many reporters think that by resorting to flattery
they can induce men to talk; then they wonder why they fail. A reporter
must keep in mind that the persons he interviews usually possess as keen
intellects as his own and mere flattery will be quickly detected and
resented.
=70. Courtesy.=--Above all things in his purpose to present a pleasing
presence, the interviewer must possess unfailing courtesy. He must never
forget that he is a gentleman, no matter what the other person may be.
He cannot afford to permit himself even to become angry. Anger does not
pay, for two reasons. In the first place, when a reporter loses his
temper, he immediately loses his head. He becomes so absorbed in his own
emotions that he cannot question shrewdly or remember clearly what is
said by the man from whom he would extract information. In the second
place, anger creates hostility, and a hostile man or woman not only does
not willingly give information, but will be an enemy of the paper
forever afterward. Always, therefore, the interviewer must be courteous,
knowing that kindness begets kindness and that the other fellow, if
approached rightly, will respond in the end to his own mood.
=71. Asking Questions.=--Concerning the second requirement for
interviewing, judicious questioning, only general precepts can be given.
The reporter must rely largely on himself. As a rule, however, the
personal equation should be considered. Every man is interested in
himself and his work, and the interviewer often may start him talking by
beginning on work. The essential thing is to get some topic that will
launch him into easy, natural conversation. Then, with his man started,
the interviewer may well keep silent. Only a cub reporter will interrupt
the natural flow of conversation for the sake merely of giving his own
views. If the man runs too far afield, the reporter may guide the
conversation back to the original topic; but he may well subject himself
to much irrelevant talk for the sake of guiding his informer back
gracefully to the topic of interest.
=72. Persons Seeking Advertisement.=--From the standpoint of the
newspaper man, there are three classes of persons one encounters in
interviewing: those who talk, those who will not, and those who do not
know they are divulging secrets. Concerning the first little need be
said. Such persons talk because they enjoy seeing their names in print.
It is a marvel how many men and women object with seeming sincerity to
their names being made public property, yet at the same time give the
reporter full details for the story he wishes and hand him their cards
so that he may spell their names correctly. Many such celebrities will
stand for any kind of interview, so that the reporter need only
determine in advance what he would have them say to make a good story.
With them advertisement is so much personal gain; they are glad to
accede to any sort of odd statement for the sake of possible public
notice. Such persons are to be avoided; advertisements are written by
the advertising manager or his helpers and fixed prices are charged.
=73. Persons Refusing to Talk.=--With the second and third classes,
however, the interviewer must be careful, particularly with the second.
Men who will not talk are usually well acquainted with the world.
Sometimes they may be forced into making statements by asking them
questions that will almost certainly arouse their anger and so make them
speak hastily, but the reporter himself must be doubly careful in such
cases to keep his own temper sweet. Oftentimes such men, particularly
society criminals and others who possess an especial fear of having
their wrong-doing known among their friends, try to keep from being
written up by saying they are unwilling to make any kind of statement
for publication, but that they will do so in court if anything is
published about them. The reporter will not let such a threat daunt him.
He will get the facts and present them to the city editor with the
person's hint of criminal action, then let the city editor determine the
problem of publication.
=74. Persons Divulging Secrets.=--Frequently a person of the second
class may be slyly converted into the group of those who do not know
they are divulging secrets, by the reporter deliberately leading away
from the topic about which he has come for an interview, then circling
round to the hazardous subject when the person interviewed is off his
guard. Probably the most ticklish situation in all reporting is here. To
make a person tell what he knows without knowing that he is telling is
the pinnacle of the art of interviewing. As Mr. Richard Harding Davis
has so exactly expressed it:
Reporters become star reporters because they observe things that
other people miss and because they do not let it appear that
they have observed them. When the great man who is being
interviewed blurts out that which is indiscreet but most
important, the cub reporter says: "That's most interesting, sir.
I'll make a note of that." And so warns the great man into
silence. But the star reporter receives the indiscreet utterance
as though it bored him; and the great man does not know he has
blundered until he reads of it the next morning under screaming
headlines.[4]
[4] _The Red Cross Girl_, p. 7.
It is for such reasons that a quick perception of news even in chance
remarks is a requisite for interviewing. If one does not grasp instantly
the value of a bit of information, the expression of his face or his
actions will give him away later when a full realization of the worth of
the news comes to him, or else he will not be able to recall precisely
the facts given.
=75. Retentive Memory.=--It is for the same reason, too, that a
retentive memory is necessary. Fifty per cent of those interviewed will
be frightened at the sight of a notebook. And all men become cautious
when they realize that their statements are being taken down word for
word. The reporter must correlate properly and keep firmly in mind the
facts gleaned in the interview, then get as quickly as possible to some
place where he can record what he has learned. Many an interviewer will
listen a half-hour without taking a note, then spend the next half-hour
on a horse-block or a curb writing down what the person interviewed has
said. Other reporters with shorter memories carry pencil stubs and bits
of specially cut white cardboard, and while looking the interviewed man
in the eye, take down statistics and characteristic phrases on the
cards. Some even, as on the stage and in the moving pictures, take
occasional notes on their cuffs,--all this in an effort to make the one
interviewed talk unrestrainedly.
=76. Use of Shorthand.=--A word may be said here concerning shorthand.
Its use in interviewing and in general news reports should not be too
much encouraged, even when a man is entirely willing to have his exact
words recorded. Often it deadens the presentation of news. Shorthand has
its value as far as accuracy and record of occasional statements are
concerned, and may well be used, but its too faithful use has a tendency
to take from news stories the imagination that is necessary for a
complete and truthful presentation. The stenographic reporter becomes so
intent upon the words of the person he is quoting that he misses the
spirit of the interview and is liable to produce a formal, lifeless
story. The reporter may well use shorthand as a walking cane, but not as
a crutch.
=77. Precise Questions in Interviews.=--If one finds exactness of
statement a requisite, one may obtain shorthand results by bringing
along a sheet of typewritten questions for submission to the person
interviewed. These questions the person must answer definitely or else
evade, in either case furnishing story material. But whether a reporter
comes armed with such a list of questions or not, he must at least have
definitely in mind the exact purpose of his visit and the precise
questions he wants answered. In the majority of cases the reason that
interviewers meet with such unwelcome receptions from great men is that
the latter are too busy to waste time with pottering reporters.
Certainly the men themselves say so. President Wilson declares that of
the visitors to the White House not one in ten knows precisely why he
has come, states definitely what he wants, and leaves promptly when he
has finished. Such persons are an annoyance to busy men and women, and
the newspaper man who can dispatch quickly the business of his visit
will more likely meet with a favorable reception next time.
=78. Learning a Man's Career.=--As an aid to interviewing prominent men,
whether one typewrites one's questions in advance or merely determines
what in general one will ask, the reporter should have a good general
knowledge of the man's career and what he has accomplished in his
particular field, so that the noted man may not be forced to go too much
into detail to make his conversation clear to the interviewer. Some men
seem annoyed when asked to explain technical terms or to review
well-known incidents in their lives. Such facts may be obtained from the
files of the morgue, from encyclopedias, from the _Who's Who_ volumes,
and from local men associated in the same kind of work. Frequently one
will find it advisable to consult the city editor and other members of
the staff, as well as local or less known men, by way of preparation for
interviewing a prominent visitor.
=79. Ability to Detect Falsehood.=--The fifth requirement for successful
interviewing, and the last to be discussed in this chapter,[5] is the
ability to detect falsehood readily. All persons who talk for
publication speak with a purpose. Sometimes they talk for
self-exploitation; occasionally they wish to pay a grudge against
another man. Sometimes their purpose is what they say it is; often it is
not. Sometimes they tell the exact truth; frequently they do not, even
when they think they are speaking truthfully. It may seem odd, but it is
true that comparatively few of the persons one questions about even the
most commonplace occurrences can give unbiased reports of events. They
were too much excited over the affair to observe accurately, or they are
too much prejudiced for or against the persons involved to witness
judicially. The reporter, therefore, must take into consideration their
mental caliber and every possible motive they may have for acting or
speaking as they do. If the person who met the reporter a moment ago at
Mr. Davidson's door was his wife and she refused to talk about the
shooting, or said he was not shot, she evidently had a motive for her
statement. And if the woman next door recounts with too much relish and
in too high-pitched tones the cat-and-dog life of the Davidsons or their
declared intentions each of killing the other, the reporter had better
take care. She is probably venting an old-time grudge against her
neighbors, whose son last month broke a window-pane in her house.
Countless libel suits might have been avoided had the reporters been
able to detect falsehood more readily.
[5] The value of characteristic phrases and gestures
in the interview is discussed on page 130.
=80. Questioning Everyone.=--Because of these sharp discrepancies in
men's natures and the fact that everyone sees an event from his own
individual angle, it is necessary for a reporter to question everybody
in any way connected with a story. He should see not only Mr. and Mrs.
Davidson, if possible, but other witnesses of the shooting,
acquaintances in the neighborhood, the servants in the house, and anyone
else, no matter how humble, likely in any way to be connected with or to
have knowledge of the occurrence. Oftentimes a janitor, a maid, or a
chauffeur will divulge facts that the mistress or the detective bureau
would not disclose for large sums of money. Frequently a child in the
yard or on the back steps will give invaluable information. This is
particularly true when the older persons are attempting to conceal facts
or are too much excited from a death or an accident to talk. Children
usually are less unstrung by distressing events and can give a more
connected account. Moreover, they are almost always willing to talk, and
they generally try to tell the truth.
=81. A Person's Previous Record.=--It is also well to inquire
particularly about the past history or the previous record of the person
involved. If the woman is a divorcee or the man an ex-convict, or if one
of the children previously has been arraigned in police court for
delinquency, or if any one of the participants has ever been drawn into
public notice, such items will be worth much in identifying the
characters in the story. If the man whose house is burning lost another
house, well insured, a year ago; if the widow has married secretly her
chauffeur two months after her husband's sudden death from ptomaine
poisoning; if the man who spoke last night was the preacher who declared
all protestant churches will some day return to the confessional;--if
such facts can be obtained, they will add greatly to the interest and
the value of the story, and the reporter should make every effort to
obtain them. Their interest lies, of course, either in the fact that
they aid the public in identifying the persons, or that they provide
material for interesting conjectures as to probable results. Sometimes,
indeed, this correlation of present and past facts grows so important
that it becomes the main story.
=82. Full Details.=--While questioning different persons in an attempt
to get all the facts, one should take care to record all details. It is
far easier to throw away unneeded material when writing up the events
than to return to the scene for neglected information. In particular,
one should learn the name and address of every person in any way
connected with the story, no matter how much trouble it may require to
get the information. A man who is merely incidental at the beginning of
the inquiry may prove of prime importance an hour later or in the
follow-up next day. Even the telephone number of persons likely in any
way to become prominent--or where such persons may be reached by
telephone--should be obtained. For, try as one will to get all the
facts, one often needs to get additional information after returning to
the office. In such a plight, it is of great value to know where a man
may be reached who does not have a telephone in his own home. Pictures,
too, of the persons concerned are valuable. The news-reading public
likes illustrations, and whether the photograph is or is not used, it is
easily returnable by next day's mail. All papers promise to return
photographs unharmed.
=83. Getting Names Correctly.=--It would seem unnecessary to urge the
necessity of getting initials and street addresses and of spelling
names correctly; yet so many newspaper men err here that specific
attention must be directed to it. Numerous libel suits have been started
because a reporter got an initial or a street address wrong and there
happened to be in the city another person with the printed name and
street address. Even if the story does not contain cause for libel, a
person whose name has been misspelled never quite forgives a journal for
getting it wrong. The reporter should remember that many of the Smiths
in the world are Smythes in print and many of the Catherines spell it
Katharyne in the city directory. And such persons are sensitive.
=84. Speeches.=--In covering speeches the reporter should make an effort
to get advance copies of what the speaker intends to say,--and a
photograph of him if he is an important personage. A large per cent of
the impassioned and seemingly spontaneous bursts of oratory that one
hears on church, lecture, and political platforms are but verbal
reproductions of typewritten manuscript in the speaker's inside coat
pocket, and if the newspaper man will ask for carbon copies of the
oratory, the lecturer will be glad to provide them in advance,--in order
to have himself quoted correctly. He will also be glad to provide the
photograph. These advance copies of speeches are called "release"
stories. That is, they are marked at the top of the first page,
"Release, June 12, 9:30 P.M.," meaning that no publication shall be made
of that material before 9:30 P.M. of June 12. Newspapers always regard
scrupulously a release date, and a reporter need never hesitate to give
his word that publication of speeches, messages, and reports will be
withheld until after delivery. An editor of a paper in the Middle West
once thought to scoop the world by printing the President's message to
Congress the evening before its delivery, but he was so promptly barred
from the telegraphic wires thereafter that he paid dearly for his
violation of professional honor. With these advance copies of speeches
in his possession the reporter may write at his own convenience his
account of the lecture; or if he is rushed--and has the permission of
the city editor--he may even stay away from the meeting. On the other
hand, if the speaker is of national importance, it may be well to
consult with the city editor about going out fifty miles or more to
catch the train on which the distinguished guest is coming. In this way
one can have an interview ready for publication by the time the great
man arrives and sometimes can obtain a valuable scoop on rival papers.
=85. Attending Lectures.= Where one is not able to get a typewritten
copy of a speech, the only alternative is to attend the lecture.
Newspaper men usually are provided with free tickets, which they should
obtain in advance, as the rush of the lecture hour throws unexpected
duties on those responsible for the program, and one may sometimes be
considerably inconvenienced in getting an admission card. Inside there
is generally a table close to the platform, where newspaper men may
write comfortably. If the reporter has been given an advance copy of the
speech, he should listen closely for any variations from the typewritten
manuscript, as speakers in the excitement resulting from the applause or
disapproval of the audience often lose their heads and make indiscreet
statements or disclose state secrets that furnish the best story
material for the paper next morning. If one does not have an advance
copy, one should attempt to get the speech by topics, with occasional
verbatim passages of particularly pithy or dynamic passages. As in the
case of interviews, it is better not to attempt to take too much of the
lecture word for word. The significance, the spirit of the address is of
greater worth than mere literalness. If the city editor wants a verbatim
report, he will send a stenographer.
=86. A Newspaper Man's Honor.=--In conclusion, emphasis may be laid on
the reporter's attitude toward obtaining news. He must go after a story
with the determination to get it and to get it honorably. Once he has
started after an item, he must not give up until he has succeeded. But
he must succeed with honor. Stories are rampant over the United States
of newspaper men stealing through basement windows at night, listening
at keyholes, bribing jurymen to break their oath, and otherwise
transgressing the limits of law and honor. But the day of such
reportorial methods has passed. To-day a newspaper expects every man on
its staff to be a gentleman. It wants no lawbreakers or sneaks. Stories
must be obtained honestly and written up honestly. The man who fakes a
story or willfully distorts facts for the sake of injuring a man or
making a good news article will be discharged from any reputable
newspaper in America. And he ought to be.
VIII. ORGANIZATION OF THE STORY
=87. On the Way to the Office.=--The organization of the news material
before beginning to write makes for speed, accuracy, and interest. On
the way back to the office the reporter must employ his time as
profitably as when getting the news, so that when he enters the city
room he may have his facts arranged for developing into story form and
may be able to hang his article on the city editor's hook in the
briefest time possible.
=88. Speed.=--Next to accuracy, speed is a newspaper man's most valuable
asset. Some journalists even put speed first, and Mr. Thomas Herbert
Warren but voiced the opinion of many of the fraternity when he wrote,
Thrice blessed he whose statements we can trust,
But four times he who gets his news in fust.
When the reporter starts back to the office, he has in his pocket a mass
of jumbled facts, most of which have a bearing on the prospective story,
but many of which have not. Even those facts that are relevant are
scattered confusedly among the different sheets, so that in order to
write his story he must first rearrange his notes entirely. He may
regroup these mentally while writing, by jumping with his eye up and
down the pages, hunting on the backs of some sheets, and twisting his
head sideways to get notes written crosswise on others. But all this
takes valuable time,--so much, indeed, that the wise reporter will have
on hand, either in his mind or on paper, a definite plan for his story.
=89. Accuracy.=--That the reorganization of one's notes preparatory to
writing will aid accuracy of statement and of presentation needs little
argument. To paraphrase Herbert Spencer's words on reading: A reporter
has at each moment but a limited amount of mental power available. To
recognize and interpret the facts recorded in his notes requires part of
his power; to strike in ordered sequence the typewriter keys that will
put those facts on paper requires an additional part; and only that part
which remains can be used for putting his ideas into forceful, accurate
sentences. Hence, the more time and attention it takes to read and
understand one's notes, the less time and attention can be given to
expressing the ideas, and the less vividly will those ideas be
presented. Moreover, when a writer attempts to compose from jumbled
notes, because of his attention being riveted on expressing clearly and
forcefully what he has jotted down, he is liable to include in his story
facts that do not properly belong there, or to omit some illegibly
written but important item, and so fail to present the incidents fairly
and accurately.
=90. Interest.=--Finally, the third reason for ordering one's notes
carefully before writing is to insure interest to the reader. The same
story almost always can be presented in several different ways. Every
story, too, must possess a specific point, a _raison d'être_: as, the
heinousness of the crime, the cleverness of the brigands, the loneliness
of the widow. This _point_ of the story, this angle from which the
reporter writes, is determined largely by the writer's selection of
details, which in turn is dominated by the policy of the paper and the
interest of the readers. If the paper and its patrons care particularly
for humorous stories, certain dolorous facts are omitted or placed in
unimportant positions, and the readers have a fair but amusing view of
the occurrence. If they favor sob stories, the same incident, by a
different selection or arrangement of details, may be made pathetic. But
the reporter must select his details with such a purpose in mind. And
unless he has some such definite motive and has so organized his
material before beginning to write, he will present a more or less
prosaic narrative of events with little specific appeal to the reader.
Of course, one oftentimes is too rushed to take so much care in
preparation for writing. Frequently, indeed, a reporter cannot wait
until he can get back to the office, but must telephone the facts in to
a rewrite man, who will put them into story form. But it is fair to say
that the discerning reporter never idles away his time in the smoking
compartment of the car when returning with a story. His mind is, and
should be, engrossed with the story, which he should strive to make so
good that it will appear on the front page of the paper.
=91. Four Orders of Organization.=--In organizing material for writing,
one may adopt any one or a combination of four different orders: time
order, space order, climactic order, complex order. Of these, probably
ninety-five per cent of all the news stories published are organized on
the time order or a combination of it with one or more of the other
three. Of the remaining three, probably four per cent of the stories are
written in the climactic order, leaving only about one per cent for the
space and complex orders. Numerous articles, of course, are a
combination of two or more of these orders.
=92. Time Order.=--The time order is a simple chronological arrangement
of the incidents, as illustrated in the following:
=BOY BURNS TOES IN BED=
|Fearing the wrath of his father, Kenneth Cavert, |
|5-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. George Cavert, Rankin|
|and Franklin streets, suffered in silence while fire|
|in his bed Friday evening painfully burned two of |
|his toes and caused severe burns on his body. |
| |
|The lad went to bed shortly after dark Friday |
|evening. About a half-hour later he went downstairs |
|for a drink. A few minutes later he went down again |
|for a drink. |
| |
|Shortly afterward Mr. and Mrs. Cavert smelled cloth |
|burning in the house, and going upstairs to |
|investigate, found the boy in bed, wide awake, the |
|blankets in flames, which surrounded the lad and had|
|already seared his toes. One of the bed rails was |
|burned almost in two and the bed clothing ruined. |
| |
|The lad afterward said he went downstairs to get a |
|mouthful of water to spit on the flames. "I spit as |
|hard as I could," said he, "but I couldn't put out |
|the fire." |
| |
|Although he will not tell how the fire started, it |
|is supposed he was playing with matches.[6] |
[6] _Appleton_ (Wisconsin) _Daily Post_, October 14, 1915.
=93. Space Order.=--The space order explains itself, being nothing else
than descriptive writing. The following story of the _Eastland_ disaster
in 1915 illustrates the space order:
=VICTIMS' PROPERTY LISTED=
|A line of showcases extends down the center of the |
|public hearing room on the first floor of the city |
|hall. Arranged for display are a hundred or more |
|cameras of all sizes, thermos bottles, purses, hand |
|bags, and even a snare drum. |
| |
|Around the room are racks on which are hanging |
|cloaks and coats, here a red sweater, there a white |
|corduroy cloak. Under them are heaps of hats, mostly|
|men's straw, obviously of this year's make. There |
|are several hundred women's headgear, decorated with|
|feathers and ribbons. |
| |
|Along one side are piled suit cases and satchels, |
|open for inspection. They are packed for departure |
|with toothbrushes and toothpaste, packages of gum, |
|tobacco and books. A dozen baseball bats are leaning|
|against one of the pillars near the end of the |
|showcase. There are several uniforms to be worn by |
|bandmen. In the extreme corner, surrounded by |
|hundreds of shoes, of all kinds, is a collapsible |
|go-cart. |
| |
|De Witt C. Cregier, city collector, stood behind one|
|of the showcases yesterday afternoon, with a |
|jeweler's glass, examining bits of ornament. |
| |
|Piled before him in long rows were envelops. One by |
|one, he or his assistants dumped the contents on the|
|glass case and read off descriptions of each article|
|to a stenographer: |
| |
|"One pocket mirror, picture of girl on back; one |
|amethyst filigree pendant; one round gold embossed |
|bracelet; gold bow eye-glasses; Hawthorne club badge|
|attached to fob; two $1 bills." |
| |
|As the articles were listed they were put back into |
|the envelops. Had it not been for one circumstance, |
|it might have been a pawnshop inventory. |
| |
|There was the jewelry worth more than $10,000, |
|articles for personal use, and musical instruments. |
|But under the long rows of coats, hats, and shoes, |
|there was a pool of water. It dripped from the red |
|sweater onto a straw hat beneath. It fell into shoes|
|and the place smelled of wet leather. |
| |
|When the bodies of those who perished in the |
|_Eastland_ disaster were removed from the water, |
|their clothing and jewelry were taken by the police |
|and tabulated. There was no space in the custodian's|
|office; so he hastily fitted up the public |
|hearing-room, brought in showcases and had |
|carpenters build racks for the clothing....[7] |
[7] _Chicago Tribune_, July 26, 1915.
=94. Climactic Order.=--The climactic order is that in which the
incidents are so arranged that the reader shall not know the outcome
until he reaches the last one or two sentences. The following story,
though brief, illustrates well the climactic order of arrangement:
=VALUED A DRESS ABOVE LIFE=
|First, there was the young man. One night, while |
|they were on the way to a movie, Ambrosia noticed |
|the young man was looking rather critically at her |
|dress. |
| |
|When one is 17 and lives in a big city where there |
|are any number of girls just as good looking, |
|besides a lot who are better looking, it is a |
|serious matter when a young man begins to look |
|critically at one's dress. |
| |
|Particularly is it serious when the acquisition of a|
|new dress is a matter of much painstaking planning; |
|of dispensing with this or that at luncheon; of |
|walking to work every day instead of only when the |
|weather is fine; and of other painful sacrifices. |
| |
|Ambrosia didn't say anything. She pretended she |
|hadn't noticed the young man's look. But that night,|
|in her room on East Thirteenth Street, Ambrosia |
|indulged in some higher mathematics. It might as |
|well be vouchsafed here that the address on East |
|Thirteenth Street is 1315, and that Ambrosia's name |
|is Dallard, and that she is an operator for the Bell|
|Telephone Company. The net result of her |
|calculations was that, no matter how hard she saved,|
|she wouldn't be able to buy a new dress until |
|December or January. Meanwhile,--but Ambrosia knew |
|there couldn't be any meanwhile. She had to have |
|that dress. |
| |
|Ambrosia found a card, and on it was the name of a |
|firm which ardently assured her it wanted to afford |
|her credit. Then there was a little something about |
|a dollar down and a dollar a week until paid for. |
| |
|So Ambrosia got her dress. It had cost her $1, and |
|it would be entirely hers when she had paid $14 |
|more. Ambrosia wore it to a movie and the young man |
|admiringly informed her she "was all dolled up." And|
|everyone was happy. |
| |
|One never can tell about dresses, though; |
|particularly $15 ones. One night, when Ambrosia was |
|wearing the new possession for the third time, it |
|developed a long rip. The cloth was defective. |
| |
|Ambrosia took the dress back. The installment firm |
|was sorry, but could do nothing, and of course the |
|firm expected her to keep paying for it. |
| |
|Ambrosia left the dress, and went back to her old |
|one. The young man noticed it the next time they |
|went out together. Shortly afterward, when he should|
|have called, he didn't. A collector for the |
|installment house did, though. Meanwhile, Ambrosia |
|was saving to buy another dress. She was quite |
|emphatic about the bill from the installment |
|house--she wouldn't pay it. |
| |
|Once in awhile she saw the young man, but she didn't|
|care for more calls until the new dress was |
|forthcoming. |
| |
|Tuesday it looked as if everything would come out |
|all right. She had $9 saved. Wednesday she would |
|draw her salary--$6. She knew where she could buy |
|just what she wanted for $12.50. It was much better |
|looking than the old dress and better material. She |
|even made an anticipatory engagement with the young |
|man. |
| |
|Wednesday came--Ambrosia went to draw her salary. |
|The installment house had garnisheed it. |
| |
|To-day Ambrosia's job is being kept open by the |
|telephone company, and it is thought some |
|arrangement may be made by which the installment |
|house will not garnishee her salary next week. |
| |
|At the General Hospital she is reported as resting |
|well. She was taken there in an ambulance yesterday |
|afternoon after trying to kill herself by inhaling |
|chloroform.[8] |
[8] _Kansas City Star_, January 1, 1917.
=95. Complex Order.=--The complex order, sometimes called the order of
increasing complication, is that in which the writer proceeds from the
known to the unknown. Generally a story following this method of
organization is nothing else than simple exposition. The following
Associated Press story illustrates the type:
=AËRIAL TORPEDO BOAT INVENTED=
[_By Associated Press._]
|Washington, July 22.--An aërial torpedo boat for |
|attack on ships in protected harbors is projected, |
|it was learned to-day, in patents just issued to |
|Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, now attached to the |
|navy war college, but formerly aid for operations to|
|Secretary Daniels. |
| |
|The plan contemplates equipping a monster aeroplane,|
|similar to a number now under construction in this |
|country for the British government, with a Whitehead|
|torpedo of regulation navy type. |
| |
|Swooping down at a distance of five sea miles from |
|the object of attack, the air craft would drop its |
|deadly passenger into the water just as it would |
|have been launched from a destroyer. The impact sets|
|the torpedo's machinery in motion and it is off at a|
|speed of more than forty knots an hour toward the |
|enemy ship. |
| |
|Admiral Fiske believes the flying torpedo boat would|
|make it possible to attack a fleet even within a |
|landlocked harbor. The range of the newest navy |
|torpedoes is ten thousand yards and even the older |
|types will be effective at seven thousand yards. |
| |
|Carried on a huge aeroplane, the 2,000 pound weapon |
|would be taken over harbor defenses at an altitude |
|safe from gunfire. Once over the bay, the machine |
|would glide down to within ten or twenty feet of |
|water, the torpedo rudders would be set and it would|
|be dropped to do its work while the aeroplane arose |
|and sped away.[9] |
[9] _Minneapolis Tribune_, July 22, 1915.
=96. Climactic Order Difficult.=--Of the four organization plans, the
hardest by far to develop is the climactic order, which should be
avoided by young reporters. This method of arrangement is on the
short-story order, and the beginner will find it difficult to group his
incidents so that each shall lead up to and explain those following and
at the same time add to the reader's interest. Some papers as yet admit
only rarely the story developed climactically, but it is growing in
popularity and the reporter should know how to handle it.
=97. Important Details.=--With the climactic order of arrangement
eliminated, the reporter is practically limited to the simple time
order, or a combination of it with one of the other two kinds,--which is
the normal type of story. But he must keep in mind one other factor,--to
place the most important details first and the least important last.
There are two reasons why this method of arrangement is necessary. In
the first place, readers want all the main details first, so that they
may learn immediately whether or not they are interested in the story
and if it will be worth their while to read the whole article. They are
too busy to read everything in the paper; they can choose only those
stories that excite their interest. If, therefore, they can learn in the
first paragraph what the whole story is about, they will not be delayed
and fatigued unnecessarily by reading non-essentials with the hope of
finding something worth while.
=98. Unimportant Details.=--The second reason for such an organization
is that stories appearing in the early editions have to be cut down to
fit into the more valuable and limited space of the later issues. At the
beginning of the day news is relatively scarce, and the front-page,
left-hand column of the first edition may carry a story that will be cut
in half in the city edition and be relegated to an inside page. More
important news has come in as the day has aged. A reporter, therefore,
must plan his stories with a view to having the last part, if necessary,
cut off,--so that, indeed, if the news editor should prune the story
down to only the first paragraph, the reader would still be given the
gist of what has happened. Note the following story, how it may be cut
off at any paragraph and still present a perfect, though less imposing
whole:
=SCHOOLBOY SUES BRIDE, AGED 40=
|Villisca, Ia., Dec. 27.--Claude Bates, 17 years old |
|and formerly of Villisca, has brought suit in Polk |
|county for the annulment of his marriage to the |
|widow Patrick, 40 years old and the mother of four |
|children, two of whom are older than their |
|stepfather. |
| |
|Bates is still in school, and became acquainted with|
|the widow when he went to her home to call on one of|
|her daughters. According to the petition, young |
|Bates made such a hit with the mother of his best |
|girl that she herself fell in love with him, and was|
|soon a rival of her own daughter. The older woman |
|knew many tricks with which the daughter was |
|unacquainted, and in the end she managed to "bag" |
|the game. |
| |
|The marriage, which took place in Chicago, was kept |
|a secret even after the couple returned home, and it|
|was not until young Bates told the whole story to |
|his mamma a few days ago that his family had an |
|inkling of the true state of affairs. Now the suit |
|has been filed by the boy's mother, because the |
|young husband himself is too young to go into court |
|without a guardian. |
| |
|As one of the causes of the suit, the petition cites|
|that Bates was inveigled into the marriage through |
|"the wiles, artifices, and protestations of love" on|
|the part of the widow. Furthermore, the petition |
|charges that the two were married under assumed |
|names, that their ages were falsely given, and that |
|their residences, as given the marriage clerk, were |
|false. |
| |
|According to the petition, young Bates was attending|
|school, where he met Mrs. Patrick's daughter and |
|fell in love with her. He called at the house and |
|met the mother, who was divorced from her first |
|husband some ten years ago. There were four of the |
|Patrick children, their ages being 13, 15, 17, and |
|20 years. Bates himself was just 15 at that time. |
|The petition sets up that almost immediately after |
|becoming acquainted with Mrs. Patrick the latter |
|began her attempts to induce young Bates to marry |
|her.[10] |
[10] _Des Moines Register_, December 27, 1914.
=99. Accuracy of Presentation.=--One very definite caution must be given
concerning the organization of the story,--the necessity of presenting
facts with judicial impartiality. When the reporter is arranging his
material preparatory to writing, casting away a note here and jotting
down another there, he can easily warp the whole narrative by an unfair
arrangement of details or a prejudiced point of view. Frequently a story
may be woefully distorted by the mere suppression of a single fact. A
newspaper man has no right willfully to keep back information or to
distort news. Unbiased stories, or stories as nearly unbiased as
possible, are what newspapers want. And while one may legitimately order
one's topics to produce a particular effect of humor, pathos, joy, or
sorrow, one should never allow the desire for an effect to distort the
presentation of the facts.
IX. THE LEAD[11]
[11] Before reading this chapter, the student should examine
the style book in the Appendix, particularly that part
dealing with the preparation of copy for the city desk.
=100. Instructions from the City Editor.=--Before beginning the story,
the reporter should stop at the city editor's desk, give him in as few
words as possible an account of what he has learned, and ask for
instructions about handling the story, about any feature or features to
play up. The city editor may not offer any advice at all, may simply say
to write the story for what it is worth. In such a case, the reporter is
at liberty to go ahead as he has planned; and he should have his copy on
the city editor's desk within a very few minutes. The city editor,
however, may tell him to feature a certain incident and to write it up
humorously. If the reporter has observed keenly, he himself will already
have chosen the same incident and may still proceed with the writing as
he planned on the way back to the office. A careful study of
instructions given reporters will quickly convince one, however, that in
nine cases out of ten the city editor takes his cue from the reporter
himself, that in the reporter's very mood and method of recounting what
he has learned, he suggests to the city editor the features and the tone
of the story, and is merely given back his own opinion verified. Not
always is this the case, however. One reporter on a Southern daily--and
a star man, too--used to say that he could never predict what his city
editor would want featured. So he used always to come into the office
armed with two leads, and sometimes with three.
=101. Two Kinds of Leads.=--The story, technically, is made up of two
parts--the lead and the body. The lead is easily the more important. If
a reporter can handle successfully this part of the story, he will have
little trouble in writing the whole. The lead is the first sentence or
the first group of sentences in the story and is of two kinds, the
summarizing lead and what may be called the informal lead. The
summarizing lead gives in interesting, concise language the gist of the
story. The informal lead merely introduces the reader to the story
without intimating anything of the outcome, but with a suggestion that
something interesting is coming. Of the two types the summarizing lead
is by far the more common and may be considered first.
=102. Summarizing Lead.=--The summarizing lead may be a single sentence
or a single paragraph, or two or three paragraphs, according to the
number and complexity of the details in the story. A brief story usually
has a short lead. A long, involved story made up of several parts, each
under a separate head, often has a lead consisting of several
paragraphs. Sometimes this lead, because of its importance as a summary
of all the details in the story, is even boxed and printed in black-face
type at the beginning of the story. Then follow the different parts,
each division with its own individual lead.
=103. Contents of the Lead.=--What to put into the lead,--or to feature,
as reporters express it in newspaper parlance,--one may best determine
by asking oneself what in the story is likely to be of greatest interest
to one's readers in general. Whatever that feature is, it should be
played up in the lead. The first and great commandment in news writing
is that the story begin with the most important fact and give all the
essential details first. These details are generally summarized in the
questions _who_, _what_, _when_, _where_, _why_, and _how_. If the
writer sees that his lead answers these questions, he may be positive
that, so far as context is concerned, his lead will be good.
=104. Construction of the Lead.=--In constructing the lead, the most
important fact or facts should be put at the very first. For this
reason, newspaper men avoid beginning a story with _to-day_,
_to-morrow_, or _yesterday_, because the time at which an incident has
occurred is rarely the most important fact. For the same reason, careful
writers avoid starting with _the_, _an_, or _a_, though it often is
necessary to begin with these articles because the noun they modify is
itself important. The name of the place, too, rarely ever is of enough
importance to be put first. An examination of a large number of leads in
the best newspapers shows that the features most often played up are the
result and the cause or motive. Thus:
=Result=
|As a result of too much thanksgiving on Thanksgiving|
|Day, Prof. Harry Z. Buith, 42, 488 Sixteenth Street,|
|a prominent Seventh Day Adventist, is dead. |
=Cause=
|Just plain ordinary geese and a few ganders held up |
|a train on the Milwaukee road to-day and forced |
|their owner, Nepomcyk Kucharski, 1287 Fourth Avenue,|
|into district court. |
=Cause and Result=
|Because Harry A. Harries, 24, 2518 North Avenue, |
|wanted two dollars for a license to marry Anna |
|Francis, 17, 4042 Peachtree Avenue, his aged mother |
|is dying this morning in St. Elizabeth Hospital. |
Sometimes, particularly in follow or rewrite stories, probable results
become the feature.
=Probable Results=
|That immediate intervention in Mexico by the United |
|States will be the result of the Villa raid last |
|night on Columbus, N.M., is the general belief in |
|official Washington this morning. |
Another feature often played up in leads is the means or method by which
a result was attained.
=Means=
|A sensational half-mashie shot to the lip of the cup|
|on the eighteenth green won to-day for Mrs. Roland |
|H. Barlow, of the Merion Cricket Club, Philadelphia,|
|over Miss Lillian B. Hyde, of the South Shore Field |
|Club, Long Island, in the second round of the |
|women's national golf championship tournament at the|
|Onwentsia Club. |
=Method=
|Working at night with a tin spoon and a wire nail, |
|Capt. Wilhelm Schuettler dug 100 feet to liberty and|
|escaped from the Hallamshire camp sometime early |
|this morning. |
Often it is necessary to feature the name:
=Name=
|Cardinal Giacomo della Chiesa, archbishop of |
|Bologna, Italy, was to-day elected supreme pontiff |
|of the Catholic hierarchy, in succession to the late|
|Pope Pius X, who died Aug. 20. He will reign under |
|the name of Benedict XV. |
=Name=
|President Wilson and Mrs. Norman Galt have selected |
|Saturday, Dec. 18, as the date of their marriage. |
|The ceremony will be performed in Mrs. Galt's |
|residence, and the guests will be confined to the |
|immediate members of the President's and Mrs. Galt's|
|families. |
Even the place and the time have to be featured occasionally.
=Place=
|New Orleans will be the place of the annual meeting |
|of the Southern Congress of Education and Industry, |
|it was learned from a member of the Executive |
|committee to-day. |
=Place=
|Chicago was selected by the Republican National |
|committee to-night as the meeting place of the 1916 |
|Republican national convention, to be held June 7, |
|one week before the Democratic convention in St. |
|Louis. |
=Time=
|Monday, Sept. 20, is the date finally set for the |
|opening of the State Fair, it was announced by the |
|Program Committee to-day. |
=105. Form of the Lead.=--The grammatical form in which the lead shall
be written depends much on the purpose of the writer. Some of the
commonest types of beginnings are with: (1) a simple statement; (2) a
series of simple statements; (3) a conditional clause; (4) a substantive
clause; (5) an infinitive phrase; (6) a participial phrase; (7) a
prepositional phrase; (8) the absolute construction.
=106. Leads with Short Sentences.=--The value of the first two kinds is
their forcefulness. Often reporters break what might be a long,
one-sentence, summarizing lead into a very short sentence followed by a
long one, or into a number of brief sentences, each of which gives one
important detail. Such a type of lead gains its force from the fact that
it lends emphasis to the individual details given in the short
sentences. Note the effect of the following leads:
OAK PARK HAS A "TYPHOID MARY"
|The epidemic of fever that has been sweeping through|
|the western suburb since the high school banquet |
|more than a month ago was traced yesterday to a |
|woman carrier who handled the food in the school |
|restaurant. |
|George Edward Waddell, our famous "Rube," fanned out|
|to-day. It was not the first time Rube had fanned, |
|but it will be his last. Tuberculosis claimed him |
|after a two-year fight. |
|If Mrs. Mary McCormick sneezes or coughs, she will |
|die. Her back was broken yesterday by a fall from a |
|third-story window. Thomas Wilson is being held |
|under a $5,000 bond pending her death or recovery, |
|charged by the police with pushing her from the |
|window. |
=107. Lead Beginning with a Conditional Clause=--The lead beginning with
a conditional clause is valuable for humorous effects or for summarizing
facts leading up to a story. As a rule, however, one must avoid using
more than two such clauses, as they are liable to make the sentence
heavy or obscure.
|If Antony Fisher, 36, 1946 Garden Street, had not |
|written Dorothy Clemens she was a "little love," he |
|would be worth $1,000,000 now. But he wrote Dorothy |
|she was a little love. |
|If Joe Kasamowitz, 4236 Queen's Avenue, speaks to |
|his wife either at her home or at the news-stand she|
|conducts at the St. Paul Hotel; if he loiters near |
|the entrance to the hotel; or if he even attempts to|
|call his wife over the telephone before Saturday, he|
|will be in contempt of court, according to an |
|injunction issued to-day by Judge Fish. |
=108. Lead Beginning with a Substantive Clause.=--The substantive clause
has two main values in the lead,--to enable the writer to begin with a
direct or an indirect question, and to permit him to shift to the very
beginning of the lead important ideas that would normally come at the
end of the sentence.
|That Jim Jeffries was the greatest fighter in the |
|history of pugilism and Jim Corbett the best boxer, |
|was the statement last night by Bob Fitzsimmons |
|before a crowd of 5,000 at the Orpheum theater. |
|That he had refused to kiss her on her return from a|
|long visit and had said he was tired of being |
|married, was the testimony of Mrs. Flora Eastman |
|to-day in her divorce suit against Edwin O. Eastman,|
|of St. Louis. |
=109. Lead Beginning with a Phrase.=--Infinitive, participial, and
prepositional phrases are valuable mainly for bringing out emphatic
details. But the writer must be careful, particularly in participial
constructions, to see that the phrases have definite words to modify.
|To see if the bullet was coming was the reason |
|Charlie Roberts, aged 7, 2626 Ninth Street, looked |
|down his father's pistol barrel at 8:00 A.M. to-day.|
|Playing with a rifle longer than his body, |
|three-year-old Ernest Rodriguez, of Los Angeles, |
|accidentally shot himself in the abdomen this |
|morning and is dying in the county hospital. |
|Almost blinded with carbolic acid, Fritz Storungot, |
|of South Haven, groped his way to Patrolman Emil |
|Schulz at Third Street and Brand Avenue last night |
|and begged to be sent to the Emergency Hospital. |
|With her hands and feet tied, Ida Elionsky, 16, swam|
|in the roughest kind of water through Hell Gate |
|yesterday, landing safely at Blackwell's Island. |
=110. Lead Beginning with Absolute Construction.=--The absolute
construction usually features causes and motives forcibly, but it should
be avoided by beginners, as it is un-English and tends to make sentences
unwieldy. The following illustrates the construction well:
|Her money gone and her baby starving, Mrs. Kate |
|Allen, 8 Marvin Alley, begged fifteen cents of a |
|stranger yesterday to poison herself and child. |
=111. Accuracy and Interest in the Lead.=--The two requirements made of
the lead are that it shall possess accuracy and interest. It must have
accuracy for the sake of truth. It must possess interest to lure the
reader to a perusal of the story. Toward an attainment of both these
requirements the reporter will have made the first step if he has
organized his material rightly, putting at the beginning those facts
that will be of most interest to his readers.
=112. Clearness.=--But the reporter will still fail of his purpose if he
neglects to make his lead clear. He must guard against any construction
or the inclusion of any detail that is liable to blur the absolute
clarity of his initial sentences. In particular, he must be wary of
overloaded leads, those crowded with details. It is better to cut such
leads into two or more short, crisp sentences than to permit them to be
published with the possibility of not being understood. If a reader
cannot grasp readily the lead, the chances are nine out of ten that he
will not read the story. Note the following overloaded lead and its
improvement by being cut into three sentences:
|Barely able to see out of her swollen and discolored|
|eyes, and her face and body covered with cuts and |
|bruises, received, it is alleged, when her father |
|attacked her because of her failure to secure work, |
|Mary Ellis, 15 years old, living at 1864 Brown |
|Street, when placed on the witness stand Monday, |
|told a story which resulted in Peter Ellis, her |
|father, being arrested on a charge of assault with |
|intent to do great bodily harm. |
|Charged with beating unmercifully his daughter, |
|Mary, 15, because she could not obtain work, Peter |
|Ellis, 1864 Brown Street, was arraigned in police |
|court Monday. The girl herself appeared against |
|Ellis. Her body, when she appeared on the witness |
|stand, was covered with cuts and bruises, her face |
|black from the alleged blows, and her eyes so much |
|swollen that she could hardly see. |
The following lead, too, is overloaded and all but impossible
to understand:
|Two letters written by H. M. Boynton, an advertising|
|agent for the Allen-Procter Co., to "Dear Louise," |
|in which he confessed undying love and which are |
|replete with such terms of endearment as "little |
|love," "dear beloved," "sweetheart," "honey," and |
|just plain "love," and which were alleged by him to |
|have been forged by his wife, Mrs. Hannah Benson |
|Boynton, obtained a divorce for her yesterday in |
|district court on the grounds of alienated |
|affections. |
Few readers would wade through this maze of shifted constructions and
heavy, awkward phrasing for the sake of the divorce story following. In
the following form, however, it readily becomes clear:
|Two love letters to "Dear Louise" cost H. M. |
|Boynton, advertising agent for the Allen-Procter |
|Co., a wife yesterday in district court. The letters|
|were produced by Mrs. Hannah Benson Boynton to |
|support her charge of alienated affections, and were|
|replete with such terms of endearment as "undying |
|love," "honey," "sweetheart," "dear beloved," |
|"little love," and just plain "love." Boynton |
|claimed that the letters were forged. |
=113. Boxed Summaries and Features.=--When a story is unusually long and
complicated and the number of details numerous, or when important points
or facts need particular emphasis, it is customary to make a digest of
the principal items and box them in display type before the regular
lead. Boxed summaries at the beginning of a story are really determined
by the city editor and the copy readers, but a grouping of the
outstanding facts for boxing is often a welcome suggestion and a
valuable help to the sub-editors. If the reporter is in doubt about the
need of a boxed summary, he may make it on a separate sheet and place it
on the city editor's desk along with the regular story. Types of stories
that most frequently have boxed summaries are accidents, with lists of
the dead and the injured in bold-face type; important athletic and
sporting events, with summaries of the records, the crowds in
attendance, the gate receipts, etc.; speeches, trials, and executions,
with epigrams and the most important utterances of the judges, lawyers,
witnesses, or defendants; international diplomatic letters, with the
main points of discussion or most threatening statements; lengthy
governmental reports, etc. An illustration of the boxed summary is the
following, featuring the last statement of Charles Becker, the New York
police lieutenant, electrocuted in 1915 for the death of Herman
Rosenthal:
=POLICE OFFICER PAYS PENALTY WITH HIS LIFE=
+----------------------------------------------------+
| |
| "MY DYING STATEMENT." |
| |
| "Gentlemen: I stand before you in my full senses, |
| knowing that no power on earth can save me from the|
| grave that is to receive me. In the face of that, |
| in the face of those who condemn me, and in the |
| presence of my God and your God, I proclaim my |
| absolute innocence of the foul crime for which I |
| must die. |
| |
| "You are now about to witness my destruction by the|
| state which is organized to protect the lives of |
| the innocent. May almighty God pardon everyone who |
| has contributed in any degree to my untimely death.|
| And now on the brink of my grave, I declare to the |
| world that I am proud to have been the husband of |
| the purest, noblest woman that ever lived,--Helen |
| Becker. |
| |
| "This acknowledgment is the only legacy I can leave|
| her. I bid you all good-bye. Father, I am ready to |
| go. Amen." |
| |
| "CHARLES BECKER." |
+----------------------------------------------------+
|Ossining, N. Y., July 30.--At peace with his Maker, |
|a prayer on his lips, but with never a faltering of |
|his iron will, Charles Becker expiated the murder of|
|Herman Rosenthal at 5:55 this morning. Pinned on his|
|shirt above his heart, he carried with him the |
|picture of his devoted wife. In his hand he clutched|
|the crucifix. |
| |
|The death current cut off in his throat the whisper,|
|"Jesus have mercy." It was not the plea of a man |
|shaken and fearful of death, but rather the prayer |
|of one with the conviction that he was innocent. |
| |
|Just before he entered the death chamber he declared|
|to Father Curry, "I am not guilty by deeds, |
|conspiracy or any other way of the death of |
|Rosenthal. I am sacrificed for my friends." |
|Previously at 4 A.M. he issued "My Dying Statement."|
|It was a passionate reiteration of innocence, and is|
|left as his only legacy to his wife: "I declare to |
|the world that I am proud to have been the husband |
|of the purest, noblest woman that ever lived,--Helen|
|Becker." |
| |
|Absolute quiet reigned in the death house at 5.50 |
|A.M. Suddenly the little green door swung open. |
|Becker appeared. He had no air of bravado. Behind |
|him in the procession came Fathers Cashin and Curry.|
|Becker walked unassisted to the death chamber. As he|
|entered he glanced about, seemingly surprised. His |
|face had the expression of a person coming from |
|darkness into sudden light, but there was no hint of|
|hesitancy to meet death in the stride with which he |
|approached the chair which had already claimed the |
|lives of four others in payment for the Rosenthal |
|murder. |
| |
|The doomed man held a black crucifix in his left |
|hand. It was about ten inches long, and as he calmly|
|took his place in the chair, he raised it to his |
|lips. Following the chant of the priests, he |
|entoned, "Oh, Lord, assist me in my last agony. I |
|give you my heart and my soul." |
| |
|When all was ready, the executioner stepped back and|
|in full view of the witnesses calmly shut the |
|switch. As the great current of electricity shot |
|into the frame of the former master of gunmen, the |
|big body straightened out, tugging at the creaking |
|straps. For a few moments it stretched out. A slight|
|sizzling was heard and a slight curl of smoke went |
|up from the right side of Becker's head, rising from|
|under the cap. When the shock was at its height, his|
|grip tightened to the crucifix, but as the |
|electrocutioner snapped the switch off the cross |
|slipped from the relaxed fingers. A guard caught it.|
|The whole body dropped to a position of utter |
|collapse. |
| |
|Becker's shirt was then opened. As the black cloth |
|was turned back to make way for the stethoscope, the|
|picture of Mrs. Becker was revealed. It was pinned |
|inside. The doctors pushed it aside impatiently, |
|evidently not knowing what it was. They held |
|stethoscopes to the heart. Another shock was |
|demanded of the cool young executioner. He stepped |
|back and swung the switch open and shut again. The |
|crumpled body clutched the straps again. Once more |
|the doctors felt his heart. They seemed to argue |
|whether there was still evidence of life. Once again|
|the executioner was appealed to and once again he |
|snapped on and off the switch. The lips then parted |
|in a smile. The stethoscope was applied and it was |
|declared that Becker was dead....[12] |
[12] George R. Holmes, of the United Press
Associations, in _The Appleton Post_,
July 30, 1915.
=114. Informal Lead.=--The opposite of the summarizing lead is the
informal, or suspense, lead. This type begins with a question, a bit of
verse, a startling quotation, or one or two manifestly unimportant
details that tell little and yet whet the appetite of the reader, luring
him to the real point of interest later in the story. Such leads,
sometimes known as "human interest" leads, are admittedly more difficult
than those of the summarizing type, their difficulty being but one
effect of the cause which makes them necessary. An examination of a
large number of these leads shows that their purpose is to make
attractive news that for some cause is lacking in interest. Most
frequently the news is old; often it is merely commonplace; or possibly
it may have come from such a distance that it lacks local interest. In
such cases the aid of the informal lead is invoked for the purpose of
stimulating the reader's interest and inducing him to read the whole
story. And this explains the difficulty of the informal lead. Its
originality must compensate for the poverty of the news it presents. It
must be more attractive, more striking, more piquant than the ordinary
lead. And the only ways of obtaining this attractiveness, this piquancy,
are by novelty of approach and of statement.[13]
[13] For an additional discussion of the informal lead,
see Chapter XIX.
=115. Question Lead.=--A few illustrations of informal leads will make
clearer their exact nature. First may be cited the question lead, two
examples of which are given below, with enough of the story appended in
each case to show the method of enticing the reader into the story.
|How long can the war last? |
| |
|It's a fool question, because there is no certain |
|answer. But when there is an unanswerable question, |
|it is the custom to look up precedents. Here are a |
|few precedents.... |
|If you planned to wed in September and married in |
|July just to suit your own convenience, would you be|
|provoked if your dear neighbors immediately seated |
|themselves and wove a beautiful romance out of it? |
| |
|Grace Elliott Bomarie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. |
|Charles Elliott Bomarie, of 930 Lawrence Avenue, and|
|sister of Bessie Bomarie, former famous champion |
|golf player, was not angry to-day. Instead she |
|laughed the merriest kind of a laugh over the |
|telephone and said: |
| |
|"Call me up in half an hour and I will tell you all |
|about it." |
| |
|But she didn't. On the recall (that's the proper |
|word in this day of equal suffrage), she was not at |
|home. Mrs. Bomarie was, and said: |
| |
|"Please just say that Mr. and Mrs. Charles Elliott |
|Bomarie announce the marriage of their daughter, |
|Grace Elliott, to Mr. Albert Wingate." |
=116. Verse Lead.=--The lead beginning with a bit of verse is more
difficult than the question lead because of the uncertainty with which
most persons write metrical lines. The following may serve as a fairly
successful attempt:
=U. S. JACKIES WANT MAIL=
| Perhaps you've seen a jolly tar |
| A-pushing at the capstan bar |
| Or swabbing off the deck, |
| And figured that a life of ease |
| Attends the jackie on the seas |
| Who draws a U. S. check. |
| His lot, it seems, is not quite so; |
| Just hear this plaintive plea of woe |
| That comes from off the BUFFALO. |
| The sailors rise to raise a wail |
| Because they say they get no mail. |
| |
|Will some Milwaukee misses in their spare moments do|
|Uncle Sam a favor by writing letters to cheer up |
|some of his downhearted nephews in the navy? |
| |
|The boys are just pining away from lonesomeness, |
|owing to the fact that no one writes to them. At |
|least this is the sorrowful plea of G. H. Jones, a |
|sailor aboard the U. S. S. BUFFALO, who writes THE |
|SENTINEL from San Francisco as follows: |
| |
|Girls--Why not use some of your idle moments in |
|writing to us? I have been in the navy five years |
|and have never received any mail. G. H. Jones, |
|U. S. S. Buffalo, San Francisco, Cal.[14] |
[14] _Milwaukee Sentinel_, August 7, 1914.
=117. Extraordinary Statement in Lead.=--An extraordinary statement made
by a person in a speech, an interview, or a trial scene is often used in
the informal lead. If, however, the quoted statement is so long or of
such a nature that it summarizes the whole story, it places the lead, of
course, not in the informal class, but in the normal summarizing group.
The following illustrates well the extraordinary statement:
=FRIEND WIFE WENT TOO FAR=
|Mr. David Elliott, |
| Chicago. |
| |
|Sir: |
| You can go to the d----l, and the quicker the |
|better. |
| |
| Sincerely, |
| Your Wife. |
| |
|This is the letter in which David Elliot thinks his |
|wife "went too far." He produced it before Judge |
|David Matchett Saturday in a suit for divorce. |
=118. Suspense Lead.=--The most difficult to handle of all the informal
leads is the suspense lead, where the writer purposely begins with
unimportant but enticing details and lures the reader on from paragraph
to paragraph, always holding out a half-promise of something worth while
if one will continue a bit further. In this way the reader is tempted to
the middle or end of the story before he is told the real point of the
article. A difficult type of lead, this, but forceful when well handled.
|Pierre L. Corbin, 60 years old, of Eatontown, who |
|runs a dairy and drives his own milk wagon, matched |
|the speed of his horse against that of a New Jersey |
|Central train yesterday morning at 7 o'clock in a |
|race to the crossing at Eatontown. It was a tie. |
|Both got there at the same time.[15] |
[15] _New York Times_, August 27, 1915.
|There are two ways of patching a pair of |
|trousers,--neatly and bluey; and probably no tailor |
|in Manhattan is as certain of it to-day as Sigmund |
|Steinbern. So he stated to the police yesterday when|
|a customer sat him down on his lighted gas stove, |
|and so he insisted last night when friends called to|
|see him at the Washington Heights Hospital. |
|Furthermore, to say nothing of moreover, he is a |
|tailor of standing, or will be for the next couple |
|of weeks, and he knows his place. It is not, he |
|feels, upon a gas stove. |
| |
|To friends who called at the hospital to ask Mr. |
|Steinbern exactly what had happened to him, he said,|
|by way of changing the subject, that he has a sign |
|in his store upon which the following appears: |
| |
|EVERYTHING DONE IN A HURRY |
| |
|There, he contends, lies the seed of the trouble. |
|Regarding the seat of the trouble, more anon....[16]|
[16] _New York Herald_, December 21, 1915.
=119. Tone.=--No matter which of the two types of lead one uses, whether
the summarizing or the informal, one point further needs attention in
the writing,--the value of constructing such a lead as will suggest the
tone of the story. Half the leads that one reads in the daily papers do
not possess this touchstone of superiority, but all the leads to the big
stories have it. If the article is to be pathetic, tragic, humorous,
mildly satirical, the lead should suggest it; and the reporter will find
that in proportion as he is able to imbue his lead with the story-tone
he aims at in his writing, so will be the success of his story. This
topic is discussed further in the next chapter, but the reader may
consider at this point the two following leads, in which one plainly
promises a story of pathos and tragedy; the other, half-serious humor:
|_DIED_--Claus, Santa, in the American Hospital, |
|Christmas morning, aged 11._ |
| |
|Santa Claus, who wasn't such an old fellow after |
|all, overslept on the great morning. He had gone to |
|bed plain Vern Olson--not in a toy shop at the North|
|Pole, but in a little room behind his widowed |
|mother's delicatessen shop at 111 South Robey |
|Street. |
|The cause of the high cost of living has been |
|discovered. It's pie,--plain pie. Teeny Terss, who |
|runs a Greek restaurant on Hodel Street, made the |
|announcement to-day. |
=120. Conclusion.=--Of the two types of lead, the beginner is advised to
attempt at first only the summary lead, relying on the excellence of the
news to carry the story. This kind of lead is definite. A reporter
always can know when his lead answers the questions _who_, _what_,
_when_, _where_, _why_, and _how_. And if he has presented his facts
clearly in the lead, he may feel a certain degree of assurance that he
has been successful. In writing the informal lead, on the contrary, one
can never be positive of anything or of any effect. (And it is a
particular effect for which the reporter always must strive in the
informal lead.) Climax and suspense are such elusive spirits that if a
writer but give evidence he is seeking them, he immediately loses them.
The only safe plan for the novice, therefore, is to confine himself at
first exclusively to the summarizing lead. Then as his hand becomes
sure, he may take ventures with the elusive, informal, or suspense,
lead.
X. THE BODY OF THE STORY
=121. Inaccuracy and Dullness.=--If the reporter has written a strong
lead for his story, he need have small worry about what shall follow,
which usually is little more than a simple narration of events in
chronological order, with interspersions of explanation or description.
If a wise choice and arrangement has been made in the organization of
details, the part of the story following the lead will all but tell
itself. The reporter's care now must be to maintain the interest he has
developed in the lead and to regard the accuracy of succeeding
statements. There are just two crimes of which a newspaper man may be
guilty,--inaccuracy and dullness. And the greater of these is
inaccuracy.
=122. Accuracy.=--When a reporter is publishing a choice bit of scandal
or a remarkable instance of disregarded duty, it is an easy thing, for
the sake of making the story a good one, or for lack of complete
information, to draw on the imagination or to jump too readily at
conclusions, and so present as facts not only what may be untrue, but
what often later proves entirely false. The ease of the thing is argued
by the frequency with which it is done. Such a reporter does a threefold
harm: he compels his paper to humiliate itself later by publishing the
truth; he causes the public to lose confidence in his journal; and he
does irreparable injury to unknown, innocent persons. The day following
the _Eastland_ disaster in 1915, one Chicago paper ran the list of dead
up to eighteen hundred. A week later the same paper was forced to put
the number at less than nine hundred. A rival publication in the same
city kept its estimate consistently in the neighborhood of nine
hundred, with the resultant effect to-day of increased public confidence
in its statements. In another city of the Middle West judgment for
$10,000 has recently been granted a complainant because one of the city
staff made a rash statement about the plaintiff's "illicit love." The
reporter was discharged, of course, but that did not repair the damage
or reimburse the paper.
=123. Law of Libel.=--Every newspaper man, as a matter of business,
should know the law of libel. It varies somewhat in different states,
but the following brief summary may be taken as a working basis until
the reporter can gain an opportunity to study it in his own state. In
the first place, the law holds responsible not only the owners of the
journal, but the publisher, the editor, the writer of the offending
article, and even any persons selling the paper, provided it can be
proved that they were aware of the matter contained in the publication.
What constitutes libel is equally far-reaching. It is any published
matter that tends to disgrace or degrade a person generally, or to
subject him to public distrust, ridicule, or contempt. Any written
article that implies or may be generally understood to imply reproach,
dishonesty, scandal, or ridicule of or against a person, or which tends
to subject such a person to social disgrace, public distrust, hatred,
ridicule, or contempt, is libelous. Even the use in an article of
ironical or sarcastic terms indicating scorn or contempt is libelous,
because such expressions are calculated to injure the persons of whom
they are spoken. And if an article contains several expressions, each of
which is libelous, each may be a separate cause for legal action. Nor is
it a defense to prove that such rumors were current, that such
statements were previously published, or even that the writer did not
intend the remarks to do injury. If it can be proved that the article
has done injury, the writer and his paper are guilty of libel and must
pay damages in accordance with the enormity of the offense.
=124. Avoidance of Libel.=--When it becomes necessary to make a
statement about a person that may be unpleasing to him, the writer
should give the name of the one making the charge or assertion, or else
avoid making a specific charge by inserting _it is alleged_, _it is
rumored_, _it is charged,_ or some such limiting phrase. Note the
following story of the arrest of two shop-girls and how skilfully the
reporter avoids charging them with theft:
| =CHARGE TWO WITH SHOPLIFTING= |
| |
|Edna K. Whitter and Minnie Jensen, saleswomen in a |
|New Haven store, are under arrest charged with |
|shoplifting. |
| |
|The former is said to have confessed after goods |
|valued at more than $1,000 were found in her room. |
|She is said to have implicated Miss Jensen, who |
|denies the charge. |
| |
|Desire to dress elaborately is alleged to have |
|caused the young women to steal. Miss Jensen is the |
|daughter of a farmer. Investigations by detectives, |
|it is said, may result in more arrests.... |
Whenever possible, it is well to avoid _it is said_, _it is rumored_. A
story reads more convincingly when the reporter's authority is given.
And the statement of the authority places the responsibility where it
belongs.
=125. Exaggeration.=--One word further about the _Eastland_ disaster and
loss of public confidence resulting from exaggerated stories. Upon the
news article itself there is a very definite effect of such
exaggeration,--that mere extravagance of statement often defeats its own
end. It is of first importance in writing that one's statements command
the confidence of the reader. If a reporter writes that the wreck he has
just visited was the greatest in the history of railroading, or the
bride the most beautiful ever joined in the bonds of holy wedlock before
a hymeneal altar, or the flames the most lurid that ever lit a midnight
sky, the reader merely snickers and turns to a story he can believe.
The value of understatement cannot be overestimated. Probably the
majority of the people of the United States are suspicious anyway of the
truth of what they read in the newspapers. Hence, if one must sin on the
side of accurate valuation of news, let him err in favor of
understatement rather than exaggeration. Then when he is forced by
actual facts to resort to huge figures, his readers will believe him.
Such a policy, consistently adhered to, will always win favor for a
paper and a reporter. And that the best papers have learned this is
proved by the fact that they no longer tolerate inaccuracy of statement
or unverified information in their columns.
=126. "Editorializing."=--One other caution must be given in the cause
of accuracy, that of the necessity of presenting news from an unbiased
standpoint, of eliminating as far as possible the personal equation,--in
other words, of avoiding "editorializing." The news columns are the
place for the colorless presentation of news. No attempt is, or should
be, made there to influence public opinion. That function is reserved
for the editorial columns, and the reporter must be careful not to let
his personal views color the articles he writes. The following story was
written for a small Wisconsin paper by a rabid political reporter:
| =THOMAS MORRIS IN TOWN= |
| |
|Thomas Morris, lieutenant governor of this state and|
|candidate for the United States senate, was in |
|Appleton this morning and spent the day in Outagamie|
|county shaking hands with those who would. But few |
|would shake. He wanted to speak while here, but the |
|enlightened citizens of this city were right in not |
|letting him. Peter Tubits was his chief pilot |
|through the county. |
Needless to say, this story was not printed.
=127. Newspaper Policies.=--Even though it may seem--and in a measure
is--in contradiction to what has just been said about accuracy and
editorializing, it is nevertheless necessary before passing the subject
to comment on the necessity of a reporter's observing a paper's
editorial policies,--to say, in other words, that all news is not
unbiased. For instance, if a newspaper is undertaking a crusade against
midwives or pawnshops or certain political leaders, it gives those
institutions or those persons little or no credit for the good they
accomplish, nor does it feature impartially in its news articles their
good and bad acts. Yet such institutions or persons must have
accomplished much good to arrive at the rank or position they now hold,
and must continue to be of service to retain their standing. The
following story, which appeared in a paper crusading against pawnshops
and pistol carrying, is an illustration of what is meant by biased news:
| =JILTED, ENDS LIFE WITH A GUN= |
| |
|Israel Weilman was in love. Three months ago the |
|girl told him she would not marry him. Last night |
|Weilman left his quarters at 875 Banker Street and |
|went to the home of Rebecca Schussman, 904 South |
|Pueblo Avenue, where his room-mate and cousin, David|
|Isaacs, was calling. |
| |
|"Here are the keys to the room," he told his cousin,|
|"I will not be home to-night." |
| |
|Then Weilman departed. A few minutes later a shot |
|was heard in the alley back of the Schussman home. |
|They found Weilman dead with a bullet wound through |
|his heart. Beside him was a new "American bulldog" |
|revolver, retailing for $1.50. In his pocket was a |
|ticket of sale from the Angsgewitz pawnshop. The |
|profit on this style of weapon is about 25 cents. |
Illustrations of prejudiced political news may be found daily in any
newspaper.
=128. Observing a Paper's Policies.=--It is necessary, therefore, to
modify the preceding statements about unbiased news. Those assertions
express the millennial dream, colorless news, that American journalism
is always approaching as an ideal, but has not yet reached. From the
same Associated Press dispatch a Georgia and a Pennsylvania daily can
produce stories respectively of success and dissension in the Democratic
party. From the same cable bulletin a Milwaukee and a New York paper can
obtain German victory and English repulse of repeated Teutonic attacks.
Not only _can_, but _do_. It is only fair to the would-be reporter,
therefore, to tell him that at times in his journalistic career he may
be permitted to see snow only through a motorist's yellow goggles. The
modern newspaper is a business organization run for the profit or power
of the owners, with the additional motive in the background of possible
social uplift,--social uplift as the owners see it. They determine a
paper's policies, and a reporter must learn and observe those policies
if he expects to succeed.
=129. Following Commands.=--Observance of this injunction is
particularly valuable in stories relating to political and civic
measures. If one is on a paper with Republican affiliations, one may be
forced to hear and report a G. O. P. governor's speech with an
elephant's ears and trumpet,--or with a moose's ears and voice if the
journal is Progressive. It makes no difference what the reporter's
personal feeling or party preferences may be. On such papers he must
follow precisely the commands of the managing editor or the city editor
and must feature sympathetically or severely what they request. Usually
an intelligent sympathy with the general policy of the paper is
sufficient for a reporter, no matter how conscientious. It is only
rarely that he is trammeled with being forced to write contrary to his
convictions. But at those times when such commands are given, he must
see and write as requested or seek another position.
=130. Consistency of Policy.=--On the other hand, suppose in policies
affecting the official standing of a newspaper every reporter saw and
presented events from his own distorted angle. How consistent would a
modern newspaper be? And how long could it hold the respect or patronage
of its readers?
=131. Clearness.=--Next in importance to accuracy comes interest. A
story must be interesting to be read. Every paragraph must be clear. Its
relation to every other paragraph must be evident, and the story as a
whole must be presented so that it may be understood and enjoyed by the
reader with as small expenditure of mental effort as possible. Ideas
that are connected in thought, either by virtue of their sequence in
time or for other reasons, must be kept together, and ideas that are
separated in thought must be kept apart. If the story is one covering
considerable length of time, care must be taken to keep the different
incidents separated in point of time so that the reader may understand
readily the relation of the different events to each other. The tenses
of the verbs, too, must be kept consistent, logical. One cannot shift at
will from past time to the present, and vice versa. If the story is a
follow-up of an event that occurred before to-day and has been written
up before, the body of the story should contain a sufficient summary of
the preceding events to make the details readily clear to all
readers,--even though the lead may already have included a connecting
link. The summary of events in the lead must necessarily have been
brief; the review in the body of the story may be presented at greater
length.
=132. Coherence.=--A valuable aid in gaining clearness is a proper
regard for coherence, for obtaining which there are four ways within a
story: (1) by arrangement of the facts and statements in a natural
sequence of ideas; (2) by use of pronouns; (3) by repetition; and (4) by
use of relation words, phrases, and clauses. Discussion has already been
given, in Chapter VIII, on the organization of material, of the
necessity of logical arrangement of the story. If one has made a proper
grouping there, one will have taken the first step, and the surest,
toward adequate coherence. Of the three remaining methods, probably the
greatest newspaper men are strongest in their use of pronouns, such as
_these_, _those_, _that_, _them_, etc. They also avail themselves freely
of a skillful repetition of words,--the third method, which stands
almost, but not quite equal to the use of pronouns in effectiveness and
frequency. The following fire story exhibits a happy repetition of words
for holding the ideas in easy sequence. Note in it the skillful
repetition of _firemen_, _fire_, _whiskey_, _building_, _casks_,
_canal_.
| =$750,000 WORTH OF WHISKEY BURNS= |
| |
|Firemen had to fight a canal full of blazing whiskey|
|here to-day when a fire broke out in the building of|
|the Distillery Company, Ltd. Twelve thousand casks |
|of liquor were stored in the building. The |
|conflagration spread rapidly and the explosion of |
|the casks released the whiskey, which made a burning|
|stream of the canal. |
| |
|Firemen pumped water from the bottom of the canal |
|and played it on the blazing surface. The loss is |
|estimated at $750,000. |
=133. Relation Words.=--In other kinds of writing there is a tendency to
use relation words, phrases, and clauses freely between sentences and
paragraphs. But in news writing the paucity of such expressions for
subconnection--_moreover_, _finally_, _on the other hand_, _in the next
place_, _now that we have mentioned the cause of the divorce_--is
noteworthy. Editors and the news-reading public demand that the ideas
follow each other so closely and that the style be so compressed in
thought that there shall be small need of connectives between sentences.
It is this demand, plus a desire for emphasis, that is responsible for the
so-called bing-bing-bing style of writing, of which the following is a
fair illustration:
|After killing Mrs. Benton, Wallace, and the Weston |
|boy, Carlton set fire to the Lewis "love bungalow." |
|The wounded were unable to care for themselves. They|
|narrowly escaped death in the burning building. |
|Arrival of rescuing parties attracted by the fire |
|alone saved their lives. |
| |
|A hatchet was the weapon used by Carlton. |
| |
|The slayer escaped after the wholesale murder. He is|
|thought to be headed for Chicago. A posse under |
|command of Sheriff Bauer of Spring Green is hunting |
|the man. |
| |
|The story of the terrible tragedy enacted in the |
|Lewis "love bungalow," where for some years the |
|celebrated sculptor and the former Mrs. Cross had |
|been living in open defiance of the |
|conventionalities, was a gruesome one as it came to |
|light to-day. |
| |
|Carlton is twenty-eight years old. He is married. |
|His wife lived with him at the Lewis home. He had |
|been employed by Lewis for six months. He was |
|formerly employed by John Z. Hobart, proprietor of |
|Hobart's restaurant. He is five feet eight inches |
|tall, of medium build and light in color. |
| |
|What caused the trouble or the fury of Carlton is |
|not known. |
| |
|Who first fell is not known. |
| |
|What is known of the tragedy is this: |
| |
|Shortly after noon to-day villagers in the little |
|village of Spring Valley, where the Lewis bungalow |
|is and always has been something of a mystery as |
|well as a wonder to the residents, saw smoke coming |
|from the "love bungalow" on the hills. Villagers ran|
|to the place. The fire department responded to the |
|alarm. |
| |
|The bungalow was rapidly being consumed. Some one |
|entered the house. It was a shambles. Mrs. Benton |
|was found dead. Wallace was dead. Both had been |
|literally chopped to pieces by the infuriated negro.|
| |
|The bungalow was barricaded before entrance was |
|forced. After the dead had been discovered the |
|wounded were found. They were dragged out. The |
|conscious told disjointed stories of the tragedy and|
|of the awful fury that seemed to possess Carlton, |
|the cook. |
| |
|The latter was not to be found. He was at first |
|thought to have taken to the hills. Later it was |
|thought he might be hiding in the underground root |
|cellar but no search lights were available. |
| |
|Men with guns surrounded the house. |
| |
|The negro will be lynched if he is found, it was |
|thought this afternoon.[17] |
[17] _Chicago American._
=134. Bing-Bing-Bing Style.=--On the whole, this bing-bing-bing style of
writing cannot be commended. Its value in rapid narrative, where
excitement prevails and the reader's emotions are greatly aroused, is
evident. But the style, indulged in too freely, produces a fitful,
choppy effect that is not good. The sentences should be longer and more
varied in construction. Examination of the preceding illustration shows
that it has only three words or phrases used for subconnection, and only
four complex sentences.
=135. Emphasis.=--Next to clearness in holding the interest of the
reader comes emphasis, which may be had by avoidance of vague literary
phrasing, by a due regard for tone in the story, and by condensation of
expression. The first two overlap, since the whole tone of a story may
easily be destroyed by an affectation of literary phraseology. These
two, therefore, may be considered together.
=136. Vague Literary Phrasing.=--Many cub reporters feel, when they
begin to write, that they must express themselves in a literary style,
and to gain that style they affect sonorous, grandiloquent phrases that
sound well but mean little. In nine cases out of ten these phrases are
the inventions of others and meant much as used in their original
connection. But as adopted now by a novice, they are vague, only hazily
expressive, lacking in that sharp precision necessary for forceful
presentation of news.
=137. Tone.=--It is this vagueness of expression that as often as not
destroys the tone of the story. One may be aiming at portraying the
dignity and simplicity of a wedding or the unmarred happiness of the
occasion, but if one attempts to equal the joy of the event with the
bigness of his words, one will produce upon the reader an effect of
revulsion rather than interest. An ignorant, but well-meaning, reporter
on an Eastern weekly concluded a wedding story with the following
sentences:
|After the union of Miss Petty and Mr. Meydam in the |
|holy bonds of wedlock, the beautiful bride and |
|handsome groom and all the knights and ladies |
|present repaired to the dining-room, where a |
|bounteous supper interspersed with mirth and song |
|awaited them. After which they tripped the light |
|fantastic toe until the wee small hours of the |
|morning, when all repaired to their beds of rest and|
|wrapt themselves in the arms of Morpheus. |
This selection happens to be a conglomeration mainly of worn-out
expressions current in literature for the past two or three centuries.
But any use of phrases too large or too emotional for the thought to be
conveyed will result in an equally dismal failure. All the words,
phrases, and ideas in the following are the writer's own, but the effect
is practically the same as in the preceding story:
|The scene and the occasion were both inspiring. The |
|music was furnished by the birds, which were at |
|their best on this bridal day. A meadowlark called |
|to his mate across the lake, asking if he might come|
|and join her. A brown thrush in a tree on the hill |
|near by sent forth across the water a carol full of |
|love and melody such as a Beethoven or a Chopin |
|would strive in vain to imitate. The hills were |
|dressed in their prettiest robes of green. The water|
|was quiet. Nature was at her best. And the bride and|
|groom, both in tastiness of dress and in spirits, |
|were in harmony with nature. |
The writer, too, in striving after a definite tone must be equally
apprehensive of unintended suggestions caused by an unfortunate
closeness of unrelated ideas. This fault was illustrated in a story by
an Iowa reporter who wrote that "Lon Stegle took Mrs. Humphrey and a
load of hogs to Santo Monday," and of an unwitting Pennsylvania humorist
who said, "Audry Richardson, while visiting his sweetheart in Freedonia
last Sunday sprained his arm severely and won't be able to use it for
ten days or two weeks." If the tone of the story is meant to be
dignified, unintended humor may make the presentation absurd.
=138. Varied Sentence Length.=--The story tone is greatly affected also
by the length of the sentences. If one's sentences are unnecessarily
long, the effect will be heavy and tiresome. If they are markedly short,
the result will be a monotonous, choppy, jolting effect, like a flat
wheel on a street-car. The bing-bing-bing style just discussed is an
illustration of the latter. The writer should aim at a happy medium,
with simple constructions and a tendency toward shorter sentences than
in other kinds of writing. Twenty words make a good average sentence
length. It is necessary to remember that one's stories are read not only
by the literati, but by the uneducated as well. One must make one's
style, therefore, so fluent, so easy, that a man with a speaking
vocabulary of five hundred words can read and enjoy all one writes.
=139. Condensation.=--The value of condensation of expression need not
be discussed at length here as it is taken up fully in the next chapter.
Suffice it to say now, however, that a diffuse style is never forceful.
The reporter must condense his ideas into the smallest space possible.
Often that space is designated by the city editor when the reporter, on
his return to the office, asks for instructions, and nearly always it is
only about half enough. But he must follow directions to the letter. Woe
to the novice who presents a thousand words, or even six hundred, when
the city editor calls for five hundred. Sometimes, however, he will
find that the city editor has allotted him more space than he can
easily fill. In such a case, let him give length by introducing
additional details. Mere words will not suffice. They do not make a
story.
=140. Final Test of a Story.=--The two cares for the reporter, then, in
writing the body of the story are accuracy and interest. Accuracy is
worth most, and is attained by strict adherence to truth, with plenty of
proof for the truth in case it is questioned after publication. Interest
may be had by making all statements clear, coherent, forceful. But there
is no precise form or method by which accuracy and interest may be
obtained. The reporter is given unlimited range in selecting,
organizing, and writing his news. He may follow or disregard at will the
standard types of other newspaper men's stories, which should be taken
as models only, never as laws. For the final test of the goodness of a
story is its effect upon the reader. If it attains the desired result
without conforming to the patterns given by other writers, it will
become a new pattern for itself and for similar stories. Get accuracy
and interest, then, no matter what the method.
XI. THE PARAGRAPH
=141. Paragraph a Mark of Punctuation.=--Discussion of the paragraph
really belongs under the head of punctuation, since its purpose is to
set off the larger divisions of the story in the same way that the
period and the comma mark sentences and phrases. The indention of the
first line catches the eye of the reader and notifies him silently to
stop for a summary of his impressions before starting a somewhat
different phase of the story. Its purpose, like that of the other marks
of punctuation, is clearness and emphasis. Yet since its very lax laws
are much the same as those of the story, it must be noticed
independently.
=142. Clearness.=--The first requirement of the paragraph is that it
shall be clear. Its relation to the paragraphs preceding and following
must be evident at a glance. If transitional phrases and sentences or
relation words are necessary for making the relation clear, use them;
but as a rule, as stated concerning the story as a whole, reliance for
clearness in and between paragraphs is placed mainly on the natural and
close sequence of ideas.
=143. Emphasis.=--Next to clearness, the important thing to strive for
in the news paragraph is emphasis. Proper emphasis is not a virtue; it
is a necessity, because the eye of the rapid reader, as he glances down
the columns of the paper, catches only the first words and phrases at
each paragraph indention. And according as those words and phrases
interest him, so will he take sufficient interest in the paragraph as a
whole to read it. For this reason the beginning of each paragraph
especially should be emphasized by placing there the most important
details. The reporter should guard against putting even dependent
clauses and phrases used for subconnection at the beginning of a
paragraph, but should envelop them, rather, within the sentence. He
should not begin successive paragraphs with the same words or phrases or
with the same construction. It is remarkable how unfavorably such small
details influence readers. All this does not mean that the paragraph
should end lamely. It cannot conclude with the emphasis of the
beginning, it is true, but it may be well rounded at the end and its
lack of emphasis in details may be compensated with vigor and deftness
of expression.
=144. Paragraph Length.=--The length of one's paragraphs should also be
a matter of due consideration. They must be not only brief, but brief
looking. The modern reader will not brook long ones. Single-sentence
paragraphs are frequent, particularly in the lead. Two- or
three-sentence paragraphs are common. Half-column paragraphs are
unendurable. The average newspaper column permits lines of about seven
words each, so that twenty lines, or 140 words, should be the limit of a
paragraph. Eight or ten lines is a good average length. Because of this
necessary brevity, the newspaper paragraph allows no topics and
subtopics within its limited space, but throws every subtopic into an
individual paragraph. This the reporter may follow as a safe rule in
paragraphing: whenever in doubt about the advisability of a new
paragraph, make one.
XII. THE SENTENCE[18]
[18] Teachers having classes sufficiently advanced may find
it advisable to pass hastily over this chapter, or may
omit it entirely.
=145. Requisites.=--The same laws of accuracy and interest hold for the
sentence as for the story as a whole. But in the sentence they are more
rigid,--due in the main to the fact that the sentence is briefer and
more readily analyzable. And while one sympathizes with the overworked
reporter who served notice upon critical college professors that "when
the hands of the clock are near on to press time, and I have a million
things to write in a few minutes, I don't give a whoop if I do end a few
sentences with prepositions," and concluded by saying, "If I had as much
time as the average college professor has, I probably could write good
grammar, too";--while one sympathizes with the time-driven newspaper man
who never has sufficient leisure to polish a story as he would like, the
fact still remains that the reader cannot tell from looking at a story,
nor should he be allowed to tell, how much rushed the reporter was. The
only thing the reader is interested in is the story, whether it is good
or not; and if he does not regard it as worth while, if the sentences
are faulty, ungrammatical, weak, he will read another story or another
paper.
=146. Grammar.=--The first point to regard in seeking accuracy in the
sentence is good grammar. This may seem a trivial injunction to offer a
coming star reporter on a great metropolitan daily; but the city
editor's assistants have to correct more grammatical errors in cub copy
than any other kind of mistake except spelling and punctuation. The main
violations of grammar may be classified conveniently under four heads:
faulty reference, incorrect verb forms, failures in coördinating and
subordinating different parts of a sentence, and poor ellipsis.
=147. Pronouns Referring to Ideas.=--Probably the most prolific cause of
bad grammar and of obscurity of meaning in news writing may be found in
the use of unclear pronouns. One or more instances may be found in
almost every paper a reader examines. A reporter should assure himself
that every pronoun he uses refers to a particular word in the sentence
and that it agrees with that word in gender and number. The use of a
pronoun to refer to a general idea not expressed in a particular word is
one of the commonest causes of ambiguity and obscurity in newspaper
work. In the following sentence note what a ludicrous turn is given the
sentence by the use of _which_ referring to an idea:
|A card from C. A. Laird, son of Harry Laird, informs|
|the _Democrat_ that his father is slightly improved |
|and that they now have hopes of his recovery, |
|although he suffers much pain from his fractured |
|jaw, which will be good news to his many Lock Haven |
|friends. |
=148. Agreement of Pronouns in Number.=--A second prime cause of
incorrect reference is found in a writer's failure to make a reference
word agree in number with the noun to which it refers. Such faulty
reference occurs most frequently after collective nouns, such as _mob_,
_crowd_, _council_, _jury_, _assembly_; after distributive pronouns,
such as _everyone_, _anybody_, _nobody_; and after two or more singular
and plural nouns, where the reporter forgets momentarily to which he is
referring. In the following sentences note that each of the italicized
pronouns violates one or more of these principles, thereby polluting the
clearness of the meaning:
|The mob was already surrounding the attorney's home,|
|but _they_ moved so slowly that we got in ahead. |
|We have heard more than one express _themselves_ |
|that next year Merrillan should have the biggest |
|celebration of the century. |
|Everyone who had any interest in the boat was |
|inquiring about _their_ friends and relatives. |
|A peculiar thing about each one was that _they_ |
|chose a husband with a given name that rhymed much |
|the same with _their_ own. Mrs. Baker was Josephine |
|Ramp and secured Joe as her husband; Arnie Hallauer |
|and Annie Ramp, Gust Lumblad and Gusta Ramp, and |
|Eugene Carver and Ella Ramp. The _latter_ is a |
|widow. The given name of each one commences with the|
|same letter in each instance. |
=149. Ambiguous Antecedents.=--Then there is a use of the pronoun with
an unclear antecedent buried somewhere in the sentence, so that the
pronoun seems to refer to an intervening word. Such a misuse really is a
matter of clearness rather than of grammar, and should come under the
next section of this chapter, but it will be discussed here for the sake
of including all misuses of the pronoun at once. The ambiguous use of
pronouns is the most common error of faulty reference. The following are
typical illustrations:
|The Rev. Mr. Tomlinson states that he wants a |
|steady, religious young man to look after his garden|
|and care for his cow who has a good voice and is |
|accustomed to singing in the choir. |
|Atkinson telephoned that he was at Zeibski's corners|
|in his machine and had his wife with him. She had |
|died on him and he wanted the garage company to come|
|out and pull her in. |
=150. Split Infinitive.=--Next to faulty reference in frequency comes
the use of incorrect verb forms. Of these probably the most common error
among cub reporters is the employment of the split infinitive,--_to
quickly run_ instead of _to run quickly_. The split infinitive is not
necessarily an error. There are times when one's precise meaning can be
expressed only by the use of an adverb between _to_ and its infinitive.
But as a rule one should avoid the construction. Certainly there was no
excuse for the following in a Chicago paper:
|President Yuan Shi Kai declared he was willing to |
|permit Professor Frank Johnson Goodnow of Brooklyn, |
|legal adviser to the Chinese government, to in |
|August accept the presidency of Johns Hopkins |
|University. |
=151. Infinitive and Participle with Verbs.=--The use of the infinitive
and the participle with the past tense of verbs is also a cause of
frequent error. Our English rule regarding these parts of the verb is
mainly a matter of usage, accuracy in which may be attained only by
habits of correct speech. But if the reporter will bear in mind that the
infinitive and the participle have no finite tense of their own, that
they always express time relative to the time of the main verb, he will
have taken a real precaution toward preventing confusion. For example,
the newspaper man who wrote,
|Detective McGuire had intended to have arrested him |
|when he began blowing the safe, |
did not say what he meant, because the past infinitive here makes the
writer say that Detective McGuire had intended to have the yeggman
already under arrest when he began blowing the safe. What the writer
meant to say was:
|Detective McGuire had intended to arrest him when he|
|began blowing the safe. |
Likewise the reporter was inaccurate who wrote:
|Going into the basement, they found the cocaine |
|stored beneath a heap of rags. |
He was not accurate, unless he meant that they found the cocaine while
on the way to the basement. The cause of his inaccuracy lies in the fact
that the time expressed by the participle _going_ varies from that of
the main verb. What he should have said was,
Having gone into the basement, ...
or better,
|After going into the basement, they found the |
|cocaine stored beneath a heap of rags. |
=152. Dangling Participles.=--Another detail for careful attention in
the use of the participle is the necessity of having a definite noun or
pronoun in the sentence for the participle to modify. It is wrong to
write,
|Having arrived at the county jail, the door was |
|forced open, |
because the sentence seems to say that the door did the arriving. The
sentence should be written,
|Having arrived at the county jail, the mob forced |
|open the door. |
=153. Agreement of Verbs.=--One should watch one's verbs carefully, too,
to see that they agree in number with their subjects. One is sometimes
tempted to make the verb agree with the predicate, as in the following:
|The weakest section of the course are the ninth, |
|tenth, and eleventh holes. |
But English usage requires agreement of the verb with the subject. If
the subject is a collective noun, one may regard it as either singular
or plural. But when the writer has made his choice, he must maintain a
consistent point of view. One may say,
|The mob were now gathering in the northeast corner |
|of the yard and yelling themselves hoarse, |
or
|The mob was now gathering in the northeast corner of|
|the yard and yelling itself hoarse. |
But the two points of view may not be mixed in the same sentence or the
same paragraph. That the following sentence is wrong should be evident
at a glance:
|The Kellog-Haines Singing Party has been on the |
|lyceum and chautauqua platform for eight years and |
|have toured together the entire United States. |
Confusion is often caused also by qualifying phrases intervening between
subjects and their verbs. Thus:
|The number of the strikers and of the members of the |
|employment associations do not agree with the report |
|made by the commission. |
And sometimes one finds a plural verb wrongly used after the correlative
terms _either ... or_ and _neither ... nor_, as in the following:
|Neither the mother of the children nor the aunt were|
|held responsible for the accident. |
Finally, one often finds reporters consistently using a singular verb
after the expletive _there_. In fifty per cent of the cases the writers
are wrong. Thus:
|The briefest glance at the yard and premises would |
|have shown that there was more than one in the |
|conspiracy. |
Here _was_ should be _were_.
=154. Coördination and Subordination.=--The third error in grammatical
construction, failure to coördinate or subordinate sentences and parts
of sentences properly, cannot be treated with so much sureness as the
two preceding faults; yet certain definite instruction may be given.
_And_, _but_, _for_, _or_, and _nor_ are called coördinating
conjunctions; that is, they are used to connect words, phrases, and
clauses of equal rank. If one uses _and_ to connect a noun with a verb,
or a past participle with a present participle, or a verb in the
indicative mood with one in the subjunctive, he perverts the conjunction
and produces a consequent effect of awkwardness or lack of clearness in
the sentence. Look at the following:
|The sister residing in Albany, and who is said to |
|have struck one of the visiting sisters, followed |
|them into the sick room. |
In this sentence _and_ is used to connect the participle _residing_ with
the pronoun _who_, and the consequent awkwardness results. This is the
much condemned _and who_ construction. Likewise, in the next sentence:
|Five hundred persons saw two boys washed from the |
|end of Winter's pier and drowning in twenty feet of |
|water at noon to-day. |
_And_ is here used to connect the past participle _washed_ with the
present participle _drowning_, and the sentence is thereby rendered
clumsy.
=155. Clauses Unequal in Thought.=--An equally great inaccuracy is the
attempt to connect with a coördinate conjunction clauses equivalent in
grammatical construction, but unequal in thought value. Other things
being equal, the ideas of greatest value should be put into independent
clauses, the ideas of least value into dependent clauses or phrases.
_Other things being equal_, be it understood, for by a too strict
observance of this rule one may easily make the sentence ludicrous. Take
the following as an illustration:
|We were to raid the hall precisely at midnight, and |
|we set our watches to the second. |
Here the thought-value of the two clauses is not equal, no matter how
the writer may attempt to make it seem so by expressing the ideas in
clauses grammatically equal. The second clause contains the main idea;
so the first should be subservient. Thus:
|As we were to raid the hall precisely at midnight, |
|we set our watches to the second. |
In the corrected form the sentence is given greater force by having the
reader's attention directed specifically to the thought of prime
importance, the setting of the watches. And so with the following
sentences. Note that the second in each case is made more forceful by
centering the attention on what is most important in thought.
|The saloons were not allowed after January 1 to keep|
|open on Sunday, and half of them gave up their |
|licenses. |
|As the saloons were not allowed after January 1 to |
|keep open on Sunday, half of them gave up their |
|licenses. |
* * * * *
|He fell from the sixth story and was able to walk |
|away without assistance. |
|Though he fell from the sixth story, he was able to |
|walk away without assistance. |
=156. Ellipsis.=--Ellipsis is the omission of a word or phrase necessary
to the meaning of a sentence. An ellipsis is poor when the words omitted
cannot readily be understood from the context. Pope's line,
To err is human; to forgive, divine.
is an illustration of good ellipsis because the word _is_ can readily be
substituted from the context. The following ellipses, however, are not
good:
|Louis Flanagan is helping his brother Silas cut wood|
|and numerous other things. |
|He shadowed Laux longer than O'Rourke. |
|Standing on each side of the door, a fat and tall |
|man looked suspiciously at them. |
Ellipsis is often desirable for the sake of brevity, but one must be
sure never to omit a word or phrase unless precisely that word or phrase
may be readily supplied from the context.
=157. Clearness in the Sentence.=--After correct grammar, the next
points to seek in writing the sentence are clearness and force, which
together give a sentence its interest. Of the two, clearness is the more
important. A reporter should never write a sentence that must be read
twice to be understood. As has been said once or twice already, but may
be repeated for emphasis, news stories to-day are read rapidly, and
rapid reading is possible only when sentences yield their ideas with
small effort on the part of the reader. Consider the following:
|The Assembly on Thursday refused to pass the Grell |
|Bill, permitting the sale of intoxicating liquors, |
|after the close of the polls on election days, over |
|the governor's veto. |
This sentence is clear if one will stop to read it twice; but there is
the trouble: one must read it twice--a task few will perform.
=158. Grammatically Connected Phrases.=--The lack of entire clearness in
the sentence just quoted is due to a difficulty over which the best
writers often stumble,--failure to keep grammatically connected words,
phrases, and clauses as close together as possible. In the sentence
quoted, for instance, if the phrase _over the governor's veto_ were
placed immediately after _pass_, the whole sentence would be clear at
once to the reader. The same fault exists in the following:
|The witness said she had a furnished bedroom for a |
|gentleman 22 feet long by 11 feet wide. |
=159. Correlative Conjunctions.=--The correlative conjunctions, _either
... or_, _neither ... nor_, _whether ... or_, and _not only ... but
also_, are also particularly liable to trip a writer. Each should come
immediately before the word or phrase it modifies. For example:
|Either the prisoner will be hanged or sentenced to |
|life imprisonment. |
This sentence obviously is wrong. _Either_ here should come immediately
before _hanged_, making the sentence read:
|The prisoner will be either hanged or sentenced to |
|life imprisonment. |
=160. "Only" and "Alone."=--_Only_ and _alone_ belong in the same class
of modifiers that demand close watching. _Only_ comes immediately before
the word or phrase it modifies, _alone_ immediately after. One should
avoid using _only_ when _alone_ may be used instead, and should not
place either of the two words between emphatic words or phrases. The
following illustrates an inaccurate placing of _only_:
|The evidence seemed to show that a man could only |
|obtain advancement in the Hall by submitting wholly |
|to the dictates of the leaders. |
_Only_ here should come immediately before the phrase by _submitting_.
=161. Parenthetic Expressions.=--The use of long parenthetic expressions
within a sentence is also a frequent cause of lack of clearness. In
general, sentences within parentheses should be avoided in news
articles. Two short terse sentences are clearer--hence far more
effective--than one long one containing a doubtfully clear parenthetic
phrase or clause. The prime fault with the following sentence, for
instance, is the inclusion of the two parenthetic clauses, necessitating
a close reading to get the meaning:
|Even if the allies shall be able to force the |
|Dardanelles, and present indications are that they |
|will, the wheat crop in Russia will not be up to the|
|average from that country on account of the |
|withdrawal of so many millions of men for purely |
|military purposes, either in the fields of battle or|
|in the factories getting munitions of war ready. |
Put into two sentences, the illustration becomes:
|Even if the allies shall be able to fulfil their |
|present expectations of forcing the Dardanelles, the|
|Russian wheat will not be up to the average. Too |
|many millions of men have been withdrawn from the |
|field to the trenches and the munition factories to |
|enable the country to produce a full crop. |
=162. Shifted Subject.=--A shifted subject within a sentence is also
usually a hindrance to clearness. Indeed, one can aid clearness in
successive sentences by retaining as far as possible the same subject.
Certainly one should not shift subjects within the sentence without good
reason. The two following sentences exhibit the weakness of the shifted
subject:
|The British ambassador to Norway has offered $25,000|
|reward for his capture, and he bears a special |
|passport from the Kaiser. |
|Witter was standing near the curb, but the death-car|
|passed without his seeing it. |
Improved, these sentences become:
|The British ambassador to Norway has offered $25,000|
|reward for the capture of Benson, who bears a |
|special passport from the Kaiser. |
|Witter was standing near the curb, but failed to see|
|the death-car pass. |
=163. Coherence.=--Clearness frequently is destroyed or greatly lessened
through lack of proper coherence. Writers often forget that every
sentence has a double purpose: to convey a meaning itself and to make
clearer the meaning of preceding and succeeding sentences. The reporter
should watch closely to see not only that the phrases of his sentences
follow each other in natural sequence, but also that the relation of
those phrases to adjacent ones in the same or other sentences is clearly
shown. Here is a notice made ludicrous because the reporter used a
connective indicating a wrong relation between two clauses:
|Mrs. Alpheus White is on the sick list this week. |
|Dr. Anderson has been with her, but we hope she may |
|soon recover. |
The connective that the writer should have used, of course, was _and_,
or else none at all. Substitute the _and_ or merely omit the _but_ and
the coherence is perfect.
=164. Coherence and Unity.=--Many sentences that appear to lack unity
are really wanting in proper coherence. For instance,
|Dr. Alvers was called as soon as the accident was |
|discovered, and it is feared now she will not |
|recover, |
is a sentence lacking in unity, but one that may be unified properly if
the coherence is made good. Thus:
|Dr. Alvers was called as soon as the accident was |
|discovered, and though he gave all the aid that |
|medical science could render, it is feared now she |
|will not recover. |
=165. Sentence Emphasis.=--Sentence emphasis is gained in five ways: by
form, position, proportion, repetition, and delicacy of expression.
Sentence form--putting into an independent clause what is most
important--has already been discussed under clearness. The use of
position for emphasis is the placing at the beginning or end of the
sentence the ideas that are most important and the enclosure within of
the less important thoughts. The following sentence illustrates a
writer's failure to avail himself of position for emphasis:
|This afternoon reports that she was still missing |
|from home were being circulated. |
But _this afternoon_ and _circulated_ are not the important concepts.
_Reports_ and _still missing from home_ are the emphatic ideas and
should be put first and last respectively. Thus:
|Reports were being circulated this afternoon that |
|she was still missing from home. |
So with the following:
|This morning fifty convicts of the Kansas State |
|penitentiary were placed in solitary confinement, |
|accused of being leaders in a mutiny yesterday in |
|the coal mines operated by the penitentiary. |
_This morning_ and _mines operated by the penitentiary_ are not,
however, the important ideas. A better arrangement of the sentence
reads:
|Accused of being leaders in a mutiny yesterday in |
|the penitentiary coal mines, fifty convicts of the |
|Kansas State penitentiary were placed this morning |
|in solitary confinement. |
Similarly, a phrase or clause transferred from its normal position in
the sentence will attract attention to itself. Note the increased
emphasis upon _the matter was purely political_ in the following
sentence by transference of it from its normal position at the end:
|Simpson, who was in the uniform of a lieutenant when|
|arrested at New Orleans, said the matter was purely |
|political. |
|That the matter was purely political was the |
|statement made by Simpson, who was in the uniform of|
|a lieutenant when arrested at New Orleans. |
=166. Proportion for Emphasis.=--The emphasis of a sentence in a news
story varies in inverse proportion to its length. Emphasis is gained by
brevity. A prolix style tires the reader; and newspaper space is
valuable. The reporter, therefore, must make his sentences short and
pointed. He must condense, must reduce predication to a minimum. As few
verbs as possible and all verbs active is a slogan in the news room. It
is an error from a newspaper standpoint to include in a sentence any
word that may be omitted without altering or obscuring the sense. One
of the first requisites for success in journalism is ability to present
facts with a minimum of words. Note the added emphasis given the
following sentences by mere reduction in the number of words:
|It is well to understand that a high temperature of |
|heat, boiling or more, destroys the germs of |
|disease. |
|It is well understood that a high temperature, |
|boiling or more, destroys germs. |
* * * * *
|A pioneer living west of Solon blew his head off |
|to-day with a shotgun. Death followed the deed |
|instantly. |
|A pioneer living west of Solon killed himself |
|instantly to-day by blowing his head off with a |
|shotgun. |
* * * * *
|Miss Helen Goodrich, who is an aviatrix of note, was|
|arrested in Bremen this morning charged with |
|kidnapping. |
|Miss Helen Goodrich, an aviatrix of note, was |
|arrested in Bremen this morning charged with |
|kidnapping. |
Note that in the last illustration, in particular, the condensation
consists in reducing predication, in merely removing a verb and a
pronoun from the sentence.
=167. Repetition.=--The worth of repetition as a means of obtaining
coherence has been discussed in a preceding chapter. Its value as an
effective means of gaining emphasis is also noteworthy. Consider the
effect of the repetition of the word _blithe_ in the following two
sentences:
|A blithe young man met a blithe young woman at State|
|and Adams Streets Friday. Michael Hurley, a blithe |
|plain-clothes policeman, met them both. |
Great care must be exercised, however, in repeating a word for emphasis.
The usage may easily be a handicap rather than a help. More often than
not, repetition of the same word or phrase is the result of laziness or
paucity of vocabulary, and destroys the force of the sentence. An
instance of too frequent use of the same word--the adjective
_beautiful_--appears in the following:
|The bride was elaborately gowned in a beautiful |
|sky-blue messaline dress, with silk over lace, and |
|carried a beautiful bouquet of gladiolis, besides |
|having a beautiful bouquet of flowers at the waist. |
|The groom wore the usual blue worsted suit, with a |
|beautiful buttonhole bouquet, while the bridesmaid |
|was beautifully gowned in a white French serge |
|trimmed with a light blue silk girdle and a blue |
|silk tango cord at the throat, and also had a |
|beautiful bouquet at the waist. The best man wore a |
|rich dark gray suit and also had a beautiful |
|buttonhole bouquet. The room was beautifully |
|decorated with green foliage and roses, formed into |
|a beautiful arch, under which the couple stood |
|during the ceremony, which was performed by Rev. |
|Wells of this city. |
=168. Delicacy of Expression.=--Delicacy of expression is that quality
in news writing which distinguishes the star reporter from the cub. It
may be learned, but never taught. It is this elusive element in writing
and the inability of instructors to impart it that make many journalists
say news writing cannot be taught. Delicacy of expression is not
effeminacy. It is originality; it is cleverness; it is nimbleness of wit
and beauty of phrase; it is grace; it is simplicity; it is restraint; it
is tact. It is all these, and more. It is that intuition in a star man
which forbids his beginning the same kind of story day after day with a
fixed, hackneyed type of sentence, which makes him avoid triteness of
expression. It is that something in him which compels him to avoid
affectation, to love beauty and grace, born of simplicity,
unadornedness. It is that inborn sense of good taste that restrains the
writer from indelicate, personal allusions so offensive to men and
women of refinement. All this and more is delicacy of expression, and
blest is the journalist who has it. The reporter who wrote the following
had not yet learned the art:
| =THE HAVENS-MERRILL WEDDING= |
| |
|At 7:30 the sounds of the wedding march scintillated|
|through the Havens house like tired waves laving the|
|shores of a mighty lake. Seldom if ever has such a |
|scene been witnessed in this place. The smell of |
|spring flowers was everywhere coming to all |
|nostrils. Presently there was a slight disturbance |
|at the right hand entrance, and then the bride |
|entered on the arm of her father, William Havens, |
|the well-known merchant. Simultaneous at the |
|opposite door was another disturbance, and the |
|bridegroom entered attended by Henry Merrill of Des |
|Moines. Then the two parties proceeded down the |
|middle aisles, meeting under a beautiful marriage |
|bell where the two hearts were beautifully made as |
|one, which was followed by congratulations all along|
|the aisles. |
| =MR. CRAIG WEDS MISS SCHELL= |
| |
|Mr. Joe Craig and Miss Cora Schell, both of Mena, |
|were quietly married at the Hotel Main, Durant, |
|Okla., Monday, and are boarding at this hotel. Mr. |
|Craig is well known as a skilful bricklayer, honest |
|and industrious. The bride is well known in this |
|city and proved her worth by the years she served |
|the Lochridge Dry Goods Company as cashier. She is a|
|member of the Woodmen Circle and carries a large |
|insurance. We regret that she must leave, but like |
|Rebekah of old, she leaves home, family, and friends|
|to travel the journey of life with her "Isaac" (Joe)|
|in a distant land. We feel that the expression of |
|all her friends is that the best this world affords |
|will be theirs to the end of their journey and that |
|a new life awaits them in another and higher sphere.|
=169. Essentials of the Sentence.=--If a reporter can write
grammatically correct sentences,--if he can coördinate and subordinate
accurately the different parts; if he can give all the pronouns definite
antecedents; if he can keep his verbs consistent, having them agree in
person and number with their subjects; if he can make effective use of
ellipsis,--his sentences will possess the first essentials of a good
sentence,--accuracy. If he can make his sentences clear and
forceful,--if he can keep grammatically connected words, phrases, and
clauses close together; if he can eliminate lengthy parenthetic
expressions; if he can avoid unnecessary shifts of subjects within
sentences; if he can make readily clear the relation of every phrase in
a sentence to every other phrase in it and adjoining sentences; if he
can put important ideas at the beginning and the end of the sentence; if
he can make his sentences short and concise; if he can acquire delicacy
of expression,--his sentences will possess the second requisite of a
good sentence,--interest. Accuracy and interest, these are the elements
that make a sentence good. And the greater of these is accuracy.
XIII. WORDS
=170. Accuracy and Interest.=--For words, as for sentences and stories,
the same law holds,--accuracy and interest. If one's words are accurate
and stimulate interest in the reader, they are good.
=171. Accuracy.=--Accuracy comes first. It is necessary always to write
with a nice regard for exact shades of meaning. As Flaubert declared,
"Whatever one wishes to say, there is only one noun to express it, only
one verb to give it life, only one adjective to qualify it. Search then
till that noun, that verb, that adjective is discovered. Never be
content with very nearly; never have recourse to tricks, however happy,
or to buffoonery of language to avoid a difficulty. This is the way to
become original." An accurate writer avoids looseness of thinking and
inexactness of expression as he avoids libel. The adjective _lurid_ is
an illustration of a word over which careless reporters have stumbled
for generations. When the casualties of the war against inaccuracy are
recorded, _lurid_ will be among the missing. As used by ignorant
scribblers, the word means something like bright or brilliant, or
perhaps towering; yet its precise meaning is pale yellow, wan, ghastly.
Journalists of the last quarter of the nineteenth century will remember
a long list of such sins against precision, recorded by Charles A. Dana,
editor of the _New York Sun_. A few additions have been made to his
list, and the whole is given below. The reader should distinguish keenly
between each pair of words and should be careful never to misuse one of
them. Do not use:
above _or_ over _for_ more than
administered _for_ dealt
affect _for_ effect
aggravate _for_ irritate
allude _for_ refer
and _for_ to
audience _for_ spectators
avocation _for_ vocation
awfully _for_ very _or_ exceedingly
balance _for_ remainder
banquet _for_ dinner
beside _for_ besides
call attention _for_ direct attention
can _for_ may
claim _for_ assert
conscious _for_ aware
couple _for_ two
date back to _for_ date from
deceased _for_ died
dock _for_ pier _or_ wharf
dove _for_ dived
emigrate _for_ immigrate
endorse _for_ approve
exposition _for_ exhibition
farther _for_ further
favor _for_ resemble
groom _for_ bridegroom
happen _for_ occur
hung _for_ hanged
infinite _for_ great, vast
in our midst _for_ among us
in spite of _for_ despite
last _for_ latest
less _for_ fewer
like _for_ as if
materially _for_ largely
notice _for_ observe
murderous _for_ dangerous
onto _for_ on _or_ upon
partially _for_ partly
pants _for_ trousers
past two years _for_ last two years
perform _for_ play
posted _for_ informed
practically _for_ virtually
prior to _for_ before
propose _for_ purpose
proven _for_ proved
raise _for_ rear
quite _for_ very
section _for_ region
spend _for_ pass
standpoint _for_ point of view
suicide _as_ a verb
suspicion _for_ suspect
sustain _for_ receive
transpire _for_ occur
universal _for_ general
vest _for_ waistcoat
vicinity _for_ neighborhood
viewpoint _for_ point of view
witness _for_ see
would seem _for_ seems
=172. Clearness.=--To secure interest, a word must be clear and
forceful. It should not be technical or big, but simple. The biggest
words in the average newspapers are the handiwork and pride of the cub
reporters. Yet clearness, force, brevity all demand little
words,--simplicity. And the simplest words are those of everyday
speech,--Anglo-Saxon words generally,--such as _home_ rather than
_residence_, _begin_ rather than _commence_, _coffin_ rather than
_casket_. The reporter who uses ornate, technical, or little-known words
does so at his own peril and to the injury of his story; for the average
newspaper reader, without the benefits of a college education and having
a limited vocabulary of one to two thousand words, does not know and has
no time to look up the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases. This is
why many city editors prefer to employ high-school students and break
them in as cubs rather than take college graduates who, proud of their
education and vocabularies, attempt to display their learning in every
story they write. Simple, familiar, everyday words, those that every
reader knows, are always the most forceful and clear, and hence the most
fitting. The following is a list of words which young writers are most
commonly tempted to use:
accord _for_ give
aggregate _for_ total
appertains _for_ pertains
apprehend _for_ arrest
calculate _for_ think, expect
canine _for_ dog
casket _for_ coffin
commence _for_ begin
conflagration _for_ fire
construction _for_ building
contribute _for_ give
cortège _for_ procession
destroyed by fire _for_ burned
donate _for_ give
elicit _for_ draw
hymeneal altar _for_ chancel
inaugurate _for_ begin
individual _for_ person
obsequies _for_ funeral
participate _for_ take part
per diem _for_ a day
perform _for_ play
purchase _for_ buy
recuperate _for_ recover
remains _for_ body, corpse
render _for_ sing
reside _for_ live
retire _for_ go to bed
rodent _for_ rat
subsequently _for_ later
tonsorial artist _for_ barber
via _for_ by way of
=173. Force.=--Force demands that one's words be emphatic. Unfortunately
a reporter cannot have readers always eager to read what he writes. If
he had, his readers would be satisfied with having his words merely
accurate and clear. Instead, they demand that their attention be
attracted, compelled. The words must be fitting, apt, fresh,
unhackneyed, specific rather than general. The spectators gathered in
the field must not be _a vast concourse_, but _ten thousand persons_.
Nor must it be _about_ ten thousand. The _about_ should be omitted. A
specific _ten thousand persons present_ is much more effective and,
being a round number, is a sufficient indication that no actual count
has been made. In all cases where there is a choice between a specific
and a general term, the specific one should be used.
=174. Trite Phrases.=--Interest requires one also to seek originality of
expression, to avoid trite phrases and hackneyed words. Embalmed meats
and kyanized sentences are never good. Yet one of the most difficult
acquirements in reporting is the ability to find day after day a new way
to tell of some obscure person dying of pneumonia or heart disease. Only
reporters who have fought and overcome the arctic drowsiness of trite
phraseology know the difficulty of fighting on day after day, seeking a
new, a different way to tell the same old story of suicide or marriage
or theft or drowning. Yet one is no longer permitted to say that the
bridegroom wore the conventional black, or the bride was elegantly
gowned, or the bride's mother presided at the punch bowl, or the
assembled guests tripped the light fantastic. The reporter must find new
words for everything and must tell all with the same zest and the same
sparkling freshness of expression with which he wrote on his first day
in the news office.
=175. Figures of Speech.=--In his search for freshness, variety of
expression, the reporter often may avail himself of figures of speech.
These add suggestiveness to writing and increase its meaning by
interpretation in a figurative rather than a literal sense. To say,
"Oldfield flew round the bowl like a ruined soul on the rim of Hades,"
is more effective than "Oldfield ran his car round the course at a
110-mile rate of speed." But the writer must be careful not to mix his
figures, or he may easily make himself ridiculous. An apt illustration
of such mixing of figures is the following:
|It seemed as if the governor were hurling his glove |
|into the teeth of the advancing wave that was |
|sounding the clarion call of equal suffrage. |
In particular, one must not personify names of ships, cities, states,
and countries. Note, for example, the incongruity in the following:
|Especially does the man of discriminating taste |
|appreciate her when he compares her with the |
|ordinary tubs sailing the Great Lakes. |
=176. Elegance.=--Force also requires that one heed what may sometimes
seem trivialities of good usage. For instance, a minister may not be
referred to as _Rev. Anderson_, but as _the Rev. Mr. Anderson_. Coinage
of titles, too, is not permitted: as _Railway Inspector Brown_ for _John
Brown, a railway inspector_. And the overused "editorial we" has now
passed entirely from the news article. In an unsigned story, even the
pronoun _I_ should not be used, nor such circumlocutions as _the
writer_, _the reporter_, or _the correspondent_. In a signed story,
however, the pronoun _I_ is used somewhat freely, while such stilted
phrases as _the scribe_, _your humble servant_, etc., are absolutely
taboo.
=177. Slang.=--Finally, mention must be made of slang, the uncouth
relative in every respectable household. It is used freely on the
sporting page, but is barred from other columns, its debarment being due
to its lack of elegance and clearness. On the sporting page slang has
been accepted because there one is writing to a narrow circle of
masculine Goths who understand the patois of the gridiron, the diamond,
and the padded ropes and prefer it to the language of civilization. But
such diction is always limited in its range of acquaintances and
followers. A current bit of slang in Memphis may be unintelligible in
Pittsburg. A colloquial ephemeralism in a city may be undecipherable in
the country districts twenty-five miles away. A large percentage of the
athletic jargon of the sporting club and field is enigmatical to the
uninitiated. And since a newspaper man writes for the world at large
rather than for any specific class or group, he cannot afford to take
chances on muddying his sentences by the use of slang. The best test of
a good journalist is the instinct for writing for heterogeneous masses
of people. That word is not a good one which is clear only to select
readers, whether select in ignorance or select in intelligence. The news
story permits no such selection. It is written, not for the few, not for
the many as distinct from the few, but for all. No other kind of reading
matter is so cosmopolitan in its freedom from class or provincial
limitations as is the news story, and none is more unwavering in its
elimination of slang. Newly coined words, it is true, are admitted more
readily into news stories than into magazine articles, but slang itself
is barred. One may not write of the "glad rags" of the debutante, or the
"bagging" of the criminal, or the "swiping" of the messenger boy's
"bike." One may not even employ such colloquialisms as "enthuse,"
"swell" (delightful), "bunch" (group). But one may use such new coinages
as _burglarize_, _home-run_, and _diner_ rather freely. When in doubt
about the reputability of a word, however, one should consult a standard
dictionary, which should be kept continually on one's desk.
PART III
TYPES OF STORIES
TYPES OF STORIES
XIV. INTERVIEWS, SPEECHES, COURTS
=178. Four Types of Stories.=--To the casual newspaper reader the
various patterns of stories seem all but limitless. To the experienced
newspaper man, however, they reduce themselves to seven or eight, and
even this number may be further limited. The popular impression comes
from the fact that the average reader places an automobile collision and
a fire under different heads. Yet for the newspaper's purposes both may
be classed under the head of accidents. For the sake of convenience in
this study, therefore, we may group under four heads all the news
stories that a beginner need be acquainted with in the first year or so
of his work: interviews; accidents, society, and sports, to which may be
added for separate treatment, rewrites, feature stories, and
correspondence stories.
=179. The Interview Type.=--In the present chapter will be discussed the
interview type of story, in which are included not only personal
interviews, but speeches, sermons, toasts, courts, trials, meetings,
conventions, banquets, official reports, and stories about current
magazine articles and books. These are all grouped under one head
because they derive their interest to the public from the fact that in
them men and women present their opinions concerning topics of current
interest, and that for newspaper purposes the method of handling
interviews is much the same as for the other ten.
=180. Lead to an Interview.=--The lead to a news story of a personal
interview may feature any one of the following: (1) the name of the
person interviewed, (2) a direct statement from him, (3) an indirect
statement, (4) the general topic of the interview, (5) the occasion, or
even (6) the time. Probably it is the name of the man or a direct
statement that is played up most often. If the former is featured, the
lead should begin with the speaker's name and should locate the
conversation in time and place. Such a lead may well include also either
a direct or an indirect statement, or a general summary of the
interview. Thus:
|Professor George Trumbull Ladd of Yale, in an |
|interview for The Herald to-day, declared there |
|never had been a time in the history of the world |
|when there was a greater need for the enforcement of|
|international law, nor one when international law |
|was so much in the making as at present. |
If a significant statement is of most importance in the interview, the
lead should begin with the statement, directly or indirectly expressed,
and continue with the speaker's name, the time, place, and occasion of
the interview. Thus:
|"What has happened in Mexico is an appalling |
|international crime," declared Theodore Roosevelt |
|last evening at his home on Sagamore Hill, Oyster |
|Bay, L.I. He had been out all the afternoon in the |
|woods chopping wood, and was sitting well back from |
|the great log fire in the big hall filled with |
|trophies of his hunting trips, as he talked of the |
|recent massacre of American mining men in Chihuahua.|
|The most damnable act ever passed by Congress or |
|conceived by a congressman, was the way in which |
|William J. Conners of Buffalo to-day characterized |
|the La Follette seamen's law. Mr. Conners is in New |
|York on business connected with the Magnus Beck |
|Brewing Company, of which he is president. |
=181. Statements of Local Interest.=--Almost always it is well,
if possible, to lead the person interviewed to an expression of
his opinion about a topic of local interest, then feature that
statement,--particularly if the statement agrees with a declared policy
of the paper. Usually a problem of civic, state, or national interest
may be broached most easily. If the city is interested in commission
government or prohibition, if the state is fighting the short ballot or
the income tax question, the visitor may be asked for his opinion. If
the guest happens to be a national or international personage and the
nation is solving the problem of preparedness, or universal military
service, or the tariff question, he may be questioned on those subjects
and his opinions featured prominently in the lead. Note the following
lead to an interview published by a paper opposing the policies of
President Wilson:
|Declaring that the national administration's foreign|
|policy has made him almost ashamed of being an |
|American citizen, Henry B. Joy, of Detroit, Mich., |
|president of the Packard Motor Company, a governor |
|of the Aero Club of America and vice president of |
|the Navy League, said yesterday that our heritage of|
|national honor from the days of Washington, Lincoln,|
|and McKinley is slipping through our fingers. |
=182. Inquiring about the Feature.=--Often the feature to be developed
in an interview lead may be had by asking the one interviewed if he has
anything he would like brought out or developed. When the interview has
been granted freely, such a question is no more than a courtesy due the
prominent man. But only under extraordinary circumstances should a
reporter agree to submit his copy for criticism before publication. Many
a good story has had all the piquancy taken out of it by giving the one
interviewed an opportunity to change his mind or to see in cold print
just what he said,--a fact that accounts for so many repudiated
interviews. In nine cases out of ten the newspaper man has reported the
distinguished visitor exactly, but the write-up looks different from
what the speaker expected. Then he denies the whole thing, and the
reporter is made the scapegoat, because the man quoted is a public
personage and the reporter is not.
=183. Fairness in the Interview.=--The first aim of the interviewer,
however, must always be fairness, accuracy, and absence of personal
bias. No other journalistic tool can be so greatly abused or made so
unfair a weapon as the interview. One should make no attempt to color a
man's opinions as expressed in an interview, no matter how much one may
disagree, nor should one "editorialize" on those ideas. If the paper
cares to discuss their truth or saneness, it will entrust that matter to
the editorial writers. This caution does not mean that a writer may not
break into the paragraphs of quotation to explain the speaker's meaning
or to elaborate upon a possible effect of his position. Such
interruptions are regularly made and are entirely legitimate, and it
will be noted in the Bryan story on page 131 that most of that article
consists of such explanation and elaboration. If, however, the reporter
feels that the utterances of the speaker are such that they should not
go unchallenged, he should obtain and quote a reply from a local man of
prominence.
=184. Coherence and Proportion.=--Next to accuracy there should be kept
in view the intent to make the sequence and proportion of the ideas
logical, no matter in what order or at what length they may have been
given by the one interviewed. Often in conversation a man will give more
time to an idea than is its due, and often the most important part of an
interview will not be introduced until the last. Or, again, a person may
drift away from the immediate topic and not return to it for some
minutes. In all such cases it is the duty of the reporter to regroup and
develop the ideas so that they shall follow each other logically in the
printed interview and shall present the thought and the real spirit of
what the man wanted to say.
=185. Identifying the One Interviewed.=--Probably the most used and the
easiest method of gaining coherence between the lead and the body of the
interview is by a paragraph of explanation regarding the person, and how
he came to give the interview. It is remarkable how many readers do not
remember or have never heard the name of the governor of New York or the
senior senator from California or the Secretary of the Navy, and it is
therefore necessary to make entirely clear the position or rank of the
person and his right to be heard and believed. In the following story,
note how the writer dwells on the rank of the Oxford University
professor as a lecturer and so inspires the reader with confidence in
his statements:
| =MODERN DRESS CALLED A JOKE= |
| |
|"Look at our modern dress. Both men's and women's |
|costumes are, on the whole, as bad as they can be." |
| |
|Prof. I. B. Stoughton Holborn of Oxford University |
|is in Chicago to deliver a series of lectures on art|
|for the University of Chicago Lecture Association. |
|In an interview Saturday afternoon he vigorously |
|ridiculed modern dress. |
| |
|Prof. Holborn is perhaps the most widely known of |
|the Oxford and Cambridge university extension |
|lecturers and has the reputation of being one of the|
|most successful art lecturers in the world. He is |
|the hero of an adventure on the sinking Lusitania. |
|He saved Avis Dolphin, a 12-year-old child who was |
|being sent to England to be educated. The two women |
|in whose charge Mrs. Dolphin had sent her daughters |
|were lost, and Prof. Holborn has adopted the |
|child.... |
=186. Handling Conversation.=--It should not be necessary to caution a
newspaper man against attempting to report all a man says. "Condense as
often as possible" is the interviewer's watchword,--"cut to the bone,"
as the reporters express it. Much of what a man says in conversation is
prolix. In that part of the interview that is dull or wordy, give the
pith of what is said in one or two brief sentences, then fall into
direct quotation again when his words become interesting. As a rule,
however, it is well as far as possible to quote his exact language all
through the interview, since the interest of an interview frequently
rests not only in what a man says, but in the way he says it. This does
not mean a cut-and-dried story consisting of a series of questions and
answers, but a succession of sparkling, personal paragraphs containing
the direct statements of the speaker.
=187. Mannerisms.=--The report may be livened up greatly with bits of
description portraying the speaker and his surroundings, particularly
when they harmonize or contrast with his character or the ideas
expressed. An excellent device for presenting the spirit of an
interview--giving an atmosphere, as it were--is to interpolate at
intervals in the story personal eccentricities or little mannerisms of
speech of the one interviewed. Mention of pet phrases, characteristic
gestures, sudden display of anger, unexplainable reticence in answering
questions, etc., will sometimes be more effective than columns of what
the speaker actually said. Indeed, it is often of as much importance to
pay as close attention to incidentals as to the remarks of the one
talking.
=188. Persons Refusing to Talk.=--In nine cases out of ten it is the
reporter's duty both to keep himself out of the story and to suppress
the questions by which the man interviewed has been induced to talk. But
when he has failed entirely in gaining admission to one he wishes to
interview, or, having gained admission, has not succeeded in making him
talk, the would-be interviewer may still present a good story by
narrating his foiled efforts or by quoting the questions which the great
man refused to answer. One of the most brilliant examples that the
present writer has seen of the foiled interview was one by Mr. John
Edwin Nevin the day before Mr. William Jennings Bryan surrendered his
portfolio as Secretary of State in President Wilson's cabinet. The
nation was at white heat over the contents of the prospective note to
Germany and the possibility of the United States being drawn into the
war. Not a word of what the note contained had leaked from any source
and there had been no hint of a break in the Wilson cabinet. Supposedly,
all was harmony. Yet this correspondent, judging from the excited manner
of the Secretary of State, the sharpness of his noncommittal replies,
and his preoccupied air as he emerged from the cabinet room, scented the
trouble and published the following story hours before other
correspondents had their eyes opened to the history-making events
occurring about them:
| =BRYAN BALKS AT GERMAN NOTE= |
| |
|Washington, D. C., June 8.--President Wilson at 1:15|
|this afternoon announced, through Secretary Tumulty,|
|that at the cabinet meeting to-day the note to |
|Germany "was gone over and discussed and put in |
|final shape, and it is hoped that it will go |
|to-morrow," but Secretary of State Bryan is |
|determined to fight for a modification right up to |
|the minute that the note is cabled to Berlin. |
| |
|Bryan believes the United States is on record for |
|arbitration and that it would be a mockery to send |
|Germany a document which, he considers, savors of an|
|ultimatum. Although the majority of the cabinet was |
|against him to-day, he carried his persuasive powers|
|from the cabinet meeting to the University Club, |
|where he and his fellow members had lunch. |
| |
|Bryan's attitude came as a complete surprise to the |
|President. In previous notes Mr. Bryan took the |
|position that the United States should invite |
|arbitration. He called attention to the fact that |
|this country is on record as unalterably opposed to |
|war and pledged to every honorable means to prevent |
|it. |
| |
|But in every instance he has stopped short of any |
|further fight when the note has been approved by the|
|majority of the cabinet. And the President expected |
|that he would do this to-day. In fact, before the |
|cabinet meeting it was stated that the note would |
|have the approval of all members of the cabinet. |
| |
|The first intimation that anything was wrong came |
|when the Secretary did not show up at the executive |
|offices with the other cabinet members. His absence |
|was not at first commented upon because Count von |
|Bernstorff, the German ambassador, was at the state |
|department. However, it was soon ascertained that |
|the ambassador was conferring with Counselor |
|Lansing. |
| |
|Then it was rumored that Secretary Bryan had sent |
|word to President Wilson that he would not stand for|
|the note as framed. Inquiry at the White House |
|revealed the fact that Secretary Bryan had sent word|
|that he would be in his office, working on an |
|important paper, and would be late. At the state |
|department, Eddie Savoy, the Secretary's colored |
|messenger, refused to take any cards in to Bryan. He|
|said he did not know whether his chief actually |
|intended attending the meeting. |
| |
|"He is very busy, and I cannot disturb him," Eddie |
|stated. |
| |
|At the White House a distinct air of tension was |
|manifested. All inquiries as to what Secretary Bryan|
|was going to do were ignored. |
| |
|Finally, about 12 o'clock, Secretary Bryan left his |
|office and came across the street. His face was |
|flushed and his features hard set. He responded to |
|inquiries addressed to him with negative shakes of |
|the head. He swung into the cabinet room with the |
|set stride with which he mounted the steps of the |
|Baltimore platform to deliver his famous speech |
|attacking Charles F. Murphy and Tammany Hall, and |
|precipitating his break with Champ Clark, whose |
|nomination for the presidency up to that time seemed|
|assured. |
| |
|For more than an hour after he reached the cabinet |
|room the doors were closed. Across the hall the |
|President's personal messenger had erected a screen |
|to keep the curious at a distance. |
| |
|At last the door was thrown open with a bang. First |
|to emerge were Secretaries McAdoo and Redfield, who |
|brushed through the crowd of newspaper |
|representatives. They referred all inquiries to the |
|President. Secretary of War Garrison came out alone.|
|He refused to say a word regarding the note. There |
|was an interval of nearly ten minutes. Then |
|Secretaries Daniels and Wilson came out. Behind them|
|was Attorney General Gregory, and, bringing up the |
|rear, was Secretary Bryan. Bryan's face was still |
|set. His turned-down collar was damp and his face |
|was beaded with perspiration. |
| |
|"Was the note to Germany completed?" he was asked. |
| |
|"I cannot discuss what transpired at the cabinet |
|meeting," was his sharp reply. |
| |
|"Can you clear up the mystery and tell us when the |
|note will go forward to Berlin?" persisted |
|inquirers. |
| |
|"That I would not care to discuss," said the |
|Secretary, as he joined Secretary Lane. "I am not in|
|a position to make any announcement of any sort now.|
|I will tell you when the note actually has started."|
| |
|Ordinarily, Secretary Bryan goes from a cabinet |
|meeting to his office, drinks a bottle of milk and |
|eats a sandwich. To-day he entered Secretary Lane's |
|carriage and, with Lane and Secretary Daniels, |
|proceeded to the University Club for luncheon. |
| |
|It is understood that Secretary Bryan took to the |
|cabinet meeting a memorandum in which he justified |
|his views that the proposed note is not of a |
|character that the United States should send to |
|Germany. He took the position that the United |
|States, in executing arbitration treaties with most |
|of the countries of the world, took a direct |
|position against war. As he put it, on great |
|questions of national honor, the sort that make for |
|welfare, arbitration is the only remedy. |
| |
|Secretary Bryan is understood to have urged that the|
|United States could stand firmly for its rights and |
|not close the doors to any explanation that |
|Germany--or any other belligerent--might make. It is|
|understood that Bryan pointed out that Germany had |
|accepted the principles of the arbitration treaties |
|as a general proposition, but failed to execute the |
|treaty because of the European War breaking out. Her|
|opponents enjoy the advantages under such a treaty, |
|and Secretary Bryan insisted that Germany should not|
|be denied the same rights.... |
| |
|Although Secretary Bryan will continue his efforts |
|to modify the note, persons close to the President |
|insist that he will fail. The President is said to |
|have decided, after hearing all arguments, that the |
|safest course is to remain firm in the demand that |
|American rights under international law be |
|preserved. And it is expected that when the note is |
|finally O. K.'d by Counselor Lansing, it will be |
|sent to Germany. |
| |
|There is speculation as to whether Secretary Bryan |
|will sign the note as Secretary of State. He has |
|angrily refused to take any positive position on the|
|subject. If he should refuse, his retirement from |
|the cabinet would be certain. Bryan's friends insist|
|that he has been loyal to the President and has made|
|many concessions to meet the latter's wishes. They |
|believe that he will content himself with a protest |
|and again bow to the will of his chief. But there |
|was no way of getting any confirmation of this |
|opinion from Bryan. |
| |
|This is the first serious friction that has |
|developed in President Wilson's cabinet. Politicians|
|declare it will have far-reaching effect. Bryan has |
|fought consistently for arbitration principles. And |
|he now considers, some of his friends think, that |
|they have been ridden over rough-shod.[19]... |
[19] John Edwin Nevin in _The Omaha News_,
June 8, 1915.
The next morning President Wilson announced his acceptance of Mr.
Bryan's resignation as Secretary of State.
=189. Value of Inference in the Foiled Interview.=--The reporter who
would attain success in his profession should not fail to study with
care this story by Mr. Nevin, to learn not so much what the story
contains as what the person who wrote it had to know and had to be able
to do before he could turn out such a piece of work. One should analyze
it to see how startlingly few new facts the correspondent had in his
possession at the time he was writing, and how he played up those
lonesome details with a premonition of coming events that was uncanny.
Above all, the prospective reporter should observe with what rare
judgment and accuracy the writer noted in Mr. Bryan's demeanor a few
distinctive incidents which were at once both trivial and yet laden with
suggestions of events to come. To produce this story the writer had to
know not only a man, but men. A cub would have got nothing; this man
scooped the best correspondents of the nation.
=190. Series of Interviews.=--In a story containing a number of
interviews, let the lead feature the consensus of opinion expressed in
the interviews. Then follow in the body with the individual quotations,
each man's name being placed prominently at the beginning of the
paragraph containing his interview, so that in a rapid reading of the
story the eye may catch readily the change from the words of one man to
another. When there is a large number of such interviews, the name may
even be set in display type at the beginning of the paragraph. If,
however, the persons interviewed are not at all prominent, but their
statements are worth while, the quotations may be given successively and
the names buried within the paragraph.
=191. Leads for Speeches.=--In comparison with handling an interview, a
report of a speech is an easy task. In the case of the sermon or the
lecture, typewritten copies are almost always available and the
thoughts are presented in orderly sequence. So if the reporter has
followed the advice given in Part II, Chapter VII, and taken longhand
notes of a speech, or has not been so engrossed in mere note-taking that
he has been unable to follow the trend of the speaker's thought, he will
experience comparatively little trouble in writing up the speech. He may
begin in any one of a half-dozen or more ways. He may feature: (1) the
speaker's theme; (2) the title of the address, which may or may not be
the theme; (3) a sentence or a paragraph of forceful direct quotation;
(4) an indirect quotation of one or more dynamic statements; (5) the
speaker's name; (6) the occasion of the speech; or (7) the time or the
place of delivery. Any one of these may be played up according to its
importance in the address.
=192. Featuring a Single Sentence.=--Of the seven or eight different
kinds of lead, a quotation of a single sentence or a single paragraph is
happiest if one can be found that will give the keynote of the speech or
will harmonize with a declared policy of the paper. Thus:
|"It is the traitor god Love that makes men tell |
|foolish lies and women tell the fool truth," said |
|Prof. Henry Acheson last night in his lecture on |
|"Flirts." |
|"The devil has gone out of fashion. After a long and|
|honorable career as truant officer, he has finally |
|been buried with his fathers. That is why twentieth |
|century men and women don't attend church." Such was|
|Dr. Amos Buckwin's explanation yesterday of the |
|church-going problem. |
=193. Random Statements.=--Emphasis should be laid on the value of
playing up in the lead even a random statement if it chances to agree
with a specific policy or campaign to which the paper has committed
itself. In a non-political address or sermon an unwary statement
touching national, state, or city politics makes an excellent feature
if it favors the policies of the paper. Its worth lies in the fact that
it is manifestly unprejudiced and advanced by the speaker with no
ulterior motive. On the other hand, such a statement may well be ignored
if opposed to the paper's political or civic views. For example, note in
the following lead a feature played up solely because the paper was
Democratic in its politics:
|"I was a student in one of the classes taught by |
|Woodrow Wilson. Anyone who has ever seen the lower |
|part of his facial anatomy knows that when he says |
|'no' he does not mean 'yes,'" said Bishop Theodore |
|Henderson at the Methodist Church yesterday morning.|
| |
|It was not a political sermon. Aside from what |
|political significance the above quotation might |
|have, there was nothing political about his |
|discourse. He brought it out in referring to the |
|President doing away with the inaugural ball in |
|1915, which he nearly classed as a drunken orgy run |
|by politicians. He was emphasizing the President's |
|"no," that his family would not be present even if |
|he himself had to attend. |
As in this story, however, the writer must be careful always to make
clear the precise relation of the featured quotation to the speech as a
whole.
=194. Indirect Quotation.=--The chief reason for quoting indirectly in
the lead a single statement of a speaker is the need of shifting an
important point to the very first.
|That an inordinate indulgence in mere amusement is |
|softening the fiber of the American nation and |
|sapping its vitality, was the statement of Allen A. |
|Pendel, president of the Southwest Press Company, at|
|the monthly meeting of the Crust Breakers, Saturday.|
=195. Title Featured.=--The use of the subject of the speech as a
feature is advisable when it is particularly happy or when it expresses
the theme of the address.
|"The National Importance of Woman's Health" was the |
|subject of Dr. A. T. Schofield's lecture at the |
|Institute of Hygiene, Wednesday. |
|Taking as his subject, "The Tragedy of the |
|Unprepared," the Rev. Otis Colleman delivered a |
|powerful attack in Grace Church Sunday against |
|unpreparedness in one's personal life and in the |
|home, the state, and the nation. |
=196. Theme Featured.=--The theme may be featured when a single-sentence
quotation cannot readily be found and the subject does not indicate the
nature of the address.
|Condemnation of the twentieth-century woman's dress |
|was voiced at the Ninth International Purity |
|Congress by Rev. Albion Smith, Madison, Wis., who |
|spoke on "Spirit Rule vs. Animal Rule for Men and |
|Women." |
=197. Summary Lead.=--Oftentimes the theme lead shades into a
summarizing lead and the two become one of indirect quotation. Long
summarizing leads of speeches are to be avoided as a rule, since they
are liable to become overloaded and cumbersome. When using this lead,
the writer must be particularly careful to see that the individual
clauses are relatively short and simple in structure and that the
relation of each to the other and to the sentence as a whole is
absolutely clear.
|Stating that the public schools are the greatest |
|instrument for the development of socialism in this |
|country, that the socialists must get control of the|
|courts, that the party is not developing as rapidly |
|at present as it did a few years ago, and that the |
|opportunity that exists in this country for the |
|individual has been largely to blame for the slow |
|development of the Socialist party in America, John |
|C. Kennedy, Socialist speaker and member of the |
|Chicago common council, spoke on "The Outlook for |
|Socialism in America" at the Social Democratic |
|picnic held in Pabst Park on Sunday. |
=198. Speaker's Name Featured.=--The speaker's name comes first, of
course, only when he is sufficiently prominent locally or nationally to
justify featuring him.
|Billy Sunday made the devil tuck his tail between |
|his legs and skedaddle Friday night. |
|Justice Charles E. Hughes, of the Supreme Court of |
|the United States, came to New York yesterday as the|
|guest of the New York State Bar Association, which |
|is holding its thirty-ninth annual meeting in this |
|city. In the evening at the Astor Hotel he delivered|
|a scholarly address before that body on the topic, |
|"Some Aspects of the Development of American Law." |
|Then he shook hands with several hundreds of the |
|members of the association and their friends, turned|
|around and went right back again to the seclusion of|
|the Supreme Court Chamber in Washington. |
=199. Featuring the Occasion.=--Featuring the occasion of a speech or
the auspices under which it was given is justifiable only when the
speech and the speaker are of minor importance.
|Before the first hobo congress ever held in the |
|world William Eads Howe, millionaire president of |
|the convention, spoke Monday on the need of closer |
|union among passengers on the T. P. and W. |
=200. Featuring Time and Place.=--Only rarely is the time or the place
featured. But either may be played up when sufficiently important.
|Speaking from the door of Col. Henry Cook's chicken |
|house on Ansley Road to an audience of 250 colored |
|brethren in a neighboring barn, the Rev. Ezekiel |
|Butler, colored, began in a pouring rain Sunday |
|night the first service of the annual Holly Springs |
|open-air meetings. |
=201. Featuring Several Details.=--When the speaker, the subject, the
occasion, and the place are all important, it may be needful to make a
long summarizing lead of several paragraphs, explaining all these
features in detail. In such a case a quarter- or a half-column may be
required before one can get to the address itself. The following story
of President Wilson's first campaign speech for reëlection, delivered at
Pittsburgh on January 29, 1916, is an illustration:
=WILSON BEGINS CAMPAIGN=
_Name first_
|President Wilson as "trustee of the ideals of |
|America," to employ his own phrase, has taken his |
|case to the people. |
_Occasion_
|He opened here to-day the most momentous |
|speech-making tour perhaps made by a President |
|within a generation with an appeal to keep national |
|preparedness out of partisan politics and to give it|
|no place as a possible campaign issue. |
_Effect on Audience_
|The nonpartisanship urged by the President was |
|reflected in Pittsburg's greeting to the executive. |
_Circumstances and Place_
|A Republican ex-Congressman, James Francis Burke, |
|presided at the meeting under the auspices of the |
|chamber of commerce in Soldiers' Memorial Hall. |
|"Preparedness is a matter of patriotism, not of |
|party," he said. |
_Story backtracks here_
_Audience_
|Pittsburg's welcome to the President and Mrs. Wilson|
|was warm, but not demonstrative. When the |
|speechmaking began, Memorial Hall was packed with an|
|audience of 4,500, while on the steps and plaza |
|outside some 8,000 or 10,000 men and women surged, |
|unable to get admission, but eager to get a glimpse |
|of the executive and his bride. |
_Reception by Audience_
|When the presidential party, Mrs. Wilson in front, |
|filed on the platform there was a demonstration, |
|brief but spontaneous, the first lady of the land |
|drawing as prolonged applause as her husband on his |
|appearance. |
_Attitude of Audience_
|The audience was an intent one. Its pose was one of |
|keen attention to the President's utterances. |
_Applause_
|Occasionally a particularly facile phrase, such as |
|when the President spoke of the need of "spiritual |
|efficiency" as a basis for military efficiency, |
|started the hand-clapping and gusts of applause |
|swept through the hall. |
_General Effect of the Visit_
|For Pennsylvania, Republican stronghold, which gave |
|Roosevelt a plurality of 51,000 over Wilson in 1912,|
|the reception accorded the President is regarded as |
|quite satisfactory. Downtown in the business |
|district there was hardly a ripple. |
_Inquisitive Crowds_
|But in the neighborhood of the Hotel Schenley, out |
|by the Carnegie Institute, a large crowd turned out |
|a few hours after the President's arrival and kept |
|their glances on the seventh floor, which was banked|
|in roses and orchids. |
_Beginning of the Speech_
|"As your servant and representative, I should come |
|and report to you on our public affairs," the |
|President began. "It is the duty of every public man|
|to hold frank counsel with the people he |
|represents."[20] ... |
[20] Arthur M. Evans in _The Chicago Herald_,
January 30, 1916.
=202. Body of the Story.=--In writing the body of the story, the first
thing to strive for is proper coherence with the lead. This caution is
worth particular heed when the lead contains a single-sentence
quotation, an indirect question, or a paragraph of direct statement from
somewhere in the body of the speech. Few things are more incongruous in
a story than a clever epigrammatic lead and a succession of quoted
statements following, none of which exhibits a definite bearing on the
lead. Oftentimes this incongruity is produced by the reporter's attempt
to follow the precise order adopted by the speaker. Such an order,
however, should be manifestly impossible in a news report when the
writer has dug out for use in the lead a lone sentence or paragraph from
the middle of the speech. Rather, one should continue such a lead with a
paragraph or so of development, then follow with paragraphs of direct
quotation which originally may or may not have preceded the idea
featured in the lead.
=203. Accuracy.=--The second consideration must be the same accuracy
and fairness that was emphasized in the discussion of the interview.
Some reporters, for instance, take the liberty of putting within
quotation marks, as though quoted directly, whole paragraphs that they
know are not given verbatim, their grounds for the liberty being that
they know they are reporting the speaker with entire accuracy, and the
use of "quotes" gives the story greater emphasis and intimacy of appeal.
This liberty is to be condemned. When a reporter puts quotation marks
about a phrase or clause, he declares to his readers that the other man,
not he, is responsible for the statement exactly as printed. And even
though a man may think he is reporting a speaker with absolute
precision, there is always the possibility that he may have
misunderstood. Indeed, it is just these chance misunderstandings that
trip reporters and frequently necessitate speakers' denying published
accounts of their lectures. Only what one has taken down verbatim should
be put within quotation marks. All else should be reported indirectly
with an unwavering determination to convey the real spirit of the
lecture or sermon, not to play up an isolated or random subtopic that
has little bearing on the speech as a whole. Any reporter can find in
any lecture statements which, taken without the accompanying
qualifications, may be adroitly warped to make the story good and the
speaker ridiculous in the eyes of the reading public.
=204. Speech Story as a Whole.=--The story as a whole should be a little
speech in itself. Whole topics may be omitted. Others that possibly
occupied pages of manuscript and took several minutes to present may be
cut down to a single sentence. Still others may be presented in full.
But the quotation marks and the cohering phrases, such as "said he,"
"continued the speaker," "Mr. Wilson said in part," etc., should be
carefully inserted so as to make it entirely clear to the reader when
the statements are a condensation of the speaker's remarks and when they
are direct quotations. Such connecting phrases, however, should be
placed in unemphatic positions within the paragraph and should have
their form so varied as not to attract undue attention. And as in the
interview, the report as a whole should be livened up at intervals with
phrases and paragraphs calling attention to characteristic gestures,
facial expressions, and individual eccentricities of the speaker's
person, manner, or dress.
=205. Series of Speeches.=--When reporting a series of speeches, as at a
banquet, convention, political picnic, or a holiday celebration, it
generally is the best policy to play up at length the strongest address,
or else the speech of the most important personage, then summarize the
remaining talks in a paragraph or so at the end of the story. If all are
of about equal importance, the lead may feature the general trend of
thought of the different speakers or else some single startling
statement setting forth the character and spirit of the meeting. The
story may then proceed with summarizing quotations or indirect
statements of the individual speakers, giving each space according to
the value of his address. Where the body of the story is made up of
direct and indirect quotations from several speeches, the speaker's name
should come first in the paragraph in which he is quoted, so that the
eye of the reader running rapidly down the column may catch readily that
portion of the story given to each person quoted.
=206. Banquets, Conventions, etc.=--Not always, however, are speeches
important, or even delivered, on these social, political, and holiday
occasions. If not, the reporter must devote his attention to the
occasion, to any unusual incidents or events, or to the persons
attending. In reporting banquets, it may be the persons present, the
novelty of the favors, the originality of the menu, or the occasion
itself that must be featured. In conventions it may be the purpose or
expected results, certain effects on national or state legislation, or
any departures or new ideas in evidence. In reporting conventions of
milliners, tailors, jewelers, and the like, one can always find
excellent features in the incoming styles. The public is greedy for
stories of advance styles. In political picnics the feature is
practically always the speeches, though sometimes there are athletic
contests that provide good copy and may be presented in accordance with
Part III, Chapter XVI. In holiday celebrations also the feature may be
speeches or athletic contests, or else parades of floats, fraternal
orders, soldiers, etc. Usually, however, the occurrence of some untoward
accident that mars the occasion itself furnishes a story feature of
greater importance than the monotony of the parade and the contests.
=207. Current Magazine Articles, etc.=--News stories of articles
appearing in current magazines, books, government publications,
educational journals, and the like are of the same type as stories of
addresses. The lead may feature the theme, the title, the author, a
single sentence, an entire paragraph, the society or organization
publishing the article or report, or even the motive back of the
article. And the body follows usually with direct quotations summarizing
the whole. Such news stories generally are very readable, particularly
if they are timely. But the reporter must be careful to avoid extended
analysis or learned comment. A long catalogue of errors with the page on
which each may be found is good in scholarly magazines, but worthless in
news columns. The reporter's office is to write for the entertainment
and enlightenment of the public, not for the instruction of the author
about whose article he is writing. Hence he should report only those
details that are of interest to the readers of his journal.
=208. Courts.=--Court, trial, and inquest stories are but a combination
of the methods of handling interviews and speeches, the questions and
answers of the attorneys and witnesses being the interviews, the
arguments of the lawyers and the decisions of the court being the
speeches. The writing of the court story as a whole follows closely the
method already outlined for interviews and speeches. The lead, however,
varies greatly accordingly to the stage of the court proceedings. If a
verdict has been brought in, the guilt or innocence of the defendant,
the penalty imposed, or an application for a rehearing may be featured,
and the body of the story continues with a statement from the prisoner,
quotations from the speeches of the opposing attorneys, and the judge's
charge to the jury. If the trial has reached only an intermediate stage,
the lead may feature the cause of the court proceedings, a significant
bit of testimony, the name of an important witness, the point reached in
the day's work, the probable length of the trial, any unusual clash of
the attorneys over the admission of certain testimony, or possibly the
prisoner's changed attitude resulting from the long nervous strain. Then
the body, as in reports of speeches, may follow with interesting bits of
quotation from the testimony or from the arguments of the attorneys,
with summarizing paragraphs of the evidence and the proceedings as a
whole. Occasionally, in order to bring out significant points in the
depositions, it may become necessary to quote verbatim questions and
answers in the cross-examination, but generally a more readable story
may be had by reporting the testimony continuously and omitting the
questions altogether. Even when playing up a court decision, it is
rarely wise to quote large extracts verbatim, owing to the heaviness of
legal expression and the frequent use of technical terms. Only when the
form of the decision, as well as the facts, is vital, should the
language of the decree be quoted at length. And even then it is better,
as a rule, to print the entire decision separately and write an
independent summarizing story. When writing up trials continued from
preceding days, one must be careful to connect the story with what has
gone before, explaining who the persons are, the cause of their
appearance in court, and where the trial is being conducted. Only in
this way can readers who have not kept up with the trial understand the
present story.
=209. Humorous Court Stories.=--A word of caution must be given against
the temptation to write court stories humorously at the expense of
accuracy and the feelings of those unfortunate ones drawn into public
notice by some one's transgression of law or ethics. The law of libel
and its far-reaching power has been dwelt on in Part II, Chapter X, and
it need not be emphasized here that libel lurks in wrong street numbers,
misspelled names, misplaced words and phrases, and even in accidental
resemblance between names and between personal descriptions. But the
reporter should be cautioned against warping facts for the sake of
making a good story. Those who stand before the bar of justice, no
matter for what cause, how wrong or how right, are keenly sensitive
about even the publication of their names. Indeed, it is fear of
newspaper notoriety that keeps many a man from seeking and obtaining
that justice which is due every individual at the hands of the law. The
present writer has seen many an innocent person in a state of nervous
collapse over a barbed thrust made by a satirizing humorist in the
columns of a paper. No criticism is made of true reports; objection is
made only to those warped for the sake merely of producing a good story.
In a leading Southern paper appeared the following:
| =FROGEYE HAD A RIVAL= |
| |
| Come er lef'! come er right! come er rag an' |
| shawl! |
| Come to yo' honey-bunch straight down de hall! |
| Up towa'd de front do', back towa'd de wall, |
| Gimme room to scramble at de Potlicker Ball! |
| |
|"What's this?" demanded the judge ferociously. |
|"Another Potlicker row? I'm going to have to do |
|something about you folks. You're always in hot |
|water." |
| |
|The defendants--a weird assortment of the youth and |
|beauty of the Black Belt, their finery somewhat |
|damaged after a night behind the bars--shifted |
|uneasily on their respective number nines. A |
|cross-eyed mulatto had the courage to speak, albeit |
|a trifle morosely. |
| |
|"Us ain't in no hot water, jedge," she drawled. "Us |
|ain't been doin' nothin' but dancin'." |
| |
|"What's your name, girl?" inquired the clerk. |
| |
|He was answered by Frogeye, who celebrated his |
|latest release from gaol by attending the Potlicker |
|Ball. "Dat's Three-Finger Fanny," stated Frogeye in |
|a voice of authority. "She done start de hull |
|rucus." |
| |
|Three-Finger Fanny bridled. Before she could open |
|her mouth, Frogeye plunged into the tale: "Ef it |
|hadn't er been fo' dat three-fingered, cross-eyed, |
|blistered-footed gal we'd er been dar dancin' yit. |
|But she an Bugabear spill de beans. She come up ter |
|me an' say, 'Mister Frogeye, kin you ball de Jack?' |
|I tells her she don't see no chains on me, do she? |
|An' we whirl right in. Hoccome I knowed she promise |
|dat dance ter Bugabear? We ain't ball de Jack twice |
|'roun' fo' heah he come wid er beer bottle shoutin' |
|dat I done tuk his gal erway. I'se 'bleeged ter |
|'fend mahse'f, ain't I, jedge? Well, den!" |
| |
|The conclusion of Frogeye's story lacked climax, but|
|apparently the judge got the gist of it, for he |
|said: "It seems to me all of you dancers need a |
|summer vacation. They say there's nothing like a |
|little arm work to improve the grip. Thirty days, |
|everybody!" |
But every reader knows that in one round-up of negro malefactors,
characters such as Frogeye, Three-Finger Fanny, and Bugabear are not
going to be arrested at one "Potlicker Ball." The story is a good one if
the reader will suspend his sense of realism sufficiently to enjoy it.
But in its purport to be a true account of an arrest and a trial of
certain persons, it makes one doubt first the story, then the newspaper
that printed it, and finally newspapers in general. And so develops one
of the main causes of criticism of the modern newspaper. A reporter must
resolve to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. A
journal loses its power the moment it is wrong.
XV. ACCIDENT, CRIME
=210. Accident and Crime Stories.=--Accident and crime stories are
grouped together because they are handled alike and because they differ
from each other only in point of view, or in the fact that in the one
some one is guilty of lawbreaking, while in the other the participants
are merely unfortunate. The two, of course, frequently overlap, since a
death or a wreck which at first may seem purely accidental may later
prove to have been the result of a criminal act. In this chapter,
however, accident stories will be taken to include fires, street-car
smash-ups, railroad wrecks, automobile collisions, runaways, explosions,
mine disasters, strokes of lightning, drownings, floods, storms,
shipwrecks, etc. In the list of crime will be placed murders, assaults,
suicides, suspicious deaths, robberies, embezzlements, arson, etc. Of
the accident class, the method of writing a fire story may be taken as a
type for the whole group.
=211. Lead to a Fire Story.=--Ordinarily the lead to a story of a fire
should tell what was destroyed, the location of the property, the extent
of the damage, the occupants or owners, the time, the cause, and what
made the loss possible,--answering, in other words, the questions _who_,
_what_, _when_, _where_, _why_, _how_, and _how much_. Thus:
|Fire originating in a pile of shavings crawled |
|across a 100-yard stretch of dry Bermuda grass at an|
|early hour this morning, destroying the cotton |
|warehouse at 615 Railroad Street, owned by J. O. |
|Hunnicut, president of the First National Bank. The |
|loss is $25,000 with no insurance. |
=212. Lives Lost or Endangered.=--The fire lead may feature any one or
more of a dozen individual incidents. Loss of, or danger to, life,
unless other features are exceptional, should take precedence over every
other particular.
|Six women are dead and ten seriously injured as a |
|result of the destruction by fire, Tuesday morning, |
|of the Gold and Green Club, 1818 Chestnut Street, |
|entailing a loss of $30,000. |
=213. Lists of Killed or Wounded.=--In writing a story where a number of
persons have been killed or injured, the reporter should observe the
following directions:
1. Separate the names of the dead from those of the injured, putting the
list of dead first.
2. Record the names in alphabetical order, placing surnames first.
3. Put each name, with the age, address, occupation or business, nature
and extent of the injury, and any care given, in a separate paragraph.
4. Underscore the names with wave lines so that they shall be printed in
display type.
| =BOYS SMOKE IN HAYLOFT= |
| |
|Three boys borrowed their father's pipes and took |
|their first lesson in smoking yesterday in John |
|Cadie's hayloft on the Anton road. |
| |
| =The Dead= |
| |
|=Heinie Pindle, 8 years old, charred body found in |
|ashes of the barn.= |
| |
| =The Injured= |
| |
|=Olin Swendson, 9 years old, burned about face and |
|arms while trying to save Heinie Pindle.= |
| |
|=Ben Adams, 9 years old, leg broken in jump from the|
|hayloft.= |
=214. Acts of Heroism.=--Acts of heroism involving danger to or loss of
life are always good for features.
|Remaining at her post through the thick of the fire |
|that destroyed the heart of Necedah to-day, |
|Wisconsin's only woman telephone magnate, Miss Hazel|
|Bulgar, proved the heroine of the day. While the |
|flames threatened her building, she took the |
|switchboard herself, called the fire departments of |
|all neighboring cities, and transmitted calls for |
|help. |
=215. Remarkable Escapes.=--Remarkable escapes from burning buildings,
in their appeal to the elemental struggle for life, make valuable
features.
|Using a window blind and a single thread of |
|telephone wire as a means of escape, Carl Hardiman, |
|24, 216 Northcliff avenue, swung himself into space |
|four stories above the level of the street at 8:00 |
|o'clock this morning and crawled hand over hand from|
|the burning wax factory to a telephone pole across |
|the street. |
=216. Humorous, Pathetic, or Daring Incidents.=--Humorous, pathetic, or
daring incidents are worth featuring strongly, particularly when they
involve children, aged persons, or animals.
|Tige, aged 4, was only a collie dog, but he will |
|have the biggest funeral to-morrow ever given a |
|member of the Lilliman family. He dragged two of the|
|children out of the blazing kitchen at 487 |
|Birmingham avenue and was so badly burned trying to |
|save the nine months baby, Dan, that he died this |
|morning. Every hair was burned from his body. |
|Just inside the front entrance, within six inches of|
|God's fresh air and life, the bodies of 21 girls, |
|ranging in age from 6 to 18 years, were found this |
|morning after the fire that destroyed the St. |
|Patrick's Girls' school. |
=217. Cause of Fire.=--The cause of the fire, if unusual or mysterious,
may be featured.
|A set of cotton Santa Claus whiskers and a Christmas|
|candle caused the death Wednesday night of Allen |
|Palmer, 18, 1416 Magnolia Avenue, and the |
|destruction by fire of the Lake Mills Methodist |
|church. |
=218. Buildings or Property.=--The particular buildings, if especially
valuable by reason of their age, location, or cost of construction, may
be features.
|Historic Grace Episcopal Church in South Wabash |
|Avenue, considered one of the finest examples of |
|French Gothic architecture in the city since it was |
|erected nearly fifty years ago, was destroyed to-day|
|in a fire that did damage estimated at $500,000. |
| |
|The main building of the Union Switch and Signal |
|Company, of the Westinghouse interests, at |
|Swissvale, where thousands of shells have been |
|manufactured for the Allies, was swept by fire this |
|afternoon, entailing a loss estimated at $4,000,000.|
|Officials of the company said that the origin of the|
|fire had not been determined. |
=219. Other Features.=--Similarly, one may feature any one of a number
of other particulars: as, the occupants of the building, the owners, any
prominent persons involved, the amount and character of the damage, the
amount of insurance, how the fire was discovered, how it spread, when
the alarm was given, the promptness or delay of the fire department,
etc. Any one of these particulars may be featured, provided it has
unusual importance or interest.
=220. Body of the Fire Story.=--The body of the fire story may continue
with such of the details enumerated in the preceding paragraphs as are
not used in the lead. Somewhere in the story the extent of the damage
and the amount of insurance should be given. Those are sufficiently
important particulars to be included always. Greater emphasis and action
can be given the story, particularly in case of loss of life or great
damage, by quoting direct statements of eye-witnesses or of persons
injured. A janitor's account of how the fire started, or how he
discovered it, or a woman's story of how she knew the night before that
something terrible was going to happen, always adds greatly to the
interest.
=221. Rumors at Fires.=--In reporting a fire, however, particularly a
big one, the reporter should guard against the wild rumors about the
extent of the loss, the number of persons injured or burned to death,
the certainty of arson, etc., which usually gain currency among the
spectators. Such stories are always exaggerated, and they account for
the fact that first news accounts of fires are frequently overdrawn. The
reporter should never take such stories at their face value, but should
investigate for himself until he knows his details are accurate. Or if
he cannot prove them either false or true, he should omit them entirely
or record them as mere rumors. Above all, he must keep his head. With
the hundreds--sometimes thousands--of spectators pushed beyond the fire
lines, the roar of fire engines, the scream of whistles, the wild
lights, and the general pandemonium, it is often difficult to remain
calm. Yet it is only by keeping absolutely cool that one can judge
accurately the value of the information obtained and can put that
information into the best news form. Only the reporter who at all times
retains entire possession of himself is able to write the most forceful,
interesting, and readable fire stories.
=222. Accident Stories in General.=--Accident stories in general follow
the same constructive plans as those given for fires. The lead should
play up the number of lives lost or endangered, the cause of the
accident, the extent of the damage or injury, the time, and the place,
answering the questions _who_, _what_, _when_, _where_, _why,_ and
_how_. Any one of these may be featured according to its importance. If
a number of persons have been killed or hurt, and their names are
obtainable, a list of the dead and the injured should be made as
indicated on page 150. Then the body of the story may continue in simple
chronological order, reserving unimportant details until the last. The
following is a good illustration of an accident story:
| =DU PONT BLAST KILLS 31= |
| |
|Wilmington, Del., Nov. 29.--Thirty-one men were |
|killed and six fatally injured to-day in an |
|explosion of approximately four tons of black powder|
|in a packing house at the Upper Hagley yard of the |
|E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., on Brandywine Creek,|
|three miles north of this city. |
| |
|The cause of the explosion is not known. One |
|official says, "There is not a thread on which to |
|hang any hope that the origin will be definitely |
|ascertained." |
| |
|After the blast, termed the worst in the last |
|twenty-five years, it was recalled that notices |
|recently had been tacked on trees and fences near |
|the yards, and even on fences within the plant, |
|warning workmen to quit the mills by Jan. 1. At the |
|time, the posting of the notices was believed to be |
|an attempt by German sympathizers to intimidate the |
|men. Extra guards were ordered about the plants and |
|the United States Secret Service began an |
|investigation, it was reported. |
| |
|Du Pont Company officials have ordered a searching |
|investigation, and every employee who was near the |
|destroyed building will be put through an |
|examination in an effort to get some clue as to the |
|cause of the explosion....[21] |
[21] _New York World_, December 1, 1915.
It is worth noting, in this story, the shrewdness with which the
reporter plays up the probable cause of the accident, adding to the
actual facts and promising possible further developments in to-morrow's
paper.
=223. Stories of the Weather.=--The weather takes its place in the
accident division of news stories because of its frequent harmful
effects on life and property. Men's pursuits are all a gamble on the
weather. Usually a story about the weather depends for its value largely
on the felicity of its language, though when there has been severe
atmospheric disturbance, resulting in loss of life, destruction of
property, or delayed traffic, a simple narrative of events is sufficient
to hold the reader's attention. The following are different types of
weather story, the first being of the pure accident type, the second, of
the more commonplace daily routine.
| =TERRIFIC STORM KILLS 4= |
| |
|Rain, hail, snow, sleet, gales, thunder and |
|lightning combined in an extraordinary manner early |
|yesterday to give New York one of the most peculiar |
|storms the city ever experienced. Four persons died |
|and scores were injured. Unfinished buildings were |
|blown down, roofs were blown off, and signs |
|demolished. |
| |
|The storm played havoc with the railroads, delaying |
|trains and adding to the difficulty of moving |
|freight. It made so much trouble for the New Haven |
|that the company last night issued a notice saying |
|that "on account of storms and accumulation of |
|loaded cars" only live stock, perishable freight, |
|food products, and coal would be carried over |
|portions of the line. |
| |
|Adrift in the gale, fifteen canal barges and cargo |
|scows from South Amboy, N. J., went ashore at Sandy |
|Hook after those on board, including twenty women |
|and children, had suffered from exposure and one man|
|washed overboard from the barge Henrietta had been |
|drowned. The California and the Stockholm, with |
|passengers on board and inbound, were delayed by the|
|storm and will reach port to-day. |
| |
|The wind in Newark unroofed the almshouse, injuring |
|two aged women, blew down buildings, smashed |
|windows, and crippled the entire wire service of the|
|city....[22] |
| |
|(Then follows a detailed account of the dead, the |
|injured, and the delay of traffic.) |
[22] _New York Herald_, December 27, 1915.
| =COLD WAVE ON WAY HERE= |
| |
|Indianapolis to-day stands on the brink between rain|
|and snow. Before to-morrow dawns it may bend |
|slightly one way or the other, meteorologically |
|speaking, and the result will be little flakes of |
|snow or little drops of water. It is forecast that |
|to-morrow its feet will slip entirely and it will be|
|plunged into the abyss of cold weather. The forecast|
|is the work of the weather man, who has some |
|reputation locally and elsewhere as a forecaster of |
|questionable accuracy. |
| |
|Cold weather is drifting this way on northwest |
|winds, says the weather man, and soon will be hard |
|by in the offing, ready to pounce on Indianapolis. |
|The fate of Indianapolis is to be the fate of |
|Indiana also, and of the entire Middle West, for the|
|weather man is no respecter of localities, and when |
|he once gets started forecasts with utter |
|abandon.... |
| |
|The Northwest has experienced a drop of 20 degrees |
|in temperature and the cold wave is rapidly sweeping|
|this way. It is due to reach Indianapolis to-morrow |
|morning. The local forecast is for cloudy to-night |
|and Wednesday, with probabilities of rain or snow, |
|and colder Wednesday. It was the same for the state,|
|but rain was predicted for the south part and snow |
|for the north. |
| |
|The temperature in Indianapolis at 7 o'clock this |
|morning was 38 degrees, a drop of 6 degrees being |
|recorded in the last twenty-four hours. The coming |
|cold wave is expected to give this part of the |
|country its first real touch of winter. The |
|temperature hovered near the zero mark in the |
|northwest. The weather bureau reported snow in |
|Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota.[23|]
[23] _Indianapolis News_, October 28, 1913.
To write this second type of story interestingly means that the reporter
must exert himself especially, since the daily routine of weather
reports soon becomes wearing in its monotony,--so much so that one finds
it exceedingly difficult to present with any degree of originality the
same old little-varying facts from day to day. Yet one's readers are
always interested in just this item of news, and one can be sure of
more expectant readers for this particular story than perhaps for any
other single item in the paper.
=224. Deaths and Funerals.=--Stories of deaths and funerals may be
included in the monotonous class of accident news. There is this
additional difficulty in writing death and funeral stories, however,
that in attempting to write sympathetically, appreciatively, of the
person who has died, and so meet the expectations of surviving friends
and relatives, one is running always on the border line of bathos. It is
probably easier to make oneself ridiculous in such stories than in any
other kind of news article. As a result, most newspapers require their
reporters to confine themselves to bare statements of facts concerning
the dead person's life.
=225. Content of Death Stories.=--There are a few facts which all death
stories should contain. The person's name, age, street address, and
position or business should normally be included in the lead, with
possibly a statement of the cause of his death. The duration of his
illness may well follow. Then may come the names of surviving relatives
and any relationships with persons well known, locally or nationally. If
the person is married, the date of the marriage, the maiden name of the
wife, and any interesting circumstances connected with the marriage may
be recalled. The length of residence in the city should also be
included, with possibly a statement of the person's birthplace and the
occasion of his settlement in the city. If the person is a man or a
woman of wealth, an account of his or her holdings and how they were
acquired is always interesting. The story may close with the names of
the pallbearers, the time and place of the funeral, the name of the
minister officiating, and the place of burial. The following story of
the death of Justice Lamar, while not observing the order of events just
given, is an excellent illustration of a dignified presentation of the
facts in a man's life. (The article has necessarily been abbreviated
because of its length.)
| =JUSTICE J. R. LAMAR DIES= |
| |
|Washington, D. C., Sunday.--Mr. Joseph Rucker Lamar,|
|Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United|
|States, died to-night at his home in this city after|
|an intermittent illness of several months. The |
|immediate cause of his death was a severe cold, |
|which he contracted ten days ago, and which proved |
|too great a strain for his weakened heart. |
| |
|Justice Lamar's health began to fail early last |
|summer and he was obliged to absent himself from his|
|duties on the bench. His physicians advised a long |
|period of rest, as they feared that over-work would |
|seriously affect the action of his heart. |
|Accordingly, he spent the greater part of the summer|
|at White Sulphur Springs and returned to Washington |
|about two months ago feeling much improved. |
| |
|His condition was not such, however, that it |
|permitted him to attend the sessions of the Court, |
|although he was able to take outdoor exercise. Two |
|days before Christmas he contracted a heavy cold and|
|was obliged to go to bed. Specialists were |
|consulted, but he gradually grew weaker until this |
|afternoon, when he sank into unconsciousness and |
|passed away peacefully just before nine o'clock. |
| |
|At his bedside when the end came were Mrs. Lamar and|
|their two sons. Chief Justice White arrived at the |
|Lamar home within a few minutes after the death of |
|his colleague. |
| |
|The funeral ceremonies will be in accordance with |
|the custom of the court. It is probable that the |
|services will be held on Tuesday and that interment |
|will be at the family home in Ruckersville, Ga. |
| |
|Justice Lamar was born at Ruckersville, Elbert |
|county, Ga., on October 14, 1857, the son of the |
|Rev. James S. and Mary Rucker Lamar. He attended the|
|University of Georgia. He was graduated from Bethany|
|College, West Virginia, in 1877. After a year in the|
|Washington and Lee University Law School, he was |
|admitted to the bar at Augusta, Ga. There he lived |
|until appointed to the Supreme Court. |
| |
|He was a cousin of the late Associate Justice L. Q. |
|C. Lamar, of Mississippi, who was a member of the |
|United States Supreme Court from 1888 to 1893. |
| |
|When Justice Lamar went on the Supreme Court bench |
|he was little known beyond the borders of his own |
|state. Mr. Taft became acquainted with him a short |
|time before his inauguration when the |
|President-elect was playing golf at Augusta. Justice|
|Lamar had been a member of the Supreme Court only a |
|few months, however, when his ability was |
|recognized. His opinions were regarded as |
|masterpieces of logical reasoning and applications |
|for rehearings were made in few cases he helped to |
|decide. |
| |
|Justice Lamar was selected by President Wilson as |
|the principal commissioner for the United States in |
|the ABC mediation at Niagara Falls in 1914 between |
|this country and Mexico over conditions in the |
|neighboring republic. |
| |
|Justice Lamar made many notable contributions to the|
|legal literature of his state. Among them were |
|"Georgia's Contribution to Law Reforms," "A History |
|of the Organization of the Supreme Court," "Life of |
|Judge Nesbit" and "A Century's Progress in Law." |
|More than two hundred of his opinions are embraced |
|in six volumes of Georgia Reports. |
| |
|Justice Lamar married, on January 30, 1879, Miss |
|Clarinda Pendleton, a daughter of Dr. W. K. |
|Pendleton, president of Bethany College. He is |
|survived by his wife and two children, Philip Rucker|
|Lamar and William Pendleton Lamar.[24] |
[24] _New York Herald_, January 3, 1916.
=226. Obtaining the Information.=--The gaining of information about a
man who has just died is not difficult. One should be cautioned,
however, against seeking details from members of the family. If the
person is of little prominence, one should go first to the undertaker.
He will have all the details about the funeral--the names of the
pallbearers and of the minister, the time and place of the funeral, the
place of burial--and probably all the facts about the person's life that
the family wishes made public. If the undertaker does not have this
information, he will be able to tell the reporter from whom it may be
obtained. Additional facts may sometimes be had from the county and
state directories, and even from the city directory. Old residents or
close friends, too, often are able to give interesting details about the
person's life, his failures and his successes, and in this way a
reporter can publish an appreciative account without editorializing on
the man's accomplishments. If the one who has died is of decided
prominence, the reporter can find accounts of him in the various _Who's
Who_ volumes and probably a rather full obituary all ready in the
morgue. One must be careful in using the morgue write-up, however, to
bridge naturally and easily the gap between the new and the old
material, so that the reader shall not suspect he is reading a story
partly written years ago. The following is an illustration of poor
coherence between the two parts:
|Paris, August 12.--Pol Plancon, the opera singer, |
|died to-day. He had been ill since June. |
| ------- |
|Pol Plancon was a bass singer and made his Paris |
|debut in the part of Mephistopheles in 1883. He came|
|to the Metropolitan Opera house in New York in 1893,|
|where he sang with Melba, Calve, Eames, Nordica and |
|Jean and Edouard de Reszke. Plancon sang for many |
|years at Covent Garden, London.... |
In this case it is too obvious that the first two sentences constitute
the bare cable bulletin and that the second paragraph is the beginning
of the morgue story.
=227. Crime Lead.=--In the lead to a crime story, one may feature
either the names of the persons involved, the number of lives lost or
endangered, the motive of the criminal, the nature of the crime, clues
leading to the identification and arrest of the criminal, possible
effects of the crime, or even public sentiment resulting from the deed.
Of the possible leads, probably the names of the persons involved,
either of the criminal or of those whose rights were infringed, are most
often played up. Thus:
|Leo M. Frank was lynched two miles outside of |
|Marietta, the home of Mary Phagan, at an early hour |
|this morning. |
|Mrs. Allie Detmann, 1409 Broad St., was shot and |
|killed yesterday by Stanley Mouldan, 1516 |
|Philadelphia Ave. The man then shot himself in the |
|right temple, dying an hour later in St. Elizabeth's|
|Hospital. |
The other features, however, may be found at random in any paper.
Illustrations are:
_Number of Lives Lost_
|Two women are dead at the Good Shepherd's Rest |
|because Pat Nicke kept the back door of his saloon |
|open on election day. |
_Motive_
|To get money to pay for his grandmother's funeral, |
|Robert Hollyburd, 24, 1917 Monaco St., yesterday |
|robbed the cash register of the Lengerke Brothers, |
|sporting goods dealers, at 1654 Bradley St. |
_Nature of the Crime_
|The most brutal murder ever committed in Calloway |
|county was discovered at an early hour this morning |
|when the body of Dr. Otis Bennett, literally hacked |
|to pieces, was found in the basement of his home. |
_Clues_
|The Davenport police have in their possession a |
|large bone-handled knife which has been identified |
|as the property of Hugo O'Neal, colored, of Cushman.|
|The knife was found under Col. Andrew Alton's |
|bedroom window after an attempted robbery of his |
|home at an early hour this morning. O'Neal has not |
|been seen since yesterday. |
_Results_
|Tim Atkins is probably dying at his shanty on Davis |
|Street as a result of a difficulty between him and |
|Isom Werner over a woman they met on their way home |
|from the circus last night. |
=228. Body of the Crime Story.=--The body of the crime story, like that
of the accident, follows the lead in a simple chronological narration of
events. Interest may be added by quoting direct statements from persons
immediately connected with the crime,--how it feels to be held up, how
the robber gained entrance to the building, how the bandits escaped. In
stories of burglaries and robberies the value of the stolen goods and
any ingenious devices for gaining entrance to the house, stopping the
train, or halting the robbed party should always be given. It may be
added that, unless the purpose is entirely obvious, as in robberies and
burglaries, due emphasis should be given to the motive for the crime.
One should be on one's guard, however, against accepting readily any
motive assigned. The star reporter never takes anybody at his word--the
police, the detectives, or even the victims--in any statement where
crime is involved. He investigates for himself and draws his own
conclusions.
=229. Caution against Libel.=--An additional caution should be added
here against libel, because of the strong temptation always to make an
accused person guilty before he has been adjudged so. According to
American law, a person suspected of or charged with crime is innocent
until he has been proved guilty. In writing crime stories, therefore,
the reporter must be doubly careful to have a supposed criminal merely
"suspected" of misappropriating funds, or "alleged" to have made the
assault, or "said by the police" to have entered the house. And in order
to present an unbiased story, the side of the supposed malefactor should
be given. In the intense excitement resulting from a newly committed
crime, or in the squalid surroundings of a prison cell, an accused
person does not appear to his best advantage, and it is easy for the
reporter to let prejudice sway him, perhaps causing irreparable injury
to innocent persons. The race riot in Atlanta, in 1905, in which numbers
of innocent negroes were murdered, was a direct result of exaggerated
and sensational stories of crime printed by yellow newspapers. And the
whole long trial and verdict against Leo M. Frank were directly affected
by the same papers. If the opinion of readers is to be appealed to, the
reporter should leave such appeals to the editorial writers, whose duty
it is to interpret the news and sway the public whenever they will or
can. The reporter's duty, as far as possible, is to present mere facts.
XVI. SPORTS
=230. Slang.=--In writing stories of athletic meets and games the
reporter will find that in matters of language he has almost complete
freedom. For this there are two reasons: the fact that it is necessary
half the time to get final results of contests into print within a few
seconds or minutes after the outcome has been decided, and the fact that
athletic devotees--"fans" in American slang--are not naturally critical.
Time is the all-important element with them. The results of a baseball
game are wanted within a few seconds after the last man has been put out
in the final inning. Whether the writer says the Red Sox defeated the
Tigers, or nosed them out in the ninth, or handed them a lemon, means
little to the followers of the game provided the information is
specifically conveyed that Boston beat Detroit. Slang is freely
used,--so much so that the uninitiated frequently cannot understand an
account of a game. The "fans" can, however, and they constitute the
public for whom reporters on the sporting pages maintain they are
writing. If, then, one can brighten up his sporting stories--make them
sparkling, electric, galvanic--by using slang, he will find them
acceptable to any editor. The only caution to the beginner is that he
must be sure every detail is clear to the "fans." Slang can easily be
overdone,--much more easily than one would suppose,--with the result
that an otherwise good story is choked with near humorous, foggy jargon.
Better no slang than a story cloyed with it.[25]
[25] It is the belief of the author that the sporting page has
not yet reached its highest level of language and that the
younger of us will live to see as pure English used on the
sporting page as in the other news columns. The purpose of
this volume, however, is not to present the work of the
reporter as it ought to be, but as it is--a fact which
accounts for the above paragraph and its recommendation of
the use of slang in sporting news stories.
=231. Four Kinds.=--An examination of sporting news stories shows four
kinds: (1) those dealing with athletic events before their occurrence;
(2) those reporting the events; (3) those analyzing and explaining the
events and their results; and (4) those dealing with the sport in
general. The second of these, the story reporting an athletic event, is
not unlike the types of news stories examined in the two preceding
chapters and may be discussed first, reserving for later analysis the
other three because of their divergence from the normal type of news
article.
=232. The Lead.=--The lead to a story reporting an athletic event
follows with few exceptions the same general principles as the leads
already examined. Unlike those studied in the preceding chapters,
however, the lead to such a story often is written last, because of the
necessity of writing a running account of the game as it progresses, yet
of giving final results in the lead. The feature most frequently played
up is the final result, with additional mention of the causes of victory
or defeat, the equality or inequality of the opposing players, and any
important incidents. Always too, of course, the names of the teams, the
time, and the place are given. But the score is regularly the
feature,--so much so that if one is in doubt about what to feature in an
athletic contest, one can always play a trump card by featuring the
results. Thus:
|One hit and one score was all the Senators could |
|make off the Yankees at Washington this afternoon, |
|but that was enough. Joe Gedeon made the hit, a |
|three bagger, and Milan passed him home when he |
|dropped Nunamacher's high fly to center. |
|A tie score was the best the Maroons could do for |
|the Hoosiers Saturday on Marshall Field. The count |
|was 7-7 when Umpire Hanson called the game in the |
|eleventh inning on account of darkness. |
=233. Names of the Teams.=--Almost as frequent is the featuring of the
names of the opposing teams, with the final score included at the end of
the lead.
|Cornell's 1915 football team wrote its name in |
|football history in blazing letters on Franklin |
|Field this afternoon when at the end of one of the |
|most stirring contests ever seen on that gridiron |
|the scoreboard read: Cornell, 24; Pennsylvania, 9. |
=234. Cause of Victory or Defeat.=--The cause of a team's victory or
defeat often makes an effective feature for the lead.
|With the aid of a bewildering assortment of plays, |
|the Syracuse University football team defeated the |
|Oregon Agricultural College here to-day, 28 to 0. |
|Inability to hit, coupled with poor fielding at |
|critical moments, caused the defeat of the New York |
|University nine by the Stevens Institute of |
|Technology yesterday on Ohio Field. The score was 5 |
|to 3. |
=235. Individual Players.=--Stellar work by individual players--even
poor work when responsible for the loss of the game--often makes
necessary the featuring of their names.
|Jim Thorpe and George Kelly led an assault on the |
|Dallas pitchers this afternoon while Pol Perritt and|
|Fred Schupp were baffling the local talent at home |
|plate. The net result was a shutout for Dallas and |
|five runs for New York. |
|Wildness on the part of Foster and timely hitting by|
|Oldring and Strunk enabled Philadelphia to defeat |
|Boston again to-day, the score being 6 to 2. |
=236. Other Features.=--Even the kind of weather, the condition of the
grounds, the size of the crowd, or the effect of the play on the crowd
may be featured:
_The Weather_
|High winds and bad light made the marksmanship poor |
|at the local shoot yesterday, the best score being a|
|93, made by Lawrence Bowen. |
_Condition of Grounds_
|The annual football game between Lawrence and Beloit|
|yesterday, resulting in a 14 to 6 victory for |
|Lawrence, might better have been called an aquatic |
|meet. The best swimmers won. |
_Size of the Crowd_
|Fifty-nine thousand football fans saw the warriors |
|of Old Eli take the Tiger's pelt yesterday at New |
|Haven. The count was 13 to 7. |
_Effect on the Crowd_
|A disgusted crowd of 8,000 Sunday baseball fans saw |
|the Brewers lose to the Colonels yesterday, 2 to 14.|
It will be noted in these leads that the final score, while not always
featured, is nevertheless always included.
=237. The Body.=--The bodies of stories reporting athletic contests are
all but unlimited in their methods of handling, depending on the nature
of the sport and the length of the story. If the sporting editor has
limited the reporter to two sticks, the body may contain the lineup, the
names of the officials, mention of those starring or playing
particularly poorly, when and how the scoring was made, the condition of
the field and the weather, and the size of the crowd. If the editor
wants a fuller report, the more important plays, told chronologically,
may be added. If he wishes a detailed account, all the plays should be
given, the reporter following the chronological order after a full,
summarizing lead. In big athletic events, the sporting editor often
assigns two men, one to write a general account, the other a detailed
story. In such stories it is the reporter writing the general summary
who compiles the summarizing figures boxed at the beginning, giving the
total attendance and receipts and making comparison with preceding
events. A typical baseball story is the following:
| =YANKS BEAT THE SENATORS= |
| |
|Through some change of policy on the part of the |
|concern which is conducting the weather this spring,|
|the sun, which has not been at large much in recent |
|days, was permitted to shine on the Polo Grounds |
|yesterday. The Yankees reveled in the sunlight and |
|chalked up their first victory of the season, |
|beating Washington by a score of 3 to 1. A crowd of |
|more than 20,000 people left their umbrellas and |
|raincoats at home and sat in at the Yankee jubilee. |
| |
|Charley Mullen, one of the Yanks' utility men, was |
|rushed into the fray in the sixth inning as a pinch |
|hitter for Wallie Pipp. Two runners were riding the |
|bases at the time, and when Mullen flayed a single |
|to left he also propelled Baker and Gedeon over the |
|plate with the two units which marked the margin of |
|the New York victory. The Yankees played just the |
|kind of baseball everybody hoped they would and that|
|was just a bit better than the best Washington had |
|to offer. |
| |
|A lot of people from the Edison Company who know |
|First Baseman Judge of the Washington club well |
|enough to call him Joe, presented him with a diamond|
|ring. Judge used to play with the Edison team before|
|he took to the merry life of a professional. Judge |
|shattered baseball tradition after modestly taking |
|the gift by going in and playing a fine game, |
|fielding well and knocking out a clean hit. Most |
|players after receiving a present at a ball game can|
|be counted on to strike out. |
| |
|Among the more or less prominent people present was |
|the man for whom Diogenes, a former resident of |
|Greece, has long been looking. There was no doubt |
|about his being the object of the quest of Diogenes |
|because when a ball was fouled into the grand stand |
|and he caught it, he threw it back into the field |
|instead of hiding it in his pocket. |
| |
|Ray Fisher, who gave up his life unselfishly to |
|teaching school up in Vermont until he found how |
|much money there was in tossing a curved ball, did |
|the twirling for the Yankees and on the few |
|occasions when he was in trouble his teammates came |
|to his support like a rich uncle. In the fourth |
|inning it looked as if Fisher was about to take the |
|elevator for the thirty-sixth floor, but Frank Baker|
|came to his aid and yanked him out of trouble. |
| |
|It was this way: Judge, first man up in the fourth, |
|singled to center. Shanks was hit on the wrist and |
|Jamieson laid a bunt half an inch from the third |
|base line, filling the bases. Henry spun a teaser |
|right in front of the plate and Nunamacher made a |
|quick play by grabbing the ball and forcing Judge |
|out as he was about to score. The base line circuit |
|was still playing to S. R. O. McBride rapped a |
|hopper down back of third base. Baker reached out |
|his bare hand, nabbed the ball, touched third and |
|forced Jamieson. He relayed the ball over to first |
|in time to double up McBride, and Fisher was saved |
|from a serious attack of heart failure. That was |
|only one of three double plays the Yankees staged |
|for Fisher's welfare. |
| |
|Harry Harper, a southpaw from Hackensack, N. J., |
|pitched for Washington until the Yankees went to the|
|front in the sixth, and then he was succeeded by |
|Francesco Gallia, who hails from Mexico or |
|thereabouts. |
| |
|The Yankees threatened damage in the first inning. |
|After Maisel had fanned, Gilhooley was safe on |
|Morgan's fumble and Magee sent him to second with a |
|single. Baker lifted a high fly to right field, and |
|after the catch Gilhooley raced to third and was |
|safe by half an inch. Gedeon fouled to first for the|
|third out. |
| |
|The Senators got their run in the second. With one |
|down, Jamieson was safe on Baker's high throw over |
|first, the runner traveling to second. Henry died at|
|first, and McBride punched a two-bagger to right |
|center, which sent Jamieson home. The Yankees tied |
|the score in the next inning, when, with two out, |
|Magee walked. Baker and Gedeon started a double |
|steal. It looked as if Gedeon would be a sure out at|
|second, but he got back to first safely. Pipp ended |
|the fun by fanning. |
| |
|In the sixth Baker singled to left, and Gedeon |
|placed a Texas leaguer back of first, which none of |
|the Senator fielders reached. Baker was late in |
|starting for second, and Jamieson made a bad throw |
|to catch him, so both runners advanced a cushion. |
|Mullen, batting for Pipp, cudgeled the ball to left,|
|and Baker and Gedeon counted. That was all, and it |
|was plenty to win. The score: |
| |
| NEW YORK WASHINGTON |
| AB R H PO A | AB R H PO A|
|Maisel, cf. 3 0 0 4 0 | Morg'n, 2b. 3 0 0 3 2|
|Gil'hy, rf. 4 0 0 1 0 | Fost'r, 3b. 4 0 2 0 1|
|Magee, lf. 3 1 2 2 0 | Milan, cf. 4 0 0 2 0|
|Baker, 3b. 3 1 1 2 3 | Judge, 1b. 4 0 1 8 0|
|Ged'n, 2b. 4 1 3 5 3 | Sh'nks, lf. 3 0 0 1 0|
|Pipp, 1b. 2 0 0 8 0 | Jam's'n rf. 4 1 1 1 0|
|Mul'n, 1b. 2 0 1 3 0 | Henry, c. 2 0 0 5 1|
|P'k'gh, ss. 4 0 0 1 4 | M'B'de, ss. 3 0 1 1 1|
|Nu'ker, c. 2 0 0 1 1 | Harper, p. 2 0 1 0 1|
|Fisher, p. 3 0 0 0 2 | Wil'ms, c. 1 0 0 3 1|
| ----------- | Johnson[26] 1 0 0 0 0|
| | -----------|
| Total 30 3 7 27 13 | Total 31 1 6 24 7|
| |
| [26] Batted for Gallia in ninth inning. |
| Errors--Morgan, Milan, Jamieson, Baker. |
| |
|Washington 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0--1 |
|New York 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0--3 |
| |
|Two-base hits--McBride, Harper, Foster. Stolen |
|base--Gedeon. Double plays--Gedeon and Pipp; Baker |
|and Pipp; Peckinpaugh and Gedeon. Left on bases--New|
|York, 7; Washington, 6. First base on errors--New |
|York, 1; Washington, 1. Bases on balls--Off Fisher, |
|2; off Harper, 3; off Gallia, 1. Hits and earned |
|runs--Off Harper, 6 hits, 3 runs in six innings; off|
|Gallia, 1 hit in two innings. Hit by |
|Pitcher--Fisher, (Shanks). Struck out--By Fisher, 1;|
|by Harper, 4; by Gallia, 2. Umpires--Messrs. Owens |
|and Connolly. Time of game--Two hours and eleven |
|minutes.[27] |
[27] _New York Times_, April 16, 1916.
Worth noting particularly in this story is the regulation style of
indicating the lineup and the score at the end. The writer's originality
of expression and his happy choice of individual incidents also add
greatly to the interest of the story. The lead, for instance, is
unusually good.
=238. Football.=--The following is a typical football story:
| =ARMY DEFEATS NAVY= |
| |
|It was just as the gray cloaked lads from West Point|
|chanted in lugubrious measure before the game: |
| |
| Go-oo-od Night, Nayvee! |
| Go-oo-od Night, Navy! |
| Go-oo-od Night--Na-ay-ve-ee! |
| The Army wins to-day! |
| |
|They put into the chorus all the pathos, all the |
|long-sustained notes, all the tonsorial-parlor |
|chords of which it is capable, and those, as you |
|know, are many. |
| |
|And the Army boys, sitting in a fog which in hue |
|just about matched their capes and caps, called the |
|turn correctly with their vocal prediction. |
| |
|It was "Good Night, Navy!" to the tune of 14 points |
|to 0. |
| |
|The youngsters from the west bank of the Upper |
|Hudson were triumphant in their twentieth annual |
|battle with the midshipmen from Annapolis by two |
|touchdowns and their concomitant goals, one in the |
|first period of play, the other in the third. The |
|count of games now stands ten for the Army, nine for|
|the Navy, and one tie. |
| |
|President Wilson, in a topper that got wet, and with|
|a beaming face that was sprinkled with mist and |
|raindrops, watched the fight and stayed until the |
|final wild whoop from the last departing cadet had |
|sounded through the semi-darkness that fell upon the|
|Polo Grounds along toward 4:30 p.m. |
| |
|Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt, who soon is to be Mrs. |
|Wilson, was present with her winsome smile and her |
|white furs and her lavender orchids--fortunately, |
|you could see her even through the haze--by the |
|President's side. |
| |
|And then there were some forty thousand others, |
|whose ranks in life ranged down from cabinet |
|officers and generals and admirals to ordinary |
|civilians, who dug as deep--some of them--as $20 a |
|seat for the privilege. |
| |
|Yet, do you suppose that President Wilson or any |
|official was the hero of the day? |
| |
|We are as loyal a Democrat as anybody else, but NO. |
| |
|Or do you fancy that the former belle of Wytheville,|
|Va., who is within the month to be the First Lady of|
|the Land, was the person toward whom all eyes were |
|directed during most of the afternoon? |
| |
|There were considerable numbers of field glasses |
|focused upon the white furs and the lavender |
|orchids and winsome smile. But again the reply |
|is emphatically NO. |
| |
|The leading character, the person who ought to |
|figure away up in the top of the headlines, the one |
|whose name was spoken more frequently than any |
|other, was a rough, rugged, short, stocky, right |
|half-back named Elmer Oliphant, who, according to |
|Army statistics, is twenty-two years old, stands 5 |
|feet 7 inches in altitude, weighs 163 pounds, and |
|hails from Indiana. |
| |
|Ollie was the boy. Before the first period of the |
|game was more than half over, there was a fumble by |
|a Navy back and an Army man fell upon the ball only |
|eight yards away from the goal line of the |
|midshipmen. |
| |
|There was the crash of an Army back against the Navy|
|line, and just a little weakening. There was another|
|impact of a cadet against a wall that was almost but|
|not quite solid. There remained about two or three |
|yards to go. |
| |
|Ollie was hurled in. He took the ball, sought coolly|
|for the weakest spot he might find in a line that |
|was almost impregnable at the moment, and then, |
|instantly finding what he wanted, twisted his way |
|backward through left tackle and fell across the |
|chalk mark for a touchdown. |
| |
|The way the rest of the Army boys sank their fists |
|into Ollie's broad back when he got up, you'd have |
|thought he'd be in no shape for any other position |
|than lying flat upon a stretcher. But he came calmly|
|away from the tumult of congratulation, and as soon |
|as he could kick the mud from between his |
|shoe-cleats he booted the ball over the cross-bar |
|for a goal. |
| |
|Throughout the rest of that period, and throughout |
|all the next, we may skip Ollie. All he did was run |
|around ends for distances varying from five to |
|twenty yards, and plunge through the Annapolis line |
|with from two to four men attached to his neck, |
|arms, legs and back, and tear up, despite these |
|handicaps, more earth than one of those tractor |
|ploughs the Flivver Man is going to put on the |
|market after he settles the European war. |
| |
|Jump to the third session of the game. This was |
|scarcely under way before a long forward pass from |
|the Navy was grabbed on the Annapolis 45-yard line |
|by McEwen, the agile West Point center. He ran it |
|back twenty-five yards and when the ball finally |
|came to rest on the muddy field with half a dozen |
|Middies piled atop of Mac, it reposed just back of |
|the Navy goal-line. |
| |
|Gray dominated throughout the day, physically as |
|well as sentimentally. If ever there was a sodden, |
|cheerless, disheartening afternoon for the battle of|
|the two arms of the service, yesterday was the one. |
| |
|Luck is with the boys, usually. The golden sunshine |
|usually glints off the gold of braid and buttons. |
|The nicest looking girls that ever assembled within |
|the confines of any particular area of space turn |
|out and smile and put lofty notes into the |
|atmosphere with their giddy gowns and hats. There's |
|snap and verve and pepperino in the very air. |
| |
|But for the first time in a long while the weather |
|forbade all this sort of thing yesterday. From early|
|morning a fog-blanket, wafted in from the Atlantic, |
|hung over the town. Now and then it rained. And when|
|you thought maybe it would clear off it rained |
|again. The good old golosh was brought out of the |
|spare bedroom closet and placed upon even the |
|fairest of feet. The old brown raincoat was dragged |
|forth into the light of day and placed above the |
|gayest of garments. |
| |
|No girl was so foolish as to take a chance on the |
|ruin of her apparel by doing without a moisture |
|shedder of some sort. And not a general or admiral |
|or member of a governor's staff or other person |
|holding the right to wear a uniform was so |
|intensely proud as to expose his ornamentation |
|uncovered and take a risk at pneumonia. |
| |
|It was, as a matter of fact, a pretty drab-looking |
|crowd that began to file into the Polo grounds a |
|little after noon. You can't get much local color |
|out of a gum shoe and a mackintosh.... |
| |
| =The Game Play by Play= |
| |
|It was 2.15 when the navy squad ploughed through the|
|mud to the center of the gridiron. The Navy stands |
|upheaved and the midshipmen sent their battle cry |
|ringing across the field. Almost on the heels of the|
|Navy squad came the Army players and a great shout |
|went up from the Army stands. Each team ran through |
|signals for a few minutes and then the Navy won the |
|toss and chose the east goal. |
| |
|Coffin put the ball into play at 2:20 when he kicked|
|off to the Navy. Craig caught the ball on his |
|25-yard line and ran it back ten yards before he was|
|hurled into the mud. Davis tore off seven yards |
|through the right side of the Army line and Westphal|
|skirted the Army's left end for ten yards and a |
|first down. |
| |
|Here the Army forwards held and crushed the Navy |
|back a yard. On the next down the midshipmen punted,|
|but gained only five yards. Oliphant tried an end |
|run from a kick formation, but failed to gain, and |
|the Army punted, Coffin driving the ball to the |
|Navy's 43-yard line. |
| |
|Westphal fought a path for five yards, but then the |
|Army defense held, and Von Heimberg kicked to |
|Gerhardt on the Army's 10-yard line. The cadet |
|quarterback flashed back thirty yards before he was |
|driven out of bounds and brought to earth. A stab at|
|the line failed to gain for the cadets and Coffin |
|punted to Craig. |
| |
|The ball sailed far down the field and the Navy |
|quarterback had to run back a few yards to get under|
|it. But he did not get back quite far enough. As the|
|ball dropped he saw he had misjudged it and threw |
|his arms up to grasp the pigskin. His fingers |
|clutched at it, slipped off, and the ball dropped to|
|the gridiron as the Army forwards swooped down the |
|field. |
| |
|Capt. Weyand was in the lead and his greedy fingers |
|snatched the ball before Craig could get his |
|bearings. It was the Army's ball and only eight |
|yards from a touchdown. The midshipmen chorused to |
|the Navy line to hold. And the line did its best, |
|but its best was not good enough to throw back the |
|Army's battering attack. Oliphant jammed his way two|
|yards and on the next play drove through the |
|desperately fighting Navy line within a few feet of |
|the goal line. |
| |
|Here the Navy showed a flash of power that sent the |
|midshipmen to frenzied shouting. Oliphant on his |
|third smash into the line was hurled back for a yard|
|loss. The next try made the fourth down and with the|
|cadet band blaring and the cadets shouting |
|themselves hoarse Oliphant made his fourth drive |
|against the Navy forwards. |
| |
|It was a lunge that carried the concentrated power |
|of the Army eleven yards behind it and it spelled a |
|touchdown for the cadets. Oliphant with several Navy|
|players clutching him stormed well over the line for|
|the first score of the game. He promptly kicked the |
|goal from touchdown and the scoreboard read: Army 7,|
|Navy 0. |
| |
|This was the signal for the Army to break into the |
|song, "Good Night, Navy." They were still singing |
|when Coffin kicked off for the Army....[28] |
[28] Joseph J. O'Neil in the _New York World_,
November 28, 1915.
This story may be examined critically--and imitated--for its excellence
in centering the reader's interest upon the football hero, Oliphant,--a
stroke which gives the article almost a short story unity of impression.
The writer's shift from the game and the crowd to Oliphant is somewhat
rough--note, for instance, "We are as loyal a Democrat as anybody else,
but NO,"--but otherwise the story is good.
=239. Getting Players' Names.=--When reporting a football game, one can
best follow and take notes on the plays by knowing the players by
number. In big games this is made easy by the numerals on the football
men's backs. On the smaller elevens this is not done, a difficulty which
the reporter can overcome, however, by numbering the positions
according to the regulation lineup. Thus:
5.LE RE.11
2.LHB 6.LT RT.10 RHB.3
7.LG RG. 9
1.FB 4.QB 8. C C. 8 QB.4 FB.1
9.RG LG. 7
3.RHB 10.RT LT. 6 LHB.2
11.RE LE. 5
Then in taking running notes during the game, one has to write only, "4
around 5 10 yds.," "2 through 7-8 to 20-yd. line," etc., filling in the
names of the players after each half.
=240. Basket-ball.=--The accepted method of reporting a basket-ball game
is much like that of football. Because in basket-ball the scores run
high and the relative standings of the opposing teams are constantly
shifting, it is customary in detailed accounts to give the exact score
of each team at the end of every quarter. The following is a terse story
of a game:
| =BOYS' HIGH WINS CITY TITLE= |
| |
|The Boys' High School captured the city basketball |
|championship of the Public Schools Athletic League |
|by defeating the Bushwick High School on the |
|former's court yesterday by a score of 18 to 17. It |
|was the second defeat sustained by Bushwick, the |
|other reverse being administered by Eastern |
|District, which, however, was downed by Boys' High. |
|The ending was a sad one for the Bushwick team. |
| |
|The Bushwick team showed good sportsmanship by |
|failing to enter a protest when it was alleged that |
|the final whistle was blown ten seconds too soon. |
|The matter was put before Mr. Aldinger, the referee,|
|who decided the game officially ended. |
| |
|Boys' High came through with a strong finish. At the|
|opening of the game it scored four points before |
|Bushwick finally entered the scoring column. The |
|game was bitterly fought until the end of the first |
|half, which found Boys' High holding an average of 6|
|to 4. |
| |
|In the second half Bushwick launched an attack that |
|soon placed it in front by a score of 15 to 9. Boys'|
|High then carried the fight into the enemy |
|territory, and, with successive field goals by |
|Bolotovsky, Gindee and Bonoff, the score was tied at|
|15-all. |
| |
|The score then seesawed until Bolotovsky shot the |
|winning point with a free goal from the foul line. |
| |
|The line-up follows: |
| |
| BOYS' HIGH BUSHWICK |
| Fd.g Fl.g. P. | Fd.g Fl.g. P.|
|Bolotovsky, rf 4 4 12 | Robinson, rf 2 0 4|
|Gindee, lf 1 0 2 | Edelstein, lf 2 3 7|
|Bonoff, c 2 0 4 | Cherry, c 3 0 6|
|Brown, rg 0 0 0 | Dorff, rg 0 0 0|
|Ratner, lg 0 0 0 | Billig, lg 0 0 0|
| ---------- | ----------|
| Totals 7 4 18 | Totals 7 3 17|
| |
|Referee--Aldinger, H. S. of Commerce. Time of |
|halves, 15 minutes each.[29] |
[29] _New York Tribune_, March 4, 1917.
In reporting a basket-ball game it is difficult to record the plays
accurately unless one knows the contestants or they are numbered. The
men shift their positions too quickly and constantly. To be accurate,
the reporter should have a seat next to the scorer or else between two
students or friends of the opposing players, so that whichever side
makes a basket or an error, the reporter can get the player's name
instantly.
=241. Track.=--Reporting a track meet is easier than baseball, football,
or basket-ball since the events are run off slowly and all the results
are announced to the grandstand. The following story of the 1917 meet of
the Intercollegiate Association of America at Philadelphia is a good
illustration:
| =RECORDS MADE AT INDOOR MEET= |
| |
|Cornell and Yale, as usual, shared the top honors at|
|the third annual indoor track and field meet of the |
|Intercollegiate Association of America, held last |
|night before a crowd of 6,000 persons at the |
|Commercial Museum in this city. The feature event of|
|the early part of the program was a three-lap relay |
|race between the Ithacans, Pennsylvania and State |
|College. Crim, who ran anchor for Cornell over the |
|last 538 yards, beat Scudder, of Penn, by an inch, |
|the Quaker falling under the tape exhausted. In this|
|event Cornell hung up a new record for the |
|collegiate indoor meets by covering the three laps |
|in four minutes, twenty seconds, two seconds better |
|than last year, when Penn won. |
| |
|In the six-lap relay race, where each of the men ran|
|1056 yards, Yale romped home an easy winner, John |
|Overton beating Marion Shields, of Penn State, with |
|yards to spare. Pennsylvania, the third team |
|entered, finished in that position. |
| |
|Yale sent an army of star timber-toppers down for |
|the fifty-yard high hurdle event. John V. Farwell, |
|captain of the Eli's track team, equaled the |
|American amateur indoor record by covering the |
|distance in seven seconds. |
| |
|Richards, of Cornell, won individual honors in the |
|sixteen-pound shot-put with a throw of 42 feet, |
|8-3/10 inches, while Cornell's team average was 40 |
|feet, 2-3/10 inches. |
| |
|The Cornell entries in the late events swept |
|everything before them. Coach Jack Moakley's |
|long-distance runners won the twelve-lap relay in |
|the fast time of 22 minutes, 7-2/5 seconds, beating |
|last year's record of 23 minutes, 13-4/5 seconds. |
|The Ithacans also cleaned up in the running broad |
|jump with a team average of 20 feet, 9 and 1/16 |
|inches. Culbertson carried off the individual honors|
|with a leap of 21 feet, 3 and 3/4 inches. |
| |
|The graduate relay race proved the most interesting |
|event on the card. When the anchor men of Penn, |
|Dartmouth, and Cornell started on the last four laps|
|Riley, of Dartmouth, was leading "Ted" Meredith by |
|fifteen yards, with Caldwell, the former Ithacan, |
|trailing five yards in the rear of Meredith. Penn's |
|former captain brought the crowd to its feet by |
|overtaking Riley in the last ten yards. No time was |
|taken. Summaries: |
| |
|Three-lap relay race--Won by Cornell (Shelton, |
|Windnagle, Acheson, Crim); second, Penn (Lennon, |
|Walker, Dorsey, Scudder); third, Penn State |
|(Whiting, Krall, Enoch, Cottom). Time, 4 min., 20 |
|sec. (New indoor collegiate record). |
| |
|50-yard hurdles--Won by Yale (Rodman, Davis, Offutt |
|and Farwell), 14 points; second, Cornell (J. M. |
|Watt, Cleminshaw, Pratt and Elsas), 10 points; |
|third, Princeton (Crawford, H. R. Watt, Erdman, and |
|Buzby), 6 points. |
| |
|Six-lap relay--Won by Yale (Rolfe, Ireland, Cooper |
|and Overton); second, Penn State (Shea, Foster, |
|Whiting and Shields); third, Pennsylvania (Norriss, |
|Price, Scudder and Humphreys). Time, 9 min., 59-4/5 |
|sec. |
| |
|16-pound shot-put--Won by Cornell (Richards, 42 ft. |
|8-3/10 in.; Gillies, 39 ft. 11-1/2 in.; Howell, 41 |
|ft. 5 in.; Schoof, 36 ft. 10-7/8 in.), team average,|
|40 ft. 2-3/10 in.; second, Princeton (Sinclaire, 44 |
|ft. 9-1/2 in.; Cleveland 41 ft. 1-3/8 in.; Nourse, |
|34 ft. 8 in.; Ginnert 35 ft. 1-1/4 in.), team |
|average, 38 ft. 6-8/10 in.; third, Penn (Wray, 30 |
|ft. 10-1/4 in.; Paul, 32 ft. 3-3/4 in.; Royer, |
|31 ft. 5-5/8 in.; Swann, 32 ft. 2-3/4 in.), team |
|average, 31 ft. 6-5/10 in. |
| |
|Running broad jump--Won by Cornell (Culbertson, 21 |
|ft. 3-3/4 in.; Richards, 21 ft. 1/2 in.; Shackelton,|
|20 ft. 10-1/2 in.; Harrison, 19 ft. 9-1/2 in.), team|
|average, 20 ft. 9-1/16 in.; second, Pennsylvania |
|(Jones, 20 ft. 10-3/4 in.; Bertolet, 20 ft. 7 in.; |
|Buckholtz, 20 ft. 1/2 in.; Walter 19 ft. 9 in.), |
|team average, 20 ft. 3-13/16 in. No third team.[30] |
[30] _Philadelphia Public Ledger_,
March 4, 1917.
=242. Golf.=--In reporting golf matches probably the best method is to
lead with rather a full summary--a half-dozen paragraphs if
necessary--telling the results, the character of the playing, the kind
of weather, the condition of the links, and something about the
competitors, then to follow with a detailed story of the game hole by
hole. In the following story note that the length, the par, and the
relative standing of the players is given on each hole. Note too that a
numerical summary is made every nine holes.
| =EVANS WINS GREAT MATCH= |
| |
|Charles Evans, Jr., of the Edgewater Golf Club, |
|twice winner of the Western amateur golf |
|championship, to-day defeated Ned Sawyer of the |
|Wheaton Golf Club 2 and 1 in the semi-final match |
|for the great All-Western title. To-morrow Evans |
|will meet in the 36-hole finals James Standish, Jr.,|
|of the Detroit Golf Club, whom he defeated for the |
|same title last year at the Kent Country Club. |
| |
|Standish won his way into the finals by defeating |
|H. P. Bingham, of the Mayfield Club, to-day in a |
|lop-sided contest, the match ending on the thirtieth|
|green, 7 and 6. |
| |
|The Evans-Sawyer duel to-day was a grueling struggle|
|and from all points one of the greatest in the |
|history of the Western classic. It sparkled like |
|carbonated water as compared with the rather flat |
|matches of yesterday. |
| |
|Fought in balmy weather under almost perfect |
|conditions, the contest afforded, from start to |
|finish, plenty of thrills to the gallery of 2,000 |
|followers. Old timers conceded it the best match |
|ever fought on Ohio soil. Each player had 74 in the |
|morning, while Evans had approximately 72 in the |
|afternoon. |
| |
|Fourteen of the thirty-five holes were won under par|
|figures, ten were won at par, and two were ties |
|under par, leaving only two holes at which both |
|players were really ragged. |
| |
|Sawyer shot remarkably fine golf in the out round of|
|the morning and at the tenth hole was 4 up, but from|
|this point Evans began to whittle down the lead. |
|Although Chick got on even terms four times, it was |
|not until the sixteenth hole in the afternoon that |
|he led, and the next hole saw him winner. |
| |
|The score by holes follows: |
| |
| =Scores by Holes= |
| |
|=Hole 1 (385 yds., par 4).= Sawyer pulled his drive |
|into a trap from which he dug only to drop into |
|another at the left of the green. His chip shot hit |
|the bank and he was just on the green in 4. Evans |
|was 60 feet from the pin on his second, but his weak|
|approach putt gave him a 5. Sawyer took three putts |
|and counted a 7 for the first hole. Evans 1 up. |
| |
|=Hole 2 (310 yds., par 4).= Evans pulled his tee |
|shot, but got a fair lie. His approach pitch was |
|short. Sawyer got 250 yards on his drive, pitched |
|eight feet short, and holed an uphill putt for a |
|win, 3-4. All square. |
| |
|=Hole 3 (445 yds., par 5).= Two wonderful wooden |
|shots landed Sawyer eight feet from the pin, where |
|he missed his putt for a 3 and kicked the ball in |
|for a 4, one under par. Evans pulled his drive to |
|the rough from which he made a woeful pull with his |
|cleek to the weeds guarding the right of the |
|fairway. He was 20 yards short of the green on his |
|third and lost, 5-4. Sawyer 1 up. |
| |
|=Hole 4 (170 yds., par 3).= This hole was halved in |
|3, the features being Sawyer's 30-foot, downhill |
|putt and Chick's miss of a two-foot putt. Sawyer 1 |
|up. |
| |
|=Hole 5 (325 yds., par 4).= Evans was wild again |
|from the tee, his drive being sliced to the brook |
|where he got a lie on the slaty bottom. He banged |
|out a high shot with his niblick, but went over the |
|green to the rough and was short on his return. |
|Sawyer was fifteen feet from the hole on his second |
|and won, 4-5. Sawyer 2 up. |
| |
|=Hole 6 (515 yds., par 5).= From the high sixth tee |
|Evans pulled a low drive to the trees. He made a |
|great out with his mashie, being lucky in escaping |
|the trees. Sawyer lined out two of his regulation |
|wooden shots and was twelve feet from the flag on |
|his second. Evans heeled his long mashie shot to the|
|right of the green, from which he missed his four |
|and conceded the hole, Sawyer being dead in 3. |
|Sawyer 3 up. |
| |
|=Hole 7 (310 yds., par 4).= Evans left his unruly |
|driver in the bag and played a cleek shot for the |
|seventh hole, Sawyer outdriving him forty yards. |
|Chick's pitch took a bad bound, but stopped eight |
|feet from the hole. Sawyer's pitch ran entirely |
|across the green. Evans's putt just trickled into |
|the cup, winning for him, 3-4. Sawyer 2 up. |
| |
|=Hole 8 (145 yds., par 3).= Both pitched to the |
|green. Sawyer putted dead and laid Evans a dead |
|stymie. In attempting the five-foot slanting putt, |
|Chick knocked Sawyer's ball into the hole, losing |
|2-4. Sawyer 3 up. |
| |
|=Hole 9 (435 yds., par 5).= Both got straight drives|
|into a driving wind at the long ninth. Two perfectly|
|played iron shots met with unmerited punishment, |
|both balls touching the top of the hill and running |
|over the fast green into a trap. Both missed rainbow|
|putts for fours and halved in 5. Sawyer 3 up at the |
|turn. |
| |
|Cards: |
|Evans 5 4 5 3 5 5 3 4 5--39 |
|Sawyer 7 3 4 3 4 4 4 2 5--36 |
=243. Tennis.=--In reporting tennis matches one may use the following as
an acceptable guide. The summary by sets at the end of the story in all
probability was obtained from the scorer.
| =JOHNSTON WINS CHAMPIONSHIP= |
| |
|William M. Johnston inscribed his name upon the |
|classic national tennis singles championship most |
|impressively yesterday, using a forehand stroke that|
|left no dispute as to his right to the title. The |
|young player, who two seasons ago was hailed as the |
|successor to Maurice E. McLoughlin, made good the |
|prediction by the score of 1-6, 6-0, 7-5, 10-8, |
|while thousands cheered the vanquished McLoughlin |
|and the new holder of the highest honors of the |
|American courts. It was a memorable battle and an |
|inspiring scene at the climax on the field of the |
|West Side Tennis Club, at Forest Hills, L.I., when |
|the two men fighting for a sporting honor, and |
|fighting with all that was in them, almost collapsed|
|at the end, and hoisted on the shoulders of their |
|comrades, with the cheers of the 7,000 spectators |
|ringing in their ears, were carried from the field. |
| |
|While the homage paid to Johnston for winning one of|
|the greatest matches the All Comers' tournament has |
|ever known in its thirty-five years was sincere and |
|true, still on all sides there was regret that |
|McLoughlin, the hero who overwhelmed Norman E. |
|Brooks and the late Anthony F. Wilding in the great |
|Davis Cup matches last year, would not have the |
|permanent possession of the All Comers' Cup on which|
|his name is twice inscribed. |
| |
|It was not the same McLoughlin who stood in the |
|court yesterday that overwhelmed the famous |
|Australasians a year ago. Time had taken something |
|from his game, and as ever youth must be served. In |
|this instance it fairly leaped to its reward. Except|
|for the first set and the briefest of intervals |
|thereafter, Johnston was always the master of his |
|mighty adversary. He knew the game of his opponent, |
|and as in the ancient days when Greek met Greek, it |
|was the dynamic power, resourcefulness, and stroke |
|of Californian against Californian, with no quarter |
|asked or given. Two months before the two had played|
|for the Exposition championship at San Francisco, |
|and at that time McLoughlin had carried the match |
|and title after five of the hardest sets which the |
|tournament produced. Then "The Comet" was on his old|
|field of asphalt with the ball bounding so high that|
|he could bring off his overhanders and where such a |
|thing as ground strokes were unknown. |
| |
|Probably never in all the years of the historic All |
|Comers has a player displayed such phenomenal |
|command of the ball with a forehand stroke. There |
|were many competent judges present yesterday who |
|declared that its equal was not to be found on the |
|courts anywhere.... |
| |
|It was a stroke that stood the test, for no less |
|than eight times in the fourth set was Johnston |
|within a point of claiming the All Comers as his own|
|when McLoughlin made thrilling stands as of old, and|
|pushed the victory on a little further. When he |
|moved up to the net in the ever-flashing rallies all|
|the power and certainty of Johnston's forehand came |
|into action. Alert, with the eye of an eagle that |
|saw every move and the flight of the ball as |
|McLoughlin drove it at him with all his might, the |
|younger player whipped the returns into the corners.|
|He was like a cat on his feet, quick and sure, never|
|making a false move. There were times when he |
|nipped the best drives that the Comet sent over, and|
|turned them back for passes. Repeatedly McLoughlin |
|overhanded the ball for what to him seemed a certain|
|ace, so that he relaxed and dropped his racquet to |
|rest, as if the point were finished. Johnston made |
|his recovery, however, and sending the ball back |
|found McLoughlin off his guard and so scored the |
|point. |
| |
|The cross volleys into the corners, the spots that |
|had proved so profitable against Williams on the |
|previous day, were the chief bit of manoeuvring |
|that electrified the crowd. As Johnston played it, |
|it was as irresistible as trying to check the march |
|of time. He sent the ball into the left-hand corner |
|of McLoughlin's court like a bolt of chain |
|lightning. In order to play the ball with any |
|success McLoughlin usually danced around it for a |
|forehand shot, which put him wide of the court. |
|Calmly stepping in to meet it, Johnston crossed with|
|ever-increasing pace into the opposite corner. It |
|was run, run, run for McLoughlin if he wanted the |
|ball. He was on the defensive, and it was a |
|position, as in all of his matches, in which he does|
|not scintillate. So relentlessly was the younger |
|player forcing the former champion and veteran that,|
|even when he had glowing opportunities to make the |
|point, McLoughlin put his racquet to the ball too |
|soon, and so piled up a total of 42 nets and 38 |
|outs, as compared to 37 nets and 26 outs for his |
|rival. That was chiefly where the difference stood, |
|for on actual earned points by placement Johnston |
|only had a tally of 53 to 51 for the Comet.... |
| |
| =First Set= |
| Points Games |
|Johnston 2 0 3 0 5 4 2--16 1 |
|McLoughlin 4 4 5 4 3 6 4--30 6 |
| |
| Double |
| Aces Places Nets Outs Faults |
|Johnston 6 8 11 12 6 |
|McLoughlin 9 10 9 7 1 |
| |
| =Second Set= |
| Points Games |
|Johnston 4 4 5 4 6 4--27 6 |
|McLoughlin 2 2 3 0 4 0--11 0 |
| |
| Double |
| Aces Places Nets Outs Faults |
|Johnston 3 8 3 4 0 |
|McLoughlin[31] 3 2 5 6 1 |
[31] _New York Times_, September 8, 1915.
=244. Boxing Matches.=--News stories of boxing matches are but a
combination of the methods of writing football games and golf matches.
The first part of the story of a boxing contest should be a full general
account of the fight, the fighters, the character of the boxing, the
weight, height, and reach of the pugilists, their methods of attack and
defense, the crowd, total and individual receipts, the exact time of the
beginning and end of the fight, etc. The second part, like the golf
report, should be a detailed running story of the fight by rounds. The
following story of the Willard-Moran match at New York in 1915 may be
examined as an example:
| =WILLARD WINS ON POINTS= |
| |
|Jess Willard, the heavyweight champion pugilist of |
|the world, hammered and pounded Frank Moran of |
|Pittsburgh for ten rounds in crowded Madison Square |
|Garden last night, but with his advantage of fifty |
|pounds in weight, six inches in height, and six |
|inches in reach, the Herculean Kansan could not |
|knock out the courageous Pittsburgh boxer. |
| |
|Willard had every advantage throughout the bout |
|except one flash in the seventh round, when Moran, |
|with teeth set and the fire of anger in his eye, |
|made a wonderful rally and showered Willard's jaw |
|with hard blows just before the bell sounded. |
| |
|The champion hit Moran hard enough and often enough |
|to knock out half a dozen men, and after the bout he|
|said that the only reason he was forced to let up |
|and not use his famous righthand punch was because |
|he broke his right hand in the second round and was |
|afraid to hit hard after that. It was in whipping a |
|vicious uppercut for the chin that Willard smashed |
|the hand against Moran's elbow. At the time, Moran |
|was groggy, and although the seconds in the |
|champion's corner yelled for him to tear in, Willard|
|had to stand back. |
| |
|When the champion's glove was removed after the |
|bout, the hand was badly swollen, and he was rushed |
|away from the Garden to be attended by a surgeon. |
| |
|The crowd that witnessed the bout was the largest |
|ever seen at a glove contest here. The Garden from |
|the floor to the upper gallery was jammed until |
|there was hardly room to stand. Although women |
|spectators were encouraged to see the bout, few |
|responded, not more than 200 being seen in the arena|
|boxes. Well-known men in all walks of New York life,|
|however, were grouped about in evening clothes, and |
|gave the boxing match as much tone as a night at the|
|opera. A few of the women spectators wore evening |
|clothes, but the greater part of them were clad in |
|the smart new spring suits which fill all the city's|
|finery shops. |
| |
|Financially the bout was a huge success and a |
|tribute to the enterprise of the Western promoter, |
|Tex Rickard. The receipts amounted to $150,000. Of |
|this Willard got $52,600, including $5,100 for his |
|share of the motion pictures. Moran got $23,500 for |
|his share. It was an enormous remuneration for both |
|men for their forty minutes in the ring. |
| |
|This first appearance of the new champion in the |
|ring since his defeat of Johnson in Havana a year |
|ago had set the town talking, and prominent men in |
|New York and other cities did not hesitate to pay |
|$25 a seat to see the bout. As Willard was such an |
|over-ruling favorite the betting was perhaps the |
|lightest ever known in a bout in which a champion |
|has taken part.... |
| |
|It was 9:40 o'clock when Willard hopped into the |
|ring and got a big cheer. He was soon followed by |
|Moran, who had even a greater reception. While the |
|two contestants were waiting nervously in their |
|corners the announcer, Joe Humphries, had the |
|proudest moment of his career when he gathered the |
|great figures of the fistic world into the same |
|ring. Jim Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, Kid McCoy, and |
|John L. Sullivan all stood together and shook hands.|
|The reception to John L. must have made the |
|white-haired old man's heart warm, for the old |
|timers in the crowd who remembered when he could |
|beat anything in the ring cheered him until they |
|were hoarse. |
| |
|In the champion's corner were Tom Jones, Walter |
|Monahan, and Jack Hemple. In Moran's corner were |
|Willie Lewis, Bill McKinnon, and Frank Kendall. |
|Willard's weight was a big surprise. When he |
|stripped off his green bathrobe the champion weighed|
|259 pounds, which was ten pounds more than his |
|handlers said he weighed and twenty pounds more than|
|when he defeated Johnson in Cuba. It was just 9:55 |
|when "Old Eagle Eye" Charley White called the men to|
|the center of the ring and said, "Be good, boys, and|
|break when I tell you." ... |
| |
| =THE FIGHT BY ROUNDS= |
| |
| =First Round= |
| |
|The men met in the center of the ring. Willard |
|blocked Moran's left to the head and they clinched. |
|Willard missed a right and left that slid off |
|Moran's shoulder. Willard landed lightly with the |
|left to Moran's face and followed with two more. A |
|left jab was all that Willard used in the first few |
|moments. Then Moran landed a left to Willard's |
|chest, and rushing in close tried to get to his jaw |
|with two blows, but failed. Moran was wary and |
|covered up as he came in on Willard. He also missed |
|a left swing that was wild by several inches. |
|Willard sent a left to Moran's head that jarred the |
|challenger, and he tried to come back with blows to |
|Willard's head, but failed. Moran could not reach |
|the jaw of the champion. Willard missed a right |
|lead, Moran stepping in close and evading the blow. |
|One blow that Willard landed clean, a left to the |
|head, made Moran wary. Moran could not get any blows|
|to Willard's face. |
| |
| =Second Round= |
| |
|Willard met Moran three-quarters of the way over the|
|ring and they clinched. Moran landed a left to |
|Willard's head after they broke and then they milled|
|in the center of the ring, neither doing any |
|particular damage. They were chary of doing work for|
|the next several seconds, Willard waiting to have |
|Moran lead. Willard pushed aside Moran's guard and |
|led with a left to the head which was blocked. |
|Willard forced Moran around the ring and battered |
|him on the head with rights and lefts. The |
|challenger was almost pushed through the ropes. |
|Moran missed a left lead that was blocked by |
|Willard. Moran feinted and made a wild hay-making |
|swing that missed. He then struck one blow to |
|Willard's chest that had little force behind it. |
|Moran led with his left and reached Willard's |
|stomach, but the champion did not mind the blow |
|seriously. Two right swings by Moran pounded on |
|Willard's shoulders and the champion retaliated with|
|a light left jab to the face. Both were perspiring |
|from the intense heat of the big arc lights. Willard|
|seemed to toy with Moran in this round, not exerting|
|himself to take the aggressive....[32] |
[32] _New York Times_, March 26, 1916.
=245. The Unwholesome in Boxing Matches.=--One caution should be given
in writing about boxing contests,--the need of presenting the wholesome
rather than the unwholesome side. A report of a bout may be written in
such a way as to appeal to the barbaric nature of one's readers, to make
them revel in the mere drawing of blood rather than in the skill, the
dexterity, the generalship of the contestants. The difference is in the
reporter's point of view and depends not so much upon accuracy of
presentation as upon his purpose to choose those wholesome details that
have been successful in retaining pugilism as an American sport despite
its many undoubted accompanying evils. In the following extract, for
instance, the appeal is unhealthful; it savors rather of the Spanish
bull-ring than of a legal sport in the United States:
|What a fight it was! One worthy of Mars himself! The|
|stage setting was complete to the minutest detail. |
|There had been quite enough smashed noses in the |
|preliminaries to whet the appetite for action to its|
|keenest edge. And the main event was put on so |
|quickly after the semi-final that this lust for |
|battle had no chance to cool. Moran led with a |
|snappy left hook that drew blood from Coffey's nose.|
|With this first faint scarlet trickle the gallery |
|gods went wild. A second quick jab gashed an old |
|scar above Jim's left cheekbone and covered his face|
|with blood, to the delight of Frank's friends in the|
|center box. |
=246. Automobile Races.=--Stories of automobile races follow closely the
types of sporting news stories already examined. The following may be
taken as an illustration:
| =NEW WORLD'S RECORD BY RESTA= |
| |
| +-------------------------------+ |
| | =The Results= | |
| | Driver Time Average | |
| | Resta 58:54 102.85 | |
| | Cooper 59:39 101.41 | |
| | Burman 61:22 98.63 | |
| | Oldfield Flagged | |
| +-------------------------------+ |
| |
|Speedway Park, Aug. 7.--(Special).--The world's |
|100-mile speed championship was won by a hood this |
|afternoon--the hood of Dario Resta's wonderful |
|Peugeot. |
| |
|Cheers from 15,000 throats drowned the roar of the |
|engines as the Resta Peugeot and Earl Cooper's Stutz|
|wound up a race unparalleled for thrills and dashed |
|side by side up the home stretch and over the finish|
|line. Resta won $20,000. |
| |
|Resta smashed Porporato's record of 99.05 miles an |
|hour on the Chicago speedway by driving the 100 |
|miles at an average speed of 102.85 miles an hour. |
| |
|Through the whole hundred miles, most of which were |
|reeled off at the record breaking clip of 104.6 |
|miles an hour, the two leaders were seldom separated|
|by more than a car length. |
| |
|Tire trouble early in the race put Oldfield in his |
|Delage and Burman in his Peugeot out of running. |
|They trailed along in a tremendous effort to |
|overcome the handicap, but trailers they remained. |
| |
|Once, on the thirty-sixth lap, it seemed that Resta |
|had lost. A tire went bad and he was forced to stop.|
|But in just 26 seconds he was on his way again. |
| |
|By that time Cooper had flitted far in the lead--so |
|far that had he not suffered a similar mishap |
|himself a few laps later, the game Italian never |
|could have overtaken him. Resta was again in the |
|lead when Cooper's bad tire was replaced. |
| |
|The cars lined up for the trial lap at 3:30, |
|Oldfield starting first. A roar of cheers from the |
|grandstand greeted Earl Cooper in his white Stutz as|
|he started on the initial parade around the track. |
| |
|Fred J. Wagner, the man with the red flag, stood |
|astride the tape and started the cars on their |
|flying race at 3:44 P.M. |
| |
|=The Race by Laps= |
| |
|=First Lap.=--Resta led in the first lap, Cooper |
|second, Burman third, with Oldfield trailing. |
| |
|=Second Lap.=--On the second lap Resta stretched his|
|lead, Cooper closed up on him, only a car's length |
|behind; Burman came third, with Oldfield fourth, a |
|wide interval separating Burman and Oldfield from |
|the leading contestants. |
| |
|=Third Lap.=--Resta was leading, with Cooper close |
|behind, and Burman third. Oldfield brought up the |
|rear.[33]... |
[33] _Milwaukee Journal_, August 8, 1915.
=247. Billiards.=--In billiard matches the chief thing to note, in
addition to points already mentioned in other sporting news stories, is
the scoring of the individual runs. If it is necessary to write up the
individual innings, the same style is used as indicated in golf and
racing stories.
| =HOPPE OUTPLAYS YAMADA= |
| |
|Boston, Oct. 21.--Willie Hoppe, the champion, led |
|Koji Yamada, his Japanese challenger, 1,000 to 743 |
|points at the close of their second night's play for|
|the 14.1 balkline billiard championship at |
|Convention Hall this evening. Yamada's total |
|to-night was 396. As was the case last night, both |
|men played carefully, which accounted for the long |
|time necessary to finish the game. |
| |
|Hoppe's high run was 104, and came late in the |
|contest, his average being 19 6-26. Yamada's best |
|run was 82, and as it came soon after a run of 75, |
|it enabled him to take the lead from the American |
|for the first time in the match. His average was 13 |
|22-25. |
| |
|Yamada in the first half of the game gave a pleasing|
|display in which for the first time he showed |
|brilliancy at the masse. Hoppe was not up to form |
|during the early innings and got his points only by |
|hard struggle. Both players had a good deal of open |
|table shooting to do. The score: |
| |
|Hoppe--49, 30, 2, 31, 3, 0, 22, 5, 23, 24, 4, 0, 8, |
|0, 17, 7, 55, 0, 44, 11, 104, 31, 0, 24, 5, 7--500. |
|Average, 19 6-26. |
| |
|Yamada--9, 2, 1, 45, 30, 0, 75, 0, 45, 4, 2, 82, 0, |
|1, 31, 1, 0, 0, 9, 2, 3, 0, 1, 7, 3--347. Average, |
|13 22-25.[34] |
[34] _Atlanta Constitution_, October 22, 1915.
=248. Obtaining Information.=--In reporting games and contests one will
have little difficulty in obtaining all needed information. Tickets are
provided gratis and admit always to the best seats, known as the press
seats, or the press-box, where all the newspaper men are grouped
together. If the contest is an outdoor meet, the press-box is usually on
the top of the bleachers. Here are installed telegraph and telephone
wires, the papers often having private wires from their offices to the
field. If the wires have not been installed and it is necessary to
report between quarters or halves, or inning by inning, one should have
the local telegraph company provide at least two messengers to take the
bulletins as fast as one writes them. And one's notes should be so taken
that the bulletins may be given the messengers within a few seconds
after it is possible to report.
=249. Personal Opinion in Sporting Stories.=--On page 165 mention was
made of four kinds of sporting news stories, and the reader's attention
was called to the fact that three of the four--those dealing with
athletic events before their occurrence, those dealing with the same
events afterward, and those relating to sports in general--vary somewhat
from the normal type of newspaper story. This variance lies in the fact
that the three are hybrids, partaking of the nature of both the pure
news story and the editorial. In an earlier chapter we have seen that
the purpose of the news story is to present news; of the editorial, to
interpret. We have seen that the avowed purpose of the editorial is to
influence opinion. And so with these three types. They may be either
presenters or interpreters of sporting news, or both. In the following
story the writer is bent on telling the lineup of the Michigan team for
the game against Cornell, the condition of the men, etc., but he is also
bent on proving to his readers that Michigan has a chance to win,--which
makes his story half editorial and half news.
| =MICHIGAN HAS A CHANCE= |
| |
|Ann Arbor, Mich., Nov. 5.--(Special).--We might lead|
|this story with something original and say that both|
|teams were awaiting the whistle. Instead, we will be|
|unique and assert that Michigan has a chance to win.|
| |
|A victory over Cornell would make a success of a |
|season that has a good start toward being a failure.|
|Michigan's chance for victory depends on its line. |
|There is grave doubt in the minds of some that |
|Michigan has a line. Yost believes it has, because |
|he has seen his center, his two guards, and his two |
|tackles charge and block in practice. He hasn't seen|
|them do anything in games but look sick. But he |
|knows they can do something else and he is wondering|
|if to-morrow will be the day when they prove it to |
|the public and to Cornell. |
| |
|If the Michigan line should play tomorrow as it |
|played against the Aggies and against Syracuse, the |
|best back field in the land would be null and void. |
|But if the Michigan line comes to life, performs as |
|it has done when Assistant Coaches Schultz, |
|Almendinger and Raynsford were scrimmaging against |
|it and using all the words they knew as lashes to |
|drive it to action, then Cornell will find itself |
|up against the toughest foe it has faced this year. |
| |
|Yost admits he has a good back field. His |
|combination of one senior, one junior and one |
|sophomore--Catlett, Maulbetsch and Smith--would, he |
|believes, gain acres of ground against any team in |
|the country if the line would give them half a |
|chance. |
| |
|Smith, to be sure, is in bad shape. He is going to |
|start the game, but few expect him to last through. |
|Bay City gave him to Michigan, and before he was |
|hurt he showed enough to convince his coach that he |
|has the makings of another Galt. |
| |
|He is of the versatile type, and besides being a |
|good ground gainer himself, he is of great |
|assistance as an interferer and a handy man on |
|defense. He backs up the line when the other side |
|has the ball. At present almost everything ails him,|
|save possibly barber's itch and the h. and m. |
|disease that helped make Niles famous. |
| |
|Maulbetsch, Yost says, is a better defensive man |
|than last year. As for his plunging prowess, he is |
|probably just as classy as ever, but a man can't |
|plunge very far when two or three opposing linemen |
|are sitting on him, as they were in the M. A. C. and|
|Syracuse games. |
| |
|Catlett is a streak of speed, and since this is his |
|third year of varsity football, he is playing more |
|intelligently than ever. Roehm, the quarterback, was|
|one of Hughitt's understudies last season. He is |
|light, but fast and willing. |
| |
|Thus in the back field we have a good all round man,|
|a wonderful line plunger, a speed demon, and an |
|agile, hard worker. All of which assets won't be |
|worth a yesterday's transfer unless the line |
|holds....[35] |
[35] Ring W. Lardner in the _Chicago Tribune_,
November 6, 1915.
=250. Advance Stories.=--The details which one may include in advance
stories of athletic meets are innumerable. Some of the more important
particulars, however, are predictions of the outcome, the effect of the
contest on future events or on the rank of the teams, names of the
players and the officials, absence of important men, opinions of the
men, their trainers, or their followers, weak spots in their play, local
or national interest, time and place of the contest, ways of reaching
the field or grounds,--in fact, any details that will interest one's
readers in the approaching game. Such preliminary writeups require good
reporters--men who can observe closely and analyze carefully, and hence
can give their readers reasonable predictions of the success of the
teams in which they are interested. The following may be taken as a
typical preliminary story:
| =PROMINENT OFFICIALS AT GAME TO-DAY= |
| |
| +-------------------------------------------+ |
| |=Facts About To-day's Football Game= | |
| | | |
| |=Teams=--Army and Navy. | |
| | | |
| |=Place=--Polo Grounds. | |
| | | |
| |=Time=--2 P.M. | |
| | | |
| |=Corps of Cadets and Brigade of Midshipmen | |
| |march on the field=--1 to 1.30 P.M. | |
| | | |
| |=Weather Forecast=--Fair and warm; rain | |
| |late in the afternoon or night. | |
| | | |
| |=Routes to the Grounds=--Eighth and Ninth | |
| |Avenue "L" and Broadway subway. | |
| | | |
| |=Directions for Finding Seats=--On the back| |
| |of each ticket are printed directions for | |
| |locating the seats in the various sections.| |
| +-------------------------------------------+ |
| |
|When the referee's whistle sends the Army and Navy |
|teams charging into each other this afternoon at the|
|Polo Grounds, most of the United States government |
|officials, army, navy and marine corps officers will|
|be gathered in the seats and boxes around the |
|sidelines to cheer 1915's football season on to its |
|death in the spectacularly most brilliant game of |
|the year. |
| |
|President Wilson, doomed again to neutrality, will |
|divide his time between the Army and Navy sides of |
|the field. Mrs. Galt will arrive with him shortly |
|before 1 o'clock on the train which brings besides |
|them one of the largest and most distinguished |
|delegations of government officials, army and navy |
|officers, who ever saw an Army-Navy game. |
| |
|Secretary Garrison will be whooping it up for the |
|Army on the cadets' side of the field. Secretary |
|Daniels, reinforced by his twenty-one-year-old son, |
|will be right there where the Blue and Gold of the |
|Navy waves, and take it from the Navy this Secretary|
|is some rooter when he gets going. |
| |
|Secretary McAdoo will be there--but why attempt to |
|name all or many of the prominent folk. Cabinet |
|officers, admirals and generals, all take a back |
|seat to-day. In the full glare of the limelight |
|stand the twenty-two gridiron fighters from West |
|Point and Annapolis. To-day there is only one firing|
|line; it's the chalk-marked field at the Polo |
|Grounds. |
| |
|The Midshipmen arrived here Thursday and went to the|
|Vanderbilt yesterday. The Army team, coaches, |
|trainers, and advance delegation of officers |
|arrived, making the Hotel Astor their headquarters. |
|Every train from Washington, from Annapolis, from |
|West Point, which pulled into New York thereafter |
|was packed with Army and Navy adherents. |
| |
|And Broadway was ready with its usual welcome. The |
|Vanderbilt, Astor, Waldorf, McAlpin, and Martinique |
|were profusely decorated with the flags and with |
|Army and Navy colors. Generals met cub lieutenants |
|in the cafés and dining-rooms (where seats had been |
|reserved both for last night and to-night weeks in |
|advance), all eager to get some late "dope" on the |
|game. |
| |
|Store fronts were gay with the Navy Blue and Gold |
|and the Army Black and Gold and Gray; street hawkers|
|were disposing of the winning colors. New York was |
|on its biannual football spree last night. The Army |
|and Navy were in town.... |
| |
|Betting? Well, as a Navy man put it, "We've got a |
|few iron men with us." Yes, they all came "heeled." |
|Navy men are asking 2 to 1 and getting it in spots. |
|But as the hours slipped by and the old Army-Navy |
|feeling grew, there was no telling the odds--each |
|man bet as the impulse of the moment prompted him, |
|anywhere from 3 to 1 to even money. |
| |
| Probable Line-up To-day |
| |
| Army Wgt. Navy Wgt. |
| Neyland 170 L.E. Von H'mb'g 180 |
| Jones 200 L.T. Ward 177 |
| O'hare 192 L.G. Kercher 185 |
| McEwan 192 C. Goodstein 172 |
| Meacham 176 R.G. Smith 199 |
| Weyand 197 R.T. Gilman 187 |
| Redfield 163 R.E. Johnson 169 |
| Gerhardt 145 Q.B. Craig 147 |
| Ford 171 L.H. Westphal 184 |
| Oliphant 163 R.H. Davis 153 |
| Coffin 162 F.B. Martin 161 |
| |
| T'l weight 1931 lbs. T'l weight 1914 lbs. |
| Avg. wgt., 175.6 lbs. Avg. wgt., 174 lbs. |
| |
|Referee, W. S. Langford, Trinity; umpire, F. W. |
|Murphy, Brown; field judge, J. A. Evans, Williams; |
|head linesman, Carl Marshall, Harvard.[36] |
[36] _New York World_, November 27, 1916.
=251. Review Stories.=--Stories written days after a game are generally
of an analytical nature, their purpose being to review the play or
contest and explain why one team or contestant was successful and the
other a failure, or why one method of play, attack, or defense proved
better than others. Sometimes, however, such stories are merely
individual incidents learned late, but of interest nevertheless to the
readers. An analytical story is the following:
| =NEW RULES UPSET TEAMS= |
| |
|With the advent of October, the month which |
|generally ushers in the football seasons, the defeat|
|of Yale by Virginia was one of the most conspicuous |
|cases of the old adage that history will repeat |
|itself in football as well as in any other line of |
|athletic endeavor. |
| |
|In former years supposedly stronger elevens have met|
|with unexpected setbacks from teams which were |
|thought to be only tools in the helpful development |
|of the big elevens for the harder and more important|
|contests to be played later in the season. In the |
|old days of the five-yard rule and mass play, |
|schedules could be outlined with so much accuracy |
|that a coach or athletic director seldom made |
|mistakes in his schedules. |
| |
|In those days the chart was framed so that each |
|succeeding game would be harder to win.... The teams|
|were sent into the game to test the pet plays of the|
|coaches, such as the revolving mass on tackle, hard |
|concentrated attacks on and off the tackles, with |
|the runner being pushed and pulled by his |
|teammates.... |
| |
|If plays as outlined by the coaches did not make the|
|necessary distances, then the teams practically |
|settled down to a man to man contest, and football |
|history records the number of games which ended |
|either in scoreless ties or knotted counts. |
| |
|Following this old custom, the big teams select the |
|opponents who in the old days were easy to beat in |
|the first games. It is true some changes have been |
|made in schedules, but it is only reasonable to |
|assume that the coach of a large eleven would be |
|foolish to schedule an opening contest with a team |
|which he thought had a chance to beat his own |
|aggregation. |
| |
|Using Yale as an example, the authorities at New |
|Haven would never have scheduled the Virginia game |
|unless they thought in their own minds that Old Eli |
|would trot off the field an easy winner. On the last|
|Saturday in September the Blue eleven had an easy |
|time winning from Maine, 37 to 0. |
| |
|Following the changes in the rules, coaches nowadays|
|cannot afford to take a chance with any team, |
|whether they have a heavy, strong team or a well |
|balanced eleven. The players do not get accustomed |
|to the excitement of actual combat so early in the |
|season, and the least little thing which goes wrong |
|in their offensive or defensive play will unbalance |
|them for the remainder of the contest. |
| |
|Harvard, last year's eastern champion, was compelled|
|to play a lot of football to win from the |
|Massachusetts Aggies by a single touchdown. Had |
|Percy Haughton, the Crimson coach, thought his team |
|would experience such a hard game so early in the |
|season, the contest would not have been listed. The |
|Crimson eleven, in other words, was opposed by a |
|team which had been thoroughly groomed in every |
|department of the game, the Aggies apparently |
|realizing what a victory would mean to them.[37]... |
[37] Walter H. Eckersall in the _Chicago Tribune_,
October 10, 1915.
=252. General Stories.=--The last type of sporting news story, that
relating to a sport only in a general way, may be considered briefly. In
this type the actual news value is small. The interest of the story lies
rather in its informative worth, the writer's purpose being to present
general, but significant, facts that will interest followers of the
sport. Usually it is expository. Its nature is well illustrated by the
following subjects chosen practically at random: "Batters in the
American Association Weaker in 1916 than in 1915"; "Title Holders in the
Ring Play Safety First--Refuse Long Battles"; "Tennis Gaining in
Popularity"; "Is Baseball a Back Number?"; "Any Man Can Play Par Golf";
"Ty Cobb's Place in Baseball History." Such stories are valuable in the
Sunday edition, and in addition to giving general surveys of various
sports, help to interest readers when athletic news is scarce. They are
the feature stories of sports.
XVII. SOCIETY
=253. What Society News Is.=--The society editor's work concerns itself
with the social and personal news of the city and county in which the
paper is published or from which it draws its patronage. It is almost
entirely local, news of the state or of other cities being of value only
in so far as it affects women and men of one's own town through former
exchanges of courtesy or hospitality, or for similar causes. Nor does it
concern itself with the unconventional, the abnormal. Elopements,
clandestine marriages, unusual engagements, freakish parties, and
similar extraordinary social and personal news do not come within the
sphere of the society editor, but take regular, and usually prominent,
places in the news columns.
=254. Difficulty.=--The society editor's work is with the conventional
in the local fashionable world, and for this reason probably no other
kind of news demands so consistent care, discrimination, and habitual
restraint. She--the society editor is practically always a woman--must
recognize readily relative social distinctions, to know what names and
functions to feature in her column or section, and to be able to present
the details of those functions acceptably to the various social groups
about which and for which she is writing. The latter requisite in
particular is difficult. For in attempting to give appreciative accounts
of weddings, dances, receptions, she is liable to overstep the narrow
limits of conventional usage and make herself ridiculous by extravagance
of statement; or else, in trying to avoid unnecessary display of
enthusiasm, she is led into use of trite, colorless words and stock
phrases. She must by all means take care not to say that "the handsome
groom wearing the conventional black and the lovely bride arrayed in a
charming creation of white satin consummated their sacred nuptial vows
amid banks of fragrant lilies and beautiful, blushing roses to the
melodious strains of Mendelssohn's entrancing wedding march."
=255. Illustrations.=--The following stories of engagements, weddings,
dinners, dances, receptions, club meetings, and charity benefits have
been selected at random to show the accepted methods of handling society
write-ups. At the end are added a few personal items--_personals_, they
are generally termed--and a single "society review." The restraint and
dignity of tone of the stories are worth close study.
| =ENGAGEMENTS= |
| |
|Mr. and Mrs. George A. Stewart, of 311 North |
|Parkside Avenue, announce the engagement of their |
|daughter, Gladys, to Charles M. Sailor, a son of Mr.|
|and Mrs. Samuel Sailor, of 25 South Central |
|Boulevard. |
|The first debutante of the season to become engaged |
|is Miss Bessie Allen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. |
|George Osborne Allen, whose engagement to Harry O. |
|Best was announced Saturday. Mr. Best is a son of |
|Mr. and Mrs. George R. Best, of 131 East |
|Fifty-fourth street. He was graduated from Harvard |
|in 1913 and is a member of the Knickerbocker Club of|
|this city, and also of the Balustrol Golf Club. He |
|is a member of the firm of Best and Flom, 136 Walker|
|Street. Mr. Best is the third in direct line to bear|
|his name, being a grandson of the late George R. |
|Best, one of the most noted architects of this city.|
|The wedding will take place in the spring. |
| =WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENTS= |
| |
|In the Church of the Heavenly Rest on Tuesday |
|afternoon at 3:30 will be celebrated the wedding of |
|Miss Doris Ryer, daughter of Mrs. Fletcher Ryer of |
|San Francisco, Cal., to Stanhope Wood Nixon, son of |
|Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Nixon. The wedding ceremony will |
|be witnessed by a large number of relatives and |
|friends from California and several of the principal|
|Eastern cities where the families of both the bride |
|and her fiancé are prominent. |
| |
|Gov. Charles S. Whitman is to act as Miss Ryer's |
|sponsor and will give her away. Miss Phyllis de |
|Young, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael H. de Young |
|of San Francisco, will be the maid of honor and the |
|bridesmaids will be the Misses Pauline Disston of |
|Philadelphia, Ray Slater of Boston, Mary Moreland of|
|Pittsburg, Elizabeth Sands of Newport, Frances Moore|
|of Washington, and Helen Flake of this city. |
| |
|Walbridge S. Taft will be the best man. The ushers |
|will be Henry S. Ladew, Patrick Calhoun, Henry |
|Rogers Benjamin, Ammi Wright Lancashire, Esmond P. |
|O'Brien and Hugh D. Cotton. |
| |
|Following the wedding ceremony there will be a |
|reception in the ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton. The |
|engagement of Miss Ryer and Mr. Nixon was announced |
|last autumn. The bride-to-be has passed the greater |
|part of the last two winters in New York with her |
|mother and during the summer season has been |
|identified with the colony in Newport, R. I.[38] |
[38] _New York Sun_, January 21, 1917.
| =WEDDING= |
| |
|Miss Celia Cravis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Myer |
|Cravis, of 1817 North Thirty-second Street, became |
|the bride of Harry Cassman, of Atlantic City, |
|Thursday. The ceremony was performed at 6:30 o'clock|
|in the evening in the green room of the Adelphi |
|Hotel by the Rev. Marvin Nathan, assisted by the |
|Rev. Armin Rosenberg. |
| |
|The father of the bride gave her in marriage. Her |
|gown of white satin was given a frosted effect by |
|crystal bead embroidery and was made with court |
|train. Her tulle veil was held by a bandeau of |
|lilies of the valley. A white prayer book was |
|carried and also a bouquet of orchids, gardenias and|
|lilies of the valley. |
| |
|The maid of honor was Miss Katherine Abrahams, |
|wearing blue satin trimmed with silver. She carried |
|a double shower bouquet of tea roses and lilies of |
|the valley, and a yellow ostrich feather fan, the |
|gift of the bride. |
| |
|The bridesmaids, Miss Estelle Freeman, Miss Tillie |
|Greenhouse, Miss Estelle Sacks and Miss Leonore |
|Printz, were dressed in frocks of different pastel |
|shades, ranging white, pink, blue and violet. Each |
|carried a basket of roses and a pink feather fan. |
|Miss Madeline Cravis and Miss Sylvia Gravan, the |
|flower girls, wore pink and carried baskets of pink |
|roses. |
| |
|Herbert W. Salus acted as best man. The ushers were |
|Lewis E. Stern and Walter Hanstein, of Atlantic |
|City; I. S. Cravis and Henry Gotlieb. |
| |
|A reception for about 250 guests followed the |
|ceremony. After a tour of the South, Mr. and Mrs. |
|Cassman will be at 217 South Seaside Avenue, |
|Atlantic City.[39] |
[39] _Philadelphia Public Ledger_, December 17, 1916.
| =TEAS, DINNERS, LUNCHEONS= |
| |
|Miss Alice Williams, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward|
|T. Williams, was presented to society yesterday |
|afternoon at a tea in the home of her parents, 1901 |
|Eighteenth Street. Miss Williams was born in |
|Shanghai, China, during her father's connection with|
|the United States legation there, and she has lived |
|most of her life in the Orient. Mr. Williams was |
|chargé d'affaires of the United States at the time |
|of the recognition of the new Chinese republic. At |
|the time of the outbreak of the war in Europe Miss |
|Williams was a student in Paris. Mr. Williams is now|
|the head of the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs in the|
|State Department. |
| |
|Mrs. Williams presented her daughter, with no |
|assistants save three of her daughter's young |
|friends, Miss Helen Miller, Miss Virginia Puller and|
|Miss Ethel Christiensen, who presided in the dining |
|room. The drawing room and dining room were both |
|transformed into bowers of blossoms, sent to the |
|debutante, which were charmingly arranged. Mrs. |
|Miller wore a graceful gown of black net and lace |
|over black satin. The debutante wore a becoming |
|costume of rose silk and silver trimming and carried|
|sweet peas a portion of the afternoon, and the bunch|
|of roses sent by Mrs. Lansing, wife of the Secretary|
|of State, the rest of the time. Miss Miller and Miss|
|Christiensen were each in white net and tulle and |
|Miss Puller wore blue and white.[40] |
[40] _Washington Post_, November 26, 1916.
|Mrs. Fred Enderly, who has recently returned after a|
|long absence in the East, was specially honored with|
|a Halloween birthday dinner given by Mrs. Lottie |
|Logan, of No. 1532 Ingraham Street Tuesday evening. |
|The table was in yellow, with a floral center of |
|chrysanthemums and favors of black cats, diminutive |
|pumpkin people and other suggestive Halloween |
|conceits. The guests were whisked up to the |
|dressing-rooms by a witch, and Mrs. George H. |
|Rector, attired in somber soothsayer's robes, told |
|fortunes. Place-cards were written for Mr. and Mrs. |
|Enderly, Mr. and Mrs. Archibald Hart, Mr. and Mrs. |
|George Rector, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Henderson, Mr. and|
|Mrs. George McDaniel, Mrs. Fred Detmer, Miss |
|Wilhelmina Rector, Miss Talcot, Messrs. Mark Ellis, |
|Jack Bushnell, L. D. Maescher and O. H. Logan.[41] |
[41] _Los Angeles Times_, November 5, 1916.
| =RECEPTION= |
| |
|Mr. and Mrs. Henry V. Black of Broadway, Irvington, |
|gave a reception this afternoon for their debutante |
|daughter, Miss Latjerome Black. Receiving with Mrs. |
|Black were Mrs. P. F. Llewellyn Chambers, Mrs. |
|Frederick Sayles, Mrs. Charles Coombs, Mrs. Benjamin|
|Prince, Mrs. Theodosia Bailey, Mrs. Charles Hope, |
|Miss Caramai Carroll, Miss Dorothy Brown, Mrs. |
|Robert C. Black and Miss Dorothy Black. Receiving |
|with Miss Black were the Misses Marion Townsend, |
|Helen Sayles, Dorothy Clifford, Marion Becker, Helen|
|Geer, and Genevieve Clendenin. Miss Black wore a |
|dress of white silk embroidery and pink roses. The |
|decorations were of autumn leaves and |
|chrysanthemums. |
| |
|Among the guests were Dr. and Mrs. Albert Shaw, Mrs.|
|Edwin Gould, Mrs. Howard Carroll, Mrs. Finley J. |
|Shepard, Miss Anne Depew Paulding, Mrs. William |
|Carter, Miss Millette, Mrs. John Luke, Mrs. Adam |
|Luke, Mrs. H. D. Eastabrook, Mrs. John D. Archbold, |
|Mrs. Henry Graves, and Dr. and Mrs. D. Russell.[42] |
[42] _New York Sun_, September 24, 1915.
| =DANCE= |
| |
|Elaboration of detail marked the oriental ball given|
|by the Sierra Madre Club at its rooms in the |
|Investment Building last evening. More than 400 |
|members and guests attended in garb of the Far |
|East--costumes whose values ran far into the |
|hundreds. The club rooms were draped in a |
|bewildering manner with tapestry of the Celestial |
|Empire and the land of Nippon, and the rugs of |
|Turkey and Arabia. |
| |
|It was a most colorful event--sultans robed in many |
|colors with bejeweled turbans; Chinese mandarins in |
|long flowing coats; bearded Moors, who danced with |
|Geisha girls of Japan, gowned in multi-colored |
|silken kimonos; petite China maids in silken |
|pantaloons and bobtailed jackets; Salome dancers of |
|the East, in baggy bloomers and jeweled corsages, |
|and harem houris in dazzling draperies. |
| |
|Preceding the dancing, a remarkable dinner, |
|featuring the choicest foods of the Orient, was |
|served by attendants wearing the dress of Chinese |
|coolies. The rare old syrups of the Orient were |
|enjoyed by the diners, while the fragrant odor of |
|burning incense lent an air of subtle mysticism. |
| |
|Among the 400 guests present were:[43] |
[43] _Los Angeles Times_, February 18, 1917.
| =CLUB MEETING= |
| |
|At this week's meeting of the New England Women's |
|Press Association, Miss Helen M. Winslow, chairman |
|of the programme committee, presented Joseph Edgar |
|Chamberlin of _The Transcript_, who spoke on "The |
|Work of Women in Journalism." Mr. Chamberlin gave |
|many personal reminiscences of women writers whom he|
|had known in his connection with various |
|publications. He expressed regret that women are not|
|doing more in editorial work, as in the earlier |
|years of their entrance into the newspaper field, |
|and the belief that it would be of advantage to |
|journalism and to the public if they gave more |
|attention to writing of this character rather than |
|that directed almost exclusively for women's |
|departments and others of superficial value. Mr. |
|Chamberlin paid especial compliment to the work of |
|Margaret Buchanan Sullivan, Jeannette Gilder, Jennie|
|June Croly and Kate Field. Mr. Chamberlin spoke in |
|high praise of Miss Cornelia M. Walter (afterward |
|Mrs. W. B. Richards) who was editor-in-chief and had|
|full charge of _The Transcript_ from 1842 to 1847. |
|The executive board voted to co-operate with the |
|Travelers' Aid Society and Mrs. Ralph M. Kirtland |
|was elected chairman of the committee to formulate |
|plans.[44] |
[44] _Boston Transcript_, December 9, 1916.
| =CHARITY BENEFIT= |
| |
|On Thursday afternoon at 4 o'clock Mrs. W. K. |
|Vanderbilt of 660 Fifth Avenue will open her house |
|for a benefit entertainment in aid of the Appuiaux |
|Artistes of France. Viscountess de Rancougne is to |
|give her talk on the work being done in the French |
|and Belgian hospitals and in the bombarded towns and|
|villages, illustrated with colored slides from |
|photographs taken by herself. An interesting musical|
|program also has been arranged for the afternoon, |
|with Miss Callish, Mr. de Warlich, and Carlos |
|Salzedo appearing. Mrs. Kenneth Frazier of 58 East |
|Seventy-eighth Street is receiving applications for |
|tickets at $5 each. On the Executive Committee are |
|Kenneth Frazier, Ernest Peixotto, Edwin H. |
|Blashfield, Charles Dana Gibson, Joseph H. Hunt, and|
|Janet Scudder. Mrs. W. Bourke Cockran, Mrs. Howard |
|Cushing, Mrs. E. H. Harriman, Mrs. Philip M. Lydig, |
|Mrs. H. P. Whitney, and Miss Grace Bigelow make up |
|the committee in charge.[45] |
[45] _New York Times_, February 20, 1916.
| =PERSONALS= |
| |
|Mrs. Robert R. Livingston and her son, Robert R. |
|Livingston, have returned from a trip to the Pacific|
|Coast and are at their town house, 11 Washington |
|Square North, until they open Northwood, the |
|Livingston estate near Cheviot-on-Hudson. They spent|
|about six weeks on the coast. |
| |
|Mr. and Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin will return to their |
|country place at Glen Head, L. I., late in April for|
|the early summer. They are now occupying Hopelands, |
|their place at Aiken, S. C. |
| |
|Mrs. and Mr. Francis de R. Wissmann have returned |
|from a trip of some weeks to San Francisco and have |
|been at the Gotham for a few days before opening |
|Adelslea at Throgs Neck, Westchester, for the |
|summer. |
| |
|The Rev. Dr. J. Nevett Steele of 122 West |
|Seventy-sixth Street, vicar of St. Paul's Chapel, |
|who has been ill with pneumonia since March 13, is |
|now convalescing and will soon be able to resume his|
|church duties. |
| |
|A son was born yesterday to Mr. and Mrs. Theodore |
|Roosevelt, Jr., at their home, 165 East |
|Seventy-fourth Street. The child is a grandson of |
|Col. Theodore Roosevelt and will be named Cornelius |
|Van Schaick Roosevelt, after his |
|great-great-grandfather. This is the third child of |
|Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt. Their first boy, Theodore |
|Roosevelt, III, was born June 14, 1914. Mrs. |
|Roosevelt was Miss Eleanor B. Alexander, daughter of|
|Mrs. Henry Addison Alexander of 1840 Park Avenue. |
| =SOCIETY IN PROSPECT AND REVIEW= |
| |
|Never has a Washington season begun so early as this|
|one. The middle of December finds the White House |
|dinners in full sway, the President and Mrs. Wilson |
|having dined with the Vice President and Mrs. |
|Marshall, and the first state reception of the |
|season in the White House due in two days. |
| |
|President and Mrs. Wilson already have had three |
|large and formal dinner parties, the first one on |
|December 7, in honor of Mr. Vance McCormick, |
|chairman of the Democratic national committee; and |
|on Tuesday of last week they entertained the Vice |
|President and the members of the cabinet and their |
|wives, with a number of other distinguished guests |
|and a few young people. After this dinner a |
|programme of music was given in the east room and |
|the evening was a charming success. The First Lady |
|of the Land never was more lovely than she was on |
|this occasion. The President's niece, Miss Alice |
|Wilson, of Baltimore, came over with her father for |
|the evening. Miss Nataline Dulles, niece of Mrs. |
|Lansing, made her first appearance at a state |
|dinner, and Miss Margaret Wilson and Miss Bones were|
|among the guests. On Thursday evening the visiting |
|governors, former governors and governors-elect here|
|for the conference this week, and their wives, were |
|dined, with an interesting company. Friday evening |
|the Vice President and Mrs. Marshall gave their |
|annual dinner to the President and his wife, and had|
|a senatorial company to meet them. |
| |
|The debutantes are in the full splendor of their |
|glory, and the next three weeks will give them a |
|supreme test of endurance, for luncheons, teas, |
|dinners and dances not only follow one another |
|closely, but pile up, with several in a day and not |
|one to be neglected. There are no diplomatic buds, |
|no cabinet buds, and few army, navy and |
|congressional buds. But it is a strong residential |
|year, with a number of debutantes in the smartest |
|and most exclusive of the substantial old families. |
|During the Christmas holidays the buds of the |
|future, some of a year hence, others of two years, |
|are vying with the older girls for busy days, and |
|the social calendar shows scarcely a resting moment |
|from the day they come home from school until they |
|rush back to their studies in time to reach the |
|first recitation class. And as for beauty sleep, |
|there will be none. There will not be a night during|
|the Christmas vacation when this younger set will |
|not be dancing. Time was when dinner parties were |
|composed of elderly, or at least middle-aged, people|
|only, but now even the near-debutantes and their |
|circle have a steady round of "dining out," with no |
|fear of being considered "along in years," for there|
|are dinners for all ages. |
| |
|Washington has given three of her most |
|distinguished, most beautiful and most popular girls|
|to foreign lands within two months, two of them |
|having become princesses and the third a baroness. |
|The first to wed was Miss Margaret Draper, heiress |
|to several millions of her father's estate. She is |
|now Princess Boncompagni of Rome, and her mother is |
|now just about joining her and the prince in Paris, |
|the three to proceed to the prince's home in Rome, |
|where they will spend Christmas together, after |
|which the prince will return to duty with his |
|regiment. |
| |
|The second of these brides of foreigners was Miss |
|Catherine Birney, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. |
|Theodore V. Birney, who was married December 2 to |
|Baron von Schoen, of the German embassy staff, and |
|is just back now from the wedding trip. They |
|returned for the marriage of Miss Catherine Britton |
|to the Prince zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfuerst, of the |
|Austro-Hungarian embassy staff. Baron and Baroness |
|von Schoen will spend Christmas with the latter's |
|sister, with whom she has made her home since the |
|death of her parents, and then they will proceed to |
|Mexico, whence the baron has been transferred. |
| |
|The marriage of Miss Britton and Prince zu Hohenlohe|
|was not unexpected, but the wedding date was hurried|
|about three months, the prince becoming an impatient|
|wooer. He was assigned to duty at the |
|Austro-Hungarian consulate in the summer and agreed |
|to remain away for a year. He stood it as long as he|
|could, and then returned to claim his bride. The |
|consent of the prince's family has not been |
|forthcoming, but the marriage has the sanction of |
|the embassy, presumably by order of the new emperor,|
|and it was a happy wedding scene. The bride is one |
|of the famous beauties of Washington society. She |
|was never lovelier than in her singularly simple |
|wedding gown of satin with pearl trimmings, tulle |
|sleeves, and enormous wedding veil. |
| |
|Society is dancing its way through the season. The |
|fever is making inroads even upon the incessant |
|auction-bridge playing, and he or she who neither |
|dances nor plays auction has a dull time of it. |
|Washington society is rather methodical in its |
|dancing. Monday nights are given up to the |
|subscription dances at the Playhouse, and another |
|set at the Willard. Tuesday night the army dances |
|are given at the Playhouse. On Wednesdays are the |
|regular Chevy Chase Club dinner dances, and on |
|Thursdays are those at the Navy Club. On Friday |
|nights, beginning on January 5, will be the ten |
|subscription dances at the Willard, and on Saturday |
|nights there are dances everywhere. The private |
|dances are scattered all through, afternoons and |
|evenings, until there is scarcely a date left vacant|
|on the calendar until Ash Wednesday.[46] |
[46] _Washington Post_, December 17, 1916.
=256. Clubs.=--The particular attention of the prospective society
editor may be called to club news. The work in literature, education,
community betterment, general social relief, and kindred subjects now
being undertaken by women's clubs is sometimes phenomenal and offers to
live society editors a vast undeveloped field for constructive news. Too
frequently the society page is filled with dull six-point routine,
forbidding in style and still more forbidding in content, when it might
be made alive with buoyancy and interest by added attention to new
studies and interests in the women's clubs. What the women are doing in
their study of the garbage question, in their campaigns against flies,
in their efforts to provide comforts for unprivileged slum
children,--such topics, properly featured and given attractive
individual heads, may be made interesting to a large percentage of the
intelligent women in the community and may be made instrumental in
building up a strong, constructive department in the paper.
=257. Typographical Style.=--The prospective society editor will find it
well, however, to study and to follow at first the typographical style
of the society column in her paper. Some newspapers run each wedding,
engagement, or social affair under a separate head. Others group all
society stories under the general head of _Society_, indicating the
different social functions, no matter how long the write-ups, only by
new paragraphs. Sometimes this necessitates paragraphs a half-column
long. In preparing lists of names in society reports, the editor should
group like names and titles together. That is, she should group together
the married couples, then the married women whose names appear alone,
then the unmarried women, and finally the men. An illustration is the
following:
|Among the several hundred guests were Mr. and Mrs. |
|S. Bryce Wing, Mr. and Mrs. Felix D. Doubleday, Mr. |
|and Mrs. Lewis Gouvernour Morris.... |
| |
|Among the debutantes and other young women present |
|were Misses Gretchen Blaine Damrosch, Priscilla |
|Peabody, Irene Langhorne Gibson, Rosalie G. |
|Bloodgood.... |
| |
|The young men present included Messrs. Lester |
|Armour, Edward M. McIlvaine, Jr., Edgar Allan Poe, |
|William Carrington Stettinius, Nelson Doubleday, |
|Herbert Pulitzer.... |
=258. Spurious Announcements.=--A word may be said in conclusion about
getting society news. One of the first precautions to a prospective
society editor is not to accept announcements of engagements,
marriages, and births of children from any others than the immediate
persons concerned. In particular, one should beware of such news given
by telephone. Too many so-called practical jokes are attempted in this
way on sensitive lovers and young married couples. Many newspapers have
printed forms for announcements of engagements and weddings. These are
mailed directly to the families concerned and require their signatures.
=259. Sources for Society News.=--In cases of important news, such as
weddings and charity benefits, the editor generally has little
difficulty in obtaining all the facts needed. Some social leaders are
naturally good about giving one details of their parties. Others,
however, shun publicity even to the extent of denying prospective
luncheons, dinners, and card parties--particularly if they are
small--after all plans have been made, and the details may be had only
after they know the reporter has definite facts. To get these first
facts is often one's hardest task. Frequently one can acquire the
friendly acquaintance of some one in society who likes to have her name
appear with the real leaders. Men, too,--even husbands,--often are not
so reticent about their immediate social affairs and are glad to give
pretty society editors advance tips of coming events. But the best
sources are the caterers, the florists, and the hair-dressing parlors.
The caterers are engaged weeks in advance. The florists provide the
decorations. And the hair-dressing parlors are hotbeds of gossip. By
visiting or calling regularly at these places one generally can keep
abreast of all the society news in town. But always when getting news
from such sources--or from any other for that matter--one must be sure
of the absolute accuracy of all addresses, names, and initials. If one
is not careful,--well, only one who has seen an irate mother talk to the
city editor before the ink on the home edition is dry can appreciate the
trouble that will probably result.
XVIII. FOLLOW-UPS, REWRITES
=260. "Follow-ups."=--"Rewrites" and "follow-up" stories are news
stories which have appeared in print. The distinction between the two is
that "follow-ups" contain news in addition to that of the story first
printed, while "rewrites" are only revisions. Few news stories are
complete on their first appearance. New features develop; motives,
causes, and unlooked-for results come to light in a way that is
oftentimes amazing. Sometimes these facts appear within a few hours;
again they are days in developing; and occasionally, after they have
developed, the story will "follow" for weeks, months, and even years
without losing its interest. The Thaw, Becker, and Charlton stories ran
for years. The first item about the _Titanic_ disaster was a bulletin of
less than half a stick; yet the story ran for months.
=261. Constructive Side of "Follow-ups."=--A reporter, therefore, must
not consider a story ended until he has run to ground all the
possibilities or until the new facts have ceased to be of interest to a
large body of readers. Indeed, it is in the "follow-up" that the
reporter has one of his greatest opportunities to prove himself a
constructive journalist. There is every reason, too, for believing it
will be in the "follow-up" that the big newspaper of the future will
find its greatest development. At present, stories often are dropped too
quickly, so quickly that the really constructive news is lost. A great
epidemic sweeps a city, taking an unprecedented toll of life and
entailing expenditures of hundreds of thousands of dollars. All the
reporters grind out pages and pages of copy about the plague, but few
follow the physicians and scientists through the coming weeks and
months in their unflagging determination to learn the causes of the
disease, to effect cures, and to prevent a recurrence of it as an
epidemic. Yet such news is constructive and is of greater value probably
to the readers than the somewhat sensational figures of the plague. For
the scientists will conquer in the end, and all along the way their
improved methods of cure and prevention will be of educational value to
the public. So also with strikes, wrecks, fires, commercial panics,
graft and crime exposures, etc.; the reporter is advised to follow the
story through the weeks to come, not necessarily writing of it all the
while, but holding it in prospect for the constructive news that is sure
to follow.
=262. Following up a Story.=--The first story which the new reporter
will have to follow up he will some day find stuck behind the platen of
his typewriter. It will have been put there by one of the copy-readers
who has read the local papers of the preceding morning or afternoon and
has clipped this article as one promising further developments. The
first thing to do is to read the whole story carefully. (As a matter of
fact, the reporter really should have read and should be familiar with
the story already. Familiarity with all the news is expected of
newspaper men at all times.) Then he should look to see if the reporter
writing the story has played up the real features. In his haste to get
the news into print, the other reporter may have missed the main
feature. A delightful case in point is a "follow-up" of an indifferent
story appearing in a New York morning paper:
|Because they were penniless and hungry, Charles |
|Ewart, 31 years old, and his wife Emily, living at |
|646 St. Nicholas Avenue, were arrested yesterday in |
|the grocery store of Jacob Bosch, 336 St. Nicholas |
|Avenue, charged with shoplifting. When arrested by |
|Detective Taczhowski, who had trailed them all the |
|way from a downtown department store, seven eggs and|
|a box of figs were found in Mrs. Ewart's handsome |
|blue fox muff.... |
But the cause of the couple's pilfering was not poverty or hunger, as
was shown by a clever writer on the _New York World_ who covered the
story that afternoon. Here is his write-up, in which the reader should
note the entire change of tone and the happy handling of the human
interest features:
| =CONFESSED SHOPLIFTERS= |
| |
|Mrs. Emily Ewart, slender, petite, pretty, sat in |
|the police department to-day, tossed back her blue |
|fox neckpiece, patted her moist eyes with a |
|lace-embroidered handkerchief, carefully adjusted in|
|her lap the handsome fox muff which the police say |
|had but lately been the repository of seven eggs and|
|a box of figs, and told how she and her husband |
|happened to be arrested last evening as shoplifters.|
| |
|As she talked, her husband, Charles Ewart, |
|thirty-one years old, sat disconsolately in a cell, |
|his modish green overcoat somewhat wrinkled, the |
|careful creases in his gray trousers a bit less |
|apparent, and his up-to-the-minute gray fedora a |
|trifle out of shape and dusty. Nevertheless, he |
|still retained the mien of dignity with which he met|
|his arrest in the grocery store of Jacob Bosch at |
|No. 336 St. Nicholas Avenue. |
| |
|Of course, you understand, it was really Mrs. |
|Ewart's fault that she and her husband should stoop |
|to pilfering from a hardworking grocer eggs worth 42|
|cents (at their market value of 72 cents a dozen) |
|and a box of figs, net value one dime. At least, so |
|she told the police. She too, she said, led him to |
|appropriate a travelling bag worth $10 from a |
|downtown department store. |
| |
|If it hadn't been for her, young Mr. Ewart might |
|have gone right along earning his so much per week |
|soliciting theatre curtain advertisements for the |
|Bentley Studios, at No. 1493 Broadway, and might |
|never have run afoul of the police. |
| |
|The Ewarts, so the young woman's story ran, came |
|here from Chicago two weeks ago. Of their life in |
|the Western city she refused to tell anything. But |
|since coming to New York, she admitted, they had |
|travelled a hard financial road. |
| |
|Detective Taczkowski's attention was first called to|
|Ewart in a downtown department store yesterday |
|afternoon, when Ewart tried to return a travelling |
|bag which he said his wife had bought for $10. |
|Investigation of the store's records showed Mrs. |
|Ewart had bought a bag for $3.95, but that the $10 |
|bag had been stolen. Ewart was put off on a |
|technicality and the detective followed him when he |
|left the store. Outside Ewart was met by his wife. |
|Into the subway Taczkowski shadowed them and at last|
|the trail led to the Bosch grocery on St. Nicholas |
|Avenue. |
| |
|In the store, Taczkowski kept his eyes on Mrs. |
|Ewart, in her modish gown and furs, while Ewart |
|engaged a clerk in conversation. Suddenly, |
|Taczkowski alleges, he saw an egg worth six cents |
|disappear from a crate into Mrs. Ewart's handsome |
|fur muff. Another egg followed, and another, he |
|says, until, like the children of the poem, they |
|were seven. When a box of figs followed the eggs, |
|Taczkowski says, he arrested the pair. |
| |
|A search of the Ewarts' apartment at No. 646 St. |
|Nicholas Avenue, the police say, revealed a great |
|quantity of men's and women's clothing of the finest|
|variety. Mrs. Ewart, the police say, admitted she |
|had stolen the blue fox furs from a downtown store |
|and the police expect to identify much of the |
|handsome clothing found in the apartment as stolen |
|goods. |
| |
|"We were hungry and had no money," Mrs. Ewart sobbed|
|at police headquarters. "We had all that clothing, |
|but not a cent to buy food. I am the one to blame, |
|for I encouraged my husband to steal." |
| |
|Ewart and his wife were arraigned in Yorkville Court|
|before Magistrate Harris to-day and were held in |
|$500 bail each for further examination.[47] |
[47] _New York Evening World_, November 11, 1915.
=263. New Facts.=--Generally in the "follow-up" it is the newly learned
facts that are featured. In the case of a sudden death, for instance,
it would be the funeral arrangements; in a railway wreck, the
investigation and the placing of blame. The following stories
illustrate:
| =Story in a Morning Paper= |
| |
|Dashing through a rain-storm with lightning flashes |
|blinding him, William H. Blanchard, manager for the |
|Wells Fargo Express Company, drove his automobile |
|off the approach of the open State Street bridge |
|to-night and was drowned. Otto Eller, teacher of |
|manual training in the West Side High School, |
|escaped by leaping into the river. Eller says the |
|warning lights were not displayed at the bridge. |
| |
|When the automobile was recovered, it was shown that|
|the car was not moving fast, as it had barely |
|dropped off the abutment, a few feet from shore. The|
|bridge was open because its operating equipment had |
|been put out of order by a stroke of lightning. |
| =The Follow-up= |
| |
|The body of William H. Blanchard, manager of the |
|Wells Fargo Express Company, who lost his life when |
|he drove an automobile into an open drawbridge, was |
|recovered this morning about 100 feet from where the|
|accident occurred. |
| |
|Investigations have been started by the coroner and |
|friends to place the blame for the accident. The |
|electrical mechanism of the bridge was out of |
|commission on account of a storm and it was being |
|operated by hand. Spectators declare no warning |
|lights were on the bridge. |
=264. Results Featured.=--Frequently the lead to the follow-up features
the results effected by the details of the earlier story:
| =Original Story= |
| |
|The total yield of the leading cereal crops of the |
|United States this year will be nearly 1,000,000,000|
|bushels less than last year. The government |
|estimates of the crop issued to-day showed |
|sensational losses in the spring wheat crop in the |
|Northwest, a further shrinkage in winter wheat, and |
|big losses compared to a month ago and last year in |
|corn and oats. |
| |
|Both barley and rye figures also indicate greater |
|losses compared to a year ago than were shown in the|
|July government report. |
| =The Follow-up Next Day= |
| |
|American wheat pits had a day of turmoil to-day such|
|as they have not seen since the stirring times when |
|war was declared in Europe. |
| |
|Influenced by the startling government report |
|showing enormous losses in the spring wheat crop, |
|prices soared even more sharply than the wiseacres |
|had anticipated. |
| |
|They were 5 to 8 cents higher when the gong struck, |
|the report, released after the close of 'change |
|Tuesday, having had its effect over night. At the |
|close they registered a gain of from 10-5/8 to |
|11-3/8 cents for the day. Wheat had gone above $1.50|
|a bushel. Two months ago it was around $1.05. |
=265. Probable Results.=--Where no more important details can be
learned, it sometimes is wise to feature probable results.
|A break in diplomatic relations between the United |
|States and Germany as a result of the torpedoing of |
|the Lusitania by a German submarine is the expressed|
|belief to-day of high Washington officials. |
=266. Clues for Identification.=--In stories of crime, when the
offenders have escaped, the lead to the follow-up may begin with clues
for establishing the identity of the criminals.
|If a piano tuner about forty years of age, wearing a|
|pair of silver spectacles and accompanied by a |
|petite, brown-eyed girl twenty years his junior, |
|comes to your house for work, telephone the Boston |
|police. They are the two, it is alleged, who robbed |
|the Mather apartments yesterday. |
=267. Featuring Lack of News.=--In rare cases the very fact that there
is no additional news is worth featuring.
|Up to a late hour to-night nothing had been heard of|
|Henry O. Mallory, prosecuting attorney in the Howard|
|murder case, who disappeared yesterday on his way to|
|Lexington. |
=268. Opinions of Prominent Persons.=--An otherwise unimportant follow
story may sometimes be made a good one by interviewing prominent persons
and localizing the reader's interest in men or women he knows.
|That the new eugenics law passed by the state |
|legislature of Wisconsin yesterday is doomed to |
|failure from the start, is the opinion of Health |
|Commissioner Shannon, who was in Madison when the |
|final vote was taken. |
=269. Summary of Opinions.=--Sometimes, indeed, it is well to interview
a number of local persons and make the lead a summary of their views.
|Widely different opinions were expressed by |
|prominent physicians, professors, clergymen, and |
|social workers throughout this city to-day on the |
|ethics of the course taken by Dr. H. J. Haiselden of|
|Chicago in allowing the defective son of a patient |
|to die. |
=270. Connecting Links.=--In all these stories, the reader should note,
sufficient explanatory matter has been included to connect the incidents
readily with the events of the preceding days. This is important in
every follow-up; for always many readers will have missed the earlier
stories and consequently will need definite connection to relate the new
events with preceding occurrences. It is also important for these
connecting links to be included in, or to follow immediately after, the
lead, because they give the reader necessary facts for understanding the
new information--give him his bearings, as it were,--without which he
will not read far into the story.
=271. "Rewrites."=--While most stories are not complete on their first
appearance, it sometimes happens, nevertheless, that the first
publication of an item contains all the facts of interest to a paper's
readers and that priority of publication has been gained by another
journal. Yet the story will be of interest to the readers of one's own
paper and must be published. It is the duty of the rewrite man to handle
such a story, and to handle it in such a way that it shall bear no
resemblance to the story published by the other paper. For this reason
the most skillful reporters on a daily are the rewrite men. They must
find new features for old stories, or new angles of view, or new
relations of some kind between the various details.
=272. Bringing a Story up to the Minute.=--The first requisite in
rewriting is the necessity of making old news new, of bringing it up to
the minute. No matter when the events occurred, they must be presented
to the reader so that they shall seem current. Currency is all but a
necessity to life, vigor, interest in a yesterday's event. Here is an
item of news in point. Suppose the following story from an afternoon
paper is given a reporter on a morning daily:
|Charged with running his car thirty miles an hour, |
|Dr. Harry O. Smith, prominent city physician with |
|offices in the Vincennes Building, was arrested on |
|Kentucky Street this afternoon by Motorcycle |
|Policeman DuPre. After giving bonds for his |
|appearance to-morrow, Dr. Smith left in his machine |
|for Linwood, where he was going when stopped by |
|Policeman DuPre. |
| |
|Concerning his arrest Dr. Smith refused to make any |
|other statement than that he was on his way to see a|
|patient. |
The reporter cannot see Dr. Smith to obtain additional facts, because
the doctor is out of town. Nor can he expect any more news, since the
case will not come up until some hours after his paper will have been in
the hands of its readers. It is also against journalistic rules to begin
with "Dr. Smith was arrested yesterday." That _yesterday_ must be
eliminated from the lead. Here is the method one rewrite man used to
get out of the difficulty:
|Even doctors will not be allowed to break the city |
|speed laws if one Cincinnati motorcycle policeman |
|has his way. |
Another way in which he might have avoided the troublesome _yesterday_
would be:
|One of the first cases on police docket this morning|
|will be the hearing of Dr. Harry O. Smith, prominent|
|Cincinnati physician with offices in the Vincennes |
|building, who was arrested on a charge of speeding |
|yesterday by Policeman DuPre. |
Or he might have begun:
|Whether the life of a sick patient is worth more |
|than that of a healthy pedestrian may be decided in |
|police court this morning. |
In each of these rewrites it will be noted that the story has been
brought down to the time of the appearance of the paper.
=273. New Features.=--The next thing to seek in the story to be
rewritten is a new feature. Generally this is obtained in bringing the
story up to date. If not, the reporter may examine, as in the
"follow-up," to see whether the first story plays up the best feature,
or whether it does not contain another feature equally good, or one
possibly entirely overlooked. Failing here, he may look forward to
probable developments, as an investigation following a wreck, a search
by the police following a burglary, or an arraignment and trial
following an arrest. Failing again, he may consider whether some cause
or motive or agency for the fire or divorce or crime may not have gone
unnoticed by the other man. Or best of all, he may try to relate the
incident with similar events occurring recently, as in the case of a
number of fires, burglaries, or explosions coming close upon each
other. Whatever course he chooses, he should use his imagination to
good advantage, taking care always to make his rewrite truthful. Here is
the way a few rewrite men have presented their new old stories:
_Result Featured_
| =DEFECTIVE BABY DIES= |
| |
|The question whether his life should have been |
|fought for or whether it was right to let him die is|
|over, so far as the tiny, unnamed, six-days-old |
|defective son of Mrs. Anna Bollinger is concerned. |
|The child died at the German-American hospital, |
|Chicago, at 7:30 last night, with Dr. H. J. |
|Haiselden, chief of the hospital staff, standing |
|firmly to his position that he could not use his |
|science to prolong the life of so piteously |
|afflicted a creature. |
_Connection with Preceding Events_
| =WILD MAN CAUGHT= |
| |
|The wild man who has been frightening school |
|children of Yonkers, scaring hunters in the woods, |
|and causing hurry calls to the police from timid |
|housewives, has been captured by the reserves of the|
|Second precinct. He was caught last night in Belmont|
|woods, near the Empire City race track. |
_Entirely New Feature Played Up_
| =TWELVE-YEAR-OLD GIRL SUICIDE= |
| |
|Ruth Camilla Fisher knew a country wherein her |
|beauty was specie of the realm. It was bounded by |
|the ninth and twelfth birthdays. Its inhabitants |
|consisted of Fritz, an adoring dachshund; "papa," |
|who was a member of the school board and a great |
|man; and innumerable gruff little boys, who, |
|ostensibly ignorant of her observation, spat through|
|vacant front teeth and turned gorgeous somersaults |
|for her admiration. She was happy and the jealous |
|green complexion of the feminine part of her world |
|bothered her not at all. |
| |
|And unsuspectingly Ruth came singing across the |
|borders of her ain countree to the alien land of |
|knowledge and disillusionment. Though she knew she |
|came from God, it was gradually borne upon her that |
|her girl-mother wandered a little way on the path of|
|the Magdalenes. |
| |
|She was an interloper who had no gospel sanction in |
|the world, no visible parents other than a |
|foster-father and a foster-mother. Perfectly |
|respectable little girls began to inform her so with|
|self-righteous airs and with the expertness of |
|surgeons to dissect her from the social scheme that |
|governs puss-wants-a-corner with the same iron rule |
|that in later life determines who shall be asked to |
|play bridge and who shall be outlawed. |
| |
|"Your parents aren't your own," was the taunt that |
|Ruth heard from playmates. Some of the little girls |
|added the poison of sympathy to the information. And|
|Ruth Camilla Fisher at 12 found herself a stranger |
|in a strange land. |
| |
|She extradited herself Tuesday night with a revolver|
|shot in the temple. In the yard back of her |
|foster-parents' home at 5319 West Twenty-fifth |
|Street, Cicero, with one arm around the loyal Fritz,|
|she put the revolver to her head and pressed the |
|trigger....[48] |
[48] _Chicago Tribune_, November 25, 1915.
| =CROOK LISTS DANCERS' NAMES= |
| |
|The modern dance craze has brought a lot of |
|informality into a heretofore very proper Chicago. |
| |
|Women whose husbands work during the daytime have |
|considered it not at all improper to flock to the |
|afternoon thé dansants in many downtown cafés, there|
|to fox-trot and one-step with good-looking strangers|
|whose introduction--if there was an |
|introduction--was procured in a sort of professional|
|way. |
_Probable Effect_
|Consequently there were about forty women in Chicago|
|who verged on total collapse yesterday if they |
|chanced to read of the terrible experience of Mrs. |
|Mercedes Fullenwider of 5432 Kimbark Avenue. |
_Probable Motive_
| =ELSIE THOMAS NOT A SUICIDE= |
| |
|If a finger print can tell a story, the police may |
|be able to prove by to-morrow night that pretty |
|Elsie Thomas, whose lifeless body was found in her |
|room at 1916 Pennsylvania Street last night, was not|
|a suicide. In the opinion of her brother, Wallace |
|Thomas, who was on his way from Lindale to see her, |
|Hans Roehm, who had promised to marry her, may have |
|been responsible for her death from cyanide of |
|potassium. |
=274. Condensation in Rewrites.=--It may be added in conclusion that
though rewrites are made to seem fresh and new, they are nevertheless
old news after all, and hence are not worth so much space as the
original story. Consequently, one will find that they usually run from
half to a fourth the length of the original; so that in rewriting one
need not hesitate--as the copy-readers tell the reporters--to "cut every
story to the bone." One must be careful in rewriting, however, not
merely to omit paragraphs in cutting down stories. Excision is not
rewriting.
XIX. FEATURE STORIES
=275. What the Feature Story Is.=--The feature, or human interest, story
is the newspaper man's invention for making stories of little news value
interesting. The prime difference between the feature story and the
normal information story we have been studying is that its news is a
little less excellent and must be made good by the writer's ingenuity.
The exciting informational story on the first page claims the reader's
attention by reason of the very dynamic power of its tidings, but the
news of the feature story must have a touch of literary rouge on its
face to make it attractive. This rouge generally is an adroit appeal to
the emotions, and just as some maidens otherwise plain of feature may be
made attractive, even beautiful, by a cosmetic touch accentuating a
pleasing feature or concealing a defect, so the human interest story may
be made fascinating by centering the interest in a single emotion and
drawing the attention away from the staleness, the sameness, the lack of
piquancy in the details. The emotion may be love, fear, hate, regret,
curiosity, humor,--no matter what, provided it is unified about, is
given the tone of, that feature.
=276. Difficulty.=--But just as it takes artists among women to dare
successfully the lure of the rouge-dish, and just as so many, having
ventured, make of their faces mere caricatures of the beauty they have
sought, so only artists can handle the feature story. The difficulty
lies chiefly in the temptation to overemphasize. In striving to make the
story humorous, one goes too far, oversteps the limits of dignity, and
like the ten-twenty-thirty vaudeville actor, produces an effect of
disgust. Or in attempting to be pathetic, to excite a sympathetic tear,
one is liable to induce mere derisive laughter. And a single misplaced
word or a discordant phrase, like a mouse in a Sunday-school class, will
destroy the entire effect of what one would say. In no other kind of
writing is restraint more needed.
=277. Two Types.=--Probably entire accuracy demands the statement that
these remarks about the difficulty of the feature story apply more
specifically to the human interest type, the type the purpose of which
is largely to entertain. Certainly it is more difficult than the second,
whose purpose is to instruct or inform. The one derives its interest
from its appeal to the reader's curiosity, the other from its appeal to
the emotions. The emotional type attracts the reader through its appeal
to elemental instincts and feelings in men, as desire for food and life,
vain grief for one lost, struggle for position in society, undeserved
prosperity or misfortune, abnormal fear of death, stoicism in the face
of danger, etc. The following is by Frank Ward O'Malley, of the _New
York Sun_, a classic of this type of human interest story:
| =DEATH OF HAPPY GENE SHEEHAN= |
| |
|Mrs. Catherine Sheehan stood in the darkened parlor |
|of her home at 361 West Fifteenth Street late |
|yesterday afternoon, and told her version of the |
|murder of her son Gene, the youthful policeman whom |
|a thug named Billy Morley shot in the forehead, down|
|under the Chatham Square elevated station early |
|yesterday morning. Gene's mother was thankful that |
|her boy hadn't killed Billy Morley before he died, |
|"because," she said, "I can say honestly, even now, |
|that I'd rather have Gene's dead body brought home |
|to me, as it will be to-night, than to have him come|
|to me and say, 'Mother, I had to kill a man this |
|morning.'" |
| |
|"God comfort the poor wretch that killed the boy," |
|the mother went on, "because he is more unhappy |
|to-night than we are here. Maybe he was weak-minded |
|through drink. He couldn't have known Gene or he |
|wouldn't have killed him. Did they tell you at the |
|Oak Street Station that the other policemen called |
|Gene Happy Sheehan? Anything they told you about him|
|is true, because no one would lie about him. He was |
|always happy, and he was a fine-looking young man, |
|and he always had to duck his helmet when he walked |
|under the gas fixture in the hall, as he went out |
|the door. |
| |
|"He was doing dance steps on the floor of the |
|basement, after his dinner yesterday noon, for the |
|girls--his sisters, I mean--and he stopped of a |
|sudden when he saw the clock, and picked up his |
|helmet. Out on the street he made pretend to arrest |
|a little boy he knows, who was standing there,--to |
|see Gene come, out, I suppose,--and when the little |
|lad ran away laughing, I called out, 'You couldn't |
|catch Willie, Gene; you're getting fat.' |
| |
|"'Yes, and old, mammy,' he said, him who is--who |
|was--only twenty-six--'so fat,' he said, 'that I'm |
|getting a new dress coat that'll make you proud when|
|you see me in it, mammy.' And he went over Fifteenth|
|Street whistling a tune and slapping his leg with a |
|folded newspaper. And he hasn't come back. |
| |
|"But I saw him once after that, thank God, before he|
|was shot. It's strange, isn't it, that I hunted him |
|up on his beat late yesterday afternoon for the |
|first time in my life? I never go around where my |
|children are working or studying--one I sent through|
|college with what I earned at dressmaking and some |
|other little money I had, and he's now a teacher; |
|and the youngest I have at college now. I don't mean|
|that their father wouldn't send them if he could, |
|but he's an invalid, although he's got a position |
|lately that isn't too hard for him. I got Gene |
|prepared for college, too, but he wanted to go right|
|into an office in Wall Street. I got him in there, |
|but it was too quiet and tame for him, Lord have |
|mercy on his soul; and then, two years ago, he |
|wanted to go on the police force, and he went. |
| |
|"After he went down the street yesterday I found a |
|little book on a chair, a little list of the streets|
|or something, that Gene had forgot. I knew how |
|particular they are about such things, and I didn't |
|want the boy to get in trouble, and so I threw on a |
|shawl and walked over through Chambers Street toward|
|the river to find him. He was standing on a corner |
|some place down there near the bridge clapping time |
|with his hands for a little newsy that was dancing; |
|but he stopped clapping, struck, Gene did, when he |
|saw me. He laughed when I handed him the little book|
|and told that was why I'd searched for him, patting |
|me on the shoulder when he laughed--patting me on |
|the shoulder. |
| |
|"'It's a bad place for you here, Gene,' I said. |
|'Then it must be bad for you, too, mammy,' said he; |
|and as he walked to the end of his beat with me--it |
|was dark then--he said, 'They're lots of crooks |
|here, mother, and they know and hate me and they're |
|afraid of me'--proud, he said it--'but maybe they'll|
|get me some night.' He patted me on the back and |
|turned and walked east toward his death. Wasn't it |
|strange that Gene said that? |
| |
|"You know how he was killed, of course, and how--Now|
|let me talk about it, children, if I want to. I |
|promised you, didn't I, that I wouldn't cry any more|
|or carry on? Well, it was five o'clock this morning |
|when a boy rang the bell here at the house and I |
|looked out the window and said, 'Is Gene dead?' 'No,|
|ma'am,' answered the lad, 'but they told me to tell |
|you he was hurt in a fire and is in the hospital.' |
|Jerry, my other boy, had opened the door for the lad|
|and was talking to him while I dressed a bit. And |
|then I walked down stairs and saw Jerry standing |
|silent under the gaslight, and I said again, 'Jerry,|
|is Gene dead?' And he said 'Yes,' and he went out. |
| |
|"After a while I went down to the Oak Street Station|
|myself, because I couldn't wait for Jerry to come |
|back. The policemen all stopped talking when I came |
|in, and then one of them told me it was against the |
|rules to show me Gene at that time. But I knew the |
|policeman only thought I'd break down, but I |
|promised him I wouldn't carry on, and he took me |
|into a room to let me see Gene. It was Gene. |
| |
|"I know to-day how they killed him. The poor boy |
|that shot him was standing in Chatham Square arguing|
|with another man when Gene told him to move on. When|
|the young man wouldn't, but only answered back, Gene|
|shoved him, and the young man pulled a revolver and |
|shot Gene in the face, and he died before Father |
|Rafferty, of St. James's, got to him, God rest his |
|soul. A lot of policemen heard the shot, and they |
|all came running with their pistols and clubs in |
|their hands. Policeman Laux--I'll never forget his |
|name or any of the others that ran to help |
|Gene--came down the Bowery and ran out into the |
|middle of the square where Gene lay. |
| |
|"When the man that shot Gene saw the policeman |
|coming, he crouched down and shot at Policeman Laux,|
|but, thank God, he missed him. Then policemen named |
|Harrington and Rourke and Moran and Kehoe chased the|
|man all around the streets there, some heading him |
|off when he tried to run into that street that goes |
|off at an angle--East Broadway, isn't it? A big |
|crowd had come out of Chinatown now and was chasing |
|the man, too, until Policemen Rourke and Kehoe got |
|him backed up against a wall. When Policeman Kehoe |
|came up close, the man shot his pistol right at |
|Kehoe and the bullet grazed Kehoe's helmet. |
| |
|"All the policemen jumped at the man then, and one |
|of them knocked the pistol out of his hand with a |
|blow of a club. They beat him, this Billy Morley, so|
|Jerry says his name is, but they had to because he |
|fought so hard. They told me this evening that it |
|will go hard with the unfortunate murderer, because |
|Jerry says that when a man named Frank O'Hare, who |
|was arrested this evening charged with stealing |
|cloth or something, was being taken to headquarters,|
|he told Detective Gegan that he and a one-armed man |
|who answered to the description of Morley, the young|
|man who killed Gene, had a drink last night in a |
|saloon at Twenty-second Street and Avenue A, and |
|that when the one-armed man was leaving the saloon |
|he turned and said, 'Boys, I'm going out now to bang|
|a guy with buttons.' |
| |
|"They haven't brought me Gene's body yet. Coroner |
|Shrady, so my Jerry says, held Billy Morley, the |
|murderer, without letting him get out on bail, and I|
|suppose that in a case like this they have to do a |
|lot of things before they can let me have the body |
|here. If Gene only hadn't died before Father |
|Rafferty got to him, I'd be happier. He didn't need |
|to make his confession, you know, but it would have |
|been better, wouldn't it? He wasn't bad, and he went|
|to mass on Sunday without being told; and even in |
|Lent, when we always say the rosary out loud in the |
|dining-room every night, Gene himself said to me the|
|day after Ash Wednesday, 'If you want to say the |
|rosary at noon, mammy, before I go out, instead of |
|at night when I can't be here, we'll do it.' |
| |
|"God will see that Gene's happy to-night, won't he, |
|after Gene said that?" the mother asked as she |
|walked out into the hallway with her black-robed |
|daughters grouped behind her. "I know he will," she |
|said, "and I'll--" She stopped with an arm resting |
|on the banister to support her. "I--I know I |
|promised you, girls," said Gene's mother, "that I'd |
|try not to cry any more, but I can't help it." And |
|she turned toward the wall and covered her face with|
|her apron.[49] |
[49] Frank Ward O'Malley in the _New York Sun_;
reprinted in _The Outlook_, lxxxvii, 527-529.
=278. Informational Type.=--The second type of feature story, the
informational, is the one we find most frequently in the feature section
of the editorial page and the Sunday edition. It includes such subjects
as, "How to Jiu-jitsu a Holdup Man," "Why Hot Water Dissolves Things,"
"Duties of an International Spy," "Feminism and the Baby Crop," "Why
Dogs Wag their Tails," "The World's Highest Salaried Choir Boy," etc.
Stories of new inventions and discoveries, accounts of the lives of
famous and infamous men, of barbaric and court life, methods for
lowering the high cost of living, explanations of the workings of the
parcel post system, facts telling the effects of the European
war,--these are some of the kinds of news included. Timeliness is not
essential, but is valuable, as in the publication of Halloween,
Christmas, Easter, and vacation stories at their appropriate seasons.
=279. Sources.=--The sources of feature stories are everywhere,--on the
street, in the club, at church, in the court room, on the athletic
field, in reference books and government publications, in the journals
of fashion, anywhere that an observing reporter will look. Old settlers
and residents, particularly on their birthdays and wedding
anniversaries, are good for stories of the town or state as it used to
be fifty years ago; and their photographs add to the value of their
stories. Travelers just returned from foreign countries or from distant
sections of the United States provide good feature copy. Educational
journals, forestry publications, mining statistics, geological surveys,
court decisions, all furnish valuable data. The only requirement in
obtaining information is personal observation and investigation.
=280. Form.=--The form of the feature story is anomalous. It has none.
One is at liberty to begin in any way likely to attract the reader, and
to continue in any way that will hold him. Possibly informal leads are
the rule rather than the exception--leads that will arrest attention by
telling enough of the story to excite curiosity without giving all the
details. Note the suspensive effect of the following leads:
| =SAM DREAMS OF ROBBERS= |
| |
|Two big black-bearded robbers, armed to the hat-band|
|and vowing to blow his appetite away from his |
|personality if he uttered a tweet, walked into the |
|mind of Samuel Shuster on Wednesday night as he lay |
|snoring in his four-post bed at No. 11 Market |
|Street. One placed a large warty hand around |
|Samuel's windpipe and began to play it, and the |
|other with a furtive look up and down stage reached |
|into his pocket and drew forth $350. With a scream, |
|two yowls, and a tiger, Samuel awoke.... |
| =FIXES BROKEN LEG WITH NAILS= |
| |
|Capt. Patrick Rogers of truck company No. 2 found a |
|man leaning against the quarters at Washington and |
|Clinton Streets early yesterday and demanded what he|
|was doing. |
| |
|"I broke my leg getting off a car," said the |
|stranger. "Gimme a hammer and some nails and I'll |
|fix it." ... |
| =AMERICAN WASTE= |
| |
|If it were not for our industrial wastefulness, it |
|is a fair guess that the income of the United States|
|would be sixteen times--Well, do you know that |
|America burns up forty thousand tons of paper a day,|
|worth fifty dollars a ton? That alone is $2,000,000 |
|a day wasted.... |
| =FINDS WOMAN DEAD IN BARN= |
| |
|Stephen Garrity of 1124 Seventy-third street stepped|
|into a deserted barn at Seventy-fourth street and |
|Ashland avenue yesterday afternoon to get out of the|
|wind and light his pipe. |
| |
|He was just about to apply a lighted match to the |
|pipe when he saw the form of a woman hanging to one |
|of the rafters. A long black silk-lined coat hung so|
|that Garrity could see a black skirt, a white waist,|
|and black shoes. The woman had a fair complexion and|
|brown hair. |
| |
|The match burned Garrity's fingers and went out.... |
=281. Suspense Story.=--In some feature stories the writers attempt to
hold their readers' interest by making the narrative suspensive
throughout.
| ="MISSOURI" IN CHICAGO= |
| |
|"Missouri" Perkins is sixteen and hails from Kansas |
|City. This morning he walked into the office of the |
|Postal Telegraph Company on Dearborn Street and |
|asked for a job. The manager happened to want a |
|messenger boy just at that moment and gave him a |
|message to deliver in a hurry. |
| |
|"Here's your chance, my boy," said the manager. |
|"These people have been kicking about undelivered |
|messages. Now don't come back until you deliver it."|
| |
|A while afterward the telephone rang. On the other |
|end of the wire was a building watchman, somewhat |
|terrified. |
| |
|"Have you got a boy they call 'Missouri?'" inquired |
|the watchman. |
| |
|"We did have ten minutes ago," replied the manager. |
| |
|The watchman continued: "That 'Missouri' feller came|
|over here and said he had to go to one of the |
|offices. We don't allow no one up at that office at |
|this hour and I told him he couldn't go." |
| |
|"Yes, yes," said the manager. |
| |
|"Well," said the watchman, "he said he would go, and|
|I had to pull my gun on him." |
| |
|"But you didn't shoot my messenger," exclaimed the |
|manager. |
| |
|"No," meekly came the response over the wire, "but I|
|want my gun back." |
=282. Uniqueness of Style.=--Again, a writer will resort to uniqueness
of form or style to get his effect.
| =HIS WIFE, SHE WENT AWAY= |
| |
| =And He Did a Little Entertaining, Which |
| Leads Up to This Story= |
| |
|Mrs. Gladys I. Fick visited in California. |
| |
|Mr. Fick entertained while she was away. |
| |
|Mrs. Fick found it out. |
| |
|And got a divorce. |
| |
|Yesterday. |
=283. Unity of Impression.=--Most frequently, however, the effort is to
obtain unity of impression through close adherence to a single tone or
effect. The story by Frank Ward O'Malley on page 225 has already been
cited as an excellent story of pathos, and the following may be examined
as a portrayal of childish loyalty:
| =SILENT ABOUT BULLET IN BRAIN= |
| |
|A tragedy of childhood featuring the loyalty of |
|10-year-old Stephen Stec to his three years younger |
|brother Albert, even when he felt death near, was |
|brought out at Kenosha hospital to-day. X-ray |
|pictures showed that the older boy had a bullet from|
|a revolver embedded to a distance of three inches in|
|the brain matter. |
| |
|The boy was shot by his younger brother Sunday |
|afternoon, but after they had agreed to keep secret |
|the story of the shooting, Stephen, with the |
|stoicism of a Spartan, had refused to tell the |
|story. When the X-ray picture revealed his secret he|
|sobbed out, "He didn't mean to do it." Then he told |
|the story. |
| |
| ="Just Tired Out," He Says= |
| |
|The two boys had been left at home alone on Sunday |
|afternoon. Their father, Albert Stec, a prosperous |
|market man, had warned them never to touch a |
|revolver which lay in a drawer. Little Albert, not |
|yet 6 years old, got the weapon, pointed it at the |
|brother, and pulled the trigger. The bullet entered |
|the back of the other boy's head. The mother, on her|
|return home, found the boy on the floor with his |
|little brother keeping a vigil. |
| |
|"I'm just tired out," the boy told his mother. She |
|put him to bed and tucked him away under the covers.|
|With the little brother playing about the bed he |
|went off to sleep. |
| |
| =Physician Stumbles Onto Secret= |
| |
|Monday morning he appeared sick and remained at home|
|from school. In the afternoon his mother became |
|worried when he failed to recover from drowsiness |
|which had overtaken him and she called Dr. J. N. |
|Pait. The physician made an examination of the boy, |
|but found nothing to account for his condition. |
| |
|Then he rubbed his hand over his head. The telltale |
|blood revealed the fact that the boy had been |
|injured. With the little brother holding on to his |
|coat the boy walked bravely to an automobile and was|
|taken to the Kenosha hospital, where the X-ray |
|machine revealed his secret. |
| |
| =All Functions Remain Normal= |
| |
|This afternoon at the hospital it was declared that |
|the boy showed no sign of fever and that his pulse |
|was normal. |
| |
|"The case is a most remarkable one," declared Dr. |
|Pait. "The boy is cheerful and every organ of the |
|body is performing its functions, but at that there |
|is the bullet in his brain. We expect sudden |
|collapse in the case, but a boy as brave as he is |
|should live." The little fellow made no complaint |
|and when the smaller brother was brought to the |
|hospital their greeting was of a most tender nature.|
| |
|"That big machine gave it away," was the way the |
|injured boy broke the story of his seeming |
|faithlessness to his trust.[50] |
[50] _Chicago Tribune_, March 3, 1915.
=284. Feature Story Writers.=--Feature stories in the Sunday supplement
are written generally by a regular staff of writers. Some of the staff
are office men on the pay-roll of the papers. Others are regular
contributors who fill certain amounts of space each week or month. Still
others, specialists in their lines, write only occasionally, but deal in
a scholarly, exhaustive way with their subjects. The feature stories in
the news columns are written generally by the stronger men on the
regular staff of reporters. Some papers have regular feature men on whom
they rely for human interest stories. And any newspaper man who can
handle such stories well may be sure of a place at an advanced salary
over the ordinary reporter. Feature stories are coming more and more
into prominence on the large dailies because of their appeal to all
classes of society, and the beginner, as soon as he becomes acquainted
with his surroundings and gains dexterity in the handling of news, is
advised to try his hand at the human interest type. It will pay, and
success in this field will give a much desired prestige.
XX. CORRESPONDENCE STORIES
=285. Correspondence Work.=--In style and construction correspondence
stories are not different from the preceding types of news stories. They
are taken up for separate examination because their value as news is
reckoned differently, because the transmission of them by mail,
telegraph, and telephone is individual, and because so many reporters
have to know how to handle correspondence work. Statistics show that
20,000 of the 25,000 newspapers in the United States are country papers;
and it is from the reporters on these weeklies and small dailies that
the big journals obtain most of their state and sectional news. In
addition, every large daily has in the chief cities its representatives
who, while often engaged in regular reporting, nevertheless do work of a
correspondence nature. It is highly advisable, therefore, that every
newspaper man, because probably some day he may have to do
correspondence work, should know how to gather, write, and file such
stories.
=286. Estimating the Worth of News.=--A correspondent is both like and
unlike a regular reporter--like, in that in his district he is the
paper's representative and upon him depends the accurate or inaccurate
publication of news; unlike, in that he is comparatively free from
supervision and direction, and hence must be discriminating in judging
news. It is the correspondent especially who must have the proverbial
"nose for news," who must know the difference between information that
is nationally and merely locally interesting, who must be able to tell
when a column story in a local paper is not worth a stick in a journal a
hundred miles away. The best way to develop this discrimination in
appreciation of news is to put oneself in imagination in the place of a
resident of Boston or Atlanta or Chicago, where the paper is published,
and ask oneself if such-and-such an item of news would be interesting
were one reading the paper there. For example, one has just learned that
Andrew Jones, the local blacksmith, has had an explosion of powder in
his shop, causing a loss of a hundred dollars, with no insurance. One
should ask oneself if this story would be worth while to readers who
know nothing of Andrew Jones or the town where the accident has
occurred. Manifestly not; and the story should not be sent. But if one
learns that the accident was caused by the premature explosion of a bomb
Jones was making for the destruction of a bridge on the Great Southern
and Northern Railway, then the information is of more than local
interest and should immediately be telegraphed with full details. Every
correspondent should recognize such differences in news values, for
papers pay, not according to the amount of copy they receive, but
according to the amount they publish. And on the other hand, when
correspondents telegraph too many useless items, editors sometimes
reverse charges on the unwise writers.
=287. What Not to Send.=--The first thing to know in correspondence
work, therefore, is what not to send. Never report merely local news,
such as minor accidents, burglaries, and robberies; obituaries,
marriages, entertainments, and court trials of little known personages;
murders of obscure persons, unless unusual in some way or involved in
mystery; county fairs, fraternal meetings, high-school commencements,
local picnics and celebrations; crop and weather conditions, unless
markedly abnormal, as frost in June; praise of individuals, hotels,
amusement gardens, business enterprises generally; in fact, any press
agent stories. Stories trespassing the limits of good taste or decency
should of course be suppressed. Local gossip affecting the reputations
of women, preachers, doctors, and professional men generally should be
held until it can be verified. Any sensational news, indeed, should be
carefully investigated before being put on the wires. But as the
Associated Press says in a pamphlet of instructions to its employees:
A rumor of sensational news should not be held too
long for verification. If the rumor is not libelous
it should be sent immediately as a rumor, with the
addition that "the story is being investigated."
Should the news, however, involve persons or firms
in a charge that might be libelous, a note to the
editors, marked "Private, not for publication,"
should be bulletined that "such and such a story has
come to our attention and is being investigated."
While accuracy in The Associated Press despatches is
of the highest value and we would rather be beaten
than send out an untruthful statement, there is such
a thing as carrying the effort to secure accuracy so
far as to delay the perfectly proper announcement of
a rumor. So long as it is a rumor only it should be
announced as a rumor.
=288. What to Send.=--After cautioning the correspondent against sending
stories containing merely local news, unfounded rumors, and details
offensive to good taste, one must leave him to gather for himself what
his paper wants. Big news, of course, is always good; but those special
types of news, those little hobbies for which individual papers have
characteristic weaknesses, one can learn only by studying the columns of
the paper for which one corresponds. Some newspapers make specialties of
freak news, such as odd actions of lightning, three-legged chickens,
etc. Others will not consider such stories. One daily in America wants a
bulletin of every death or injury resulting from celebrations of the
Fourth of July. Another in a Middle Western state wants all sporting
news in its state, particularly that concerning colleges and high
schools. Still another, an Eastern paper this time, wants educational
news--what the colleges are doing. Other kinds of information in which
individual publications specialize are news of nationally prominent men
and women, human interest love stories, odd local historical data,
humorous or pathetic animal stories, golfing anecdotes, increase or
decrease in liquor sales or the number of saloon licenses, etc.
=289. Conducting a Local Column.=--When conducting a column giving the
news of a particular locality or neighborhood, the one thing not to
write is that there is little news in the community this week or to-day.
The readers of a column should not be allowed to suspect that one has
little information to present. All about one are unnumbered sources of
news if the correspondent can only find them--humorous incidents,
reminiscences of old pioneers, stories of previous extremely wet, dry,
hot, or cold seasons, recollections of Civil, Spanish American, and
European War battles, etc. Such stories may be had for the asking and
played up when there is "nothing doing this week." The use of good
feature stories bearing directly on the life of the community will fill
one's column, put money into one's pocket, and add readers to the
subscription list of the paper.
=290. Stories by Mail.=--A correspondent's stories may be sent in any
one of three ways--by mail, telephone, or telegraph. The mail should be
used for any stories the time of publication of which is not important,
such as feature stories, advance stories of speeches, elections, state
celebrations, etc. One may use the mail for big stories, provided there
is certainty of the letter reaching the office by 10:00 A.M. for
afternoon papers and 8:00 P.M. for morning papers. If the news is big,
it is best to put a special delivery stamp on the envelop and wire the
paper of the story by mail. If there is doubt about mail reaching the
paper promptly, use the telegraph every time. When sending photographs
illustrating important news events, one should use special delivery
stamps and wire the paper that the pictures are coming. In the case of
advance speeches, where the manuscript is forwarded several days ahead,
the reporter should specify not only the exact day, but the precise hour
for release of the speech, and at the time stated he should wire
definite release,--that the address has been given, the speaker
beginning at such and such an hour. The necessity of keeping close
future books and of keeping the state or telegraph editor in intimate
touch by mail with coming events may be urged upon all correspondents. A
single event properly played up by a skillful correspondent may be made
productive, before its occurrence, of three or four attractive mail
stories. And it is the quantity of such stories that adds to the
reporter's much desired revenue.
=291. Stories by Telephone.=--The telephone is used when the mails are
too slow or a telegraph office is not convenient, or when there is need
of getting into personal communication with the office. In using the
telephone one caution only may be given, that the correspondent should
never call up the state editor with merely a jumble of facts at hand.
Long-distance messages are costly and editors watch all calls closely in
an effort to reduce tolls to a minimum. If possible, the correspondent
should have his story written--certainly he should have it sketched on
paper--before calling the office, so that he may dictate his news in the
shortest possible time.
=292. Stories by Telegraph.=--The telegraph is for stories demanding
immediacy of print, and certain rules govern their handling that every
correspondent should know. Suppose at six o'clock some afternoon an
automobile owned and driven by Otto Thomson, receiving teller for the
local Commercial Bank, skids over a slippery, tar-covered pavement into
a telegraph pole on one of the main streets of the town, killing him and
severely injuring two women in the car. What should the correspondent do
in such a case? The accident is good for a half-column in _The Herald_,
the local morning daily, but because Thomson was only moderately
prominent, one is doubtful if it is worth much in _The World_, the great
daily a hundred miles away. After considering all the details,
however,--Thomson's position locally and the fact that the city may be
held liable for the excess of tar at a dangerous turn in the
streets,--the reporter may conclude that the story is worth four hundred
words. He is still doubtful, however, whether the city paper will
consider it worth publishing. His message, therefore,--technically known
as a "query"--should be:
Otto Thomson, receiving teller Commercial Bank,
killed at six P.M. by automobile skidding into
telegraph pole. Two women in car injured. Four
hundred. 8:35 P.M. A. D. Anderson
This means that the correspondent is prepared to wire a
400-word story about the accidental death of Otto Thomson.
It tells, too, that the query was filed at 8:35, so that blame
may be placed if delivery is delayed. There is no need to
ask if the paper wants further details or how much it wants.
The message itself is an inquiry. One other important point
about it is that it bulletins the news. It is not a "blind"
query stating that "a prominent citizen has been killed" or
that "a regrettable tragedy has occurred." It gives the facts
concisely, so that the editor, if he wishes, may publish them
immediately and may decide whether additional details are
worth while.
=293. Waiting for the Reply.=--While the correspondent is waiting for
the reply, he should begin his story and, if possible, have it ready by
the time the dispatch comes. The most important details should be placed
first, of course, so that if the state editor asks for fewer than four
hundred words, the correspondent will have to kill only the last
paragraph or so and send the first part of the story as originally
written. There is no need of skeletonizing the story to lessen
telegraphic charges: that is, of omitting _the's_, _a's_, _an's_,
_is's_, etc. The small amount saved in this way is more than offset by
the additional time and cost of editing in the office.
=294. The Reply.=--In fifteen or twenty minutes, or perhaps a half-hour,
a reply will come, reading, say, "Rush three hundred banker's death."
This means that the correspondent must keep his story within three
hundred words,--an injunction which he must observe strictly. Woe to the
self-confident writer who sends five hundred words when three hundred
have been ordered. He will receive a prompt reprimand for his first
offense and probable discharge for the second. If, however, he has used
his time wisely since sending the query and has written his story
rightly, he will have no trouble in lopping off the final paragraph and
putting the three hundred words on the wire within a few minutes after
receipt of the order.
=295. No Reply.=--The correspondent need not be surprised or chagrined,
however, if no reply comes,--the paper's silence meaning that the story
is not wanted. The accident may have been covered by one of the regular
news bureaus--the Associated Press, the United Press, or possibly a
local news-gathering organization. Or the bulletin itself may have been
all the paper wanted,--due credit and pay for which the correspondent
will receive at the end of the month. Or the story may have been crowded
out by news of greater importance. This last reason is a very possible
one, which every correspondent should consider whenever a story breaks.
The space value of a paper's columns doubles and quadruples as press
time approaches,--so that a story which would be given generous space if
received at eight o'clock may be thrown into the wastebasket if received
four hours later.
=296. Hours for Filing.=--The extreme hours for filing dispatches to
catch the various editions are worth noting and remembering. For an
afternoon paper the story should be in the hands of the telegraph
operator not later than 9:00 A.M. for the noon edition, 12:00 M. for the
three o'clock, and 2:00 P.M. for the five o'clock edition. If the news
is extraordinary--big enough to justify ripping open the front page--it
may be filed as late as 2:30 P.M., though the columns of an afternoon
paper are practically closed to correspondents after 12:30 or 1:00 P.M.
Any news occurring after 2:30 P.M. should be filed as early as possible,
but should be marked N. P. R. (night press rate), so that it will be
sent after 6:00 P.M., when telegraphic charges are smaller. For a
morning paper news may be filed as late as 2:00 A.M., though the columns
are practically closed to correspondents after midnight.
=297. Big News.=--When big or unusual news breaks,--news about which
there is no doubt of the general interest,--the correspondent should
bulletin a lead immediately, with the probable length of the story and
the time of filing affixed. Thus:
Marietta, Ga., Aug. 17.--Leo M. Frank, whom the
Georgia courts declared guilty of the murder of
fourteen-year-old Mary Phagan of Marietta, was
lynched two miles from here at an early hour this
morning. Frank was brought in an automobile to
Marietta by a band of twenty-five masked men who
stormed the Milledgeville prison farm shortly after
midnight. Two thousand. 8:35. Sherman
Then--particularly if the hour is nearing press time--the correspondent
should follow as rapidly as possible with instalments of the detailed
story, without waiting for a reply to the bulletin lead. When there is
doubt about the length, editors would rather have one not take chances
on delaying the news,--would rather have too much of a story than too
little. Besides, a writer cannot get further than the second or third
instalment before specific orders will arrive from the paper.
=298. The Detailed Story.=--After the lead, the details follow as in a
normal story, the individual instalments being given the operator as
fast as he can take them, each one marked "More" except the last, which
is marked "30." Thus the continuation of the bulletin lead of the Frank
lynching just given would be:
Not one of the armed prison guards, according to the
best information now obtainable, raised a hand to
prevent the mob accomplishing its purpose. Frank was
taken from his cell and rushed to a spot previously
chosen for the lynching, about a hundred miles from
the prison. Not a soul, it is said, knew positively
whether the men were his friends or his enemies
until the lifeless body was discovered this morning.
More. 8:45 P. M. Sherman
Then the final instalment might read:
The rope placed around Frank's neck was tied in such
a way as to reopen the wound caused some weeks ago
when a fellow prisoner attempted to kill him by
cutting his throat. Loss of blood from the re-opened
wound no doubt would have caused his death had he
not strangled. Thirty. 9:15. Sherman
The "thirty" is the telegrapher's signal indicating the completion of
the story.
=299. Sporting News.=--In handling sporting news a few specific
instructions are needful, the first being the necessity of absolute
impartiality in all controversies. Local rival sportsmen in their keen
desire to win are continually breeding quarrels, which frequently make
it difficult for the observer not to be biased; but the correspondent
must be careful to present simple facts only, without editorializing.
The need of filing all afternoon scores by 7:30 P.M., with 8:00 P.M. as
the outside limit, should also be noted. Morning papers put their
sporting news on inside pages and must make up the forms early. There
is need of the utmost caution in having the news correct, particularly
the box scores of baseball games, which have an unhappy way of failing
to balance when one compares individual scores with the totals. In all
contests where a seeming new record has been made, the correspondent
should be sure of the record before telegraphing it as such. If there is
the slightest doubt, report it as "what is said to be a record."
Finally, one should be cautioned against reporting mere high-school
contests, boxing bouts between local men, and other sporting news
possessing limited interest only.
=300. General Instructions.=--In conclusion, a few general instructions
may be given for the guidance of correspondents:
1. When forwarding time stories, advance manuscript of speeches, cuts,
etc., send by mail. The express companies do not deliver at night.
2. In telegrams spell out round numbers; and mark the beginning of
speeches by the word _quote_, and the end by _end quote_.
3. Keep the telegraph companies informed always of your street address
and telephone number. It is well also to maintain friendly relations
with the operators. Frequently they can be of valuable service to a
correspondent.
4. Finish all incomplete stories. It sometimes happens that one will
wire a dispatch of the beginning of a seeming big fire or a seeming
great murder mystery, which the paper will feature as important news,
but which later will prove of no worth. Such stories should be cleared
up and the results made known to avoid keeping the paper in a quandary
over the outcome.
5. When reporting fires, accidents, disasters, etc., locate the scene as
accurately as possible. This is sometimes accomplished by reference to
well-known buildings or landmarks, in addition to the exact street
location.
6. When a big story breaks, go after it, no matter if there is need of
incurring expense. Papers will stand any reasonable expense for valuable
news.
7. Never forget the worth of sending time. Every minute is valuable.
8. Until you have received your first check, clip and keep every story
printed. Most papers keep their own accounts with correspondents, but
some require them to send in at the end of each month their "string:"
that is, all their stories pasted together end to end. Payment is then
made on the basis of the number of columns, the rates varying from $2 to
$7 a column of 1500 words.
APPENDIX
STYLE-BOOK
I. HANDLING COPY
=1. Definition.=--_Copy_ is any manuscript prepared for printing, and is
written according to the individual style rules of each newspaper. The
first thing for a reporter to do on beginning work in an office is to
ask for the style-book, the manual for the guidance of reporters,
copy-readers, and compositors. The chances are nine to one that the
paper will not have such a book, since only the larger dailies print
their rules of style, and that the reporter must study the columns of
the paper and the changes made in his own stories for the individual
office rules. If the paper happens to be the tenth one, however, the
reporter should employ every spare moment studying the manual and should
write every story, even his first one, as nearly as possible in accord
with the printed rules, as the copy readers will insist on a strict
observance of the regulations. Many of the rules will be mere _don'ts_,
embodying common errors of diction. Others may be particular aversions
of the editor or the head copy-reader and may have little regard for or
relation to best usage. But such rules must be observed, even though
they may be as absurd and contrary to all custom, as that of one
metropolitan paper which makes its reporters write "Farwell-av," a usage
peculiar to that journal. All such requirements may be found in the
style-book, which, whenever in doubt, the reporter should consult rather
than the columns of the paper, as the paper is not always reliable.
Uncorrected matter is frequently hurried into the forms, causing
variations that the rules of composition forbid.
=2. The Typewriter.=--The first requirement in preparing copy is a
knowledge of how to handle a typewriter dexterously. In all offices the
reporters are furnished with typewriters, and one is helpless until one
learns how to use a machine. Longhand copy rarely is sent to the
compositors nowadays. If such copy comes into the office, it is
generally given to stenographers or reporters to type before being
dispatched to the composing room.
=3. Longhand Copy.=--At times, however, when away from the office, one
cannot obtain a machine and must write in longhand. In such cases, write
with painstaking care for accuracy. Other things being equal, it is the
legible copy that survives. Unusual proper names and technical words
that are liable to be mistaken in copying should be printed letter by
letter. If there is a possibility at any time of confusing an _o_ with
an _a_, or a _u_ with an _n_, the _u_ and _a_ should be underscored and
the _n_ and _o_ overscored. Quotation-marks should be enclosed in
half-circles--thus, \"/jag\"/--to show whether they are beginning or end
marks. And instead of a period, a small cross should be used, or else
the period be enclosed in a circle.
=4. Paper.=--Writing paper is always supplied in the office. Even when
one is a correspondent in a neighboring town, stationery, including
self-addressed envelopes, is frequently furnished by the journal for
which one corresponds. Some newspapers, however, do not provide writing
supplies. In such cases the correspondent should choose unglazed paper
of a neutral tint--gray, yellow, or manila brown. The paper most
commonly used is unruled print paper 6 x 9 or 8-1/2 x 11 inches in size
and of sufficient firmness to permit use of either ink or pencil.
=5. Margins.=--Except for the writer's name in a ring at the extreme
left corner of the page, the top half of the first page of copy should
be left blank, so that the headlines may be written there by the
headline writer. All the sheets should have a margin of an inch at the
bottom and at each side of the paper, and all other sheets than the
first should have a margin of an inch at the top. The side margins are
necessary for the corrections of the copy editors; the margins at the
bottom are for convenience in pasting the sheets together; and the top
margins are necessary for paging.
=6. Paragraph Indention.=--All paragraphs, including the first, should
be indented an inch, irrespective of where the preceding paragraph has
ended, and should be marked with the paragraph sign, a rectangle (=L=)
placed before the first word. If two paragraphs have been run together
thoughtlessly and it is necessary to separate them, insert the paragraph
symbol (¶) immediately before the word beginning the new paragraph and
write the same symbol in the margin. If the paragraph completes the
page, a paragraph sign also should be put at the end, to indicate to the
compositor that he may conclude his "take" with a broken line. No other
lines than the first lines of paragraphs--quotations and summaries of
course excepted--should be indented.
=7. Consolidation of Paragraphs.=--When it is necessary to consolidate
two paragraphs that have been written separately, draw a line from the
end of the first to the beginning of the second and mark _No_ ¶ in the
margin. Use the same method when several lines or sentences have been
canceled and the matter is meant to be continuous. Or when a new
sentence has been indented unnecessarily, no paragraph being needed,
draw a line from the first word to the left margin and mark _No_ ¶
there. If a sentence ends at the foot of a sheet, but the paragraph
continues on the next page, draw a diagonal line from the last word to
the right corner at the foot of the page, and on the next sheet draw a
diagonal line from the upper left corner to the first word of the new
sentence. These lines indicate to the compositor that any "take" ending
with the first page or beginning with the second is not complete and may
not conclude with a broken line or begin with an indented one.
=8. Crowded Lines.=--Do not crowd lines together. When the copy is
typewritten, adjust the machine to make triple spaces between lines.
When it is necessary to write the copy in longhand, leave a quarter-inch
space between lines. Crowded lines saddle much extra trouble upon
copy-readers, compelling them to cut and paste many times to make
necessary corrections. Exception to the rule against crowded lines is
made only when one has a paragraph a trifle too long for a page. It is
better to crowd the last lines of a page a trifle than to run two or
three words of a paragraph over to a new page.
=9. The Pages.=--If a paragraph would normally begin on the last line of
a page, leave the line blank and start the new paragraph on a fresh
sheet of paper. One may not write on more than one side of a sheet, not
even if there are only two or three words to go on the next page. In the
offices of the big dailies each sheet is cut into takes, numbered
consecutively, and sent to as many different compositors. Irremediable
confusion would be caused for a foreman who tried to handle copy written
on both sides, for each take would contain a part of some other
compositor's copy. The new page, too, should be numbered at the top with
an arabic, not a roman, numeral. And in order to prevent the figure from
being mistaken for a part of the article, it should be enclosed in a
circle.
=10. Insertions.=--The reporter should make as few corrections as
possible. But where any considerable addition or insertion is found
necessary on a page, instead of writing the addition in the margin or on
a separate sheet, cut the page and paste in the addition. The sheet may
be made the same length as its fellows by folding the lower edge forward
upon the written page. If it is folded backward, the fold is liable to
be unnoticed, and therefore may cause confusion.
=11. "Add Stories."=--When a story is incomplete, either by reason of
the end of the page being reached or because all the story is not yet
in, write the word _More_ in a circle at the foot of the page, the
purpose of the circle being to prevent the compositor from mistaking the
word for a part of the story. "Add" stories,--stories that follow others
already written or in type,--are marked with the catch line and the
number of the addition. Thus the first addition to a story about a
saloon robbery would be marked, "Add 1, Saloon Robbery"; and the second
would be, "Add 2, Saloon Robbery." An insert into the story would be
slugged, "Insert A, Saloon Robbery"; and the precise place of the insert
would be indicated at the top of the inserted page: "Insert after first
paragraph of lead, Saloon Robbery." Such directions are always enclosed
in rings so that the compositor may not set them in the story.
=12. Illustrations, Clippings.=--If cuts or illustrations are to be
printed with the copy, indicate as nearly as possible where they will
appear in the printed story by "Turn rule for cut." That says to the
compositor, "Make in the proofs a black ruled line for later insertion
of a cut." The make-up editor may change the position of the cut to
obtain a better balance of illustrations on the page or to avoid putting
the picture where the paper will fold, but the direction will be worth
while as an aid in placing the illustration accurately. Clippings
included in the story should be pasted in the copy. Pins and clips slip
easily and may cause loss of the clipping.
=13. Underscoring.=--Underscore once for _italics_, twice for SMALL
CAPITALS, and three times for CAPITALS. Use wave-line underscoring to
indicate =display type=. Many newspapers have abandoned italic type and
small capitals altogether, because their linotype machines carry only
two kinds of type, and black-face type is needed for headlines, etc.
Because of this, where one formerly might underscore a word for
emphasis, it is necessary now to reword the sentence altogether.
=14. Corrections.=--When it is necessary to strike out letters or words
from copy, run the pen or pencil through them and draw a line between
those to be set up together. Do not enclose in parentheses words to be
erased. A printer will not omit, but will set up in type, parentheses
and everything enclosed within them. When a letter or word has been
wrongly stricken out, it may be restored by making a series of dots
immediately beneath and writing the word _stet_ in the margin. Two
letters, words, or phrases that one wishes transposed may be so
indicated by drawing a continuous line over the first and under the
second and writing _tr_ in the margin. A capital letter that should be a
small letter may be so indicated by drawing a line downward from right
to left through the letter. Because of the haste frequently necessary in
writing copy, it has become a trick of the trade to enclose within a
circle an abbreviation, a figure, or an ampersand that the writer
desires the printer to spell out in full. Do not "ring" a figure or a
number, however, without being sure it should be spelled out. It is much
easier for a copy-reader to ring a number that needs to be spelled out
than to erase an unnecessary circle. If it is necessary to have the
printer set up slangy, misspelled, or improperly capitalized words, or
ungrammatical or poorly punctuated sentences, put in the margin, _Follow
Copy_. For illustrations of these corrections, the reader may examine
the specimen proof sheet on page 276.
=15. The End.=--Mark the completion of the story with an end mark, a #,
or the figure _30_ in a circle, the telegrapher's sign indicating the
end of a day or a night report. Then read carefully every page of the
copy, correcting every error, no matter how slight. Finally, give it to
the city editor, unfolded if possible, but never rolled. If it is
inconvenient to keep the pages flat, they may be folded lengthwise.
Folding crosswise makes the copy inconvenient to handle. The sheets
should not be pinned together. The pin betrays the novice.
=16. The Story in Type.=--A reporter should read his story with
painstaking care after it has appeared in print, to detect any errors
that may have crept into it since it left his hands and to note what
changes have been made at the city desk. It is told of a reporter, now a
star man on a leading New York daily, that he used to keep carbon copies
of all his stories and compare them word for word with the articles as
they appeared in the paper. Only in this way can a writer change his
style for the better and learn what is expected of him.
II. PUNCTUATION
=17. Rules.=--While every well-regulated newspaper has rules of its own
governing the use of capital letters, commas, dashes, parentheses, and
other marks of punctuation, and any article written by a reporter will
be punctuated according to the individual style of the paper in which it
is printed, no matter how it may have been punctuated originally, it is
nevertheless worth while to offer the following general rules of
punctuation for the guidance of news writers. And it would be well for
every properly trained journalist to have these rules well in hand; for
in the eyes of the editor and the printer, bad punctuation is worse than
bad spelling, because the meaning of a misspelled word usually can be
deciphered, while that of an improperly punctuated sentence is often
hopeless. For one, therefore, who hopes to do successful journalistic
work a thorough knowledge of the following rules of punctuation is
practically a necessity.
1. Capital Letters
=18. Proper Names.=--Capitalize all proper names. A proper name is one
that designates a particular person, place, or thing. In particular:
=19. Titles of Books, etc.=--Capitalize the first word and all the
important words in the titles of books, newspapers, magazines, magazine
articles, poems, plays, pictures, etc.: that is, the first word and all
other words except articles, demonstratives, prepositions, conjunctions,
auxiliary verbs, relative pronouns, and other pronouns in the possessive
case. A _the_ preceding the title of a newspaper or a magazine is
regarded as part of the title and is capitalized.
=Right.=--Two copies of _The Atlanta Constitution_
were produced.
=20. Names and Titles of the Deity.=--Capitalize names and titles of the
Deity and of Jesus Christ.
=21. Names of the Bible.=--Capitalize names of the Bible and other
sacred books, of the versions of the Bible, and of the books and
divisions of the Bible and other sacred books. Do not capitalize
adjectives derived from such names.
=Right.=--The _Koran_, the _Septuagint_, the _Old
Testament_, _Psalms_; but _biblical_, _scriptural_,
_apocryphal_.
=22. Titles of Respect, Honor, Office, or Profession.=--Capitalize
titles of respect, honor, nobility, office, or profession when such
titles immediately precede proper names. Do not capitalize such titles
elsewhere in the sentence. The prefix _ex-_ before a title is not
capitalized and does not affect the capitalization of the title.
=Right.=--The Rev. Samuel Plantz, President Wilson,
ex-President Roosevelt, Senator Newlands.
=Right.=--The archbishop and the senator were in
conference all the morning with Mr. Bryan, former
secretary of state under President Wilson.
=23. Names Indicating Nationality or Locality.=--Capitalize names
distinguishing nationality or locality: as, _Yankee_, _Creole_,
_Hoosier_, _Wolverines_.
=24. Names of Athletic Teams.=--Capitalize names of athletic teams: as,
_Giants_, _Cubs_, _Badgers_, _Tigers_, _Maroons_.
=25. Festivals and Holidays.=--Begin the names of festivals and holidays
with capital letters: as, _Easter_, _Thanksgiving_, _Christmas_, _Labor
day_.
=26. Societies, Political Parties, etc.=--Write with capitals the names
of clubs, secret societies, religious denominations, colleges, political
parties, corporations, railroads, and organizations generally: as
_Riverview Country club_, _Elks_, _Baptist church_, _Mills college_,
_Republican party_, _Santa Fe railroad_, etc.
=27. Ordinal Numbers.=--Ordinal numbers used to denote sessions of
congress, political divisions, and city wards are written with capital
letters: as, _Sixty-second congress_, _Tenth precinct_, _Third ward_,
etc.
=28. Names of Buildings, Squares, Parks, etc.=--Names of buildings,
blocks, squares, parks, drives, etc., are capitalized: as, _Times
building_, _Temple block_, _Yellowstone park_, _Sheridan road_, etc.
=29. Common Nouns Joined with Proper Names.=--Capitalize any common noun
joined with a proper name and meaning the same thing, when the common
noun precedes. Do not capitalize the common noun if it follows the
proper name. Thus: _Columbia university_, _University of Chicago_,
_First Presbyterian church_, _Church of the Savior_, _National Bank of
North America_, _First National bank_, _Memorial day_, _Fourth of July_.
=30. Boards, Committees, Legislative Bodies, etc.=--Do not capitalize
names of boards, bureaus, offices, departments, committees, legal,
legislative, and political bodies, etc., when standing alone: as,
_school board_, _weather bureau_, _war office_, _health department_,
_nominating committee_, _assembly_, _state senate_, _lower house_, _city
council_.
=31. Prefixes "von," "de," etc.=--Do not capitalize the prefixes _von_,
_de_, _di_, _le_, _la_, etc., except when they begin a sentence: as,
_Capt. von Papen_.
=32. Toasts.=--In toasts, capitalize all the important words in the
phrase indicating the person, the place, or the cause to which the toast
is made: as, "My Country--May it always be right; but, right or wrong,
my country."
=33. Nouns Followed by Numerals.=--Do not capitalize a noun followed by
a numeral indicating position, place, or order of sequence: as, _lot
14_, _block 3_; _article III_, _section 6_, _act v_, etc.
=34. Resolutions for Debate.=--In resolutions for debate, capitalize the
_Resolved_ and the _That_ following.
=Right.=--_Resolved_, That Missouri should establish
schedules of minimum wages for workmen,
constitutionality conceded.
2. The Period
=35. Roman Numerals.=--Omit the period after roman numerals: as, _Louis
XIV of France_.
=36. Abbreviations.=--Place a period after abbreviated words and after
single or double initial letters representing single words: as, _Wm._,
_Thos._, _Ph.D._, _LL.D._, etc.
=37. Contractions.=--Do not put a period after contracted words,
including nicknames: as, _Bill_, _Tom_, _can't_, _hadn't_, etc.
=38. Side-Heads.=--Put a period after side-heads, including figures at
the beginning of a paragraph. Compare, for example, the period after
_Side-Heads_ at the beginning of this paragraph.
3. The Colon
=39. Formal Quotations.=--A colon is used to introduce a formal
quotation.
=Right.=--The author also makes this significant
statement: "There is every reason to believe that
this disease plays a larger part in the production
of idiocy than has hitherto been admitted by writers
on insanity."
=40. Formal Enumerations.=--In lists of the dead, injured, persons
present, and similar enumerations of particulars, use a colon to
introduce the series.
=Right.=--Only four patrons appeared in this
morning's police matinee: Chip Owens, Allie McGowan,
Alfonso Blas, and Nick Muskowitz.
=41. Time Indications.=--In time indications and records place a colon
between hours and minutes, and minutes and seconds: as, _Gates open,
2:30_; _Time, 1:42_.
=42. General Usage.=--In general, use a colon after any word, phrase, or
clause when that which follows explains or makes clear what precedes.
4. The Semicolon
=43. Compound Sentences.=--A semicolon is used in compound sentences to
separate independent clauses that have no connective between. The
semicolon in such constructions, however, is fast disappearing from
newspaper columns. Complex constructions are avoided. Usage favors
making a separate sentence of the second clause.
=Right.=--Brown came first; Johnson followed five
seconds later, with Jones third.
=Permissible.=--The murder was committed sometime
before 12:00 o'clock; at 8:00 this morning the
murderer was in jail.
=Better.=--The murder was committed sometime before
12:00 o'clock. At 8:00 this morning the murderer was
in jail.
=44. Lists.=--In lists of dead, injured, guests, etc., where the name of
the town from which the persons come or the place of residence is given,
separate the different names by semicolons.
=Right.=--Among those present were: Allen Rogers of
Las Vegas, N. M.; Orren Thomas of Benton, Mo.; Mr.
and Mrs. Henry Barnes of Sioux City, Ia.
=45. Athletic Results.=--In football, baseball, and similar athletic
results, use a semicolon to separate the names of the teams and their
scores: as, _Cornell, 21_; _Syracuse, 14_.
=46. Instead of Commas.=--A semicolon may be used instead of a comma
when a clause or sentence is so broken up by commas as to need some
other mark of punctuation to keep the larger phrase- and
clause-relations clear.
5. The Comma
=47. Parenthetic Expressions.=--Parenthetic words, phrases, and clauses,
whether used at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence, are set off
by commas when they cause a marked interruption between grammatically
connected parts of the sentence. If in doubt about the need of a comma,
omit it.
=Right.=--He, like many others, believes firmly in
the rightness of the new movement.
=48. Words in Apposition.=--A word in apposition with another word and
meaning the same thing should be set off by commas.
=Right.=--Henry Owen, lineman for the local
telegraph company, was the only witness of the
accident.
=49. With "namely," "that is," etc.=--A comma is placed before _and_,
_namely_, _viz._, _that is_, _i.e._, _as_, _to wit_, etc., when
introducing an example, an illustration, or an explanation.
=50. Contrasted Words and Phrases.=--Set off contrasted words and
phrases with commas.
=Right.=--Hard work, not genius, was what enabled
him to succeed.
=Right.=--The faster they work, the better they are
paid.
=51. Introductory Words and Phrases.=--Introductory words, phrases, and
clauses at the beginning of a sentence, when they modify the whole
sentence and serve as a connective, are set off by commas.
=Right.=--Yes, he had even tried to bribe the
officer.
=Right.=--On the other hand, the prisoner had taken
her for a member of the gang.
=52. In Direct Address.=--Words used in direct address are set off by
commas.
=Right.=--Mark this, gentlemen of the jury, in his
list of forgeries.
=53. Explanatory Dates and Names.=--A date explaining a previous date or
a geographical name explaining a previous name is set off by commas.
=Right.=--On April 2, 1916, she was arrested at
Chicago, Ill.
=54. Phrases Indicating Residence, Position, or Title.=--Omit the comma
before _of_ in phrases indicating residence, position, or title.
=Right.=--Among the out-of-town guests were Miss
Helen Hahn of Gainesville, Mrs. Henry Bushman of
Athens, and Orren Cramer of Atlanta.
=Right.=--Dwight O. Conklin of the Bessemer Smelting
Company was the chief speaker.
=55. Academic and Honorary Titles.=--Academic and honorary titles are
set off from proper names and from each other by commas: as, _President
O. N. Fowler, Ph.D., LL.D._
=56. Names Followed by Initials.=--Baptismal names or initials following
a surname are set off by commas: as, _Arendale, Charles V._
=57. Words, Phrases, and Clauses in a Series.=--The members of a series
of two or more words, phrases, or clauses standing in the same relation
and not connected by conjunctions, are separated by commas. When the
series consists of three or more members and a conjunction is used to
connect only the last two, the comma may or may not be put before the
conjunction. Better usage, however, favors the inclusion of the comma.
=Right.=--The teller was kicked, beaten, and robbed
by four masked men.
=58. After Interjections.=--Interjections that are but slightly
exclamatory are followed by commas.
The following distinctions in the use of the
interjections _O_ and _oh_ may be noted: _oh_
generally takes a comma after it, _O_ never; except
at the beginning of a sentence, _oh_ is written with
a small letter, _O_ always with a capital; and _oh_
is used always by itself, while _O_ properly comes
only in direct address: as, _O Lord of life_.
=Right.=--Ah, the happy days and the happy city!
=Right.=--Oh, but the way the boys splashed!
=59. Short Quotations and Maxims.=--Set off short informal quotations
and maxims with commas.
=Right.=--He was last heard to say, "If I don't
return in time, call up the office."
=60. In Large Numbers.=--Use commas to separate large numbers into
groups of three figures each: as, $2,518,675. Omit the comma, however,
in dates and in street, telephone, and automobile numbers.
=61. Athletic Scores.=--In football, baseball, and similar records,
place a comma between the name of the team and its score: as, _New
Orleans, 7_; _Memphis, 4_.
=62. Biblical Passages.=--Place a comma between chapter and verse in
citations of biblical passages: as, _John 2, 15_.
=63. Resolutions for Debate.=--In resolutions for debate, put a comma
after _Resolved_.
=Right.=--_Resolved_, That women should be given the
right of suffrage.
=64. General Usage.=--In general, use a comma to mark any distinct pause
not indicated by other marks of punctuation, and to make clear any word,
phrase, or clause that may be obscure without a comma. But do not use
commas except when they are a distinct necessity. Omit them except when
they are needful for emphasis or for the clearness of the sentence.
6. The Dash
=65. Sudden Break in Thought.=--Use a dash to mark a sudden suspension
of the thought or a violent break in the construction of the sentence.
=Right.=--"You mean to say--Just what are you
talking about?" he questioned awkwardly.
=66. Date Lines.=--In stories written under a date line place a dash
between the date or the _Special_ and the beginning of the story. Thus:
Sylvester, Ga., Jan. 21.--Five negroes were taken
from the county jail and lynched at an early hour
this morning.
=67. After "namely," "viz.," etc.=--Place a dash after _namely_, _as_,
_that is_, _viz._, etc., when introducing an example or an
illustration.
=Right.=--The mob seemed to hold him responsible for
two things, namely--the lost key and the barred
door.
=68. Lists of Officers.=--In giving lists of officers, put a dash
between the name of the office and the officer. Thus:
|The newly elected officers are: President--O. N. |
|Homer; Vice President--Abner King; Secretary--David |
|Thoeder; Treasurer--Mark Bronson. |
=69. Dialogue, Questions and Answers.=--In quoting questions and
answers, proceedings of public bodies or trials, and dialogue generally,
put a dash between the _Q._ or the _A._, or the name of the speaker, and
the statement made. And make a new paragraph for each speaker. Thus:
_Q._--Are you a resident of Montana? _A._--I have
been for four years.
=70. Slowness of Speech.=--Put a dash between words or phrases to
indicate slowness or hesitancy in speech. Thus: "These, he said, were
his--er--wife's slippers."
7. Parentheses
=71. Political Parties.=--In legislative or congressional reports in
which the political affiliation of a member, or the state or county from
which he comes, is given, enclose the party, state, or county name in
parentheses: as, _Mr. Smith (Dem., S. C.)_, _Mr. Harris (Jefferson)_.
=72. General Usage.=--Avoid the use of parentheses within sentences. Two
short sentences are better than one long one containing a parenthetic
expression. A sentence having a clause within marks of parentheses can
generally be cut into two sentences and for newspaper purposes made more
effective.
8. Quotation-Marks
=73. Direct Quotations.=--Quotation-marks are used to set off direct
quotations printed in the same type and style as the remainder of the
story. A quotation coming within a quotation is set off by single
quotation-marks; and a third quotation coming within single
quotation-marks is set off by double marks again. Do not fail to put
"quotes" at the end of a quotation. This very common error, failure to
include the "end quotes," is a source of great annoyance to printers and
proof-readers.
=74. Quoted Paragraphs.=--When a quotation includes more than one
paragraph set in the same type and style as the context, put
quotation-marks at the beginning of each paragraph, but omit them at the
end of every paragraph except the last. In this way the quotation is
shown to be continuous. As a rule, a quotation of more than one sentence
is written in a separate paragraph. When the quotation is to be set in
smaller type than the body of the story, all quotation-marks at the
beginning and end of the paragraphs are omitted.
=75. Quotations and Summaries.=--When reporting a speech or interview
and alternately summarizing and quoting verbatim, do not include in the
same paragraph a direct quotation and a condensed summary of what
precedes or follows. Make a separate paragraph for each. Thus:
|"Shall we continue to listen to a wandering voice as|
|imbecile as our condition?" said the speaker. "When |
|this voice recently was removed from the counsels of|
|our government, we thought, good easy souls, that we|
|had got rid of it forever. Has Mr. Bryan proved |
|himself so good a prophet in the past that we can |
|afford to trust him in the future? Personally, I |
|have never believed in Mr. Bryan's wisdom, and I |
|grant him sincerity only because the point is not |
|worth arguing." |
| |
|Mr. Eastbrook said, amid applause, that to say the |
|nation is too big or too proud to fight in |
|self-defense is absurd. To say that a mob of a |
|million or so of untrained citizenry could leap to |
|arms and put to flight the bullet-tested soldiery of|
|Europe is worse than puerile--is murderous |
|stupidity, he declared.... |
=76. Books, Plays, etc.=--Enclose in quotation-marks the titles of
books, dramas, songs, poems, stories, magazine articles, toasts, and
lectures.
=77. Newspapers, Vessels, etc.=--Do not quote the names of newspapers,
magazines, paintings, vessels, cars, or animals.
=78. Slang and Technical Terms.=--Enclose in quotation-marks slang and
technical terms that are supposedly unfamiliar to the reader.
=79. Nicknames.=--Do not quote nicknames of persons or of characters in
plays or novels: as, _Ty Cobb_, _T. R._, _Heinie Zim_, _Becky Sharp_,
etc.
9. The Apostrophe
=80. Possessive Case.=--Use an apostrophe and an _s_ to indicate the
possessive case singular, no matter whether the word ends in one or two
_s's_: as, _Burns's house_, _Furness's hat_.[51] Use the apostrophe and
_s_ to indicate the possessive case plural when the plural does not end
in _s_: as, _men's meeting_, _children's shoes_. Use only the apostrophe
to indicate the possessive case plural when the plural ends in _s_: as,
_boys' hats_, _ladies' outfitter_. In names of corporations, cases of
joint authorship, etc., where two names are equally in the possessive
case, put the apostrophe, or the apostrophe and _s_, only after the name
nearest the thing possessed: as, _Farmers and Merchants' bank_, _Allen
and Bowen's "Classical Mythology_."
[51] Occasional exceptions to this general rule are found,
where euphony would be violated by the additional _s_:
as, Ulysses' son, Moses' staff.
=81. Possessive Pronouns.=--Do not use the apostrophe before the _s_ in
possessive pronouns: as, _its_, _hers_, _theirs_.
=82. Contractions.=--Use an apostrophe in contracted words to indicate
the omission of letters: as, _couldn't_, _he'll_, _you're_.
10. The Hyphen
=83. Compound Words.=--Put a hyphen between the members of a compound
word. Words compounded with the following prefixes and suffixes are
generally hyphenated: _able-_, _brother-_, _by-_, _cross-_, _-elect_,
_ex-_, _father-_, _great-_, _half-_, _-hand_, _mother-_, _open-_,
_public-_, _quarter-_, _-rate_, _self-_. In particular, hyphenate the
following words:
able-bodied
attorney-general
balk-line
base-hit
base-line
basket-ball
brother-in-law
bucket-shop
by-law
by-product
court-martial
cross-examine
ex-president
father-in-law
full-back
goal-line
goal-post
good-by
great-grandfather
half-back
half-witted
home-stretch
judge-elect
kick-off
kick-out
law-abiding
life-saving
line-up
mail-box
man-of-war
mother-in-law
office-seeker
old-fashioned
post-mortem
post-office
president-elect
quarter-back
quarter-stretch
second-rate
shop-girl
short-stop
side-lines
so-called (a.)
son-in-law
spit-ball
to-day
to-morrow
to-night
84. Words Written Solid.--Words compounded of the following prefixes and
suffixes are generally written solid: _a-_, _after-_, _ante-_, _anti-_,
_auto-_, _bi-_, _demi-_, _-ever_, _grand-_, _-holder_, _in-_, _inter-_,
_intra-_, _-less_, _mid-_, _mis-_, _off-_, _on-_, _over-_, _post-_,
_re-_, _-some_, _sub-_, _super-_, _tri-_, _un-_, _under-_, _up-_,
_-ward_, _-wise_, _-with_. The following should be written solid:
anyone
anyway (adv.)
anywhere
awhile
baseball
billboard
bipartizan
bondholder
carload
classmate
corespondent
downstairs
everyday (a.)
everyone
fireproof
football
footlights
footpad
gateman
holdup
inasmuch
infield
ironclad
juryman
landlady
lawsuit
letterhead
linesman
midnight
misprint
misspell
nevertheless
newcomer
nonunion
northeast
northwest
Oddfellows
officeholder
oneself
outfield
pallbearer
paymaster
postcard
posthaste
postmaster
rewrite
saloonkeeper
schoolboy
schoolgirl
semicolon
shopkeeper
sidewalk
skyscraper
snowstorm
southeast
southwest
taxpayer
typewriter
upstairs
=85. Words Written Separately.=--Write the following as two words:
all right
any time
back yard
every time
ex officio
fellow man
half dollar
half dozen
half nelson
mass meeting
no one
pay roll
police court
per cent
pro tem
some one
some way
squeeze play
=86. Compound Numbers.=--Compound numbers between twenty and a hundred,
when spelled out, should have a hyphen: as, _twenty-one_, _forty-three_.
=87. Word Division.=--When dividing a word at the end of a line, observe
the following rules:
1. Do not break a syllable: as, _cre-ditable_, _attemp-ted_, for
_cred-itable_, _attempt-ed_.
2. Do not divide a monosyllable: as, _mob-bed_, _tho-ugh_.
3. Do not separate a consonant from a vowel that affects its
pronunciation: as, _nec-essity_ for _ne-cessity_.
4. Do not divide a diphthong or separate two successive vowels, one of
which is silent: as, _bo-wing_, _pe-ople_, for _bow-ing_, _peo-ple_.
5. Do not separate a syllable that has been added to a word by the
addition of an _s_: as, _financ-es_.
6. Do not divide hyphenated words except at the syllable where the
regular hyphen comes: as, _pocket-book_, _fool-killer_.
7. Do not make awkward divisions: as, _noth-ing_, _crack-le_.
8. Do not begin a line with a hyphen.
9. As a rule, avoid dividing a word at the end of a line and never
divide one at the end of a page.
10. Abbreviations
=88. Abbreviations Avoided.=--Abbreviations should as a rule be avoided.
The coming of the typewriter into journalism has created a tendency to
write out all words in full.
=89. Personal and Professional Titles.=--The following personal and
professional titles are abbreviated when preceding proper names:
Adjt. Gen.
Brig. Gen.
Capt.
Col.
Dr.
Gen.
Gov.
Gov. Gen.
Hon.
Lieut.
Lieut. Col.
Lieut. Gen.
M.
Maj.
Maj. Gen.
Mlle.
Mme.
Mr.
Mrs.
Prof.
Rev.
Rt. Rev.
Sergt.
Supt.
=90. Use of Titles.=--Use personal titles under the following
restrictions:
1. Do not use _Mr._ before a man's name when his baptismal name or
initials are given.
=Not Good.=--Mr. A. B. Crayton of Belleville was a
guest at the Horton house to-day.
=Right.=--A. B. Crayton of Belleville was a guest at
the Horton house to-day.
2. After a person's name has been mentioned once in a story, his
initials or Christian names are omitted thereafter, and a _Mr._ or his
professional title is put before the name.
=Right.=--Prof. O. C. Bowen of Atawa was a speaker
at the local Y. M. C. A. to-day. Prof. Bowen chose
as his subject, "The Four Pillars of State."
3. If a person has more than one professional title, the one of highest
rank should be used. If he has two titles of apparently equal rank,
choose the one last received or the one by which he is best known among
his friends.
4. _Mrs._ always precedes the name of a married woman, _Miss_ that of an
unmarried woman, no matter whether the initials or Christian names are
used or not.
5. In giving lists of unmarried women, precede the names with _Misses_,
taking care always to give the full Christian name of each woman.
6. In giving lists of married women, _Mesdames_ may introduce the names,
though present usage prefers _Mrs._ before each name.
7. When mentioning a man and his wife, put it _Mr. and Mrs. William
Black_, not _William Black and wife_.
8. Do not use _Master_ before the name of a boy.
9. Before a _Rev._ preceding the name of a clergyman always put a _the_:
as, _the Rev. T. P. Frost_. If the clergyman's initials are not known,
write it, _the Rev. Mr. Frost_, not _the Rev. Frost_.
=91. Names of the Months.=--Abbreviations of the months, except March,
April, May, June, and July, are permissible when followed by a numeral
indicating the day of the month, but not when used alone.
=Right.=--Richard Malone, who was injured in an
automobile collision Sept. 18, died at the county
hospital to-day.
=Wrong.=--The time of the meet has been set for a
date not later than the middle of Sept.
=92. Names of the States.=--Names of states, territories, and island
possessions of the United States are abbreviated when preceded by the
name of a town or city: as, _Pueblo, Col._; _Manila, P.I._
=93. Miscellaneous Abbreviations.=--The following abbreviations are also
in good usage: _Esq._, _Inc._, _Jr._, _A.B._, _Ph.D._, _M.D._, _U.S.N._,
etc., when used after proper names; _a.m._, _p.m._, _A.D._, _B.C._, when
preceded by numerals.
=94. Forbidden Abbreviations.=--The following abbreviations may not be
used on most newspapers:
1. Christian names: as, _Chas._ for _Charles_, _Thos._ for _Thomas_.
2. Mount, Fort, and Saint: as, _Mt. St. Elias_ for _Mount Saint Elias_,
_Ft. Wayne_ for _Fort Wayne_.
3. Railroad, Company, Brothers, etc.: as, _New Haven R. R._ for _New
Haven Railroad_, _National Biscuit Co._ for _National Biscuit Company_.
11. Numbers
=95. Dates.=--Observe the following rules concerning dates:
1. Write year dates always in figures: as, _1776_.
2. Write month dates in figures when preceded by the name of the month:
as, _July 7, 1916_. When the name of the month does not precede, spell
out the date: as, _Bills are due on the tenth_.
3. Do not write the day before the name of the month: as, _the 25th of
December_ for _Dec. 25_.
4. Do not put a _d_, _nd_, _st_, or _th_ after a date: as, _Sept. 7th_
for _Sept. 7_.
=96. Money.=--When mentioning sums of money, use figures for all amounts
over one dollar; spell out all sums below a dollar: as, _$5.75_, _fifty
cents_. But if in the same sentence it becomes necessary to mention sums
above and below a dollar, use figures for all.
=97. Street and District Names.=--Spell out street, ward, district, and
precinct names designated by numbers: as, _Second ward_, _Tenth
precinct_.
=98. Sporting Records.=--Use figures for sporting records: as, _10 feet,
5 inches_; _Time, :49-3/5_; _18-2 balk-line_.
=99. Beginning of Sentences.=--Do not begin a sentence with figures. If
impossible to shift the number to a later place in the sentence, place
_about_ or _more than_ before the figures: as, _More than 14,000 persons
passed through the gates_.
=100. Dimensions.=--Use figures with an _x_ to express dimensions of
lots, buildings, floors, boats, machinery, etc.: as, _90x125 feet_,
_60-foot beam_, etc.
=101. General Usage.=--Observe the following general rules concerning
numbers:
1. Use figures to express dates, distances, latitude and longitude,
hours of the day, degrees of temperature, percentage, street numbers,
telephone numbers, automobile numbers, votes, and betting odds. In other
cases spell out all numbers under 100, except where several numbers,
some of which are above and some under 100, are used in the same
paragraph. In such a case, use figures for all.
MARKS USED IN CORRECTING COPY
amb = Ambiguous.
and = A bad "and" sentence. Make two
sentences or subordinate one
clause.
ant = Antecedent not clear.
Cl = Not clear.
Cst = Construction faulty.
Coh = Coherence not good.
Con = Wrong connective.
Consult = Bring copy to instructor for
discussion.
delta = Delete.
dull = Dull reading; put more life into
the story.
E = Error.
ed = Editorializing; too much personal
opinion.
FW = "Fine writing."
Gr = Bad grammar.
K = Awkward; clumsily expressed.
ld = Poor lead; revise.
P = Punctuation wrong.
pt = Point of view shifted.
qt = Make this a direct quotation.
rep = Same word repeated too much.
rew = Rewrite.
sent = Use shorter sentences.
Sl = Slang.
Sp = Bad spelling.
SU = Sentence lacks unity.
T = Wrong tense.
unnec = Unnecessary details; omit some
of them.
tr = Transpose.
W = Wrong use of word.
? = Truth of statement questioned.
¶ = Begin a new paragraph.
No ¶ = No ¶ needed.
_| = Indent.
[Horizontal
parentheses] = Put the words together as one
# = Separate into two words.
[Upward slanting
equals sign] = Hyphen needed.
CORRECTIONS
[Illustration: Hand mark-up of copy to be corrected.]
CORRECTED PROOF
[Illustration: Hand mark-up of corrections on proof.]
PROOF-READERS' MARKS
Cap Capitalize.
lc Lower case; small letter.
delta Delete; omit.
stet Restore the words crossed out.
^ Insert at the place indicated.
[. in circle] Insert a period.
/,\ Insert a comma.
\"/ Insert quotation-marks.
=/ Insert a hyphen.
X Imperfect letter.
9 Letter inverted; turn over.
¶ Make a new paragraph.
No ¶ No paragraph.
# Put a space between.
[Breve] Smaller space.
[Horizontal
parentheses] Close up; no space needed.
\/ /\ Badly spaced; space more evenly.
[Breve] Quad shows between the words; shove down.
wf Wrong font.
tr Transpose.
__
| Carry to the left.
|__| Lower.
__
| | Elevate.
// Straighten crooked line.
lead Add lead between the lines.
delta lead Take out lead.
(?) Query: Is the proof correct?
TERMINOLOGY
=Ad Alley.=--The part of the composing room where the
advertisements are set.
=Add.=--Late news added to a story already written or printed.
=A. P.=--Abbreviation for Associated Press.
=Arrest Sheets.=--The police record on which all arrests are
entered.
=Assignment.=--A story that a reporter has been detailed to cover;
any duty assigned by the city editor.
=Assignment Slips.=--Slips of paper containing assignments the city
editor wishes a reporter to cover. These slips are made out
daily and laid on the reporter's desk at the beginning of his
day's work.
=Bank.=--(1) One of the whole divisions of the headlines, separated
from the next by a blank line; called also a _deck_. (2) A table
or frame for holding type-filled galleys.
=Bank-man.=--A helper in the composing room whose duty it is to
assemble type received from the different linotype machines,
close up the galleys on the bank, and see that they are proved.
=Beat.=--(1) A definite place or section of town,--as the city hall,
the capitol, the police court, fire stations, hotels,
etc.,--regularly visited by a reporter to obtain news; also
termed a _run_. (2) See _scoop_.
=B. F.=--Abbreviation for =bold-face=, =black-face type=.
=Blind Interview.=--An interview given by a man of authority on
condition that his name be withheld.
=Blotter.=--The police record-book of crime.
=Box.=--A rectangular space marked off in a story, usually at the
beginning, for calling attention to the news within the box. The
news is often a list of dead or injured or of athletic records,
printed in bold-face type.
=Break-line.=--A line not filled to the end with letters, as the
last line of a paragraph. In a head a break-line may contain
white space on each side.
=Bridge.=--The raised platform in front of the magistrate's desk in
police court.
=Bull.=--A statement or a series of statements, the terms of which
are manifestly inconsistent or contradictory.
=Bulldog Edition.=--The earliest regular edition.
=Bulletin.=--A brief telegraphic message giving the barest results
of an event, often an accident, unaccompanied by details.
=Catch-line.=--(1) A short line set in display type within the body
of a story to catch the eye of the reader and enable him to get
the striking details by a hasty glance down the column. (2) A
line at the top of each page of copy sent to the composing room
one page at a time: as, "Society," "State," "Suicide." Such
lines enable the bank-men to assemble readily all the stories
and parts of stories belonging together.
=Chase.=--A rectangular iron or steel frame into which the forms are
locked for printing or stereotyping.
=Condensed Type.=--Type thin in comparison to its height; contrasted
with extended type.
=Copy.=--Any manuscript prepared for the press. _Blind Copy_ is copy
that is difficult to read. _Clean Copy_ is manuscript requiring
little or no editing. _Time Copy_ is any matter for which there
is no rush,--usually held to be set up by the compositors when
they would otherwise be idle, or to be used in case of a
scarcity of news. The Sunday paper is filled with time copy.
=Copy Cutter.=--An assistant in the composing room who receives copy
from the head copy reader, or editor, cuts it into takes, and
distributes the takes to the compositors to set up.
=Copyholder.=--A proof-reader's assistant who, to correct errors,
reads copy for comparison of it with the proof.
=Copy-reader.=--One who revises copy and writes the headlines. Not
to be confused with _proof-reader_.
=Cover.=--To go for the purpose of getting facts about an event or
for the purpose of writing up the event: as, "Jones covered the
prize fight."
=Dead.=--A term applied to composed type that is of no further use;
also sometimes applied to copy.
=Deck.=--See _Bank_ (1).
=Department Men.=--Reporters who seek news regularly in the same
places, as the police courts, city hall, coroner's office.
=Display Type.=--Type bolder of face or more conspicuous than
ordinary type.
=Dope.=--Slang for any information or collection of facts to be used
in a story; applied specifically to sporting stories, meaning a
forecast of the outcome, as in a horse-race or a boxing
contest.
=Em.=--The square of the body of any size of type; used as the unit
of measurement for making indentions, indicating the length of
dashes, etc.
=End Mark.=--A mark put at the end of a story to indicate to the
compositor that the story is complete. The two end marks used
are the figure 30 enclosed in a circle and a #.
=Feature.=--To give prominence to; to display prominently.
=Feature Story.=--A story, often with a whimsical turn, in which the
interest lies in something else than the immediate news value;
one that develops some interesting feature of the day's news for
its own sake rather than for the worth of the story as a whole.
Also called "human interest" story. See page 224.
=Filler.=--A story of doubtful news value included for lack of
better news in a column or section of a paper. The so-called
"patent insides" in country weeklies and small dailies are known
as fillers.
=Flash.=--A brief telegraphic message sandwiched between two
sentences of a running story, giving the outcome before it is
reached in the story: as, "Flash--Smith knocked out in
fourteenth round," when the reporter's story has got only as far
as the eleventh round; or, "Flash--Jury coming in; get ready for
verdict," thrust into the body of a story a reporter is sending
about a murder trial.
=Flimsy.=--Thin tissue paper used in duplicating telegraphic stories
as they come off the wire.
=Flush.=--On an even line or margin with.
=Follow Copy.=--An instruction, written on the margin of manuscript,
to the compositor that he must follow copy exactly, even though
the matter may seem wrong.
=Folo.=--An abbreviation for _follow_, marked at the beginning of
stories to indicate that they are to follow others of a similar
nature: as, "Folo Suicide," meaning to the bank-man, "Put this
story in the form immediately after the one slugged 'Suicide.'"
See page 15.
=Form.=--An assemblage of type, usually seven or eight columns,
locked in a chase preparatory to printing or stereotyping.
=Fudge.=--A small printing cylinder and chase that can be attached
to a rotary press; used for printing late news. See page 18.
=Future Book.=--The book in which the city editor records future
events: as, speeches, conventions, lawsuits, etc.
=Galley.=--A long, shallow, metal tray for holding composed type.
From the type in this tray the first or _galley proof_ is pulled
for corrections.
=Galley Proof.=--An impression made from type in a galley.
=Gothic.=--A heavy, black-faced type, all the strokes of which are
of uniform width.
=Guide Line.=--See _Catch Line_ (2).
=Hanging Indention.=--Equal indention of all the lines of a
paragraph except the first, which extends one em farther to the
left than those succeeding.
=Head.=--Abbreviation for _headline_.
_Drop-Line Head_
SECOND YEAR OF
THE GREAT WAR
OPENS TODAY
_Pyramid Head_
Clash between Germany
and Russia Occurred
August 1, 1914
_Cross-Line_
END NOT IN SIGHT
_Hanging Indention_
First Anniversary Finds
Little Change in Relative
Strength of the Two
Opposing Forces.
=Hell-box.=--The box into which waste lead is thrown for remelting
in the stereotyping room.
=Hold.=--An instruction written at the beginning of copy or proof,
instructing the make-up man in the printing room to hold the
article, not print it, until he has received further orders.
=Human Interest Story.=--See _Feature Story_.
=I.N.S.=--Abbreviation for International News Service.
=Insert.=--One or more sentences or paragraphs inserted in the body
of a story already written, giving fuller or more accurate
information.
=Jump-head.=--A headline put above the continuation of a story begun
on a preceding page.
=Justifier.=--A short story of little or no news value inserted at
the foot of a column to fill it out evenly.
=Justify.=--To make even or true by proper spacing, as lines of type
or columns on a page.
=Kill.=--To destroy the whole or a part of a story, usually after it
has been set in type.
=Lead.=--The initial sentence or paragraph of a story, into which is
crammed the gist of the article. See page 68.
=Lead.=--Thin strips of metal placed between lines of type to make
the lines stand farther apart, and hence to make the story stand
out more prominently on the printed page.
=Lower Case.=--(1) A shallow wooden receptacle divided into
compartments called boxes, for keeping separate the small
letters of a font of type; distinguished from the _upper case_
which stands slantingly above the lower case and contains the
capital letters; hence (2) the letters in that case.
=Make-up.=--The arrangement of type into columns and pages
preparatory to printing.
=Make-up Man.=--The workman who arranges composed type in forms
preparatory to printing.
=Morgue.=--The filing cabinet or room in which are kept stories and
obituaries of prominent persons, photographs of them, their
families, and their homes, clippings of various kinds about
disasters, religious associations, big conventions, strikes,
wars, etc. See page 9.
=Must.=--A direction put on the margin of copy to indicate that the
story must be printed.
=Pi.=--Type that has been so jumbled or disarranged that it cannot
be used until reassembled.
=Pi Line.=--A freak line set up by a compositor when he has made an
error in the line and completed it by striking the keys at
random until he has filled out the measure and cast the slug:
ETAOINS
=Play Up.=--To emphasize by writing about with unusual fullness.
=Police Blotter.=--See _Blotter_.
=Pony Report.=--A condensed report of the day's news, sent out by
news bureaus to papers that are not able or do not care to
subscribe for the full service.
=Proof-reader.=--One whose time is given to reading and making
corrections in the printer's proof; not to be confused with
_Copy-reader_.
=Prove.=--To take a proof of or from.
=Pull.=--To make an impression on a hand-press: as, to _pull_ a
proof.
=Pyramid Head.=--A heading of three, four, or five lines,--usually
of three,--the first of which is full, the second indented at
both sides, the third still more indented at both sides, all the
lines being centered. See _Head_.
=Query.=--A telegraphic request to a paper for instructions on a
story that a correspondent wishes to send. See page 240.
=Quoins.=--Wedges used for fastening or locking type in a galley or
a form.
=Release.=--To permit publication of a story on or after a specified
date, but not before. See page 54.
=Revise.=--A corrected proof.
=Rewrite.=--A story rewritten from another paper. See page 218.
=Rewrite Man.=--A reporter who rewrites telegraphic, cable, and
telephone stories, or who rewrites poor copy submitted by other
reporters. See page 219.
=Run.=--See _Beat_ (1).
=Run-in.=--To omit paragraph indentions for the sake of saving
space.
=Running Story.=--A story which develops as the day advances, or
from day to day.
=Scoop.=--Publication of an important story in advance of rival
papers; also called a _beat_.
=Sheets.=--See _Arrest Sheets_.
=Slips.=--Slips of paper hung on the police bulletin board or pasted
in a public ledger, announcing such crimes, misdemeanors,
complaints, and the like as the police are willing to make
public. See page 35.
=Slug.=--(1) A solid line of type set by a linotype machine. (2) A
strip of type metal thicker than a lead and less than type high,
for widening spaces between lines, supporting the foot of a
column, etc. (3) A strip of metal bearing a type-high number
inserted by a compositor at the beginning of a take to mark the
type set by him. (4) The compositor who set the type marked by a
slug. See also _Catch Line_ (2).
=Solid.=--Having no leads between the lines: as, a _solid_ column of
type.
=Space Book.=--A book in which the state editor keeps a record of
stories sent in by correspondents and space writers.
=Space Writer.=--A writer who is paid for his stories according to
the amount of space they occupy when printed.
=Special.=--A story written by a special correspondent, usually one
out of town.
=Stick.=--(1) A small metal tray holding approximately two inches of
type, used by printers in setting type by hand. (2) The amount
of type held by a stick.
=Stone.=--A smooth table top, once of stone, now usually of metal,
on which the page forms are made up.
=Story.=--(1) Any article, other than an editorial or an
advertisement, written for a newspaper. (2) The event about
which the story is written: as, a burglar story, meaning the
burglary that the reporter writes up.
=Streamer Head.=--A head set in large type and extending across the
top of the page.
=String.=--A strip of clipped stories pasted together end to end to
indicate the number of columns contributed by a space writer.
=Style Book.=--The printed book of rules followed by reporters,
copy-readers, and compositors. See page 249.
=Take.=--The portion of copy taken at once by a compositor for
setting up. See page 13.
=30.=--A telegrapher's signal indicating the end of the message;
also put at the end of a story to indicate its completion.
=Tip.=--Secret information about an item of news valuable to a
paper.
=Turn Rule.=--A copy-reader's signal to the composing room to turn
the black face of the rule, indicating thereby that the story is
not yet complete and that more will be inserted at that place.
=U.P.=--Abbreviation for United Press Associations.
=w.f.=--Abbreviation for _wrong font_; a proof-reader's mark of
correction, indicating that a letter from another font has
slipped into a word: as, the _u_ in beca_u_se.
EXERCISES
_CHAPTER V_
Most of the following stories held front-page positions on leading
metropolitan dailies. Explain their story values:
1. Philadelphia, Oct. 31.--With a record of 314 eggs in 365 days, Lady
Eglantine, a white Leghorn pullet, became to-day the champion egg layer
of the world. The little hen, which weighs three and a half pounds,
completed her year of an egg-laying competition at Delaware College,
Newark, Del., and beat the previous record of 286 eggs by 28. The pen of
five hens of which she was a member also broke the American pen record
with 1,211 eggs. The average barnyard fowl produces only 70 eggs in a
year.
2. Topeka, Kan., Feb. 2.--While President Wilson was speaking here
to-day a pair of new fur-lined gloves was taken from the pocket of his
overcoat, which he had hung in an ante-room. It is supposed that
somebody wanted a souvenir of his visit to Kansas. Mr. Wilson missed the
gloves when he started for his train.
3. Richmond, Va., Feb. 20.--Capt. W. M. Myers, delegate for Richmond in
the general assembly, has introduced an amendment to the anti-nuisance,
or "red light," measure, making it unlawful for any woman to wear a
skirt the length of which is more than four inches from the ground, a
bodice or shirt waist showing more than three inches of neck, or clothes
of transparent texture. Delegate Myers said he wished to protect men.
4. Two Rivers, Wis., Feb. 19.--When the Bushey Business College
basket-ball team scored the winning point in the last minute of play
during their game with the Two Rivers team here last night, Anton
Kopetsky was stricken with heart failure. He was taken to the basement
of the building, where physicians started to work over him. In the
meantime a dance was started in the hall where the game had been played.
An hour later, with the dance on in full swing, Kopetsky died. The dance
was stopped and the musicians sent home.
5. Centralia, Pa., Sept. 30.--Forty men are working night and day to
rescue Thomas Tosheski, who has been entombed 96 hours in the
Continental mine here. Food was given Tosheski in his prison to-day by
means of a two-inch gas-pipe, forced through a hole made by a diamond
drill.
6. On the north corner of Darling Street and Temple Alley a little old
woman, white-haired and shrunken in frame, has guarded all day long a
bag of clothes and a feather bed, her only possessions. She was thrown
out of her room at 19-1/2 Temple Alley this morning and she has nowhere
to go.
7. Harrisburg, Pa., Feb. 20.--Henry Blake of this city has been arrested
by State Policeman Curtis A. Davies on charges of burglary. He confessed
to a string of thefts covering months in the fashionable suburban
districts of the state capital. In Blake's pocket was found a much used
Bible. Circled with red ink was the quotation: "Seek and ye shall find."
8. New York, Feb. 19.--The sale of Peter the Great, 2:07-1/4, by W. E.
D. Stokes of this city to Stoughton J. Fletcher, an Indianapolis banker,
sets a new record for old horses. Not in any country, at any period, it
is believed, has a horse of any breed brought so high a price at so
great an age. Peter the Great is 21 years old and Stokes received
$50,000 for him.
9. Boston, August 31.--Another world eating record is claimed by Charles
W. Glidden, of Lawrence, who sat down at a local restaurant yesterday
and devoured fifty-eight ears of corn in an hour and fifty-five minutes.
The previous record is claimed by Ose Dugan, of New York, who ate
fifty-one ears. Mr. Glidden is ready to meet all comers. He keeps in
condition by eating sparingly of prunes, ice cream, and oranges.
10. Grand Rapids, Wis., Feb. 21.--Two miles north of the city a large
grey fox fought for its life this morning, and lost. Conrad Wittman shot
and wounded him a mile south of Hunter's Point. The fox was trailed by
the dogs past Regele's creamery, when the trail came abruptly to an end.
A search was begun, and a short time afterward the fox was found in a
tree, dead. He had leaped to the lower branches as the dogs were
overtaking him, and died from the gun-shot wound after reaching safety.
11. New York, Feb. 28.--After all negotiations, counter negotiations,
champagne suppers, and "rushing," it seems that Charlie Chaplin with his
justly celebrated walk and his frequently featured kick will hereafter
be exclusively shown on Mutual films. Such announcement was made quietly
but definitely yesterday. The contracts, it is asserted, were signed
Saturday. They provide for a bonus of $100,000 to Chaplin, with or
without his mustache; $10,000 a week salary, and a percentage in the
business. The money is to be paid to-morrow. Chaplin is to have a
special company organized for him by the Mutual, and his brother, Syd
Chaplin, also an agile figure in motion pictures, is to be a member of
it. What price was paid for the brother is not stated. The Mutual
Company already has applied for an insurance of $250,000 on the new
star.
12. Greencastle, Ind., Feb. 22.--Fifty De Pauw University students have
been suspended for the present week because they violated the college
rule against dancing. The students attended a ball given three weeks ago
during the midyear recess.
13. St. Joseph, Mo., Oct. 16.--Until the other day a horse belonging to
Elias Chute, 80 years old, of No. 2404 Faraon Street, had not been
outside of a little barn in the rear of 1626 Frederick Avenue for more
than a year. Through most of one winter, spring, summer, fall, and part
of another winter the faithful old animal had stood tied in his stall.
His hoofs had grown over his shoes and everything about him showed he
had been neglected in everything but food and water.
_CHAPTER VIII_
_A._ Explain the faults in the organization of the following stories:
_WILSON SPEAKS TO DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION_
Washington, Oct. 11.--The Daughters of the American Revolution
applauded what they regarded as a gallant compliment to his
fiancée uttered by President Wilson in his speech on national
unity at Continental Hall this afternoon.
In that part of his speech in which he served notice that he
purposes to administer the discipline of public disapproval to
hyphenated Americans, the President remarked:
"I know of no body of persons comparable to a body of ladies for
creating an atmosphere of opinion."
Immediately afterward he said smilingly:
"I have myself in part yielded to the influence of that
atmosphere."
The official White House stenographer inserted a comma in his
transcript of the President's speech at the foregoing utterance,
but the members of the D. A. R. thought the President had come
to a chivalrous period. They looked over the President's
shoulders to one of the boxes where sat his fiancée, Mrs. Norman
Galt, with her mother, Mrs. Bolling, and they applauded
tumultuously.
Several seconds elapsed before the President, whose face had
flushed, could wedge in:
"for it took me a long time to observe how I was going to vote
in New Jersey."
The President's hearers just would not believe that he had had
the suffrage issue in mind when he began his sentence, and Mrs.
Galt herself blushed in recognition of the applause.
Mrs. Galt, with her mother and Miss Helen Woodrow Bones, had
been taken to Continental Hall in one of the White House
automobiles. The President walked over, accompanied by his
military aid, Col. Harte, and the secret-service men. Before he
left the White House he had stood for several minutes leaning
over the side of the automobile having a tête-à-tête with Mrs.
Galt.
Curious persons passing through the White House grounds thought
it a very interesting sight to observe the President of the
United States standing with one foot on the step of an
automobile talking with a member of the fair sex. They got the
impression from the animated character of the conversation that
Mrs. Galt was disappointed because the President was not going
to accompany her to Continental Hall, and that she was trying to
persuade him to abandon his plan of walking over.
Society people are as much interested as ever in the plans of
the couple, but little has been learned definitely as yet. No
disclosure was made to-day of the date of the wedding, and
similar secrecy has been maintained as to their honeymoon plans.
It is known that the Misses Smith of New Orleans, relatives of
the President, are urging that the honeymoon be enjoyed at Pass
Christian, Miss., where Mr. Wilson and his family spent the
Christmas holidays two years ago. It is believed the President
will not choose a place as far distant as Pass Christian. His
friends predict that if he takes any trip at all it will be on
the yacht Mayflower.
Congratulations of the United States Supreme Court on his
engagement were extended to the President this morning when the
Justices called formally to pay their respects on the occasion
of the convening of the court for the fall sittings. The
Justices were received in the Blue Room. They were in their
judicial robes and all members were present except Justice
Lamar, whose illness prevented.
President Wilson's impetuosity as a prospective bridegroom is
keeping the secret service on the jump nearly all the time. More
frequently than he ever has done in the past, the President
leaves the White House unattended and without giving warning to
his bodyguard.
He did this yesterday when he started for Mrs. Galt's residence,
where he was to be a dinner guest, and again this morning when
he walked down town to purchase a new travelling bag. The
purchase resulted in renewed speculation whether or not the date
for the wedding is imminent.
_LEO FRANK WORSE TO-DAY_
Milledgeville, Ga., July 19.--Physicians who examined Leo M.
Frank in the state prison early to-day said his condition was
much worse. The jagged cut in his throat, received at the hands
of a fellow prisoner, William Green, Saturday night, was swollen
and his temperature was 102 2-5.
Physicians have succeeded in stopping the flow of blood from a
jagged wound made with a butcher knife by William Green, also
serving a life term for murder. The blow was struck as Frank
slept in his bunk.
An investigation of the attack probably will be made by the
Georgia prison commission.
Frank's temperature was as low as 101 Monday noon, but ran up to
102 2-5 Monday night. The wound is an ugly, jagged one.
_BRYAN LOSES TEMPER_
Dallas, Texas, Oct. 2.--William J. Bryan, who formerly held a
government job, has temper.
He took said temper out for an airing here to-day. He was riding
from the railroad station to the hotel with a reception
committee, of which a reporter happened to be a member.
"Do you ever intend to be a candidate for public office?" asked
the reporter.
"I think, sir, if you had any sense you wouldn't have asked that
question," replied the exponent of peace.
"I meant no impertinence."
"Well, it was impertinent. You wouldn't want to answer that
question yourself, would you?"
"Sure I can answer it. I never intend to be a candidate for
anything."
"Well, I don't think any friend of mine would try to get me to
promise never to be a candidate again."
"I didn't ask you to promise."
"Well, that's all right," the ex-premier and the dove of peace
returned.
Bryan was almost kissed again to-day.
B. F. Pace, a peace enthusiast, with outstretched arms and
pursed-up lips, rushed upon the Nebraskan in the hotel lobby.
Bryan blushed coyly, clapped his hand over his mouth and dodged
behind a six-foot Texan.
"Not too fast there!" he warned.
Friends intervened.
Pace has bushy whiskers.
_GUEST AT PARTY ROBBER_
The police are searching for a man known as "Jack Wallace," who
is wanted for robbing W. G. Gaede, 444 West Grand Avenue, of
jewelry valued at $350 at the Auditorium Hotel.
Gaede, who was celebrating New Year's eve, met Wallace and took
him to the Auditorium. At 4 o'clock yesterday morning Wallace
suggested that Gaede retire.
Wallace took Gaede to his room and soon afterward departed. When
Gaede awoke his diamond stud, watch, chain, and charm were gone,
also $20 in currency.
Mrs. Agnes Ackerman of the Morrison Hotel was robbed of a purse
containing $50 while dining at the Hotel La Salle Saturday
night.
_B._ Put the following details in proper sequence for a suicide story:
Ira Hancock
Committed suicide (?) about 10 A.M., Monday.
Used to be wealthy.
Always gave waiters a good tip.
Never quit tipping even when he became poor.
Said tip was part of price of a meal.
Waiters always glad to see him.
Patronized cheap restaurants for the past three months.
Lived at 1919 Washington Avenue.
Age, 29.
Left room Monday morning with only a nickel and a bunch of keys.
Borrowed a quarter from Bob Cranston, downtown friend.
Went together for breakfast at Cozy Café, 18 Main Street.
Breakfast cost 25 cents each.
Hancock gave waiter five-cent tip.
Cranston called him a fool.
Hancock unmarried.
9:00 A.M., engaged a dressing room at Island Bathing house.
Bathing beach closed at midnight; Hancock's clothing still in
the dressing room.
Only a bunch of keys in the pockets.
Fired from job at Snyder's Malt house, Saturday night.
Taught girls' Sunday-school class, West Side Baptist church,
Sunday morning.
Body not found.
Lost money dealing in war stocks three months ago.
_CHAPTER IX_
_A._ Correct such of the following leads as need correction. Where the
age of the person, his place of residence, or similar details necessary
to an effective lead are lacking, supply them (paragraphs =100-120=).
1. Adam Schenk fell off the runway at the Fernholz Lumber Yard
on Monday forenoon and landed on his back at a point near his
kidneys on a stake on the wagon, breaking the stake off.
2. Rather than to put the Tuttle Press Company to an unnecessary
expense of appropriating $1,000 that would do neither the city
nor any particular individual a cent's worth of material good,
and assuming also that the city, by virtue of the fact that the
company's original plant was erected on lines provided by the
city's engineer, is in a measure responsible for present
conditions, the city commissioners in conference with S. A.
Whedon of the Tuttle Press Company this morning decided not to
proceed further in the matter of ordering removed the walls of a
big addition to the plant now in process of construction.
3. Roaming hogs was the cause of the recent illness of Mr. T. N.
Davis. The hogs rooted under the wire fence surrounding his
residence and in his effort to get them out he exerted himself
beyond his endurance.
4. At an early hour Tuesday morning, as the beams of the rising
sun were struggling to dispel the uncertainties of a winter
night, the final summons came to Miss Ella O'Harrigan, our
beloved librarian, to join the innumerable caravan that moves to
the pale realms of shade.
5. Again the lure of Broadway, the craving to be among
expensively clad men and women, and a longing to seem of more
than actual importance, have resulted in a fall from a position
of responsibility and trust to one facing the possibility of a
long term of imprisonment.
This time it is a woman; good looking, possessing the knack of
dressing smartly, capable and efficient, and less than 40 years
old. For six years she had been head bookkeeper in Marbury Hall,
an apartment hotel of the best class, at 164 West Seventy-fourth
Street. For more than two years of that time, according to the
prosecuting officials, she has been putting cash belonging to
the hotel into her own diamond-studded purse, whence it was
transferred to the coffers of expensive dressmakers, theatres,
and restaurants, particularly those which maintained dance
floors.
Yesterday afternoon she was arrested, charged with grand
larceny. She raised her hand to her mouth as the detective
tapped her shoulder, and a few minutes later was taken to the
Polyclinic Hospital, to be later transferred to Bellevue. She
will recover from the poison and will have to face in court in
four or five days the charges which she attempted to avoid by
death....
6. Swept by a 33-mile gale, a fire which started in a
three-story frame Greek restaurant on Appomattox Street this
afternoon quickly spread to adjoining frame buildings in
Hopewell, the "Wonder City," at the gates of the Du Pont Powder
Company's plant, twenty miles from here, and at nightfall
practically every business house, hotel, and restaurant in the
mushroom powder town of 30,000 had been wiped out, the loss
amounting to $1,000,000 or more.
7. One man, a bank messenger, was shot mortally and his
assailant wounded, perhaps mortally, two other men narrowly
missed death by shooting, and thousands of persons were
terrorized by an attempted hold-up in the Fourteenth Street
subway station at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon, and by a chase
which skirted Union Square, continued through a theatre arcade
and ended blocks away.
8. As a result of an old quarrel between two citizens of Leroy,
the melting snow-drifts on the streets of that city ran red with
human blood, Wednesday. John M. Zellhoefer lay gasping his last
breath on the sidewalk, with a fatal bullet wound through the
midst of his body, while over him stood Francis Marion Dunkin,
with smoking revolver in hand.
9. Nothing had been learned by the police last night to
indicate that George de Brosa, who died early yesterday morning
in Bellevue hospital after fatally wounding Allan Gardner, a
bank messenger, and being shot by Walter F. Orleman, another
bank messenger, in an attempted holdup of the two in the
Fourteenth Street subway station Friday afternoon, had an
accomplice.
10. At All Saints Cathedral Sunday morning, Dean Seldon P.
Delany spoke on "Salvation through Self-Sacrifice," taking for
his text Mark viii, 35: "Whosoever will save his life shall lose
it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the
gospel's, the same shall save it."
11. Rachel Green, colored, suffered a dislocated and badly
sprained knee last night while she was attending religious
services at Main Street Colored Baptist church and another woman
began to shout and jumped into her lap.
12. James L. Crawley of Hastings is confined to his home with a
broken arm and lacerated ear. His injuries were received when he
stepped on the family cat and fell headlong down the cellar
steps. The cat was asleep on the top step.
13. John Radcliffe, 16 years old, of Moultrie, had never been
kissed, and in trying desperately to maintain this estate, while
pursued at a barn dance by Mrs. Winifred Trice, Monday night, he
fell out of a door twenty feet from the ground and was picked up
with one arm and three ribs fractured.
14. Charged with having tried to obtain $1,000 by forgery, a
handsomely gowned young woman, who gave her name as Irene
Minnerly, and said she was a telephone operator, and a man who
described himself as Webster Percy Simpson, thirty-six, living
at the Hotel Endicott, were arrested yesterday afternoon as they
were leaving the offices of Fernando W. Brenner, at No. 6 Church
Street.
15. Allen & Co., Ltd., the well-known London firm of publishers,
has been prosecuted for the publication of a novel called "The
Raindrop," written by D. H. Lawrence, on the ground that it is
obscene.
16. Interesting testimony was given before Justice Scudder in
the Supreme Court to-day in the hearing of the suit for divorce
brought by Harry H. Wiggins of Floral Park, a retired grocer.
Mr. Wiggins alleged undue fondness for John Burglond, a farm
hand formerly employed in Mrs. Wiggins' cabbage patch. Mrs.
Wiggins is 53 years old and Burglond 33.
17. S. H. Brannick of this city lost a fine cow last week, the
animal departing this life suddenly after the city had retired
for the evening.
18. Miss Ellen Peterson, a former employee of Miss Josie
Griffin's millinery, 2318 Cottage Grove Avenue, was married
Tuesday by the Rev. Johnston Myers at Immanuel Baptist church.
The couple left immediately after the ceremony for a wedding
trip through the West.
19. Hilda is the daughter of one of the deftest colored janitors
who ever kept a dumb waiter just that. With her father and
mother she lives in a court apartment on the ground floor of No.
195 Main St., and last night she was slumbering blissfully,
wrapped in dreams of a chocolate-colored Santa Claus with
sweet-potato trimmings and persimmon whiskers, when she heard
the window of her room open.
_B._ Comment on the leads to the following stories, rewriting any that
need correction (paragraphs =100-120=):
1. This story dates back eight months, when Mrs. Elizabeth
Hochberger became a patient at the county hospital in Chicago.
She was ill of typhoid fever and in her first night at the
hospital she became delirious. While in this condition she
seized a ten-inch table knife from a tray and in the absence of
anyone to restrain her poked it down her throat. Attendants
attracted by the woman's groans hurried to the bedside. Then an
interne appeared, made a hasty diagnosis, and attributed the
patient's action to the delirium. He administered an opiate.
Several days later Mrs. Hochberger, having passed the crisis of
the fever, began to recover. A week afterward she was discharged
as cured.
From the time she complained of internal pains and to relatives
she recounted a vague story of her delirium at the hospital. She
had a faint recollection of swallowing a knife, she said. To
swallow a knife and survive was improbable, she was told, but
she was advised to see a physician. The first doctor called in
recommended an immediate operation for a tumor. Another believed
she had an acute case of appendicitis.
"It was not until we made our discovery that Mrs. Hochberger
told us of her delirium," said the doctor. "Had I heard it
before making the X-ray examination I would have hardly given it
credence. I have heard of people swallowing coins and pencils,
but this is the first knife ever brought to my attention."
The knife was removed to-day by Dr. George C. Amerson at the
West Side Hospital.
2. If you want a man to love you,
Bear in mind this plan:
Always keep him doubtful of you;
Fool him all you can!
Never let him know you like him;
Never answer, "Yes,"
Till you have him broken-hearted.
Make him guess, guess, guess.
This is the chorus of one of the songs Pearl Palmer, pretty
opera singer, was to have sung when she made her first Broadway
appearance as one of the principals of the opera, "The Princess
Pat." Now she is dead because she carried this philosophy into
her own life, her friends say. Herbert Haeckler, who killed the
young singer and himself Sunday night, had been kept "guessing,"
they said, until his mind had given away.
Eva Fallon will sing the song Miss Palmer was to have sung when
the opera opens to-morrow night. It was postponed from last
night because of the tragedy.
3. A young man by the name of Tom Verbeck, 18 years old, living
in Freeport, who rides a motorcycle, was passing along the
Chicago road, Friday, when he met an automobile driver who was
in distress. The motorcycle man stopped, and when asked to lend
a hand gave freely of his time. He was unsuccessful, however,
and it was decided to have the motorcycle tow the auto into
Freeport. More complications presented themselves, as neither
the auto driver nor the motorcycle rider had a rope to tie the
two machines together. The automobile man solved this problem by
taking off his wool shirt and using it for a tow-rope. The owner
of the auto rode in the buzz wagon into town, and on account of
the darkness it was not noticed that he was shy a shirt. The
motorcyclist towed the machine to the residence of the driver by
way of back streets, and here he unloaded the machine. The shirt
used as a tow-rope was not dismembered by the operation.
_C._ Write the lead to the story the outline of which was given on page
290.
_D._ Write for Friday afternoon's paper an informal lead to the
following story:
Characters: Anton Kurdiana and his wife, Rosa (née Novak).
Anton's age, 24; Rosa's, 20. Married three months ago. Anton has
a cork leg. Leg cut off above the knee by a train a year ago.
Rosa Novak a nurse in the hospital to which he was taken. Rosa
preparing to get a divorce. Anton did not want a divorce. A
friend of Anton's told him if he would leave the state, Rosa
could not get the divorce. A friend of Rosa's told her Anton was
preparing to leave early this (Friday) morning.
Last night after he went to bed, Rosa hid his cork leg. He
called for help from his bedroom window this morning and the
police came. Bailiff also came and served notice of divorce
proceedings. They live at 2404 Faraon Street, this city.
Cause of divorce, cruelty and non-support.
_E._ Explain the different tones of the following leads and the writers'
methods of gaining their effects (paragraph =119=):
1. "You have stolen my daughter! Take that!"
"That" was a short right jab to the face. Mrs. Anna la Violette
of 6632 South Wabash Avenue was the donor, and William Metcalf,
who had merely married her daughter Elsie, aged 18, owned the
face.
2. Twenty grains of cocaine and morphine a day, eighty times the
amount an average dope fiend uses, enough to kill forty men,
fifteen years at it too,--this is the record of Dopy Phil
Harris, the human dope marvel found to-day by the California
Board of Pharmacy in its combing of the San Francisco
underworld. If poison were taken away from Harris for
forty-eight hours, he would die within the next twenty-four.
3. The winds, whose treachery Archie Hoxsey so often defied and
conquered, killed the noted aviator to-day. As if jealous of his
intrepidity, they seized him and his fragile biplane, flung them
out of the sky, and crushed out his life on the field from which
he had risen a few minutes before with a laughing promise to
pierce the heavens and soar higher than any human being had ever
dared go before.
4. The champion lodge "jiner" is the title bestowed by Mrs.
Jennie Gehret, wife of John D. Gehret, of this city, on her
husband. It is not because she wants to be his wife. She is
suing for divorce, and John's feats as a jiner are the reasons
for her action.
5. And tragedy blurs out their joy again.
Five-year-old Norman Porter of Wadsworth, Ill., wanted a toy
horse on wheels for Christmas, and his nine-year-old brother,
Leroy, wrote Santa for an automobile that would "run by itself."
The wooden horse, its head broken off, lay last night in the
snow at Kedzie Avenue and Sixteenth Street. A few feet away some
children picked up the tin automobile bent almost beyond
recognition. The toys were knocked from the arms of Mrs. James
R. Porter, the boy's mother, when she was struck by an
automobile and the same wheels which crushed out her life had
passed over them.
6. A fair-haired boy in knickerbockers, who chewed gum with
reckless insouciance and indulged in cool satirical comment on
his companion's amateur efforts, yesterday directed a daring
holdup of the Chicago Art and Silver Shop at 438 Lincoln
Parkway, from which silverware and jewelry valued at $600 was
carried off.
7. He is colored, forty-three years old, a laborer, and lives at
No. 440 West Forty-fifth Street, and when he was brought before
Lieut. Fogarty at Police Headquarters yesterday charged with
having done some fancy carving with a razor on the countenance
of Ira Robinson of No. 2004 Clinton Street, he gave his name as
General Beauregard Bivins.
_CHAPTER X_
_A._ Criticize the following stories from the standpoint of accuracy of
presentation. Rewrite the second. (Paragraphs =122-126=.)
_FUTURE WIVES WARNED_
Not since the days of the cave men has masculine assurance dared
issue such an ultimatum to femininity as that just sent by an
organization of students of Tulane University known as "Our
Future Wives" club. The club has as its purpose the dictation of
the dress selection of every woman. It is an organization of
young men who have developed the stern purpose of correcting
female faults and of widening the scope of choice that they may
have in the choosing of wives who will be sensible.
The fifteen students who are members have pledged themselves to
taboo socially every young woman who does not literally adhere
to the list of regulations which the organization has prescribed
as dress limitations. Young women who refuse to be guided by the
ukase of the club will find that none of its members will ever
extend any invitations to them; they will discover, it is
promised, that they have been sadly and most completely "cut."
At its initial meeting the club drew up and adopted a
"proclamation." This document was mailed in copy to every young
woman student of Newcomb College. The young women recipients
read the following:
"1. We will look upon no young woman with favor who spends more
than $15 a year for hats. Only one hat should be worn throughout
the year. We think it possible that hats may be trimmed over and
worn for several years.
"2. No cosmetics should be used. Powder might be used in the
case of a sallow girl.
"3. Perfumes are absolutely under the ban as a needless and
disagreeable expense.
"4. Additional hair should not be bought. It is an extravagance
and is contrary to the purpose of nature.
"5. Not more than $40 a year should be expended for dresses and
suits.
"6. Jewelry, with the exception of a wedding ring, is no
adornment, to our way of thinking. Off with diamonds, rubies,
and pearls, and the like.
"7. Silk stockings are the one extravagance allowed. Scientists
say that silk stockings prevent the wearer from being struck by
lightning.
"8. Five dollars a year is the amount necessary for shoes.
"9. Laces of all descriptions making for an appearance of
frivolity should not be used in dress.
"10. All other necessaries of dress should not cost more than
$25 a year."
_EIGHT COIN-BOX ROBBERS CAUGHT_
In the arrest last night of five men and three women as they
were wrapping piles of five-cent pieces into one-dollar rolls in
an elaborately furnished apartment near Audubon Avenue and 172d
Street, the police have found the thieves who have been
concerned in all the telephone slot-box robberies during the
past three years and have robbed the New York Telephone Company
of thousands of dollars.
The men and women under arrest have used a powerful automobile
in going about the city, robbing the slot boxes with skeleton
keys and files. The men arrested gave the following names and
ages:--Tom Morrison, 21; Nic Marino, 26; Adam Neeley, 25;
William O. Cohen, 30; and Charles Guise, 25. The women were
Della Thomas, 25; Dorothy Price, 25; and Dollie Lewis, 25.
For more than two years the New York Telephone Company has
endeavored unsuccessfully to trap these thieves in their
robberies of the pay stations. Buzzers were affixed so that an
attempt to open them would sound a warning, but, despite that,
the thefts continued. Acting Captain Jones, of the Third Branch,
and Acting Captain Cooper, of the Fourth Branch Detective
Bureaus, who directed the arrests, declare that the women did
the telephoning and opened the coin boxes, and that one of the
men, coming to the booth from the telephone as if to call,
reached in a hand or a small bag and took the coins.
_BREEZE AND RAIN PRODUCER DISCOVERED_
Prof. Marblenut, Dopetown's imminent (correct) scientist, has
arranged to furnish this city with a perpetual cool breeze and
two showers a week, all next summer. The breeze is to be made by
a gigantic electric fan operated by current generated in a plant
on the banks of Little Muddy, at Pigankle Falls. This monster
fan will be made of steel. The showers will be made by an
apparatus built on the same principle as a Chinese laundryman's
face when he takes a mouthful of water and sprays the wash. The
water will come from the river and will be filtered, then
sprayed over the city from the face of a colossal Chinese figure
standing on the left bank of the river above the power house.
Prof. Marblenut is the same man who attempted suicide with a
bakery doughnut when his wife left him last year. A friend took
the deadly thing from him and saved his life.
_BOB LA FOLLETTE STILL INCONSISTENT_
Senator Robert M. La Follette faced an audience of about 300 men
in the armory on Tuesday night. He arrived rather late as if to
so sharpen the appetite of curiosity that his unsavory
oratorical courses might be bolted without inspection and
denunciation of the chef. The Senator was conducted to the stage
and introduced by Assemblyman Ballard. His arrival was greeted
with only an inkling of applause from one corner of the gallery
occupied by a few college students. Near the stage rested Peter
Tubbs and Senator Culbertson, sphinx-like in the desert of
progressivism meditating on the grandeur of past political glory
abused and lost. To the men an occasional political riddle was
proposed by the speaker for solution.
The Senator's speech lasted nearly three hours, two of which
were devoted to ancient history, and one to sharp criticisms of
the Philipp administration. From the beginning of things in
Wisconsin, the Senator traced the growth of democratic
institutions on the one hand and that of corporations on the
other. The alleged incessant struggle for mastery between them
was described with stage sincerity. It appeared, from his
account, that the people were losing ground up to the time of
his birth a half century or more back. And there was a dearth of
honest men and patriotic statesmen in the state until the
Senator was old enough to hold public office....
_CLAUDE OLDS DIES FROM COASTING INJURIES_
Claude Olds, 12-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. George Olds, Wilson
Street, died at 3:45 o'clock yesterday afternoon at St.
Elizabeth Hospital as a result of injuries sustained in a
coasting accident, related briefly in these columns yesterday.
The lad sustained a broken neck and internal injuries.
Dr. Alvin Scott of the Bowman park commission, who was
instrumental in providing safe toboggan slides for the children
in the city park, has decided since yesterday's fatal accident
to ask the city commission for an appropriation sufficient to
establish a number more of toboggan slides for the accommodation
of children in various parts of the city. He is proceeding on
the very safe assumption that if there had been a toboggan slide
in the Third Ward the fatality of yesterday would not have
happened, for there would then have been no occasion for
children coasting on the hill where the accident occurred.
The unfortunate lad, with his brother, Ernest Olds, and Chester
Graves and Bessie Lamb, were on a delivery sled owned by the
Barnes and Scholtz Grocery Company, sliding down a hill that
extends into the ravine just north of Second Street and east of
Mason. When about halfway down the bob capsized and the little
Olds boy was buried under it. Coasting on hills not especially
prepared for it is dangerous to life and limb. The authorities
should put a stop to it in Bowman, but at the same time the city
should make safe provision for such sport by erecting toboggan
slides similar to the ones in the city park.
_MRS. DOWS SEEKING ADVENTURE_
Mrs. Andrews Dows, whose photograph is reproduced above, says
she believes she is the most adventuresome of New York's society
women, but is tired of the humdrum existence of Mother Earth in
general and New York in particular. She says she thinks she has
run the entire gamut of worldly thrills, but is still on the
lookout for something new. Mrs. Dows declares she has ridden the
most fiery of steeds and taken them over the most dangerous
jumps. She has driven auto racing cars at blinding speed. Once
she captured a burglar single-handed. She has piloted all manner
of water speed craft. Now she declares she is tired of flitting
through the clouds in an aeroplane and is impatiently waiting to
hear of some sort of dangerous adventure that she has not
already experienced.
_B._ What criticism may be made of the following?
An even one hundred reservations have been made for the New
Year's Eve dinner to be served at 11 o'clock in the Venetian
room at the Carman House, and thirty have been made for service
in the café. No more can be accommodated in the Venetian room,
but the management will be able to take care of a few more in
the café and French room. Those who have reserved places are
planning to make this the biggest New Year's jollification ever
held in Avondale. The management of the Carman also says that
patrons will be given the very best of service.
_C._ Examine the following story for its excellence in keeping the time
relation entirely clear. Show how the writer obtains this clearness and
how he avoids the possibility of libel. (Paragraphs =124-131=.)
_DEATH NOTE BEARS AUTHOR'S TRAGEDY IN LOVE_
Four years ago the love story of Myrtle Reed, the author, who
had immortalized her husband, James Sydney McCullough, in prose
and verse, came to a tragic end when she committed suicide in
"Paradise Flat," her Kenmore Avenue apartment. During the five
years of her married life her "model husband," as she called
McCullough, was believed to have furnished the inspiration for
"Lavender and Old Lace," "The Master's Violin," and other love
stories from her pen.
Mystery shrouded her death and an effort was made to hush up the
suggestion that she was convinced that her husband no longer
loved her. A note addressed to her aged mother was never made
public.
Yesterday in Circuit Judge Windes's court her father, Hiram V.
Reed, sought to have McCullough deposed as trustee of her estate
of about $91,000. Negligence and misapplication of funds were
charged. Mr. Reed's attorney planned to show that Mrs.
McCullough expected to change her will before she committed
suicide.
What purported to be the mysterious note was offered in
evidence. It was typewritten and only two words of script
appeared in it. Judge Windes ruled that it was not sufficiently
identified and rejected it as evidence. The offered note reads
in part:
"Dearest Mother: After five years of torment I have set
myself free. I suppose you'll think it's cowardly, but I
cannot help it. I cannot bear it any longer. Last night
was the twelfth anniversary of our meeting. He was to
come home early and bring me some flowers, and instead of
that he came home at half past one so drunk he couldn't
stand up.
"Last year my birthday and the anniversary of our
engagement were the same way. This morning he went out of
town without even waking me up to say goodby to me or
telling me where he was going or when he would be back.
All I asked of him was that he should come home sober at
half past six as other men do, but he refuses to give me
even this. I am crushed, overwhelmed, drowned.
"I enclose two bank savings books. This is for you and
father and for nobody else under any circumstances
whatever, aside from the provision I have made for you in
my will. I've tried my best, mother. I've tried to bear
it bravely and to rise above it and not to worry, but I
cannot. I loved my husband so until he made me despise
him. I should have done this five years ago, only you and
father needed me.
"You've been the dearest father and mother that anybody
ever had and my being dead won't make any difference in
my loving you. My will is in Mr. Fowler's vault. Oh,
mother, I've loved so much, I've tried so hard, I've
worked so hard, and I've failed, failed, failed, failed.
Forgive me, please. With love always,
"Myrtle."
McCullough was out of the city at the time of his wife's death.
Upon his return he said that she had probably taken her life
while mentally unbalanced.
"Have you any comment to make on the letter written by your wife
to her mother?" he was asked yesterday.
"Oh, I could tell you a long story if I wanted to," said he,
carelessly. "There's nothing to it at all. I could show you
worse letters than that. I doubt if she ever wrote it anyway.
There is no proof. To understand this matter you must know that
my wife's father and her brother have been fighting to get
control over her estate. They didn't get enough to satisfy them
under the will."
Although Judge Windes refused to depose McCullough as
administrator, he ordered him to make a definite report, setting
forth the condition of the property, with a list of all
disbursements. Further, he directed that McCullough should
report from time to time as the court might direct and ordered
him to give a permanent bond of $50,000. The court said that the
trustee's conduct had been improper.[52]
[52] _Chicago Tribune_, July 15, 1915.
_D._ Indicate and correct the faults in the following stories
(paragraphs =131-134=):
1. While Mrs. Stanley Barnes was making fruit salad at the
Baptist parsonage Thursday she lost her wedding ring in it.
Clark Webster was sick Friday morning, and for a time it was
thought that he had eaten it in the salad, but a calmness was
restored in these parts when it was learned that she had failed
to put it on when leaving home in the morning.
2. Hereafter it shall be written by way of simile: "As fair as a
Hinsdale blonde." Rainwater is the answer. Rainwater! Rainwater,
such as used to seep off the kitchen roof into the eave trough
and into the barrel at the corner.
But the Hinsdale water barrel, that has just been completed and
now is in operation, is no mere castoff sauerkraut hogshead. It
cost $30,000, and it gives forth rainwater at a rate of a
million gallons a day. And the dingiest brunette will soon
blossom out in the full glory of the spun-gold blonde. The
chemist person who installed the $30,000 rain barrel says so,
and he claims to know.
It was cited to the women of Hinsdale that the women of the
British Isles are fair, very fair, indeed. What makes them so
fair? The fog. And what is fog? It is rainwater in the vapor.
Hence rainwater will make women fair. Let us, therefore, have
rainwater.
The water in Hinsdale heretofore has been hard. It crinkled the
hair and put the complexion on the bum. It cost more money for
cosmetics to set these complexions right than a couple of
$30,000 rain barrels. But now the seediest lady in the land has
only to make a pilgrimage to Hinsdale and return ready to make
faces at the inventor of peroxide.
3. Last week Tuesday night the henhouse of Mr. Rosenblot, on the
Standard farm, was broken open and 14 hens taken. Also at the
same time five bags of grain and two bags of cattle salt were
stolen. Thursday night his chicken coops were visited and about
40 little chicks taken. Mr. Rosenblot expects his wife and her
mother from Russia next week.
4. The feature of the evening was the dance. Miss Semple's grace
and ease in executing the many intricate steps of the Argentine
tango, hesitation waltz, and other modern dances elicited great
applause from the onlookers. Miss Sheppard of the District
Nurses' Association gave a lecture on first aid to the injured.
5. "Lemme see something nifty in shirts--something with a classy
green stripe," said Dan McKee of Soho Street, as he cruised into
the men's furnishing store of Emil de Santis, in Webster Avenue.
The lone clerk evidently did not notice all the specifications
of McKee's order, and listlessly drew out at random the first
box of shirts his hand touched. Picking the top shirt out, he
laid it before McKee.
"There's something nice," he began.
"Oh, is it?" yelled McKee.
"McKee," said Magistrate Sweeney at the hearing, "what on earth
made you try to wreck that store?"
"I asked for a green striped shirt, judge."
"Well?"
"And that fellow handed me a bright orange one."
"I see," said Sweeney. "But I'll have to make it thirty days."
_E._ The following stories, along with other faults, are lacking in
tone. Correct them in any way necessary. (Paragraphs =136-137=.)
1. The wedding bells peeled joyfully at the home of Mr. H. R.
Drake last Tuesday, when their highly accomplished and beautiful
daughter, Melva, became the blushing bride of that sterling
young farmer, Henry Eastman. The bride's brother, Charlie,
played Mendelssohn's wedding march on his cornet, and
considering the fact he has only had it about 9 months it
sounded good. Rev. Osgood, who has been working through harvest
and picking up a little on the side, performed the nuptials. The
bride's costume was a sort of light gauzy affair and white
slippers and stockings to match. Of course she wore heavier
clothes when they went on their wedding trip. Quite a merry
crowd assembled to see them off, and as they didn't have any
rice some of them got to throwing roasting ears. Henry was
struck under the eye by a large ear and blacked it pretty bad.
They drove right to Larned and stayed all night at the hotel,
and then took their wedding trip to Kinsley and Dodge City. They
have rented the old home place and will be at home next Tuesday.
Melva expects to take charge of Cooper & Jones' cook shack the
rest of the season.
2. The old must die, the young sometimes do. When a young child,
sweet and gentle in temperament, lovable and full of promise, is
cut down in the very hey time of youth, it is unutterably sad.
There is said to be a time for all things and this would seem to
be a time for mourning.
Sunday morning at 4:30 o'clock the Death Angel summoned John O.
Beck, Jr., and bade him leave his playthings and many friends
and come away. It must have been with a sigh of relief that his
spirit took flight from the frail body which had been tortured
for twenty-two long days with the torture of spinal meningitis.
John O. Beck, Jr., youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. John O. Beck,
was born on the twenty-fifth day of July, 1903, in Boswell. He
was the youngest of four children--William, Leona, and La Baron
survive him. His was a most beautiful nature, he loved company,
and the childish circles in which he moved were always brighter
and happier for his presence. As a member of the Christian
Sunday School he was always in his place. The little boy will be
missed, not only in the home, but among his playmates and also
amongst the older people of the city.
The funeral will be held to-morrow afternoon at 3 o'clock from
the family home. Dr. Frank Talmage, pastor of the Christian
Church, will officiate. Interment will be made in South Park.
3. After the ceremony the guests repaired to the dining-room,
where a wedding dinner was served, replete with the most
luscious viands conceivable by the human imagination. The
turkey, which had been roasted under the personal supervision of
the bride, possessed delectability of flavor impossible of
description. It was the unanimous verdict of the numerous
assemblage of appreciative guests that never before in the
annals of human history had a turkey more delicious, more
savory, more ambrosial, been the object of human consumption.
Both the business office and the editorial rooms of the
_Standard_ were largely and brilliantly represented, and the
collation was interspersed with highly intelligent affabilities.
Constant streams of sparkling repartee rippled across the table,
jocund anecdotes and refined civilities of every variety
abounded, the festivities in every way being characterized by
vivacity, suavity, chivalry, and irreproachable respectability.
4. R. S. George had a narrow escape from sudden death yesterday
morning. George was working on top of an electric pole on Water
St. and Ninth Ave. He was strapped to the pole. He was removing
the bolts that held the cross-bars. The pole was rotten and
George's weight at the top caused it to break. In falling the
pole hit the supply wagon that was standing below, breaking the
fall. Other men working on the job rushed to his aid. Dr.
Mitchell was called. George was taken to the Sacred Heart
Hospital. Mr. George was badly shaken up but not seriously
injured. He is employed by the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light & Power
Co.
5. Bud Lanham, the Corner's miser, who has buried his money for
the last six years near the big ash tree back of Cary's gin,
lost half of it last week. The guilty person has not been
apprehended. Tim Snyder went to Jonesville yesterday and bought
himself a fine suit of clothes and a Ford.
6. Mrs. A. I. Epstein, the soprano soloist from St. Louis, will
sing a symphony known as the "Surprise Symphony" at the concert
by the University Orchestra in the auditorium to-morrow night.
The piece was written by Haydn. The symphony was so named by the
composer on account of the startling effects produced. The solo
part is very unusual, the long pauses and unusual loud chords
make it unlike other music. It has a pleasing effect on the
audience, probably due to its individuality. Mrs. Epstein has
the reputation of being able to sing this kind of a solo. The
foremost critics of the largest musical world pronounce Mrs.
Epstein as an ideal in oratorical singing.
7. Some jealous rascal threw a stone at a buggy in which a
certain young man of Florala and a young lady of Lockhart were
riding last Saturday night. The stone struck the young lady
squarely in the back, and at the same time bruised the left arm
of the young man very badly.
8. Mrs. O. N. Daw is confined to her bed on account of the
recent injury she sustained when she fell from a chair to the
floor. Mrs. Daw was attempting to swat a fly at hand and stood
upon the chair to reach the intended victim. He was further away
than at first anticipated and in an endeavor to reach him she
fell as a result of becoming overbalanced. We trust her injury
will soon give her no further trouble and will soon become well.
She certainly is to be commended for her efforts to swat the
fly, for if more of us did this we would find less disease in
the world and conditions more healthful in general. Besides the
flies are a bothersome pest anyway.
9. One of the most superb affairs that the citizens of Lexington
have witnessed for quite a long while, was brought to bear by
the uniting in holy wedlock of Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Stewart and
Mr. Louis Monroe Ford. At the beginning, the day was one of
gloom, but late in the morning the clouds became scattered, and
at the noon hour the sun peeped out and streamed through the
windows of the old historic church, adding cheer and enthusiasm
to the superb occasion. Each individual of the bridal party
performed his or her part as perfectly as if guided by a
guardian angel, and the entire performance was one of rare
beauty, portraying all of the accuracy of a piece of well-oiled
machinery.
_F._ The following stories are good and bad. Rewrite any that need
correction. Show why the others are good.
_ACCIDENT NARROWLY AVERTED_
Last Thursday evening the people of the beautiful little village
of Hartford were astounded when they heard the moan and groan of
one of their neighbors, Dr. William Waters, who had the misfortune
of being capsized beneath a small building in the mad waters of
Pigeon River.
While Dr. Waters was out for an evening walk enjoying the cool
breezes on the banks of this beautiful stream he had occasion to
enter a small building which had been erected years ago. Owing
to his enormous heavy weight, and without a moment's warning,
the building toppled over in the river, leaving the doctor in
quite an embarrassing position. The moans and groans from
beneath the little building could be heard from most every home
in Hartford. Had it not been for the never-tiring efforts of
Lewis Johnson and Andy Valentine in moving the building off the
Doctor, rescuing him from the grasp of death, which had clutched
him beneath the building in the mad waters of the river, crepe
would now be dangling from the door-knob of a Doctor's office in
Hartford.
_TIGHT SHOES BALK PAY-DAY LARK_
Mrs. Mary Bogden, 50 West 119th Street, is nearly five feet tall
and weighs 200 pounds. Yesterday she refused to go out with her
husband, Joe, to celebrate his pay day, because her shoes were
too tight. Joe went out alone. When he came home he found his
wife had been arrested for drinking too much. To-day her hat is
too tight.
_KILLS GIRL WHO SPURNED HIM_
Miss Evelyn Helm got her position as cloak model because of the
trimness of her waist, because of her lithe young figure, and
because of her loveliness and vivacity. When she wore a gown for
a buyer, he generally said, "Some skirt!" Therefore she received
a fair salary and was independent. The same qualities that
earned her money, however, attracted the attentions of a man she
did not like--and invoked a tragedy.
The man was gray-haired and big and fat and unromantic, but he
loved the cloak model desperately. He told her so every time he
saw her, but she laughed at him. She knew him as Lem Willhide
"of Kentucky," and she tried to avoid him. He followed her one
day to her room in the home of Mrs. Louise Wendt, 1319 Eddy
Street, and invited himself to call. He wanted to marry her, to
take her home to the "blue grass" country with him, but she
could not be annoyed.
"I ought to be calling you 'daddy,'" she said. "Why, you're
more than twice as old as I. You've admitted you are 52. Go get
a nurse and let me alone."
He seemed to like her spirit. She could not break his
determination, he told her. He might be old, but this was his
first love affair. Again and again she put him off. Always he
followed her, spied on her, called her by phone. She could not
escape him, but he couldn't persuade her to wed him.
Yesterday morning as usual he sent his love message over the
telephone wires--and the girl hung up the receiver and she
sneered in an explanation to the landlady. Later she was
dressing to go out, when the back door of the rooming-house
opened and the man from Kentucky bulged in the doorway.
"You've got your nerve coming into a lady's house without
asking," said the girl.
"I've come to get you," said the man.
"Then you better go back again," and the girl turned away.
The man from Kentucky drew a revolver and shot her in the neck.
She looked up at him from the floor, and he fired four more
bullets into her body.
"If we can't be wed in life, we'll marry in death," the landlady
heard him say, and he shot himself in the head.
Miss Helm died as the police were carrying her into the Chicago
Union Hospital, and the man from Kentucky died later in the
Alexian Brothers' Hospital. Before he went he told Detective
William Rohan that he was a tobacco salesman and a professional
card player.
"I drew for a queen to fill a bobtail flush," he said, with a
queer smile, "but I didn't better my hand."
_CHAUFFEUR'S FEET BURNED OFF_
Herbert T. Middleton lives on Anderson Avenue, at Palisade, N.
J. While driving his automobile along the avenue he saw an
overturned car burst into flame at the roadside, about half a
mile south of Fort Lee. Two men and a boy were struggling to
lift the rear end of the car, and shouting for help. Middleton
hurried to their aid and found that the legs of the chauffeur
were pinned to the ground by the back of the rear seat and
flaming gasoline running over his limbs was burning him like a
torch.
The chauffeur, Amendo Alberti, 32 years old, raised himself to
a sitting posture and tried to direct the efforts of his
rescuers. With the aid of another autoist and several drivers of
passing wagons, they finally got Alberti free. The burning
gasoline had spread upward to his body. It was smothered by
rolling the man in lap robes from the cars.
Dr. Max Wyley of Englewood Hospital, who came with an ambulance,
found that the chauffeur's feet had been almost burned off, and
the burning fluid had seared his limbs and body as far as his
chest. At the hospital Doctor Proctor assisted Doctor Wyley in
an effort to keep him alive. They decided he had one chance in
five of living. If he survives he will be a cripple.
_BLAMES ALL ON WOMAN HE KILLED_
"The woman Thou gavest me tempted me and I did eat."--Adam,
thousands of centuries ago.
Shortly after the world began, Adam sinned--and blamed a woman.
What Adam did in fear of God, a twentieth-century Adam did
yesterday in Chicago--blamed a woman.
Here is the story:
Attachés of a saloon and café at 714 North Clark Street were
startled early yesterday afternoon by revolver shots just
outside the door. Rushing into an alley at the rear, they found
the bodies of a man and a woman.
The man was Washington Irving Morley, son of a wealthy
contractor of Kansas City. The woman was Mrs. May Whitney, 29
years old, cabaret singer and mother of a 3-year-old child.
As they picked the bodies up, a letter dropped from the man's
coat. It told everything that need be told about the dead man,
the dead woman, and the dead man's deed.
It was addressed "To Anybody," and read:
This is an awful deed, but this woman is and has been ten
thousand times worse than the vampire of fiction, and may
God have mercy on her soul and mine. Yes, I guess I am
crazy and have been for a year, but she has driven me to
it. I left her in K. C., but she followed me to Chicago
and then to Green Bay and all over.
But it is too late to cry about our mistakes.
I have had my chances, but I have thrown them all away.
Oh, if I had only taken the advice years ago of that
grandest of all men, my father. But I let the three W's
get me--wine, women, and w--. But, young men, remember,
do not get infatuated with a woman of doubtful character.
They never can lead to anything good.
I have had my fling, but now I am going to the great
beyond and I'm going to take the creature with me that
has caused me more bad luck, heartaches, and everything
else. I cannot live with her and I cannot live without
her.
Good-by all. W. S. Morley.
P. S.--My belongings are all in her trunk, which is at
Spangenberg's. I think her mother's address is 123 Pinckney
Street, Somerville, Mass., Mrs. D. T. Whitney.
The bodies were taken to Gavin & Son's undertaking rooms. There
a second letter was found in the man's pocket. It was addressed
to his father, P. J. Morley, in Kansas City, and read as follows:
You no doubt will be horrified, but I couldn't help it. I
have been crazy for a year, and this woman has driven me
to it. You have been the grandest father in the world to
me, and if only I had taken your advice, what a change it
would have made in my life! But it is too late. Good-by,
and may God have mercy on my soul. Yours,
Irving.
P. S.--Father, if you want to do anything, take care of
that boy in Hamburg, Iowa. He will be some boy if he
doesn't inherit too many of his parents' bad faults.
Until recently Morley was a partner in the expressing firm of Ryan &
Morley, Fifth Avenue and Randolph Street.
_SLAIN IN FIGHT ON BRIDGE_
A horrified crowd to-day saw a fight sixty feet in the air on an
arch of the new high-level bridge over the Cuyahoga River in
which Frank Wright, storekeeper for the bridge contractors, was
killed by a fellow workman with an iron bar. The killing was
witnessed by Wright's wife, who was making her way up to him
with his lunch. Police have arrested Jack Browning in connection
with the crime. The killing was preceded by a grim struggle in
which the two men wrestled back and forth on the arch and both
nearly fell into the river several times. After Wright had been
slain his assailant jumped from platform to platform until he
reached the ground and then fled.
_AGED MAN GAINS HEARTS DESIRE_
Joseph Stang has gained his heart's desire. He is dead.
For Joseph Stang death drew aside its mask of horror and
revealed itself the fair prize and ultimate reward of mankind,
impartially awaiting the winners and losers in life. And the
aged man pursued it for a year with patient resolution,
undiverted by the inconsequential parade of the world's affairs.
During the last year Mr. Stang, who was 81 years old, and a
retired real-estate man, living with an invalid wife at 4855
North Paulina Street, made three ineffectual attempts to commit
suicide. His first effort was discovered before he had succeeded
in injuring himself. On Oct. 30 he sent a bullet into his brain
in his bedroom. Persons in the household ran to him and found
him lying on the floor, the revolver beside him. He was placed
on the bed, and during the excitement of telephoning for an
ambulance and a physician, the members of the household left him
alone, believing him unconscious, if not dead. He got out of bed
and crawled to his revolver, which had been picked up and placed
on the bureau. Then he fired another shot over his heart.
He was taken to the hospital, where his wounds, although both in
vital parts, healed rapidly, and he was soon discharged. Because
of his infirmities and the illness of his wife he was later
taken to the German-American Hospital to be cared for.
Saturday morning he told his nurse that he was tired of life.
She cajoled him into a better humor, however, and he ate three
hearty meals during the day. Shortly after supper he was left
alone in his room. He went to his window, which overlooks a
cemented court twenty feet below, and dived out, striking on his
head. He was dead within a few minutes.
Physicians at the hospital declare that Mr. Stang must have
calculated his jump carefully, as a falling body would not
strike head first unless by design.
_DARK STREETS MAKE THREE ESCAPES POSSIBLE_
Policemen on posts in the Bronx have frequently complained to
their superior officers because the turning off of street lights
before daylight often gives burglars and other criminals an hour
or more of heavy darkness in which to carry on their operations
unmolested. The most emphatic of such complaints was made
yesterday morning, after three burglars had escaped from pursuit
at 4:30 A.M.
According to the policemen who attempted to capture the men, all
of the lights in the Bronx were out at the time and heavy clouds
made the streets black as midnight in a country village. The
policemen attributed the escape of the burglars entirely to the
darkness. Not only did the men escape, but they fired revolvers
at the policemen and narrowly missed one of them, who heard the
bullet as it passed his head.
Sergeant Hale and Policeman Regen of the Morrisania Station were
standing in Westchester Avenue near Union Avenue shortly before
4:30 o'clock, when they heard the crashing of a pane of glass.
They ran to Union Avenue in time to see the dim shadows of three
men running from the corner. The two policemen shouted to the
men to stop and fired their revolvers, but the fugitives,
returning the fire over their shoulders, darted down Union
Avenue, separated, and disappeared into apartment house doors.
Policemen Rooney and O'Connell, who were several blocks away,
heard the shots and ran to the scene. The alarm was sent to the
precinct station, and while the four policemen were following
the burglars into the apartment houses, the reserves were
hurrying to their assistance.
Hale and Regen surprised one of the men on a roof and opened
fire on him, but, as far as they could tell in the inky
darkness, he was not hit. As he fled to the roof of an adjoining
house he fired at the policemen, and Hale could tell from its
sound that the bullet passed within a few inches of his head.
The man disappeared into the darkness, and the policemen were
unable to find him again.
Other policemen followed the other two burglars, the reserves
surrounded the block, and many of those living in the
neighborhood who were aroused from sleep by the revolver shots,
joined in the hunt; but the trail of none of the fugitives was
picked up. It was so dark, the searchers said, that they were
not able to see more than a few feet ahead of them at any time.
All agreed that the burglars probably hid almost under the noses
of those who were looking for them, for every roof, alley and
possible hiding place in the block was searched as carefully as
was practicable under the conditions.
The men had thrown a brick through the window in the jewelry
store of M. Baldwin, at Westchester and Union Avenues. They
snatched about $100 worth of novelty objects from the window,
but dropped all of them in their flight. The property was later
picked up from the street.
Many complaints have come to the _New York Crescent_ from all
over the city because there is often an hour or more of darkness
between the time of turning out street lights and daylight. The
lighting companies, it is said, are within the law of their
contracts with the city.
_CHAPTER XI_
Indicate the places at which paragraphs should be made in the following
stories:
_CHARACTER INDICATED BY THE LIPS_
To all daughters of Eve who have leap-year intentions, the
vocational guide and well-known bachelor, William J. Kibby,
to-day offers advice concerning the habits, characteristics, and
dispositions of various sorts of men, which is intended to help
the girls win their hearts' desires without suffering rebuff in
the process. A good deal of what Kibby says is based upon
phrenology. A man who has thin, straight lips is branded a
cold-blooded, stony-hearted creature upon whom the dearest
girl's appeal would have no effect. This sort of man will do his
own proposing, run his own wedding, and rule his household; and
he'll do it more with his head than with his heart. But if the
man of your choice has full, well-formed lips, Kibby says you
may depend upon his capacity for, and inclination to, love. He
also is susceptible to the right sort of feminine approach.
Kibby says the way to tell whether the one you love, loves you,
is by the coloring of the under lip when he is with you. Every
human emotion gives some physical demonstration when it is
aroused. The evidence that love has been aroused is given by the
deep crimsoning of the under lip. If his under lip is
perpetually pale when he is with you, he doesn't love you. If it
is crimson and you want him, grab quick; he won't run. A man
with a broad, square, massive forehead is a good business man;
he can plan ahead, has good business judgment. If the crown of
his head is high and round he is absolutely conscientious, too;
and if the back of his head is well rounded out he will love his
home, his wife, and his children and show them consideration
above everything else in the world. The man whose head is flat
on top, flat and almost even with his ears in the back and
narrow and foreshortened on the front; whose lips are thin,
whose eyes are cold, will not make a good husband in any sense
of the word, says Kibby. The longer a man's jaw-bone, the
greater his capacity for affection, according to Kibby. All
these things are as applicable to women as to men, is the
expert's opinion.
_FASHION MODEL MARRIES ALL IN BLACK_
A black wedding, one of the most remarkable ceremonies ever
performed in this country and one which made even blasé New York
sit up and stare, was celebrated at the Church of St. Vincent de
Paul here to-day. It was completely black, and the first wedding
of its kind ever planned made the little fashion model, Eleanor
Klinger, the bride of Ora Cne, a designer. From the limousine in
which they threaded their way among the skyscrapers to the
little church in Twenty-third Street to the handles on the
silver service at their wedding breakfast, everything down to
the most minute detail was coal black. Even the serving men were
black; and everyone with any part in the ceremony wore black,
including black gloves. As the big black car whirled up to the
curb at 9 o'clock, the driver, who had a black mustache, twisted
the black handle on the door and out popped the little bride and
groom. They were dressed in black from head to foot. Cne, a
handsome, stocky young fellow, a little below medium height,
wore a single-breasted black broadcloth suit, cut business style
and fitting close. His collar was black and his string tie and
black silk shirt blended into his black vest. The little bride,
tripping across the sidewalk with her soon-to-be, wore black
silk slippers, a black silk dress sparingly overlaid with black
chiffon. Her wedding veil was a broad strip of black silk edged
and overlaid with black tulle, ending in large bows. This
wedding veil and train are detachable, "so," as the bridegroom
explained, "it can be used either for morning or evening." The
bride's corsage bouquet was of black pansies. After the ceremony
Mr. and Mrs. Cne sped to their black wedding breakfast at the
Cne apartment in Forty-third Street. There Cne's black valet
served black coffee, black bread, black butter (dyed), black
bass, black raisins, and blackberries. The breakfast room was in
black and white, with ebony furniture and black rugs. The silver
service, from coffee set to teaspoons, was fitted with dull
finished ebony handles. The porcelain service was black with an
edging of white. Cne and his bride will begin a tour of the
larger cities of the country with their visit to Philadelphia
Friday, where Cne will address the Teachers' Institute of
Domestic Science. Later they will go to Fort Wayne, Ind., Cne's
home town, and to Omaha, Minneapolis, Nashville, Pittsburgh,
Kansas City and later to the West Coast.[53]
[53] _Kansas City Star_, January 21, 1917.
_CHAPTER XII_
_A._ The following sentences contain pronouns incorrectly used. Indicate
and correct the faults in each sentence. (Paragraphs =147-149=.)
1. While Bill Knight was riding a bucking horse at his store
Saturday he got beyond control and ran against the house and
caused concussion of the brain and they had to kill it.
2. This lunchroom cookery goes on during the second and third
hours of the morning, at the end of which each member of the
class is expected to have their respective duties done and ready
to put in the steam table for lunch.
3. The management of the Majestic Theater are preparing to put
up a number of lights down to the theater. This will be a
permanent fixture and will be very beautiful. It is to be known
as the Great White Way.
4. One difference between a man and a mule is that when a mule
turns his back on a man, he is in the most danger.
5. They passed through Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the northern
parts of North Dakota and South Dakota, and after reaching
Montana they visited many different parts of it. One evening
they took their suppers and ate on the Rocky Mountains which
will never be forgotten by the parties.
6. Each of the visitors will be requested to tell of his or her
most humorous experience as a teacher; also the most important
problem which they have met with since they became teachers.
7. It would not be right, after their work in trying to bring
all nations into universal peace, for the United States, in the
first case of this kind, to turn against its own policies and
not listen to the appeal of the South American countries to
arbitrate the dispute for them.
8. Last night I sat in a gondola on Venice's Grand Canal,
drinking it all in, and life never seemed so full before.
9. Tom Wilkinson happened to a very serious accident this week
in trying to put grease on his mule to keep off the flies. The
mule became frightened and jumped, causing him a fractured rib
and dislocated shoulder.
10. The members of Kappa Beta sorority attended the funeral of
Mrs. Owen, at Benton yesterday, the mother of Miss Anne Owen of
Allgood College and a member of the sorority who died Sunday.
11. Driggs, our popular druggist, was covered with dirt Saturday
while putting up a stovepipe, some of which lodged in his eye,
giving him much pain.
12. Cornell's first touchdown was made after less than five
minutes of play. They took the kick-off and with Barrett and
Collins making long gains on every plunge through the line, the
ball was carried straight to a touchdown.
13. Miss Janet Hearn, who went to Marquette and is going to
Carroll also, suggested that each girl wear a white
chrysanthemum tied with blue ribbon when they go to Waukesha.
14. The bride entered the drawing-room on the arm of her father,
who wore a gown of white charmeuse satin, trimmed in Venetian
point lace, and with veil of the same.
15. Either every one is traveling in Italy these days or else
they have much less accommodation than usual.
16. The Du Pont Company is building four lines at their works
near this city and more than 1,000 men are now employed.
17. Birds with beautiful long tail feathers that had traveled
hundreds of miles from the warm countries of Africa sat on their
perches looking homesick for their native forests.
18. When pulling out for Glen Haven with the freight wagon
Thursday morning, Norm Watriss was notified by pedestrians on
the street that his nose was frozen. He gave up the trip, after
explaining that it had started to freeze three times that
morning.
19. The Main Street Methodist Church, at Salisbury, N. C., has
given their pastor, Rev. C. F. Sherrill, a hearty welcome.
20. It certainly will reduce the number of serious accidents in
the way of people being run over, which all desire to see.
21. Suspecting that Patterson had planned his getaway, Foster
ran to a point on the street where he knew he would intercept
him as he emerged from the alley. Both met about the same time.
22. Len French returned Wednesday evening and is greatly
improved since his accident. He was kicked by a horse about two
weeks ago in the face. We are glad that it did not leave a scar.
23. Besides Johnson and Wingers, the detectives found two
half-dollars which only a little while before had been removed
from the mold. When taken to Central police station the two
would have nothing to say.
24. Jack Murphy threatens to sue the Milwaukee Railroad for
damages sustained when he alleges a trunk was thrown out upon
him the first of the week from a Milwaukee train at their
station, which confined him to his bed, he avers.
_B._ Correct the verbs in the following sentences (paragraphs
=150-153=):
1. An eighteen-year-old girl with four younger brothers and
sisters were arraigned in court this morning charged with
running an illicit distillery.
2. An elaborate series of special devotions always take place at
this season in Roman Catholic and Episcopal parishes.
3. All the party had expected to have got to the theater in time
by starting from the house at 7:45.
4. Every one of the 824 people who have been married in Appleton
by Dr. John Faville during the twenty-one years he has been
pastor of the Congregational church have been invited to attend
services at the church next Sunday.
5. In point of attendance it was the largest meeting the
association has ever held, sixty-four members having been
present, representing every part of the country.
6. The owners of the building wish to truly thank all the men
who were good enough to so kindly give their time and means in
the city's cause.
7. Then running up Main Street comes the woman's entrance,
woman's boudoir, lounge, men's entrance, buffet, and a shop.
8. Suits made-to-order can be detected at a glance from the
ready-made kind, and a glance at these suitings will prove that
there is no such qualities to be found in ready-made suits.
9. Obtaining a warrant two days beforehand, Officer Lord was
ready for any emergency.
10. After being put to bed, the hospital notified the West Lake
street police of the man's presence there.
11. The old Populistic following that has been Bryan's strength
in the past have been told by him over and over again that they
have no quarrel with this administration.
12. During the first six months of this year there was exported
to the United States and American possessions from Hamburg,
Luebeck, and Kiel goods to the value of $1,153,000.
13. Being tried three times already for the same offense, he
could not expect clemency now.
14. Thomas admitted that he was intending to seriously propose a
bill forbidding women wearing short or close-fitting skirts.
15. He had worked the play only four times before he had been
caught the second time.
16. The large number of carp in the Fox River this year have
caused a number of local men to become interested in
establishing a fish cannery at Appleton.
17. Neither the amount of the bonus or the salary were mentioned
by Comiskey or Ban Johnson.
18. Entering the historic church a scene of havoc and ruin is
presented--twisted beams and arches, panels and columns of
alabaster crushed into bits and lying around in heaps, the
richly carved pulpit blown to pieces with only a faint outline
of its former wonders remaining.
_C._ The following sentences illustrate faults in coördination and
subordination. Correct the errors. (Mainly paragraphs =154-155=.)
1. John Miller had the misfortune to fall on the ice Friday and
break his wooden leg. This will lay Mr. Miller up for some time
as the limb will have to be sent away for repairs or perhaps
necessitates his buying an entirely new leg.
2. Strict attention to business, courteous treatment of those
with whom he comes in contact both in a business and social way,
and always mindful of the interests of his employer, are
qualifications fitting Mr. De Baufer as the logical successor to
Mr. Dodge.
3. Mr. Kennedy was destroying some tanglefoot fly paper that had
been used by burning same near the building, and the wind had
blown a spark into a rat hole and the draft brought the fire up
inside the studding and was hard to get at, but was put out by
the chemicals and no damage done to the building.
4. Work of constructing a Y. M. C. A. hotel costing $1,175,000
and which will provide 1,865 rooms for young men starting a
business life, was begun here to-day.
5. "Three regrettable things were done by the legislature," said
President Charles B. Rogers, Alumni association: "One was the
creation of the central board of education, dormitory
appropriations were repealed, the tuition for nonresidents was
raised."
6. While Mr. William Conklin was exercising his old pet horse
recently, he slipped on the ice, giving the horse a chance to
turn and kick him in the face, whereby a few stitches had to be
taken, but now is quite comfortable.
7. I was on the News when Donovan was on the _Journal_ and in
'87 launched my history of the People's Party, against which the
entire press was arrayed, save the _Staats-Zeitung_, Hessing's
paper, and which won out against the Law and Order party by a
majority of 10,500.
8. Some one entered the cellar at the O. L. Paris home last week
and stole about a peck of pickles. Mr. Paris says that if the
pickles are returned or paid for he will refrain from publishing
the name on an envelope found in his cellar and supposed to have
been dropped by the thief.
9. Mrs. Bordy is an attractive brunette while the groom is
connected with the Central Savings Bank and Trust Company.
10. The difference in the size of the schools is another cause
of the weakness, Oxford being the largest and seems to want
proper control.
11. She married Pancho Villa when he was a bandit and now has
two automobiles, a great many diamonds, and a fine home near the
palace.
12. Uncle Russ Brown and wife were in town and visited the
doctor and had a tooth pulled and also had one of his wife's
teeth pulled.
13. When Mrs. Albert Truskey of this city with her sister Mrs.
Louise Schwendlund of Appleton went to visit their mother who is
seriously ill at the home of her son, John Beckett, in De Pere
last Wednesday, they were greeted by another sister who, it is
alleged to have started a fracas in which one sister is said to
have slapped the other in the face.
14. Mr. Rounds underwent an operation upon his arm about a month
ago and which physicians claim to have been perfectly
successful.
15. Albert Johns upon interfering pushed the two visiting
sisters out of the house, was arrested and later released upon
furnishing a bond for $300 to keep the peace.
16. He was crossing the trestle and when seeing a freight
coming, and being desirous of crossing the track before it came,
he hurried across, and slipped, his foot falling between one of
the cross-ties. He managed to extricate his leg from the tie,
but lost his balance and the other foot slipped, precipitating
himself in his former dangerous predicament, and narrowly
escaped being crushed to death under the train, as he finally
succeeded in freeing himself and jumped across the side just as
the big freight came down the track.
17. Yesterday afternoon the ladies of St. Mary's Guild gave at
Fulrath's Opera House one of the most successful dances ever
held in Savannah. Successful not only financially but also from
society and an enjoyable point of view.
18. People with gray eyes are superficial, frivolous, given to
embrace false idols, running down blind alleys, following false
prophets, thoughtless, inconsiderate, wanting in sympathy,
neurotic, unstable, not firm and deliberate, but rash and
impetuous.
19. Mrs. Berkinshaw was handsome in pale blue hand-embroidered
crepe with a hat of black velvet trimmed with white ospreys and
carried a French bouquet of violets and pink roses.
20. The seat sale for Fiske O'Hara's play at the theatre next
Friday evening is progressing very rapidly, nothing but $1.00
and $1.50 seats being left and a great many of the $1.00 seats
have been sold.
21. Grace Marshall, confined a prisoner in her father's home
near St. Michael's, Md., for twelve years, and who is being
treated at the Henry Phipps Clinic, is improving physically, but
will never fully recover her mental faculties, according to Dr.
Lewis A. Sexton of the hospital.
_D_. The following sentences contain errors due principally to faulty
ellipsis. Point out the faults in ellipsis and correct all errors.
(Mainly paragraph =156=.)
1. Marvin Cloudt and Ferdinand Willie attended the dance Tuesday
night at Mrs. Jamie Kanak's, and hear they enjoyed it well and
caught themselves nice sweethearts.
2. The Leyland liner Armenian was torpedoed and sunk on June 28
by a German submarine. The vessel was carrying 1,414 mules,
which were consigned for the port of Avonmouth. A large number
of the missing are American citizens.
3. Specimens of all our students are preserved and show
remarkable results in this department of our school work.
4. Please inform your readers there is a reward of $10 for
shooting pelicans, and a fine of $25 for the shooter.
5. All veterans attending on the regular old soldiers' and
settlers' day next Tuesday may secure tickets for themselves,
wives, or widows which will admit them free of charge on
Wednesday.
6. He complained to his physician that he stuffed him so much
with drugs that he was ill a long time after he got well.
7. William Kohasky and Henry Young, two young chaps, were
friends, but last evening after imbibing freely from the cup
that cheers forgot all about their friendliness and started to
fight.
8. The person retaining my dog, a Lewellen setter, is known and
if not let at liberty at once, will be prosecuted.
9. Daughter and granddaughter of soldiers, her father was on
MacMahon's staff, and the image of that tall old man stretched
out before her evoked in her mind another image no less
terrible.
10. If you do use a Blank typewriter you will never be
inconvenienced without one.
11. Frank Becker had a horse break its leg Sunday and had to be
killed.
12. An all university team picked from the best bowlers in
school will be entered in the state tournament this winter for
the first time and will bowl against nearly 300 other teams at 9
o'clock on Jan. 28 on the Colonial alleys.
13. The Woman's Benevolent Society of the Fourth Congregational
Church has been newly decorated, new lights installed, the
matting donated by the Philathea class in place, and all in
readiness for "Go to Church" Sunday.
14. On account of sickness the club meeting will be postponed
from Tuesday until Thursday.
_E._ Reconstruct the following sentences in any way that will make them
clear. Point out the errors in the sentences as they now stand. (Mainly
paragraphs =157-162=.)
1. A. A. DeLeo, while walking with a young lady the other night,
slipped on the icy pavement and sprained his arm, between
Grobel's corner and the crossing.
2. Some days they only succeeded in gaining a few feet, no
matter how heavy the cannonading.
3. Mr. Scherck explained that sickness in his family has caused
him a great deal of expense in the last year and is sure that he
can meet all his indebtedness, which by the way is not as large
as was reported, by the first of the new year.
4. Miss Louise Hill gave a small luncheon Wednesday, at
Ferndale, where her parents have taken the Frank Bovey house in
honor of Miss Ethel Woolf of Atlanta, Ga., who is her guest.
5. Mr. William Waldorf Astor has reached the fulfilment of the
ambition which brought him from the United States to England
sixteen years ago to become a British subject by his elevation
to-day to the rank of a baron of the United Kingdom.
6. The French are using the grenade as a war weapon with
considerable success in trench fighting, and for guarding the
men who hurl them from poisonous vapors, which are used with
telling effect by the Germans, a special mask is provided.
7. Mr. Moscherosch said this morning that the cap was designed
particularly for chauffeurs and drivers who are obliged to
travel at night and face the blinding light from automobile
lamps, for farmers and factory employees.
8. Van Wie's defense is that he has no recollection of the
marriage on account of an operation performed on his brain.
9. In these elections they are only permitted to vote for an
elector and not for the man running for the office.
10. He finally admitted that not only the testimony was not
true, but that he knew it was false.
11. Lessons which the United States may gain from the European
war comprise the major part of a letter written by Tracey
Richardson of Kansas City, a soldier of fortune, who is now
serving with the Princess Patricia's regiment of Canadians in
Europe, to a Washington friend.
12. Some of the other striking results that have taken place
already since the adoption of this new scheme are: in the first
place, there has been an increase in efficiency. The men do more
work in eight hours than they did before in nine. In the second
place, there is a striking effect in the development of
character.
13. While Harold Green was escorting Miss Violet Wise from the
church social last Saturday night a savage dog attacked them and
bit Mr. Green several times on the public square.
14. One senator expressed the belief that the other outrages
besides the Tampico incident should be considered, such as the
treatment of American citizens in Mexico, and that all the
Mexicans should be included, and not just Huerta.
15. Musical numbers were rendered by Miss Findley on the violin
and Tom Hamilton. The occasion was greatly enjoyed.
16. Quite in keeping with the old-fashioned idea of the wedding
spirit and yet managed with a delicacy and refinement that lent
especial charm to the homely symbols and their significance,
everything was carried out with taste and elegance that could
make it prenuptial in feeling.
17. A burglar, in attempting to enter Wright's store, was shot
at by Winifred Rardin. The man started to run, the bullet
striking him between the fence corner and front gate, inflicting
a superficial wound.
18. The affection has interfered seriously with her singing, her
talent for which has been the subject of high praise and has
brought her to Philadelphia for treatment before.
19. Bacon induced 100 barbers on the West side to advertise
orally to their customers of church organizations between
shaves.
20. When Annie Malone Frazier, colored, was asked which she had
rather have, her husband, Babe Frazier, or $21 which she claimed
he had stolen from her in police matinee Wednesday afternoon,
Annie unhesitatingly chose the $21.
21. Callahan declared he had only bargained for two men each
day.
22. After two weeks fighting they had neither gained the forest
nor even the outer edges of the village.
23. The cause of the fire was said to be the tipping over of a
lamp, which had been left during the night by the family cat.
24. Rev. and Mrs. Pierce have returned from the Green Lake
assembly. The reverend will occupy his pulpit on Sunday morning,
and Monday in company with his wife they will leave to visit
their new-found relatives in Picton, Ontario. On Sunday the
22nd, Mr. Pierce will occupy the Picton pulpit in the morning by
request of the pastor.
25. Both testified that the evil effect is not alone seen in the
motor races.
26. The committee acted last night with the relentless
persistency of a steam roller and crushed out the athletic
activities of two men who were members of the last Olympic team
without compunction.
27. Mrs. Dickenson expects soon to entertain a company of ladies
at luncheon and another dinner party will be given.
28. Mr. Hailey, wife, daughter Miss Ida, and son Will
accompanied by Mrs. Rose Hailey and Master Adran, motored to
Springfield last Saturday and spent the day on business and
visiting relatives, averaging eighteen miles an hour.
29. The young man was taken to Menasha for treatment and his
injury is not expected to prove serious.
30. Wesley Owen got mixed up with his horse Monday and carries a
bad gash in his head where he kicked him, the calk of the shoe
going through his hat and making a hole in the band. He was
being curried when he reared and kicked Wesley. His two outside
fingers on his hand were struck and badly injured. It was lucky
for him he was not more seriously injured. As it was, he was
knocked senseless and had to be helped to the house. Lucky for
him, the horse reared right up and came down on him.
_F._ Rewrite the following sentences in any way that will improve their
coherence (mainly paragraphs =163-164=):
1. Some hail fell Sunday evening, but fortunately there was but
little wind, besides the hail was not very solid and not very
large so that the corn and other growing crops suffered but
little, and fortunately there is but very little tobacco growing
in the path of this storm, and which fortunately did not extend
over a very wide territory, possibly not over a mile in width.
2. Things are very quiet to-day. The justice courts are without
criminal matters, and likewise the undertakers report no deaths.
3. Some large steamers operate upon its course, carrying
freight, passengers, and other commodities.
4. Nicholas Jenkins, a retired capitalist, was among the killed.
William Essex, president of the city railway, is still missing,
and several stores were wrecked by the high winds preceding the
rain, but it is thought that the benefits of the heavy rain will
more than offset all losses.
5. Simon Beck sawed wood last Thursday. Charlie Bishop did the
work.
6. With our nose always to the ground for improvements going on
in our part of the city, we are awarded this time with the
beautiful and attractive appearing front of the new moving
picture theater. Namely, a row of incandescent lights hanging in
a straight line above the entrance.
7. In the interests of the picture Mr. Cummings risks life and
limb with careless disregard of his own safety. To be seen on
the Central Plaza Thursday.
8. This is a picturization of the famous novel and play and
appeals to all classes. A gripping story all the way through and
one that will set you thinking.
9. But even if he was possessed of quite remarkable golfing
ability, I do not think there would be much prospect of his
attaining to the consistent brilliancy of Vardon, Braid, and
Taylor, unless he was granted the opportunity of continually
playing with these giants, or men much of their caliber, say
like Duncan and Ray, and nowadays the amateur has but few
opportunities of taking part in games with these celebrities, as
they are so very fully occupied, and in their quest for the
almighty dollar have not the time for the friendly encounter.
10. Prof. C. O. Bishop was Marshall's English teacher and he
failed to pass the rhetoric tests getting only a grade of 60.
11. I believe that the greatest present menace to the American
Indian is whiskey. It does more to destroy his constitution and
invite the ravages of disease than anything else. It does more
to demoralize him as a man and frequently as a woman.
12. The house was beautifully decorated in red and white hearts
extending from the centers of the rooms in each direction, and
in the arch to the dining-room were two large hearts, pierced by
an arrow containing the words "Two hearts that beat as one,"
where after several games were played, Miss Baker was seated and
showered with rice from a funnel, concealed back of the hearts
above, and also showered with more than fifty presents each
containing a verse, which caused much merriment, after which the
guests proceeded to the dining-room, where the color scheme was
also carried out, hearts being extended from a large wedding
bell which hung in the center of the room and the table was
decorated in red and white roses.
13. Appleton people will be interested to read the subjoined
article from the Grand Rapids _Leader_, referring to people
formerly residents of this city, A. C. Bennett and his son,
Arthur, who used to live on Lawrence Street between Oneida and
Morrison streets a generation or more ago, and Rev. H. C. Logan
received his education at Lawrence College.
14. There is a girl, one of the longest drivers I have ever
seen, and I have seen all the best women golfers play, and
though she has a distance of 250 yards or so to her credit, she
is not one of the good drivers, because at the next hole she is
more than likely to send the ball in a semicircle, getting into
some hazard belonging to another hole.
15. In so far as this war is concerned, the capture of the Kiel
canal is almost as important, if not even more so, to England as
it is to France.
16. It is also asserted that, as Germany may ask further
financial assistance from this country before long, which,
naturally, she would be unable to procure in case of a break
with us, and as Great Britain undoubtedly needs such assistance,
and, through American financiers, is even, now procuring it, as
Germany has also done, although in a much more limited way,
hence the race by these powerful belligerents for American
favor.
17. Henry Fleming is being detained at his home this week. A new
stone hitching post has been set in front of the Fleming
residence on East Street.
_G._ The following sentences lack emphasis. Explain why and improve the
emphasis in each. (Paragraphs =165-168=.)
1. As we go to press, the news comes to us that Doc Pasley of
southeast of town was instantly killed yesterday afternoon by a
tree falling on him. As we are unable to learn any of the
particulars about it, we are forced to leave it out this week.
2. William Abel, who was convicted last month of the murder of
Thomas Kane, 12 years old, was refused a new trial by Judge
Ormerod, who inflicted the death sentence to be hanged.
3. This is her third visit to Shawano and she spoke of our
beautiful surroundings, especially the large forest trees left
by the early settlers for shade trees and she spoke in praise of
them for their foresight in leaving the large pine trees and
oaks standing.
4. When a team in a tournament contest can trim an opponent 77
to 26, it shows that one team is unusually strong, or that the
other is very, very much inferior.
5. One of E. W. Bishop's fine calves was found violently ill
Monday evening. In its stomach was found a considerable amount
of the poisonous variety of mushrooms, the stomach showing much
information.
6. Eggs of the species, like those of all its immediate
relatives, are laid in water and never in deep water.
7. After the usual eats which received their due share of
attention, numerous toasts were responded to.
8. Billy Sunday and Dr. Francis Clark, the latter the founder of
the Christian Endeavor League, will be unable to attend, both
being ill at the present time.
9. Warren is one of the finest little cities I know of and my
travels take me through the best cities in four states, but
indifference toward the appearance of the city such as is
evidenced by the posting of circus ads over an entire side of a
city building, such as has been done on the building opposite
the city courthouse, I fear would soon cause the traveling
public to change its mind regarding this beautiful little city.
10. Much indignation has been aroused throughout this parish on
account of the fatal stabbing of Joseph Mier, a young man and
the son of a prominent planter, which occurred just before dawn
Sunday morning as a public ball was ending, some miles from this
place.
11. A letter from the James B. Clow and Sons Company, Chicago,
received by the city commission quotes prices on bubbler
fountains such as it is planned to install at the corner of
College Avenue and Oneida Street.
12. Wilbur Grant and Jack Faville left the city this morning to
attend the World's Convention of the Christian Endeavor Society,
which is to be held in Chicago.
13. While driving from Barre Sunday afternoon a tire went down
on the car of Burt Smith causing the machine to slide around a
little but after putting on a new tire he was able to continue
home. The report was started that one wheel was broken but such
developed to be erroneous.
14. Do you know that if you attend the song service and
Christian cantata given Sunday evening by the choir at the First
Methodist Church, you will find a pleasure in spending Sunday
evening in a way that will give satisfaction that comes from the
feeling that you attended an entertainment and have been at
services on the Sabbath day?
15. Louisiana never does things by halves. It was the unanimous
consensus of opinion of all that our chest of silver presented
to Mrs. J. M. Thomson was only surpassed by the Congressional
diamond necklace.
16. She is well educated, and speaks, besides Chinese and
English, the languages of Germany and France.
17. Miss Kathryn Stinson, a lady aviatrix, will fly from Grant
Park to the ball park, and just before the battle starts Manager
Tinker will be presented with a watch and chain.
18. The recent tornado wrought havoc with the Newton church,
tearing off a considerable section of the roof, rafters and all,
and throwing the west end gable down upon the pulpit and nearby
furniture of the interior. The belfry was demolished, and the
bell thrown into the yard. The house is otherwise in a fairly
good condition.
19. A fine and costs of $7.50 was paid in police court yesterday
afternoon for Charles McCormick, who was charged by the police
with creating an improper disturbance at the Sherwood buffet.
20. Others of world-wide repute will appear, and delegates and
noted people from all over the world are arriving and have
already arrived in the city.
21. An article appeared in last week's paper stating a baby boy
was born to Mr. and Mrs. C. M. David, which is incorrect, and
Mrs. David wishes it published that it is not true. It must have
been a joke or mistake.
22. Committees of the passengers in general, and separate
committees of clergymen, students, and newspaper men have been
organized to confer with similar committees in the neutral
nations, when the ship arrives, on the question of peace.
23. The place where the body of Howe was found is the most
convenient location for a body killed elsewhere and removed from
another place to the lonesome spot where it was found.
24. The chimney still stands, although many bricks have been
loosened by the heat, and fallen to the earth below.
25. John Fouts of Olena surprised his friends last Friday
evening by bringing home a new bride. In honor of the occasion
he served an oyster stew to quite a little gathering of friends.
26. He has two of the prettiest homes in our beautiful city for
sale. Home No. 1 is located on Beach Drive on our beautiful
water front, where you can sit on the front porch and watch the
beautiful waves. It has a lot 73 by 150 feet, the bungalow has
eight rooms and is a two-story house, with bath and toilet on
each floor, a beautiful flower garden plan, roses, royal palms,
rubber trees, etc. House No. 2 is located at No. 60 Fifth
Avenue, north, a beautiful location. The house is furnished up
beautifully inside and has a beautiful yard.
27. The bride is a pleasing young woman well known in
Beardstown's social set, and enjoys the acquaintance of everyone
who knows her.
28. She climbed up on the bed and tucked her feet under her, and
the thoughtful forefinger began to slowly trace the pattern on
the bedspread, while Jane Rowland studied her with speculative
spectacles.
29. Passengers are forbidden to stand on the front platform and
will not be allowed to stand on the rear platform.
_H._ The following sentences are unemphatic because of their crude or
affected phraseology. Rewrite each so that it shall be good.
1. He leaves nine children, eight of whom are honored and
respected citizens of this state, and the other lives in
Missouri.
2. Pan with his shepherd pipes, Jupiter with his thunderbolts,
Apollo with his harp, and the songstress, Sappho, appeared in
spirit with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, which returned
to Evansville Monday afternoon and night on its annual tour. The
whispering winds of the reed section, the passionate love
pleadings of the cellos, mixed with the blatant fury of the
trumpets, the rumble and thunder of the kettle drums, and
instruments portraying all the varying moods of nature,
presented the whole category of human emotions.
3. She has a wonderful voice, full, round, and velvety, with a
mature richness and at the same time the vibrant joyousness of
youth. While her spring songs bring veritable visions of apple
blossoms and the songs of birds, she can express with equal
perfection the tragedy of grief.
4. Processionals of lovely matrons, trailing draperies of
brilliantly hued velvets, brocades and satins, drifts of
adorable girls, their exquisite slimness enveloped in misty
clouds of tulle or clinging lengths of accordion plaited
taffetas; platoons of the brave and the gallant, the handsome
and the gay of Peoria's golden youth, and substantial business
men, in the correctest of evening garb, lent to the Jefferson
Hotel a stunningly pictorial effect last night when the first
Assembly ball of the season took place at that popular hostelry.
5. Away, away on the pinions of the wind flew the car, the speed
being dexterously regulated according to the grade and curvature
of the road. Many birds, traveling at their best speed, were
easily overtaken and left far in the rear; horse conveyances
going at a gallop appeared to be standing still; farm houses
looked like hen-coops, and Eholt resembled a chicken ranch. For
speed, Mazeppa's ride was far outclassed. It was a memorable
trip to those in the car, but everyone had implicit confidence
in the chauffeur and there were no white feathers visible.
6. His heart is of gold, pure 14-carat gold, all wool and a yard
wide.
7. Throughout the entire visit of the society members the prison
band, stationed in the balcony over the prison entrance,
dispersed sweet music.
8. Fortunate, indeed, are the golfers of Elgin and vicinity, in
having for their very own such a lovely and delightful spot as
the Wing Park Golf course, where soft, sweet winds are blended
with the greens below and the blue above--where the sturdy oak
reaches out cool, shadowy arms to caress the tired golfer--where
the last rays of the setting sun love to linger on the golf
balls--where in fact all nature appears to unite into one grand
combination to give the golfer a good time.
9. Mr. and Mrs. S. F. Shattuck are entertaining a number of
their lady and gentlemen friends at a boat ride in their launch
"Dion" this afternoon.
10. Miss Muriel Kay, pianist, manipulated not only the keys of
the instrument, but also the heart-strings of the audience.
11. The Merry Matrons' club was hostess at the home of Mr. and
Mrs. J. E. Tiger to a number of friends, as well as the husbands
of the members of the club.
12. She is a dainty slip of a girl, with pretty, graceful
presence. She resembles a canary bird just poised for flight as
she faces her audience, golden haired and singing without the
least effort, her high tones clear and true, trilling the bird
notes and enthralling the guests. She is the best soprano ever
heard in the Birchwood Club.
13. In the fullness of time (according to the laws of human
nature, which draws into a juxtaposition all who would really
enjoy the beauty of life) has been revealed a long looked for
and also a long hoped for event. By an act of providence there
has been provided two existences, two lives, two individualities
in two different families in the immediate surroundings of this
community. These two existences, which had heretofore traveled
the pathway of life, each moving on in an independent course,
passing through the various experiences of life and never once
dreaming of what the end would really be, had emerged upon the
common but ever blessed pathway of life to blend together into a
single union the thought and intents of each other's hearts,
wills, and affections, and thence plunge into the great land of
utility. We are only too willing to admit that the contracting
parties took to heart the words, "It is not good that the man
should be alone," because last Thursday evening at 8 o'clock Mr.
Oliver Keefer and Miss Myrtle Bowker amalgamated their earthly
career into one harmonious entity when they stood before the
marriage altar and agreed to the words which bound the twain as
one.
14. Mrs. Maxwell of Sycamore visited her daughter, Mrs. H. W.
Smith, last week. Mrs. Smith ran a nail in her foot, Mr. Smith
cut his eyeball with a piece of steel, and their son, Horace,
broke his arm.
15. Bishop Cadman, of the diocese of Maine, surprised the
congregation at St. Matthias's Episcopal church last Sunday. The
Bishop preached a fine sermon.
_CHAPTER XIII_
_A._ Distinguish the meanings of the words in the following groups:
1. Abscond, avoid, decamp, elude, escape, evade.
2. Accident, calamity, casualty, disaster, mishap, misfortune.
3. Acquire, gain, get, obtain, procure, secure.
4. Affect, effect, influence.
5. Aggravate, annoy, tease, worry.
6. Antagonize, fight, hinder, oppose, resist, restrain, thwart.
7. Apparent, clear, evident, obvious, plain.
8. Apt, liable, likely.
9. Assassinate, dispatch, execute, kill, mob, murder, slay.
10. Assert, claim, declare, maintain, state.
11. Bearing, behavior, conduct, demeanor, deportment.
12. Blaze, conflagration, fire, flame, holocaust.
13. Board, register, stay, stop.
14. Burglar, footpad, highwayman, marauder, plunderer, robber,
thief.
15. Calculate, expect, presume, reckon, suppose, think.
16. Celebrated, eminent, distinguished, famous, noted,
notorious, renowned.
17. Compel, constrain, force, urge.
18. Crime, delinquency, felony, guilt, misdemeanor, offense,
sin, trespass, vice.
19. Cyclone, gale, hurricane, rain, storm, tempest, tornado.
20. Dangerous, deadly, deathly, murderous.
21. Distracted, excited, feverish, frantic, hysterical, raging,
wild.
22. Dwelling, home, house, residence.
23. Educated, informed, learned, posted.
24. Healthful, healthy, nutritious, sanitary, wholesome.
25. Party, people, person, race, tribe.
_B._ Give equivalents for the following phrases:
acid test
along the line of
any way, shape, or form
appeared on the scene
beggars description
bids fair to become
blushing bride
brute force
burning issue
checkered career
cool as a cucumber
contracting parties
crisp dollar bill
crying need
dark horse
dastardly deed
delicious refreshments
departed this life
devouring element
doing as well as can be expected
dull thud
elegantly gowned
entertained lavishly
fatal noose
few well-chosen words
first number on the program
floral offering
foregone conclusion
fought like a tiger
gala attire
goes without saying
hard-earned coin
head over heels
hotly contested
hurled into eternity
incontrovertible fact
large and enthusiastic audience
last sad rites
last but not least
led to the hymeneal altar
madly in love
marriage was consummated
mooted question
much interest was manifested
one of the most unique
popular citizen
present incumbent
presided at the punch bowl
psychological moment
put in his appearance
received an ovation
red-letter day
sea of upturned faces
select few
signified his intention
small but appreciative crowd
steeled his nerve
stern reality
talented authoress
the present day and generation
this broad land of ours
this world's goods
took things into his own hands
tripped the light fantastic
typical Westerner
under existing conditions
_C._ Correct the following:
1. By his skill as a surgeon he carved out for himself a place
and name such as only real human service can claim or is ever
likely to attain.
2. Borne on the shoulders of six fat policemen, the body of
Patrolman Ferdinand Traudt, drowned in lower Nemahbin lake, was
carried to Cavalry cemetery on Saturday, escorted by a platoon
of twenty-six policemen in charge of Sergeant Edward Solverson.
3. Jim Allen and Silas Watson were connected with the town water
main Saturday.
4. A man adapted to the use of the cigarette is immediately
noticed by his nervous actions and his shallow complexion.
5. Elizabeth Dickerson and Maud Moore have gone east for the
heated epoch, and are missing some elegant weather hereabouts.
6. Another Chicagoan fell victim of petromortis yesterday when
A. W. Simpson, a mechanician in a fashionable garage at 556
Sheridan Road, fell unconscious in a limousine.
7. Edward McDonald broke through the screen door. His sleeves
were rolled up and he singed both arms.
8. A merchants' protective association, comprising the several
towns of this and adjoining counties, it seems, could be
profitably organized with an object in view of detecting and
locating the numerous thieves now permeating the country.
9. Gideon did not select those who laid aside their arms and
threw themselves down to drink; he took those who watched with
one eye and drank with the other.
10. His voice is a pure baritone and the vocal organs of Mr.
Black must be of exquisite formation as he has resources in
singing which command the study of the expert who has to hear
all exponents and reject most of them. For softness and power,
whisper and swell of tone, Mr. Black possesses resources of
exceptional value.
11. With her gift of song she beautifies church, home, charity,
and society.
12. She was taking her folks out riding near Logansport and on
going down the Davis Hill she accidentally put her foot on the
exhilarater instead of the brake.
13. A novel feature was a shaving contest among the employees of
the company. Those entered came to the picnic enshrouded with a
hirsute appendage of three days' growth, and supplied with a
razor and shaving cup. At a given time the unshaved began to
remove the capillary adornment and after the appliance of
styptics the winner was recognized by his friends.
14. After an hour spent in its inspection, they were taken back
to the Insane Asylum and were made to feel perfectly at home.
15. Like his predecessors at the convention, he proved a strong,
virulent, and entertaining speaker.
16. Mr. and Mrs. Christensen, with vocal solos, and Nora and
Mabel Peterson, with instrumental selections, entertained the
high school and seventh and eighth grades very pleasantly last
Friday afternoon. The music was followed by an indignation
meeting.
17. The fried chicken, new potatoes, sweet peas, strawberries,
cottage cheese, and other vegetables, and practically everything
served at the dinner was raised on the place.
18. Unable to give bonds in the sum of $100 each, Mesdames
McCarroll and Caslin, of Ponchautoula, charged with forgery,
were incarcerated in the parish prison here yesterday to await
the action of the grand jury, which convenes soon.
19. Three men, Ed Oliver and Fred and Bertrand Logan, met with
quite a mishap recently when the boat in which they were sailing
at Lower Bend capsized and they were drowned.
20. J. C. Clausen still survives his terrible shot given wound
and it is believed will ultimately recover, although he was more
mortally wounded than reported by this paper last week.
21. The bullet was apparently fired during the celebration but
the author of the act was not discovered.
22. J. W. Hiner of the Chicago bar delivered an address last
week at Berlin, Germany, before the "Englische Sprachvereinigung
im Deutschnationalen Handlungsgehilfen Verband," a German
society.
23. An unknown man standing on the corner of Elm and Superior
streets was hit by a rocket which went between his legs and
becoming entangled in his overcoat exploded up his back. He
immediately departed for parts unknown.
24. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Liddicoat of this village are the proud
and happy parents of a pair of twins, born July 17.
25. Especially does the man of discriminating taste appreciate
them when he compares them to the mass of cheap collars that the
American manufacturers have fostered on the country.
26. A cow was caught in the sudden rush of water and drowned.
Other animals of a herd had to fly for the hills.
27. All then repaired to the dining-room, where the eye was not
only pleased with the artistic decorations of blue and white,
and pink and white carnations, but the inner man was satisfied
with meats, viands, delicatessens, etc.
28. Harry L. Gill was born in Toronto, Canada, and is still a
native of that country.
29. Mrs. Heap wore a stunning gown of emerald green satin with
the bodice combined with lace. Mrs. Tom Clayton wore a stunning
gown of pink satin with a beaded tunic of purple chiffon. Other
stunning costumes were worn by Mrs. Alexander Britton, who was
in purple velvet with lace and brilliants; Miss Catherine
Britton, scarlet chiffon. Miss Mary Green wore a lovely gown of
blue charmeuse and chiffon with bands of skunk.
30. I was surprised to learn on making a round of the motorcycle
factories that the motorcycle engineers have produced machines
to meet the needs of men and women, too, for that matter, in
every walk of life.
31. He has the face of a cherubim.
32. He was a tall man, looking even taller by reason of the
long, formless overcoat he wore, known as a "duster," and by a
long straight beard that depended from his chin, which he combed
with two reflective fingers as he contemplated the editor.
33. How can we expect woman, a member of the weaker race, to
work ten hours a day and still retain her health?
34. Thomas O. Allen, present Minneapolis lumberman and captain
of the Yale eleven in 1905, who has been summoned to New Haven
as a football Moses to lead the Elis into some new bull rushes,
passed through Chicago yesterday on his way east.
35. These exercises are said to be less striving and to have
more pleasure for all contestants.
36. The attachés of the United States Weather bureau here say
that while the precipitation has been unusually heavy, the
present storm and that predicted to follow it are but the usual
rainy season rainfalls, for which there is no freak or
extraordinary explanation.
_CHAPTER XIV_
_A._ Number 1 below is a copy of a speech delivered by George Ade last
night at a dinner in honor of Mr. Brand Whitlock, United States minister
to Belgium. Number 2 is a New York dispatch about the dinner. Write up
the story for an Indianapolis morning paper on which you are working.
George Ade's home is in Indiana.
1. If you will go over the list of young men who wrote for
Chicago newspapers twenty-five years ago you will be convinced
that the newspaper business is the greatest business in the
world for getting out of.
Let us go away back to 1890. Also let us go back to Chicago. I
hope I am not asking too much. About twenty-five years ago in
the Middle West there was a restless movement toward the
newspaper office. Nearly every young man who could no longer
board at home decided to enter journalism. Chicago called him.
Chicago is the home of opportunity--and other things.
The young man who wishes to be a book agent must have a
prospectus. Any solicitor must own a set of application blanks.
The burglar needs a jimmy. But the journalist requires only a
collection of adjectives. So I repeat that about 1890 all the
by-roads led to Chicago and all the young men who abhorred farm
work were arranging to be editors.
The period to which I refer was to Chicago what the Elizabethan
period was to English letters. Joseph Medill and Wilbur F.
Storey were just rounding their interesting careers. George
Harvey was flashing across our local horizon on his way to New
York. M. E. Stone was hacking out of one newspaper office in
order to assume general supervision of all the newspapers in the
world. Vance Thompson wrote for an evening paper. Opie Read was
up and down the street, working as little as possible. William
Elroy Curtis had just served a term as society editor of the
_Inter Ocean_. Paul Potter was tied to an editorial desk, but
already he had heard the call of the stage and was getting ready
to write _Trilby_. Will Payne, Kennett Harris, Ray Stannard
Baker, Forrest Crissy, Emerson Hough, and other contributors to
the five- and ten-cent beacons of the present day were humbly
contributing to the daily press. Ben King was writing his quiet
verse and peddling it around. Eugene Field had come on from
Kansas City and was trying to weave _Culture's Garland_, in
spite of the fact that the high wind constantly disarranged his
material. Julian Street was still operating as an amateur, while
Henry Hutt and the Leyendecker boy and Pennrhyn Stanlaws and
other illustrators who have brought the show girl into the home
life of America were students at the Art Institute, over on the
lake front. Do you recognize some of the names? Most of them are
now typical New Yorkers--born west of Kalamazoo.
It was in 1890 that John T. McCutcheon came up from Indiana and
broke into the old _News_ office. Perhaps you know that later on
he became the Thomas Nast of the corn belt--one of the few
cartoonists with a really definite influence and a loyal
following. Tom Powers was just beginning to draw his comics.
Shortly before Melville Stone escaped from bondage he received a
call at his office from a talented young woman who acted on the
stage. I am not repeating any ancient scandal. I am simply
telling you the facts. The young actress showed the great editor
some verses which had been dedicated to her by a lad living on
the West Side. Mr. Stone sent for the young man and put him to
work, and the next morning he knew the young man had written
_Robin Hood_, and since then he has written most of the plays
with music presented anywhere in America. You must have seen the
name of Harry B. Smith on the billboards.
A young person with very red hair did general hustling on the
_Inter Ocean_ for a short time and then disappeared. Years later
he bobbed up in congress as a member from Kansas and began to
shout defiance at Uncle Joe Cannon. The young person's name was
Victor Murdock.
It was during this same golden age that an overgrown and
diffident young man came from an obscure town in Illinois and
was given a tryout on the _Tribune_. He was steady and
industrious and ever willing, and they set him to do hotel
reporting. He was a failure as a hotel reporter, because the
young men employed by the _Herald_ and _Times_ secured
interviews every day with interesting visitors whom he was never
able to find. He could not find them because those interesting
persons did not exist. They were created by the enterprising
young men of the _Times_ and _Herald_ who were working in
combination against the _Tribune_.
Each morning the _Herald_ and _Times_ would have a throbbing
story told by some traveler who had shot big game in India, or
penetrated the frozen north, or visited the interior of Tibet,
or observed the habits of the kangaroo in Australia.
The visitor who told the wondrous tales of adventure invariably
left in the afternoon for New York, but his name was on the
hotel register as a corroborative detail intended to give
verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative.
Perhaps I should explain that the hotel clerk was a party to the
conspiracy.
Every day the _Tribune_ young man was rebuked because he had
been scooped by the _Times_ and the _Herald_. He ran from hotel
to hotel, frantically eager to do his duty, but he never could
find the African explorer and the titled European and the North
Sea adventurer who told their breathless tales day after day in
the columns of the rival papers. So the _Tribune_ young man was
taken off hotels and put on finance. After that he was not
scooped. He came to know Lyman J. Gage and moved on to New York
via Washington. To-day the poor young man who failed as a hotel
reporter because he lacked the gift of imaginative fiction is
president of the National City Bank of New York. Perhaps you
have heard of him. His name is Frank Vanderlip.
Now let us inquire as to the designing scribblers who caused him
to lose his job. The _Times_ man is here in New York as first
aid to the tired business man. The next time you visit "Chin
Chin" or the Hippodrome you will notice the name of Charles B.
Dillingham on the program. As for the _Herald_ young man, you
must know something about him if you have read _Mr. Dooley_.
It was about 1890 that the sprightly organization known as the
Whitechapel Club came into existence in Chicago. Moses P. Handy
was an adopted son of the same period. He had come on from
Philadelphia and was trying to introduce the custom of wearing
evening clothes in the evening. Chicago had started to build the
Columbian Exposition and was trying hard to prove that a
provincial city could be cosmopolitan while company was present.
Thus many influences worked together to make Chicago a rather
interesting preparatory school in 1890.
If you will go over the list of young men who wrote for Chicago
newspapers twenty-five years ago you will be convinced that the
newspaper business is the greatest business in the world for
getting out of. Let us here resolve to treat the reporter
kindly, because in a few years we may be working for him.
Of all that untried host standing in line to receive
assignments, I don't suppose any one man was a greater
disappointment to prophets than Brand Whitlock. When he came up
from a freshwater college in Ohio and quietly attached himself
to the _Herald_ staff he attracted attention almost immediately
as a humorist. He specialized on "Josh stuff." He wrote
bantering, fantastic, mock-serious stories of the kind that were
standardized by Mr. Dana's young men. He was a star reporter,
pulling down his thirty-five per; but any first-class horoscoper
would have allowed that Whitlock was destined to contribute to
_Puck_ and _Judge_, and probably attempt the libretto of a comic
opera. He legged it on the newspaper for a while and then
re-deserted, the same as most of the others, and went to
Springfield to resume his studies. This was his first erratic
move. If he had been a true journalist there wouldn't have been
anything more for him to learn. Then he published _The
Thirteenth District_. Many of his old friends bought it
expecting to get something on the order of refined vaudeville,
but found, instead, a true and tragic story of cheap ambitions.
Well, we watched him as mayor of Toledo, and we have been
telling everybody for the last year and a half that we did
assignments together and are members of the same college
fraternity and wouldn't be afraid to go right up and speak to
him anywhere.
To that scattered colony of twenty-five years ago I bring the
assurance that we are proud of Brand Whitlock and are glad to
call him our friend.
2. Brand Whitlock, American minister to Belgium, was the
principal guest at a private banquet given by the Lotos Club at
its home, 110 West Fifty-seventh Street, last night. It was
described by a prominent member of the club as a "banquet that
was not attended by any man prominent in politics, but one that
was intended to do honor to Mr. Whitlock and to drink a little
wine and to eat a little breast of guinea."
Politics and newspaper reporters were barred, and Whitlock in
his address made no reference to the European war or to the
situation in Belgium. "American Ideals" was the subject of the
address, and he referred to the inscription on Washington Arch,
in Washington Square, which says, "Let us here erect a standard
to which all the wise and honest may repair."
"That is a sentence of which I like to think," Mr. Whitlock
said. "It is a standard which to be effective must be erected in
the life of each citizen, and no one can erect it there but
himself. In no citizen did it ever attain such beautiful and
symmetrical proportions as in the life of Lincoln.
"Once in a foreign city I happened to pick up a penny in the
street. It was one of those that bear Lincoln's head. Looking at
it and thinking of its implications, the thought of home and all
that it brought up, the thought of all the hands through which
it had passed--hands of workmen, the hands of little children,
the hands of beggars, even; hard hands and gnarled hands and
honest hands, the hands of mine own people--it seemed to me to
have been made precious by the patina of democracy, and I
thought that nothing could have been more beautiful and
significant than that Lincoln's noble head should have been
engraved on our smallest coin, a token of our universal daily
need in hands that humbly break the bread their toil has earned.
That head to me somewhat palpably wore the people's love like
purple bays--the love of all those common people whom he so
wisely loved and bore in sorrow in his mighty heart.
"In him, as I have tried to say, the American ideal was most
perfectly exemplified, and it was exemplified in him because
after the illusions of life had gone he retained his ideals and
his faith in them. It was thus exemplified in him because in
addition to his wisdom, his gentleness, his patience, his hope,
and his faith, he had that other great American quality of
humor, which saved him in every situation, and by American humor
I mean that instinctive sense of human values that enables one
to see all things or most things in their proper relations, and
so becomes an integral part of the American ideal."
Four hundred fifty members of the club and their friends were at
the banquet. At the table with Whitlock were Dr. M. Woolsey
Stryker, president of Hamilton College; M. A. Van der Vyede,
Belgian Minister of Finance; Nathaniel C. Wright, editor of the
Toledo _Blade_; Rev. Dr. Leighton Parks, Melville E. Stone,
George Ade, and Hewitt H. Howland, of Indiana, all of whom
spoke.
Mr. Whitlock was introduced by Chester S. Lord, vice president
of the club, who presided in the absence of President F. R.
Lawrence, who was ill. Lord reviewed briefly some of the work of
Whitlock in Belgium, where he worked "with a fidelity and a
fairness and a supreme regard for the interests of humanity that
have won for him the praise and the admiration of the entire
world."
Speaking to Mr. Whitlock, Mr. Lord said: "The neutral nations
esteem you and love you. The belligerent nations admire and
respect you. No one could have addressed himself to this task
with greater loyalty, fidelity, or patriotism."
_B._ Do you find the following story meritorious or blameworthy? Why?
_MRS. PALTIER "NOT AT HOME"_
Mrs. Laura Paltier, who has just returned from Florida, was "not
at home" to reporters yesterday. They wanted to ask her several
questions about the $20,000 exposition fund now in her charge.
A maid answered the doorbell at 4356 Lake Erie Drive.
"Is Mrs. Paltier at home?"
"Who is it wants to see her?"
"_The Tribune_." The maid closed the door, leaving the reporter
on the porch. Five minutes later she returned. "Mrs. Paltier is
not at home. I don't know where she is nor when she will
return." She closed the door.
The reporter went to a telephone. "Is Mrs. Paltier at home?"
The maid's voice answered: "I will see." For a minute two voices
could be heard at the other end of the wire.
"Who is this, please?" asked the maid. Upon learning the
identity of the inquirer she said: "No, Mrs. Paltier is not at
home."
About that time the reporter decided that Mrs. Paltier was not
eager to see him.
_C._ Special assignments, such as reporting sermons, local addresses,
commercial banquets, etc., may be taken as additional exercises for this
chapter.
_CHAPTER XV_
_A._ From the following details write for a New York morning paper a
story of the death of Tom Hilton:
Time and place of death, yesterday at the New York hospital;
age, 36; occupation, sexton at Christ Church on West
Thirty-sixth Street; attending physician, Dr. Henry Adair; cause
of death, swallowing false teeth while at breakfast with his
wife yesterday; efforts to save him: Dr. Adair summoned
immediately, incision made in throat, silver tube inserted to
allow passage of air to the lungs, and operation later at
hospital. Patient failed to rally after operation. Survivors:
wife and two children.
_B._ From the following details write for a Chicago evening paper a
story of the fire that destroyed the plant of the W. M. Welch
Manufacturing Company, makers of college and preparatory school
diplomas:
Date, to-day, April 19, at 4:30 A.M.; location, 1516 Orleans
Street, Chicago; cause of fire, supposedly crossed wires on
second floor where fire started; loss $60,000 according to C. M.
Holmes, Jr., manager of the scientific department; persons
injured, one fireman slightly injured by falling glass;
institutions whose diplomas were destroyed, George Washington
University, Grinnell College, University of North Dakota,
Marquette University, Dakota Wesleyan College; lives endangered,
five firemen who were climbing a ladder on the rear wall when it
fell; insurance, amount not obtainable.
_C._ The following almost excellent news article has one grave weakness.
Rewrite the story, strengthening the weak points.
Earl Moisley was 14 years old. He lived with his parents, three
brothers, and a sister at 5417 Gale Street. He was in the eighth
grade at the Beaubien school and a promising pupil.
Earl's grandmother gave him a lamb and he kept it in the
basement. One day last week the animal slipped through the open
door after its master and went bleating into the schoolroom
behind Earl.
"Mary had a little lamb
With fleece as white as snow."
Some one in the back row chanted the foolish nursery rhyme. Earl
was sent home with the lamb. Thereafter his life was made
miserable. Gangs of his comrades followed him, yelling in chorus
the song of "Mary" and "Little Bo-Peep."
Earl turned on one of his tormentors yesterday and blacked his
eye. His playmates say he was summoned before the principal of
the school and suspended for fighting. The boys assert they saw
him marching sturdily home digging one grimy fist in his eye and
muttering, "They'll be sorry, all right."
About 5 o'clock last evening Earl's younger brother went into
the basement. He saw a pair of shoes sticking over the top of a
little red wagon and ran upstairs.
"Mother," he said, "there's a man in the cellar. I saw his
feet."
Mrs. Moisley laid aside her washing and went downstairs with the
younger son. She then told her husband, Fred Moisley, an under
janitor at the city hall.
Moisley observed a piece of heavy twine tied to the water pipe.
He thought some man had committed suicide and ran outside for a
policeman. Mrs. Moisley went near the stiff, outthrust little
shoes, and saw they were those of a boy. She bent over the
figure and fainted. It was Earl. The lamb lay asleep beside the
body.
_D._ Correct in any way needful the following stories for a weekly
paper:
1. Susie, the four-months-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin
Konick, Booneville, died last night after a few days' illness.
She will be interred at the Meadowland cemetery Thursday. Susie
had the whooping-cough.
2. Mrs. Alice Rice was born in Jefferson county, Ga., on Aug. 6,
1864, and passed quietly away last Saturday, making her age 53
years, 10 months, and 27 days. Mr. and Mrs. Rice were married
about 32 years. One son, Samuel, and husband, Adam, survive her.
They moved to the Houghton farm, near Adaville, 14 years ago,
and were just intending to move to the White farm when death
overtook Mrs. Rice after an illness of 22 hours, which was not
considered serious until about 2 hours before her death. Mrs.
Rice had worked as busy as a bee all her years in Adaville, and
when her beautiful spirit quitted this mundane vale of tears,
she was rewarded with the loving attendance and affection of all
in the sorrowing neighborhood. The funeral service was conducted
Monday afternoon at the sorrowing home by the Rev. R. O. Tumlin.
The remains were interred at the Camp Meeting cemetery. Mrs.
Rice died of heart trouble.
_E._ Get the local and state weather forecast and write for to-morrow
morning's paper a story of to-day's weather and to-morrow's prospects.
_CHAPTER XVI_
_A._ Criticize and rewrite the following baseball story:
The scribe again has a sad story to relate concerning the Sox,
inasmuch as the White Hose have failed for the sixth straight
time to win, and unfortunately it must be admitted that they in
every way deserved what they got.
In fact, if Manager Callahan had taken their bats away from
them after the first inning to-day and had buried them 20,000
leagues under the sea, securely padlocked in Davy Jones' locker,
his men would have been compelled to accept a victory over
Detroit instead of handing themselves a sixth straight defeat
after one of the cheesiest exhibitions of the national pastime
ever seen outside the walls of a state institute for the
mentally feeble.
The score was 5 to 4, and all five of Detroit's runs were
donated by the White Sox, a fact which seemed to rouse the
subconscious generosity of the Tigers to such a pitch that in
the ninth inning it was all the Callahan bunch could do to keep
their opponents from forcing on them enough tallies to even
matters up so that they could start over and let the best team
win in extra innings.
That ninth round saw three Detroit pitchers, Dame Fortune, Herr
Billiken, Mr. Providence and all the gods of Olympus conspiring
to give the White Sox the game which had been thrown away, but
the whole blamed bunch of good luck deities was foiled by a
couple of White Sox youngsters simply because Callahan forgot to
take their clubs away from them.
It would have been a joke that would have caused a laugh all
through the corridors of time if the White Sox had achieved a
triumph with only one base hit, but the fact remains it was
their own fault they did not do so. Their only safe hit was made
by Ray Demmitt, the Tiger discard, who has not yet worn a Sox
uniform long enough to forget the first use for a baseball bat.
Demmitt retains the impression that bats were made to get on
with, while the rest of Callahan's bunch use them solely to get
out with, and that was the whole trouble in the last round. The
Sox entered that spasm four runs behind, having converted
Demmitt's lone hit in the first inning into the only genuine
tally of the day.
Hall, who had enjoyed a breeze all the way at the expense of the
Sox, suddenly was seized with a generous fit and started passing
batsmen. After he had filled the bases with only one man out
Manager Jennings yanked the philanthropic hurler and sent Dauss
to the slab. Dauss was infected with the same Andrew Carnegie
spirit and issued another pass, forcing the Sox to make a tally.
There was no pity in Jennings' breast, so he ordered Dauss to
the booby hatch for a spanking and sent Coveleski to ladle out
the pitch stuff. The young southpaw was equally generous in
intent and would surely have forced in enough runs to give the
Sox the game, but two of the visitors absolutely refused to
accept that kind of a gift and got out. They were Tom Daly and
Ray Schalk.
For a while it looked as if Buck Weaver would have to shoulder
the blame for another defeat because he blew two runs over the
pan by missing a cinch double play in the fourth inning. But
Weaver had plenty of partners in crime before the thing was
over. Harry Lord and Jack Fournier joined him by helping to
contribute three runs to the Tiger total in the eighth.
Lord's miscue was a boot of a Cobb bounder in a tight place.
Fournier's blunder did not appear in the error column. Jack
simply sat down on the grass and watched a tall fly light near
him in gleeful security. By keeping his feet Fournier should
have caught said fly and saved the cost of Lord's error to boot.
Fournier was in the game in an effort to bolster up the offense,
not because he has anything as an outfielder on Bodie, whose
place he took in the batting order, but the switch did not work
out just as planned. Fournier made no better use of his stick
than the rest of the Sox, and gave way to Daly, who foiled the
generous efforts of the Tiger pitchers in the ninth.
It was a typical Joe Benz hard-luck game. The Indiana butcher
boy pitched well enough to have won with any club in the league
behind him, but only once were his pals anything but dead weight
around his neck. In the sixth, when the Tigers made a determined
attack, Weaver and Schalk came to Benz's assistance with a
remarkable play, which pinched Cobb off second base and wrecked
what looked like sure runs. And it is no small honor to have
caught the honorable Tyrus napping in a pinch like that....
_B._ Take as a special assignment a local football, basketball, or
baseball game, or some other athletic contest and report it for the
following morning's paper.
_CHAPTER XVII_
_A._ Write the story of the following for the society column in
to-morrow morning's paper:
The parents of Elizabeth Wallace, 24, announced her engagement
to-day to Parker Maxwell. Miss Wallace's father is president of
the local First National Bank and lives at 1814 Prospect Drive.
Mr. Maxwell, 31, is cashier of the First National. Mr. Maxwell
and Miss Wallace have known each other from childhood.
_B._ Write the story of the following:
The details of Elizabeth Wallace's wedding (see _A_) two weeks
from to-day have been made public. She will be married at St.
Bartholomew's Church at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Rev. C. K.
Tanner will perform the ceremony. The bride will enter with her
father. Howard Prentice, St. Louis, a college chum of the
bride-groom's, will be best man. Alice Wallace, a younger sister
of the bride, will be maid of honor. The bride will wear on the
bodice of her wedding gown an old Brussels lace worn by her
mother at her wedding thirty years ago. The predominating color
scheme will be yellow. There will be two flower girls, Jean
Thompson and Helen Orben, cousins of the bride. Three hundred
invitations have been issued. A luncheon to the bridal party,
relations, and a few intimate friends will be served at 1:30.
_C._ Write for to-day's paper an account of the marriage yesterday of
Elizabeth Wallace and Parker Maxwell (See _A_ and _B_).
Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell left immediately after the wedding ceremony
for a trip through Yellowstone Park. On their return next month
they will live at 1200 East Sixtieth Street.
_CHAPTER XVIII_
_A._ Rewrite for this afternoon's paper the two following stories
appearing in rival publications this morning. No additional details have
been obtained.
_LOSES MONEY BETTING_
Two rough and hearty farmers struck up an acquaintance at a
hotel last Thursday. One was John I. Williams of Winthrop, Ia.
Mr. Williams is now sojourning in the city waiting to see if the
police can recover $2,500, his savings, which he bet on a "horse
race." The other introduced himself as William Shaw, a farmer
from near Winnipeg. The police are looking for him.
Mr. Williams reported his loss and told of meeting Shaw.
"We were together all Thursday afternoon and evening," said he.
"Shaw introduced me to another young man, who proposed the
racing bets. I have forgotten his name. He placed a $1 bet for
me and I won $5. He placed the $5 and brought back $15. It was
easy.
"Shaw and I agreed to put up $2,500 apiece and let him bet it.
Shaw put up checks, but the young man didn't know me, so I had
to go back to Walker, Ia., and draw my $2,500.
"On Saturday we gave him the money and checks in a hallway at
830 North State Street.
"We all shook hands and agreed to meet at 3 o'clock at State
Street and Chicago Avenue and divide the winnings. I waited more
than an hour at the meeting place. I think I've been swindled."
The police think so, too.
_SAYS BABIES BOOST TAXES_
The Mills legislative committee which is studying taxation has
discovered strange things in its two weeks' sojourn in New York
City, but it brought forth a real surprise yesterday in the
person of Prof. Joseph French Johnson of New York University,
who disclosed himself as a disciple of the late Thomas Robert
Malthus, proponent of the theory that there can never be a happy
society because population tends to increase at a much faster
rate than the old earth, working overtime, can provide food,
raiment, and other things.
Discussing yesterday the income tax, Prof. Johnson, who appeared
as chairman of the Merchant's Association committee on taxation,
said he wanted to nail the frequently expressed opinion that the
exemption accorded to the married man should be greater than
that which the bachelor enjoys.
"Since you are talking about exemptions," he said, "I might add
this: I would not exempt the married man. I would not give any
preference to the married man over the bachelor. I do not
believe it is a good thing to encourage matrimony by lowering
taxation. On the contrary, I would discourage matrimony by
making the married man pay a higher tax. I think we should not
do anything to encourage matrimony and child-bearing."
"Surely you are not serious, are you, Professor?" inquired
Senator Boylan.
"I certainly am serious. I should have to give you quite a
disquisition to explain my conclusions, and I doubt if it would
be practicable for you to consider the subject now. And you
would have to surrender to public opinion anyhow. If you do put
in force a new system of taxation you'll have to treat the
married man easily. I am still a confirmed disciple of Malthus,
and I believe that the awful war in Europe is being fought out
because the human race has deliberately refused to see the
lessons of his doctrines, which were taught a hundred years
ago."
Prof. Johnson, who in addition to being professor of economics
at New York University is also dean of the school of finance,
explained after he had left the stand that he is not opposed to
matrimony as an institution, nor as a refuge from loneliness for
those who can afford it. He is himself a married man and has
three children.
"I believe in the Malthusian theory," he said. "Just consider
that man is the only animal whose natural increase is not
regulated. We regulate the increase in the number of cats and
dogs and other domestic animals, but we let human beings go on
having children without any thought of the ability of society to
take care of them. I think we should regulate marriage and
especially child-bearing.
"In my opinion no married man ought to be allowed to have a
child until he can convince some authority of his ability to
provide properly for that child. We want all the increase we can
get in the good elements of population, but we ought to keep
down the 'riff-raff'--although you know as a matter of fact
there is no human 'riff-raff'--yet we allow them to increase
without any regulation. As for those who are able to take care
of themselves, let them marry and have children. The more the
merrier."
_B._ Selection (1) below is a bulletin received some hours after the
news detailed in (2), which appeared in a morning paper. Combine the
bulletin with the morning story.
1. After confessing that he was the cause of his sweetheart,
Emily Benton's, death, Alfred Barker committed suicide at 6:00
A.M. to-day by throwing himself in front of a Burlington express
train near the town of Ashworth. In his pocket was found the
following note:
"Dear Folks: God forgive me for causing my sweetheart's
death. I did not kill her. We walked out there and sat
down. I tried to kiss her and she repulsed me. I asked
her if she did not want to be my sweetheart any more. She
wouldn't answer. I took a hold of her waist, pushed
toward her, and tried to love her. She started to scream,
and I went completely out of my head.
"She became quiet all of a sudden. I thought I had hurt
her and she was breathing heavily but was senseless. I
covered her up and don't remember what happened until I
awoke to find myself lying along the road, near
Naperville.
"My mind came back. I realized what I had done and I
went over to the quarry and jumped in, but could not
sink.
"Then I went to Aurora, bought some chloroform, and that
night (Sunday) I came back and found my darling's body,
and I realized that she was really dead. I laid down
beside her and took chloroform, but about 2:30 A.M. I
woke up and the bottle had tipped over.
"Then I went to Belmont and got a freight and rode to
Aurora, where I got more chloroform. I came back to
Dawson Grove and went into the woods and saturated my
handkerchief with chloroform, thinking I would surely
die. But it failed to work also.
"I could not live and know that my sweetheart Emily was
dead, so I have resolved in a desperate way to end my
life.
"The girl died of heart failure or fright, as I surely
could not kill the one I thought the most of in the whole
world.
"I loved her more than words can tell and I would die for
her and I will die for her.
"I have been partly insane for the last two days.
"Forgive me and I pray to meet my sweetheart in heaven.
"Alfred."
This morning at 10 o'clock a jury impaneled by W. V. Hopf, Ellis
County coroner, will assemble in Dawson Grove for an inquest
into the two deaths. At the same hour the funeral of the girl
will be held from the house of the widowed mother she supported.
The funeral of Barker will be at two o'clock to-morrow.
_GIRL DEAD IN MYSTERY CASE_
2. Miss Emily Benton was found dead late yesterday in a patch of
bushes on the outskirts of the village of Dawson Grove. She had
disappeared Saturday evening in company with Alfred Barker, a
young man who had been paying her attention since childhood.
Searching parties in the field since early Sunday morning were
joined last night by a sheriff's posse in the quest for Barker.
Barker is described as an athletic young man with a "Johnny
Evers" jaw. Barker was about 5 feet 10 inches tall and a blond.
Barker and the girl were "pals" in the words of their
relatives, who only half guessed at times that perhaps the long
friendship would become a "match." Together the girl and Barker
often through the springtime took long walks at
night--occasionally a matter of many miles--to the villages of
Hinman and Nashville. For several years the couple rode to
Chicago together to work every day on the same commuters' train
and often returned home together at night.
While an alarm was sent out through all the surrounding towns
for the apprehension of Barker, no charges have been made
against him. An autopsy held in secret by Coroner Hopf of Ellis
county was expected to reveal the cause of the girl's death.
Alfred Barker, returning from his work at the general offices of
the Burlington Railroad in Chicago, dropped off a train at the
station in Dawson Grove on Saturday afternoon at 5:15 o'clock.
He lingered about the station platform until the 6:30 train came
in and met Miss Benton, home from her day's work at the Parisian
Fashion Company in Chicago. Together they walked to the girl's
home and stood talking on the doorstep of the Benton residence,
just as they had most every afternoon in the last seven years.
The mother says she overheard this conversation:
Alfred.--"Let's take in a show to-night."
Emily.--"No, but I'll be over to-night. I want to see Pauline."
The girl abruptly entered the house and greeted her mother a
trifle impatiently.
"I'm getting awful tired of Al," she said.
That evening the girl went to the home of her sister, Mrs. Henry
Wallis, where Barker and his aunt, Mrs. Fannie Willis,
mother-in-law of Mrs. Wallis, also live. At 8 o'clock the girl
and Barker left together.
"They said they might go to a show, and that's the last I saw of
them," Mrs. Wallis said.
Late at night the two households became alarmed when neither of
the young people returned. The families suggested to each other
that Barker and the girl had eloped, but still there were doubts
and misgivings.
Martin Whittier, the town marshal, was called and the alarm was
sent to the Chicago police. Sunday morning came and there was no
word of either of the missing.
A group of high school boys volunteered to look for the couple,
and soon they were joined by the whole school. No trace of the
trail was found.
Yesterday morning the disappearance had grown into a village
sensation. The schools were closed for the day and all the
pupils turned out to beat over the fields and woods.
Carl Selig, a grocery delivery man, was driving in Orchard
Street on the south side of the village, about 5 o'clock, when
something behind a bunch of bushes and tanglewood at Lyman
Street caught his eye. He climbed off the wagon and pushed
through the brush to investigate. In a small open place half
concealed by the bushes Selig came upon a girl's body. The face
was covered with her coat and her hands were folded across her
breast. He gingerly pulled off the coat and recognized the girl
as Emily Benton. Selig gave the alarm and the body was removed
to Davis's undertaking rooms in the village.
The ground near the death spot was closely examined without
discovery of any trace of a struggle. Ten feet away from the
body a boy picked up an empty two-ounce bottle. It showed no
trace of its contents and it bore no label.
At the undertaking rooms a preliminary examination of the body
disclosed a bruised splotch on the girl's neck, another on the
right temple, and a third on the chin. The inside of her mouth
was discolored and seared, as though she might have taken
carbolic acid. There was no odor to indicate any chemical.
Last night Sheriff Kuhn and Coroner Hopf of Ellis county went to
Dawson Grove and assumed personal charge of the case.
_CHAPTER XIX_
_A._ Write a feature story on the different ways students in your
college make money. Get statistics of the number of students earning
their way wholly or in part and the amount of money earned during a
college year.
_B._ The following statement was made by Dr. Martin Frederick of the
city medical staff, Cleveland, Ohio: "Milady's dimples are defects
caused by faulty construction or weaknesses of the cheek muscles."
Interview several ladies who have dimples and write the story.
_C._ The following statements were made by Colonel G. O. Shields,
president of the League of American Sportsmen:
"The cotton growers are suffering a loss of one hundred million
dollars a year by reason of the ravages of the boll weevil. Why?
Because the quails, the prairie chickens, the meadow larks and
other birds which were formerly there in millions have been
swept away by gunners. The grain growers are losing over one
hundred million dollars a year on account of the work of the
chinch bug. They are losing another two hundred million dollars
a year on account of the work of the Hessian fly. Both of these
are very small insects, almost microscopic in size. It takes
over twenty-four thousand chinch bugs to weigh one ounce. A
quail killed in a wheat field in Ohio and examined by a
government expert had in its craw the remains of over twelve
hundred chinch bugs it had eaten that day. Another quail killed
in Kansas and examined by another government expert had in its
craw the remains of over two thousand Hessian flies that it had
eaten that day. The farmers of the Northern states are paying
out sixteen to seventeen million dollars a year for paris green
to put on their potato vines. A quail killed in a potato field
in Pennsylvania and examined by a government entomologist had in
its stomach the remains of one hundred twenty-six bugs. The
quail is one of the most valuable insect-eating birds of its
size in the world; and yet there are so-called sportsmen all
over the land, thousands of them, who insist on having legal
authority to kill every quail they can find during at least
three months of each year. Then there is a whole army of
game-hogs who go out and kill them when they are half grown and
when there is no game warden in sight."
Write a feature story about the value of birds.
_D._ The following bill of fare for fifteen cents was found in a
restaurant at 1615 Austin Avenue: two eggs cooked any style, one cup of
coffee, two slices of bread, butter, potatoes, toothpicks. Steak instead
of eggs made the price twenty cents. Pie was five cents. The proprietor,
Christ Terss, a Greek, has supported himself and wife for two years on
this priced menu and in addition has put $200 in the bank. Make a
feature story of the details.
_E._ In the court of domestic relations yesterday, Willie Preber, 19,
1848 Ontario Street, was accused by his stepmother, Mrs. John Preber, of
fighting her. Willie pleaded not guilty, saying he could not fight with
her much, as he had a weak heart and might die if he got excited. He
declared he never touched her more than once a day. He was sent to the
house of correction for sixty days.
_F._ The _Seattle Star_ got a good story by interviewing a number of
men and women about the book they had liked most when children. _Tom
Sawyer_ and _Robinson Crusoe_ led the list. Try the story in your town
or in your university.
_G._ A similar story to that in _F_ may be had by interviewing a number
of persons about their favorite sacred hymn. "Onward, Christian
Soldiers" led the list in Columbus, Ohio.
_H._ Inquire of twelve or fifteen college men and women what favorite
remedies they use for colds. Their varied replies will be startling.
Make a feature story of their answers.
_I._ Question a number of persons in your town, or in your university,
about their favorite hobbies, and feature the story as "Riding Hobby
Horses with _Blank_ Men and Women."
_J._ Inquire of the members of the senior class what kinds of husbands
or wives they expect to marry. If they do not intend marrying, get their
reasons and feature them in a separate story.
_K._ Spend an afternoon in the kitchens of the university dormitories
and write the story.
_L._ How strictly is the honor system observed in colleges to-day?
Interview underclassmen in your college and make a feature of their
replies.
INDEX
Abbreviations, 269
Accidents, 149, 153
Accuracy in news, 26, 57, 67, 74, 84, 116, 128, 141, 146
Adaptability, 7
Addresses, 54, 135
"Add" stories, 253
Advance copies of speeches, 54
Advance stories, 54, 193
Advertisement, persons seeking, 47
Advertising manager, 21
Agreement of pronouns, 100
_Alone_, 108
Ambiguous pronouns, 100
Anger, 46
_Appleton Post_, quoted, 59, 77
Apostrophe, 266
Arrest sheets, 36
Articles, beginning stories with, 70
Assignments, 42
Associated Press, quoted, 237
_Atlanta Constitution_, quoted, 190
Automobile races, 189
Autoplate, 16
Bank, 14
Banks in headlines, 281
Banquets, 143
Baseball, 167
Basket-ball, 176
Beats:
news runs, 39;
scoops, 40
Beginnings of stories, 68
Beginning work, 5
Billiards, 190
Bing-bing-bing style, 93
Blotter, police, 34
Body of the story, 84
_Boston Transcript_, quoted, 205
Boxed summaries, 76
Boxing matches, 185
Bryan, W. J., 131
Bulldog edition, 5
Business department, 20
Business manager, 20
Capitalization, 256
Cards, calling, 42, 45
Cartoonist, 11
Cashier, 22
Charity benefits, 205
Chase, 16
_Chicago American_, quoted, 93
_Chicago Herald_, quoted, 140
_Chicago Tribune_, quoted, 60, 192, 196, 233, 301
Children, stories about, 30, 151
Circulation manager, 20
City editor, 5, 6, 68, 95
City maps, 43
City room, 3
Clearness, 74, 90, 97, 106, 117
Climactic order, 61, 64
Clippings, 253
Closeness of events, 29
Clubs, 205, 209
Coherence, 90, 109, 129, 141, 218
Colon, 259
Comma, 260
Complex order in stories, 63
Composing room, 13
Compositors, 13
Condensation, 95, 223
Conjunctions, 104, 107
Contests, 30
Conventions, 32, 143
Conversation, 129
Coördination of clauses, 104
Copy, 294
Copy cutter, 13
Copy distributor, 13
Copy holder, 16
Copy readers, 5
Corrected copy, 275
Corrected proof, 276
Corrections in copy, 254
Correlative conjunctions, 107
Correspondence stories, 235
Correspondent, 235
Courtesy, 46
Courts, 144
Crime, 149, 160
Cuts, 253
Dana, Charles A., 116
Dances, 204
Dark runs, 40
Dash, 263
Davis, R. H., quoted, 48
Dead, lists of, 150
Deaths, 157
Decisions, court, 145
Delicacy of expression, 113
_Des Moines Register_, quoted, 66
Dinners, 202
Dispatches, filing, 239
Dress, 46
Dullness in stories, 84
Editor:
city, 6;
exchange, 9;
financial, 10;
literary, 10;
managing, 11;
market, 10;
news, 7;
society, 6, 10;
state, 8;
telegraph, 8
Editorializing, 87, 191
Editorial policies, 87
Editorial rooms, 5
Editorials, purpose of, 87
Editorial writers, 11
Editor-in-chief, 12
Elegance, 120
Ellipsis, 106
Emphasis, 93, 97, 110
End-mark in copy, 254
Engagements, announcements, 200, 210
Exaggeration, 86, 146
Exchange editor, 9
Exercises, 285
Extremes in news, 29
Fake stories, 56
Falsehood, detecting, 51
Feature stories, 224
Features, playing up, 69, 127
Figures, 271
Figures of speech, 119
Filing news dispatches, 239
Filing queries, 240
Financial editor, 10
Fires, 149
Flaubert, Gustave, quoted, 116
Following up news, 212
Follow stories, 212
Football, 171, 192
Force, 93, 97, 110, 119
Forms, 16
Fudge, 18
Funerals, 157
Galley proof, 15
Golf, 179
Government publications, 144
Grammar, 99
Helplessness, value in news, 30
Heroism, acts of, 150
Holiday stories, 143
Holmes, George R., quoted, 77
Human interest stories, 224
Humorous stories, 146, 151
Hyphen, 267
Illustrations, 253
Inaccuracy in news, 26, 84
_Indianapolis News_, quoted, 156
Infinitives, 101
Injured, lists of, 150
Inserts in copy, 252
Instructions from city editor, 68, 95
Instructions to correspondents, 244
Interest in news, 27, 58, 74
Interviewing, 45
Interviews:
by telephone, 42;
making men talk, 48;
numbers of, 135;
questions in, 47, 50;
requirements for, 45;
writing up, 125
_Kansas City Star_, quoted, 62, 312
Killed, lists of, 150
Labor reporter, 6
Lardner, R. W., quoted, 192
Law of libel, 85, 162
Leads:
accident, 149, 153;
accuracy in, 74;
clearness in, 74;
construction, 70;
contents of, 69;
crime, 160;
deaths, 157;
feature stories, 230;
fires, 149;
follow-ups, 213;
form of, 72;
informal, 78;
interest in, 74;
interviews, 126;
kinds, 68;
rewrites, 219;
speeches, 135;
sports, 165;
summarizing, 69, 138;
suspense in, 78, 81;
verse in, 80
Lectures, 54
Legal decisions, 144
Libel, law of, 85, 162
Librarian, 10
Linotype machine, 13
Lists of dead and injured, 150
Literary editor, 10
Life lost, 150
Localization of news, 29, 127, 218
Local news, 238
Longhand copy, 250
_Los Angeles Times_, quoted, 203, 204
Luncheons, 202
Magazine articles, 144
Managing editor, 11
Mannerisms, 130, 143
Maps, city, 43
Margins in copy, 250
Marine reporter, 6
Market editor, 10
Marks for correcting copy, 273
Marriages, 201, 210
Matrix, 16
Mechanical department, 13
Memory, need of, 49
_Milwaukee Journal_, 15, 189
_Milwaukee Sentinel_, quoted, 80
_Minneapolis Tribune_, quoted, 64
Morgue, 9
Motives, seeking, 51
Murders, 149
Names, need of accuracy, 53
Nearness of events, 29
Nevin, J. E., quoted, 131-134
News:
accuracy in, 26;
biased, 56;
defined, 26;
essentials of, 25;
following up, 212;
getting into print, 13;
nose for, 25;
runs, 39;
sources, 34, 159, 191, 211, 230;
staff, 5;
suppression of, 41;
timeliness in, 28;
values, need of knowing, 25
News editor, 7
Newspaper organization, 3
_New York Herald_, quoted, 81, 155, 159
_New York Sun_, 116, 201, 204, 225
_New York Times_, quoted, 81, 168, 182, 185, 205
_New York Tribune_, quoted, 176
_New York World_, quoted, 154, 171, 194, 214
Nose for news, 25
Note-book in reporting, 49
Note-taking, 49
Numbers, 271
Obituaries, 157
Office, city, 3, 43
_Omaha News_, quoted, 131-134
O'Malley, F. W., quoted, 225
_Only_, 108
Organization of a newspaper, 3
Organization of stories, 57
Ownership, influence on news, 89
Pagination, 252
Paragraph, the, 97
Paragraph indention, 251
Paragraph marks in copy, 251
Parenthetic expressions, 108
Parentheses, 264
Participles, 102
Pathos in news stories, 31, 151
Period, 259
Personal interests in news, 32
Personals, 206
_Philadelphia Public Ledger_, quoted 177, 201
Photographers, 11
Photographs, 54
Pitkin, W. B., quoted, 27
Places, well known, in news, 31
Plate, stereotyping, 16
Police:
as news gatherers, 34;
blotter, 34;
bulletin board, 35;
headquarters, 34;
news, 34;
reporter, 39
Policies, newspaper, 87
Political news, 89
Presses, printing, 17
Press room, 17
Printing, speed in, 18
Printing presses, 17
Prominent persons, 31, 51, 218
Pronouns, 91, 100
Proof:
correcting, 16;
specimen sheet, 276;
galley, 15;
marks used in correcting, 277
Proof-readers, 15
Proof-readers' marks, 277
Proportion, 111, 129
Punctuation, 256
Queries, 240
Question leads, 79
Questions in interviewing, 47, 50, 127
Quotation-marks, 264
Quotations:
in leads, 80;
verbatim, 136, 142, 264
Receptions, 203
Record-breaking events, 30
Relation words, 91
Release stories, 54
Repetition, 91, 112
Reporters:
duties, 6;
getting news, 42, 127;
requirements of, 25;
suppressing news, 41
Rewrite man, 219
Rewrite stories, 212, 218
Robberies, 149, 162
Rumors, 26, 153
Runs, news, 39
Scoops, 40
Semicolon, 260
Sentences, 72, 95, 99
Sermons, 54, 135
Sheets, 36
Shorthand, 49
Slang, 120, 164
Slips, 35
Slugging a story, 13
Slugs, 14
Society, 199
Society editor, 6, 10, 199
Sources for news, 34, 159, 191, 211, 230, 238
Space order in stories, 60
Speeches, 54, 135
Speed devices, 18
Speed, value in reporting, 57
Spencer, Herbert, 58
Split infinitive, 101
Sporting editor, 8
Sports, 164, 243
State editor, 8
Stereotyping process, 16
Stories:
correspondence, 235;
getting, 42, 127, 159, 191, 211, 230, 238;
starting for, 42
String, correspondent's, 245
Style book, 249
Subjects, shifted, 109
Subordination of clauses, 104
Suicides, 149
Summaries, boxed, 76
Suppression of news, 41, 48
Suspensive leads, 78, 81
Takes, 13, 15, 251
Teas, 202
Technical news stories, 144
Telegraph copy, 8, 239
Telegraph editor, 8
Telegraph news, 239, 244
Telephone, use of, 42, 239
Tennis, 182
Terminology, 278
Testimony, reporting, 145
Timeliness, 28
Time order in stories, 59
Tone, 82, 93
Track meets, 177
Trials, 144
Trite phrases, 119
Typewriter, 250
Underscoring, 253
Under-statement, value of, 87
Unity in sentences, 110
Unity of impression, 82, 93, 232
Unusual, the, value in news, 30
Vagueness of phrasing, 93
Verbs, 101, 103
Verse in leads, 80
_Washington Post_, quoted, 202, 207
Weather stories, 154
Weddings, 201
Witnesses, statements from, 76, 145
Women's clubs, 205, 209
Words, 116
Writing paper, 250
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Transcriber's Note:
Variations in spelling, hyphenation, and spacing in abbreviations
have been retained as they appear in the original publication.
Changes have been made as follows:
Page vi
greath length and to _changed to_
great length and to
Page viii
as schools of law, medicime _changed to_
as schools of law, medicine
Page 46
forget that he is a gentlemen, _changed to_
forget that he is a gentleman,
Page 62
particularly $15 ones, _changed to_
particularly $15 ones.
Page 64
=AERIAL TORPEDO BOAT INVENTED= _changed to_
=AËRIAL TORPEDO BOAT INVENTED=
Page 88
therefore, to modify the preceeding _changed to_
therefore, to modify the preceding
Page 147
The defendents--a weird assortment of the _changed to_
The defendants--a weird assortment of the
Page 154
The cause of the explosion in _changed to_
The cause of the explosion is
Page 169
right in front of the plate and Nunamaker _changed to_
right in front of the plate and Nunamacher
Page 172
upon the white furs and the laven-ender _changed to_
upon the white furs and the lavender
Page 175
In big games this in
In big games this is
Page 179
Paul, 32 ft. 3-3/4 in _changed to_
Paul, 32 ft. 3-3/4 in.
Page 180
H. P. Bingham, of the Mayfield club _changed to_
H. P. Bingham, of the Mayfield Club
Page 191
Yamada--9, 2, 1, 45 30, 0, 75, 0, 45, 4, 2, 82, 0,
1, 31, 1, 0, 0, 9, 2 3, 0, 1, 7, 3--347. Average, _changed to_
Yamada--9, 2, 1, 45, 30, 0, 75, 0, 45, 4, 2, 82, 0,
1, 31, 1, 0, 0, 9, 2, 3, 0, 1, 7, 3--347. Average,
Page 194
in the various sections _changed to_
in the various sections.
Page 195
welcome. The Vandervilt, Astor, Waldorf, _changed to_
welcome. The Vanderbilt, Astor, Waldorf,
his twenty-one-year old son _changed to_
his twenty-one-year-old son
Page 215
a box of figs followed the eggs, Taczowski _changed to_
a box of figs followed the eggs, Taczkowski
Page 231
and I'll fi it." ... _changed to_
and I'll fix it." ...
Page 240
killed at six P:M. by automobile _changed to_
killed at six P.M. by automobile
Page 260
Among those present were: Allen Rogers of Los _changed to_
Among those present were: Allen Rogers of Las
Page 270
and island posessions of the United States _changed to_
and island possessions of the United States
Page 285
here to-day a pair of new fur-lined gloves were _changed to_
here to-day a pair of new fur-lined gloves was
Page 290
for robbing W. G. Gaede,. 444 West Grand Avenue, _changed to_
for robbing W. G. Gaede, 444 West Grand Avenue,
Page 296
They live at 2404 Faraon Street, this city, _changed to_
They live at 2404 Faraon Street, this city.
Page 302
this. I am crushed, overwhelmed, drowned, _changed to_
this. I am crushed, overwhelmed, drowned.
This is for you and and father _changed to_
This is for you and father
Page 303
make a pilgrimage to Hindsale _changed to_
make a pilgrimage to Hinsdale
Page 306
Last Thurdsay evening the people _changed to_
Last Thursday evening the people
Page 314
_Kansas City Star_, January 21. 1917. _changed to_
_Kansas City Star_, January 21, 1917.
Page 325
is even, now procuring it, as Gemany _changed to_
is even, now procuring it, as Germany
Page 351
when there is no game warden in sight. _changed to_
when there is no game warden in sight."
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