,,newspaper ,,reporting     ,,and       
,,correspondence      ,a ,,manual ,,for 
,,reporters1     ,,correspondents1 ,,and
 ,,students     ,,of ,,newspaper        
,,writing      ,,by      ,,grant        
,,milnor ,,hyde1 ,m4,a4                 
,,instructor ,,in ,,journalism ,,in     
,,the     ,,university ,,of ,,wisconsin4
       ,,new ,,york ,,and ,,london      
,d4 ,,appleton ,,and ,,company     #aiab
       ,,copyright1 #aiab1 ,,by     ,d4 
,,appleton ,,and ,,company      ,printed
 in the ,united ,states of ,america     
,,to     ,,my ,,mother                  
,,introduction   ,the purpose of this   
book is to instruct the prospective     
newspaper reporter in the way to write  
those stories which his future paper    
will call upon him to write1 and to help
 the young cub reporter and the         
struggling correspondent past the perils
 of the copyreader's pencil by telling  
them how to write clean copy that       
requires a minimum of editing4 ,it is   
not concerned with the why of the       

newspaper business--the editor may      
attend to that--but with the how of the 
reporter's work4 ,and an ability to     
write is believed to be the reporter's  
chief asset4 ,there is no space in this 
book to dilate upon newspaper           
organization1 the work of the business  
office1 the writing of advertisements1  
the principles of editorial writing1 or 
the how and why of newspaper policy and 
practice1 as it is4 ,these things do not
 concern the reporter during the first  
few months of his work1 and he will     
learn them from experience when he needs
 them4 ,until then1 his usefulness      
depends solely upon his ability to get  
news and to write it4  ,there are two   
phases of the work which every reporter 
must learn3 how to get the news and how 
to write it4 ,the first he can pick up  
easily by actual newspaper              
experience--if nature has endowed him   
with a nose for news4 ,the writing of   
the news he can learn only by hard      
practice--a year's hard practice on some

 papers--and it is generally conceded   
that practice in writing news stories   
can be secured at home or in the        
classroom as effectively as practice in 
writing short stories1 plays1 business  
letters1 or any other special form of   
composition4 ,newspaper experience may  
aid the reporter in learning how to     
write his stories1 but a newspaper      
apprenticeship is not absolutely        
necessary4 ,however1 whether he is      
studying the trade of newspaper writing 
in his home1 in a classroom1 or in the  
city room of a daily paper1 he needs    
positive instruction in the ,english    
composition of the newspaper            
office--rather than haphazard criticism 
and a deluge of don'ts4 ,hence this book
 is concerned primarily with the writing
 of the news4  ,successful newspaper    
reporting requires both an ability to   
write good ,english and an ability to   
write good ,english in the conventional 
newspaper form4 ,and there is a         
conventional form for every kind of     

newspaper story4 ,many editors of the   
present day are trying to break away    
from the conventional form and to evolve
 a looser and more natural method of    
writing news stories4 ,the results are  
often bizarre and sometimes very        
effective4 ,certainly originality in    
expression adds much to the interest of 
newspaper stories1 and many a good piece
 of news is ruined by a bald1 dry       
recital of facts4 ,just as the good     
reporter is always one who can give his 
yarns a distinctive flavor1 great       
newspaper stories are seldom written    
under the restriction of rules4 ,but no 
young reporter can hope to attain       
success through originality and defiance
 of rules until he has first mastered   
the fundamental principles of newspaper 
writing4 ,he can never expect to write  
the story of the year until he has      
learned to handle everyday news without 
burying the gist of his stories--any    
more than an artist can hope to paint a 
living portrait until he has learned1   

with the aid of rules1 to draw the face 
of a plaster block-head4 ,hence the     
emphasis upon form and system in this   
book4 ,and1 whatever the form may be1   
the embodiment must be clear1 concise1  
grammatical ,english2 that is the excuse
 for the many axioms of simple ,english 
grammar that are introduced side by side
 with the study of the newspaper form4  
,the author offers this book as the     
result of personal newspaper experience 
and of his work as instructor in classes
 in newspaper writing at the ,university
 of ,wisconsin4 ,every item that is     
offered is the result of an attempt to  
correct the mistakes that have appeared 
most often in the papers of students who
 are trying to do newspaper writing in  
the classroom4 ,the seemingly           
disproportionate emphasis upon certain  
branches of the subject and the constant
 repetition of certain simple principles
 are to be excused by the purpose of the
 book--to be a text-book in the course  
of study worked out in this school of   

journalism4 ,the use of the fire story  
as typical of all newspaper stories and 
as a model for all newspaper writing is 
characteristic of this method of        
instruction4 ,four chapters are devoted 
to the explanation of a single principle
 which any reader could grasp in a      
moment1 because experience has shown    
that an equivalent of four chapters of  
study and practice is required to teach 
the student the application of this     
principle and to fix it in his mind so  
thoroughly that he will not forget it in
 his later work of writing more         
complicated stories4 ,it is felt that   
the beginner needs and must have the    
detailed explanation1 the constant      
reiteration and some definite rules to  
guide him in his practice4 ,hence the   
emphasis upon the conventional form4    
,since1 in the application of the       
newspaper principle of beginning with   
the gist of the story1 the structure of 
the lead is of greater importance than  
the rest of the story1 this book devotes

 the greater part of its discussion to  
the lead4  ,the suggestions for practice
 are attached in an attempt to give the 
young newspaper man some positive       
instruction4 ,most reporters are        
instructed by a system of don'ts1       
growled out by busy editors2 most       
correspondents receive no instruction at
 all--a positive suggestion now and then
 cannot but help them both4 ,practice is
 necessary in the study of any form of  
writing2 these suggestions for practice 
embody the method of practice used in   
this school of journalism4 ,the examples
 are taken from representative papers of
 the entire country to show the student 
how the stories are actually written in 
newspaper offices4      ,madison1       
,wisconsin1         ,june #c1 #aiab4    
,,contents       ,,chapter              
,,page            ,i4 ,,gathering ,,the 
,,news                         #a       
,,ii4 ,,news ,,values                   
#ad          ,,iii4 ,,newspaper ,,terms 
#bh           ,,iv4 ,,the ,,news ,,story

 ,,form                       #cd       
,v4 ,,the ,,simple ,,fire ,,story       
#da           ,,vi4 ,,the ,,feature     
,,fire ,,story                    #ej   
,,vii4 ,,faults ,,in ,,news ,,stories   
#ge         ,,viii4 ,,other ,,news      
,,stories                       #aje    
,,ix4 ,,follow-,,up ,,and ,,rewrite     
,,stories            #abe            ,x4
 ,,reports ,,of ,,speeches              
#adc           ,,xi4 ,,interviews       
#afi          ,,xii4 ,,court ,,reporting
                          #aib          
,,xiii4 ,,social ,,news ,,and           
,,obituaries               #bjd         
,,xiv4 ,,sporting ,,news                
#bai           ,,xv4 ,,human ,,interest 
,,stories                   #bcc        
,,xvi4 ,,dramatic ,,reporting           
#bei         ,,xvii4 ,,style ,,book     
#bgf         ,,appendix                 
,i--,,suggestions ,,for ,,study         
#bid         ,,appendix ,,ii--,,news    
,,stories ,,to ,,be ,,corrected         
#caa         ,,index                    

#cci     ,,newspaper ,,reporting ,,and  
,,correspondence  ,i  ,,gathering ,,the 
,,news   ,unlike almost any other       
profession1 that of a newspaper reporter
 combines two very different            
activities--the gathering of news and   
the writing of news4 ,part of the work  
must be done in the office and part of  
it outside on the street4 ,at his desk  
in the office a reporter is engaged in  
the literary1 or pseudo-literary1       
occupation of writing news stories2     
outside on the street he is a detective 
gathering news and hunting for elusive  
facts to be combined later into stories4
 ,although the two activities are       
closely related1 each requires a        
different sort of ability and a         
different training4 ,in a newspaper     
office the two activities are rarely    
separated1 but a beginner must learn    
each duty independent of the other4     
,this book will not attempt to deal with
 both2 it will confine itself mainly to 
one phase1 the pseudo-literary activity 

of writing news stories4  ,however1     
introductory to the discussion of the   
writing of newspaper stories1 we may    
glance at the other side of the         
newspaper writer's work--the gathering  
of the news4 ,where the newspaper gets  
its news and how it gets its news can be
 learned only by experience1 for it     
differs in different cities and with    
different papers4 ,but an outline of the
 background of news-gathering may assist
 us in writing the news after it is     
gathered and ready for us to write4     
#a4 ,reporter vs4                       
,correspondent4--,there are two         
capacities in which one may write news  
stories for a paper4 ,he may work on the
 staff as a regular reporter or he may  
supply news from a distance as a        
correspondent4 ,in the one case he works
 under the personal supervision of a    
city editor and spends his entire time  
at the regular occupation of gathering  
and writing news4 ,as a correspondent he
 works in a distant city1 under the     

indirect supervision of the city1       
telegraph1 or state editor1 and sends in
 only the occasional stories that seem  
to be of interest to his paper4 ,in     
either case the same rules apply to his 
news gathering and to his news writing4 
,and in either case the length of his   
employment depends upon his ability to  
turn in clean copy in the form in which 
his paper wishes to print the news4     
,both the reporter and the correspondent
 must write their stories in the same   
form and must look at news and the      
sources of news from almost the same    
point of view4 ,whatever is said of the 
reporter applies equally to the         
correspondent4   #b4 ,expected and      
,unexpected ,news4--,the daily news may 
be divided into two classes from the    
newspaper's point of view3 expected and 
unexpected news4 ,expected news includes
 all stories of which the paper has a   
previous knowledge4 ,into this class    
fall all meetings1 speeches1 sermons1   
elections1 athletic contests1 social    

events1 and daily happenings that do not
 come unexpectedly4 ,they are the events
 that are announced beforehand and      
tipped off to the paper in time for the 
editor to send out a reporter to cover  
them personally4 ,these events are of   
course recorded in the office1 and each 
day the editor has a certain number of  
them1 a certain amount of news that he  
is sure of4 ,each day he looks over his 
book to note the events that are to take
 place during that day and sends out his
 reporters to cover them4  ,the other   
class includes the stories that break   
unexpectedly4 ,accidents1 deaths1 fires1
 storms1 and other unexpected happenings
 come without warning and the reporting 
of them cannot be arranged for in       
advance4 ,these are the stories that the
 paper is most anxious to get and the   
things for which the whole staff always 
has its eyes and ears open4 ,seldom are 
they heard of in time for the paper to  
have them covered personally1 and the   
reporting of such stories becomes a     

separate sort of work--the gathering and
 sorting of the facts that can be       
obtained only from chance witnesses4    
#c4 ,news ,sources4--,there are certain 
sources from which the paper gets most  
of its tips of expected events and its  
knowledge of unexpected events4 ,these  
every editor knows about4 ,the courts1  
the public records1 the public offices1 
the churches1 and the schools furnish a 
great many of the tips of expected news4
 ,the police stations1 the fire         
stations1 the hospitals1 and the morgues
 furnish most of the tips of unexpected 
news4 ,whenever an event is going to    
happen1 or whenever an unexpected       
occurrence does happen1 a notice of it  
is to be found in some one of these     
sources4 ,such a notice or a casual word
 from any one is called a tip and       
indicates the possibility of securing a 
story4 ,the securing of the story is    
another matter4 ,a would-be reporter may
 get good practice from studying the    
stories in the daily papers and trying  

to discover or imagine from what source 
the original news tip came4 ,he will    
soon find that certain classes of       
stories always come from certain sources
 and that there is a perceptible amount 
of routine evident in the accounts of   
the most unexpected occurrences4   #d4  
,runs and ,assignments4--,between the   
news tip and the finished copy for the  
compositor there is a vast amount of    
news gathering1 which falls to the lot  
of the reporter4 ,this is handled by a  
system of runs and special assignments4 
,a reporter usually has his own run1 or 
beat1 on which he gathers news4 ,his run
 may cover a certain number of police   
stations or the city hall or any group  
of regular news sources4 ,each day he   
must visit the various sources of news  
on his beat and gather the tips and     
whatever facts about the stories behind 
the tips that he can4 ,the tips that he 
secures furnish him with clues to the   
stories1 and it is his business to get  
the facts behind all of the tips on his 

beat and to write them up1 unless a tip 
opens up a story that is too big for him
 to handle alone without neglecting his 
beat4  ,assignments are used to cover   
the stories that do not come in through 
the regular sources1 and to handle the  
big stories that are unearthed on the   
regular beats4 ,the editor turns over to
 the reporter the tip that he has       
received and instructs him to go out and
 get the facts4 ,a paper's best         
reporters are used almost entirely on   
assignments1 and when they go out after 
a story they practically become         
detectives4 ,they follow every clue that
 the tip suggests and every clue that is
 opened up as they progress2 they hunt  
down the facts until they are reasonably
 sure that they have secured the whole  
story4 ,the result may not be worth     
writing1 or it may be worth a place on  
the front page1 but the reporter must   
get to the bottom of it4 ,whether on a  
beat or on an assignment every reporter 
must have his ears open for a tip of    

some unexpected story and must secure   
the facts or inform the editor at once4 
,it is in this way that a paper gets a  
scoop1 or beat1 on its rivals by        
printing a story before the other papers
 have heard of it4   #e4 ,interviews for
 ,facts4--,to cover an assignment and   
secure the facts of a story is not at   
all easy4 ,if the reporter could be a   
personal witness of the happening which 
he is to report1 the task would be      
simpler4 ,but1 outside the case of      
expected events1 he rarely hears of the 
occurrence until after it is past and   
the excitement has subsided4 ,then he   
must find the persons who witnessed the 
occurrence or who know the facts1 and   
get the story from them4 ,perhaps he has
 to see a dozen people to get the       
information he wants4 ,getting facts    
from people in this way is called       
interviewing--interviewing for facts1 as
 distinguished from formal interviewing 
for the purpose of securing a statement 
or an opinion that is to be printed with

 the name of the man who utters it4     
,although a dozen interviews may be     
necessary for a single story1 not one of
 them is mentioned in the story1 for    
they are of no importance except in the 
facts that they supply4  ,for example1  
suppose a reporter is sent out to get   
the story of a fire that has started an 
hour or two before he goes on duty4 ,all
 that his editor gives him is the tip   
from the fire department1 or from some  
other source1 of a fire at such-and-such
 an address4 ,when he arrives at the    
scene there is nothing left but         
smoldering ruins with perhaps an engine 
throwing a stream on the smoking dbris  
and a few by-standers still loitering   
about4 ,he can see with his own eyes    
what kind of building has burned1 and   
how completely it has been destroyed4 ,a
 by-stander may be able to tell him who 
occupied the building or what it was    
used for1 but he must hunt for some one 
else who can give him the exact facts   
that his paper wants4 ,perhaps he can   

find the tenant and learn from him what 
his loss has been4 ,the tenant can give 
him the name of the owner and may be    
able to tell him something about the    
origin of the fire4 ,he must find the   
owner to get the value of the building  
and the amount of insurance carried4    
,perhaps he cannot find any of these    
people and must ask the fire chief or   
some one else to give him what facts and
 estimates he can4 ,if the fire is at   
all serious he must find out who was    
killed or injured and get their names   
and addresses and the nature of their   
injury or the manner of their death4    
,perhaps he can talk to some of the     
people who had narrow escapes1 or       
interview the friends or relatives of   
the dead4 ,everywhere he turns new clues
 open up1 and he must follow each one of
 them in turn until he is sure that he  
has all the facts4   #f4 ,point of      
,view4--,the task would be easy if every
 one could tell the reporter just the   
facts that his paper wants4 ,but in the 

confusion every one is excited and      
fairly bubbling over with rumors and    
guesses which may later turn out to be  
false4 ,each person who is interested in
 the incident sees and tells it only    
from his own point of view4 ,obviously  
the reporter's paper does not want the  
facts from many different points of     
view1 nor even from the point of view of
 the fire department1 of the owner1 or  
of the woman who was rescued from the   
third floor4 ,the paper wants the story 
from a single point of view--the point  
of view of an uninterested spectator4   
,consequently the reporter must get the 
facts through interviews with a dozen   
different people1 discount possible     
exaggeration and falsity due to         
excitement1 make allowances for the     
different points of view1 harmonize     
conflicting statements1 and sift from   
the mass what seems to him to be the    
truth4 ,then he must write the story    
from the uninterested point of view of  
the public1 which wants to hear the     

exact facts of the fire told in an      
unprejudiced way4 ,never does the story 
mention any of the interviews behind it 
except when the reporter is afraid of   
some statement and wants to put the     
responsibility upon the person who gave 
it to him4 ,and so the finished story   
that we read in the next morning's paper
 is the composite story of the fire     
chief1 the owner1 the tenant1 the man   
who discovered the fire1 the widow who  
was driven from her little flat1 the    
little girl who was carried down a      
ladder through the smoke1 the man who   
lost everything he had in the world1 and
 the cynic who watched the flames from  
behind the fireline--all massed together
 and sifted and retold in an impersonal 
way from the point of view of a         
by-stander who has been everywhere      
through the flames and has kept his     
brain free from the terror and          
excitement of it all4  ,the same is true
 of every story that is printed in a    
newspaper4 ,every story must be secured 

in the same way--whether it is the      
account of a business transaction1 a    
bank robbery1 a political scandal1 a    
murder1 a reception1 or a railroad      
wreck4 ,seldom is it possible to find   
any one person who knows all the facts  
just as the newspaper wants them1 and   
many a story that is worth but a        
stickful in the first edition is the    
result of two hours' running about town1
 half a dozen telephone calls1 and a    
dozen interviews4 ,that is the way the  
news is gathered1 and that is the part  
of the reporter's work that he must     
learn by experience4 ,but after all the 
gathering is finished and he has the    
facts1 the writing of the story remains4
 ,if the reporter knows how to write the
 facts when he has them1 his troubles   
are cut in half1 for nowadays a reporter
 who writes well is considered a more   
valuable asset than one who cannot write
 and simply has a nose for news4   #g4  
,news-,gathering ,agencies4--,this      
account of news gathering is of course  

told from the point of view of the      
reporter4 ,naturally it assumes a       
different aspect in the editor's eyes4  
,much of the day's news does not have to
 be gathered at all4 ,a steady stream of
 news flows in ready for use from the   
great news-gathering agencies1 the      
,associated ,press1 the ,united ,press1 
the ,city ,press1 etc41 and from        
correspondents4 ,many stories are merely
 summaries of speeches1 bulletins1      
announcements1 pamphlets and other      
printed matter that comes to the        
editorial office1 and many stories come 
already written4 ,almost everybody is   
looking for publicity in these days and 
the editor does not always have to hunt 
the news with an army of ferrets4       
,coperation in news gathering has       
simplified the whole matter4 ,but it all
 has to be written and edited4 ,that is 
why great reporters are no longer       
praised for their cleverness in worming 
their way to elusive facts1 but for     
their ability to write a good story4    

,that is why we no longer hear so much  
about beats and scoops but more about   
clean copy and literary masterpieces4   
#h4 ,how the ,correspondent             
,works4--,the correspondent gathers news
 very much as the reporter does1 but he 
does it without the help of a city      
editor4 ,he must be his own director and
 keep his own book of tips1 for he has  
no one to make out his assignments      
beforehand4 ,he has to watch for what   
news he can get by himself and send it  
to his paper of his own accord1 except  
occasionally when his paper instructs   
him to cover a particularly large story4
 ,but he gets his tips and runs down his
 facts just as a reporter does4 ,just as
 much alertness and just as much ability
 to write are required of him4  ,the    
correspondent's work is made more       
difficult by what is called news values4
 ,distance affects the importance of the
 facts that he secures and the length of
 the stories he writes4 ,he must weigh  
every event for its interest to readers 

a hundred or a thousand miles away4     
,what may be of immense importance in   
his community may have no interest at   
all for readers outside that community4 
,he must see everything with the eyes of
 a stranger1 and this must influence his
 whole work of news gathering and news  
writing4 ,this matter will be taken up  
at greater length in the next chapter4  
#i4 ,correspondent's ,relation to ,his  
,paper4--,the relations of a            
correspondent to the paper or news      
association to which he is sending news 
can best be learned by experience4      
,every paper has different rules for its
 correspondents and different directions
 in regard to the sort of news it wants4
 ,the rules regarding the mailing of    
copy and the sending of stories or      
queries by telegraph are usually sent   
out in printed form by each individual  
paper to its correspondents4 ,but while 
gathering news and writing stories for a
 distant paper1 a correspondent must    
always regard himself as a reporter and 

write his stories in the form in which  
they are to appear in print if he wishes
 to remain correspondent for any length 
of time4 ,the following rules are taken 
from the ,,instructions ,,to            
,,correspondents sent out on a printed  
card to the correspondents of the ,st4  
,louis ,star3      ,,query ,,by ,,wire  
,,on ,,all ,,stories you consider are   
worth     telegraphing1 unless you are  
absolutely certain ,the ,star     wants 
you to send the story without query1 or 
in case of a big     story breaking     
suddenly near edition time4 ,if you have
 not time     to query1 get a reply and 
send such matter as might be ordered    
before the next edition time2 send the  
story in the shortest     possible      
number of words necessary to tell it1   
asking if     additional matter is      
desired4      ,write your queries so    
they can be understood4 ,never send a   
blind query4 ,if ,john ,smith1 a        
confirmed bachelor1 whose age is     #hj
 years1 elopes with and marries the     

daughter of the woman who     jilted him
 when he was a youth1 say so in as few  
words as     possible1 but be sure to   
convey the dramatic news worth of the   
story in your query4 ,do not say1       
,bachelor elopes with girl1     daughter
 of woman he knew a long time ago4 ,in  
itself the story     which this query   
tells might be worth printing1 but it   
would not     be half so good a story as
 the elopement of ,john ,smith1 #hj1    
bachelor1 woman hater1 with the daughter
 of his old sweetheart4      ,when a    
good story breaks close to edition time 
and the     circumstances justify it1   
use the long-distance telephone1 but    
first be reasonably certain ,the ,star  
will not get the story     from another 
source4      ,write your stories        
briefly4 ,the ,star desires to          
remunerate its     correspondents       
according to the worth of a story and   
not for so     many words4 ,one good    
story of #bjj words with the right punch
     in the introduction is worth a     

dozen strung over as many dozen         
pages of copy paper with the real story 
in the last paragraph of     each4 ,tell
 your story in simple1 every-day        
conversational words3     quit when you 
have finished4 ,relegate the details4   
,unless it is     a case of             
identification in a murder mystery1 or  
some similar     big story1 no one cares
 about the color of the man's hair4 ,get
     the principal facts in the first   
paragraph--stop soon after4      ,send  
as much of your stuff as possible by    
mail1 especially if     you have the    
story in the late afternoon and are near
 enough to     ,st4 ,louis to reach ,the
 ,star by #i o'clock the next morning4  
,if     necessary1 send the letter      
special delivery4      ,don't stop      
working on a good story when you have   
all the facts2     if there are         
photographs to be obtained1 get the     
photographs1     especially if the      
principals in the story are persons of  
standing1 and more especially if they   

are women4      ,correspondents will    
appreciably increase their worth to ,the
     ,star and enhance their earning    
capacity by observing these     rules4  
,,ii  ,,news ,,values   ,before any one 
can hope to write for a newspaper he    
must know something about news          
values--something about the essence of  
interest that makes one story worth a   
column and cuts down another1 of equal  
importance from other points of view1 to
 a stickful4 ,he must recognize the     
relative value of facts so that he can  
distinguish the significant part of his 
story and feature it accordingly4 ,the  
question is a delicate one and yet a    
very reasonable and logical one4 ,the   
ideal of a newspaper1 according to      
present-day ethics1 is to print news4   
,the daily press is no longer a golden  
treasury of contemporary literature1 not
 even1 perhaps1 an exponent of political
 principles4 ,its primary purpose is to 
report contemporary history--to keep us 
informed concerning the events that are 

taking place each day in the world about
 us4  ,to this idea is added another4 ,a
 newspaper must be interesting4 ,in     
these days of many newspapers few       
readers are satisfied with merely being 
informed2 they want to be informed in a 
way that interests them4 ,to this demand
 every one connected with a newspaper   
office tries to cater4 ,it is the       
defense of the sensational yellow       
journals and it is the reason for       
everything in the daily press4 ,there is
 so much to read that people will not   
read things that do not interest them1  
and the paper that succeeds is the paper
 that interests the greatest number of  
readers4 ,circulation cannot be built up
 by printing uninteresting stuff that   
the majority of readers are not         
interested in1 and circulation is       
necessary to success4  ,this desire to  
interest readers is behind the whole    
question of news values4 ,news is       
primarily the account of the latest     
events1 but1 more than that1 it is the  

account of the latest events that       
interest readers who are not connected  
with these events4 ,further than that1  
it is the account of the latest events  
that interest the greatest number of    
readers4 ,susie ,brown may have sprained
 her ankle4 ,the fact is absorbingly    
interesting to ,susie2 it is even rather
 interesting to her family and friends1 
even to her enemies4 ,if she is well    
known in the little town in which she   
lives her accident may be interesting   
enough to the townspeople for the local 
weekly to print a complete account of   
it4 ,however1 the event is interesting  
only to people who know ,susie1 and     
after all they do not comprise a very   
large number4 ,hence her accident has no
 news value outside the local weekly4   
,on the other hand1 had ,susie sprained 
her ankle in some very peculiar manner1 
the accident might be of interest to    
people who do not know ,susie4 ,suppose 
that she had tripped on her gown as she 
was ascending the steps of the altar to 

be married4 ,such an accident would be  
very unusual1 almost unheard of4 ,people
 in general are interested in unusual   
things1 and many1 many readers would be 
interested in reading about ,susie's    
unusual accident although they did not  
know ,susie or even the town in which   
she lives4 ,such a story would be the   
report of a late event that would       
interest many people2 hence it would    
have a certain amount of news value4 ,of
 course1 the reader loses sight of      
,susie in reading of her accident--it   
might as well have been ,mary           
,jones--but that is because ,susie has  
no news value in herself4 ,that is      
another matter4   #a4 ,classes of       
,readers4--,realizing that his story    
must be of interest to the greatest     
number of people1 the reporter must     
remember the sort of people for whom he 
is writing4 ,that complicates the whole 
matter4 ,if he were writing for a single
 class of readers he could easily give  
them the news that would interest them4 

,but he is not2 he is writing for many  
classes of people1 for all classes of   
people4 ,and he must interest them all4 
,he is writing for the business man in  
his office1 for the wife in the home1   
for the ignorant1 for the highly        
educated1 for the rich and the poor1 for
 the old and the young1 for doctors1    
lawyers1 bankers1 laborers1 ministers1  
and women4 ,all of them buy his paper to
 hear the latest news told in a way that
 interests them1 and he has to cater to 
each and to all of them4 ,if he were    
simply writing for business men he would
 give them many columns of financial    
news1 but that would not interest tired 
laborers4 ,an extended account of the   
doings of a ,presbyterian convention    
would not attract the great class of men
 with sporting inclinations1 and a story
 of a very pretty exhibition of         
scientific boxing would not appeal to   
the wife at home4 ,they all buy the     
paper1 and they all want to be          
interested1 and the paper must1         

therefore1 print stories that interest  
at least the majority of them4 ,that is 
the question of news values4 ,the news  
must be the account of the latest events
 that interest the greatest number of   
readers of all classes4  ,this search   
for the universally-interesting news is 
the reason behind the sensational       
papers4 ,although the interests of any  
individual differ in almost every aspect
 from the interests of his neighbor1    
there is one sort of news that interests
 them both1 that interests every human  
being4 ,that is the news that appeals to
 the emotions1 to the heart4 ,it is the 
news that deals with human life--human  
nature--human interest news the papers  
call it4 ,in it every human being is    
interested4 ,however trivial may be the 
event1 if it can be described in a way  
that will make the reader feel the point
 of view of the human beings who        
suffered or struggled or died or who    
were made happy in the event1 every     
other human being will read it with     

interest4 ,human sympathy makes one want
 to feel joy and pain from the          
standpoint of others4 ,naturally that   
sort of news is always read2 naturally  
the paper that devotes itself to such   
news is always read and is always       
successful as far as circulation and    
profits go4 ,the papers that have that  
ideal of news behind them and forsake   
every other ideal for it are called     
sensational papers4 ,whether they are   
good or not is another question4  ,with 
this idea of what news values means and 
the idea that news is worth while only  
when it interests the largest number of 
people of all classes1 we may try to    
look for the things that make news      
interesting to the greatest number of   
people of all classes4 ,the reporter    
must know not only what news is1 but    
what makes it news4 ,he must be able to 
see the things in a story that will     
interest the greatest number of people  
of all classes4 ,these are many and     
intricate4   #b4 ,timeliness4--,in the  

first place1 news must be new4 ,a story 
must have timeliness4 ,our readers want 
to know what happened to-day1 for       
yesterday and last week are past and    
gone4 ,they want to be up to the minute 
in their information on current events4 
,therefore a story that is worth        
printing to-day will not be worth       
printing to-morrow or1 at most1 on the  
day after to-morrow4 ,events must be    
chronicled just as soon as they happen4 
,furthermore1 the story itself must show
 that it is new4 ,it must tell the      
reader at once that the event which it  
is chronicling happened to-day or last  
night--at least since the last edition  
of the paper4 ,that is why the reporter 
must never fail to put the time in the  
introduction of his story4 ,editors grow
 gray-headed trying to keep up with the 
swift passing of events1 and they are   
always very careful to tell their       
readers that the events which they are  
chronicling are the latest events4 ,that
 is the reason why every editor hates   

the word yesterday and tries to get     
to-day or this morning into the lead of 
every story4 ,hence1 to the newspaper1  
everything that happened since midnight 
last night is labeled this morning1 and 
everything that happened since six      
o'clock yesterday afternoon is labeled  
last night4 ,anything before that hour  
must be labeled yesterday1 but it goes  
in as late yesterday afternoon1 if it   
possibly can4 ,hence the first principle
 of news values is timeliness--news is  
news only because it just happened and  
can be spoken of as one of the events of
 to-day or of late yesterday4   #c4     
,distance4--,distance is another factor 
in news values4 ,in spite of fast trains
 and electric telegraphs human beings   
are clannish and local in their         
interests4 ,they are interested mainly  
in things and persons that they know1   
and news from outside their ken must be 
of unusual significance to attract them4
 ,they like to read about things that   
they have seen and persons that they    

know1 because they are slow to exert    
their imaginations enough to appreciate 
things that they do not know personally4
 ,hence every newspaper is primarily    
local1 even though it is a metropolitan 
daily1 and news from a distance plays a 
very subordinate part4 ,it has been said
 that ,new ,york papers cannot see      
beyond the ,alleghanies2 it is equally  
true that most papers cannot see more   
than a hundred miles from the printing  
office1 except in the case of national  
news4 ,any newspaper's range of news    
sources goes out from the editorial room
 in concentric circles4 ,purely personal
 news must come from within the range of
 the paper's general circulation1       
because people do not care to read      
purely personal news about persons whom 
they do not know4 ,other news is limited
 ordinarily to the region with which the
 paper's readers are personally         
acquainted--the state1 perhaps--because 
subscribers unconsciously wish to hear  
about places with which they are        

personally acquainted4 ,any news that   
comes from outside this larger circle   
must be nation-wide or very unusual in  
its interest4 ,a story that may be worth
 a column in ,el ,paso1 ,texas1 would   
not be worth printing in ,new ,york     
because ,el ,paso is hardly more than a 
name to most ,new ,york newspaper       
readers4 ,in the same way1 the biggest  
stories in ,new ,york are not worth     
anything in ,texas1 because ,texas      
readers are not personally interested in
 ,new ,york--they cannot say1 ,yes1 ,i  
know that building2 ,i walked down that 
street the other day2 oh1 you can't tell
 me anything about the subway4 ,news is 
primarily local1 and the first thing a  
correspondent must learn is how to      
distinguish the stories that are purely 
local in their interest from those that 
would be worth printing a hundred miles 
away in a paper read by people who do   
not know the places or persons involved 
in the story4 ,colonel ,smith may be a  
very big frog in the little puddle of   

,smith's ,corners1 and his doings may be
 big news to the weeklies all over his  
county1 but he has to do something very 
unusual before his name is worth a line 
in a paper two counties away4 ,he is    
nothing but a name to people who do not 
know him or know of him1 and therefore  
they are not interested in him4 ,every  
correspondent must watch for the stories
 that have something more than a local  
interest1 some element of news in them  
that will carry them over the obstacle  
of distance and make them interesting to
 any reader4  ,it would be impossible to
 analyze news values to the extent of   
telling every conceivable element of    
interest that will overcome the obstacle
 of distance4 ,yet there are certain    
elements that always make a newspaper   
story interesting to any one4   #d4     
,loss of life4--,one of these is the    
loss of human life4 ,for some strange   
reason every human being is interested  
in the thought of death4 ,just as soon  
as a story mentions death it is worth   

printing1 and if it has a number of     
deaths to tell about it is worth        
printing anywhere4 ,any fire1 any       
railroad wreck1 or any other disaster in
 which a number of persons are killed or
 injured makes a story that is worth    
sending anywhere4 ,there seems to be a  
joy for the reader in the mere number of
 fatalities4 ,a story that can begin    
with ,ten people were killed1 or ,seven 
men met their death1 attracts a reader's
 interest at once4 ,as a very natural   
result1 and justly1 too1 newspapers have
 been broadly accused of exaggeration   
for the sake of a large number4 ,but at 
present many papers are inclined to     
underestimate rather than overestimate1 
perhaps to avoid this accusation4 ,in a 
number of instances in the past year1   
among them the ,shirtwaist ,factory fire
 in ,new ,york1 the first figures were  
smaller than the official count printed 
later4 ,that does not mean1 however1    
that newspapers do not want stories     
involving loss of life4 ,any story which

 involves a large number of fatalities  
will carry a long distance1 if for no   
other reason4   #e4 ,big                
,names4--,another element of news values
 is the interest in prominent people4   
,the mere mention of a man or a woman   
who is known widely attracts attention4 
,although ,colonel ,smith of ,smith's   
,corners has to do something very       
unusual to get his name in any paper    
outside his county1 the slightest thing 
that ,president ,taft does is printed in
 every paper in the country4 ,it is     
simply because of our interest in the   
man himself4 ,some names give a story   
news value because the names are widely 
known politically or financially1 some  
names because they are simply notorious4
 ,but any name that is recognized at    
once1 for any reason1 gives a story news
 value4   #f4 ,property ,loss4--,akin to
 man's love for any account that        
involves large loss of human life1 is   
his love of any story that tells about a
 huge loss of property4 ,the mere       

figures seem to have a charm2 any story 
that can begin with awesome figures1    
like ,two million dollars1 ,one hundred 
automobiles1 ,ten city blocks1 has news 
value4 ,hence any story that involves a 
large loss that can be expressed in     
figures has the power to carry a great  
distance4   #g4 ,unusualness4--,it is   
safe to say that newspaper readers are  
interested in anything unusual4 ,it does
 not matter whether it is a thing1 a    
person1 an action1 a misfortune2 so long
 as it is strange and out of the range  
of ordinary lives1 it is interesting4   
,many1 if not most1 newspaper stories   
have nothing but the element of         
strangeness in them to give them news   
value1 but if they are sufficiently     
strange and unusual they may be copied  
all over the country4 ,an unusual origin
 or an unusual rescue will give an      
unimportant fire great news value4 ,and 
so with every other kind of story4   #h4
 ,human ,interest4--,along with the     
element of the strange and unusual1 goes

 the human interest element4 ,any story 
that will make us laugh or make us cry  
has news value4 ,hundreds of magazines  
are issued monthly with nothing in them 
but fictitious stories that are intended
 to arouse our emotions1 and newspapers 
are beginning to realize that they can  
interest their readers in the same way4 
,no life is so prosaic that it is not   
full of incidents that make one laugh or
 cry1 and when these stories can be told
 in a way that will make any reader feel
 the same emotions1 they have news value
 that will carry them a long distance4  
,obviously their success depends very   
largely upon the way they are told4     
#i4 ,personal ,appeal4--,another element
 that may give a story news value is    
that of personal appeal or application  
to the reader's own daily life4 ,men are
 primarily egoistic and selfish and     
nothing interests them more than things 
that affect them personally4 ,they can  
read complacently and without interest  
of the misfortunes and joys of others1  

but just as soon as anything affects    
their own daily lives1 even a little1   
they want to hear about it4 ,perhaps the
 price of butter has gone up a few cents
 or the gas company has reduced its     
rates from eighty cents to              
seventy-seven4 ,every reader is         
interested at once1 for the news affects
 his own daily life4 ,sometimes this    
personal appeal is due merely to the    
reader's familiarity with the persons or
 places mentioned in the story2         
sometimes it is due to the story's      
application to his business life1 his   
social or religious activities1 or to   
any phase of his daily existence4 ,that 
is the reason why political news        
interests every one1 for we all feel    
that the management of the government   
has an influence on our own lives4 ,the 
story of any political                  
maneuver--especially if it is one that  
may be looked upon as bad or            
good--carries farther than any other    
story4 ,show that your story tells of   

something that has even the slightest   
effect on the lives of a large number of
 people and it needs no other element to
 give it news value4   #aj4 ,local      
,reasons4--,these factors and many      
others give news stories a news value   
that will carry them a long distance and
 make them interesting in communities   
far from their source4 ,many local      
reasons may enhance the value of a story
 for local papers4 ,a paper's policy or 
some campaign that it is waging may give
 an otherwise unimportant event a       
tremendous significance4 ,if an         
unimportant person is slightly injured  
while leaving a trolley car the story is
 hardly worth a line of type4 ,but if   
such an item should come to a newspaper 
while it is carrying on a campaign      
against the local street railway        
company1 the story would probably be    
written and printed in great detail4    
,any slight occurrence that may be in   
line with a paper's political beliefs   
would receive an amount of space far out

 of proportion with its ordinary news   
worth4 ,news value is a very changeable 
and indefinite thing1 and there are     
countless reasons why any given story   
should be of interest to a large number 
of readers4 ,and the possibility of     
interesting a large number of readers is
 the basis of news value4   #aa4 ,the   
,feature4--,in connection with the study
 of news values the question of feature 
is important4 ,in editorial offices one 
is constantly hearing the word feature1 
and reporters are constantly admonished 
to play up the feature of their stories4
 ,feature is the word that editors use  
to signify the essence of news value4   
,every story that is printed is printed 
because of some fact in it that makes it
 interesting--gives it news value4 ,the 
element in the story that makes it      
interesting and worth printing is the   
feature4 ,the feature may be some       
prominent name1 a large list of         
fatalities1 a significant amount of     
property destroyed1 or merely the       

unusualness of the incident4 ,this      
feature is the element that makes the   
story news2 therefore it is used to     
attract attention to the story4 ,every  
newspaper story displays like a placard 
in its headlines the reason why it was  
printed--the element in it that makes it
 interesting4 ,playing up the feature is
 simply the act of bringing this feature
 to the front so that it will attract   
attention to the story4 ,just how this  
is done we shall see later4 ,but when1  
as a reporter1 you are looking for a    
feature to play up in your lead1        
remember that the feature to be played  
up is the thing in the story that gives 
the story news value4 ,and few stories  
have more than one claim to news value1 
more than one feature4     ,,iii        
,,newspaper ,,terms   ,the newspaper    
vernacular that is used in the editorial
 and press rooms of any daily paper is a
 curious mixture of literary            
abbreviations and technical printing    
terms4 ,it is the result of the strange 

mingling of the literary trade of       
writing with the mechanical trade of    
setting type4 ,for that reason a green  
reporter has difficulty in understanding
 the instructions that he receives until
 he has been in the office long enough  
to learn the office slang4 ,it would be 
impossible to list all of the           
expressions that might be heard in one  
day1 but a knowledge of the commonest   
words will enable a reporter to get the 
drift of his editor's instructions4     
,when a young man secures a position as 
reporter for a newspaper he begins as a 
cub reporter and is usually said to be  
on the staff of his paper4 ,his sphere  
of activity is confined to the editorial
 room1 where the news is written2 his   
relations with the business office1     
where advertising1 circulation1 and     
other business matters are handled1     
consists of the weekly duty of drawing  
his pay4 ,his chief enemies are in the  
printing office where his literary      
efforts are set up in type and printed4 

,his superiors are called editors and   
exist in varying numbers1 depending upon
 the size of his paper4 ,the man who    
directs the reporters is usually called 
the city editor1 or perhaps the day or  
night city editor2 above him there are  
managing editors and other persons in   
authority with whom the cub is not      
concerned2 and the favored mortals who  
enjoy a room by themselves and write    
nothing but editorials are called       
editors or editorial writers4 ,there may
 also be a telegraph editor1 a sporting 
editor1 a ,sunday editor1 and many other
 editors2 or if the paper is small and  
poor all of these editors may be        
condensed into one very busy man4 ,on a 
city daily of average size there are    
desk men1 or copyreaders1 who work under
 editorial direction but feel superior  
to the reporter because they correct his
 literary efforts4  ,the reporter's work
 consists of gathering and writing news4
 ,in the office this is called covering 
and writing stories4 ,he is ordinarily  

put on a beat1 or run2 this is simply a 
daily route or round of news sources    
which he follows as regularly as a      
policeman walks his beat4 ,the          
reporter's work on a special story      
outside his beat is called an           
assignment4 ,any hint that he may       
receive concerning a bit of news is     
called a tip4 ,any bit of news that he  
secures to the exclusion of his paper's 
rivals is called a beat1 or a scoop4    
,everything that is written for the     
paper1 whether it be a two-line personal
 item or a two-column report1 is called 
a story1 or a yarn1 and from the time   
the story is written until it appears in
 the printed paper it is called copy4   
,if the story is well written and needs 
few corrections it is called clean copy4
 ,after the story is written it is      
turned over to the copyreader to be     
edited4 ,the copyreader corrects it and 
writes the headlines or heads2 then he  
sends it to the composing room to be set
 in type by the compositor4 ,the story  

itself is usually set up on a linotype  
machine and the heads are set up by     
hand4 ,for the sake of keeping the two  
parts of the copy together the reporter 
or the copyreader ordinarily gives the  
story a name1 such as ,fire ,no4 #b2 the
 bit of lead on which the name is       
printed is called a slug and the story  
is said to be slugged4 ,if at any time  
in its journey from the reporter's      
pencil to the printed page1 the editor  
decides not to print the story1 he kills
 it2 otherwise he runs it1 or allows it 
to go into the paper4 ,when the story is
 in type1 an impression1 or proof1 is   
taken of it1 and this proof1 still      
called copy1 comes back to the          
copyreader or the proofreader for the   
correction of typographical errors4 ,the
 gathering together of all of the day's 
stories into the form of the final      
printed page is called making up the    
paper2 this is usually done by some one 
of the editors4 ,in like manner1 the    
finished aspect of the paper is called  

the make-up4  ,some stories are said to 
be big stories because of unusual news  
value4 ,when any news comes unexpectedly
 it is said to break2 and when any story
 comes in beforehand and must be held   
over1 it is said to be released on the  
day on which it may be printed4 ,the    
first paragraph of any story is called  
the lead 7pronounced leed72 the word    
lead is also used to designate several  
introductory paragraphs that are tacked 
on at the beginning of a long story1    
which may be of the nature of a running 
story 7as the running story of a        
football game71 or may be made up of    
several parts1 written by one or more   
reporters4 ,in general1 that part of a  
story which presents the gist or summary
 of the entire story at the beginning is
 called the lead4 ,the most interesting 
thing in the story1 the part that gives 
it news value1 is called the feature1   
and playing up the feature consists in  
telling the most interesting thing in   
the first line of the lead or in the    

headline4 ,an entire story is said to be
 played up if it is given a prominent   
place in the paper4 ,a feature story is 
either a story that is thus played up or
 a story that is written for some other 
reason than news value1 such as human   
interest4 ,when a story is rewritten to 
give a new interest to old facts it is  
called a rewrite story2 when it is      
rewritten to include new facts or       
developments1 it is called a follow-up1 
second-day1 or follow story4  ,because  
of the close relation between the       
editorial room and the printing office  
many printing terms are commonly heard  
about the editorial room4 ,all copy is  
measured by the column and by the       
stickful4 ,a column is usually a little 
less than #a1ejj words and a stickful is
 the amount of type that can be set in a
 compositor's stick1 the metal frame    
used in setting type by hand--about two 
inches or #ajj words4 ,a bit of copy    
that is set up with a border or a row of
 stars about it is said to be boxed4    

,whenever copy is set with extra space  
between the lines it is said to be      
leaded 7pronounced leded7--the name is  
taken from the piece of lead that is    
placed between the lines of type4 ,the  
reporter must gradually learn the names 
of the various kinds of type and the    
various proofreader's signs that are    
used to indicate the way in which the   
type is to be set1 for the whole work of
 writing the news is governed and       
limited by the mechanical possibilities 
of the printing office4 ,the commonest  
signs used by the proofreader or the    
copyreader1 together with instructions  
for preparing copy1 are given in the    
,style ,book at the end of this volume4 
7,a complete list of proofreader's signs
 can be found in the back of any large  
dictionary47 ,style is a word which     
editors use to cover a multitude of     
rules1 arbitrary or otherwise1          
concerning capitalization1 punctuation1 
abbreviation1 etc4 ,a paper that uses   
many capital letters is said to follow  

an up style1 and a paper that uses small
 letters instead of capitals whenever   
there is a choice is said to follow a   
down style4 ,every newspaper has its own
 style and usually prints its rules in a
 ,style ,book2 the ,style ,book given in
 this volume has been compiled from many
 representative newspaper style books4  
,it sets forth an average style and the 
beginner is advised to follow it closely
 in his practice writing--for1 as       
editors say1 uniformity is better than a
 strict following of style4     ,,iv    
,,the ,,news ,,story ,,form   ,when we  
come to the writing of the news we find 
that there are many sorts of stories    
that must be written4 ,in the newspaper 
office they are called simply stories   
without distinction4 ,for the purpose of
 study they may be classified to some   
extent1 but this classification must not
 be taken as hard and fast4 ,the        
commonest kind of story is the simple   
news story4 ,practically all newspaper  
reports are news stories1 but as        

distinguished from other kinds of       
reports the simple news story is the    
report of some late event or occurrence4
 ,it is usually concerned with          
unexpected news1 and is the commonest   
kind of story in any newspaper4 ,it is  
to be distinguished from reports of     
speeches1 interview stories1 court      
reports1 social news1 dramatic news1    
sporting news1 human-interest stories1  
and all the rest4 ,the distinction is   
largely one of form and does not exist  
to any great extent in a newspaper      
office where all stories are simply     
stories4  ,the simple news story is     
probably the most variable part of a    
newspaper4 ,given the same facts1 each  
individual reporter will write the story
 in his individual way and each editor  
will change it to suit his individual   
taste4 ,no two newspapers have exactly  
the same ideal form of news story and no
 newspaper is able to live up to its    
individual ideal in each story4  ,but   
there are general tendencies4 ,certain  

things are true of all news stories2    
whether the story be the baldest recital
 of facts or the most sensational       
featuring of an imaginary thrill in a   
commonplace happening1 certain          
characteristics are always present4 ,and
 these characteristics can always be    
traced to one cause--the effort to catch
 and hold the reader's interest4 ,when a
 busy ,american glances over his        
newspaper while he sips his breakfast   
coffee or while he clings to a strap on 
the way to his office1 he reads only the
 stories that catch his interest--and he
 reads down the column in any one story 
only so long as his interest is         
maintained4 ,hence the ideal news story 
is one which will catch the reader's    
attention by its beginning and hold his 
interest to the very end4 ,this is the  
principle of all newspaper writing4     
,the interest depends1 in a large       
measure1 on the way the facts are       
presented4 ,true1 certain facts are in  
themselves more interesting to a casual 

reader than others1 but just as truly   
other less interesting facts may be made
 as interesting through the reporter's  
skill4 ,the most interesting of stories 
may lose its interest if poorly         
presented1 and facts of the most        
commonplace nature may be made          
attractive enough to hold the reader to 
the last word4 ,the aim of every        
reporter and of every editor is to make 
every story so attractive and           
interesting that the most casual reader 
cannot resist reading it4  ,in the old  
days news stories were written in the   
logical order of events just like any   
other narrative1 but constant change has
 brought about a new form1 as different 
and individual as any other form of     
expression4 ,unlike any other imaginable
 piece of writing1 the news story       
discloses its most interesting facts    
first4 ,it does not lead the reader up  
to a startling bit of news by a         
tantalizing suspense in an effort to    
build up a surprise for him2 it tells   

its most thrilling content first and    
trusts to his interest to lead him on   
through the details that should         
logically precede the real news4        
,therefore every editor admonishes his  
reporters to give the gist of the news  
first and the details later4  ,there are
 other reasons for this peculiar        
reversal of the logical order of        
narrative4 ,few readers have time to    
read the whole of every story1 and yet  
they want to get the news--in the       
shortest possible time4 ,therefore the  
newspaper very kindly tells the         
important part of each story at the     
beginning4 ,then if the reader cares to 
hear the details he can read the rest of
 the story2 but he gets the news1       
anyway4 ,again1 if the exigencies of    
making up the stories into a paper of   
mechanically limited space require that 
a story be cut down1 the editor may     
slash off a paragraph or two at the end 
without depriving the story of its      
interest4 ,imagine the difficulty of    

cutting down a story that is told in its
 logical order6 ,if the real news of the
 story were in the last paragraph it    
would go in the slashing1 and what would
 be left8 ,whereas1 if the gist of the  
story comes first the editor may run any
 number of paragraphs or even the first 
paragraph alone and still have a        
complete story4  ,the arrangement of    
news stories in ,american newspapers is 
thus a very natural one1 resulting from 
the exigencies of the business4 ,just   
how to fit every story to this          
arrangement is a difficult task4        
,however1 there are certain rules that  
the reporter may apply to each story1   
and these are very simple4  ,in the     
first place1 almost every story has a   
feature--there is some one thing in it  
that is out of the ordinary1 something  
that gives it interest and news value   
beyond the interest in the incident     
behind it4 ,no two stories have the same
 interesting features2 if they had1 only
 one of them would be worth printing and

 that would be the first4 ,this         
extraordinary feature the reporter must 
see at once4 ,if a building burns he    
must see quickly what incident in the   
occurrence will be of interest to       
readers who are reading of many fires   
every day4 ,if ,john ,smith falls off a 
street car the reporter must discover   
some interesting fact in connection with
 ,mr4 ,smith's misfortune that will be  
new and attractive to readers who do not
 know ,john and are bored with accounts 
of other ,smiths' accidents4 ,the       
accident itself may be interesting1 but 
the part of the accident that is out of 
the ordinary--the thing that gives the  
accident news value--is the feature of  
the story1 and the reporter must tell it
 first4  ,thoroughly determined to tell 
the most interesting part1 the gist1 of 
his story in the first paragraph1 the   
reporter must remember that there are   
certain other things about the incident 
that the reader wants to know just as   
quickly4 ,there are certain questions   

which arise in the reader's mind when   
the occurrence is suggested1 and these  
questions must be answered as quickly as
 they are asked4 ,the questions usually 
take the form of when8 where8 what8 who8
 how8 why8 ,if a man falls off the      
street car we are eager to know at once 
who he was1 although we probably do not 
know him1 anyway2 where it happened2    
when it happened2 how he fell2 and why  
he fell4 ,if there is a fire we         
immediately ask what burned2 where it   
was2 when it burned2 how it burned2 and 
what caused it to burn4 ,and the        
reporter must answer these questions    
with the same breath that tells us that 
a man fell off the car or that there was
 any fire at all4  ,the effort to answer
 these questions at once has led to the 
peculiar form of introduction           
characteristic of every newspaper story4
 ,newspaper people call it the lead4 ,it
 is really nothing but the statement of 
the briefest possible answers to all    
these questions in one sentence or one  

short paragraph4 ,it tells the whole    
story in its baldest aspects and aims to
 satisfy the reader who wants only the  
gist of the story and does not care for 
the details4 ,when all his questions    
have been answered in one breath he is  
ready to read the details one at a time1
 but he won't be satisfied if he must   
read all about how the fire was         
discovered before he is told what       
building burned1 when it burned1 etc4   
,for example3                 ,fire of  
unknown origin caused the               
practical destruction of the famous old 
,crow's ,nest1 at ,tenth and ,cedar     
streets1 perhaps the best known and     
oldest landmark in the ,second ward1    
yesterday afternoon4--,milwaukee ,free  
,press4                                 
,this is the lead of an ordinary news   
story--a newspaper report of a fire4    
,the lead begins with ,fire because the 
story has no unusual feature--no element
 in it that is more interesting than the
 fact that there was a fire4 ,the       

reporter considers ,fire the most       
important part of his story and begins  
with it4 ,as soon as we read the word   
,fire we ask1                           
,when8--,where8--,what8--,why8--,how8   
,the reporter answers us in the same    
sentence with his announcement1         
yesterday afternoon--at ,tenth and      
,cedar ,streets--the famous old ',crow's
 ,nest1' perhaps the best known and     
oldest landmark in the ,second          
ward--unknown origin4 ,how is not worth 
answering1 in this case1 beyond the     
statement that the destruction was      
practically complete4 ,thus the reporter
 has told us his bit of news and        
answered our most obvious questions     
about it at the very beginning of his   
story--in one sentence4 ,according to   
newspaper rules this is a good lead4    
,the order of the answers will be       
considered later4 ,for the present we   
are concerned only with the facts that  
the lead must contain4     ,v  ,,the    
,,simple ,,fire ,,story   ,the simplest 

news story is the story which has no    
feature--which has no fact in it more   
important than the incident which it    
reports--e4g41 the fire at the end of   
the last chapter4 ,if we recall the     
various elements of news value we note  
that any incident may be given greater  
news value by the presence of some      
unusual or interesting feature--a great 
loss of life1 an unusual time1 a        
strikingly large loss of property1 or   
simply a well-known name4 ,such a story 
is called a story with a feature1       
because its interest depends not so much
 on the incident itself as upon the     
unusual feature within the incident4 ,on
 the other hand1 many news stories do   
not have features4 ,many stories are    
worth printing simply because of the    
incident which they report1 without any 
unusual feature within them4 ,for       
example1 a building may burn with no    
loss of life1 no great loss of property1
 and no striking occurrence in          
connection with the burning4 ,such a    

fire is worth reporting1 but there is no
 fact in the story more interesting than
 the fact that there was a fire2 the    
story has no feature4  ,the leads of    
these two kinds of stories are          
different4 ,when a story has a feature  
it is customary to play up that feature 
in the first line of the lead4 ,if the  
story has no feature1 is simply the     
record of a commonplace event1 the lead 
merely announces the incident and       
answers the reader's questions about it4
  ,the commonest of featureless stories 
is the simple fire story in which       
nothing out of the ordinary happens1 no 
one is killed1 no striking rescues take 
place1 and no tremendous amount of      
property is destroyed4 ,this may be     
taken as typical of all featureless     
stories4 ,the reporter1 in writing a    
report of such a fire1 merely answers in
 the lead the questions when1 where1    
what1 why1 and perhaps how1 that the    
reader asks concerning the fire4 ,the   
most striking part of the story is that 

there was a fire2 hence the story begins
 with ,fire4 ,for example3              
,fire today wrecked the top of the      
six-story warehouse at #cic to #cie     
,washington street1 used by the ,united 
,states army as a medical supply        
store-room for the ,department of the   
,east4 ,capt4 ,edwin ,wolf1 who is in   
charge                of the warehouse1 
says the loss on tents1                 
blankets1 cots1 and other bedding stored
                on the floors of the    
building was                            
large4--,new ,york ,mail4               
,as one reads down through the rest of  
the story he finds nothing more striking
 than the fact that there was a fire4   
,therefore there is no particular       
feature4 ,no one was killed2 no one was 
injured2 the loss was not extraordinary 
for a ,new ,york fire--nothing in the   
story is of greater interest than the   
mere fact that there was a fire4 ,hence 
the story begins with the word ,fire4   
,notice that it does not begin ,a fire  

or ,the fire--for the simple reason that
 the word fire does not need an article 
before it4 ,the editor will also tell   
you that it is not considered good to   
begin a story with an article1 for the  
beginning is the most important part of 
a story and it is foolish to waste that 
advantageous place on unimportant words4
  ,the first word tells the reader that 
there has been a fire4 ,he immediately  
asks where8--what burned8--when8--how   
much was lost8 ,and the reporter        
proceeds to answer his questions in     
their order of importance4 ,the reporter
 who wrote this story apparently thought
 that the time was of greatest          
importance and slipped it in at         
once--today4 ,he might just as well have
 left the time until the end of the     
sentence because it is not of very great
 interest4 ,he considers the question   
,where of next importance1 and answers  
with the top of the six-story warehouse 
at #cic to #cie ,washington ,street4    
,the question what8 he answers with a   

clause1 used by the ,united ,states army
 as a medical supply store-room for the 
,department of the ,east4 ,he does not  
try to answer the question why8 because1
 as the rest of the story tells us1 no  
one knew exactly what caused the fire4  
,and as for the ,how8 there is nothing  
extraordinary in the way that it burned 
beyond the fact that it burned4 ,thus1  
in one sentence1 he has answered all    
four questions about the fire1 except a 
little query concerning the amount of   
the loss4 ,that he considers worth a    
separate sentence of details4  ,this is 
not a perfect lead4 ,many editors would 
consider it faulty1 but it illustrates  
one way of writing the lead of a        
featureless fire story4 ,obviously there
 are faults2 for instance1 the time is  
given an undue amount of emphasis and   
the cause is omitted4  ,suppose that we 
construct another lead from the same    
story--a lead which would be more in    
accordance with the logic of newspaper  
writing4 ,we shall begin with the word  

fire1 but after it we shall slip in a   
little mention of the cause since to the
 reader not directly acquainted with the
 property that point is always of the   
greatest importance4 ,then we shall tell
 where the fire was and after that what 
was burned4 ,and last of all we shall   
give the time since that is of least    
importance to the average reader4 ,this 
would be the result3                    
,fire of unknown origin wrecked the top 
of the six-story warehouse at #cic-cie  
,washington street1 used by the ,united 
,states army as a medical supply        
store-room for the ,department of the   
,east1 destroying a large number of     
tents1               blankets1 cots1 and
 other bedding1 today4   ,we might as   
well have put the what before the where 
or altered the lead in any other way4   
,but we would always begin with the word
 fire and answer all the questions that 
the reader might ask--in one short      
simple sentence4 ,this constitutes our  
lead4 ,we have told the casual reader   

what he wants to know about the fire4   
,we give him more details about the fire
 if he wants to read them1 but after we 
have stated the case clearly in the lead
 we no longer reckon his time so        
carefully and allow ourselves some      
latitude in the telling4 ,after the lead
 we begin the story from the beginning  
and tell it in its logical order from   
start to finish1 always bearing in mind 
that the editor may chop off a paragraph
 or two at the end4  ,hence the second  
paragraph of the story as it appeared in
 ,the ,mail begins3                     
,john ,smith1 a man employed in the     
stock-room on the sixth floor1 saw smoke
               rolling out of one corner
 and notified                 other     
employees in the building1 while        
,patrolman ,hogan turned in an alarm4   
,we are back at the beginning now and   
telling things as they came4 ,the next  
paragraph of the story tells us how they
 fought the fire1 and the third tells us
 how they finally brought it under      

control4 ,the last paragraph of the     
story reads3                 ,there are 
three such warehouses in the            
country1 one at ,st4 ,louis1 another at 
,san               ,francisco1 but the  
one in this city is by               far
 the largest4 ,in it are kept supplies  
for the ,departments of the ,east1      
,gulf1                  ,cuba1 ,porto   
,rico1 and the ,philippines4      ,the  
editor of ,the ,mail had plenty of space
 that day and saw fit to run this last  
paragraph1 but we should not have lost  
much had he chopped it off4 ,perhaps the
 reporter's copy contained still another
 paragraph telling about ,captain ,wolf1
 but that did not pass the editorial    
pencil4 ,even more of the story might   
have been slashed without depriving us  
of much of the interesting news4        
,judging from the above story a         
newspaper account is divided into two   
separate and independent parts3 the lead
 and the detailed account4 ,the lead is 
written for the casual reader and       

contains all the necessary facts about  
the fire2 it may stand alone and        
constitute a story in itself4 ,the      
detailed account is written for the     
reader who wants to hear more about the 
incident1 and is written in the logical 
order of events--with an eye to the     
danger of the editor's pencil           
threatening the last paragraphs4 ,in    
other words1 the reporter tells his     
story briefly in one paragraph and then 
goes back and tells it all over again in
 a more detailed way4 ,if the story is  
of sufficient importance the second     
telling may not be sufficient and he may
 go back a third time to the beginning  
and tell it again with still greater    
detail--but that is another matter4 ,for
 the present we shall consider only the 
lead and the first detailed account4    
,there are certain other points to be   
noticed in the report of a featureless  
fire4 ,under no condition should it     
begin with the time4 ,why8 ,because1    
unless the time is of extreme interest1 

no one cares particularly when the fire 
occurred4 ,and if the time is of great  
interest--as1 for instance1 if a church 
should burn while the congregation is in
 it--then the time becomes a feature to 
be played up and the story is no longer 
a featureless story4 ,we are now        
considering stories in which nothing is 
of greater interest than the mere fact  
that there was a fire4  ,the same is    
true of the location4 ,who cares what   
street the fire was on until he knows   
more about the fire8 ,if the location   
were of such significant importance as  
to be played up1 the story would no     
longer be a featureless story4  ,the    
paragraphing is also important4 ,since  
the lead is in itself a separate part of
 the story it should always be          
paragraphed separately4 ,do not let the 
beginning of the detailed account lap   
over into the lead1 and do not introduce
 into the first paragraph any facts     
which are not absolutely a part of the  
lead--that is1 facts that are absolutely

 essential to a general knowledge of the
 fire4 ,when once you begin to tell the 
story in detail tell it logically and   
paragraph it logically4 ,do not tell us 
that ,john ,smith discovered the fire   
and that the loss is #ejj in the same   
paragraph4 ,take up each point          
separately and treat it fully before you
 leave it--then begin a new paragraph   
for the next item4                    99
       99       99       99       99    
,to take a hypothetical case1 suppose   
that misfortune visits the home of ,john
 ,h4 ,jones1 who lives at #gi ,liberty  
,street4 ,a defective flue sets his     
house on fire and it burns to the       
ground4 ,by inquiry we find that the    
house is worth about #d1jjj and is fully
 insured4  ,there is nothing            
particularly striking about the story4  
,we are sorry for ,mr4 ,jones1 but many 
houses worth #d1jjj are set on fire by  
poor chimneys and many more houses burn 
down4 ,no one was hurt1 no one was      
killed2 the most striking part of it all

 is that there was a fire4 ,we would    
begin with the word ,fire4 ,perhaps our 
readers would be most interested in the 
cause of the fire and we shall tell them
 that first4 ,then we shall tell them   
what burned1 when it burned1 and where  
it stood4 ,there is nothing else that a 
casual reader would want to know and the
 lead would read3                 ,fire 
starting in a defective chimney         
destroyed the residence of ,john ,h4    
,jones1               #gi ,liberty      
street1 at midnight last                
night1 causing a loss of #d1jjj1 covered
                by insurance4           
,our casual reader is satisfied4 ,for   
the reader who wishes to know more about
 the fire we add a paragraph or two of  
detail4 ,first1 we may tell him who     
discovered the fire2 then how the ,jones
 family managed to escape2 and after    
that how the fire was extinguished1 and 
we might slip in a paragraph explaining 
just what trouble in the chimney made a 
fire possible4 ,the editor may chop off 

any number of paragraphs or cut the     
story down to the lead1 and yet our     
readers will get the facts and know just
 exactly what was the reason for the    
fire bell and the red sky at midnight   
last night4     ,,vi  ,,the ,,feature   
,,fire ,,story   ,a fire story without a
 feature begins with ,fire because there
 is nothing in the story more           
interesting than the fact that there has
 been a fire4 ,such was the case in the 
burning of ,john ,jones's house in the  
last chapter4 ,but just as soon as any  
part of the story becomes more          
interesting than the fact that there was
 a fire1 the story is no longer         
featureless--it is a fire story with a  
feature1 or1 for the purposes of our    
study1 a feature fire story4 ,this      
feature may be related to the story in  
one of two ways4 ,in the first place1   
the answer to some one of the reader's  
questions may be the feature--e4g41 the 
answer to when1 where1 what1 how1 why1  
who4 ,on the other hand1 the feature may

 be in some unexpected attendant        
circumstance that the reader would not  
think of2 for instance1 loss of life1 an
 interesting rescue1 or something of    
that sort4 ,such a distinction is       
entirely arbitrary and would not be     
considered in a newspaper office1 but it
 will make the matter simpler for the   
purposes of study4   ,a4 ,,features ,,in
 ,,answers ,,to ,,reader',s ,,customary 
,,questions  7,when1 ,where1 ,what1     
,how1 ,why1 ,who74  ,suppose that ,john 
,jones's house did not burn in the usual
 way--suppose that there is some        
striking incident in the story that     
makes it different from other fire      
stories4 ,the story has a feature4      
,perhaps the answer to some one of the  
reader's customary questions is more    
interesting than the answers to the     
others--so much more interesting that it
 supersedes even the fact that there was
 a fire4 ,then it would be foolish to   
begin with the mere word fire when we   
have something more interesting to tell4

 ,the fire takes a second place and we  
begin with the interesting fact that    
supersedes it4 ,for the present we shall
 consider that this interesting fact is 
the answer to one of the questions that 
the reader always asks2 for instance1   
why the house burned or when it burned4 
#a4 ,why4--,perhaps ,mr4 ,jones's house 
was set on fire in a very unusual way4  
,there was a little party in session at 
the ,jones's and some one decided to    
take a flash-light picture4 ,the        
flash-light set fire to a lace curtain  
and before any one could stop it the    
house was afire4 ,few fires begin in    
that way1 and our readers would be very 
interested in hearing about it4 ,the    
story has a feature in the answer to the
 reader's ,why8 ,and so we would begin  
our lead in this way3                 ,a
 flashlight setting fire to a lace      
curtain started a fire which destroyed  
the residence of ,john ,h4 ,jones1 #gi  
,liberty street1 at #aa o'clock last    
night               and caused a loss of

 #d1jjj4               ,in this way the 
feature is played up at the beginning of
 the sentence1 and yet the rest of the  
reader's questions are answered in the  
same sentence and he knows a great deal 
about the fire4 ,or1 leaving ,mr4 ,jones
 to his fate1 we may give another       
example of an unusual cause taken from a
 newspaper4 ,this was a big fire1 and   
yet the unusual cause was of greater    
interest than the fire itself or the    
amount of property destroyed3           
,a tiny joss stick1 the lighted end of  
which was no larger than a pinhead1 is  
thought to have been responsible for a  
fire that destroyed the ,white ,city    
,amusement ,park at ,broad ,ripple last 
night4 ,the loss to the amusement       
company               is                
#afa1jjj4--;,indianapolis ,news4        
#b4 ,where4--,to return to ,mr4 ,jones1 
there may have been some other incident 
in the burning of his house aside from  
the cause that was of exceptional       
interest4 ,let us say that his house    

stood in a part of the town where a fire
 was to be feared4 ,perhaps it stood    
within twenty feet of the new ,first    
,congregational ,church4 ,the burning of
 ,jones's house would then be           
insignificant in comparison to the      
danger to the costly edifice beside it1 
and our readers would be more interested
 in an item concerning their church4    
,the answer to ,where8 is more          
interesting than the fire itself4 ,hence
 we would bury1 so to speak1 ,mr4       
,jones's misfortune behind the greater  
danger1 and the story would read3       
,fire endangered the new ,first         
,congregational ,church on ,liberty     
street1               erected at a cost 
of #ajj1jjj1 when the                   
home of ,j4 ,h4 ,jones1 in the rear of  
the                church1 was destroyed
 at midnight last                 night4
                                        
,or3                 ,the ,first        
,congregational ,church1                
recently built at a cost of #ajj1jjj1   

was              seriously threatened by
 a fire which                           
destroyed the residence of ,john ,h4    
,jones1              #gh ,liberty       
street1 within twenty feet of           
the church1 at midnight last night4     
,turning again to the daily papers1 we  
can find many fire stories in which the 
location of the burned structure is     
important enough to take the first line 
of the lead4 ,here is one3              
,the ,plaza ,hotel had a few            
uncomfortable              moments last 
night when flames from a                
building adjoining at #bb ,west         
,fifty-ninth              street were   
shooting up as high as the              
tenth story of the hotel and the fire   
apparatus which responded to the delayed
               alarm was looking for the
 blaze several                blocks    
away4--,new ,york ,sun4                 
#c4 ,when4--,sometimes the time of the  
fire is very interesting4 ,john ,h4     
,jones's house may have caught fire from

 a very insignificant thing and its     
location may have been unimportant1 but 
the fire may have come at an unusual    
time4 ,perhaps ,mr4 ,jones's daughter   
was being married at a quiet home       
wedding in her father's house and in the
 midst of the ceremony the roof of the  
house burst into flames4 ,the unusual   
time would be interesting2 the answer to
 ,when8 would be the feature4 ,we might 
write the lead thus3                    
,during the wedding of ,miss ,mary      
,jones                at the home of her
 father1 ,john ,h4 ,jones1              
#gh ,liberty street1 last night1 the    
house               suddenly burst into 
flames and the bridal              party
 was compelled to flee into the         
street4                                 
,or3                 ,fire interrupted  
the wedding of ,miss                    
,mary ,jones at her father's home1 #gh  
,liberty street1 last night1 when the   
house caught fire from a defective      
chimney during the ceremony4            

,the daily papers furnish many          
illustrations of fires at unusual       
times--here is one3               ,when 
the snowstorm was at its height         
early this morning1 a three-story brick 
building at ,nos4 #ddaj-ah ,third       
,avenue1                 ,brooklyn1     
caught fire1 and the flames             
spread rapidly to an adjoining tenement1
               sending a small crowd of 
shivering                     tenants   
into the icy street4--,new ,york        
,post4                                  
#d4 ,what4--7a7 ,the ,burned            
,building4--,many fire stories have     
their feature in the answer to the      
reader's ,what8 ,not infrequently the   
building itself is of great importance4 
,naturally ,the residence of ,john ,h4  
,jones would not make a good beginning1 
if ,john ,jones is not well known1      
because people would be more interested 
in reading about a mere fire than in    
reading about the residence of ,john ,h4
 ,jones1 whom they do not know4 ,for it 

must be remembered that it is the first 
line that catches the reader's eye and  
the interest or lack of interest in the 
first line determines whether or not the
 story is to be read4 ,now1 suppose that
 a building that is very well known     
burns--the ,city ,hall1 the ,albany     
,state ,house1 the ,herald ,square      
,theater--the mere mention of the       
building will attract the reader's      
attention4 ,therefore the reporter      
begins with the answer to ,what8 the    
name of the building1 as in the         
following cases3                 ,,glens
 ,,falls1 ,n4 ,y41 ,aug4 #ag4--,the     
,kaatskill ,house1 for many years a     
popular              ,lake ,george      
resort1 was completely                  
destroyed by fire this forenoon4--,new  
,york ,times4                           
,the ,first ,m4 ,e4 ,church of ,chelsea1
                   familiarly known as  
the ,cary avenue                        
church1 was damaged last night to the   
amount of #g1jjj by fire4--,boston      

,herald4                                
7b7 ,the ,amount of ,property           
,destroyed4--,the answer to ,what       
burned8 is not necessarily a building1  
for the building itself may not be worth
 featuring4 ,the contents of the        
building may be more interesting1       
especially if the amount of property    
destroyed can be put in striking terms1 
such as #b1jjj1jjj worth of property1 or
 two thousand chickens1 or fifty-three  
automobiles1 or #g1jjj gallons of       
whisky4 ,these figures printed at the   
beginning of the first paragraph catch  
the reader's eye1 thus3                 
,five automobiles1 valued at #e1hjj1 and
              property amounting to     
#f1bjj were                             
destroyed last evening when fire broke  
in              the repair shop of the  
,g4 ,w4 ,browne ,motor                  
company1 #bbh-bcb ,wisconsin street1    
near                the ,north-,western 
station4--,milwaukee                    
,sentinel4                              

#e4 ,how4--,very rarely the manner in   
which a fire burns is quite unique and  
deserves featuring4 ,it is inconceivable
 that ,john ,jones's house could burn in
 any very unusual way--with many        
explosions1 with a glare of flames that 
aroused the whole city1 with vast clouds
 of oily smoke--but some fires do burn  
in some such a way and are interesting  
only for the way they burned4 ,the      
following story begins with the answer  
to ,how8 although the manner might be   
described more explicitly3              
,stubborn fires have been fought in the 
past1 but one of the hardest blazes to  
conquer that the local department ever  
contended with gutted the plant of ,n4  
,drucker  ,co41 manufacturers of trunks 
and valises1 at the northwest corner of 
,ninth and ,broadway1 last              
night4--,cincinnati ,commercial         
,tribune4    #f4 ,who4--,just as it     
would be foolish to begin with the      
residence of ,john ,jones1 since the    
building is not well known1 it would not

 be advisable to begin with ,john       
,jones's name1 no matter what part he   
played4 ,john ,jones is not well known  
and so to the newspaper he is just a man
 and is treated impersonally regardless 
of what he does or what happens to him4 
,our interest in him is entirely        
impersonal1 and all we want to know     
about him is what he has done or what   
has happened to him4 ,therefore few     
reporters would begin a story with ,john
 ,jones's name4 ,however1 let some man  
who is well known do or suffer the      
slightest thing and his name immediately
 lends interest to the story--and       
therefore commands first place in the   
introduction4 ,if ,john ,d4 ,rockefeller
 should even witness a fire1 or if      
,president ,taft should be in the       
slightest way connected with a fire1 the
 mere fire story would shrink into      
significance behind the name4 ,and so1  
very often it is advisable to begin a   
fire story with a name1 if the name is  
of sufficient prominence4 ,it is not    

necessary that the well-known man's     
property be destroyed or even endangered
 for his name to have the first place in
 the first sentence of the lead2 if the 
well-known man has anything whatever to 
do with the fire his name should be     
featured because to the average reader  
the interest in his name overshadows any
 interest in the fire4 ,in this example1
 the name overshadows a striking loss of
 property and the story begins with the 
answer to ,who8                 ,,new   
,,york1 ,nov4 #f4--,while ,clendenin ,j4
                ,ryan1 son of ,thomas   
,f4 ,ryan1 the traction                 
magnate1 and a band of volunteer fire   
fighters--many of them                  
millionaires--fought a blaze which      
started in the garage of young ,ryan's  
country estate near ,suffern1 ,n4 ,y41  
early              in the morning1 three
 valuable                               
automobiles1 seven thoroughbred horses  
and several outbuildings were totally   
destroyed4--,milwaukee ,sentinel4       

,it will be seen that in each of the    
above feature fire stories some incident
 in the fire1 or connected with the     
fire1 overshadows the mere fact that    
there was a fire and makes it advisable 
to begin the story of the fire with the 
fact or incident of unusual interest4   
,furthermore1 in each of these stories  
the unusual feature in the story is a   
direct answer to one of the reader's    
questions--when8 where8 how8 what8 why8 
who8 ,in other words1 the reporter in   
answering these questions1 as he must in
 the lead of every story1 finds the     
answer to one question so much more     
interesting than the answer to any of   
the other questions that he puts it     
first4 ,in every fire story1 however1   
the feature is not so easily discovered4
   ,b4 ,,features ,,in ,,unexpected     
,,attendant ,,circumstances  ,there are 
other things in the day's fire stories1 
besides the answers to the reader's     
questions1 that may overshadow the rest 
of the story and deserve to be featured4

 ,very often there are unexpected       
attendant circumstances occurring       
simultaneously with the fire or         
resulting from the fire to command our  
interest4 ,perhaps a number of people   
are killed or injured2 then we want to  
know about them first1 and the reporter 
neglects to answer our questions for the
 moment while he tells us the startling 
attendant circumstances that we had not 
expected4 ,even so1 while giving first  
place to the feature1 he does not forget
 our questions but answers them in the  
same sentence4 ,hence the introduction  
of a fire story with significant        
attendant circumstances begins with the 
startling fact resulting from the fire  
and then goes on to answer the reader's 
questions--in the same sentence4  ,this 
is not so difficult as it may sound4    
,suppose that when ,john ,jones's house 
burns there is a stiff breeze blowing   
and the chances are that all the other  
houses in the block will go with it4    
,all of his neighbors become frightened 

and work with feverish haste to move    
their household goods out into the      
street4 ,in the end the fire department 
succeeds in confining the fire to ,mr4  
,jones's house and his neighbors        
promptly carry their chattels back      
indoors thanking the god of good luck4  
,now the mere fact that ,john ,jones's  
house burned down is rather             
insignificant beside the fact that a    
dozen families were driven from their   
homes by the fire4 ,therefore the       
reporter would begin thus3              
,twelve families were driven from their 
homes by a fire which destroyed the     
residence of ,john ,h4 ,jones1 #gh      
,liberty                 street1 at #aa 
o'clock last night4 ,the                
fire was at length kept from spreading  
and the neighboring residences were     
reoccupied4                             
,or to take an incident from the daily  
press in which the neighbors were not so
 fortunate2 although they might have    
entirely lost their homes3              

,twenty-two families in the six-story   
tenement at #adg ,orchard street were   
routed out of the house twice early     
today              by fires which caused
 a great deal of                  smoke1
 but little real damage4--,new ,york    
,mail4                                  
#a4 ,death4--7a7 ,number of ,dead4--,the
 most usual attendant circumstances that
 will come to our notice is death in the
 fire4 ,let us say that ,mr4 ,jones's   
three children were alone in the house  
and burned to death4 ,their death would 
be of more interest to us than the      
burning of their father's house--and our
 story would necessarily begin in this  
way3                 ,three children    
were burned to death in               a 
fire which destroyed the home of their  
father1 ,john ,h4 ,jones1 #gh ,liberty  
street1              last night4        
,so common is death in connection with  
fire that almost every day's paper      
contains one or more stories beginning  
,ten persons were cremated---- or ,four 

firemen were killed---- ,and in every   
case the loss of human life is          
considered of greater importance than   
any other incident in the story1 and the
 number of dead always takes precedence 
over many another startling feature4    
,here are a few examples3               
,,johnstown1 ,pa41 ,jan4 #ah4--,seven   
men                  were cremated in a 
fire that burned to                 the 
ground three double houses near         
,berlin1 ,somerset ,county1 early this  
morning4--,new ,york ,sun4              
,three children of ,mr4 and ,mrs4       
,bernard               ,lindberg1 #ccbh 
,nineteenth avenue south1               
were cremated in a fire which destroyed 
their home shortly after #ab o'clock    
yesterday4 ,the children had been left  
alone in the house1 shut up in their    
bedroom1 etc4--,st4 ,paul ,pioneer      
,press4                  ,one fireman   
was killed1 another fireman             
and a woman were injured and eight      
people              escaped death by a  

narrow margin ,saturday                 
night in a fire which destroyed the1    
etc4--,milwaukee ,sentinel4             
,,new ,,york1 ,march #bg4--,one hundred 
and                 forty-one persons   
are dead as a result                 of 
the fire which on ,saturday afternoon   
swept the three upper floors of the     
factory loft building at the northwest  
corner of ,washington place and ,greene 
street4 ,more than three-quarters of    
this               number are women and 
girls1 who were                         
employed in the ,triangle ,shirt ,waist 
factory1 where the fire                 
originated4--,boston ,transcript4       
7b7 ,list of ,dead4--,when the number of
 dead or injured reaches any very       
significant figure it is customary to   
make a table of dead and injured4 ,this 
table is usually set into the story     
close after the lead1 but very often the
 list is put in a box and slipped in    
above the story4 ,in writing the story1 
however1 the reporter disregards the    

table and begins his lead as if there   
were no table3 e4g41 ,twelve firemen    
were killed and fourteen injured in a   
fire---- ,the list usually gives the    
name1 address 7or some other            
identification71 and the nature of the  
injury1 thus3                           
,injured ,firemen3                      
,capt4 ,frank ,makal1 ,engine ,co4 ,no4 
#d1                   cut by glass4     
,acting ,captain ,w4 ,e4 ,brown1 fire   
boat                  ,no4 #bc1 cut by  
glass4                                  
,peter ,ryan1 ,no4 #ae1 flying          
glass4--,milwaukee ,free ,press4        
,or3                             ,the   
,dead3                                  
,mrs4 ,charles ,smith1 #ad ,w4 ,gorham  
street4                                 
,john ,johnson1 #aaic ,chatham street4  
,the ,injured3                          
,thomas ,green1 #aaaa ,grand street2    
face                  cut by flying     
glass4                                  
,james ,brown1 #agf ,orchard avenue2    

internal injuries2 may die4             
7c7 ,manner of ,death4--,a number of    
fatalities at the beginning always      
attracts attention4 ,not infrequently   
the manner or the cause1 especially in  
the case of a single death1 is worth the
 first place in the lead--not as ,one   
man killed---- but as ,crushed beneath a
 falling wall1 a man was killed4 ,if a  
man burns to death in a very unusual    
way1 or for an unusual reason1 we are   
more interested in the way he was       
burned1 or the reason that he burned1   
than in the mere fact that he was burned
 to death4 ,the first line then tells us
 how or why he was burned4 ,thus3       
,to save his money1 which he hoped would
              some day raise him from   
the rank of a                  laborer  
to that of a prosperous merchant1       
,hing ,lee1 a ,chinese laundryman1 ran  
back               into his burning     
laundry at #cjca ,nicollet              
avenue today1 after he was once safe    
from              the flames1 and was so

 badly burned that                      
physicians say he cannot                
live4--,minneapolis ,journal4           
#b4 ,injuries4--,very often no one is   
killed in a fire but some one is        
injured4 ,for example1 five firemen are 
overcome by ammonia fumes or two men are
 seriously injured by a falling wall4   
,this then becomes the feature4         
,injuries to human beings1 if serious or
 in any considerable number1 take       
precedence over other features1 just as 
loss of human life does4 ,here is an    
example from the press in which all the 
injuries are gathered together at the   
beginning3                 ,six firemen 
and two laborers were                   
overcome by smoke1 while three other    
firemen received minor injuries by      
flying              glass in a fire     
which broke out yesterday               
morning at #aj3cj o'clock in the        
,wellauer-,hoffman building1 at1        
etc4--,milwaukee ,free ,press4          
#c4 ,rescues4--7a7 ,number of ,people   

,rescued4--,when people are rescued from
 great danger in a fire their escape    
makes a very good feature4 ,if many of  
them are rescued or escape very         
narrowly1 the mere number of people     
saved deserves the first place1 as3     
,more than #aej men and women were saved
               from death today in a    
fire at #bac-bag                  ,grand
 street by toboganning from the roof    
of the burning structure on a board     
chute              to the roof of an    
adjoining five-story                    
building4--,new ,york ,mail4            
7b7 ,manner of ,rescue4--,but more often
 the manner of their escape interests us
 most4 ,if a man slides down a rope for 
four stories to escape death by fire we 
are more interested in how he saved     
himself than in the fact that he didn't 
burn1 and so we tell how he escaped1 in 
the first line4 ,in the same way1 if    
unusual means are used to save one or   
more persons1 the means of rescue is    
usually worth featuring4 ,for example3  

,overcoats used as life nets saved the  
lives of a dozen women and children in a
               fire of incendiary origin
 in the                                 
three-story frame tenement house at #acg
                ,havemeyer avenue1      
,brooklyn1 to-day1                      
etc4--,new ,york ,mail4                 
#d4 ,property ,threatened4--,death and  
injury are the commonest unexpected     
circumstances in fire stories1 but they 
are not the only ones that may be worth 
featuring4 ,there is an inconceivable   
number of things that may happen at a   
fire and overshadow all interest in the 
fire itself4 ,a good feature may be     
found in the property that is           
threatened4 ,often the fire in itself is
 insignificant1 but because of a high   
wind or other circumstances it threatens
 to spread to neighboring buildings or  
to devastate a large area4 ,in such a   
case the amount of property threatened  
or endangered deserves a place in the   
very first line1 especially if it       

exceeds the amount of property actually 
destroyed and if it can be put in a     
striking way2 i4 e41 the entire         
waterfront district1 or twenty-five     
dwelling houses1 or #e1jjj1jjj worth of 
property4 ,when contrasted with the     
small amount of damage actually done1   
the amount that is threatened becomes   
more important4 ,thus3                  
,fire that for a time threatened        
#b1jjj1jjj worth of property destroyed  
#ae1jjj worth of lumber owned by the    
,milwaukee ,lumber ,company1 #gbe       
,clinton                  street1       
yesterday4444                           
,the territory between ,mitchell street 
and the ,kinnickinnic river and ,reed   
street1 to the lake1 containing         
manufactories1 dwellings and stores1 was
               menaced4--,milwaukee     
,news4                 #e4 ,fire        
,fighting4--,not unusually a serious    
fire results from the fact that it was  
not checked for some reason or other    
during its earlier stages4 ,perhaps the 

whole thing might have been avoided1 or1
 on the contrary1 a big fire may be     
extinguished with unexpected ease or    
unusual skill4 ,in rare cases this      
matter of very efficient or very        
inefficient fire fighting is of         
sufficient importance to take the first 
place in the lead4 ,for example3        
,almost total lack of water pressure is 
blamed for the big loss in a fire       
started              by a firebug to-day
 in the five-story                      
factory building of ,lamchick ,brothers1
                 manufacturing company1 
#djj-djb ,south                         
,second street1 ,williamsburg4--,new    
,york                ,mail4             
,rotten hose1 which burst as fast as it 
was put in use1 imperiled the lives of  
more than a score of firemen to-day at a
               blaze which swept the    
three-story frame                flat   
house at ,third avenue and              
,sixty-seventh street1 ,brooklyn1 from  
cellar to roof1 etc4--,new ,york ,mail4 

#f4 ,crowd4--,not uncommonly in the city
 a tremendous crowd gathers to watch a  
fire and blocks traffic for hours4 ,in  
the absence of other significant        
incidents--death1 great loss1 etc4--the 
reporter may begin his story with an    
account of the crowd present or the     
blockade of traffic4 ,such a beginning  
should always be used only as a last    
resort when a fire has no other         
interesting phase1 for crowds always    
gather at fires and only a very serious 
blocking of traffic is worth reporting4 
,thus3                 ,fully #ae1jjj   
persons were attracted to               
the scene of the fire in the portion of 
the plant of the ,greenwald ,packing    
,company1 ,claremont ,stock ,yards1     
which was              discovered at    
#d3ef yesterday                         
afternoon4--,baltimore ,american4       
,twenty-five thousand people jammed     
,broadway between ,bleecker and ,bond   
streets yesterday noon and had the      
excitement of watching #bej girls escape

                from a twelve-story loft
 building which                was      
afire4--,new ,york ,sun4                
#g4 ,miscellaneous4--,there is an       
infinite number of things that may      
happen at a fire and overshadow the mere
 fire interest4 ,these are the things   
that make one fire different from       
another1 and whenever they are of       
sufficient importance they become the   
feature to be played up in the first    
line of the introduction4 ,it would be  
impossible to enumerate all the         
unexpected things that might happen     
during a fire4 ,it is this element of   
unexpected possibilities that makes the 
reporting of fires interesting1 and an  
alert reporter is ever on the lookout   
for a new and unusual development in the
 fire to be used as the feature of his  
story4 ,here are the leads of a few fire
 stories clipped from the daily         
newspapers3                 ,with her   
home on fire and the smoke              
swirling around her head1 ,mrs4 ,b4 ,b4 

,blank1 a well-known leader of the      
social set of ,roland ,park1 bravely    
stood by her telephone and called upon  
the ,roland ,park ,fire ,company for aid
                   shortly after #h     
o'clock this                            
morning4--,baltimore ,star4             
,four charming young women attired in   
masculine apparel were the unexpected   
and embarrassed hosts of four companies 
of fire department laddies last night1  
when fire broke out1 etc4--,milwaukee   
,free ,press4                           
,for the first time since its           
installation the high-pressure water    
power system was relied upon solely last
               night to fight a         
,broadway fire1 and                     
,chief ,croker said that he was well    
satisfied with its work4 ,the fire began
                on the third floor of   
the six-story1                          
etc4--,new ,york ,times4                
,c4 ,,fire ,,stories ,,with ,,more      
,,than ,,one ,,feature  ,it would appear

 from the foregoing examples that almost
 every fire story has a feature4 ,and so
 it usually has4 ,the great majority of 
fires that are worth reporting at all   
have some unusual incident connected    
with them that overshadows the mere fire
 itself4 ,sometimes the features are not
 of great significance1 but it is only  
as a last resort that a reporter begins 
his story with ,fire--only when the most
 ordinary of fires is to be covered4    
,unusual features are so common in      
connection with fires that very often a 
single fire has more than one unusual   
feature4 ,perhaps the cause of the fire 
is exceptionally striking and at the    
same time the amount of property        
destroyed is of great news value in     
itself4 ,or the time and some unexpected
 attendant circumstance are both worth  
the first place4 ,in that case the      
reporter has to choose between the two  
features and begin with the one that    
seems to him to be the more striking4   
,the other feature or features may often

 be arranged in the order of importance 
immediately after the most striking fact
 at the beginning1 provided that this   
does not make the lead unduly           
complicated4  ,for instance1 a cold     
storage warehouse burns and four firemen
 are overcome by the fumes from the     
ammonia pipes4 ,next door is a hospital 
and the flames frighten the patients    
almost into a panic4 ,either one of     
these incidents is worth the first line 
of the story4 ,but which one is of the  
greater importance8 ,naturally the      
element of danger to human life must be 
considered first and the actual         
disabling of four firemen is of greater 
significance than a possible panic in   
the hospital4 ,following that line of   
logic our story would begin3            
,four firemen were overcome by ammonia  
fumes and a panic in the ,st4 ,charles  
,hospital was narrowly averted1 as a    
result of a fire which destroyed the    
cold              storage warehouse of1 
etc4                 ,such a lead would 

not be too complicated for practical    
purposes4 ,but suppose that around the  
corner from the cold storage warehouse  
is a livery in which fifty horses are   
stabled4 ,the flames frighten the horses
 and they break loose and stampede in   
the streets4 ,the story now has three   
features of striking interest4 ,it would
 be possible to combine them all in the 
lead and to begin in this way3          
,four firemen were overcome by ammonia  
fumes1 a panic was narrowly averted in  
the ,st4 ,charles ,hospital1 and fifty  
frightened horses stampeded in the      
streets as a result of a fire1 etc4     
,but see how far from the beginning the 
fire1 the actual cause of it all1 is    
placed4 ,the fire is buried behind a    
mass of details and the reader is       
confused4 ,the lead is not a happy one4 
,the only thing to do is to break up the
 mass of details and put part of them   
immediately after the lead4 ,the        
arrangement is a matter that must be    
left to the judgment of the reporter4   

,this1 however1 is an extreme case      
because the various features are so     
disconnected and separate4 ,the reporter
 would have little trouble if the       
several features were more alike4 ,for  
instance1 if one of the walls of the    
building had fallen and killed three    
firemen the case would have been        
simpler4 ,the death of these men so far 
overshadows the other unusual incidents 
that it drives them out of the lead     
altogether4 ,for we do not care about   
horses and frightened patients when men 
are crushed beneath falling walls4 ,all 
that we are concerned with in our lead  
now is the dead and injured--with a     
feature like this we can trust our      
readers to go into the story far enough 
to pick up the other interesting        
features2 we would begin in this way3   
,three firemen were killed by falling   
walls and four others were overcome by  
ammonia fumes in a fire which destroyed 
the cold storage1 etc4                  
,the combination of dead and injured    

makes a good beginning1 and it is always
 advisable to begin with such an        
enumeration whenever it is possible4    
,where the features are not so          
significant as death and injuries the   
matter of arranging more than one       
striking detail at the beginning of the 
lead becomes a greater problem4 ,it must
 be left to one's own judgment and      
common sense4 ,the lead must not be too 
long or complicated1 and one must       
hesitate before burying the really      
important facts of the story behind     
several lines of more or less unusual   
details4 ,just as soon as the lead      
becomes at all confusing take out the   
details and put them into the story     
later4     ,,vii  ,,faults ,,in ,,news  
,,stories   ,before we go on to the     
consideration of other kinds of news    
stories it will be well to consider in  
greater detail the facts we have learned
 from writing up fires4 ,our fire       
stories should have taught us a number  
of things about the form of the news    

story4 ,let us sum them up4  ,paragraph 
,length4--,we have seen that newspaper  
writing has a characteristic style of   
its own4 ,in the first place notice the 
length of a newspaper paragraph4 ,count 
the number of words in an average       
paragraph and compare it with the number
 of words in a literary paragraph4 ,we  
find that the newspaper paragraph is    
much shorter4 ,there is a reason for    
this4 ,imagine a #aej-word literary     
paragraph set up in a newspaper4 ,there 
are about seven words to the line in a  
newspaper column and one hundred and    
fifty words would make something over   
twenty lines4 ,try to picture a         
newspaper made up of twenty-line        
paragraphs2 it would be extremely       
difficult to read4 ,we glance over a    
newspaper hastily and our haste requires
 many breaks to help us in gathering the
 facts4 ,hence the paragraphs must be   
short2 the very narrowness of the       
newspaper column causes them to be      
shortened4 ,the average lead1 you will  

find1 contains less than fifty words and
 the paragraphs following it are not    
much longer4  ,sentence                 
,length4--,notice sentence lengths as   
compared with literary sentences4 ,you  
will find that newspaper sentences      
usually fall into two classes3 the      
sentences in the lead and the sentences 
in the body of the story4 ,the first    
sentence is usually rather long--thirty 
to sixty words4 ,but the sentences in   
the body of the story are much shorter  
than most literary sentences4 ,why is   
this8 ,it results from exactly the same 
thing that makes the newspaper          
paragraphs short--the need of many      
breaks4 ,thus1 after we finish a lead1  
we must fall into short sentences4 ,they
 need not be choppy sentences1 but they 
must be simple and easy to read4   ,,the
 ,,lead ,,and ,,the ,,body ,,of ,,the   
,,story  ,our study of the fire story   
has shown that newspaper stories always 
have two separate and distinct parts3   
the lead and the body of the story4 ,in 

writing the story a reporter must       
consider each part separately1 although 
the reader does not distinguish between 
the two parts4 ,before writing a word   
the reporter must decide exactly what   
facts and details he is to put in the   
lead and exactly what fact he is going  
to play up in the first line1 taking    
care to begin with the most interesting 
part of the story4 ,after the lead is   
finished he writes the main body of the 
story in accordance with the rules of   
ordinary ,english composition4 ,each    
part must be separate and independent of
 the other4  ,the ,lead4--,the lead     
itself is always paragraphed separately4
 ,usually it consists of a single       
sentence1 although it is much better to 
break it into two than to make the      
sentence too long and complicated4 ,as  
we have said before1 the lead must not  
only tell the most interesting fact or  
incident in the story1 but it must      
answer the natural questions that the   
reader immediately asks about this      

matter2 i4e41 when1 where1 what1 why1   
who1 and how4 ,these questions must be  
answered briefly and concisely in their 
order of importance1 and the most       
unusual answer or the most striking part
 of the story must precede all the rest4
 ,beyond the answers to these questions 
there is no space for details in the    
lead4 ,every word must have a purpose   
and a necessary purpose or it must be   
cut out and relegated to the body of the
 story4 ,no space should be given to    
explanations of minor importance4 ,state
 the content of the news story as       
completely1 accurately1 and concisely as
 possible so that the reader may know   
just what happened1 when it happened1   
where1 to whom1 and perhaps how and why 
it happened4 ,then begin a new paragraph
 and start the body of the story4  ,many
 editors require that the lead consist  
of one long sentence and yet it must be 
grammatical4 ,many reporters forget all 
about ,english grammar in their attempt 
to crowd everything they know into one  

sentence4 ,but mere quantity does not   
make the lead good2 it must be          
grammatical and easy to read4 ,the verb 
must have a grammatical subject and1 if 
it is an active verb1 it must have a    
grammatical predicate4 ,clauses and     
modifiers must be attached in a way that
 cannot be overlooked4 ,dangling        
participles and absolute constructions  
should be shunned4 ,all of the modifying
 clauses must be gathered together      
either before or after the principal    
clause4 ,everything must be compact and 
logical4 ,many papers disregard this    
matter1 as will be seen in some of the  
extracts quoted in this book1 but the   
best papers do not4  ,every lead should 
be so constructed that it may stand     
alone and be self-sufficient4 ,never    
should a reporter trust to headlines to 
enlighten his readers upon the meaning  
of the lead--the exact reverse of this  
must be true4 ,the story is written     
first and the headlines are written from
 the facts contained in the lead--and   

usually by another man4 ,in writing the 
lead disregard the existence of         
headlines1 for many readers do not read 
them at all4 ,this is but an            
amplification of the old rule of        
composition that any piece of writing   
should be independent of its title4 ,the
 title may be lost1 but the essay must  
be clear without it4  ,there are many   
ways of beginning a lead in order to    
embody the feature in the first line4   
,at first glance the operation of       
putting the emphasis of a sentence at   
the beginning1 rather than at the end1  
may seem difficult1 but with a clear    
idea of the rules of dependence in      
,english grammar a reporter may         
transpose any clause to the beginning   
and thus play up the content of the     
clause4 ,for instance1 in this lead1    
,fire1 starting in a moving picture     
theatre1 #ddah ,third avenue1 drove the 
tenants of the building out into the icy
               street while the         
snowstorm was at its                    

height shortly before #ab o'clock last  
night4                                  
the striking feature of the story is    
buried--we do not get the unusual       
picture of a little group of people     
shivering in the street during a        
blinding snowstorm while they watch     
their homes burn4 ,a simple             
transposition of the while-clause puts  
the feature in the first line4 ,thus3   
,while the snowstorm was at its height  
shortly before #ab o'clock last night1  
fire1 starting in a moving picture      
theatre1 #ddah ,third avenue1 drove the 
tenants of the building out into the icy
               street4                  
,the lead is not perfect now2 it might  
be greatly improved1 but it is better   
than before4  ,a few of the possible    
beginnings for a lead are3  #a4         
,noun4--,the simplest beginning of a    
lead is of course the use of a noun as  
subject of the principal verb4 ,for     
example1 ,fire destroyed the residence  
of---- or ,a flashlight setting fire to 

a lace curtain started a fire---- or    
,the ,plaza ,hotel had a few            
uncomfortable moments last night----    
etc4 ,the subject of the verb may of    
course have its modifiers--adjectives   
and phrases--but it should not be       
separated too widely from its verb4 ,one
 point is to be noted in the use of a   
simple noun at the beginning2 an article
 should not precede the noun if it can  
be avoided1 for the very simple reason  
that an article is not worth the        
important space that it takes at the    
beginning of the lead4 ,in the case of  
fire no article is necessary4 ,in other 
cases it is usually possible to put in  
an adjective or some other word that    
will take the article's place4 ,however1
 never begin a story like this3 ,supreme
 ,court of the ,united ,states          
decided---- or ,young man in evening    
dress was arrested last night---- or    
,house of ,john ,smith was destroyed    
yesterday----4 ,obviously something is  
lacking and1 if no other word will      

supply the lack1 use the article1 the or
 a4 ,when the noun-beginning is used the
 reporter must never forget that two or 
more nouns1 however different1 if       
subject of the same verb1 require a     
plural verb4 ,the verb may be active or 
passive1 whichever is more convenient1  
but rarely is the object of an active   
verb put first--simply because ,english 
cannot bear this transposition of       
subject and predicate4  #b4             
,infinitive4--,other parts of speech    
aside from nouns may be subjects of     
verbs and so other parts of speech as   
subjects of the principal verb of the   
lead may be placed at the beginning of  
the lead4 ,an infinitive with its object
 and modifier may occupy the first line 
as subject of the main verb2 e4g43      
,to rescue his own son during the       
burning of his own house was a part of  
yesterday's work for ,fireman ,michael  
,casey1 who1 etc4                       
,here the infinitive to rescue and its  
object are the subject of the verb was1 

and the construction is perfectly       
grammatical4 ,unfortunately the ,english
 language has another infinitive which  
very much resembles a present           
participle--the infinitive ending in    
-ing2 e4g41 rescuing4 ,without an       
article this part of speech must1 of    
course1 be used only as an adjective1   
but with an article it becomes an       
infinitive1 to be treated as a noun2    
e4g41 the rescuing of4 ,it would be     
perfectly grammatical to begin the above
 lead in this way3 ,the rescuing of his 
own son 444 was the work1 etc4 ,but it  
would be ungrammatical to begin it thus3
 ,rescuing his own son was the work1    
etc4 ,for in the second case the word   
rescuing1 if used with an object1 is not
 an infinitive but a participle1 and    
must be used only as an adjective1 thus3
 ,rescuing his own son1 ,fireman ,casey 
performed his duty1 etc41 or ,in        
rescuing his own son1 ,fireman ,casey   
performed his duty4 ,the two uses should
 never be confused4  #c4                

,clause4--,another expression that may  
be used as subject of the lead's        
principal verb is a clause--usually a   
that-clause4 ,for instance1 ,that the   
entire wholesale district was not       
destroyed by fire last night is due to1 
etc4 ,here the that-clause is subject of
 the verb is and the expression is      
entirely grammatical as well as very    
useful as a beginning4  #d4             
,prepositional ,phrase4--,when the      
feature of a story is an action rather  
than a thing1 a noun can hardly be used 
to express it4 ,very often this lead may
 be handled by means of a prepositional 
phrase at the beginning4 ,for example1  
one of the stories in the last chapter  
begins3 ,with her home on fire and with 
smoke swirling around her head1 ,mrs4   
,john1 etc4 ,in this case the           
prepositional phrase modifies the       
subject and should not be far from it4  
,another variation of this is the       
prepositional phrase of time1 modifying 
the verb2 e4g41 ,during the wedding of  

,miss ,mary ,jones1 last night1 the     
house suddenly caught fire1 etc4 ,this  
beginning is effective if it is not     
overworked1 but the reader should never 
be held back from the real facts of the 
story by a string of complicated        
phrases1 intended to build up suspense4 
#e4 ,participial ,phrase4--,very much   
like the prepositional phrase beginning 
is the participial beginning4 ,sliding  
down an eighty-foot extension ladder    
with a woman in his arms1 ,fireman ,john
 ,casey rescued1 etc4 ,it must be borne 
in mind that the participial phrase must
 modify a noun and there should be no   
doubt in the reader's mind as to the    
noun that it modifies4 ,it would of     
course be absurd to say ,sliding down an
 eighty-foot extension ladder1 fire     
seriously burned ,john ,casey----1 but  
such things are often said4 ,never      
should this participial phrase be used  
as the subject of a verb1 as ,returning 
home and finding her house in ashes was 
the unusual experience of ,mrs4 ,james1 

etc4 ,the phrase must always modify a   
noun just like an adjective4  #f4       
,temporal ,clause4--,a feature may often
 be brought to the beginning of the lead
 by a simple transposition of clauses4  
,should the time be important a         
subordinate when or while clause may    
precede the principal clause of the     
sentence2 i4e41 ,when the snowstorm was 
at its height early this morning1 a     
three-story brick building burned1 etc41
 or ,while #ae1jjj people watched from  
the street below1 #bej girls escaped    
from the burning building at1 etc4  #g4 
,causal ,clause4--,should the cause of  
an action or an occurrence be attractive
 enough for the first line1 a for or a  
because clause may begin the lead4      
,because a tinsmith upset a pot of      
molten solder on the roof of pier ,no4  
#ai1 two steamers were burned1 etc4     
99       99       99       99       99  
,this does not exhaust the list of      
possible beginnings4 ,there are a dozen 
possible constructions for the beginning

 of any story2 these are merely the     
commonest ones4 ,anything unusual or of 
doubtful grammar should be avoided      
because of the many possible            
alternatives that present themselves4   
,and in every lead correct grammar      
should be considered above all else4 ,if
 a lead is ungrammatical no clever      
arrangement of details can make it      
effective or other than ludicrous4 ,for 
instance1 this lead1 taken from a       
newspaper1 illustrates an unfortunate   
attempt to crowd too many details into a
 short lead3                 ,bitten by 
a rattlesnake1 ,myrtle ,olson's         
leg was slashed with a table knife1     
washed the wound with kerosene1 then    
covered the incision with salt by her   
mother4 ,myrtle still lives4            
,another paper tried to arrange it more 
happily1 thus3                 ,bitten  
by a rattlesnake1 ,myrtle ,olson's      
mother slashed her daughter's leg with a
               table knife1 washed the  
wound with                     kerosene1

 then covered the incision with         
salt4 ,myrtle still lives4              
,there is evidently something wrong in  
this4 ,it would be a good exercise to   
try to express the idea grammatically4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,before we go on to the consideration of
 the body of this story a few ,don'ts in
 regard to writing leads may be in      
order4  ,don't begin a lead with a      
person's name unless the person is well 
known4 ,we are always interested in     
anything unusual that a man may do or   
anything unusual that he may suffer1 but
 unless we know the man we are not at   
all interested in his name4 ,suppose    
that a man performs some thrilling act  
or suffers some unusual misfortune in a 
city of #ajj1jjj people4 ,probably not  
more than one hundred people know him1  
and of that number only one or two will 
read the story4 ,then why begin with his
 name when his action is of greater     
interest to all but a few of our        
readers8 ,and yet every reader wants to 

know whether the victim is one of his   
friends4 ,therefore the man's name must 
be mentioned in the lead1 although it   
should not come at the beginning4 ,on   
the other hand1 if the man is prominent 
in the nation or the community and well 
known to all our readers1 his name adds 
interest to the story and we begin with 
the name4 ,there is a growing tendency  
among ,american newspapers to begin all 
of their stories with a name4 ,the      
tendency appears to be the result of an 
attempt to break away from the          
conventional lead and to begin in a more
 natural way--also an easier way4 ,but  
the name beginning is after all         
illogical1 and any reporter is safe in  
following the logical course in the     
matter4 ,if the name is not important   
begin with something that is important4 
,don't waste the main verb of the       
sentence on a minor action while        
expressing the principal action in a    
subordinate clause4 ,this is a violation
 of emphasis4 ,for example1 ,fatally    

burned by an explosion in his laundry1  
,hing ,lee was taken to the hospital4   
,naturally he would be taken to the     
hospital1 but why put the emphasis of   
the whole sentence on that point8       
,don't resort to the expression was the 
unusual experience of---- was the fate  
of---- or any like them4 ,every word in 
the lead must count1 and here are five  
words that say nothing at all4 ,use     
their place to tell what the unusual    
experience was4 ,for instance1 don't say
 ,to stand in a driving snowstorm and   
watch their homes burn to the ground was
 the unusual experience of two families1
 living at1 etc42 say instead1 ,standing
 in a driving snowstorm two families    
watched their homes burn to the ground4 
,the latter says the same thing more    
effectively in less space4 ,the use of  
this expression--was the unusual        
experience of--is always the mark of a  
green reporter4  ,don't overwork the    
expression ,fire broke out4 ,all fires  
break out1 but usually we are more      

interested in the result of the fire    
than in its breaking out4 ,try to use   
some expression that will give more     
definite information4  ,don't be wordy4 
,editors are always calling for shorter 
and more concise leads4 ,if you can say 
a thing in two words don't use half a   
dozen4 ,for example1 ,four members of   
the local fire department were rendered 
unconscious by the deadly fumes from    
bursting ammonia pipes4 ,this takes     
three times as much space as ,four      
firemen were overcome by ammonia fumes1 
and it does not express the idea any    
more effectively4  ,don't introduce     
minor details into the lead4 ,if the    
reader wants the details he may read the
 rest of the story4 ,take the following 
lead as an example3                     
,rushing back into his burning laundry1 
a one-story brick building1 to rescue   
from the flames his savings1 amounting  
to              #dcg1 with which he     
hoped to raise                          
himself from the rank of laborer to that

               of a prosperous merchant1
 and which was                hidden    
under the mattress of his bed in        
the back room of the laundry1 ,hing     
,lee1 a              ,chinaman1 who     
lives at #gi ,nicollett                 
avenue and has been in this country but 
three months1 was overcome by smoke and 
so seriously burned that he had to be   
removed to the ,st4 ,mary ,hospital and 
may               not live1 when his    
establishment was                       
destroyed by a fire which1 starting from
               the explosion of the tank
 of the gasolene              stove on  
which he was cooking his dinner1        
gutted his laundry1 entailing a loss of 
#a1jjj1 shortly before noon to-day4     
,it is entirely grammatical1 but if the 
reader succeeds in wading through it    
there is nothing left to tell about the 
fire4 ,why not begin the story in this  
way and leave something for the rest of 
the story8                 ,because he  
rushed back into his burning            

laundry to rescue his savings1 ,hing    
,lee1               a ,chinese          
laundryman1 #gi ,nicollett              
avenue1 was seriously burned to-day4    
,don't waste the first line of the lead 
on meaningless generalities4 ,get down  
to the facts at once4 ,for instance1    
,the presence of mind and bravery of    
,fireman ,david ,mullen saved ,mrs4     
,daniel ,looker from being burned to    
death in her flat1 etc4 ,we are willing 
to grant his bravery and presence of    
mind1 but we want to know at once what  
he did3 ,by sliding down an eighty-foot 
extension ladder through flames and     
smoke with an unconscious woman in his  
arms1 ,fireman ,david ,mullen rescued   
,mrs4 ,daniel1 etc4 ,equally useless is 
the beginning1 ,a daring rescue of an   
unconscious woman from the fourth story 
of a blazing flat building was made by  
,fireman ,david ,mullen to-day1 etc4    
,tell what the daring rescue was and let
 the reader manufacture a fitting       
eulogy4  ,don't exaggerate the facts to 

make a feature4 ,when a few persons are 
frightened don't turn it into a dreadful
 panic4 ,every little fire is not a     
holocaust and the burning of a small    
barn does not endanger the entire city1 
unless your imagination is strong enough
 to guess what might have happened had  
there been a high wind and no fire      
engines4 ,a narrow escape from death    
does not always excuse the beginning1   
,scores killed and injured would have   
been the result1 if---- ,all beginnings 
of this kind give a false impression and
 do not tell the truth4 ,if a story has 
no striking feature be satisfied to tell
 the truth about it without trying to   
make a world-wide disaster out of it for
 the sake of a place on the front page4 
,exaggeration for a feature is one of   
the bad elements of sensational         
journalism4 ,for example1 seven lives   
were lost in this fire1 but this is the 
way the story was written1 for the sake 
of a three-column scare-head3           
,that #ejj sleeping babes and #ajj more 

who were kneeling in prayer in ,st4     
,malachi's ,home1 a ,roman ,catholic    
institution for the care of orphans at  
,rockaway ,park1 are alive to-day is due
 to              the coolness of the    
nuns in charge and                 the  
children's remembrance of their         
teacher's fire drills4                  
,the suspense is built up in such a way 
that at the end of the lead we do not   
know what happened and read on with     
breathless interest to find that there  
was a small fire at the ,home and seven 
children were burned4   ,the ,body of   
the ,story4--,a good beginning is half  
done1 according to the proverb4 ,in     
writing a news story a good beginning is
 more than half done--two-thirds at     
least4 ,the lead is the beginning1 and  
when that has been written we are ready 
to go on to the body of the story with a
 clear conscience4  ,our lead has told  
the reader the main facts of the case   
and the most unusual feature4 ,if he    
reads further he is looking for details4

 ,in giving him these we return to the  
ordinary rules of narration4 ,we start  
at the very beginning of the story and  
tell it logically and in detail to the  
end4 ,we tell it as if no lead preceded 
it and repeat in greater detail the     
incidents briefly outlined in the lead4 
,never should the body of the story     
depend upon the lead for clearness4 ,if 
the feature of the story is a rescue and
 you have briefly described the rescue  
in the lead1 ignore the lead and        
describe the rescue all over again in   
the body of the story in its proper     
place4 ,the number of details that are  
to be introduced into the story is      
limited only by the space that the story
 seems to be worth4 ,but no point should
 be mentioned in the story unless space 
permits of its being made clear4  ,the  
ordinary rules of ,english composition  
apply to the writing of the body of the 
story4 ,the copy must be paragraphed1   
cut up into paragraphs that are rather  
shorter than ordinary literary          

paragraphs1 since the narrowness of the 
newspaper column makes the paragraph    
seem longer4 ,heterogeneous details must
 not be piled together in the same      
paragraph1 but the facts must be grouped
 and handled logically4 ,no paragraph   
should be noticeably longer than the    
others1 and it is decidedly bad to      
paragraph one sentence alone simply     
because it does not seem to go in with  
any other sentence4 ,if the fact is     
important expand it into a paragraph by 
the introduction of further details2 if 
it is unimportant either cut it out of  
the story altogether or attach it to the
 paragraph to which it seems most       
logically to belong4  ,one fact1 already
 stated1 must be borne in mind as the   
body of the story progresses4 ,the      
report should be built up in such a way 
that the editor can slash off a         
paragraph or two at the end without     
injuring the story--without sacrificing 
any important facts4 ,to do this the    
reporter should bring the important     

parts of the story as near the beginning
 as the logical order will permit4 ,the 
interest of a perfect news story is like
 an inverted cone4 ,the interest is     
abundant at the beginning and gradually 
dwindles out until there is nothing more
 to say when the end is reached4 ,just  
how far the dwindling should be carried 
depends upon the amount of space that   
the story seems to be worth in the      
paper4  ,this may seem difficult4 ,it   
may be hard to see how a story can be   
told in its logical order while at the  
same time the most interesting facts are
 placed at the beginning1 even if they  
logically belong near the end4 ,for     
example1 we may take the story of an    
unusual robbery4 ,a well-dressed man    
goes into a grocery store to get some   
butter and tries to rob the grocer4 ,in 
the ensuing scuffle the would-be robber 
escapes4 ,a young woman who happens to  
be passing sees the end of the fight and
 pursues the robber down the street     
until he runs into a saloon4 ,she calls 

a policeman who is standing on the      
corner and the officer rushes into the  
saloon1 up three flights of stairs and  
finds the robber on the roof behind a   
chimney4 ,the officer shouts to another 
policeman1 and together they arrest the 
robber4  ,now1 what is the most         
interesting thing in the story8         
,probably the pursuit--a young woman    
chasing a robber down the street4 ,our  
lead might be written in this way3      
,after being chased down ,sixth street  
by              a young woman1 a robber1
 who had                       attempted
 to rob the grocery store of            
,charles ,young1 #acde ,sixth street1   
was                  arrested on the    
roof of a saloon at #hce                
,sixth street1 at #g o'clock last night4
     ,the lead might be arranged in a   
different way1 but these are the facts  
that it would contain4 ,before we       
consider the arrangement of the body of 
the story it may be well to go back to  
the interviews by which we secured the  

story4 ,in getting the facts we would   
probably talk to ,young1 the groceryman1
 and to the saloonkeeper into whose     
establishment the robber fled4 ,we could
 probably interview the policeman who   
made the arrest1 but let us suppose that
 the young woman could not be found4    
,the groceryman would tell us about the 
attempted robbery and the escape1 with  
the girl in pursuit4 ,the saloonkeeper  
would tell us how the man fled into his 
saloon and ran up the stairs to the     
roof2 then how two policemen came and   
made the arrest4 ,the policeman could   
tell us how a young woman ran up to him 
and told him that a robber had fled into
 the saloon2 then he would describe the 
arrest4 ,none of these stories is told  
just as we want the newspaper           
story--each one tells us only a part of 
the story4 ,if the finished story were  
written by a green reporter it would    
probably tell the story in the order in 
which it was obtained4 ,that is if the  
reporter saw the policeman first1 then  

the saloonkeeper1 and lastly the        
groceryman2 his story would tell in the 
first paragraph what the policeman said1
 in the second paragraph what the       
saloonkeeper said1 and in the last      
paragraph what the grocer said4 ,at     
least that is the way in which green    
reporters in the classroom attempted to 
write the story4  ,but1 obviously1 that 
is not the logical way to tell the      
story4 ,the finished account should be  
written in the order in which it        
happened3 i4e41 first the robbery1 then 
the pursuit1 and lastly the arrest4     
,this would be the ideal way to tell the
 story--according to the rules of       
,english composition--if we could be    
sure that the entire story would be     
printed4 ,but if it were written in this
 way and the editor decided to slash off
 the last paragraph1 what would go8     
,obviously the arrest would not be      
printed2 and the arrest was quite       
interesting4 ,we must find some way to  
bring the arrest nearer to the          

beginning4 ,this may be done by         
selecting the most interesting parts of 
the story--by picking out the high      
spots1 as it were4 ,in this story the   
high spots are the attempted robbery1   
the pursuit1 and the arrest4 ,the       
details that fill in between are        
interesting1 but not so interesting as  
these high spots4 ,hence these high     
spots of interest must be pushed forward
 toward the beginning4 ,after the lead  
the story would begin at the beginning  
and tell the affair briefly by high     
spots in their proper order4 ,it might  
be something like this3                 
,as ,charles ,young was closing his     
grocery last evening a young man came in
               and asked for a pound of 
butter4 ,young                 turned to
 get it and his customer struck         
him over the head with a chair4 ,the    
grocer grappled with his assailant and  
they fell through the front door4 ,in   
the               scramble1 the robber  
broke away and ran                down  

,sixth street4 ,a young woman who was   
passing screamed and ran after him until
               he disappeared into a    
saloon4                                 
,the young woman called ,policeman      
,smith1                who was standing 
nearby on ,grand avenue1                
and the latter found the would-be robber
               on the roof of the       
saloon4 ,after a                        
struggle1 ,smith arrested the man1 with 
the aid of another policeman4           
,the above account tells us briefly the 
most interesting parts of the story4 ,a 
copyreader might not find it perfect1   
for the assault is allotted too much    
space and the pursuit too little1 but it
 tells the story in its baldest aspect4 
,this1 with the lead1 could be run      
alone4 ,however1 perhaps the story is   
worth more space2 at any rate1 many     
interesting details have been omitted4  
,if so1 go back to the most interesting 
part of the story--the assault1 perhaps1
 or the pursuit--and tell it with more  

details4 ,then retell some other part   
with more details4 ,if your readers are 
interested enough to read beyond the    
first three paragraphs they want details
 and will not be so particular about the
 order--for they already know how the   
story is going to end4  ,this is one way
 of meeting the requirements of logical 
order and dwindling interest4 ,this is a
 particularly hard story to arrange in  
the conventional way since we must have 
the whole story to be interested in any 
single part--it has too many striking   
incidents in it4 ,on the other hand1 a  
story which contains only one striking  
incident is much easier to handle4      
,suppose that we are reporting a fire   
which is interesting only for its cause 
or for a daring rescue in it4 ,our lead 
would suggest this interesting element  
and the first part of our story would be
 devoted entirely to the cause or to the
 rescue1 as the case might be4 ,but it  
is better to sketch briefly1 immediately
 after or very close to the lead1 the   

entire story1 for our readers want to   
know how it ends before they can be     
interested in any particular part4 ,if  
we sketch the whole story and show them 
that there is only one important thing  
in the story1 they will be satisfied to 
read about the one striking incident    
without wondering if there is not       
something more interesting further on4  
,if we leave the conclusion of the story
 to the end of our copy the editor may  
cut it off and leave our story dangling 
in midair4 ,every story must be treated 
in its own way1 according to its own    
incidents and difficulties2 no two      
stories are alike in substance or       
treatment4 ,in every one our aim must be
 to keep to the logical order and at the
 same time to put the most interesting  
parts of the story near the beginning4  
,the construction of the body of a story
 may be illustrated more clearly by a   
fatal fire story--since fire stories are
 more uniform1 and hence easier to write
 than other news stories4 ,let us       

suppose that the story is as follows3   
,at four o'clock in the afternoon a fire
 started from some unknown cause in the 
basement of a four-story brick building 
at #chc-che ,sixth ,street1 occupied by 
the ,incandescent ,light ,company4      
,before the fire company arrived the    
flames had spread up through the        
building and into an adjoining          
three-story brick building at #cha      
,sixth ,street1 occupied by ,isaac      
,schmidt's second-hand store and home on
 the first and second floors and by     
,mrs4 ,sarah ,jones's boarding house on 
the third4 ,the ,schmidts were away and 
,mrs4 ,jones's lodgers escaped via the  
fire escapes4 ,her cook1 ,hilda         
,schultz1 was overcome by smoke and had 
to be carried out by ,jack ,sweeney1 a  
lodger4 ,mrs4 ,jones fell from the fire 
escape and was badly bruised4 ,meanwhile
 the firemen were at work on the roof of
 the burning four-story building4       
,blinded by the smoke1 one of them1     
,john ,mac,bane1 stepped through a      

skylight and fell to the fourth floor4  
,his comrades tried to rescue him by    
lowering ,fireman ,henry ,bond into the 
smoke by the heels2 they were           
unsuccessful and ,bond broke his arm in 
the attempt4 ,the fire was confined to  
the lower floors of the two buildings   
and extinguished4 ,in searching for     
,mac,bane1 the firemen found him        
suffocated on the fourth floor where he 
had fallen4  ,the feature of the story  
is evidently the one death and the three
 injuries4 ,our lead might be written as
 follows3                 ,one fireman  
was suffocated and three                
other persons were injured in a fire in 
the ,incandescent ,light ,company's     
plant1                #chc-che ,sixth   
street1 and an adjoining                
three-story building1 late yesterday    
afternoon4                              
,this lead would suggest to the reader  
many interesting details to come in the 
body of the story1 and evidently the    
details are not all of equal importance4

 ,the story could be told in its logical
 order1 but1 since the death is more    
interesting than the origin of the fire 
and the injuries are more significant   
than how the fire spread1 it is obvious 
that it would not be best to tell the   
story in the order in which it is told  
above4  ,disregarding the lead1 we must 
cover the following details in the body 
of our story3      ,description of      
buildings and occupants4     ,origin of 
fire4     ,discovery of fire4           
,spread of flames4     ,injury of ,mrs4 
,jones4     ,rescue of ,hilda ,schultz4 
,death of ,mac,bane4     ,injury of     
,bond4     ,fire extinguished4  ,this is
 the order in which things occurred at  
the fire4 ,however1 in our lead1 we have
 drawn attention to our story by        
announcing that it concerns a fire in   
which a man was killed2 the death       
therefore should have first place in the
 body of the story4 ,hence1 in the      
second paragraph immediately after the  
lead1 we must tell how ,mac,bane fell   

through the skylight and was suffocated4
 ,along with his death we may as well   
tell how ,bond broke his arm trying to  
rescue ,mac,bane4 ,our lead has also    
announced two other injuries and1 hence1
 they must be included next--that is1   
our third paragraph must be devoted to  
the injury of ,mrs4 ,jones and the      
rescue of the unconscious ,hilda4 ,but  
as yet our details are hanging in the   
air because we have not said anything   
about the buildings or the fire itself4 
,in the next paragraph it would be well 
to describe the buildings and their     
occupants and to give a very brief      
account of the course of the            
fire--perhaps in this way3              
,flames were first discovered in the    
basement of the ,incandescent building  
and              before the fire        
department arrived had                  
spread through the lower floors and into
               the adjoining three-story
 building4 ,the                absence  
of elevator shafts and air-shafts       

enabled the firemen to extinguish the   
blaze before it reached the upper       
floors4  ,this tells the main course of 
the fire1 but there are some interesting
 details to add3 first1 the origin of   
the fire2 next1 the discovery2 then more
 about how the fire spread2 and lastly1 
how the fire was extinguished4 ,our     
story by paragraphs would read as       
follows3      #ast ,paragraph--,the     
lead4      #b;d ,paragraph--,death of   
,mac,bane and injury of ,bond4      #c;d
 ,paragraph--,mrs4 ,jones's injury and  
,hilda's rescue4      #dth              
,paragraph--,buildings1 occupants1 brief
 course of fire4      #eth              
,paragraph--,detailed account of origin 
of the fire4      #fth ,paragraph--,how 
the fire was discovered4      #gth      
,paragraph--,more about the spread and  
course of the fire4      #hth           
,paragraph--,how the fire was           
extinguished4      #ith                 
,paragraph--,loss1 insurance1 extent of 
damage4  ,thus1 while telling the story 

almost in its logical order1 we have    
picked out the high spots of interest   
and crowded them to the beginning4 ,our 
readers will get the facts just about as
 fast as they wish to read them and in  
the order in which they wish them4 ,our 
story may be run in nine paragraphs or  
even more2 or the editor may slash off  
anything after the fourth paragraph     
without taking away any of the essential
 facts of the fire4 ,this method of     
telling would fulfill all the           
requirements of an ideal news story4 ,a 
similar outline of the facts that any   
story must present will often help a    
reporter to tell his story as it should 
be told4 ,after listing the details he  
may number them in their order of       
importance and check them off as he has 
told them4                    99        
99       99       99       99  ,this    
idea of throwing the emphasis and       
interest to the beginning applies to the
 individual paragraphs and sentences of 
the story1 as well4 ,each paragraph must

 begin strongly and display its most    
interesting content in the first line4  
,the emphatic part of each sentence     
should be the beginning4 ,a glance at   
any newspaper column shows why this is  
necessary4  ,the body of a news story is
 the place for the reporter's skill and 
style4 ,he is given all the liberties of
 ordinary narration and should make the 
most of every word4 ,his individual     
style comes into play here4 ,if the     
interest can be increased by a bit of   
dialogue the reporter may put it in4 ,if
 the facts can be presented more        
effectively by means of direct          
quotation1 the words of any one whom the
 reporter has interviewed may be of     
interest4 ,however1 these things must   
not be overworked because every trick of
 writing loses its effectiveness when it
 is overworked4  ,dialogue used only to 
give facts which might be told more     
clearly in simple direct form should    
seldom be used4 ,dialogue in a news     
story is used only to color the story   

and not to reproduce the interviews by  
which the facts were obtained4 ,in      
gathering the facts of a story it is    
sometimes necessary to interview a      
number of people1 but these interviews  
should not be quoted in the resulting   
story4 ,many a green reporter tries to  
give his story character by telling what
 the policeman on the corner1 the       
janitor1 and a small boy in the street  
told him about the incident4 ,he        
succeeds only in dragging out the length
 of his story and confusing the reader4 
,after all1 the purpose of a newspaper  
is to give facts--and the clearer and   
the more direct the method the better   
will be the result4  ,in striving for   
clearness and interest a reporter must  
remember that one of his greatest assets
 is concreteness of expression4 ,of all 
forms of composition newspaper writing  
possesses probably the greatest         
opportunity for definiteness4 ,facts and
 events are its one concern2 theories   
and abstractions are beyond its range4  

,hence the more definite and concrete   
its presentation of facts1 the better   
will be its effect4 ,the reporter should
 never generalize or present his        
statements hazily and uncertainly--a    
fact is a fact and must be presented as 
such4 ,he must try to avoid such        
expressions as several1 many1 a few--it 
is usually possible to give the exact   
number4 ,he must continually ask himself
 how many8 what kind8 exactly when8     
exactly what8 ,expressions like about a 
dozen1 about thirty years old1 about a  
week ago1 about a block away1 are never 
so effective as the exact facts and     
figures4 ,definite concrete details make
 a news story real and vivid4 ,the real 
reporter of news is the one who can see 
a thing clearly and with every detail   
and present it as clearly and           
distinctly4     ,,viii  ,,other ,,news  
,,stories   ,the fire story is obviously
 not the only news story that is printed
 in a daily newspaper1 but a study of   
its form gives us a working knowledge of

 the writing of other news stories4 ,the
 fire story is probably the commonest   
news story1 and it is by far the easiest
 story to handle1 for its form has      
become somewhat standardized4 ,we know  
just exactly what our readers want to   
know about each fire1 and within certain
 limits all fires1 as well as the       
reports of them1 are very much alike4   
,there is seldom more than one fact or  
incident that makes one fire different  
from another and that fact we always    
seize as the feature of our report4     
,however1 the fire story has been taken 
only as typical of other news stories4  
,now we are ready to study the others1  
using the fire story as our model in    
writing the others4  ,there is a vast   
number of other stories that we must be 
able to write1 and they lack the        
convenient uniformity that fires have4  
,not only does every story have a       
different feature1 but it is concerned  
with a different kind of happening4 ,one
 assignment may call for the report of  

an explosion1 another the report of a   
business transaction1 and another a     
murder4 ,in each one we have to get the 
facts and choose the most striking fact 
as our feature4 ,never can we resort to 
the simple beginning ,fire destroyed1   
but we must find a different beginning  
for each assignment4  ,just as in the   
fire story1 the lead of any news story  
is the most important part4 ,it must    
begin with the most striking part of the
 event and answer the reader's ,where8  
,when8 ,how8 ,why8 and ,who8 concerning 
it4 ,all the rules that apply to the    
fire lead apply to the lead of any      
story4  ,it would be impossible to      
classify all the news stories that a    
newspaper must print4 ,the very zest of 
reporting comes from the changing       
variety of the work2 no two assignments 
are ever exactly alike--if they were    
only one would be worth printing4       
,newspapers themselves make no attempt  
to classify the ordinary run of news or 
to work out a systematic division of    

labor2 a reporter may be called upon to 
cover a fire1 a political meeting1 a    
murder1 a business story1 all in the    
same day4 ,each one is simply a story   
and must be covered in the same way that
 all the rest are covered--by many      
interviews for facts4 ,for our study it 
may be well to divide news stories into 
a few large groups4 ,the groups overlap 
and are not entirely distinct1 but the  
stories in each group have some one     
thing in common that may aid us in      
learning how to write them4 ,at most1   
the list is only a very incomplete      
summary of the more important kinds of  
news stories and is intended to be      
merely a suggestive way of supplying the
 student with necessary practice4   #a4 
,accidents4--,accident stories may be   
anything from a sprained ankle to a     
disastrous railroad wreck1 but they all 
depend upon one element for their       
interest4 ,they are all printed because 
people in general are interested in the 
injuries and deaths of other            

people--physical calamity is the common 
ground in all these stories4  ,the      
number of possible accidents is         
infinite1 but there are some common     
types that recur most often4 ,among     
these are3 railroad1 trolley1 railroad  
crossing accidents2 runaways2           
electrocutions2 explosions2 collapse of 
buildings2 marine disasters2 cave-in    
accidents2 elevator1 automobile1        
aviation accidents4  ,the feature of any
 accident story is always1 of course1   
the thing that made the story worth     
printing1 and that is usually the human 
life element4 ,the feature of an        
accident story is almost always the     
number of dead and injured4 ,most       
reports of railroad wrecks begin with   
,ten persons were killed and seventeen  
were injured in a wreck1 etc4 ,the same 
is true of any accident story2 if more  
than one person is killed it is usually 
safe to begin with the number of        
fatalities4 ,in this connection it may  
be noted that the death of railroad     

employees seldom makes a story worth    
printing2 they may be included in the   
total number1 but if no passengers are  
killed1 fatalities among trainmen seldom
 give a story any news value4  ,accident
 stories of course have many other      
possible features2 newspapers report    
many accidents in which no one is       
killed4 ,in that case some other element
 gives the story news value and that    
element must be played up as the        
feature4 ,perhaps it is the manner in   
which the accident happened or the      
manner in which a person was killed or  
injured1 as in an automobile accident4  
,the cause of the accident may be the   
most interesting part of the story3     
train-wreckers or a broken rail in a    
railroad wreck1 or the cause of an      
explosion4 ,very often an accident is   
reported simply because some well-known 
person was connected with it in some    
way2 the name then becomes the feature  
and comes into the first line4 ,a story 
may be worth printing simply because of 

the unusual manner of rescue2 such a    
feature is often played up in stories of
 marine accidents1 cave-ins1 etc4 ,not  
infrequently some of the unusual        
attendant circumstances give a story    
news value3 e4g41 a policeman dragged   
from his horse and run over by an       
automobile while he is trying to stop a 
runaway4  ,here are some accident       
stories from the newspapers3            
,fatalities3                 ,six men   
were killed and a dozen                 
seriously injured early to-day by an    
outbound ,panhandle passenger train     
crashing into the rear end of a         
,chicago1               ,milwaukee and  
,st4 ,paul stock train at               
,twelfth and ,rockwell                  
streets4--,chicago                      
,record-,herald4                        
,manner3                 ,run down by   
her own automobile1 which               
she was cranking1 at ,first and ,g      
streets1              northwest1 ,dr4   
,alma ,c4 ,arnold1 a                    

chiropractic physician1 #hbe ,fifteenth 
street1 northwest1 was forced against   
the              wheel of a passing     
wagon and seriously                     
injured this morning4--,washington      
,times4                                 
,cause3                 ,over-balanced  
by a granite stone                      
weighing four tons1 the entire cornice  
over the west portico of the new west   
wing of the capitol fell to the ground  
this afternoon1 carrying with it ,daniel
                ,logan1 foreman for the 
,woodbury ,granite                      
,company4--,madison ,democrat4          
,attendant ,circumstances3              
,with a blast that shook the entire city
              and was believed by many  
to be an                                
earthquake1 three boilers in the new    
engine house of the ,pabst brewery on   
,tenth street1 between ,chestnut street 
and              ,cold ,spring avenue1  
exploded at about #d                    
o'clock this morning4--,milwaukee ,free 

,press4                                 
#b4 ,robberies4--,another large class of
 news stories is concerned with         
robberies of various kinds4             
,unfortunately for the reporter1 very   
few robberies are alike2 beyond the     
common ground of the interest in the    
amount stolen and the cleverness of the 
robber's work1 there is seldom any one  
thing that may be looked for as the     
feature of a robbery story4 ,the        
reporter must decide what in the story  
makes it worth printing4  ,robbery      
stories may include anything from petty 
thievery to bank defaulting4 ,some of   
the possibilities are horse and         
automobile stealing1 burglary1 hold-ups1
 train and street-car robbery1          
embezzlement1 fraud1 kidnapping1        
safe-cracking1 shop and bank robbery4   
,it is well for the reporter who has to 
cover a story of this class to acquaint 
himself with the distinctions that      
characterize the various kinds of       
robbery and the various names applied to

 the people who commit this sort of     
crime3 e4g41 robber1 thief1 bandit1     
burglar1 hold-up man1 thug1 embezzler1  
defaulter1 safe-cracker1 pick-pocket4   
,in general the chief interest in       
robbery stories is in the result of the 
work--the amount taken--usually         
accompanied by a term to designate the  
sort of robbery4 ,just how the crime was
 committed is often the feature1 as in a
 train robbery or a clever case of      
fraud4 ,if the victim or victims are at 
all well known their names may become   
the most interesting thing in the       
story--or even the name of a well-known 
criminal or band of robbers4 ,in some   
stories1 especially if another paper has
 already covered the story1 the pursuit 
or capture of the criminals is often    
interesting2 the stories of bank        
robberies often begin in this way4      
,other attendant circumstances1 such as 
the number of persons who witnessed the 
crime1 may be the feature4 ,in hold-ups1
 burglaries1 and crimes of that sort1   

the death or wounding of the victim is  
often played up4 ,sometimes the reason  
for the crime1 as in a kidnapping case1 
is of great significance4 ,in the case  
of a robbery of a bank or any other     
institution which depends upon credit   
for its business1 the story usually     
begins with1 or at least mentions near  
the beginning1 the present condition of 
the robbed institution4 ,it is safe to  
say that in no case is the name of the  
criminal1 the manner of his arrest 7if  
it is not unusual71 the police station  
to which he was taken1 or the charge    
preferred against him worth a place in  
the lead4  ,some robbery stories from   
the daily press3  ,amount taken3        
,furs worth #dj1jjj were stolen in the  
early hours of yesterday morning within 
a              stone's throw of ,madison
 ,square4                               
,apparently a gang in which there was a 
woman expert in choosing only the best  
furs carried off the costly skins1      
etc4--,new ,york ,world4                

,manner of hold-up3                     
,seized by thugs in broad daylight as he
              was crossing the railroad 
tracks at the                foot of    
,first avenue east1 ,fred ,butzer1 a    
stonemason of ,butler1 ,minn41 was      
thrown                to the ground1 a  
gag placed in his mouth1                
his pockets were rifled of              
#cf4--;,duluth                          
,news-,tribune4                         
,unusual sort of pickpocket3            
,a young man in evening dress1 who was  
going down into the subway station at   
,times ,square with the theater crowd   
that               filled the entrance  
just outside of the                     
,hotel ,knickerbocker early last night1 
paused1 knocked a woman under the chin  
and took away her silver chatelaine     
purse              containing #bj as    
deftly as he might have                 
flicked the ash off his cigarette4 ,then
                he disappeared4--,new   
,york ,times4         ,unusual thieves3 

,two girl thieves not more than twelve  
years old and small in stature for their
               age have been operating  
with great                     success  
in the different stores in the          
neighborhood of ,amsterdam avenue and   
,seventy-ninth street4 ,five or six     
thefts1              etc4--,new ,york   
,telegram4                 ,pursuit and 
capture3                 ,after a chase 
along ,forty-second street              
and up the steps of the ,hotel          
,manhattan1               a woman1 who  
said she was ,sadie ,brown1             
thirty-three years old1 of ,no4 #bae    
,west                ,forty-sixth       
street1 was arrested early              
today on suspicion of having picked the 
pocket of a man at1 etc4--,new ,york    
,telegram4                              
,present conditions of robbed bank      
7second paragraph of an embezzlement    
story73                 ,banking        
,commissioner ,watkins this             
afternoon declared that he found the    

bank              perfectly sound1 that 
all commercial                   paper  
was found intact1 that none of the      
accounts have been juggled and that no  
erasures of any kind were               
discovered4--,philadelphia ,inquirer4   
,unusual sort of burglar3               
,wearing a ,salvation ,army uniform1 a  
burglar was caught early yesterday in   
the              home of ,walter ,katte1
 a vice-president of              the   
,new ,york ,central railroad1 at        
,irvington-on-the-,hudson4--,new ,york  
,world4                                 
#c4 ,murder4--,the reports of crimes of 
this sort can hardly be classified1 for 
there are so many things that may be    
worth featuring in any murder case4 ,the
 story itself is usually of such        
importance that the mere fact that a    
murder has been committed gives it news 
value even if there is nothing unusual  
in the crime--just as in the case of a  
featureless fire story that begins with 
,fire4 ,the handling of a crime depends 

upon the character and circumstances2   
the reporter must weigh the facts in    
each case for himself4 ,however1 we     
usually find a feature in the number of 
persons murdered1 the manner in which   
the crime was committed1 the name of the
 victim1 if he or she is well known1 the
 reason for the deed1 or in some of the 
many attendant circumstances1 such as   
arrest1 pursuit1 etc4 ,one rule must    
always be followed in the reporting of a
 murder story3 the reporter must confine
 himself to the necessary facts and omit
 as many of the gruesome details as     
possible4 ,he must tell it in a cold1   
hard-hearted way without elaboration1   
for the story in itself is gruesome     
enough4 ,just as soon as a murder story 
begins to expand upon shocking details  
it becomes the worst sort of a yellow   
story4  ,examples of murder stories from
 the newspapers3  ,manner3              
,after crushing in the head of his      
superior officer with an axe1 ,james    
,layton1 boatswain of the ,liverpool    

sailing ship ,colony1 refused to submit 
to              arrest1 and1 still      
waving the bloody                       
weapon1 committed suicide by jumping    
into              the sea4--,new ,york  
,mail4                 ,motive3         
,in revenge for a beating he received   
the day before1 ,gaetona ,ambrifi       
yesterday              shot and         
instantly killed ,frank                 
,ricciliano1 a sub-section foreman on   
the               ,pennsylvania         
,railroad1 while they were              
working on the roadbed near ,peddle     
street1 ,newark4--,new ,york ,sun4      
,prominent name3                 ,mayor 
,william ,j4 ,gaynor of ,new ,york      
,city was shot and seriously1 perhaps   
fatally1 wounded on board the steamer   
,kaiser ,wilhelm der ,grosse at #i3cj as
 he                was sailing for      
,europe4                    ,resulting  
pursuit3                 ,the police of 
,brooklyn have another                  
murder mystery to unravel through the   

finding early today of the body of      
,peter               ,barilla on        
,lincoln road1 near ,nostrand           
avenue1 ,flatbush4 ,there were two      
bullet                wounds in the body
 and four stab wounds                in 
the back4--,brooklyn ,eagle4            
,attendant circumstances3               
,a hundred or more persons who were     
about to take trains witnessed the      
shooting to death of a ,jersey ,city    
business man in the ,pennsylvania       
,railroad              station there    
this afternoon4--,new ,york             
,mail4                                  
#d4 ,suicide4--,what is true of murder  
stories is also true of suicide4 ,each  
individual case has an unusual feature  
of its own4 ,we ordinarily find a good  
beginning in the manner of the suicide1 
the name of the person who has killed   
himself if he is well known1 the reason 
for the act1 or some one of the         
attendant circumstances--often the      
manner of resuscitation if the crime is 

unsuccessful4 ,for some unexplained     
reason many papers do not print accounts
 of ordinary suicides1 except when the  
individual is prominent4 ,at any rate   
the story must be told without gruesome 
details and as briefly as possible4     
,examples from the press3  ,name3       
,william ,l4 ,murray of ,rockview       
avenue1                ,north           
,plainfield1 paying teller of the       
,empire ,trust ,company of ,new ,york1  
committed suicide at ,scotch ,plains    
early               this afternoon by   
shooting himself in the                 
head4 ,no reason is assigned for the    
act4--,new ,york ,sun4                  
,motive3                 ,driven insane 
by continued brooding                   
over ill health1 ,miss ,ada ,emerson1 a 
former teacher in the ,beloit city      
schools1 killed herself in a crowded    
interurban car ,saturday afternoon by   
slashing her throat with a              
razor4--,beloit ,free ,press4           
,here the manner is the feature1 but it 

is not played up in the first line      
because it is too horrible4   #e4 ,big  
,stories4--,the big stories of          
catastrophes are usually handled on a   
large scale--played up1 as the newspaper
 men say4 ,the story in itself is of    
sufficient importance to make it        
unnecessary to play up any single       
feature of the story4 ,however1 the     
reporter1 in looking for a good         
beginning1 often finds it in the most   
startling fact in the story4 ,if he is  
reporting a riot he usually begins with 
the number of killed or injured1 the    
amount of property destroyed1 the       
character of the riot1 or the cause1 as 
in this example3                 ,in an 
effort to bring about the               
reinstatement of one of their number who
               had been discharged for  
non-unionism1 a                hundred  
or more journeymen bakers wrecked       
the bakeshop of ,pincus ,jacobs1 at ,no4
                  #aega ,lexington      
avenue1 early this                      

morning4--,new ,york ,evening ,post4    
,in the case of a storm the human life  
element is of greatest importance1 then 
the damage to property1 and last1 the   
peculiar circumstances4 ,for example3   
,,cleveland1 ,dec4 #aa4--;,fifty-nine   
lives                were the cost of a 
storm which passed                  over
 ,lake ,erie ,wednesday night and       
,thursday1 and more than #a1jjj1jjj     
worth               of vessel property  
was destroyed4--,new                    
,york ,evening ,post4                   
,if the story is concerned with a flood 
the human-life element is first1 then   
the damage1 the cause1 the freaks of the
 flood1 or the present situation4 ,for  
example3                 ,,parkersburg1 
,w4 ,va41 ,march #aj4--,three           
persons are known to have perished in a 
flood which swept down upon the city on 
,friday when two water reservoirs on    
,prospect ,hill burst without warning4  
,forty houses were destroyed and many   
persons are missing4 ,the property      

damage               will be nearly     
#ejj1jjj4                    #f4 ,police
 ,court ,news4--,the ordinary run of    
police court news is in a class by      
itself4 ,usually the only news value in 
the story depends upon some unusual     
incident or circumstance that attracts  
the attention of the reporter4 ,this is 
of course the source of many of the     
stories of crime1 mentioned before1 but 
many stories turn up at the police      
courts which are not concerned with     
crime1 although in some cases they are  
concerned with criminals4 ,in this field
 of reporting there are many            
opportunities for the human-interest    
story which will be taken up in a later 
chapter4 ,when the incident is reported 
in an ordinary news story the feature is
 usually in some attendant circumstance 
and the story might well be classed with
 one of the above groups4 ,here are two 
examples from the daily press3          
,because he did not have sufficient     
money to buy flowers for his sweetheart1

               ,henry ,trupke1 aged #ba 
years1 forged a                  check  
for #bb4ej on a grocer1 ,j4             
,sieberlich1 #gha ,third street1 and    
after a              week's chase was   
caught last night as he                 
got off a ,wisconsin ,central           
train4--,milwaukee ,sentinel4           
,but a few hours before receiving a     
sentence of two years in the house of   
correction for stealing furs from the   
store of ,lohse ,bros41 #aag ,wisconsin 
street1 ,john ,garner1 self-confessed   
thief1 was married to ,rose ,strean1 one
                 of the witnesses in the
 case1 which was                tried   
yesterday in the municipal              
court4--,milwaukee ,free ,press4        
#g4 ,reports of ,meetings1 ,conferences1
 ,decisions1 etc4--,this group includes 
all reports of meetings1 or conferences1
 of bodies of any sort1 political or    
otherwise1 reports of judicial or       
legislative hearings or decisions1 or   
announcements of resolutions passed4    

,such as3                 ,,washington1 
,jan4 #ae4--;,acquisition of            
the telegraph lines by the government   
and              their operation as a   
part of the postal                system
 is the latest idea of ,postmaster      
,general ,hitchcock4 ,announcement was  
made               today that a         
resolution to this effect               
will be offered to ,congress at the     
present session4--,wisconsin ,state     
,journal4                               
,there is always one thing in these     
stories that gives them news value--the 
purpose or result of the conference1    
hearing1 or announcement4 ,this purpose 
or result1 of course1 must be played up4
 ,the one point that the reporter should
 remember is that a well-written lead   
begins with the result or purpose of the
 meeting or announcement rather than    
with the name of the meeting or the name
 of the body that makes the             
announcement4 ,never begin a story thus3
 ,at a meeting of the ,press ,club held 

in the ,auditorium last night it was    
resolved that---- ,transpose the        
sentence and begin with a statement of  
what was resolved4 ,in the following    
story the order is wrong3               
,the ,supreme ,court of the ,united     
,states1              through the       
opinion delivered by ,justice           
,vandevanter1 today declared            
constitutional the employers' liability 
law of #aijh4                           
,the import of the decision is buried2  
it should be written thus3              
,the employers' liability law of #aijh  
was today declared constitutional by the
               ,supreme ,court of the   
,united ,states4                        
,justice ,vandevanter delivered the     
opinion              of the court1 made 
in four cases4          ,in these       
stories1 as in all other news stories1  
the lead must begin with the fact or    
statement that gives the story news     
value4 ,burying this fact or statement  
behind two or three lines of explanation

 spoils the effectiveness of the lead4  
,a student of journalism may gain very  
good practice in the writing of news    
stories by looking over the leads that  
appear in the daily papers and          
transposing those leads which bury their
 news behind explanations4 ,the first   
line of type in a lead is like a shop's 
show window and it must not be used for 
the display of packing cases4   #h4     
,stories on ,other ,printed ,matter4--,a
 large part of a newspaper's space1     
especially in smaller cities1 is devoted
 to stories based on printed bulletins1 
announcements1 city directories1        
legislative bills1 and published reports
 of various kinds4 ,sometimes a news    
story is written upon a pamphlet that   
was issued for advertising              
purposes--because there is some news in 
it4 ,in all of these stories the        
reporter must look through the pamphlet 
to find something of news value or      
something that has a significant        
relation to other news4 ,smaller papers 

often print stories on the new city     
directory2 the increase or decrease in  
population is treated as news and a very
 interesting story may be written on a  
comparison of the names in the          
directory4 ,in university towns the     
appearance of a new university catalog  
or bulletin of any sort is the occasion 
for a story which points out the new    
features or compares the new bulletin   
with a previous one4 ,reporters and     
correspondents in political centers1    
like state capitals1 get out stories on 
committee and legislative reports and on
 new bills that are proposed or passed  
by the legislature4 ,the writing of     
these stories is very much like the     
reporting of a speech1 which will be    
discussed later4 ,the newest or most    
interesting feature in the report or    
bill is played up in the lead as the    
feature of the story1 followed by the   
source of the story1 the printed        
bulletin upon which the story is based2 
thus3                 ,a new plan for   

placing the control of                  
all water power in the state in the     
hands              of the legislature   
was proposed in the                     
minority report of ,senators ,j4 ,b4    
,smith                and ,l4 ,c4       
,blake1 of the special                  
legislative committee on drainage1      
issued              today4              
,these eight classes of news stories do 
not include all the news stories that a 
newspaper prints1 but they are in a way 
typical of all the others that are not  
mentioned4 ,it will be noted from these 
that all news stories1 just like the    
fire story1 are usually written in about
 the same way4 ,each one has a lead     
which begins with the feature of the    
story--i4e41 the fact or incident in the
 story which gives it news value and    
makes it of interest--and concludes by  
answering the reader's questions1 when1 
where1 who1 how1 why1 concerning the    
feature4 ,each story begins again after 
the lead1 and in one or more paragraphs 

explains1 describes1 or narrates the    
incident in detail and in logical order4
 ,this body of the story which follows  
the lead1 while following in general the
 logical order1 is so written that its  
most interesting facts are near the     
beginning and its interest dwindles away
 toward the end4 ,this is to enable the 
editor in making up his paper1 to take  
away from the end of any story1 as we   
have seen before1 a paragraph or more   
without spoiling the story's continuity 
or depriving it of any of its essential 
facts4 ,the form of the conventional    
fire story may be used as a model in the
 writing of any news story4  ,in writing
 the body of a story to explain1        
describe1 or narrate the incident       
mentioned in the lead1 every effort     
should be directed toward clearness4    
,this is particularly true of stories   
which are in the main narrations of     
action4 ,the number of facts that may be
 included must depend upon the length of
 the story2 if all of the facts cannot  

be included without overburdening the   
story1 cut out some of the details of   
lesser importance1 but treat those that 
are included in a clear readable way4   
,short sentences are always much better 
in newspaper writing than long involved 
sentences4 ,pronouns should always be   
used in such a way that there can be no 
doubt in regard to their antecedents4   
,if a relative clause or participial    
expression sounds awkward make a        
separate sentence of it4 ,in other      
words1 be simple1 concise1 and          
clear--that is better in a newspaper    
than much fine writing4     ,,ix        
,,follow-,,up ,,and ,,rewrite ,,stories 
,the terms rewrite story and follow-up1 
or follow1 story1 are names which       
newspaper men apply to the rehashed or  
revised versions of other news stories4 
,a large newspaper office employs one or
 more rewrite men who spend their entire
 time rewriting stories4 ,to be sure1 a 
part of their work consists of          
rewriting1 or simply recasting1 poorly  

written copy prepared by the reporters4 
,but the major part of their work1 the  
part that interests us1 involves        
something more than that4 ,it involves  
the rejuvenation of stories that have   
been printed in a previous edition or in
 another paper1 with the purpose of     
bringing the news up to the present     
moment4  ,news ages very rapidly4 ,what 
may be news for one edition is no longer
 news when another edition goes to press
 an hour later4 ,a feature that may be  
worth playing up in a morning paper     
would not have the same news value in an
 evening paper of the same day4 ,the    
news grows stale so quickly because new 
things are continually happening and new
 developments are continually changing  
the aspect of previous stories4 ,if a   
story has been run through two or three 
editions and new developments have      
changed it1 the story is turned over to 
a rewrite man for consequent alteration4
 ,a story in a morning paper is no      
longer news for an evening paper of the 

same date1 but a clever rewrite man1    
with or without new developments added  
to the story1 can recast it so that it  
will appear to contain more recent news 
than the original story4 ,the story of  
an arrest in a morning paper begins with
 the particulars of the arrest2 but when
 the evening paper's rewrite man has    
rearranged it for his paper it has      
become the story of the trial or the    
police court hearing which followed the 
arrest4 ,perhaps the evening paper sends
 a man to get the later developments in 
the case1 but every rewrite man knows   
the steps that always follow an arrest  
and he can rewrite the original story   
without additional information4 ,his    
account of the later developments is    
called either a rewrite or a follow-up  
story1 depending upon the method        
employed4 ,the same fundamental idea of 
rejuvenating the former story governs   
the preparation of both the rewrite and 
the follow-up story1 but while the      
rewrite story contains no additional    

news1 the follow-up presents later facts
 in addition to the old news4   #a4 ,the
 ,rewrite ,story4--,the rewrite story is
 primarily a rehashing of a previous    
news story without additional facts4 ,it
 attempts to give a new twist to old    
facts in order to bring them nearer to  
the present time4 ,without the aid of   
later facts the rewrite man can only    
select a new feature and revise the old 
facts4 ,for example1 suppose that a     
#ajj1jjj grain elevator burns during the
 night4 ,the fire would make a big story
 in a city of moderate size and the     
papers next morning would treat it at   
length4 ,if no one were killed or       
injured the story would probably begin  
with a simple announcement of the fire  
in a lead of this kind3                 
,fire destroyed the grain elevator of   
the ,h4 ,p4 ,jones ,produce ,company1   
,first                 and ,water       
streets1 and #ej1jjj worth of           
wheat at #b o'clock this morning4 ,the  
total loss is estimated at #aej1jjj4    

,then the reporter would describe the   
fire at length1 including all obtainable
 facts4 ,by afternoon almost every one  
in the city has read the story--and yet 
the afternoon papers must print         
something about the big fire4 ,if no new
 facts can be obtained the previous     
story must be rehashed and presented    
with a new feature that will make it    
appear to be a later story4 ,it is      
useless to begin the evening story with 
a mere announcement of the fire1 for    
that is no longer news1 and the rewrite 
man must find a new beginning to attract
 the attention of his readers4 ,perhaps 
in looking over the morning story1 he   
finds that the fire was the result of   
spontaneous combustion in the grain     
stored in the elevator4 ,in the morning 
story this fact was rather insignificant
 in the face of the huge loss1 and most 
readers passed over it hastily4 ,the    
rewrite man1 however1 who has no later  
facts at his command1 may seize it as a 
new feature4 ,instead of beginning his  

story with the fact of the fire1 which  
is already known1 he begins with the    
cause1 which appears to be later news4  
,his lead may be as follows3            
,spontaneous combustion in the wheat    
bins of the ,h4 ,p4 ,jones ,produce     
,company's              elevator1 ,first
 and ,water streets1                    
started the fire which destroyed the    
entire structure with a loss of #aej1jjj
               this morning4            
,or if the rewrite man is not so        
fortunate as to discover a new feature  
as good as this1 he may have to resort  
to beginning with a picture of the      
present results of the fire--thus3      
,smouldering ruins and a tangled mass of
              steel beams are all that  
remain of the ,h4              ,p4      
,jones ,produce ,company's #ajj1jjj     
grain elevator1 ,first and ,water       
streets1               which was        
destroyed by fire this morning4  ,it    
will be noticed that1 while these new   
rewrite leads begin with a new feature1 

each new lead contains all the facts    
presented in the previous lead and is   
told with an eye to the man who has not 
read the earlier account4 ,after the    
lead the rewrite man retells the whole  
story for the benefit of readers who did
 not see the morning papers and         
rearranges the facts so that they appear
 new to those who read the previous     
stories4 ,facts which the other papers  
buried he unearths and displays2 details
 which appear to be later developments  
he crowds to the beginning4 ,the whole  
story is sorted and rewritten in a new  
order and with a new emphasis4 ,the     
result is a rewrite story which appears 
to be later1 although it contains no new
 facts at all4 ,it is seldom1 of course1
 that such a rewrite story is used for  
local news1 for very rarely is it       
impossible for a later paper to discover
 new facts4 ,but in the case of news    
from the outside world1 from other      
cities1 the simple method of rehashing  
old facts must often be resorted to4 ,if

 the story is based upon a single       
dispatch announcing an earthquake in    
,hawaii or a shipwreck in mid-ocean1    
many rewrite stories must be printed on 
the same facts before another message   
brings later news and additional        
details4 ,an example of this is the     
treatment of the first few stories of   
the wreck of the ,white ,star liner     
,titanic4 ,the story was a big one1 but 
the first dispatches were very meager   
and many rehashings of these few facts  
had to be printed before later and more 
definite news could be obtained4  ,the  
simple rewriting of an old story        
ordinarily involves a condensation of   
the facts4 ,if a morning paper printed  
two thousand words on the grain elevator
 fire above1 an afternoon paper of the  
same day would hardly treat the story at
 such length4 ,for the story is no      
longer big news4 ,if a story has run    
through the first editions of a morning 
paper it would be cut down1 as well as  
rehashed1 in the later editions of the  

same paper4 ,the story of the fire loses
 its initial burst of interest after the
 first printing1 and only the essential 
facts and the facts that can be         
rejuvenated can be reprinted4 ,the      
#b1jjj-word version in the morning paper
 may be worth only five hundred words or
 less four hours later4   #b4 ,the      
,follow-up ,story4--,if new facts are   
added to a story between editions the   
new version is no longer a simple       
rewrite story4 ,it becomes a follow-up  
story1 for it follows up the subsequent 
developments in the previous story and  
corresponds to the second or succeeding 
installments of a serial novel in which 
each installment begins with a synopsis 
of previous chapters4 ,for example1 if1 
in the grain elevator fire story1 the   
body of a watchman were found in the    
ruins after the morning papers have gone
 to press1 the story would immediately  
have a different news value for the     
evening papers4 ,the story of the big   
fire is old1 but the discovery of the   

body is new4 ,hence the rewrite man     
would begin with the later              
development--perhaps thus3              
,the body of a watchman was found this  
afternoon in the ruins of the ,h4 ,p4   
,jones              ,produce elevator1  
which burned to the                     
ground this morning with a loss of      
#aej1jjj4                               
,the new story1 while retelling the     
principal facts in the previous account1
 would give prominence to the latest    
news1 the discovery of the body4 ,as an 
example from a newspaper1 let us take   
the follow-up of a murder mystery4 ,the 
first stories on this murder simply said
 that a grocer had been found dead in   
the cellar of his store and murder had  
been suggested4 ,the follow-up on the   
next day 7printed here7 deals with a new
 development--has a new feature--and    
carries the story one step further in   
the attempt to unravel the mystery3     
,developments yesterday in the story of 
the killing of ,james ,white1 the ,park 

street grocer1 tended to support the    
contention of ,coroner ,donalds and the 
police that ,white was not murdered1 but
                died by his own hand4   
#c4 ,analysis4--,so far we have treated 
the rewrite story and the follow-up     
story separately1 but for the purposes  
of analysis and study they may be       
treated together1 because the same      
fundamental idea governs both4          
,dissection of the follow-up story will 
also show us what the rewrite story is  
made of4  ,from the above clippings it  
will be seen that the lead of the       
follow-up story is very much like that  
of any news story4 ,the lead has its    
feature in the first line and answers   
the reader's questions concerning that  
feature4 ,it is simply a new story      
written on an old subject which has been
 given a new feature to make it appear  
new4 ,furthermore1 it will be noticed   
that the lead of the follow-up story is 
complete in itself1 without the original
 story that preceded it4 ,although the  

whole idea of the follow story is based 
on the supposition that all readers have
 read every edition of the paper and are
 therefore acquainted with the original 
story1 yet for the benefit of those     
readers who have not read the previous  
story1 the follow-up must be complete   
and clear in itself4 ,new facts are     
introduced into the follow story1 but   
its lead tells the main facts of the    
original story so that no reader will be
 at loss to understand what it is all   
about--in other words1 it gives a       
synopsis of previous chapters4 ,in many 
follow-up stories the new developments  
are supplemented by an entire retelling 
of the original story4 ,this is         
especially true when one paper is       
rewriting a story which broke too late  
for its preceding edition and was       
covered by a rival paper4 ,at any rate1 
every follow-up story1 like every other 
news story1 must be so constructed as to
 stand by itself without previous       
explanation4                 ,of the    

#adb bodies of victims of the           
,triangle ,waist ,company's fire on     
,saturday1 that had been taken to the   
morgue up to noon yesterday when it was 
decided that all the dead had been      
recovered1 all but #de had been         
identified              today4          
,this is a follow-up of a story two days
 before4 ,every reader of the paper     
probably knew everything that had been  
printed previously about the fire1 and  
yet this lead very carefully recalls the
 fire to the reader's mind4 ,later in   
the story the principal facts of the    
original story are retold as if they    
were new and unknown4  ,it is           
interesting to see what in any given    
newspaper story can be followed up for a
 later story4 ,the would-be reporter may
 get good practice in writing follow-up 
stories from the mere attempt to study  
out the next step in any given new      
story4 ,with this next step as his      
feature he may try to write a follow-up 
story without additional information1   

and then compare it with other follow-up
 stories4 ,for every news story contains
 within it clues to what may be expected
 to follow4  ,when any serious fire     
occurs certain additional facts may     
always be expected to follow4 ,the      
finding of more dead1 the unravelling of
 a mysterious origin1 the re-statement  
of the loss1 and the present condition  
of the injured are some of the          
possibilities that a rewrite man        
considers when he tries to prepare a    
follow-up story on a fire4 ,the         
,washington ,place fire in ,new ,york on
 ,march #be1 #aiaa1 furnished admirable 
material for the study of the rewriting 
of fire stories4 ,the fire occurred on  
,saturday afternoon too late for        
anything but the ,sunday editions4 ,the 
original story as it appeared in the    
,sunday papers and the ,monday issues1  
of papers which had no ,sunday editions1
 began like this3                 ,one  
hundred and forty-one persons are       
dead as a result of a fire which on     

,saturday afternoon swept the three     
upper               floors of the       
factory loft building at                
the northwest corner of ,washington     
place               and ,greene street4 
,more than                              
three-quarters of this number are women 
and girls1 who were employed in the     
,triangle ,shirt ,waist factory1 where  
the                fire                 
originated4--,boston ,transcript1       
,monday4                                
,the ,monday stories on the fire        
followed up various phases as shown in  
the following4 ,each one while          
indicating that the story was a         
follow-up retold the principal incidents
 in the fire4                 ,the death
 list in the ,washington place          
and ,greene street fire was swelled     
today               to #ade1 a majority 
of the victims being                    
young girls4--,monday morning--second   
story4                                  
,at dawn today it was estimated that    

#be1jjj persons had visited the         
temporary               morgue on the   
covered pier at the foot of             
,east ,twenty-sixth street1 set aside to
                 receive the bodies of  
those who perished               in the 
,washington place fire on ,saturday     
afternoon4--,monday morning--second     
story4                                  
,the horror of the fire in the ten-story
              loft building at          
,washington place and                   
,greene street late ,saturday afternoon1
                 with its heavy toll of 
human lives1 grows              blacker 
each succeeding hour4--,monday          
afternoon4                              
,of the #adb bodies in the morgue as a  
result of the ,triangle ,shirt ,waist   
factory fire1 all but fifty had been    
identified this morning4--,monday       
afternoon4                              
,on ,tuesday other lines opened up for  
the rewrite man3                        
,sifting down the great mass of         

testimony at their disposal1 city and   
county officials hoped today to draw    
closer to the source of responsibility  
for ,saturday's factory fire horror in  
which #adb persons lost their lives4    
,investigations started                 
yesterday4--,tuesday afternoon4         
,with all but twenty-eight of the       
victims of the ,triangle ,shirt ,waist  
factory horror identified1 ,district    
,attorney ,whitman continues steadily   
compiling evidence4 ,funerals for scores
                of victims are being    
held today1 while                 the   
relief fund1 etc4--,tuesday             
afternoon4                              
,borough ,president ,mc,aneny of        
,manhattan1              the district   
attorney's staff1 the fire              
marshal1 the coroner and the state labor
               department are bending   
every energy                    toward  
fixing the blame for the loss of        
the #adb lives in the1 etc4--,tuesday   
afternoon4                              

,union labor1 horrified by the full     
realization that the waste of human life
               in the ,triangle ,waist  
factory fire might               have   
been saved had existing laws been       
enforced1 today arranged for a monster  
demonstration of protest1 etc4--,tuesday
               afternoon4               
,and so the stories ran for many days   
until newspaper readers had lost all    
interest in the fire4 ,most of the      
stories were simply retellings of the   
original story with a new bit of        
information in the lead4 ,people were   
ravenous for more details about the fire
 and the follow stories supplied them   
until they were satisfied4 ,rarely is a 
fire worth so many retellings4  ,a      
serious accident is often followed up in
 one or more editions4 ,if many people  
are killed or injured1 the revised list 
of dead or the present condition of the 
injured always furnishes material for a 
follow-up4 ,sometimes the fixing of the 
blame1 as in a railroad accident1 or    

other resulting features are used as the
 basis of the rewriting4  ,in the case  
of a robbery the commonest material for 
a follow-up story is the resulting      
pursuit or capture4 ,very often a final 
report of the loss1 the present         
condition of a robbed bank or public    
institution1 or perhaps the regaining of
 the booty1 makes a feature for a new   
story4 ,but usually the follow-up is    
concerned with the pursuit1 capture1 or 
trial4 ,this is especially true if the  
original story has been told by an      
earlier paper and another later paper   
wishes to print a more up-to-date story 
on the robbery1 such as3                
,,minocqua1 ,wis41 ,oct4 #bb4--;,it now 
begins              to look as if the   
bandits who robbed the                  
,state ,bank of ,minocqua early ,tuesday
                   morning would make   
their escape with the                   
booty4 7,this is followed by a          
re-telling               of the entire  
story of the robbery and an             

account of the pursuit47                
,the most usual follow-up of a murder   
story is interested in the pursuit1     
capture1 or trial of the perpetrator of 
the deed4 ,for example3                 
,following the discovery of the body of 
,pietro ,barilla1 an ,italian1 of       
,woodhaven1              ,long ,island1 
who was stabbed to death by             
four men1 presumably ,black ,hand       
members1               in ,lincoln      
,road1 near ,flatbush1 early            
yesterday morning1 the police arrested  
three men yesterday4                    
,very often the present condition of the
 victim of an attempted murder calls for
 a new story4 ,the stories following the
 attempted murder of ,mayor ,gaynor of  
,new ,york are good examples of the     
latter4 ,if a mystery surrounds the     
crime a possible solution is grounds for
 a new story4 ,the stories which might  
follow the unraveling of the mystery    
surrounding the fictitious death of the 
grocer1 mentioned at the beginning of   

this chapter1 would be second-day murder
 stories4 ,the original story1 let us   
say1 was something like this3           
,james ,white1 a groceryman1 was found  
dying yesterday with a bullet wound in  
his abdomen1 in the cellar of his       
grocery              store at #abcf     
,park street4                 ,the next 
story on the murder would be concerned  
with the unraveling of the mystery1     
thus3                 ,the preliminary  
inquiry yesterday by                    
,coroner ,john ,f4 ,donalds1 into the   
mysterious death of ,james ,white1 the  
,park              street grocer1       
resulted in the conclusion              
that ,white was murdered4               
,and so the stories might run on day    
after day following the solution of the 
case like the succeeding chapters of a  
continued novel1 and each one gives the 
synopsis of the preceding chapters in   
its lead1 as every good follow-up story 
should do4  ,suicide stories seldom     
offer material for follow-up stories    

unless there is some mystery surrounding
 the case4 ,sometimes the present       
condition of a resuscitated victim of   
attempted suicide or the disposition of 
the estate of a suicide offers material 
for rewriting4  ,serious storms and     
floods are usually followed up for      
several days4 ,readers are always       
interested in the present condition of  
the devastated region4 ,very often the  
list of dead and injured is revised from
 day to day1 and any attempt to lend aid
 to the unfortunate victims is always a 
reason for a later story4  ,any         
meetings1 conferences1 trials1          
conventions1 or the like must be        
followed up day by day with succeeding  
stories4 ,each story is complete in     
itself1 but each one adds one more      
chapter to the report of the meeting4   
,this method of following a continued   
proceeding calls for a series of        
follow-up stories2 examples of the      
stories that follow a continued legal   
trial will be given later under ,court  

,reporting4                    99       
99       99       99       99  ,many    
other illustrations might be given of   
follow-up stories that appear daily in  
the newspapers4 ,in the last analysis1  
the follow-up or the rewrite story is   
nothing more than an ordinary news      
story1 and as such must be written in   
the same way4 ,it begins with a lead    
which plays up a feature and answers the
 reader's questions about the subject2  
the body of the story runs along like   
the body of any news story4 ,but it is  
different in being a later chapter of a 
previous account2 while complete in     
itself1 it must not only indicate the   
previous story1 but must tell its most  
important facts for readers who may have
 missed the previous story4 ,it is      
simply a news story which is tied to a  
previous story by a string of cause and 
effect4   #d4 ,following ,up ,related   
,subjects4--,in this connection it may  
be well to mention another kind of      
follow-up story that is usually written 

in connection with big news events4 ,it 
is written to develop and follow up side
 lines of interest growing out of the   
main story4 ,in its most usual form it  
is a statistical summary of events      
similar to the great event of the       
day--such as similar fires1 similar     
railroad wrecks1 etc41 in the past4 ,any
 big story attracts so much attention   
among newspaper readers that the facts  
at hand are usually not sufficient to   
supply the public's demand for          
information on the subject4 ,to satisfy 
these demands editors develop lines of  
interest growing out of the main event4 
,they interview people concerning the   
event and concerning similar events2    
they describe similar events that have  
taken place in the past2 they summarize 
and compare similar events in the       
past--in short1 they follow up every    
line of interest opened up by the big   
story and write stories on the result4  
,these stories are of the nature of     
follow-up stories in that they grow out 

of1 and develop1 the main story in its  
greatest extent4  ,for example1 the     
wreck of the ocean liner ,titanic called
 for innumerable side stories because   
the public's interest demanded more     
facts than the newspapers had at hand to
 supply4 ,hence1 the papers wrote up    
similar shipwrecks in the past1 gathered
 together summaries of the world's      
greatest shipwrecks1 interviewed people 
who had been in any way connected with  
shipwrecks or with any phase of this    
shipwreck1 described glaciers and       
icebergs1 estimated the depth of the    
ocean where the ,titanic sank1 described
 the ,white ,star liner and other       
liners1 pictured real or imaginary      
shipwrecks1 and developed every other   
related subject4 ,the real news in all  
this mass of material was very meager1  
but the related stories satisfied the   
greedy public and helped newspaper      
readers to understand and to picture the
 real significance of the meager news4  
,in the same way a disastrous fire1 like

 the burning of the ,iroquois ,theater1 
calls for innumerable outgrowing        
stories4 ,even when the event reported  
in the main news story is not           
sufficiently important to call for      
related stories1 it is often accompanied
 by a list 7usually put in a box at the 
head of the story7 of other similar     
events and their results4 ,these        
follow-up stories of related subjects   
are1 in form1 very much like feature    
stories1 although they usually conform  
to the follow-up idea of mentioning in  
their leads the main news event to which
 they are related4     ,x  ,,reports    
,,of ,,speeches   ,every profession has 
its disagreeable tasks2 journalism has  
perhaps more disagreeable tasks than any
 other profession4 ,all of a reporter's 
work is not concerned with running down 
thrilling stories and writing them up in
 a whirl of breathless interest4 ,our   
readers demand other kinds of news1 and 
it is the reporter's task to satisfy    
them faithfully4 ,there is probably no  

phase of the work that is quite so      
irksome as the reporting of speeches1   
lectures1 sermons1 etc41 and there is   
probably no phase of the work about     
which most reporters have fewer definite
 rules or ideas4 ,read the reports of   
the same speech in two different papers 
and note the difference4 ,they seldom   
contain the same things and more seldom 
do they tell what the speaker said1 in  
the way and the spirit in which he said 
it4 ,it is irksome work and difficult   
work to condense an hour's talk into    
three stickfuls1 and few reporters know 
exactly how to go about it4  ,the report
 of a speech or a sermon or a lecture   
may come to a newspaper office in one of
 two ways4 ,a copy of it may be sent to 
the paper or the reporter may have to go
 to hear the address and take notes on  
it4 ,very often the speaker kindly sends
 a printed or typewritten copy of his   
speech to the editor a few days in      
advance with the permission to release  
it--or print it--on a certain date1     

after the speech has been delivered in  
public4 ,if the speech is to be printed 
in full1 the task is a mere matter of   
editing and does not trouble the        
reporter4 ,very few speeches receive so 
much space4 ,the others must be         
condensed and put in shape for printing4
  ,after all1 the usual way to get a    
speech is to go to the public delivery  
of the speech and bring back a report of
 it4 ,at first sight this is a difficult
 task and green reporters come back with
 a very poor resum4 ,however1 a word or 
two of advice from the editor or some   
bitter experience eases the way4 ,some  
advice may be given here to prepare the 
would-be reporter beforehand4  ,some    
reporters who know shorthand prefer to  
make a stenographic report of the entire
 speech and rearrange and condense it in
 the office4 ,this method is advisable  
only in the case of speeches of the     
greatest importance2 it is too laborious
 for ordinary purposes1 since the       
account includes at most only a part of 

the speech4 ,the best way1 doubtless1 to
 get a speech is to take notes on it4   
,and yet this must be done properly or  
there is a danger of misinterpretation  
of statements or of undue emphasis upon 
any single part of the speech4 ,the     
report of a speech should be as well    
balanced and logical as the speech      
itself1 differing from the original only
 in length and the omission of details4 
,the speech report must be accurate and 
truthful or the speaker may appear at   
the office in a day or two with blood in
 his eye4 ,a few rules may be suggested 
as an aid to accuracy and truthfulness4 
,in the first place1 do not try to get  
all the speech2 do not try to get more  
than a small part of it--the important  
part4 ,there are two ways of doing this4
 ,if the speech is well arranged and    
orderly it is easy to tell when the     
speaker has finished one sub-division   
and is beginning another4 ,each division
 and subdivision will naturally contain 
a topic sentence4 ,watch for the topic  

sentences and get them down with the    
briefest necessary explanation to make  
them clear4 ,political speeches or      
impromptu talks are1 on the other hand1 
not always so logically arranged4       
,sometimes it is possible to get the    
topic sentences1 but more often it is   
not4 ,then watch for the interesting or 
striking statements4 ,you will be aided 
in this by the audience about you4      
,whenever the speaker says anything     
unusually striking or of more than      
ordinary interest the audience will show
 it by signs of assent or dissent4      
,watch for these signs1 even for        
applause--and take down the statement   
that was the cause4 ,if the statement   
interested the original audience it will
 interest your readers4 ,naturally1 mere
 oratorical trivialities must not be    
mistaken for striking statements4  ,when
 you get back to the office to write up 
the report of the speech you will feel  
the need of direct quotations--in fact1 
the length of your report will be       

determined by the number of direct      
quotations that you have to use in      
it--as well as by editorial dictum4 ,it 
would be entirely wrong to quote any    
expressions of your own because they are
 somewhat like the speaker's statements1
 and it is impossible to quote anything 
less than a complete sentence in the    
report of a speech4 ,hence you will need
 complete sentences taken down verbatim 
in the exact words of the speaker4 ,make
 it a point to get complete sentences as
 you listen to the speech4 ,whenever a  
striking statement or an interesting    
part of the speech seems worth putting  
in your story get it down completely4   
,you will find yourself writing most of 
the time because1 while you are writing 
down one important sentence1 the speaker
 will be uttering several more in       
explanation and may say something else  
of interest before you have finished    
writing down his first statement4       
,strict attention1 a quick pencil1 and a
 good memory are needed for this kind of

 work1 but the reporting of speeches    
will lose its terrors after you have had
 a very small amount of practice4  ,just
 as any news story begins with a lead   
and plays up its most striking fact in  
the first line1 the report of a speech  
usually begins with the speaker's most  
striking or most important statement4   
,as you are listening to his words watch
 for something striking for the         
lead--something that will catch the     
reader's eye and interest him4 ,but you 
must exercise great care in selecting   
the statement for the lead4             
,theoretically and practically it must  
be something in strict accordance with  
the entire content of the speech and1 if
 possible1 it should be the one         
statement that sums up the whole speech 
in the most concise way4 ,somewhere in  
the discourse1 at the beginning1 at the 
end1 or in some emphatic place1 the     
speaker will usually sum up his complete
 ideas on the subject in a striking1    
concise way4 ,watch for this summary and

 get it down for the lead4 ,however1    
there may be times when this summary1   
though concise1 will be of little       
interest to the average reader and you  
will be forced to use some other        
striking statement4 ,then it is         
perfectly permissible to take any       
striking statement in the speech and use
 it for the lead1 provided that the     
statement is directly connected with the
 rest of the discourse4 ,but be fair to 
the speaker4 ,do not play up some chance
 remark as illustrative of the entire   
utterance2 don't bring in an aside as   
the most interesting thing in his       
speech4 ,if a preacher forgets himself  
to the extent of expressing a chance    
political opinion1 it would obviously be
 unfair to him for you to play up that  
remark as the summary of his sermon4    
,your readers would get a false         
impression and the preacher would be    
angry4 ,if he considers the chance      
remark of real importance in his sermon 
he will back it up with other statements

 that will give you an excuse for using 
it4 ,in brief1 watch for the most       
interesting and most striking statement 
in the entire speech1 and in selecting  
this statement be fair and just and try 
to avoid giving a false impression of   
the speaker or of the speech4 ,if you   
follow this rule you will never be in   
any danger of getting your paper into   
difficulties4  ,another rule in         
reporting lectures1 speeches1 etc41     
applies to the writing of all newspaper 
stories4 ,write your report at once     
while the speech is still fresh in your 
mind4 ,your report must preserve the    
logic and continuity of the speech--it  
must be a fair resum4 ,your notes will  
be at best mere jottings of chance      
sentences here and there4 ,do not allow 
them to get cold and lose their         
continuity4 ,write the report at once4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,the writing of the report of a speech1 
lecture1 or sermon is the same whether  
it is taken from a printed or           

stenographic copy of the discourse or   
from notes4 ,it is perhaps easier to    
write from your notes because you have  
the important parts of the speech picked
 out1 ready for use1 by the aid of the  
rest of the audience4 ,before you can   
resum a printed copy of the speech you  
must go through it and pick out the     
important sentences which you wish to   
quote and decide upon the most striking 
statement for the lead4 ,there is no    
definite rule that can be followed in   
this except to take the topic sentences 
whenever they are stated with sufficient
 clearness4 ,when you have decided on   
the statements that you wish to quote   
you have really reduced the speech to a 
form practically identical with the     
notes taken from verbal utterance1 and  
the writing in either case is the same4 
,the lead of the report is very much    
like the lead of any other news         
story--for the report of a speech is    
really a news story4 ,as soon as the    
speech is mentioned1 the reader         

unconsciously asks a number of questions
 about it and the reporter must answer  
them in the first sentence4 ,as in any  
other news story the questions are3     
,what8 ,who8 ,where8 ,when8 and perhaps 
,how8 and ,why8 ,reduced to the case of 
the speech report1 they amount to what  
did he say1 who said it1 where did he   
say it1 when1 and perhaps how and why   
did he say it4 ,you may answer the what 
by giving the subject of the discourse  
or by giving a striking statement in it4
 ,in every report the answer to some one
 of the questions is of greater interest
 and must be placed in the first line4  
,if the speaker is of more than ordinary
 prominence his name makes a good       
beginning4 ,if an ordinary person makes 
a speech at some meeting of prominence  
the when or where takes precedence over 
his name4 ,but in most cases the        
reporter will find that none of these   
things is of sufficient importance for  
the beginning4 ,most public utterances  
that he will be called upon to report   

will be made by ordinary men in ordinary
 places and at ordinary times1 and the  
most interesting part of the story will 
be what was said4 ,sometimes it suffices
 to give the title of the speech1 but   
more often a striking statement from the
 speech makes the best beginning4       
,however1 although the speaker1 the     
time1 the place1 etc41 are overshadowed 
in importance by the subject or content 
of what the speaker says1 they must be  
included in the same sentence with the  
title or striking statement4 ,that is1  
in short1 we catch the reader's interest
 with a striking statement from the     
speech and then delay the rest of the   
report while we tell who said it1 when1 
where1 etc4 ,the necessity of this is   
obvious4  ,in accordance with the       
foregoing there are several possible    
ways in which to begin the lead of the  
report of any speech4 ,it would be wrong
 to say that any one is more common or  
better than the others2 the choice of   
the beginning must rest with the        

reporter4 ,and yet there are various    
things to be noted in connection with   
each of these beginnings4   #a4 ,direct 
,quotation ,beginning4--,sentence4--,the
 quotation that is to have the first    
line must of course be the most striking
 or the most interesting statement in   
the speech4 ,if it consists of a single 
sentence--and it cannot be less than a  
sentence--the report may begin thus3    
,participation in government is not     
only the privilege1 but the right1 of   
every ,american citizen and should be   
considered a duty1 said the ,rev4       
,frederick ,w4 ,hamilton1 president of  
,tufts              ,college1 who spoke 
on ,the ,political                      
,duties of the ,american ,citizen at the
                 monthly men's          
neighborhood meeting in the             
,roxbury ,neighborhood ,house last      
night4--,boston ,herald4                
,here the reporter has given us a       
sentence that is practically a summary  
of the speech1 has told us who said it1 

when and where1 and has completed the   
paragraph with the title of the speech4 
,sometimes the title of the speech is   
not of great importance and its place in
 the lead may be given to a little      
summary as in the following3            
,the modern man isn't afraid of hell1   
was the concise explanation which ,w4   
,lathrop ,meaker gave in ,franklin      
,union                  ,hall yesterday 
afternoon and evening of                
the fact that the churches are losing   
their grip on the average man4--,new    
,york              ,sun4                
,a question which embodies the content  
of a speech may often be quoted at the  
beginning2 thus3                 ,will  
the ,baptist church continue to         
maintain an attitude of timidity when   
,john ,d4 ,rockefeller of ,standard ,oil
 is                 mentioned8 asked the
 ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,bateman1                
from ,east ,jaffrey1 ,n4 ,h41 of the    
ministers assembled in ,ford ,hall last 
evening at the ,new ,england ,baptist   

conference4--,boston ,herald4           
,the opening quotation may sometimes be 
made an excuse for a brief description  
of the speaker or his gestures as in the
 following4 ,this is good at times but  
it may easily be overworked or become   
yellow in tone4                 ,there  
is no fire escape1 remarked             
,gypsy ,smith1 the famous ,english      
evangelist1 yesterday before the        
fashionable audience of the ,fifth      
,avenue               ,baptist ,church4 
,he held aloft a ,bible as              
he made this declaration during an      
eloquent sermon on the possibility of   
losing faith and wandering from the     
narrow way4--,new ,york ,world4         
#b4 ,direct ,quotation                  
,beginning4--,paragraph4--,you notice   
that in each of the foregoing the quoted
 sentence is incorporated grammatically 
into the first sentence of the lead4 ,it
 is followed by a comma and the words   
said ,mr4 ----1 was the statement of    
----1 declared ,mr4 ----1 etc4 ,this    

construction is possible only when the  
quoted sentence is short and simple4    
,when it is long or complex1 it is well 
to paragraph it separately and to put   
the explanations in a separate          
paragraph1 thus3                 ,if the
 ,united ,states had possessed in       
#ahih a single dirigible balloon1 even  
of               the size of the one now
 at ,fort ,myer1                        
,virginia1 which cost less than #aj1jjj1
                the ,american army and  
navy would not have              long   
remained in doubt of the presence of    
,cervera's fleet in ,santiago harbor4   
,this statement was made today by ,major
                 ,g4 ,o4 ,squier1       
assistant chief signal                  
officer of the army1 in an address on   
aronautics delivered before the         
,american              ,society of      
,mechanical ,engineers at #bi           
,west ,thirty-ninth street4--,new ,york 
,mail4                                  
,this same construction must always be  

used when the statement quoted in the   
lead consists of more than one sentence1
 as in the following3                   
,the climate of ,wisconsin is as good   
for recovery from tuberculosis as that  
of              any state in the union4 
,it is not the                  climate1
 but the out-of-doors air that          
works the cure4                         
,so said ,harvey ,dee ,brown in his     
tuberculosis crusade lecture in         
,kilbourn               park last       
night4--,milwaukee ,free ,press4  ,it is
 to be noted that the statement quoted  
in the lead is never split into two     
parts1 separated by explanation4 ,the   
quotation is always gathered together at
 the beginning and followed by the      
explanation4   #c4 ,indirect ,quotation 
,beginning4--,this method is best       
adapted to the playing up of a brief    
resum of the content of the speech4 ,it 
is sometimes called the that-clause     
beginning because it always begins with 
a that-clause which is the subject of   

the principal verb of the sentence--was 
the statement of1 was the declaration   
of1 etc4 ,the that-clause may contain a 
resum of the entire speech or only the  
most striking statement in it4 ,here is 
one of the latter3                 ,that
 the cruise of the battleship fleet     
around the world has taught the citizens
               of the ,united ,states   
that a powerful                   fleet 
is needed in the ,pacific was the       
statement of ,rear ,admiral ,r4 ,c4     
,hollyday1              chief of the    
bureau of yards and docks of            
the navy1 at a luncheon given to him by 
the board of trustees of the ,chamber of
                ,commerce at the        
,fairmont ,hotel                        
yesterday4--,san ,francisco ,examiner4  
,it is not always necessary to use the  
phrase was the statement of4 ,a         
variation from it is often very good3   
,that it is the urgent mission of the   
white people of ,america1 through their 
churches and ,sunday-schools1 to educate

                the ,american negro     
morally and                             
religiously1 was the sentiment of the   
twelfth session of the ,international   
,sunday-school ,convention last night1  
voiced with special power and eloquence 
by ,dr4 ,booker ,t4 ,washington1 the    
chief                 speaker of the    
evening4--,louisville                   
,courier-,journal4                      
,that the ,irish race has a great       
destiny              to fulfill1 one    
greater than it has                     
achieved in its glorious past1 was the  
prophecy of ,prof4 ,charles ,johnston of
                  ,dublin university in 
his lecture at the                city  
library ,sunday                         
afternoon4--,wisconsin ,state ,journal4 
,it is perfectly good usage to begin    
such a lead with two that-clauses or    
even with three4 ,the two clauses in    
this case are of course treated as a    
singular subject and take a singular    
verb4 ,it is usually best not to have   

more than three clauses at the beginning
 and even three must be handled with    
great care4 ,three clauses at the       
beginning1 if at all long1 bury the     
speaker's name too deeply and may become
 too complicated4 ,unless the clauses   
are very closely related in idea1 it is 
usually better not to use more than two4
 ,naturally when more than one          
that-clause is used in the lead1 all of 
the clauses must be gathered together at
 the beginning2 never should one precede
 and one follow the principal verb4     
,here is an example of good usage3      
,,new ,,york1 ,feb4 #be4--,that ,america
 is                  entering upon a new
 era of civic and                       
business rectitude and that this is due 
to the awakening of the moral conscience
               of the whole people was  
the prophecy made              here     
tonight by ,governor ,joseph ,w4 ,folk  
of ,missouri4--,chicago ,record-,herald4
      #d4 ,summary ,beginning4--,this is
 a less formal way of treating the      

indirect quotation beginning4 ,it is    
simply a different grammatical          
construction4 ,whereas in the           
that-clause beginning the principal verb
 of the sentence is outside the summary 
7e4 g41 ,that 444 was the statement of71
 in the summary beginning the principal 
verb of the sentence is the verb of the 
summary and the speaker is brought in by
 means of a modifying phrase2 thus3     
,,minneapolis1 ,oct4 #a4--;,both the    
free                  trader and the    
stand-patter are back                   
numbers1 according to ,senator ,albert  
,j4                ,beveridge of        
,indiana1 who delivered a               
tariff speech here tonight4--,milwaukee 
,free ,press4                           
,federal control of the capitalization  
of railroads is the solution of the     
railroad problem suggested by ,e4 ,l4   
,phillipp1 the well-known ,milwaukee    
railroad expert1 in the course of a     
speech at the third annual banquet of1  
etc4--,milwaukee ,free ,press4          

,the summary beginning may be handled in
 many different ways and allows perhaps 
more grammatical liberty than any other 
beginning4 ,the summary may even be     
given a sentence by itself as in the    
following4 ,this kind of treatment may  
easily be overdone and should be handled
 with great caution3                 ,if
 you have acute mania1 it is the        
proper thing to take the music cure4    
,miss              ,jessie ,a4 ,fowler  
says so1 and she knows4                 
,miss ,fowler discussed ,music          
,hygienically before the ,rainy ,daisies
               at the ,hotel ,astor     
yesterday and                           
prescribed musical treatment for various
               brands of mania4--,new   
,york ,world4         #e4 ,keynote      
,beginning4--,very closely related to   
the summary beginning is the keynote    
beginning1 in which the subject of the  
main verb is an indirect presentation of
 the content of the speech4 ,whereas the
 summary beginning displays its resum in

 a complete sentence1 the keynote       
beginning puts the content of the speech
 in a single noun and its modifiers4    
,thus3                 ,the ideal state 
university was the                      
theme of a speech delivered by1 etc4    
,the mission of the newspaper to tell   
the truth1 to stand for high ideals1 and
               to strive to have those  
ideals adopted by              the      
public was the keynote of an address    
delivered by1 etc4                      
#f4 ,participial ,beginning4--,this is  
less common than the other kinds of     
indirect quotation beginnings but it is 
often very effective4 ,the summary of   
the speech or the most striking         
statement is put into a participial     
phrase at the beginning and is made to  
modify the subject of the sentence 7the 
speaker74 ,it must of course be         
remembered that such a participial      
phrase can be used only to modify a     
noun1 as an adjective modifies a noun1  
and can never be made the subject of a  

verb4 ,here is an example of good use of
 this beginning3                        
,upholding the right of public criticism
              of the courts on the      
theory that there                 can be
 no impropriety in investigating        
any act of a public official1 ,judge    
,kennesaw ,m4 ,landis last night        
addressed                the students of
 ,marquette ,college of ,law            
and many members of the ,milwaukee      
bar4--,milwaukee ,free ,press4          
,just as it is perfectly possible to    
begin an indirect quotation lead with   
two that-clauses instead of one1 it is  
also possible to use two participial    
phrases in the participial beginning2   
as3                 ,pleading for       
justice and human                       
affection in dealing with the delinquent
               child1 and urging the    
vital need of                           
legislation which shall enforce parental
               responsibility1 ,mrs4    
,nellie ,duncan made                an  

address yesterday which stirred the     
sympathies of an attentive audience in  
the ,first ,presbyterian ,church4--,san 
,francisco ,examiner4                   
,although the participial phrase usually
 gives the summary of the speech1 not   
infrequently the participial            
construction is used to play up the name
 of the speech or some other fact and   
the summary comes after the principal   
verb of the lead2 thus3                 
,paying tribute to the memory of        
,president ,william ,mc,kinley last     
night at               the ,metropolitan
 ,temple1 where exercises               
were held to dedicate the ,mc,kinley    
memorial organ1 ,judge ,taft told in    
detail              of his commission to
 the ,philippine                        
service and his subsequent intimate     
connection with the ,president4--,new   
,york              ,tribune4            
#g4 ,title ,beginning4--,there are two  
reasons for beginning the report of a   
public utterance with the speaker's     

subject or title4 ,the title itself may 
be so broad that it makes a good summary
 of the speech1 or it may be so striking
 in itself that it attracts interest at 
once4 ,in the following examples the    
title is really a summary of the speech3
                 ,,new ,,york1 ,dec4    
#ae4--,the ,compensation                
of ,employes for ,injuries ,received    
,while                at ,work was taken
 by ,j4 ,d4 ,beck1                      
commissioner of labor of ,wisconsin1 as 
the theme of his address before the     
,national ,civic ,federation here       
today4--,milwaukee ,free ,press4        
,the ,emmanuel ,movement was the subject
              of an address by ,rabbi   
,stephen ,s4 ,wise of              the  
,free ,synagogue yesterday              
morning4--,new ,york ,evening ,post4    
,in the following stories the reporter  
began with the title evidently because  
it was so strikingly unusual and also   
because it was the title of a strikingly
 unusual speech by an unusual man4 ,this

 kind of title beginning is always very 
effective3                 ,booze1 or   
,get on the ,water ,wagon1 was          
the subject on which ,rev4 ,billy       
,sunday1                the baseball    
evangelist1 addressed an                
audience of over #d1jjj persons at the  
,midland ,chautauqua yesterday          
afternoon4                ,for two hours
 ,sunday fired volley after             
volley at the liquor traffic4--,des     
,moines ,capital4                       
,if ,christ ,came to ,milwaukee was the 
subject of the ,rev4 ,paul ,b4 ,jenkin's
                   ,sunday night in     
,immanuel ,presbyterian                 
,church4--,milwaukee ,sentinel4         
#h4 ,speaker ,beginning4--,it is obvious
 that this is the easiest beginning that
 may be used in the report of a speech4 
,but just as obviously it is the        
beginning that should be least used4    
,just as in writing news stories a green
 reporter always attempts to begin every
 lead with the name of some person      

involved1 in reporting a public         
discourse he has a strong desire to put 
the name of the speaker before what the 
speaker said4 ,but the same tests may be
 applied to both cases4 ,are our readers
 more interested in what a man does than
 in the man himself2 do our readers go  
to hear a given speaker because they    
wish to hear what he has to say or      
because they wish to hear him8 ,whenever
 the public is so interested in a man   
that it does not care what he says1 then
 you may feel safe in beginning the     
report of what he says with his name4   
,this test may be altered1 especially in
 smaller cities1 by previous interest in
 the speech2 if the speech has been     
expected and looked forward to with     
interest1 then1 no matter if the speaker
 is the ,president himself1 his name is 
not as good news as what he has to say4 
,even if the lead does begin with the   
speaker's name1 the reporter usually    
tries to bring a summary of the speech  
or the most striking statement into the 

first sentence after the name4 ,for     
example3                 ,speaker       
,joseph ,g4 ,cannon placed himself      
on record last night in favor of a      
revision of the tariff in accordance    
with              the promise of the    
,republican party                       
platform and declared that so far as his
               vote was concerned he    
would see to it                  that   
the announced policy of revision        
would be written in the national laws as
               soon as possible4 ,the   
words of the                     speaker
 came at a luncheon given to six        
rear admirals of the ,united ,states    
navy                by ,alexander ,h4   
,revell of ,chicago in the              
,union ,league ,club1 at which the need 
of                more battleships and  
increased efficiency              of the
 fighting forces of the republic        
were the principal themes of discussion4
   ,this example was chosen because1    
while it is written in accordance with  

the rules of the speaker beginning1 it  
is obviously too long and               
complicated--over #aaj words4 ,it would 
be better to gather it together and     
condense it as in the following3        
,chief ,forester ,gifford ,pinchot      
opened                the second day's  
session of the national                 
conservation congress yesterday by an   
address in which he expressed his entire
               satisfaction and his     
confidence in the                       
attitude of ,president ,taft toward     
conservating the national               
resources4--,milwaukee ,sentinel4       
,,st4 ,,paul1 ,minn41 ,feb4             
#aj4--;,booker ,t4                      
,washington of ,tuskegee1 ,ala41 in an  
address at the ,people's ,church tonight
                 predicted that within  
two years the                    liquor 
traffic would be driven out of all      
the southern states but two4--,milwaukee
               ,sentinel4               
,there are obviously other beginnings   

that cannot be classed under any of the 
above heads4 ,some of them1 much like   
the freak leads that may be seen in many
 newspapers of the present day1 may be  
called free beginnings for want of a    
better name4 ,these free beginnings are 
quite effective when properly handled   
but the novice must use them with fear  
and trembling4 ,they may be witty or    
they may be sarcastic1 but they are     
usually dangerous4 ,the difference in   
the eight beginnings discussed above is 
mainly one of grammatical construction2 
the same fundamental ideas govern them  
all4 ,their purpose is always to play up
 a striking statement or a summary of   
the speech report and to give at the    
very outset the necessary explanation   
concerning the speech4   ,,the ,,body   
,,of ,,the ,,report  ,the body of the   
report of a speech is not so distinct   
from the lead as the body of an ordinary
 news story4 ,in the news story it is   
safe to assume that many readers will   
not go beyond the lead1 but in the      

report of a speech this is not so true4 
,it is less possible to give the main   
facts in the lead of a speech report and
 the rest of the story is more          
necessary4 ,hence it must be written    
with as great care as the lead4  ,the   
body of the report should consist of    
direct quotation in so far as possible4 
,the reader is interested in what the   
speaker said and it is impossible to    
make a summary in indirect discourse as 
convincing as the actual quotation of   
his words4 ,be sure that the quotations 
are the speaker's exact words or very   
nearly his exact words1 so that he      
cannot accuse you of misquoting him4    
,the spirit of his words must be in the 
quotation1 anyway4  ,in these quotations
 nothing less than a complete sentence  
should be quoted4 ,do not patch together
 sentences of indirect and direct       
quotation1 like the following--,he said 
that some of us are prone to let things 
be as they are1 because the             
philanthropic rich help in our times of 

trouble and in sickness4 ,such quotation
 is worse than no direct quotation at   
all4 ,of course1 this does not mean that
 one cannot add said the speaker to a   
direct quotation1 but it means that said
 the speaker can be added only to       
quotations that are complete sentences4 
,furthermore whenever it is necessary to
 bring in said the speaker1 or similar  
expressions1 they should be added at the
 end of the quoted sentence--the least  
emphatic part of a newspaper sentence4  
,obviously a condensed report of a      
speech can only quote sentences here and
 there throughout the speech--the high  
spots of interest1 as we called them    
before4 ,these must not be quoted       
promiscuously and disconnectedly4 ,the  
original speech had a logical order and 
set forth a logical train of thought4   
,these should be followed as far as     
possible in the report4 ,bring in the   
quotations in their true order and fill 
the gaps between them with indirect     
discourse to knit them together and to  

give the report the coherence of the    
original speech4 ,but do not carry this 
indirect explanation to the extent of   
making your copy a report of the speech 
in indirect discourse with occasional   
bits of direct quotation to illustrate4 
,remember that1 after all1 the direct   
quotation is the truly effective part of
 the speech4  ,whenever a paragraph     
contains both direct and indirect       
quotation1 the direct quotation should  
always precede the indirect4 ,but it is 
much better to paragraph the two kinds  
of quotation separately1 making each    
paragraph entirely of direct1 or        
entirely of indirect1 quotation4 ,if a  
paragraph must contain both1 begin it   
with the direct so that as the reader   
glances down the column he will see a   
quotation mark at the beginnings of     
most1 if not all1 of the paragraphs4 ,by
 the same sign1 when your notes are     
lacking in direct quotations1 bring in  
as many of the quotations as possible at
 the beginning of the report and let the

 indirect summary occupy the end where  
it may be cut off by the editor if he   
does not wish to run it4  ,here is a    
good illustration of a part of the body 
of a good speech report--it is the      
second paragraph of one of the stories  
quoted under the ,speaker beginning     
above3                 ,i can not       
account for the moral                   
revolution that is sweeping over the    
,south1 he continued4 ,the sentiment    
against whisky is deeper than the mere  
desire to get it away from the black    
man4              ,that same sentiment  
is found in counties               that 
contain no negro population4 ,people    
who say that the law will not be        
enforced              have not been in  
the ,south4--,b4 ,t4                    
,washington's speech1 ,milwaukee        
,sentinel4                              
,you will notice that although the above
 paragraph is composed entirely of      
direct quotation it has no quotation    
mark at the end4 ,this is1 of course1 in

 accordance with the old rule of        
rhetoric which says that in a continuous
 quotation each paragraph shall begin   
with a quotation mark but only the last 
shall be closed by a quotation mark4    
,to illustrate the errors that may be   
made in reporting speeches we might     
write the above paragraph as follows3   
,mr4 ,washington continued by saying    
that              he could not account  
for the revolution                that  
is sweeping over the ,south4 ,the       
sentiment against whisky is deeper than 
the mere desire to get it away from the 
black man4 ,he says that the same       
sentiment is found in counties that     
contain no negro population4 ,people who
               say that the law will not
 be enforced                  have not  
been in the ,south1 according           
to ,booker ,t4 ,washington4             
,the clumsiness of this mingling of     
direct and indirect quotation is very   
clear1 as is the weakness of beginning  
with an explanation that is really      

subordinate4  ,much more could be said  
about the reporting of speeches4 ,very  
few things will make a man so angry as  
the misquoting of his words4 ,therefore1
 whatever other faults your report of a 
speech may have1 let it be accurate and 
truthful4     ,,xi  ,,interviews   ,if  
you compare any interview story with any
 speech report in any representative    
newspaper1 you will readily see how a   
discussion of interviews easily becomes 
an explanation of the differences       
between interview stories and           
speech-reports2 that is1 how the report 
of an interview differs from the report 
of a public utterance of a more formal  
kind4 ,there are few differences in the 
written reports4 ,each usually begins   
with a summary or a striking statement  
and consists largely of direct          
quotation4 ,were it not for the line or 
two of explanation at the end of the    
introduction1 it would be practically   
impossible to tell the one from the     
other1 to tell which of the reports sets

 forth statements made in a public      
discourse and which gives statements    
made in a more private way to a         
reporter4  ,the difference lies behind  
the report1 in the way the reporter     
obtained the statements and quotations4 
,and the whole difference depends upon  
the attitude of the man who made the    
statements--whether his words were a    
conscious or an unconscious public      
utterance4 ,when a man speaks from a    
platform he utters every sentence and   
every word with an idea of possible     
quotation--he is not only willing to be 
quoted but he wants to be quoted4 ,but  
when he speaks privately to a reporter  
he usually dreads quotation4 ,of course1
 he expects that you will print a few of
 his remarks but he is constantly hoping
 that you will not remember and print   
them all4 ,he speaks more guardedly1    
too1 since he is not sure of the        
interpretation that may be given to his 
words4 ,hence it is a very different    
matter to report what a man says in     

public and to get statements for the    
press from him in private4 ,any one can 
report a speech but great skill is      
required to get a good                  
interview--especially if the victim is  
unwilling to talk4  ,the first matter   
that a reporter has to consider is the  
means of retaining the statements until 
he is able to write his story4 ,it is a 
simple matter to get quotations from a  
speech because it is possible to sit    
anywhere in the audience and write down 
the speaker's words in a notebook as    
they are uttered4 ,but the notebook must
 be left behind when you try to         
interview4 ,when a man is not used to   
being interviewed nothing will make him 
reticent so quickly as the appearance of
 a notebook and pencil2 he realizes that
 his words are to appear in print just  
as he utters them and he immediately    
becomes frightened4 ,ordinarily so long 
as he feels that what he says is going  
into the confidential ear of the        
reporter--and out of the other ear just 

as quickly--he is willing to talk more  
freely and openly and to say exactly    
what he thinks4 ,this1 of course1 does  
not apply to prominent men who are used 
to being interviewed and prefer to have 
their remarks taken down verbatim4 ,such
 an interview1 however1 is little more  
than a call to secure a statement for   
publication4  ,it might be well to      
settle the notebook question here and   
now when it assumes the greatest        
importance4 ,the stage has hardened us  
to seeing a reporter slinking around the
 outskirts of every bit of excitement   
writing excitedly and hurriedly in a    
large leather notebook4 ,so hardened are
 we to the sight that some new reporters
 buy a notebook just as soon as they get
 a place on a newspaper staff4 ,but real
 reporters on real newspapers do not use
 notebooks4 ,a few sheets of folded copy
 paper hidden carefully in an inside    
pocket ready for names and addresses and
 perhaps figures are all that most of   
them carry4 ,many people dread publicity

 and the appearance of a notebook       
frightens them into silence more quickly
 than the actual appearance of a        
representative of the press4 ,this is   
true in the reporting of any bit of     
news1 in the covering of any story--and 
it is ordinarily true in interviewing   
for statements that are to be quoted4   
,of course1 an exception to this must be
 made in the case of some prominent men 
who prefer to issue signed written      
statements when they are interviewed4   
,the impossibility of using a notebook  
or writing down a man's words in an     
interview seriously complicates the task
 of interviewing4 ,some reporters train 
themselves until they are able to       
remember their victim's words long      
enough to get outside and write them    
down4 ,others are satisfied with getting
 the ideas and the spirit of what is    
said together with the man's manner of  
talking4 ,a few characteristic          
mannerisms thrown in with a true report 
of his ideas will make any speaker      

believe that you have quoted him        
exactly4 ,whichever method is pursued1  
the reporter must always be fair and try
 to tell the readers of the paper the   
man's true ideas4 ,the exigencies of the
 case give the reporter greater liberty 
than in quoting from a speech but he    
must not abuse his liberty4  ,the       
success of an interview depends very    
largely upon the way in which a reporter
 approaches the man whom he wishes to   
interview4 ,it is never well to trust to
 the inspiration of the moment to start 
the conversation4 ,the reporter must    
know exactly what he wishes to have the 
man say before he approaches him and    
must already have framed his questions  
so as to draw out the answers that he   
wishes4 ,people are never interviewed   
except for a purpose and that purpose   
should suggest the reporter's first     
question4 ,no matter how willing the man
 is to tell what he thinks he will      
seldom begin talking until the reporter 
asks him a definite question to help him

 in putting his thoughts into words4    
,all of this should be considered       
beforehand4 ,the reporter should have   
outlined a definite campaign and have a 
series of questions which he wishes to  
ask4 ,if he has written the questions   
out beforehand1 the task becomes an     
easier one--he merely fills in the      
answers on his list later and has the   
interview in better form than if he had 
tried to trust entirely to his memory4  
,to be sure1 the questions may open up  
unexpected lines of thought and he may  
get more than he went for1 but he must  
have his questions ready for use as soon
 as each new line is exhausted4 ,a      
skilled reporter frames the interview   
himself and keeps the result entirely in
 his own hands through the campaign that
 he has outlined beforehand4 ,unless he 
knows exactly what he wants to get1 a   
wary victim may lead him off upon       
unimportant facts and in the end tell   
him nothing that his paper has sent him 
to get4 ,a reporter must keep the reins 

of an interview in his own possession4  
,a good reporter takes great care in his
 manner of addressing a man whom he is  
to interview4 ,a well-known newspaper   
follows the rule of asking its reporters
 never to do what a gentleman would not 
do4 ,a reporter who is trying to        
interview must always be a gentleman and
 must not ask questions that a gentleman
 would not ask4 ,if the victim is a     
prominent man of great personality it is
 not hard to follow this rule--in fact1 
it is impossible to get the interview by
 any other method of approach4 ,but when
 one is trying to interview a person of 
humbler station1 the case is different4 
,it is very easy then to fall into a    
habit of demanding information and      
turning the interview into an           
inquisition4 ,but the reporter who keeps
 his attitude as a gentleman gets more  
real facts even when his victim is of   
the most humble social status4          
,therefore1 never approach your victim  
as if he were a witness and you a       

cross-questioning lawyer4 ,do not say3  
,see here1 you know more about it than  
that1 and thus try to force unwilling   
information from him4 ,go at him in a   
more round-about way and lead him to    
give you the facts unwittingly perhaps4 
,a young reporter often feels an impulse
 to become too personal with the man    
whom he is interviewing4 ,he must always
 remember that he is not there for a    
friendly chat but as a representative of
 a newspaper1 sent to get concise facts 
or opinions4 ,this attitude must be     
maintained even with the humblest       
persons4 ,any desire to sympathize1     
criticize1 or advise must be checked at 
the very start4 ,the point of view must 
always be kept4                    99   
99       99       99       99  ,although
 the main difference between writing    
interview stories and reporting speeches
 lies in the very act of getting the    
quotations and words of the speaker1    
there are certain aspects in which the  
writing of an interview story is        

different4 ,the actual form of the two  
stories is almost identical and yet     
there is a tone in the interview story  
that is lacking in the report of a      
speech4 ,this may be called the personal
 tone4  ,the very name of the speaker   
obviously plays a much larger part in   
the interview story than in the speech  
report4 ,we may be more interested in   
what a man says in a public discourse   
than we are in the man1 but when we     
interview a man we want his opinions not
 for themselves so much as because they 
are his opinions4 ,an interview with the
 ,president on the tariff is not        
necessarily interesting in the new ideas
 that it brings out1 for we have many   
other ways of knowing the ,president's  
opinions on the tariff question2 but the
 interview is worth printing because    
every one is interested in reading      
anything that the ,president says1      
although he may have read the same thing
 many times before4 ,a man is seldom    
interviewed unless he is of some        

prominence--that is why he is           
interviewed1 and so in the resulting    
story his name plays a very important   
part4 ,in fact1 his name is usually the 
feature of the story2 most interview    
stories begin directly with the name of 
the man whose statements are quoted4    
,although a man may be interviewed      
simply because of his prominence and    
popularity1 there is usually another    
reason for the interview4 ,we are       
interested not only in hearing him say  
something but we wish to hear him say   
something on a certain topic4 ,the      
interview thus has a timeliness1 a      
reason for existence4 ,since this       
timeliness is the reason for printing a 
certain man's statements1 the reporter's
 account must indicate that timeliness  
near the beginning4 ,that is1 the first 
sentence of an interview story must not 
only tell who was interviewed and the   
gist of what he said1 but it must tell  
why he said it4 ,the interview must be  
connected with the rest of the day's    

news4 ,this comes out very definitely in
 the custom which many newspapers have  
of printing the opinions of many        
prominent men in connection with any    
important event4 ,perhaps it is because 
we wish to know their opinions on the   
subject or perhaps it is simply because 
we are glad to have a chance to hear    
them talk--at any rate many editors make
 any great event an excuse for a series 
of interviews4 ,this is illustrated by  
the opinions of the various labor       
leaders that were printed with the story
 of the recent confession of the        
,mc,namara brothers4 ,in such a case1   
the reporter must make the reason for   
the interview his starting point in the 
report and must indicate very plainly   
why the man was interviewed4  ,this idea
 of timeliness is very often carried to 
the extent of making the interview      
merely a denial or an assertion from the
 mouth of a well-known man4 ,there may  
be an upheaval in ,wall ,street4        
,immediately the papers print an        

interview in which some prominent       
financier denies or asserts that he is  
at the bottom of the upheaval4          
,naturally the report of the interview  
begins with the very words of the denial
 or the assertion4 ,very often a man    
when interviewed refuses to say anything
 on the subject4 ,the fact that he has  
nothing to say does not mean that the   
interview is not worth reporting4 ,in   
fact1 that refusal to speak may be the  
most effective thing that he could say4 
,the reporter begins by telling that his
 man had nothing to say on the subject  
and ends by telling what he should have 
said or what his refusal to speak       
probably means1--if the paper is not too
 scrupulous in such matters4 ,at any    
rate1 the denial or assertion or refusal
 to speak becomes the starting point of 
the report and furnishes the excuse for 
the interview story4 ,the expanded      
remarks that follow the lead are of     
course important but they are not so    
important as the primary expression of  

opinion that the reporter went for4     
,the personal element in interviewing   
may be carried to an extreme extent4    
,the man who is interviewed may so far  
overshadow the importance of what he    
says that the report of the interview   
becomes almost a sketch of the man      
himself4 ,that is1 the report is filled 
with human interest4 ,the quotations are
 interspersed with action and           
description4 ,we are told how the man   
acted when he said each individual      
thing4 ,his appearance1 attitude1       
expression1 and surroundings become as  
important as his words and are brought  
into the report as vividly as possible4 
,such an interview may become almost    
large enough to be used as a special    
feature story for the ,sunday edition1  
but when the human interest is limited  
to a comparatively subordinate position 
the report still keeps its character as 
an interview news story4 ,such a thing  
may be illustrated from the daily press3
                 ,i would rather have   

four battleships                and need
 only two than to have two and          
need four4                              
,seated in the cool library of ,colonel 
,a4 ,k4 ,mc,clure's summer home at      
,wallingford1 ,rear ,admiral ,winfield  
,scott               ,schley1 retired1  
thus expressed himself                  
yesterday on the need of a larger and   
greater navy4                           
,after all has been said about          
interviewing1 the one thing that a      
reporter must remember is that an       
interview story is at best rather dry   
and everything that he can do to        
increase the interest will improve the  
interview4 ,but all of this must be done
 with absolute fairness to the speaker  
and great truthfulness in the quotation 
of his ideas and opinions4              
99       99       99       99       99  
,to come to the technical form of the   
interview story1 we find that there are 
very nearly as many possible beginnings 
as in the case of the report of a       

speech4 ,the interview story must begin 
with a lead that tells who was          
interviewed1 when1 and where1 what he   
said 7in a quotation or an indirect     
summary71 and why he was interviewed4   
,this is like the lead of a speech      
report in every particular except in the
 timeliness--the occasion for a speech  
is seldom mentioned in the lead1 but a  
reporter usually tells at once why he   
interviewed the man whose words he      
quotes4   #a4 ,speaker ,beginning4--,the
 very purpose behind interviewing makes 
the so-called speaker beginning most    
common4 ,it is almost an invariable rule
 that the report of an interview must   
begin with the man's name unless what he
 says is of greater importance than his 
name--which is seldom4  ,the simplest   
form of the speaker beginning is the one
 in which the speaker's name is followed
 directly by a summary of what he said1 
as3                 ,dr4 ,david ,starr  
,jordan1 president of                   
,leland ,stanford ,junior ,university1  

said                yesterday at the    
,holland ,house that in                 
the development of ,american            
universities               educators    
must separate the lower two             
classes from the upper two1 the present 
freshman and sophomore classes to be    
absorbed by small colleges or           
supplemental high schools1 making the   
junior year the first in the university 
training4 ,he said the universities     
should               receive only men1  
not boys4--,new ,york                   
,tribune4                               
,another kind of speaker beginning may  
devote most of the lead to the          
explanation of the reason for the       
interview1 giving the briefest possible 
summary of what was said3 ,thus3        
,director ,lang of the department of    
public safety is going to place a ban on
               the playing of tennis on 
,sunday4 ,he                    doesn't 
know just yet how he is going to        
accomplish this1 but yesterday he       

declared that he would find some law    
applicable to the case4--,pittsburgh    
,gazette-,times4                        
,one step further brings us to the      
entire exclusion of the result of the   
interview from the lead4 ,in this case  
the reason for the interview occupies   
the entire lead and we must read part of
 the second paragraph to find what the  
man said2 thus3                 ,charles
 ,f4 ,washburn1 ,richmond ,hill's       
wizard of finance1 promises to appear at
               his broker's office in   
,newark1 ,n4 ,j41                  this 
morning with a fresh bank roll1         
accumulated since the close of the      
market              on ,saturday4       
7,the second paragraph tells what it is 
all about and the third quotes his      
words47--,new ,york ,world4             
,it is to be noted that in each of the  
above leads the speaker's name is always
 accompanied by a word or two telling   
who he is and why he was interviewed4   
,furthermore the reporter himself has no

 more place in the lead than if he were 
reporting a speech--his existence and   
the part he played in getting the       
interview are strictly ignored4   #b4   
,summary ,beginning4--,there are two    
common ways of beginning an interview   
story with a summary4 ,first1 the lead  
may begin with a that-clause which      
embodies the gist of the interview2 this
 is like the that-clause beginning of   
the report of a speech2 thus3           
,that the apparent apathy among the     
voters of the country is merely         
contentment with the present            
administration of affairs by the        
,republican party is the contention of  
ex-,senator ,john ,m4 ,thurston of      
,nebraska4               ,mr4 ,thurston 
was at ,republican national             
headquarters today1 etc4--,new ,york    
,evening ,post4                         
,secondly the summary beginning is used 
in the case of an interview that is a   
denial or an assertion by the man       
interviewed4 ,the lead begins with a    

clause or a participial phrase embodying
 the substance of the interview1 and the
 name of the speaker is made the subject
 of a verb of denying or asserting2     
thus3                 ,declaring that   
his office is run as                    
economically as possible1 ,sheriff ,h4  
,e4                ,franke denied on    
,sunday that he had                     
expended more than #fhh for auto hire to
               collect #a1dji4bh of     
alleged taxes4                          
7,the second paragraph begins with a    
direct quotation47--,milwaukee          
,sentinel4                ,although he  
had sharply criticised                  
,roosevelt's special message condemning 
some of the uses to which the possessors
               of large fortunes are    
putting their                    wealth1
 ,president ,jacob ,gould ,schurman1    
,cornell ,university1 declined to       
discuss                ,roosevelt or his
 policies in ,milwaukee                 
yesterday4 ,he said that he was not     

talking politics4                       
7,the rest of the report is a quotation 
of his views on college                 
athletics47--,milwaukee ,free ,press4   
#c4 ,quotation ,beginning4--,many       
reports of interviews begin with a      
direct quotation4 ,the logic of this is 
that the expression of opinion is1 in   
some cases1 of more interest than the   
name of the man who expressed the       
opinion4 ,sometimes the name of the     
speaker is not considered worth         
mentioning and in that case a direct    
quotation is the only advisable         
beginning2 thus3                 ,with  
the prices of food for hogs and         
cattle going up1 it is natural that the 
food--beef and pork--for us humans      
should              keep pace4          
,this was the logic of an east-side     
butcher who discussed the probable rise 
in the prices of meat4--,milwaukee ,free
                ,press4                 
,sometimes a short quotation is used at 
the beginning of the lead very much as a

 title is used in a speech report2 thus3
                 ,,new ,,york1 ,june    
#a4--;,a business                       
proposition which should have been put  
in              effect nearly twenty    
years ago1 was ,john                    
,wanamaker's comment today on the       
adoption              of #b-;cent letter
 postage between the                    
,united ,states and ,great ,britain and 
,ireland4--,milwaukee ,free ,press4     
,if the quotation at the beginning      
consists of only one sentence the name  
of the speaker may be run into the same 
paragraph2 thus3                 ,judge 
,mc,pherson's recent decision           
declaring ,missouri's #b-;cent fare     
confiscatory is an indication that      
vested              interests are       
entitled to some protection             
and that legislatures must not go too   
far              in regulating them1    
said ,sir ,thomas                       
,shaughnessy1 president of the ,canadian
                 ,pacific road1 on      

,sunday4--,milwaukee                    
,sentinel4                              
,however if the quotation at the        
beginning contains more than one        
sentence it is best to paragraph the    
quotation separately and leave the name 
of the speaker until the second         
paragraph2 thus3                 ,the   
,american ,federation of ,labor will    
enter the national campaign by seeking  
to              place labor candidates  
on the tickets of               the old 
parties4 ,an independent labor          
party is eventually contemplated4 ,but  
there is not time to get results in that
               way in the next national 
campaign4                               
,so said ,h4 ,c4 ,raasch1 national      
president of the tile-layers1 upon his  
return yesterday1 etc4--,milwaukee ,free
                ,press4                 
#d4 ,human ,interest ,beginning4--,this 
is a designation devised to cover a     
multitude of beginnings4 ,a human       
interest interview may begin with a     

quotation1 a summary1 a name1 or an     
action4 ,the aim is necessarily toward  
unconventionality and the form of the   
lead is left to the originality of the  
reporter4 ,a few examples may illustrate
 what is meant by the human interest    
beginning3                 ,there goes  
another string4 ,drat those             
strings6 ,only ,joseph ,caluder didn't  
say               ,drat4                
,say1 do you know that ,i have spent    
pretty nearly #a1jjj for strings for    
that              violin8 ,well1 it's a 
fact4 ,listen4                          
,etc4--,milwaukee ,sentinel4            
,fire ,marshal ,james ,horan never      
bought a              firecracker1 but  
for many years he has                   
celebrated ,independence day in the     
thick               of fires4 ,he never 
owned a gun or                          
revolver4 ,his last prayer before trying
                to snatch a little      
needed sleep ,friday                    
night will be of the twofold form1      

etc4--,chicago ,post4                   
,after what has been said about the body
 of a speech report1 there is little    
more to be said about the body of an    
interview story4 ,the same rules apply  
in both cases4 ,the body of the report  
should contain as much direct quotation 
as possible4 ,however nothing less than 
a sentence should be quoted--that is1   
every quotation should be a complete    
sentence1 with indirect explanation4    
,whenever ,said the speaker or ,mr4     
,brown continued or any similar         
expression is worked into the direct    
quotation it should always be placed at 
the end of the sentence2 never begin a  
quotation in this way3--,mr4 ,jones     
continued1 ,furthermore ,i would say1   
etc4 ,in the same way1 when a paragraph 
contains both direct and indirect       
quotation1 the direct quotation should  
be placed at the beginning4 ,whenever it
 is possible1 construct solid paragraphs
 of quotation1 and solid paragraphs of  
summary4 ,the report as a whole must    

have coherence and a logical sequence2  
for this a limited amount of indirect   
quotation may be used to fill in the    
gaps in the logic of the direct         
quotation4  ,according to the usage of  
the best newspapers of to-day the       
reporter must never be brought into the 
report of an interview4 ,his existence  
must never be mentioned although every  
reader knows that some reporter secured 
the interview4 ,in the old days         
reporters delighted in bringing         
themselves into their stories as        
representatives of the press or a       
reporter for the ,dispatch1 but that    
practice has gone the way of the        
reporter's leather-bound notebook4 ,the 
interview may be told satisfactorily    
without a mention of the reporter2 hence
 newspaper usage has put a ban on his   
appearance in his story4   ,,group      
,,interviews  ,we have said that a man  
is seldom interviewed without a reason2 
there is always a timeliness in         
interviewing4 ,any unusual event of     

broad importance becomes an excuse for  
the editor to print the opinion of some 
prominent man on some phase of the      
event4 ,sometimes the event is of such  
importance that the editor wishes to    
print the opinions of several men on the
 subject2 or more than one prominent man
 may be involved in the affair and the  
public may wish to hear the opinions of 
every one involved4 ,in such a case when
 several men are interviewed in regard  
to the same event it is considered      
rather useless and ineffective to print 
their interviews separately and the     
several interview stories are gathered  
together into one story and arranged in 
such a way that they may be compared4   
,there are several ways of doing this4  
,if the case or event is very well      
known1 a lead or summary of the several 
interviews is considered unnecessary and
 the words of the various men are       
grouped together under a single         
headline4 ,this may be illustrated by   
the interviews that were printed after  

the confessions of the ,mc,namara       
brothers of ,los ,angeles in the recent 
dynamiting case4 ,the ,wisconsin ,state 
,journal may be taken as representative4
 ,this paper printed the statements of  
twelve prominent men interested in the  
case in a three-column box under a long 
head2 thus3                             
,leaders ,discuss the ,case             
,samuel ,gompers1 president ,american   
,federation of ,labor--,i am astounded2 
,i am                astounded2 my      
credulity has been imposed              
upon4 ,it is a bolt out of a clear sky4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,john ,t4 ,smith1 president ,missouri   
,federation of ,labor--,i can not       
believe it4               ,but if the   
,mc,namaras blew up the ,times          
building they should be fully punished4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,gen4 ,harrison ,grey ,otis1 publisher  
of                  the ,times--,the    
result may be and ought to              
be1 etc4                                

,if the case had not been of such broad 
interest a lead embodying a summary of  
the interviews might have preceded the  
individual statements4 ,it might have   
been done in this way3                  
,great surprise has been expressed by   
the prominent labor leaders of the      
country at the confession of the        
,mc,namara brothers in ,los ,angeles    
yesterday4 ,that organized labor had no 
connection with the work of these men   
and                that they should be  
fully punished is the                   
consensus of opinion4                   
,samuel ,gompers1 president ,american   
,federation of ,labor--,i am astounded2 
,i am                astounded2 my      
credulity has been imposed              
upon4 ,it is a bolt out of a clear sky4 
,john ,t4 ,smith1 president ,missouri   
,federation of ,labor--,i can not       
believe it4               ,etc4         
,in such a story as the above1 the      
statements are usually printed without  
quotation marks2 each paragraph begins  

with a man's name1 followed by a dash   
and what he said4 ,the grouping together
 of several interviews is often done    
less formally4 ,the whole thing may be  
written as a running story1 and         
sometimes the names of the persons      
interviewed are omitted2 thus3          
,proprietors of the big flower shops1   
the places from which blossoms are      
delivered in highly polished and ornate 
wagons1 drawn by horses that might win  
blue ribbons1 and where1 in the proper  
season1 a single rose costs three       
dollars1 do not approve of the comments 
made by a dealer who recently failed4   
,among these sayings was one to the     
effect               that young         
millionaires spend a thousand           
dollars a week on flowers for chorus    
girls who earn twelve dollars a week1   
and               who sometimes take the
 flowers back to                  the   
shop to exchange them for money to      
buy food and clothes4                   
,that's all nonsense1 said one dealer4  

7,this paragraph is devoted to his      
opinion               on the matter47   
,we have enough trouble in this         
business1 said another dealer1 without  
having this silly talk given to the     
public4 7,this paragraph gives this     
dealer's opinion7--,new ,york ,evening  
,post4                                  
7,each paragraph is devoted to a single 
interview47  ,the same paragraph may be 
done with more local color as in the    
following3                 ,chinatown   
feels deeply its bereavement            
in the deaths of the ,empress ,dowager  
and                 the ,emperor of     
,china4 ,chinatown mourns1              
but it does so in such an unobtrusive   
,oriental way that the casual visitor on
                  sympathy bent may feel
 that his words of                      
condolence would be misplaced4          
,a reporter from this paper was assigned
                yesterday to go up to   
,chinatown and in as                    
delicate a way as possible to gather    

some                of the sentiments of
 appreciation of the                    
merits of ,kuang-hsu and his lamented   
aunt1               ,tzu-hsi4 ,he was   
told that he might write a              
little about the picturesque though     
nevertheless sincere expressions of     
mourning that he might observe in ,pell 
and ,mott streets4                      
,mr4 ,jaw ,gum1 senior partner in the   
firm                of ,jaw ,gum  ,co41 
importers of cigars1                    
cigarettes1 dead duck's eggs and        
,chinese                 delicatessen1  
of #g ,pell street1 was at              
home4 ,mr4 ,gum was approached4         
,we would like to learn a little about  
the arrangements that are being made by 
the ,chinese to indicate their sorrow at
                  the deaths of their   
beloved rulers4                         
,what number8 queried ,mr4 ,gum4 ,the   
question was repeated4                  
,p'licyman1 he know1 remarked ,mr4 ,gum 
sagely4                                 

7,so on for a column with interviews and
                statements from several 
of ,mr4 ,gum's                          
neighbors47--,new ,york ,sun4           
,but this is very much like a human     
interest story--the reporter takes part 
in it--and we shall discuss that later4 
,,xii  ,,court ,,reporting   ,probably  
few classes of news stories present such
 a lack of uniformity and such a variety
 of treatments as the reports of court  
news4 ,legal stories belong to one of   
the few sorts of stories that do not    
tend to become systematized4 ,but there 
is a reason for almost everything in a  
newspaper and there is also a reason for
 the freedom that reporters are allowed 
in reporting testimony4 ,the reason in  
this case is probably in the fact that  
very rarely do two court stories possess
 the same sort of interest or the same  
news value4  ,we have seen that reports 
of speeches are printed in the daily    
press because our readers are interested
 in the content of the speech or in the 

man who uttered it4 ,in the same way1   
our readers are interested in interviews
 because of the man who was interviewed1
 because of their content1 or because of
 their bearing on some current event4   
,on the other hand there is an infinite 
number of reasons why a court story is  
worth printing or why it may not be     
worth a line4 ,sometimes the interest is
 in the persons involved2 sometimes in  
the significance of the decision4       
,people may also be interested in a case
 because of its political or legal      
significance or merely because of the   
sensational testimony that is given4    
,and again a very trivial case may be   
worth a large amount of space in the    
daily paper just because of its human   
interest--because of the pathos or humor
 that the reporter can bring into it4   
,thus the resulting reports are hard to 
classify4 ,each one depends on a        
different factor for its interest and   
each must be written in a different way 
so that its individual interest may be  

most effective4 ,however there are      
general tendencies in the reporting of  
court news4  ,the news itself is        
comparatively easy to get4 ,in a large  
city every court is watched every day by
 a representative of the press1 either a
 reporter for an individual paper or for
 a city news gathering association4 ,in 
some cities where there is no           
independent news gathering agency papers
 sometimes club together to keep one    
reporter at each court4 ,the man who is 
on duty must watch all day long for     
cases that are of interest for one      
reason or another4 ,even with all this  
safeguarding sometimes an important case
 slips by the papers2 often the reporter
 on duty considers of little interest a 
case that is worth columns when some    
paper digs into it4 ,every reporter     
however who is trying to do court       
reporting should learn the ordinary     
routine of legal proceedings2 for       
example1 the place and purpose of the   
pleas1 the direct and cross examination 

of witnesses1 and other legal business4 
,as we shall see when we begin to write 
court reports1 it is necessary to       
exercise every possible trick to put    
interest into the story4 ,in the actual 
court room all that relieves the dreary 
monotony of legal proceedings is an     
occasional bit of interesting testimony4
 ,and when the reporter tries to report 
a case he sometimes finds that          
interesting testimony is all that will  
lighten up the dull monotony of his     
story4 ,therefore while he is listening 
to a case he tries to get down verbatim 
a large number of the interesting       
questions and answers4 ,or if he is     
unable to be present he tries to get    
hold of the court stenographer's record 
to copy out bits of testimony for his   
account4 ,beyond this recording of      
testimony there is really little        
difficulty in court reporting except the
 difficulty of separating the           
interesting from the great mass of      
uninteresting matter4  ,as to the actual

 writing of the report of a legal trial1
 the one thing that the reporter must   
remember is that a case is seldom       
reported for the public's interest in   
the case itself4 ,there is usually some 
other reason why the editor wants a half
 a column of it4 ,that reason is the    
thing that the reporter must watch for  
and when he finds it he must make it the
 feature of his report to be embodied in
 the first line of the lead4  ,when we  
try to play up the most interesting     
feature of a court report we find that  
we must fall back upon the same         
beginnings that we used in reporting    
speeches and interviews4 ,there are     
several possible ways of beginning such 
a story1 depending upon the phase of the
 case or its testimony that is of       
greatest importance4   #a4 ,name        
,beginning4--,the proper name beginning 
is very common4 ,it is always used when 
any one of prominence is involved in the
 story or when the name1 although       
unknown1 can be made interesting in     

itself--as in a human interest story4   
,the name is usually made the subject of
 the verb testified1 as in this lead3   
,a4 ,f4 ,law1 secretary of the ,temple  
,iron               ,company1 a         
subsidiary company of the               
,reading ,coal and ,iron ,company1      
called                   before the     
government investigation of             
the alleged combination of coal carrying
                roads1 testified today  
in the ,federal                         
building that four roads had contributed
                #dhh1jjj to make up the 
deficit of the                  ,temple 
company during three years of coal      
strikes4--,new ,york ,sun4              
,the name of a well-known company often 
makes a good beginning3                 
,the ,standard ,oil ,company sent a     
sweeping broadside into the             
,government's                case       
yesterday at the hearing in the suit    
seeking to dissolve the ,standard ,oil  
,company of ,new ,jersey under the      

,sherman                 anti-trust law1
 when witnesses began to                
tell of the character of a number of men
                the ,government had     
placed upon the                         
witness stand4--,new ,york ,times4      
,the name of the judge himself may be   
used in the first line3                 
,judge ,mulqueen of ,general ,sessions  
explained today why he had sentenced two
                prisoners to go home and
 serve time with               the      
families4 ,this punishment was          
imposed yesterday when both men pleaded 
drunkenness as their excuse for trivial 
offenses4--,new ,york ,evening ,post4   
#b4 ,continued ,case ,beginning4--,many 
court reports begin with the name of the
 case when the case has been running for
 some time and is well known4 ,each     
individual story on such a case is just 
a continuation of a sort of serial story
 that has been running for some time and
 in the lead each day the reporter tries
 to summarize the progress that has been

 made in the case during the day's      
hearing4 ,however each story1 like a    
follow-up story1 is written in such a   
way that a knowledge of previous stories
 is not necessary to a clear            
understanding3                 ,the     
hearing yesterday in the                
,government's suit to dissolve the      
,standard ,oil ,company ended with a    
dramatic incident4 ,mr4 ,kellogg sought 
to                show that the         
,standard compelled a widow1            
,mrs4 ,jones1 of ,mobile1 ,ala41 to sell
 out                her little oil      
business at a ruinous                   
sacrifice4--,new ,york ,world4          
,in some cases this sort of a lead      
begins with the mere mention of the     
continuing of the trial3                
,at the opening of the defence today in 
the sugar trials before ,judge ,martin  
of                 the ,united ,states  
,circuit ,court1 ,james ,f4             
,bendernagal took the witness chair in  
his               own behalf1 etc4--,new

 ,york ,evening                         
,post4                                  
#c4 ,summary ,beginning4--,the lead of a
 court report often begins with a brief 
summary of the result of the trial or of
 the day's hearing3                     
,what the ,government has characterized 
as unfair competition and               
discrimination on the part of the       
,standard ,oil ,company continued to be 
the               subject of the        
investigation of that                   
corporation today before ,franklin      
,ferris               of ,st4 ,louis1   
referee1 in the ,custom                 
,house4--,new ,york ,evening ,post4     
,the summary may be presented in as     
formal a way as the that-clause         
beginning which we used in reports of   
speeches3                 ,that the     
,adams' ,express ,company's             
business in ,new ,england in #aiji      
yielded a               profit          
representing #de per cent4 on the       
investment1 including real estate and1  

excepting real estate1 a net income of  
more than #hc per cent41 came out in the
                 course of the hearing  
before the                              
,interstate ,commerce ,commission1      
etc4--,new ,york ,evening ,post4        
#d4 ,direct ,quotation ,beginning4--,a  
direct quotation of some striking       
statement made by the judge1 by a       
lawyer1 by a witness1 or by any one     
connected with the trial may be used at 
the beginning of the lead4 ,here is a   
lead beginning with a quotation from the
 title of a case3                       
,captain ,dick and ,captain ,lewis1     
,indians1 for and on behalf of the      
,yokayo                tribe of         
,indians1 vs4 ,f4 ,c4 ,albertson1 ,t4   
,j4 ,weldon1 as administrator of the    
estate               of ,charley1       
,indian1 deceased1 ,minnehaha1          
,ollagoola1 ,hiawatha1 ,wanahana1       
,pocahontas1 etc4                       
,so runs the title of as unusual a case 
as jurists1 etc4--,san ,francisco       

,examiner4                              
#e4 ,human ,interest ,beginning4--,the  
human interest beginning is a more or   
less free beginning which may be used in
 the reporting of rather insignificant  
cases which are of value only for the   
human interest in them4 ,the beginning  
is capable of almost any treatment so   
long as it brings out the humor1 beauty1
 or pathos of the situation4 ,sometimes 
the story begins with a rather striking 
summary of the unusual things that came 
out in the testimony1 as in this case3  
,how suddenly and how radically a woman 
can exercise her inalienable prerogative
                and change her mind is  
shown in the                            
testamentary disposition made of her    
estate by ,mrs4 ,jennie ,l4 ,ramsay4    
,she made               a will on ,july 
#d last1 at #c o'clock in               
the afternoon1 leaving her property to  
her husband1 and at #g o'clock in the   
evening of the same day she made another
                will in which she took  

the property away                from   
her husband4--,new ,york ,times4        
,here is an interesting illustration of 
the use of a trivial incident as the    
basis for a humorous lead3              
,bang1 an ,english setter dog1 accused  
of               biting #aa-year-old    
,sophie ,kahn1 made an                  
excellent witness in the ,city ,court   
today               when his owner1     
,hirman ,l4 ,phelps1 a real             
estate dealer of the ,bronx1 appeared as
                 defendant in a damage  
suit brought by the               girl  
for #b1jjj4--,new ,york ,evening        
,post4                                  
,the lead of a report of legal          
proceedings is very much like the lead  
of a report of a speech or an interview4
 ,it always begins with the most        
interesting fact in the case and briefly
 summarizes the result of the trial or  
the day's hearing4 ,it is to be noted   
that the lead of such a story always    
includes a designation of the court in  

which the hearing was held and usually  
the name of the judge and of the case4  
,after the lead is finished a court     
report usually turns into a running     
story of the evidence as it was         
presented4 ,this may be condensed into a
 paragraph1 giving the reader merely the
 point of the day's hearing1 or it may  
be expanded into several columns        
following the testimony more or less    
closely4 ,in form1 it is very much like 
the summary paragraphs in the body of a 
speech report4 ,the result is usually   
more or less dry and reporters often    
resort to a means1 similar to dialogue  
in fiction1 to lighten it up4 ,some of  
the more important testimony is given   
verbatim interspersed with indirect     
summaries of the longer or less         
important speeches4 ,its presentation   
usually follows the ordinary rules of   
dialogue4 ,here is an extract from such 
a story3                 ,after         
describing himself as a breeder         
of horses1 ,gideon said that he was a   

member of the ,metropolitan ,turf       
,association1 the bookmakers'           
organization1 but had never been engaged
                in bookmaking4 ,he did  
not know where                    ,eddie
 ,burke1 ,tim ,sullivan 7not the        
politician71 or any of the other missing
                bookies could be found4 
,you are a member of the executive      
committee of the ,metropolitan ,turf    
,association8 asked ,isidor ,j4 ,kresel1
                   assistant counsel of 
the committee4                          
,yes4                                   
,now1 what did your committee do in     
#aijh1 when the anti-race track         
legislation              was pending8   
,i don't know4                          
99       99       99       99       99  
,how much did you pay in #aijh8         
,two hundred and fifty dollars4         
,to whom8                               
,mr4 ,sullivan4                         
,what for8                              
,death assessments4                     

,gideon said that the little he knew of 
the doings of the ,mets was from        
conversation with the bookies4 ,etc41   
etc4--,new ,york ,evening ,post4        
,sometimes this direct testimony is     
given1 not in the dialogue form1 but as 
questions and answers4 ,thus3           
,in reply to other questions1           
,bendernagel said he ordered the office 
supplies1 looked after the insurance on 
the sugar1 and was responsible for the  
fuel1 some #gjj tons of coal a day4     
,question4--,how much money was paid    
through your office in the course of a  
year8 ,answer4--,four million dollars4  
,q4--,so yours was a busy office8       
,a4--,exceedingly so4                   
,q4--,how long were the raw sugar clerks
                in your office8         
,a4--,about twenty years4               
,etc41 etc4--,new ,york ,evening ,post4 
,some papers would arrange these        
questions and answers differently1      
paragraphing each speech separately as  
in dialogue3                            

,question4--,did you regulate their     
duties in any way8                      
,answer4--,no4                          
,q4--,were you connected with the docks8
                                        
,a4--,no2 that was a separate           
department4               ,it had its   
own forces1 and they worked             
under ,mr4 ,spitzer4 ,he had entire     
charge4                ,etc41 etc4      
,the court records take cognizance only 
of the actual words uttered in the      
testimony1 but a newspaper reporter     
never fails to record any action or     
movement that indicates something beyond
 the words4 ,very often action is       
brought in merely for its human         
interest2 thus3                 ,how    
long has it been since you have         
had a maid8 asked ,mr4 ,shearn sadly4   
,not for some time1 she said4 ,away     
back in #aijg1 ,i think4                
,what did it cost you for two rooms and 
bath at the ,hotel ,belmont1 where you  
lived              last year8           

,about #cjj a week altogether4 ,the     
rooms              cost #bj a day4      
,there were tears in her eyes when she  
explained that she could no longer      
afford               to keep up her own 
automobile4 ,etc41 etc4                 
--,milwaukee ,free ,press4              
,this sort of dialogue is dangerous and 
may easily be overworked1 but it is very
 often extremely effective4 ,one word   
like sadly1 above1 may convey more      
meaning than many lines of explanation4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,these quotations are usually           
interspersed with paragraphs which      
summarize the unimportant intervening   
testimony4 ,the running story attempts  
to follow the progress of the hearing in
 greater or less detail1 depending upon 
the space given to the story1 just as a 
speech report attempts to follow a      
public discourse4 ,dry and unimportant  
facts are briefly summarized1           
interesting parts of the testimony are  
quoted in full4 ,the running story is   

usually written while the hearing is in 
session or taken from a stenographic    
report of the hearing4 ,after the       
running story has been completed1 the   
reporter prepares a lead for the        
beginning to summarize the results or to
 play up the most significant part of   
the story4 ,if the running story is     
short a lead of one paragraph is        
sufficient1 but if it is long1 the lead 
may be expanded into several paragraphs4
     ,,xiii  ,,social ,,news ,,and      
,,obituaries   ,the study of newspaper  
treatment of social news is a broad one4
 ,every newspaper has its own system of 
handling social news and the general    
tendencies that are to be noted deal    
rather with the facts that are printed  
than with the manner of treatment4      
,every newspaper gives practically the  
same facts about a wedding but each     
individual newspaper has a method of its
 own of writing up those facts4 ,one    
thing that is always true of social news
 reporting is that the amount of space  

given to social items varies inversely  
with the importance of the newspaper and
 the size of the city in which it is    
printed4 ,a little country weekly or    
semi-weekly in a small town does not    
hesitate to run two columns or more on  
,sadie ,smith's wedding4 ,the report    
runs into minute details and anecdotes  
that all of the ,weekly's readers know  
before the paper arrives4 ,but the      
editor prints everything he can find or 
invent simply because all of his readers
 are more or less personally connected  
with the affair and are anxious to see  
their names in print and to read about  
themselves4 ,the liberty that such an   
editor gives himself is of course       
impossible in a larger paper4  ,on the  
other hand1 a daily in a city of average
 size would reduce such a story to a    
stickful and a metropolitan daily would 
run only a one-line announcement in the 
,list of marriages1 unless the story was
 especially interesting4 ,the same thing
 applies to all social stories4 ,some   

metropolitan newspapers do not run      
social news at all4  ,all of this is    
true because social news is governed by 
the same principles that regulate all   
news values4 ,unless a society event has
 some feature that is interesting       
impersonally--that is1 of interest to   
readers who do not know the principals  
of the event--it is of value only as a  
larger or smaller number of the paper's 
readers are personally connected with   
the event4 ,hence in a small town where 
every one knows every one else1 society 
news is of great value4 ,in a large city
 a very small proportion of the readers 
are connected with the social items that
 the paper has to print and are         
therefore not interested in             
them--accordingly the newspaper either  
cuts them down to a minimum of space or 
does not run them at all4  ,therefore in
 our study society news falls into two  
classes3 social items that are of       
interest only in themselves to persons  
connected with the events2 and big      

society stories or unusual social events
 that are of interest to readers who are
 not acquainted with the principals4    
#a4 ,weddings4--,the wedding story      
reduced to its lowest terms in a        
metropolitan paper consists of a        
one-line announcement in the list of    
,marriages or ,marriage ,licenses2 thus3
                 ,,smith-,,jones--,feb4 
#ad1 ,katherine ,jones                  
to ,charles ,c4 ,smith4--,new ,york     
,times4     ,if the paper runs a few    
columns of social news and the persons  
concerned in the wedding are of any     
importance socially1 the wedding may be 
given a stickful4 ,such an account would
 confine itself entirely to names and   
facts and would be characterized by very
 decided simplicity and brevity4        
,usually nothing more would be given    
than the names and address of the       
bride's parents1 the bride's first name1
 the groom's name1 the place1 and the   
name of the minister who officiated4    
,occasionally the name of the best man  

and a few other details are added1 but  
never does the story become personal4   
,it is interesting only to those who    
know or know of the persons concerned4  
,for example3                           
,,smith-,,jones                         
,the marriage of ,miss ,katherine ,m4   
,jones1                elder daughter of
 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,randolph               
,jones1 #bec ,ninth street1 and ,charles
 ,c4                 ,smith was         
celebrated at #d o'clock                
yesterday afternoon at the ,first       
,methodist              ,church1 #gcf   
,grand avenue4 ,rev4 ,william           
,brown1 rector of the church1 performed 
the              ceremony4              
,it will be noted that in the above     
story the name of the bride is written  
out in full1 ,miss ,katherine ,m4       
,jones4 ,many newspapers1 however1 would
 simply give her first name1 thus3      
,katherine1 elder daughter of ,mr4 and  
,mrs4 ,randolph ,jones4  ,if the above  
wedding were of greater importance more 

details might be given4 ,these would    
include the attendants1 descriptions of 
the gowns of the bride and her          
attendants1 the guests from out of town1
 music1 decorations1 the reception1 and 
perhaps some of the presents4 ,sometimes
 the wedding trip and an announcement of
 when and where the couple will be at   
home are added4 ,the above story might  
run on into detail something like this3 
,miss ,jones1 who was given in marriage 
by her father1 wore a white satin gown  
trimmed with ,venetian point lace1 and  
her               point lace veil1 a    
family heirloom1 was                    
caught with orange blossoms4 ,she       
carried                a bouquet of     
white sweet peas and lilies             
of the valley4 ,miss ,dorothy ,jones1 a 
sister of the bride1 who was maid of    
honor1 wore a gown of green chiffon over
                satin1 with lingerie    
hat1 and carried                   sweet
 peas4 ,douglas ,jackson was the best   
man and the ushers were ,dr4 ,john ,b4  

,smith1 ,samuel ,smith1 ,gordon ,hunt1  
,rodney                ,dexter1 ,norris 
,kenny1 and ,arthur                     
,johnston4 ,a reception followed the    
ceremony at the home of the bride's     
parents4                                
,this is probably as long a story as any
 average paper would run on any wedding1
 unless the wedding had some striking   
feature that would make the story of    
interest to readers who did not know the
 principals4 ,note in the foregoing     
story the simplicity and impersonal     
tone4 ,there is a wealth of facts but   
there is no coloring4 ,this tone should 
characterize every society story4 ,a    
list of out-of-town guests might have   
been added1 but as often that would be  
omitted4 ,in some cases the last        
sentence might be followed by an        
announcement like this3                 
,the bride and bridegroom have gone on a
               wedding tour of the      
,west2 after ,april #a                  
they will be at home at #gf ,kimbark    

avenue4                                 
,in this connection the young reporter  
should note the distinctions in meaning 
of the various words used in a wedding  
story4 ,for instance1 he should consult 
the dictionary for the exact use of the 
verbs to marry and to wed--he should    
know who is married1 who is married to1 
and who is given in marriage1 etc4 ,he  
should also know the difference between 
a marriage and a wedding4   #b4 ,wedding
 ,announcements4--,wedding announcements
 are run in the social columns of many  
papers4 ,these items contain practically
 the same facts that we find in the     
story written after the wedding1 except1
 of course1 that the reporter cannot    
dilate on decorations1 and must stick to
 facts4 ,these facts usually consist of 
the names of the couple1 the names of   
the bride's parents1 and the time and   
the place of the wedding4 ,additionally 
the reporter may give the minister's    
name1 the names of the maid of honor and
 of the best man1 the reception or      

breakfast to follow1 and where the      
couple will be at home4                 
,the wedding of ,miss ,gladys ,jones and
                 ,richard ,smith will   
take place on                           
,wednesday evening in ,all ,angels'     
,church4               ,the bride is a  
daughter of ,mrs4 ,charles              
,jones1 who will give a bridal supper   
and               reception afterward at
 her home4           ,there are of      
course many other ways to begin the     
announcement4 ,miss ,mary ,e4           
,mac,guire1 daughter of1 etc42          
,invitations have been issued for the   
wedding of ,miss1 etc42 ,one of the     
weddings on for ,tuesday is that of     
,miss1 etc42 ,cards are out for the     
wedding on ,saturday of ,miss1 etc42 and
 many others4 ,in each case the bride's 
name has the place of importance4   #c4 
,announcements of                       
,engagements4--,announcements of        
engagements are usually even briefer    
than wedding announcements4 ,the item   

consists merely of one sentence in which
 the young lady's mother or parents make
 the announcement with the name of the  
prospective groom4                 ,mrs4
 ,russell ,d4 ,jones of #de ,ninth      
street announces the engagement of her  
daughter1 ,natalie1 to ,john ,mac,baine 
,smith4                                 
,the item may also begin ,mr4 and ,mrs4 
,x4 ,x4 ,so-and-,so announce1 etc41 or  
simply ,announcement is made of the     
engagement of ,miss ,stella ,blank1     
daughter of1 etc4   #d4 ,receptions and 
,other ,entertainments4--,if a paper is 
to keep up in society news1 it must     
report many social entertainments4      
,however1 such events are treated by    
large dailies as simply1 briefly1 and   
impersonally as possible4 ,such a story1
 like the report of a wedding1 consists 
merely of certain usual facts4 ,the name
 of the host or hostess1 the place1 the 
time1 and the special entertainments are
 of course always included4 ,sometimes  
the occasion for the event1 the guests  

of honor1 and a description of the      
decorations are added1--also the names  
of those who assisted the hostess4      
,mrs4 ,james ,harris ,jones gave a      
reception yesterday at her home1 #acf   
,fifth street1 for her daughter1 ,miss  
,dorothy ,jones4 ,in the receiving line 
were               ,miss ,marjorie      
,smith1 ,miss1 etc4 99 99 ,the          
reception was followed by an informal   
dance4                                  
,if the event is held especially for    
dbutantes1 the fact is noted at the very
 start4 ,a number of dbutantes assisted 
in receiving at a tea given by1 etc42   
,the dbutantes of the winter were out in
 force1 etc4  ,such a story is usually  
followed by a list of guests1 a list of 
out-of-town guests1 a list of           
subscribers1 or something of the sort4  
,ordinarily the list is not tabulated   
but is run in solid1 thus3              
,the guests were3 ,miss ,kathleen       
,smith1                ,miss ,georgia   
,brown1 etc4                   ,very    

often the names are grouped together1   
thus3                 ,the guests were3 
,the ,misses ,kathleen                  
,smith1 ,georgia ,brown2 ,mesdames      
,robert ,r4               ,green1 ,john 
,r4 ,jones2 and the ,messrs4            
,george ,hamilton1 ,francis ,bragg1 etc4
       ,the number of variations in such
 stories is limited only by the         
ingenuity of the people who are giving  
such entertainments4 ,but in each case  
the reporter learns to give the same    
facts in much the same order4 ,and he   
gives them in an uncolored1 impersonal  
way that makes the items interesting    
only to those who are directly connected
 with them4 ,the story may vary from a  
single sentence to half a column1 but it
 always begins in the same way and      
elaborates only the same details4       
,before trying to write up social       
entertainments1 a reporter should always
 be sure of the use of the various words
 he employs--chaperon1 patroness1 etc4  
,for instance1 can we say that ,mr4 and 

,mrs4 ,smith acted as chaperons8   #e4  
,social ,announcements4--,social        
announcements of any kind are usually1  
like the wedding and engagement         
announcements1 confined to a single     
sentence4 ,they tell only the name of   
the host and hostess1 the name of the   
guest of honor or the occasion for the  
event1 the time1 and the place4 ,thus3  
,mrs4 ,charles ,p4 ,jones will give a   
dance              this evening at her  
home1 #aha ,nineteenth                  
street1 to introduce her sister1 ,miss  
,elsie ,holt4                           
,a study of the foregoing sections on   
society stories shows how definitely a  
reporter is restricted in the facts that
 he may include in his social items--how
 conventional social stories have       
become4 ,this very restraint in the     
matter of facts makes it the more       
necessary for a reporter to exercise his
 originality in the diction of social   
items4 ,he must guard against the use of
 certain set expressions1 like          

officiating1 performed the ceremony1 and
 solemnized4 ,while restricted in the   
facts that he may give1 he must try to  
present the same old facts in new and   
interesting ways--he may even resort to 
a moderate use of fine writing1 if he   
does not become florid or frivolous4    
#f4 ,unusual ,social ,stories4--,just as
 soon as any of these stories contains a
 feature that is of interest to the     
general public in an impersonal way it  
leaves the general class of social news 
and becomes a news story to be written  
with the usual lead4 ,even the presence 
of a very prominent name will make a    
news story out of a social item4 ,for   
instance1 the wedding of ,miss ,ethel   
,barrymore was written by many papers as
 a news story4 ,on the other hand1 an   
unusual marriage1 an unusual elopement1 
or anything unusual and interesting in a
 wedding gives occasion for a news      
story4 ,here is one3                    
,because their #ae-year-old daughter1   
,sarah1 married a man other than the one

                they had chosen1 who is 
wealthy1 ,mr4 and               ,mrs4   
,markovits of #cabh ,cedar street have  
gone into deep mourning1 draped their   
home in crepe and announced to their    
friends that ,sarah is                  
dead4--,philadelphia ,ledger4           
,or the story may be handled in a more  
humorous way1 thus3                     
,there is really no objection to him1   
and she is quite a nice young woman1 but
               to be married so young1  
and to go on a                 wedding  
journey with #ah in their               
purses--but ,wallace ,jones1 student of 
the              ,western ,university1  
and ,ruth ,smith1                       
student in the ,mc,kinley ,high ,school1
                   decided it was too   
long a time to wait1                and 
a nice old pastor gentleman in ,st4     
,joe has made them one4--,milwaukee     
,free                ,press4            
#g4 ,obituaries4--,like many other      
classes of newspaper stories1 the       

obituary has developed a conventional   
form which is followed more or less     
rigidly by all the papers of the land4  
,every obituary follows the same order  
and tells the same sort of facts about  
its subject4 ,it begins with a brief    
account of the deceased man's death1    
runs on through a very condensed account
 of the professional side of his life   
and ends with the announcement of his   
funeral or a list of his surviving      
relatives4  ,the lead is concerned only 
with his death1 answering the usual     
questions about where1 how1 and why1 and
 is written to stand alone if necessary4
 ,it ordinarily begins with the man's   
full name1 because of course the name is
 the most important thing in the story1 
and then tells who he was and where he  
lived4 ,this is followed1 perhaps in the
 same sentence1 by the time of his      
death1 the cause1 and perhaps the       
circumstances4 ,thus3                   
,,cambridge1 ,mass41 ,nov4 #be4--;,dr4  
,john ,h4              ,blank1 professor

 of ,greek at ,harvard                  
since #ahhg and dean of the ,graduate   
,school since #ahie1 died at his home in
                 ,quincy street today   
from heart trouble4                     
,professor ,blank was an authority on   
classical subjects4--,new ,york         
,tribune4   ,this1 as you see1 might    
stand alone and be complete in itself4  
,many obituaries1 however1 add another  
paragraph after the lead in which the   
circumstances of the death are discussed
 in greater detail4 ,here is the second 
paragraph of another obituary3          
,at #h3cj tonight ,mr4 ,blank was       
walking                with his wife on 
the veranda of the                      
,delmonte ,hotel1 when he suddenly      
gasped                as if in great    
pain and fell to the                    
floor4 ,he was carried inside1 but was  
dead before the physicians reached his  
bedside4 ,apoplexy is said to have been 
the cause4                              
,next comes the account of the deceased 

man's life4 ,it is told very briefly and
 impersonally and concerns itself       
chiefly with the events of his business 
or professional activities4 ,it is but a
 catalogue of his achievements and the  
dates of those achievements4 ,these     
facts are usually obtained from the file
 of biographies--called the             
morgue--which most newspapers keep4 ,the
 account first tells when and where he  
was born and perhaps who his parents    
were4 ,next his education is briefly    
discussed4 ,then the chief events of his
 professional or business life4 ,the    
date of his marriage and the maiden name
 of his wife are included somewhere in  
or at the end of this account4 ,usually 
a list of the organizations of which the
 man was a member and a list of the     
books which he had written are attached 
to this account4 ,one of the foregoing  
obituaries continues as follows3        
,he was born in ,urumiah1 ,persia1 on   
,february #d1 #aheb1 being the son of   
the                 ,rev4 ,austin ,h4   

,blank1 a missionary4 ,he               
was graduated from ,dartmouth in #ahgc1 
and              that college awarded   
him the degrees of                ,a4   
,m4 in #ahgf and ,,ll4,d4 in #aija4     
,from                  #ahgf to #ahgh he
 studied at ,leipzig                    
,university4 ,he was assistant professor
 of              ancient languages at   
the ,ohio                               
,agricultural and ,mechanical ,college  
from               #ahgc to #ahgf1      
associate professor of                  
,greek at ,dartmouth from #ahgh to      
#ahhj1                  and dean of the 
collegiate board and                    
professor of classical philology at     
,johns              ,hopkins in #ahhf   
and #ahhg4 ,in #aijf and                
#aijg he served as professor in the     
,american ,school of ,classical ,studies
 in                ,athens4             
7,then follows a list of the            
organizations of which he was a member  
and the periodicals with which he was   

connected47                             
,he married ,miss ,mary ,blank1 daughter
 of              the president of ,blank
 ,college1 in #ahgi1               and  
she survives him4                       
--,new ,york ,tribune4                  
,the obituary usually ends with a list  
of surviving relatives--especially      
children and very often the funeral     
arrangements are included4 ,this is the 
last paragraph of another obituary3     
,his first wife1 ,mary ,v4 ,blank1 died 
in               #ahgb4 ,three years    
later he married ,mrs4                  
,sarah ,a4 ,blank1 of ,hightstown1 ,n4  
,j41 who              with four         
daughters1 survives him4 ,the           
funeral will be held tomorrow at #aa3cj 
o'clock4 ,the burial will be in the     
family              plot in ,greenwood  
,cemetery4                ,this is the  
standard form of the obituary which is  
followed by most daily newspapers in    
fair-sized cities4 ,the form is         
characterized by an extreme conciseness 

and brevity and an absolutely impersonal
 tone4 ,very rightly1 an obituary is    
handled with a sense of the sanctified  
character of its subject ,it offers no  
opportunity for fine writing or human   
interest2 it simply gives the facts as  
briefly and impersonally as possible4   
,,xiv  ,,sporting ,,news   ,division of 
labor on the larger ,american newspapers
 has made the reporting of athletic and 
sporting events into a separate         
department under a separate editor4 ,the
 pink or green sporting sheets of the   
big papers have become separate little  
newspapers in themselves handled by a   
sporting editor and his staff and       
entirely devoted to athletic news1      
except when padded out with left-over   
stories from other pages4 ,although on  
smaller papers any reporter may be      
called upon to cover an athletic event1 
in the cities such news is handled      
entirely by experts who are thoroughly  
acquainted with all phases of the       
athletic sports about which they write4 

,the stories on the pink sheet enjoy the
 greatest unconventionality of form to  
be seen anywhere in the paper except on 
the editorial page4 ,and yet1 because   
athletic reporters are usually men taken
 from regular reporting and because the 
same ideas and necessities of news      
values govern the sporting pages1       
athletic stories follow1 in general1 the
 usual news story form4  ,one may expect
 to find under the head of sports almost
 any news that is any way connected with
 college1 amateur1 or professional      
athletics4 ,the stories include accounts
 of baseball and football games1 rowing1
 horse racing1 track meets1 boxing1 and 
many other forms of sport1 as well as   
any discussions or movements growing out
 of these sports4 ,many of the stories  
are only a few lines in length while    
others may cover a column or more4 ,but 
in general each one has a lead which    
answers the questions when8 where8 how8 
who8 and why8 and runs along much like  
an ordinary news story4 ,for1 after all1

 even athletic stories are written to   
attract and to hold the reader's        
interest whether or not he is directly  
interested in the sport under           
discussion4 ,any reporter who is called 
upon to cover an athletic event is safe 
in writing his story in the usual news  
story form4  ,as it would be impossible 
to discuss all the various stories that 
come under the head of athletic news1   
the reporting of college football games 
will be taken as typical of the others4 
,the rules that are suggested for the   
reporting of football games may be      
applied to baseball games1 track meets1 
and other sporting events4 ,the same    
principles govern all of them and the   
stories usually summarize results in    
about the same way4 ,football stories   
may be divided into three general       
classes3 the brief summary story of a   
stickful or a trifle more2 the usual    
football story of a half column or less2
 and the long story that may be run     
through a column or more1 depending upon

 the importance of the game4  ,all three
 of these stories are alike in the      
general facts which they contain2 they  
differ only in the number of minor      
details which they include in the       
elaboration of these general facts4     
,each one tells in the first sentence   
what teams were competing1 the final    
score1 when and where the game was      
played1 and perhaps some striking       
feature of the game--the weather1 the   
conditions of the field1 the star       
players1 or a sensational score4 ,after 
that1 with more or less expansion1 each 
of the stories gives the essential      
things that the reader wants to know    
about the game4 ,these consist usually  
of the way in which the scoring was     
done1 a comparison of the playing of the
 teams1 a list of the star players1 the 
weather conditions1 and the crowd4 ,if  
the writing of the story includes a     
discussion of each of these points in   
more or less detail1 the game will be   
covered in all of its essential phases4 

,the three kinds of stories differ1 from
 one another1 not in the facts that they
 include1 but in the length at which    
they expand upon these facts4 ,one rule 
should be noted in the writing of all   
these stories or of any athletic        
story--avoid superlatives4 ,to a green  
reporter almost every game seems to be  
the most spectacular1 the most          
thrilling1 the hardest fought1 the most 
closely matched1 but a broad experience 
is necessary to defend the use of any   
superlative about the game4   #a4 ,the  
,brief ,summary ,story4--,this is the   
little story of a stickful or less1     
which merely announces the result of    
some distant or unimportant game4 ,taken
 in its shortest form it gives only the 
names of the teams1 the score1 the time 
and place of the game1 and perhaps a    
word or two of general characterization4
 ,as it is allowed to expand in length  
it takes up as briefly as possible the  
following facts in the order in which   
they are given3 the scoring1 the        

comparison of play1 the star players or 
plays4 ,it is a mere announcement of the
 result of the game and no more1 for    
that is all the reader wants4 ,the      
line-ups and other tables are usually   
omitted1 and nothing is included that   
goes beyond this narrow purpose4 ,here  
are a few examples3                     
,,iowa ,,city1 ,ia41 ,nov4              
#be4--,sensational                end   
runs by ,mc,ginnis and ,curry near the  
end of the final quarter of play gave   
,iowa a #f-to-#j victory over           
,northwestern                here this  
afternoon4                              
,fort ,atkinson ,high ,school defeated  
,madison ,high today in the final       
moments                of play when a   
punt by ,davy1 fullback                 
for ,madison1 was blocked and the ball  
recovered behind the line1 giving ,fort 
,atkinson the game1 #b to #j4           
,,indianapolis1 ,june                   
#c4--;,indianapolis                     
started its at-home series today by     

defeating ,kansas ,city1 #c to #b4      
,robertson               was in fine    
form1 striking out five men1            
permitting no one to walk and allowing  
only six hits4 ,score3 7,tables47       
,,lafayette1 ,ind41 ,june #a4--,with the
                   score #da #a-c       
points1 athletes                        
representing the ,university of         
,california              won the twelfth
 annual meet of the                     
,western ,intercollegiate ,athletic     
,conference ,association today4         
,missouri was second with #bi #a-c      
points1                ,illinois third  
with #bf1 ,chicago fourth               
with #ae and ,wisconsin fifth with #ab  
#a-b4    #b4 ,the ,usual ,football      
,story4--,the usual report of a game is 
a story of a half column or less which  
is longer than the brief summary story  
and not so detailed as the long football
 story4 ,this is the story that a       
correspondent would usually send to his 
paper4 ,it is like them both in the     

facts that it includes and differs only 
in length and in manner of treatment4   
,this story is usually divided into two 
parts3 the introduction and the running 
account4 ,the introduction1 or lead1 is 
very much like the brief summary story2 
in fact1 the entire brief summary story 
might be used as the introduction of a  
story of this type4 ,the second part1   
the running account1 corresponds to the 
running account of the game as it will  
be taken up with the long football      
story4  ,the introduction of the usual  
athletic story always contains certain  
facts4 ,the first sentence1             
corresponding to the lead of a news     
story1 always gives the names of the    
teams1 the score1 the time1 the place1  
and the most striking feature of the    
game4 ,after this the plays that        
resulted in scores are described and the
 star plays or players are enumerated4  
,usually a comparison of the two teams1 
as to weight1 speed1 and playing1       
follows1 and the opinion of the captain 

or of some coach may be included4 ,the  
rest of the introduction may be devoted 
to the picturesque side of the game3 the
 crowd1 the cheering1 the celebration1  
etc4 ,all of this must be told briefly  
in #bjj words or less4 ,the introduction
 is simply the brief summary story      
slightly expanded4 ,here is a fair      
example 7the paragraph containing the   
scoring has been omitted73              
,purdue triumphed over ,indiana today1  
#ab              to #e1 recording the   
first victory for the                   
,boilermakers over the ,crimson in five 
years4                                  
7,omitted paragraph on scoring belongs  
here47                                  
,purdue played a great game at all      
times ,oliphant1 right half-back on the 
,boilermaker eleven1 played remarkably  
well and was the hardest man for the    
locals to handle4 ,baugh1 ,miller1      
,winston               and ,capt4 ,tavey
 also starred for ,coach                
,hoit's men4                            

,the ,lafayette rooters1 #a1ejj strong1 
rushed on the field at the close of the 
struggle and carried their players off  
the field4                              
,this is ordinarily followed by a brief 
running account of the game4 ,it does   
not attempt to follow every play or to  
trace the course of the ball throughout 
the entire game1 as a complete running  
account would do4 ,it is usually made   
from the detailed running account by a  
process of elimination so that nothing  
but the high spots of the game is left4 
,such an account may run from #bjj to   
#cjj words in length4 ,at the end tables
 are usually printed to give the line-up
 and the tabulated results of the game1 
but these may sometimes be omitted4 ,the
 following is an extract from a         
condensed running account3              
,again the cadets fought their way to   
the #aj-yard line1 runs by ,rose and    
,patterson helping materially1 but again
                ,wayland held4 ,the half
 ended after                            

,wayland had kicked out of danger4      
,in the second half ,st4 ,john's        
outplayed              ,wayland         
throughout4 ,the cadets by a            
succession of line plunges took the ball
               within striking distance 
several times1                only to be
 held for downs or lose it on a         
fumble4                                 
,patterson electrified the crowd just   
before the third quarter ended by twice 
dodging through for #bj-yard runs1      
placing              the ball on the    
#ae-yard line1 where the                
cadets were held for downs4             
#c4 ,long ,football ,story4--,the third 
class of football story is the long     
detailed account4 ,this is all that is  
left of the elaborate write-ups of the  
season's big games that were printed a  
few years ago and may be seen           
occasionally now4 ,ten or twenty years  
ago it was not unusual for an editor to 
run several pages1 profusely            
illustrated1 on a big eastern football  

game4 ,the story was written up from    
every possible aspect--athletic1 social1
 picturesque1 etc4 ,every play was      
described in detail and sometimes a     
graphic diagram of the play was         
inserted4 ,each phase was handled by a  
different reporter and the whole thing  
was given a prominence in the paper out 
of all proportion with its real         
importance4 ,such a treatment of        
athletic news has now been very largely 
discarded4  ,the outgrowth of this      
elaborate treatment is the common one-  
or two-column account in the pink or    
green sporting pages4 ,all of the       
various aspects of the big game are     
still to be seen1 condensed to the      
smallest amount of space2 and this brief
 account of the different aspects of the
 game is arranged as an introduction of 
a half column or less to head the       
running account of the game4 ,this is   
the sort of story that is used to report
 the ,yale-,harvard games and the more  
important middle western games4 ,its    

form has become very definitely settled 
and a correspondent can almost write his
 story of the big game by rule4  ,the   
first part of the story1 called the     
introduction1 consists of five or six   
general paragraphs4 ,the material in    
this introduction is arranged1 paragraph
 by paragraph1 in the order of its      
importance4 ,following this is a running
 account of the game which may occupy a 
column or more1 depending upon the      
importance of the contest4 ,at the end  
is a table showing the line-up and a    
summary of the results4  ,the           
introduction of the big football or     
baseball story usually follows a very   
definite order4 ,there are certain      
things which it must always contain3 the
 result of the game2 how the scoring was
 done2 a characterization of the        
playing2 the stars2 the condition of the
 weather and the field2 the crowd2 etc4 
,the reader always wishes to know these 
things about the game even if he does   
not care to read the running account4   

,it is equally evident that the scoring 
is of greater interest than the crowd1  
and that a comparison of the teams is   
more important than the cheering4 ,and  
so a reporter may almost follow a       
stereotyped outline in writing his      
account4 ,a possible outline would be   
something like this3      ,first        
,paragraph4--,the names of the teams1   
the score1 when and       where the game
 was played1 and perhaps some striking  
feature       of the game4 ,the weather 
may have been a significant factor1     
or the condition of the field2 the crowd
 may have been       exceptionally large
 or small1 enthusiastic or uninterested2
       or the game may have decided a   
championship2 some star may       have  
been unusually prominent1 or the scoring
 may have been       done in an         
extraordinary way4 ,any of these        
factors1 if of       sufficient         
significance1 would be played up in the 
first line       just as the feature of 
an ordinary news story is played up4    

,this paragraph corresponds to the lead 
of a news story and is       so written4
 ,for example3                 ,playing 
ankle-deep in mud before a              
wildly enthusiastic gathering of        
football              rooters1 the      
gridiron warriors of ,siwash            
,college defeated the ,tigers this      
afternoon on ,siwash athletic field by  
the              score of #e to #j4     
,second ,paragraph4--,here the reporter 
usually tells how the       scoring was 
done1 what players made the scores1 and 
how4      ,third ,paragraph4--,the next 
thing of importance is a comparison     
of the two teams4 ,the reader wants to  
know how they compared       in weight1 
speed1 and skill1 and how each one rose 
to the       fight4 ,a general          
characterization of the playing or a    
criticism may not be out of place here4 
,fourth ,paragraph4--,now we are ready  
to tell about the individual            
players4 ,our readers want to know who  
the stars were and how       they       

starred4      ,fifth ,paragraph4--,this 
brings us down near the tag end of the  
introduction4 ,very often this paragraph
 is devoted to the       opinions of the
 captains and coaches on the game4      
,their       statements1 if significant1
 may be boxed and run anywhere in       
the report4      ,sixth                 
,paragraph4--,the picturesque and social
 side of the game       comes in here4  
,the size of the crowd1 the enthusiasm1 
the       celebration between halves or 
before or after the game1 are           
usually told4 ,this material may be of  
enough importance to       occupy       
several paragraphs1 but the reporter    
must always       remember that he is   
writing a sporting account and not a    
picturesque description of a social     
event4      ,seventh ,paragraph4--,this 
paragraph usually begins the running    
account of the game4                    
99       99       99      ,n-th         
,paragraph4--,this space at the end of  
the entire report is       given to the 

line-ups and tabulated results of the   
game4  ,this arrangement may of course  
be varied1 and any of the foregoing     
factors of the game may be of sufficient
 importance to be placed earlier in the 
story4 ,never1 however1 should the      
various factors be mixed together       
heterogeneously and written in a        
confused mass4 ,each element must be    
taken up separately and occupy a        
paragraph by itself4  ,the running      
account of the game1 which follows the  
introduction1 requires little rhetorical
 skill4 ,each play is described in its  
proper place and order and should be so 
clear that a reader could make a diagram
 of the game from it4 ,it must also be  
accurate in names and distances as well 
as in plays4  ,probably every individual
 sporting correspondent has a different 
way of distinguishing the players and   
the plays and of writing his running    
account4 ,it is not an easy matter to   
watch a game from the press stand far up
 in the bleachers and be able to tell   

who has the ball in each play and how   
many yards were gained or lost4         
,familiarity with the teams and the     
individual players makes the task easier
 but few reporters are so favored by    
circumstances4 ,they must get the names 
from the cheering or from other         
reporters about them unless they have   
some method of their own4  ,there is one
 method that may be followed with some  
success4 ,before the game the reporter  
equips himself with a table of the      
players showing them in their respective
 places as the two teams line up4 ,it is
 usually impossible to tell who has the 
ball during any single play because the 
eye cannot follow the rapid passing1 but
 it is always possible to tell who has  
the ball when it is downed4 ,at the end 
of each play as the players line up1 the
 reporter keeps his eye on the man who  
had the ball when it was downed and     
watches to see the position he takes in 
the new line-up4 ,then a glance at the  
table will tell him the man's name4     

,the running account is written as      
simply and briefly as possible4 ,it     
follows each play1 telling what play was
 made1 who had the ball1 and what the   
result was4 ,it keeps a record of all   
the time taken out1 the changes in      
players1 the injuries1 etc4 ,a typical  
running account reads something like    
this3                 ,siwash advanced  
the ball two yards by a                 
line plunge4 ,kelley carried the ball   
around left end for five yards to the   
,tigers' #ej-yard line4 ,the ,tigers    
gained                the ball on a     
fumble after a fake punt                
and lined up on their own #de-yard line4
                ,time called4 ,score at 
end of first half1               #j to  
#j4                                     
,at the end of the running account are  
tables1 usually set in smaller type1    
giving the line-up of the two teams and 
the tabulated results of the game4 ,some
 papers arrange the tables as follows3  
,siwash3                                

,tigers3                                
,smith44444444444left end4444444,jones  
,brown444444444left                     
tackle444444,green-,wood                
,mc,carthy4444444left guard444444,connor
                                        
,hall 7,capt4744444centre44444444,jacobs
                                        
,etc4                                   
,other papers use this system which     
brings the opposing players together3   
,siwash3                                
,tigers3                                
l4 e44444444,smith 3 ,williams4444444r4 
e4                                      
l4 t44444444,brown 3 ,jackson44444444r4 
t4                                      
l4 g44444,mc,carthy 3 ,cook             
7,capt47444r4 g4                        
c44447,capt47 ,hall 3                   
,jacobs444444444444c4                   
,etc4                                   
,the tabulated results at the end may be
 something like this3                   
,score by periods3                      

,tigers44444444444444444444#j  #b  #a   
#c--f                                   
,siwash44444444444444444444#j  #j  #j   
#j--j                                   
,touchdown--,brown4 ,goal from          
touchdown--                ,o',brien4   
,umpire--,enslley1 ,purdue4             
,referee--,holt1 ,lehigh4 ,field        
judge--,hackensaa1 ,chicago4 ,head      
linesman--,seymour1 ,delaware4 ,time of 
periods--fifteen minutes4               
,dispatches and stories on baseball     
games and track meets are usually       
accompanied by tables of results1       
similar to the above but arranged in a  
slightly different way4 ,the form may be
 learned from any reputable sporting    
sheet4     ,,xv  ,,human ,,interest     
,,stories   ,in our study of newspaper  
writing up to this point we have been   
entirely concerned with forms1 rules1   
and formulas2 every kind of story which 
we have studied has had a definite form 
which we have been charged to follow4   
,we have been commanded always to put   

the gist of the story in the first      
sentence and to answer the reader's     
customary questions in the same breath4 
,now we have come to a class of         
newspaper stories in which we are given 
absolute freedom from conventional      
formulas4 ,in fact1 the human interest  
story is different from other newspaper 
stories largely because of its lack of  
forms and rules4 ,it does not begin with
 the gist of its news--perhaps because  
it rarely has any real news--and it     
answers no customary questions in the   
first paragraph2 its method is the      
natural order of narrative4 ,the human  
interest story stands alone as the only 
literary attempt in the entire newspaper
 and1 as such1 a discussion of it can   
hardly tell more than what it is1       
without any great attempt to tell how to
 write it4 ,for our purposes1 the       
distinguishing marks of the human       
interest story are its lack of real news
 value and of conventional form1 and its
 appeal to human emotions4  ,the human  

interest story has grown out of a number
 of causes4 ,up to a very recent time   
newspapers have been content with       
printing news in its barest possible    
form--facts and nothing but facts4      
,their appeal has been only to the      
brain4 ,but gradually editors have come 
to realize that1 if many monthly        
magazines can exist on a diet of fiction
 that appeals only to the emotions1 a   
newspaper may well make use of some of  
the material for true stories of emotion
 that comes to its office4 ,they have   
realized that newsiness is not the only 
essential1 that a story does not always 
have to possess true news value to be   
worth printing--it may be interesting   
because it appeals to the reader's      
sympathy or simply because it entertains
 him4 ,hence they began to print stories
 that had little value as news but1     
however trivial their subject1 were so  
well written that they presented the    
humor and pathos of everyday life in a  
very entertaining way4 ,the sensational 

newspapers took advantage of the        
opportunity but they shocked their      
readers in that they tried to appeal to 
the emotions through the kind of facts  
that they printed1 rather than through  
the presentation of the facts4 ,they did
 not see that the effectiveness of the  
emotional appeal depends upon the way in
 which a human interest story is        
written1 rather than upon the story     
itself4 ,therefore they shocked their   
readers with extremely pathetic facts   
presented in the usual newspaper way1   
while the journals which stood for high 
literary excellence were able to handle 
trivial human interest material very    
effectively4 ,now all the newspapers of 
the land have learned the form and are  
printing effective human interest       
stories every day4  ,another reason     
behind the growth of the human interest 
story is the curse of cynicism which    
newspaper work imprints upon so many of 
its followers4 ,every editor knows that 
no ordinary reporter can work a police  

court or hospital run day after day for 
any length of time without losing his   
sensibilities and becoming hardened to  
the sterner facts in human life4        
,misfortune and bitterness become so    
common to him that he no longer looks   
upon them as misfortune and misery1 but 
just as news4 ,gradually his stories    
lose all sympathy and kindliness and he 
writes of suffering men as of so many   
wooden ten-pins4 ,when he has reached   
this attitude of cynicism1 his          
usefulness to his paper is almost gone1 
for a reporter must always see and write
 the news from the reader's sympathetic 
point of view4 ,to keep their reporters'
 sensibilities awake editors have tried 
various expedients which have been more 
or less successful4 ,one of these is the
 up-lift run for cub reporters--a round 
of philanthropic news sources to teach  
them the business of reporting before   
they become cynical4 ,another is the    
human interest story4 ,if a reporter    
knows that his paper is always ready and

 glad to print human interest stories   
full of kindliness and human sympathy1  
he is ever on the watch for human       
interest subjects and consequently      
forces himself to see things in a       
sympathetic way4 ,thus he unconsciously 
wards off cynicism4 ,the search for     
human interest material is a            
modification of the sob squad work of   
the sensational papers1 on more delicate
 lines4  ,a human interest story is     
primarily an attempt to portray human   
feeling--to talk about men as men and   
not as names or things4 ,it is an       
attempt to look upon life with          
sympathetic human eyes and to put living
 people into the reports of the day's   
news4 ,if a man falls and breaks his    
neck1 a bald recital of the facts deals 
with him only as an animal or an        
inanimate name4 ,the fact is interesting
 as one item in the list of human       
misfortunes1 but no more4 ,and yet there
 are many people to whom this man's     
accident is more than an interesting    

incident--it is a very serious matter1  
perhaps a calamity4 ,to his family he   
was everything in the world2 more than a
 mere means of support1 he was a living 
human being whom they loved4 ,the bald  
report of his death does not consider   
them2 it does not consider the man's own
 previous existence4 ,but if we could   
get into the hearts of his wife and his 
mother and his children1 we could feel  
something of the real significance of   
the accident4 ,this is what the human   
interest story tries to do4 ,it does not
 necessarily strive for any effect1     
pathetic or otherwise1 but tries simply 
to treat the victim of the misfortune as
 a human being4 ,the reporter endeavors 
to see what in the story made people cry
 and then tries to reproduce it4 ,in the
 same way in another minor occurrence1  
he attempts to reproduce the side of an 
incident that made people laugh4 ,either
 incident may or may not have had news  
value in its baldest aspect1 but the    
sympathetic treatment makes the         

resulting human interest story worth    
printing4  ,there are various kinds of  
human interest stories4 ,the common     
ground in them all is usually their lack
 of any intrinsic news value4 ,many a   
successful human interest story has been
 printed although it contained no one of
 the elements of news values that were  
outlined earlier in this book4 ,in fact1
 one of the uses of the human interest  
story is to utilize newspaper           
by-products that have no news value in  
themselves4 ,hence the human interest   
story has no news feature to be played  
up and1 since it does not contain any   
real news1 it does not have to answer   
any customary questions4 ,in form it is 
much like a short story of fiction1     
since it depends on style and the       
ordinary rules of narration4 ,the       
absence of a lead1 more than any other  
characteristic1 distinguishes the human 
interest story from the news story1 in  
form4 ,we have worked hard to learn to  
play up the gist of the news in our news

 stories2 now we come to a story which  
makes no attempt to play up its news--in
 fact1 it may leave its most interesting
 content until the end and spring it as 
a surprise in the last line4 ,to be     
sure1 most human interest stories have  
and indicate a timeliness4 ,the story   
may have no news value but it is always 
concerned with a recent event and       
usually tells at the outset when the    
event occurred4 ,almost without         
exception1 the examples quoted in this  
chapter show their timeliness by telling
 in the first sentence when the event   
occurred4 ,so much for the outward form 
of the human interest story4   #a4      
,pathetic ,story4--,one of the many     
kinds of human interest stories is the  
pathetic story4 ,although it does not   
openly strive for pathos1 it is pathetic
 in that it tells the story of a human  
misfortune1 simply and clearly1 with all
 the details that made the incident sad4
 ,it is the story that attempts to put  
the reader into the very reality of the 

pain and sorrow of every human life4    
,sometimes it makes him cry1 sometimes  
it makes him shudder1 and sometimes it  
disgusts him1 but it always shows him   
misfortune as it really is4 ,it looks   
down behind the outward actions and     
words into the hearts of its actors and 
shows us motives and feelings rather    
than facts4 ,but just as soon as any    
attempt at pathos becomes evident1 the  
story loses its effectiveness4 ,its only
 means are clear perception and absolute
 truthfulness4 ,here is an example of a 
pathetic human interest story taken from
 a daily paper3                 ,rissa  
,sachs' child mind yesterday            
evolved a tragic answer to the question1
                 ,what shall be done    
with the children of                    
divorced parents8                       
,she took her life4                     
,rissa was #ad years old4 ,the divorce  
decree that robbed her of a home was    
less                than a week old4 ,it
 was granted to her                     

mother1 ,mrs4 ,mellisa ,sachs1 by ,judge
                     ,brentano last     
,saturday4                              
,when the divorce case was called for   
trial ,rissa found that she would be    
compelled to testify4 ,reluctantly she  
corroborated her mother's story that her
                 father1 ,benjamin      
,sachs1 had struck ,mrs4                
,sachs4 ,it was largely due to this     
testimony that the decree was granted   
and                the custody of the   
child awarded to ,mrs4                  
,sachs4                                 
,then the troubles of the girl began in 
real earnest4 ,she loved her mother     
dearly4               ,but her father1  
who had been a companion                
to her as well as a parent1 was equally 
dear to her4                            
,both parents pleaded with her4 ,mrs4   
,sachs told ,rissa she could not live   
without her4 ,the father told the girl1 
in                a conversation in a   
downtown hotel several                  

days ago1 that he would disown her      
unless                she went to live  
with him4                               
,every hour increased the perplexities  
of               the situation for the  
child4 ,she could not                   
decide to give up either of her parents 
for fear of offending the other4 ,so she
                  sacrificed her own    
life and gave up both4                  
,thursday evening1 on returning from    
school to the ,sachs home at #debi      
,racine                  avenue1 ,rissa 
talked long and earnestly               
with her mother4 ,then she retired to   
her                 room1 turned on the 
gas and1 clothed1 lay                   
down upon her bed to await death and    
relief from troubles that have driven   
older heads to despair4                 
,at the inquest yesterday afternoon the 
grief-stricken mother told the story of 
her daughter's difficulties4 ,she said  
that               ,rissa had declared  
she could not live if                   

compelled to give up either of her      
parents1 but added that she never had   
believed it4--,chicago ,record-,herald4 
,this is a pathetic human interest story
 in that it attempts to give the human  
significance of an incident which in    
itself would have little news value4    
,perhaps1 in the matter of words1 there 
is a slight straining for pathos4 ,the  
form1 it will be noted1 is decidedly    
different from that of a news story on  
the same incident and1 although the     
timeliness is given in the first line1  
there is no attempt to present the gist 
of the story in a formal lead4 ,the     
source of the news is indicated in the  
last paragraph4   #b4 ,humorous         
,story4--,another kind of human interest
 story is the humorous story4 ,its      
humor1 like the pathos of a pathetic    
story1 does not come from an attempt to 
be funny1 but from the truthful         
presentation of a humorous incident1    
from the incongruity and ludicrousness  
of the incident itself4 ,the writer     

tries to see what elements in a given   
incident made him laugh and then        
portrays them so clearly and truthfully 
that his readers cannot help laughing   
with him4 ,the subject may be the most  
trivial thing in the world1 not worth a 
line as a news story1 and yet it may be 
told in such a way that it is worth a   
half-column write-up that will stand out
 as the gem of the whole edition4 ,but  
after all the effectiveness depends upon
 the humor in the original subject and  
the truthfulness of the telling4 ,the   
following humorous human interest story1
 which occupied a place on the front    
page1 was built up out of an incident   
almost devoid of news value3            
,one of ,johnnie ,wilt's original ideas 
for entertaining his twin sister        
,charlotte is to build a big bonfire on 
the floor of their playroom4            
,johnnie1 who is #d years old1 carried  
his               plan into execution at
 the ,wilt home1 #bdgd                  
,lake ,view avenue1 for the first time  

yesterday afternoon1 with results that  
made a lasting impression upon his mind 
and the finishings of the interior of   
the                house4               
,the thing was suggested to him by a    
bonfire he saw a man build in the       
street4                ,charlotte hadn't
 seen the other fire4 ,for              
some reason ,charlotte's feminine mind  
refused to understand just what the fire
                 was like4              
,consequently nothing remained for      
,johnnie to do but build a fire of his  
own4               ,he piled all of the 
newspapers and                          
playthings that could be found in the   
middle of the room and then applied a   
match4                                  
,when the flames leaped to the ceiling1 
however1 and a cloud of smoke filled the
                 room1 ,johnnie began to
 doubt the wisdom of               the  
move4 ,while ,charlotte ran to tell a   
maid he retreated to that haven of      
youthful fugitives--the space beneath a 

couch4                                  
,the frightened maid summoned the fire  
engines and the fire was soon           
extinguished4 ,but ,mrs4 ,wilt          
discovered                   that       
,johnnie had disappeared4 ,she          
telephoned to ,charles ,t4 ,wilt1       
president                 of the trunk  
company that bears his name1            
and half hysterically told of the fire  
and               the disappearance of  
,johnnie4                               
,just then there was a scrambling sound 
from beneath the couch4 ,johnnie1       
looking                 as serious as a 
#d-year-old face can look1              
walked out4                             
,mrs4 ,wilt seized him and1 to an       
accompaniment of ,i-won't-do-it-agains1 
crushed him to her bosom4 ,last reports 
from the ,wilt home were that ,johnnie  
had                 not yet been        
punished for his                        
deed4--,chicago ,record-,herald4        
,the student will notice how all the    

facts of the story and the answers to   
the reader's questions are worked in    
here and there1 how the content of a    
news story lead is scattered throughout 
the entire account4   #c4 ,writing the  
,human ,interest ,story4--,it is one    
thing to be able to distinguish material
 for a human interest story and another 
to be able to write the story4 ,the     
whole effectiveness of the story1 as we 
have seen1 depends upon the way it is   
written4 ,many a poorly written1        
ungrammatical news story is printed     
simply because it contains facts that   
are of interest1 regardless of the way  
in which they are presented4 ,but never 
is a poorly written human interest story
 printed2 simply because the facts in it
 have little interest themselves and the
 story's usefulness depends entirely    
upon the presentation of the facts4     
,hence1 the human interest story1 more  
than any other newspaper story1 must be 
well written4 ,and yet there are no     
rules to assist in the writing of such a

 story4 ,in fact1 its very nature       
depends upon originality and newness in 
form and treatment4  ,in the first      
place1 we cannot fall back upon the     
conventional lead for a beginning1      
because a lead would be out of place4   
,as we have said before1 the human      
interest story does not begin with a    
lead for the reason that it has no      
striking news content to present in the 
lead4 ,in many cases the whole story    
depends upon cleverly arranged suspense2
 if the content is given in a lead at   
the beginning suspense is of course     
impossible4 ,the human interest story   
has no more need of a lead than does a  
short story--in some ways a human       
interest story is very much like a short
 story--and a short story that gives its
 climax in the first paragraph would    
hardly be written or read4 ,but1 just   
like the short story1 a human interest  
story must begin in an attractive way4  
,in the study of short story writing    
almost half of the study is devoted to  

learning how to begin the story1 on the 
theory that the reader is some sort of a
 fugitive animal that must be lassoed by
 an attractive and interesting          
beginning4 ,the theory is of course a   
true one and it holds good in the case  
of human interest stories4  ,but no     
rules can be laid down to govern the    
beginning of human interest or short    
stories4 ,each story must begin in its  
own way--and each must begin in a       
different way4 ,some writers of short   
stories begin with dialogue1 others with
 a clean-cut witticism1 others with     
attractive explanation or description1  
others with a clever apology4 ,the list 
is endless4 ,this endless list is ready 
for the reporter who is trying to write 
human interest stories4 ,but the        
choosing must be his own4 ,he must      
select the beginning that seems best    
adapted to his story4 ,as an inspiration
 to reporters who are trying to write   
human interest stories1 a few beginnings
 clipped from daily papers are given    

here4 ,some are good and some are bad2  
the goodness or badness in each case    
depends upon individual taste4 ,they can
 hardly be classified in more than a    
general way for originality is opposed  
to all classifications4 ,they are merely
 suggestions4  ,a striking quotation or 
a bit of apt dialogue is commonly used  
to attract attention to a story4 ,here  
are some examples3                      
,burglars1 whispered ,mrs4 ,vermilye to 
herself and she took another furtive    
peek               out of the windows of
 her rooms on the                  sixth
 floor of the1 etc4                     
,speaking of peanuts1 observed the man  
with the red whiskers1 they ain't the   
only thing in the world what is small4  
,etc4                                   
,ales1 ,wines1 ,liquors and ,cigars6    
,you                see this sign in the
 windows of every                       
corner life-saving station4 ,but what   
would you say if you saw it blazing over
                the entrance to the     

,colony ,club1 that                     
rendezvous for the little and big       
sisters               of the rich at    
,madison avenue and                     
,thirtieth street8 ,etc4                
----------------------------------------
--              ,,wanted--,bright       
educated lady as secretary              
to business man touring northwest states
                and ,alaska3 give       
reference1 ability2 age1                
description4 ,address ,e-#fdj1 care     
,bee4                                   
7#g7-fhj #aix4                          
----------------------------------------
--                ,the above innocent   
appearing want ad in               ,the 
,bee1 although alluring in its          
prospects to a young woman desiring a   
summer vacation1 is the principal factor
                in the arrest of one ,m4
 ,w4 ,williams1 etc4   ,a well-written  
first sentence in a human interest story
 often purports to tell the whole story1
 like a news story lead1 and really     

tells only enough to make you want to   
read further4 ,here are a few examples3 
,his son's suspicions and a can opener  
convinced ,andrew ,sherrer last         
,saturday                  that he had  
been fleeced out of #ejj by             
two clever manipulators of an ancient   
get-something-for-nothing swindle4 ,so  
strong was the victim's confidence1 etc4
                   ,there's a stubborn1 
unlaid ghost1 a                   gnome1
 a goblin1 a swart fairy at the         
least1 who has settled down for the     
winter in a perfectly respectable cellar
                over in ,brooklyn and   
whiles away the                         
dismal hours of the night by chopping   
spectral cordwood with a phantom axe4   
,instead of going to board with ,mrs4   
,pepper or another medium and being of  
some use in the world and having a      
pleasant1 dim-lighted cabinet all its   
own1 this unhappy ghost--or ghostess--is
                pestering ,marciana     
,rose of #adif ,bergen                  

street1 who owns the cellar and the     
house               over it--over both  
the ghost and the                       
cellar4 ,etc4                           
,the gowk who calls up #cgcb ,rector    
today               will get a splinter 
in his finger if he                     
scratches his head4 ,nothing doing with 
#cgcb ,rector4 ,from early morn till    
dewy                  eve ,mr4 ,fish1   
,mr4 ,c4 ,horse1 ,mr4 ,bass1 ,mr4       
,skate and other inmates of the aquarium
                 will be inaccessible by
 'phone4 ,etc4                          
,under all the saffron banners and the  
sprawling dragons clawing at red suns   
over the roofs of ,chinatown yesterday  
there was a tension of unrest and of    
speculation4 ,it all had to do with the 
luncheon to be given to his ,imperial   
,highness ,prince ,tsai ,tao and the    
members                of his staff at  
the ,tuxedo ,restaurant1 #b             
,doyers street1 at noon to-morrow4 ,etc4
                     ,man and wife1     

sitting side by side as                 
pupils1 was the interesting spectacle   
which provided the feature of the       
elementary night school opening last    
night4 ,etc4                            
,two young ,germans of ,berlin1 neither 
quite #ah years of age1 had a perfectly 
uncorking time aboard the ,white ,star  
liner ,majestic1 in yesterday4 ,they    
were                 favorites with the 
smoke-room stewards4                    
,they learned later that man is born    
unto                trouble as the corks
 fly upward4 ,etc4                      
,it was a long black overcoat with a    
velvet collar1 big cuffed sleeves1 and  
broad of shoulder1 and looked decidedly 
warm and comfy4 ,it stood in one of the 
large display windows of ----1 and      
covered the deficiencies of a waxy      
dummy1               who stared in a    
surprised sort of manner                
out into the street and appeared to be  
looking at nothing4 ,etc4               
,the bellboys put him up to it and then 

,marcus caused a lot of trouble4 ,marcus
 is               a parrot who has been 
spending the winter               in one
 of the large ,broadway hotels4 ,etc4   
,lame1 old1 but uncomplaining1          
remembering only his joy when a visitor 
came to him1 and forgetting to be bitter
                because of the wrongs   
done him1 meeting                 his   
rescuer with a wag of the tail meant    
to be joyful1 a ,st4 ,bernard dog set an
                  example1 etc4         
,some human interest stories begin1 and 
effectively1 too1 with a direct personal
 appeal to the reader2 thus3            
,if you've never seen anybody laugh with
               his hands1 you should    
have eased yourself               up    
against a railing at the ,barnum and    
,bailey circus in ,madison ,square      
,garden                  yesterday      
afternoon and watched a band of         
#bej deaf mute youngsters1 all bedecked 
in               their bestest1         
signalling all over the                 

,garden4 ,etc4                          
,if you've ever sat in the enemy's camp 
when the ,blue eleven lunged its last   
yard               for a touchdown and  
had your hair ruffled               by  
the roar that swept across the          
gridiron1 you can guess how #a1ejj ,yale
                  men yelled at the     
,waldorf last night for                 
,bill ,taft of '#gh4 ,etc4              
,a question is often used at the        
beginning of a human interest story3    
,a near-suicide or an accident4 ,which8 
,keeper ,bean is somewhat puzzled to say
                  which1 but it is quite
 certain it will                  not be
 tried again4 ,at least1 ,keeper ,bean  
does not think it will4                 
,but1 it was a sad1 sad ,sunday for the 
little white-faced monkey4 ,for hours he
                 lay as dead1 etc4      
,many of these stories1 animal or       
otherwise1 begin with a name3           
,long ,tom1 a ,brahma rooster that had  
been the bad inmate of ,jacob ,meister's

                farm at ,west           
,meyersville1 ,n4 ,j41 for              
three years1 paid the penalty of his    
crimes ,christmas morning when he was   
beheaded after his owner had condemned  
him to death4 ,bad in life1 he was good 
in               a potpie that day1 etc4
                     ,the beginning of a
 human interest story is always the most
 important part2 just like a news story1
 it must attract attention with its     
first line4 ,in the same way1 a good    
beginning is something more than half   
done4 ,but here the similarity between  
the two ends4 ,the news story1 after the
 lead is written1 may slump in technique
 so that the end is almost devoid of    
interest2 the human interest story1 on  
the other hand1 must keep up its        
standard of excellence to the very last 
sentence and the last line must have as 
much snap as the first4 ,it is never in 
danger of losing its last paragraph and 
so it may be more rounded and complete2 
it must follow a definite plan to the   

very end and then stop4 ,in this it is  
like the short story1 although it seldom
 has a plot4 ,there are no rules to help
 us in writing any part of the human    
interest story4 ,each attempt has a     
different purpose and must be done in a 
different way4 ,yet the reporter must   
know before he begins just exactly how  
he is going to work out the whole story4
 ,he must plan it as carefully as a     
short story4 ,a few minutes of careful  
thought before he begins to write are   
better than much reworking and          
alteration after the thing is done4     
,this applies to all newspaper writing4 
,much of the effectiveness of the human 
interest story depends upon the         
reporter's style4 ,when we try to write 
human interest stories we are no longer 
interested in facts1 as much as in      
words4 ,our readers are not following us
 to be informed1 but to be entertained4 
,and we can please them only by our     
style and the fineness of our           
perception4 ,although we have been told 

to write news stories in the common     
every-day words of conversation1 we are 
not so limited in the human interest    
story4 ,the elegance of our style       
depends very largely upon the size of   
our vocabulary1 and elegance is not out 
of place in this kind of story4         
,although we have been told to use      
dialogue sparingly in news stories1 our 
human interest story may be composed    
entirely of dialogue4 ,in fact1 we are  
hampered by no restrictions except the  
restrictions of ,english grammar and    
literary composition4 ,although we have 
sought simplicity of expression before1 
we may now strive for subtlety and for  
effect2 we may write suggestively and   
even obscurely4 ,we are dealing with the
 only part of the newspaper that makes  
any effort toward literary excellence   
and only our originality and cleverness 
can guide us4  ,it is hardly necessary  
to repeat that one cannot write human   
interest stories in a cynical tone4     
,they are a reaction against cynicism4  

,they require one to feel keenly1 as a  
human being1 and to write               
sympathetically1 as a human being4 ,the 
reporter must see behind the facts and  
get the personal side of the matter--and
 feel it4 ,then he must tell the story  
just as he sees and feels it4 ,absolute 
truthfulness in the telling is as       
necessary as keen perception in the     
seeing4 ,humor must be sought through   
the simple1 truthful presentation of an 
incongruous or humorous idea or         
situation2 pathos must be sought by the 
truthful presentation of a pathetic     
picture4 ,just as soon as the reporter  
tries to be funny or to be pathetic he  
fails1 for the reader is not looking to 
the reporter for fun or pathos--but to  
the story that the reporter is telling4 
,that is1 the story must be written     
objectively2 the writer must forget     
himself in his attempt to impress the   
story upon his reader's mind4 ,if the   
story itself is fundamentally humorous  
or sad and the story is clearly and     

truthfully told with all the details    
that make it humorous or sad1 it cannot 
help being effective4  ,the best way to 
learn how to write human interest       
stories is to study human interest      
stories4 ,most papers print them        
nowadays--they can easily be            
distinguished by their lack of news     
value1 and of a lead--and the finest    
example is just as likely to crop out in
 a little weekly as in a metropolitan   
daily4   #d4 ,the ,animal ,story4--,the 
examples printed earlier in this chapter
 are specimens of the truest type of    
human interest story because they deal  
with human beings4 ,they derive their   
joy or sorrow from things that happen to
 men and women4 ,but all the sketches   
that are classed as human interest      
stories are not so carefully confined to
 the limits of the title4 ,from the     
original human interest story the type  
has grown until it includes many other  
things--almost any piece of copy that   
has no intrinsic news value4 ,every     

possible subject that may suit itself to
 a pathetic or humorous treatment and   
thus be interesting1 although it has no 
news value1 is roughly classed as a     
human interest story4  ,one of these    
outgrowths of the true human interest   
sketch is the animal story4 ,in the     
large cities1 the zoo and the parks have
 become a fruitful source of news4      
,anything interesting that may happen to
 the monkeys1 or the elephant1 the      
sparrows or the squirrels in the parks1 
horses or dogs in the street1 is used as
 the excuse for a human interest story4 
,sometimes the purpose is pathos and    
sometimes it is humor1 but1 whatever it 
may be1 if it is clever and interesting 
it gets its place in the paper1 a place 
entirely out of proportion to its true  
news value4 ,the results sometimes verge
 very close upon nature faking1 but     
after all they are only the result of   
the up-lift idea of looking at all life 
in a more sympathetic way4 ,several of  
the beginnings quoted earlier in this   

chapter belong to animal stories and the
 following is a complete one3           
,smithy ,kain was only a mongrel1       
horsemen will say1 but in his equine    
heart there coursed the blood of        
thoroughbreds4                          
,smithy ,kain was killed yesterday      
afternoon1 shot through the head1 while 
thousands of ,wisconsin fair patrons    
looked               on in shuddering   
sympathy4                               
,it was a tragedy of the track4         
,owners1 trainers and drivers always are
                quick to declare that no
 greater courage                 is     
known than that possessed and           
demonstrated by race horses in          
hard-fought               battles on the
 turf1 and the truth of this            
was never more strikingly brought home  
than in the death of ,smithy ,kain      
yesterday4                              
,with a left hind foot snapped at the   
fetlock1 ,smithy ,kain raced around the 
track1 his valiant spirit and           

unfaltering                gameness     
keeping him up until he had             
completed the course in unwavering      
pursuit               of the flying     
horses in front4 ,every jump            
meant intense agony1 but he would not   
quit4 ,not until near the finish did his
                  strength give out1 and
 not until then was                the  
pitiable truth discovered4 ,men used to 
exhibitions of gameness in tests that   
try                the soul looked on in
 mute admiration as                     
,smithy ,kain shivered and stumbled from
 the               pain that rapidly    
sapped his life4 ,women                 
cried openly4                           
,two shots from the pistol of a park    
policeman ended the life and sufferings 
of               the horse that was only
 a mongrel1 but                   who1  
in his equine way1 was a thoroughbred   
of thoroughbreds4                       
,smithy ,kain gave to his master the    
best                that his animal mind

 and soul possessed4                 ,no
 better memorial can be written even of 
man himself4                            
#e4 ,the ,special ,feature ,story4--,one
 step beyond the animal story is the    
special feature story4 ,this kind of    
story is classed with the human interest
 story because it has no news value and 
because its only purpose is to entertain
 or to inform in a general way2 and yet 
it rarely contains any human interest4  
,there is no space in this book for a   
complete discussion of the special      
feature story--an entire volume might be
 devoted to the subject--but this form  
of story is often seen in the news      
columns of the daily papers and deserves
 a mention here4 ,ordinarily the special
 feature story is not written by        
reporters1 although there is no reason  
why reporters should not use in this way
 many of the facts that come to them4   
,the story usually comes from outside   
the newspaper office1 from a            
contributor1 from a syndicate1 or from  

some other daily1 weekly1 or monthly    
publication2 however a word or two here 
may suggest to the reporter the         
possibility of adding to his usefulness 
by writing such stories for his paper4  
,the special feature story may be almost
 anything4 ,the name is used to         
designate timely magazine articles1     
timely write-ups for the ,sunday        
edition1 and timely squibs for the      
columns of the daily papers4 ,the last  
use is the one that interests us and it 
interests us because it is very closely 
related to the human interest story4    
,the editors usually call it a feature  
story because it is worth printing in   
spite of the fact that it has no news   
value4 ,in this and in its timeliness it
 is like the human interest story4 ,but 
it is not written for humor or pathos2  
its purpose is to entertain the reader4 
,its method is largely expository and   
its style may be anything2 it may       
explain or it may simply comment in a   
witty way4 ,the utilizing of otherwise  

useless by-products of the news is its  
purpose--in this it is very much like   
the animal story4  ,subjects for feature
 stories may come from anywhere and may 
be almost anything4 ,a very common kind 
of feature story is the weather story   
that many newspapers print every day4   
,the weather is taken as the excuse for 
two or three stickfuls of print which   
explain and comment upon weather        
conditions1 past1 present and future4   
,growing out of this1 there is the      
season story which deals with any       
subject that the season may suggest3 the
 closing of ,coney ,island1 the spring  
styles in men's hats1 the first fur     
overcoat1 ,commencement presents1       
,easter eggs--anything in season4       
,further removed from the human interest
 story is the timely write-up which has 
no other purpose than to explain1 in a  
more or less serious or sensible way1   
any interesting subject that comes to   
hand4 ,the story purports not only to   
entertain but to inform as well4 ,it has

 no news value and yet it is usually    
timely4 ,here are a few subjects        
selected at random from the daily       
papers3 ,he'll pay no tax on cake1      
explaining in a humorous way the customs
 methods that held up the importation of
 an ,italian ,christmas cake2 ,clearing 
,house for ,brains1 a description of the
 new employment bureau of the ,princeton
 ,club of ,new ,york2 ,ideal man picked 
by the ,barnard girl1 a humorous resum  
of some ,barnard ,college class         
statistics2 ,winning a ,varsity ,letter1
 telling what a varsity letter stands   
for1 how it is won1 and what the customs
 of the various colleges in regard to   
letters are2 ,jerry ,moore raises a     
record corn crop1 telling how a         
fifteen-year-old boy won prizes with a  
little patch of corn4  ,these are just a
 few suggestions to open up to the      
reporter the vast field for special     
feature articles4 ,to be sure1 many of  
them are submitted by outsiders1 but    
there is no reason why a reporter should

 not write these stories as well as     
human interest stories for his paper1   
since he is in the best position to get 
the material4 ,whenever a special       
feature story becomes too large for the 
daily edition there is always a         
possibility of selling it to the ,sunday
 section or to a monthly magazine4 ,the 
writing of special feature stories is   
directly in line with the reporter's    
work1 because the ordinary method of    
gathering facts for a feature article   
and arranging them in an interesting1   
newsy way follows closely the method by 
which a reporter covers and writes a    
news story4 ,hence almost without       
exception the most successful magazine  
feature writers are1 or have been1      
newspaper reporters4     ,,xvi          
,,dramatic ,,reporting   ,dramatic      
reporting is one of the most misused of 
the newspaper reporter's activities4 ,to
 many reporters1 as well as to their    
editors1 it is just an easy way of      
getting free admission to the theater in

 return for a half column of copy4      
,hence it is treated in an unjustly     
trivial way2 the reports of theatrical  
productions are printed most often as   
space fillers or as a small             
advertisement in return for free        
tickets4 ,but after all the work is an  
important one and should be done only by
 skillful and expert hands4 ,dramatic   
reporting is included in this book1 not 
because it is thought possible to give  
the subject an adequate treatment1 but  
because theatrical reporting is a branch
 of the newspaper trade that may fall to
 the hands of the youngest reporter4 ,in
 mere justice to the stage the reporter 
who writes up a play should know        
something about the real significance of
 what he is doing4 ,it is much easier to
 tell the beginner what not to do than  
to tell him exactly what to do4 ,the    
faults in dramatic reporting are far    
more evident than the virtues2 and yet  
there are some positive things that may 
be said on the subject4  ,the first     

important question in the whole matter  
is ,who does dramatic reporting8 ,one   
would like to answer1 ,skilled critics  
of broad knowledge and experience4 ,but 
unfortunately almost anybody does       
it--any one about the office who is     
willing to give up his evening to go to 
the theater4 ,to be sure1 many          
metropolitan papers employ skilled      
critics to write their dramatic copy and
 run the theatrical news over the       
critic's name4 ,some editors of smaller 
papers have the decency to do the work  
themselves4 ,but in most cases the work 
is given to an ordinary reporter--and   
not infrequently to the greenest        
reporter on the staff4 ,worse than that1
 the work is seldom given to the same   
reporter continuously1 but is passed    
around among all the members of the     
staff4 ,even a green cub may learn by   
experience how to report plays1 but if  
the work falls to him only once a month 
his training is very meager4 ,it would  
seem in these days of much discussion of

 the theater that editors would realize 
the power which they have over the stage
 through their favorable or unfavorable 
criticism4 ,but they do not1 perhaps    
because they know little about the      
stage1 and the appeal must be made to   
their reporters4 ,every reporter1 except
 upon the largest papers1 has the       
opportunity sooner or later to give his 
opinion on a play4 ,in anticipation of  
that opportunity these few words of     
advice are offered4  ,the first         
requisite in dramatic criticism is a    
background of knowledge of the drama and
 the stage4 ,to children1 and to some   
grown people1 too1 the stage is a little
 dream world of absolute realities4     
,their imaginations turn the picture    
that is placed before them into real1   
throbbing life4 ,they do not see the    
unreality of the art1 the suggestive    
effects1 the flimsy delusions2 to them  
the play is real life1 the stage is a   
real drawing room or a real wood1 and   
they cannot conceive of the actors      

existing outside their parts4 ,but the  
critic must look deeper2 he must        
understand the machinery that produces  
the effects and he must weigh the       
success of the effects4 ,he must get    
behind the play and see the actors      
outside the cast and the stage without  
its scenery2 the dramatic art must be to
 him a highly technical profession4 ,for
 this reason1 he must know something    
about dramatic technique2 he must have  
some background of knowledge4 ,he must  
study the theater from every point of   
view1 from an orchestra seat1 from      
behind the scenes1 from a peekhole in   
the playwright's study1 and from the    
pages of stage history4 ,all the tricks 
and effects must be evident to him4 ,the
 only thing that will teach him this is 
constant1 intelligent theater-going4 ,he
 must be familiar with all of the plays 
of the season and with all of the       
prominent plays of all seasons4 ,a child
 cannot criticize the first play that he
 sees because he has nothing with which 

to compare it4 ,in the same way a       
reporter cannot justly judge any kind of
 play until he has seen another of the  
same kind with which to compare it4     
,hence he must know many plays and must 
know something about the history of the 
theater4 ,dramatic criticism is relative
 and the critic must have a basis for   
his comparison4  ,this background of    
knowledge may seem a difficult thing to 
acquire4 ,it is2 and it can best be     
acquired by watching many plays with an 
eye for the technique of the art4 ,the  
critic may judge a play from its effect 
upon him1 but his judgment will be      
superficial4 ,he must try to see what   
the playwright is trying to do1 how well
 he succeeds1 what tricks he employs4   
,he must judge the work of the stage    
carpenter and of the costumer4 ,he must 
try to realize what problem the leading 
lady has to face and how well she solves
 it4 ,the same carefulness of judgment  
must be given to each member of the     
cast4 ,only when the critic is able to  

see past the footlights and to          
understand the technique of the art1 can
 he judge intelligently4 ,and as his    
judgment can be at best only relative1  
he must have a background of many plays 
and much stage knowledge upon which to  
base his estimate of any one production4
  ,the ideal criticism1 based upon this 
background of knowledge1 would be       
absolutely fair and unprejudiced4 ,but  
unfortunately this ideal cannot always  
be followed4 ,much dramatic criticism is
 colored by the policy of the paper that
 prints it4 ,very few critics are so    
fortunate as to be able to say exactly  
what they think about a play2 they must 
say what the editor wants them to say4  
,some theatrical copy1 especially       
write-ups of vaudeville shows1 is paid  
for and must contain nothing but praise4
 ,sometimes it is necessary to praise   
the poorest production simply because   
the paper is receiving so much a column 
for the praise4 ,in many other cases1   
when the copy is not paid for1 the      

editor often considers it only fair to  
give the production a little puff in    
return for the free press tickets4 ,and 
so a large share of any reporter's      
dramatic criticism is reduced to        
selecting things that he can praise4    
,yet1 one cannot praise in a way that is
 too evident2 he cannot simply say ,the 
play was good2 the staging was good2 the
 acting was good2 in fact1 everything   
was good4 ,he must praise more cleverly 
and give his copy the appearance of     
honest criticism4 ,perhaps the principle
 is wrong1 but nevertheless it exists   
and happy is the dramatic critic whose  
paper allows him to say exactly what he 
thinks4 ,however1 whether one may say   
what he thinks or must say what his     
editor wants him to say1 he must have as
 his background a thorough knowledge of 
the stage upon which he may base a      
comparison or a contrast and with which 
he may make intelligent statements4 ,the
 following illustrates what may be done 
with a paid report of a mediocre        

vaudeville show in which every act must 
be praised--the report was written on   
,monday of a week's run and is intended 
to induce people to see the show3       
,this week's bill at ---- ,vaudeville   
,theatre is dashed onto the boards by a 
very exciting act1 ,the ,flying         
,martins1                whose thrilling
 tricks put the audience                
in a proper state of mind for the       
sparkling and laughable program that    
follows--a state of mind that keeps its 
high pitch without a break or let-down  
to               the very end of ,dr4   
,herman's                               
side-splitting electrical pranks4 ,this 
man1 who has truly tamed electricity1   
does many remarkable things with his big
                coils and high voltage  
currents and plays               many   
extremely funny tricks upon his row     
of unsuspecting-handsome young          
volunteers4                             
,the musical little playlet1 ,the ,barn 
,dance1 is very jokingly carried off by 

its ,jack-of-all-,trades1 ,zeke1 the    
constable1 and its pretty little        
ensemble               song1 ,i'll      
,build a ,nest for ,you4 ,many a        
young husband can get pointers on home  
rule from ,baseballitis2 it is a mighty 
good presentation of the ,my ,hero theme
                in actual life4 ,hilda  
,hawthorne gives us                some 
high-class ventriloquism with a good    
puppet song that is truly wonderful4    
,there's a lot of good music1 very good 
music in the sketch executed by ,the    
,three ,vagrants1 as well as a lot of   
fun2               one can hardly       
realize what an amount of               
melody an old accordion contains4       
,audrey                ,pringle and     
,george ,whiting have a hit             
that is sparkling with quick changes    
from               ,irish love songs to 
bull frog croaking                  with
 ,italian variations4                   
,for the purpose of a more complete     
study of the subject1 however1 we shall 

consider only dramatic criticism that is
 not restricted by editorial dictum or  
by the requirements of paid-space4 ,that
 is1 we shall imagine that we can praise
 or condemn or say anything we please   
concerning the dramatic production which
 we are to report4 ,when we look at the 
subject in this way there are some      
positive things that may be said about  
theatrical reporting1 but there are many
 more negative rules1 that may be       
reduced to mere ,don'ts4 ,the same      
principles hold good in dramatic        
criticism that is hampered by policy1   
but to a less degree4  ,in the first    
place1 the one thing that a dramatic    
reporter must have when he begins to    
write his copy after the performance is 
some positive idea about the play1 some 
definite criticism1 upon which to base  
his whole report4 ,it is impossible to  
write a coherent report from chance     
jottings and to confine the report to   
saying ,this was good2 that was bad1 the
 other was mediocre4 ,the critic must   

have a positive central idea upon which 
to hang his criticism4 ,this central    
idea plays the same part in his report  
as the feature in a news story--it is   
the feature of his report which he      
brings into the first sentence1 to which
 he attaches every item1 and with which 
he ends his report4 ,to secure this     
idea1 the reporter must watch the play  
closely with the purpose of             
crystallizing his judgment in a single  
conception1 thought1 or impression4     
,sometimes this impression comes as an  
inspiration1 sometimes it is the result 
of hard thought during or after the     
play4 ,it may be concerned with the     
theme of the play1 the playwright's     
work1 the lines1 the staging1 the       
effects1 the tricks1 the acting as a    
whole1 the acting of single persons1 the
 music1 the dancing1 the                
costumes--anything connected with the   
production--but the idea must be big    
enough to carry the entire report and to
 be the gist of what the critic has to  

say about the play4 ,it must be his     
complete1 concise opinion of the        
performance4  ,when1 as the critic      
watches the play1 some idea comes to him
 for his report he should jot it down4  
,as the play progresses he should       
develop this idea and watch for details 
that carry it out4 ,there is no reason  
to be ashamed of taking notes in the    
theater and the notes will prove very   
useful at the office afterward4 ,perhaps
 after the play is over the critic finds
 that his jottings contain another idea 
that is of greater importance than the  
first2 then he may incorporate the      
second into the first or discard the    
first altogether4 ,even after one has   
crystallized his judgment into a concise
 opinion he must elaborate and          
illustrate it and the program of the    
play is always of value in enabling one 
to refer definitely to the individual   
actors1 characters1 and other persons1  
by name4 ,but1 however complete the     
final judgment and the notes may be1 it 

is always well to write the report      
immediately4 ,when one leaves the       
theater his mind is teeming with things 
to say about the play1 thousands of     
them1 but after a night's sleep it is   
doubtful if a single full-grown idea    
will remain and the jottings will be    
absolutely lifeless and unsuggestive4   
,this is the positive instruction that  
may be given to young dramatic critics4 
,it is so important and is unknown to so
 many young theatrical reporters1 that  
it may be well to sum it up again4 ,a   
dramatic criticism must be coherent2 it 
must be unified4 ,it must be the        
embodiment of a single idea about the   
play and every detail in the report must
 be attached to that idea4 ,it is not   
sufficient to state the idea in a clever
 way2 it must be expanded and elaborated
 with examples and reasons and must show
 careful thought4 ,it is well to outline
 the report before it is written and to 
arrange a logical sequence of thought so
 that the result may be well-rounded and

 coherent4  ,the following is an example
 of a dramatic criticism in which this  
course is followed4 ,it neither praises 
nor condemns but it points out gently   
wherein the play is strong or weak--and 
every sentence is attached to one       
central idea3                           
,a ,,polite ,,little ,,play4            
,never raise your voice1 my dear        
,gerald4               ,that is the only
 thing left to                          
distinguish us from the lower classes4  
,lord ,wynlea in ,the ,best ,people4    
,the new comedy at the ,lyric ,theatre  
is                written in accordance 
with ,lord ,wynlea's                    
dictum quoted above4 ,it is mannerly1   
well               poised1 ingratiating 
and deft4 ,as a minor                   
effort in the high comedy style it is   
welcome1 because it affords a respite   
from the plays with a punch and the     
prevalent boisterous specimens of the   
work of yeomen who go at the art of     
dramatic writing with main strength4    

,the ,best ,people is by ,frederick     
,lonsdale and ,frank ,curzen1 who       
manifestly               know some of   
them4 ,it was done at                   
,wyndham's ,theatre in ,london1 and we  
think               that in a           
comfortable ,english playhouse1         
with tea between acts and leisurely     
persons with whom to visit in the foyer1
                it would make an        
agreeable matinee4                      
,certainly it is admirably acted here1  
and1              as has been intimated1
 its quiet drollery               and   
its polite maneuvering make it a        
relief4                                 
,whether ,american audiences1 used to   
stronger fare than tea at the theatre1  
will find it sustaining is a question   
that              would seem to be      
answered by the                         
announcement1 just received from the    
,lyric1 that the engagement closes next 
,saturday evening4                      
,the fable relates how the ,honorable   

,mrs4              ,bayle discovered    
that her husband and ,lady              
,ensworth had been flirting with peril  
during her absence in ,egypt1 how she   
blithely threw them much together1 with 
the result that they grew intensely     
weary               of each other1 and  
how at last everybody                   
concerned was happily and sensibly      
reconciled4                             
,the spirit of the piece is sane and    
nice1 the decoration of it whimsical and
              graceful4                 
,miss ,lucille ,watson1 embodying the   
spirit of witty mischief1 gives a very  
fine performance of the part of ,mrs4   
,bayle1 a smart1 good woman1 and ,miss  
,ruth ,shepley is excellent in byplay   
and                 flutter as a silly1 
good woman4                             
,cyril ,scott is graceful and vigorous  
as               a philandering husband1
 ,dallas ,anderson                      
comical as a ,london clubman with a     
keener               relish in life than

 he is willing to                       
betray1 and ,william ,mc,vey wise1      
paternal                and weighty in  
that kind of a part4                    
,the ,best ,people is a pleasant spring 
fillip4                                 
,the first admonition in theatrical     
reporting is ,don't resum the plot or   
tell the story of the play4 ,this is    
almost all that many dramatic reporters 
try to do1 because it is the easiest    
thing to do and requires the least      
thought4 ,but1 after all1 it is usually 
valueless4 ,the story of the play does  
not interest readers who have already   
seen the play and it spoils the         
enjoyment of the play for those who     
intend to see it4 ,the usual purpose of 
any theatrical report is to criticize1  
but a report that simply resums the     
story of the play is not a criticism2   
hence space devoted to the story is     
usually wasted4 ,to be sure1 this       
admonition must be qualified4 ,if the   
development of the critic's judgment of 

the play requires a resum of the story1 
there is then a reason for outlining the
 action4 ,however1 even then1 the       
outline should be very brief4  ,the     
following is a typical example of the   
usual dramatic reporting which is       
satisfied when it has told the story of 
the play4 ,in this1 the first two       
sentences are a very bald attempt to    
repay the manager for his tickets4 ,the 
resum of the story1 given very obviously
 to fill space1 is not of any critical  
value4 ,the only real criticism is at   
the end and is inadequate because the   
praise is given without reason4         
,grace ,george and her small but        
excellent company of artists added one  
more to their long list of successful   
performances last night in the          
production               of ,geraldine  
,bonner's clever comedy of              
modern life1 ,sauce for the ,goose1 at  
the ---- ,theatre4 ,that the moody and  
sparkling ,miss ,george has a good claim
 to               the title of          

,america's leading                      
comedienne1 no one who saw the          
performance last evening could deny4 ,in
                 this piece she is cast 
for the part of                  ,kitty 
,constable1 who is in the third year    
of her married life and living with her 
husband in ,new ,york ,city4 ,mr4       
,constable                 has been     
engaged in writing a book on the        
emancipation of woman and as a result   
has               come to neglect his   
pretty little wife                  and 
seek the companionship of a certain     
woman of great intellect1 ,mrs4         
,alloway1                 who leads him 
on by an affected sympathy              
with his work4 ,he chides his wife for  
her               seeming negligence of 
the culture of her                mind1 
telling her that she lacks grey         
matter4 ,the climax comes when ,mr4     
,constable tries to get away from his   
wife               on the evening of    
their wedding                           

anniversary to dine with ,mrs4 ,alloway4
                  ,kitty tries the      
emancipated woman idea                  
and goes to the opera with another man  
and has dinner with him in his          
apartments4 ,she lets her husband know  
of                her plans and he comes
 to the room in a                 rage4 
,by thus playing first on his           
jealousy and then by ridiculing his     
ideas1 she wins him back to herself4    
,the                company was made up 
of artists and there                was 
not a crude spot in the whole           
performance4 ,the part of ,harry        
,travers1                 the friend of 
,mrs4 ,constable's1 was                 
excellently done by ,frederick ,perry1  
as                 was that of ,mr4     
,constable by ,herbert                  
,percy4 ,probably the most difficult    
character in the play to portray was    
that               of the woman's rights
 woman1 ,mrs4                           
,alloway1 which was most admirably done 

by               ,edith ,wakeman4       
,the word criticism must not lead the   
reporter to think that1 as a critic1 his
 only function is to find fault4 ,to    
criticize may mean to praise as well as 
to condemn4 ,if the critic is not       
restricted by the policy of his paper1  
he should be as willing to praise as to 
condemn1 and vice versa4 ,but whichever 
course he takes he must be ready to     
defend his criticism and to tell why he 
praises or why he condemns4 ,there is   
always a tendency to praise a play in   
return for the free tickets2 this should
 be put aside absolutely4 ,the critic   
owes something to the public as well as 
to the manager4 ,if the play seems to   
him to be bad1 he must say so without   
hesitation and he must tell why it is   
bad4 ,too many really bad plays are     
immensely advertised by a critic's      
undefended statement that they are not  
fit to be seen4 ,had the critic given   
definite reasons for his condemnation1  
his criticism might have accomplished   

its purpose4 ,in the same way it is     
useless to say simply that a play is    
good4 ,its good points must be          
enumerated and the reader must be told  
why it is good4  ,however1 criticism    
must be written with delicacy4 ,if your 
heart tells you to praise1 praise2 if   
your heart tells you to condemn1 condemn
 with care4 ,remember that your         
condemnation may put the play off the   
boards or at least hurt its success1 and
 there must be sufficient reason for    
such radical action4 ,the critic's debt 
to the public is large1 but he owes some
 consideration to the manager4 ,he must 
hesitate before he says anything that   
may ruin the manager's business4        
,critics very often condemn a play for  
trivial reasons2 they feel indisposed1  
perhaps because their dinner has not    
agreed with them1 the play does not fit 
into their mood and they turn in a half 
column of ruinous condemnation4 ,perhaps
 they like a certain kind of            
production--farces1 for instance--and   

systematically vent their ire on every  
tragedy and every musical comedy4 ,they 
do not use perspective2 they do not     
judge the stage as a whole4 ,no matter  
how poor a play is or how much a critic 
dislikes it1 he must consider what the  
stage people are trying to do and judge 
accordingly4 ,in many cases it is not   
the individual play that deserves       
adverse criticism1 but the kind of play4
 ,all of these things must be           
considered2 every dramatic critic must  
have perspective4 ,he must be fair to   
the stage people and to the public2 his 
influence is greater than he may        
imagine4  ,no matter how strong the     
occasion for condemnation may be1 the   
dramatic critic is never justified in   
speaking bitterly4 ,the poor production 
is not a personal offense against him   
nor against the public4 ,it is simply a 
bad or an unworthy attempt and his duty 
is confined to pointing how or why it is
 not worthy4 ,that does not mean that he
 is justified in using bitter1 abusive1 

or even sarcastic language4 ,it is great
 sport to make fun of things and to     
exercise one's wits at some one's else  
expense--it is also easy--but that is   
not dramatic criticism4 ,the public asks
 the critic to tell them calmly and     
fairly1 even coldly1 the reasons for or 
against a production--the reasons why   
they should1 or should not1 spend their 
money to see it--bitter sarcasm         
overreaches the mark4 ,just as soon as a
 critic tries to be personal in his     
remarks on a play he is exceeding his   
prerogative and is open to serious      
criticism himself4  ,the necessary      
attributes of a dramatic reporter1 as we
 have seen1 are3 fairness1 logical      
thinking1 and a background of stage     
knowledge4 ,and of these three1 the     
background is of the greatest           
importance2 it is the stimulus and the  
check for the other two4 ,the more a    
critic can know about every phase of the
 theatrical profession1 contemporary or 
historical1 the better will be his      

criticisms4 ,the more knowledge of the  
stage that his copy shows1 the more     
greedily will his readers look for his  
,theatrical ,news each day4 ,however    
clear his idea of a play may be he      
cannot express it clearly and readably  
without a background of other plays to  
refer to4 ,and1 by the same sign1 a     
wealth of allusions and a quantity of   
theatrical lore will often carry a      
critic past many a play concerning which
 he is unable to form a clear opinion4  
,to develop your ability as a dramatic  
reporter1 watch the theatrical          
criticisms in reputable dailies and     
weeklies and learn from them4     ,,xvii
   ,,style ,,book      ,being a copy of 
the ,style ,book compiled for the       
,course in         ,journalism of the   
,university of ,wisconsin from the style
         books of many newspapers4   #a4
 ,capitalize3      ,all proper nouns3   
,smith1 ,madison1 ,wisconsin4           
,months and days of the week1 but not   
the seasons of the year3 ,april1        

,monday2 but autumn4      ,the first    
word of every quotation1 enumerated     
list1 etc41 following       a colon4    
,the principal words in the titles of   
books1 plays1 lectures1       pictures1 
toasts1 etc41 including the initial a or
 the3 ,the       ,merchant of ,venice1  
,fratres in ,urbe4 ,if a preposition is 
attached to or compounded with the verb 
capitalize the preposition       also3  
,voting ,for the ,right ,man4      ,the 
names of national political bodies3     
,house1 ,senate1 ,congress1 the         
,fifty-first ,congress4      ,the names 
of national officers1 national          
departments1 etc43       ,president1    
,vice ,president1 ,navy ,department1    
,department of ,justice       7but not  
bureau of labor71 ,white ,house1        
,supreme ,court 7and all       courts71 
the ,union1 ,stars and ,stripes1 ,old   
,glory1 ,union ,jack1       ,united     
,states army1 ,declaration of           
,independence1 the 7,u4 ,s47            
,constitution1 ,united ,kingdom1        

,dominion of ,canada4      ,all titles  
preceding a proper noun3 ,president     
,taft1 ,governor-elect       ,wilson1   
ex-,president ,roosevelt1 ,policeman    
,o',connor4      ,the entire names of   
associations1 societies1 leagues1 clubs1
       companies1 roads1 lines1 and     
incorporated bodies generally3 ,mason1  
,odd ,fellow1 ,knights ,templar1 ,grand 
,lodge of ,knights of ,pythias1         
,woman's ,christian ,temperance ,union1 
,wisconsin ,university1 ,first          
,national ,bank1 ,schlitz ,brewing      
,company 7but the ,schlitz brewery71    
,metropolitan ,life ,insurance ,company1
 ,chicago and ,northwestern             
,railway ,company1 the ,association of  
,passenger and ,ticket ,agents of       
the ,northwest1 ,clover ,leaf ,line1    
,rock ,island ,road1 ,chicago ,board    
of ,trade1 ,new ,york ,stock ,exchange  
7but the board of trade and the         
stock exchange74      ,the names of all 
religious denominations1 etc43          
,catholic1       ,protestant1 ,mormon1  

,spiritualist1 ,christian ,science1     
,first       ,methodist ,church 7but a  
,methodist church71 the ,bible1 the     
,koran1       ,christian1 ,vatican1     
,quirinal1 ,satan1 the pronouns of the  
,deity4      ,the names of all political
 parties 7both domestic and foreign73   
,republican1 ,socialism1 ,socialist1    
,democracy1 ,populist1 ,free            
,silverite1 ,labor party1 7but          
anarchist74      ,sections of the       
country3 the ,north1 the ,east1 ,south  
,america2       southern ,europe4       
,nicknames of states and cities3 ,the   
,buckeye ,state1 the ,hub1 the          
,windy ,city4      ,the names of        
sections of a city and branches of a    
river1 etc43 the       ,east ,side1 the 
,north ,branch4      ,the names of      
stocks in the money market3 ,superior   
,copper1 ,fourth       ,avenue          
,elevated4      ,the names of ,french   
streets and places3 ,rue de la ,paix1   
,place de la       ,concorde4           
,names of automobiles3 ,peerless1 the   

,white ,steamer1 ,pierce ,arrow4        
,names of holidays3 ,fourth of ,july1   
,christmas1 ,new ,year's day1           
,thanksgiving day4      ,names of       
military organizations3 ,first          
,wisconsin ,volunteers1                 
,twenty-third ,wisconsin ,regiment1     
,second ,army ,corps1 second            
division ,sixth ,army ,corps1 ,national 
,guard1 ,ohio ,state ,militia1          
,first ,regiment armory1 the militia1   
,grand ,army of the ,republic4      ,the
 names of all races and nationalities   
7except negro73 ,american1              
,french1 ,spanish1 ,chinaman4      ,the 
nicknames of baseball clubs3 the ,white 
,sox1 the ,cubs4      ,miscellaneous3 la
 ,france1 ,irish potatoes1 ,enfield     
rifle1 ,american       ,beauty roses4   
#b4 ,capitalize when following a proper 
noun3 ,bay1 block1 building1 canal1     
cape1 cemetery1 church1 city1 college1  
county1 court 7judicial71 creek1 dam1   
empire1 falls1 gulf1 hall1 high school1 
hospital1 hotel1 house1 island1 isthmus1

 kindergarten1 lake1 mountain1 ocean1   
orchestra1 park1 pass1 peak1 peninsula1 
point1 range1 republic1 river1 square1  
school1 state1 strait1 shoal1 sea1 slip1
 theatre1 university1 valley1 etc43     
,south ,hall1 ,park ,hotel1 ,hayes      
,block1 ,singer ,building1 ,dewey       
,school1 ,south ,division ,high ,school1
 ,superior ,court1 ,new ,york ,theatre1 
,beloit ,college1 ,wisconsin            
,university1 ,capitol ,square4   #c4 ,do
 not capitalize when following a proper 
name3 ,addition1 avenue1 boulevard1     
court 7a short street71 depot1 elevator1
 mine1 place1 station1 stockyards1      
street1 subdivision1 ward1 etc43        
,northwestern depot1 ,pinckney street   
station1 ,third ward1 ,harmony court1   
,amsterdam avenue1 ,broad street1       
,wingra addition1 ,washington boulevard1
 ,winchester place4   #d4 ,capitalize   
when preceding a proper noun3--,all     
titles denoting rank1 occupation1       
relation1 etc4 7do not capitalize them  
when they follow the noun73 alderman1   

ambassador1 archbishop1 bishop1 brother1
 captain1 cardinal1 conductor1          
congressman1 consul1 commissioner1      
councilman1 count1 countess1 czar1      
doctor1 duke1 duchess1 earl1 emperor1   
empress1 engineer1 father1 fireman1     
governor1 her majesty1 his honor1 his   
royal highness1 judge1 mayor1 motorman1 
minister1 officer1 patrolman1 policeman1
 pope1 prince1 princess1 professor1     
queen1 representative1 right reverend1  
senator1 sheriff1 state's attorney1     
sultan3 ,alderman ,john ,smith 7but     
,john ,smith1 alderman71 ,senator ,la   
,follette 7but ,mr4 ,la ,follette1      
senator from ,wisconsin74  ,the same    
rule applies when the following words   
precede a proper noun as part of a name3
 bay1 cape1 city1 college1 county1      
empire1 falls1 gulf1 island1 point1 sea1
 state1 university1 etc43 ,city of ,new 
,york1 ,gulf of ,mexico1 ,university of 
,wisconsin1 ,college of the ,city of    
,new ,york1 ,college of ,physicians and 
,surgeons4   #e4 ,do not capitalize3    

,the names of state bodies1 etc43 the   
senate1 house1 congress1       speaker1 
capitol1 executive mansion1 revised     
statutes4 7,these are       capitalized 
only when they refer to the national    
government3       e4 g41 the capitol at 
,madison1 the ,capitol at ,washington47 
,the names of city boards1 departments1 
buildings1 etc43 boards1       bureaus1 
commissions1 committees1 titles of      
ordinance1 acts1       bills1           
postoffice1 courthouse 7unless preceded 
by proper noun71       city hall1       
almshouse1 poorhouse1 house of          
correction1 county       hospital1 the  
council1 city council1 district1        
precinct3 e4 g41       the fire         
department1 the tax committee4          
,certain other governmental terms3      
federal1 national1 and state            
government1 armory1 navy1 army1 signal  
service1 custom-house4      ,points of  
the compass3 east1 west1 north1 south1  
northeast1 etc4      ,the names of      
foreign bodies3 mansion-house1          

parliament1 reichstag1       landtag1   
duma4      ,common religious terms3 the 
word of ,god1 holy writ1 scriptures1 the
       gospel1 heaven1 sacred writings1 
heathen1 christendom1                   
christianize1 papacy1 papal see1        
atheist1 high church1 church and        
state1 etc4      ,the court1 witness1   
speaker of the chair1 in dialogues4     
,scientific names of plants1 animals1   
and birds3 formica rufa4      a4 m41 p4 
m41 and m4 7meaning a thousand72 ex-    
preceding a title4      ,the names of   
college classes3 freshman1 sophomore4   
,college degrees when spelled out3      
bachelor of arts2 but ,b4 ,a4           
,seasons of the year3 spring1 autumn1   
etc4      ,officers in local            
organizations 7election of officers72   
president1       secretary1 etc4        
,certain common nouns formed from proper
 nouns3 street arab1 prussic       acid1
 prussian blue1 paris green1 china cup1 
india rubber1       cashmere shawl1 half
 russia1 morocco leather1 epsom salts1  

japanned ware1 plaster of paris1        
brussels and wilton carpets1            
valenciennes and chantilly lace1 vandyke
 collar1 valentine1       philippic1    
socratic1 herculean1 guillotine1 derby  
hat1 gatling       gun4   #f4           
,punctuation3      ,omit periods after  
nicknames3 ,tom1 ,sam1 etc4      ,always
 use a period between dollars and cents 
and after per cent41       but never    
after c1 s1 and d1 when they represent  
cents1 shillings1       and pence3      
#a4bc1 #aj per cent41 #bs #f;d4         
,punctuate the votes in balloting thus3 
,yeas1 #b2 nays1 #c4      ,punctuate    
lists of names with the cities or states
 to which the       individuals belong  
thus3 ,messrs4 ,smith of ,illinois1     
,samson of ,west       ,virginia1 etc4  
,if the list contains more than three   
names1 omit       the of and punctuate  
thus3 ,smith1 ,illinois2 ,samson1 ,west 
,virginia2 etc4 ,where a number of names
 occurs with the office       which they
 hold1 use commas and semicolons1 thus3 

,j4 ,s4 ,hall1       governor2 ,henry   
,overstoltz1 mayor2 etc4      ,never use
 a colon after viz41 to wit1 namely1 e4 
g41 etc41 except       when they end a  
paragraph4 ,use a colon1 dash1 or       
semicolon before       them and commas  
after them1 thus3 ,this is the man2 to  
wit1 the       victim4      ,such as    
should follow a comma and have no point 
after it3 ,he saw       many things1    
such as men1 horses1 etc4      ,set     
lists of names thus without points3     
,mesdames--           ,george ,v4 ,king 
,charles ,c4 ,knapp     ,henry ,a4      
,lloyd             ,john ,h4 ,cole ,jr4 
,do not use a comma between a man's name
 and the title ,jr4 or ,sr4       as    
,john ,jones ,jr4      ,use the         
apostrophe to mark elision3 ,i've1 'tis1
 don't1 can't1 won't1       canst1      
couldst1 dreamt1 don'ts1 won'ts1 '#hjs4 
,use the apostrophe in possessives and  
use it in the proper place3       the   
boy's clothes1 boys' clothes1 ,burns'   
poems1 ,fox's ,martyrs1       ,agassiz's

 works1 ours1 yours1 theirs1 hers1 its  
7but it's for it       is74 ,george and 
,john's father was a good man2 ,jack's  
and ,samuel's       fathers were not4   
,do not use the apostrophe when making a
 plural of figures1 etc43 all       the 
#cs1 the ,three ,rs4      ,do not use   
the apostrophe in ,frisco1 phone1       
varsity1 bus4      ,use an em dash after
 a man's name when placed at the        
beginning in       reports of           
interviews1 speeches1 dialogues1 etc43  
,john ,jones--,i       have nothing to  
say4 7,no quotation marks47      ,in a  
sentence containing words inclosed in   
parentheses1 punctuate as       if the  
part in parentheses were omitted3 if    
there is any point put       it after   
the last parenthesis4      ,use brackets
 to set off any expression or remark    
thrown into a       speech or quotation 
and not originally in it3 ,the          
,republican       party is again in     
power--cheers--and is come to stay4     
,use the conjunction and and a comma    

before the last name in a list       of 
names1 etc43 ,john1 ,george1 ,james1 and
 ,henry4      ,use no commas in such    
expressions as #f feet #c inches tall1  
#c years #f       months old1 #b yards  
#d inches long4      ,punctuate scores  
as follows3 ,wisconsin #h1 ,chicago #j4 
,punctuate times in races1 etc43        
#ajj-yard dash--,smith1 first2 ,jones1  
second4 ,time1 #j3aj #a-e4      ,peters 
carried the ball thirty yards to the    
#aj-yard line4   #g4 ,date lines3       
,punctuate date lines as follows3       
,,madison1 ,wis41 ,jan4 #be4--          
,do not use the name of the state after 
the names of the larger       cities of 
the country1 such as ,new ,york1        
,chicago1 ,boston1       ,philadelphia1 
,baltimore1 ,san ,francisco1 ,seattle4  
,abbreviate the       names of months   
which have more than five letters4   #h4
 ,quoting3      ,quote all extracts and 
quotations set in the same type and     
style as       the context1 but do not  
quote extracts set in smaller type than 

the context or set solid in separate    
paragraphs in leaded matter4      ,quote
 all dialogues and interviews1 unless   
preceded by the name of       the       
speaker or by ,question and ,answer3    
,i have nothing to say1 answered ,mr4   
,smith4       ,william ,smith--,i have  
nothing to say4       ,question--,were  
you there8       ,answer--,i was4       
,quote the names of novels1 dramas1     
paintings1 statuary1 operas1 and        
songs3 ,the ,brass ,bowl1 ,il           
,trovatore4      ,quote the subjects of 
addresses1 lectures1 sermons1 toasts1   
mottoes1       articles in newspapers3  
,the ,great ,northwest1 ,our ,interests4
      ,be sure to include ,the in the   
quotation of names of books1            
pictures1 plays1 etc43 ,the ,fire ,king2
 not the ,fire ,king2       unless the  
article is not a part of the name4      
,do not quote the names of theatrical   
companies1 as ,her ,atonement           
,company4      ,do not quote the names  
of characters in plays1 as ,shylock in  

,the       ,merchant of ,venice4        
,do not quote the names of newspapers4  
,in editorials put ,the ,star       in  
italics1 but in ,the ,kansas ,city ,star
 put ,star in italics       and use no  
quotation marks4      ,do not quote the 
names of vessels1 fire engines1         
balloons1 horses1       cattle1 dogs1   
sleeping cars4   #i4 ,compounds and     
,divisions3      ,omit the hyphen when  
using an adverb compounded with -ly     
before a       participle3 a newly built
 house4      ,use a hyphen after        
prefixes ending in a vowel 7except bi   
and tri7       when using them before a 
vowel3 co-exist4 ,when using such a     
prefix       before a consonant do not  
use the hyphen except to distinguish the
       word from a word of the same     
letters but of different meaning3       
correspondent1 but co-respondent 7one   
called to answer a summons72            
recreation1 but re-create 7to create    
anew7 reform1 but re-form 7to       form
 again72 re-enforced2 biennial1 etc4    

,do not use the hyphen in the names of  
rooms when the prefix is of       only  
one syllable3 bedroom1 courtroom1       
bathroom1 etc4 7except blue       room1 
green room1 etc474      ,when the prefix
 is of more than one syllable use the   
hyphen4 ,follow       the same rule in  
making compounds of house1 shop1 yard1  
maker1       holder1 keeper1 builder1   
worker3 shipbuilder1 doorkeeper4        
,in dividing at the end of a line3      
,do not run over a syllable of two      
letters4       ,do not divide ,n4 ,y41  
,m4 ,p41 ,,ll4 ,d41 ,m4 ,d41 a4 m41 p4  
m41 etc4       ,do not divide figures   
thus3 #a1-jjj1jjj2 but thus #a1jjj1-jjj4
       ,do not divide a word of five    
letters or less4   #aj4 ,figures3       
,use figures for numbers of a hundred or
 over1 except when merely a       large 
or indefinite number is intended3       
twenty-three1 #abc1 about       a       
thousand1 a dollar1 a million1 millions1
 a thousand to one1       from four to  
five hundred4      ,use figures for     

numbers of less than #ajj when they are 
used in       connection with larger    
numbers3 ,there were #cc boys and #aef  
girls2       there were #ajf last week  
and #af this week4      ,use figures for
 hours of the day3 at #g p4 m42 at #h3cj
 this morning4      ,use figures for    
days of the month3 ,april #cj1 the #bbnd
 of ,may4      ,use figures for ages3 he
 was #ab years old2 little #b-year-old  
,john4       ,if the words #b-year-old  
,john begin a sentence or headline1     
spell       out the age4      ,use      
figures for dimensions1 prices1 degrees 
of temperature1 per       cents41 dates1
 votes1 times in races1 scores in       
baseball1 etc43 #c       feet long1 #c a
 yard1 #gf degrees1 ,jan4 #ad1 #aijf4   
,time of       race--#b3bg4      ,use   
figures for all sums of money3 #bd1     
#e4jf1 #ge cents4      ,use figures for 
street numbers3 #acbd ,grand avenue4    
,use figures for numbered streets and   
avenues above #iith2 spell out          
below #ajjth3 #abc ,twenty-third avenue1

 #aj ,east #abfth street4      ,use     
figures in statistical or tabular       
matter2 never use ditto       marks4    
,use figures1 period1 and en quad for   
first1 second1 etc43 #a4--1       #b4--4
      ,do not begin a sentence or       
paragraph with figures2 supply a word if
       necessary or spell out3 ,at #aj  
o'clock2 ,over #cjj men4      ,do not   
use the apostrophe to form plurals of   
figures3 the #ds1 rather       than the 
#d's4      ,in all texts from the ,bible
 set the chapters in ,roman numerals and
       the verses in figures3 ,matt4    
xxii4 #cg-dj2 ,i4 ,john v4 #a-ae4 ,in   
,sunday school lessons say ,verse #e4   
,say three-quarters of #a per cent42 not
 #c_/d of #a per cent4      ,set tenths1
 hundreds1 etc41 in decimals3 #a4a2     
#b4jc4   #aa4 ,abbreviations3           
,abbreviate the following titles and no 
others1 when they precede a       name3 
,rev41 ,dr41 ,mme41 ,mlle41 ,mr41 ,mrs41
 ,mgr4 7,monsignore71 ,m4               
7,monsieur74          ,do not put ,mr4  

before a name when the ,christian name  
is given       except in society news   
and editorials3 ,mr4 ,johnson2 but      
,samuel ,l4       ,johnson4             
,supply ,mr4 in all cases when ,rev4 is 
used without the ,christian       name3 
,rev4 ,henry ,w4 ,beecher2 but ,rev4    
,mr4 ,beecher4          ,never use      
,honorable or the abbreviation thereof  
except with       foreign names1 in     
editorials1 or in documents4            
,abbreviate thus3 ,wash41 ,mont41 ,s4   
,d41 ,n4 ,d41 ,wyo41 ,cal41 ,wis41      
,colo41 ,ind41 ,id41 ,kan41 ,ariz41     
,okla41 ,me4 ,do not abbreviate         
,oregon1 ,iowa1 ,ohio1 ,utah1 ,alaska1  
or ,texas4      ,abbreviate thus3       
,madison1 ,dane ,county1 ,wis43 but     
,dane ,county1       ,wisconsin4        
,use the abbreviations ,u4 ,s4 ,n4 and  
,u4 ,s4 ,a4 after a proper name4        
,y4 ,m4 ,c4 ,a41 ,w4 ,c4 ,t4 ,u41 ,m4   
,e4 are good abbreviations4             
,abbreviate names of months when        
preceding date only when the month      

contains more than five letters3 ,jan4  
#bj2 but ,april #bj4 ,when the          
date precedes the month in reading      
matter spell it out3 the #acth       of 
,january2 the #bfth inst4               
,abbreviate ,number before figures3 ,no4
 #aj4      ,abbreviate contract1        
article1 section1 question1 answer1     
after the       first in bills1 by-laws1
 testimony1 etc43 ,section #a41 ,sec4   
#b42       ,question--1 ,answer--1      
,q4--1 ,a4--4      ,do not abbreviate   
railway1 company1 the names of streets1 
wards1       avenues1 districts1 etc43  
,madison ,street ,railway ,company2     
,state       street1 ,monona avenue4    
,street and avenue are sometimes        
abbreviated in want-ads3                
,state-st1 ,monona-av4          ,spell  
out numbered streets and avenues up to  
#ajjth3       ,thirty-fourth street1    
#acdth street4      ,use  in names of   
firms1 but use the long and in names of 
railroads4 ,use ,etc4 and not c42 use   
,brothers and not ,bros4       7except  

in ads72 use  only when necessary to    
abbreviate in       stocks4      ,do not
 abbreviate the names of political      
parties except in election              
returns1 then3 ,dem41 ,rep41 ,soc41     
,lab41 ,ind41 ,pro41 ,un4 ,cit4         
,put in necessary commas in abbreviating
 railroad names3 ,c41 ,m4  ,st4         
,p4 ,ry4 7,chicago1 ,milwaukee and ,st4 
,paul ,railway72 ,c41 ,c41 ,c4  ,st4    
,l4 ,r4 ,r4 7,cleveland1 ,cincinnati1   
,chicago and ,st4 ,louis ,railroad74    
,abbreviate without periods in market   
review and quotations3 #be;c1 bu1       
brls1 tcs1 pkgs1 f o b1 p t1 etc4 ,spell
 out centimes except when       given   
thus3 #aj;f #bj;c4      ,do not         
abbreviate ,fort and ,mount3 ,fort      
,wayne1 ,mount ,vernon4   #ab4          
,preparation of ,copy3      ,use a      
typewriter or write legibly2 some one   
must read your copy4      ,if you write 
with a typewriter1 double or triple     
space your copy2       never use single 
space4      ,don't write on more than   

one side of the paper4      ,leave      
sufficient margin for corrections and   
leave a space at the top       of the   
first page for headlines2 leave an inch 
at the top of each       page4          
,don't put more than one story on a     
single sheet of paper4      ,don't trust
 the copy-reader to fill in blanks or to
 correct       misspelled names4 ,if you
 write by hand print out proper names as
       legibly as possible2 underscore u
 and overscore n4      ,don't assume    
that the copy-reader1 the proofreader1  
or the editor       will punctuate for  
you1 or eliminate all superfluous       
punctuation4      ,remember that        
uniformity is more to be desired than a 
strict       following of style4        
,don't turn in copy without re-reading  
carefully and verifying all       names 
and addresses4      ,use short          
paragraphs2 always paragraph the lead   
separately2 indent       paragraphs     
distinctly4      ,don't write over      
figures or words2 scratch out and       

rewrite4      ,number your pages2 when  
pages are inserted use letters3 pages   
#b1 #c;a1       #c;b1 #d1 #e4      ,a   
circle around an abbreviation or a      
figure indicates that the word       or 
number is to be spelled out4 ,a circle  
around a spelled-out word       or      
number indicates that it is to be       
abbreviated or run in       figures4    
,mark the end of your story1 thus3      
#ac4 ,don'ts3      ,don't use ,honorable
 or abbreviations thereof1 except in    
extracts       from speeches or         
documents1 in editorials1 or before     
foreign       names4      ,don't add    
final s to afterward1 toward1 upward1   
downward1 backward1       earthward1    
etc4      ,don't use signed before the  
signature of a letter or document2 run  
signature in caps4      ,don't begin a  
sentence or paragraph with figures2     
insert a word       before the figures  
or spell out4      ,don't use commas in 
dates or in figures which denote the    
number of a       thing1 as ,a4 ,d4     

#aijh1 #bcbd ,state street1 ,policy     
#cchae2 in other       cases use the    
comma1 as #e1bhi2 #a1bcf1djj people4    
,don't forget that the following are    
singular and require singular           
verbs3 sums of money1 as #bc was        
invested2 ,united ,states2 anybody1     
everybody1 somebody1 neither1 either1   
none2 whereabouts1 as ,his              
whereabouts is known4      ,don't forget
 that things ,,occur by chance or       
accident1 and that       things ,,take  
,,place by arrangement4      ,don't     
sustain broken legs and other injuries4 
,don't administer punishment4           
,don't confound audiences1 spectators1  
and casual witnesses4      ,don't say   
party for person4      ,don't use       
suicide1 loan1 scare1 as verbs4         
,don't use gotten2 it is questionable2  
use got4      ,don't use burglarize4    
,don't use transpire for occur4         
,don't use locate for find2 to locate a 
thing is to place it4      ,don't use   
stopped for stayed3 ,he stayed at the   

,central ,hotel4      ,don't tender     
receptions nor render songs2 use simply 
give and       sing4      ,don't put in 
an appearance2 just appear4      ,don't 
use don't for doesn't4      ,don't use  
stated for said4      ,don't say per day
 or per year1 but a day1 a year2 per is 
a       ,latin word and can be used only
 before a ,latin noun1 as per diem      
or per annum4      ,don't say the       
meeting convened2 members might convene 
but a single       body cannot4         
,don't claim that anything is so2 you   
can claim a thing1       however4       
,don't say ,mrs4 ,dr4 ,smith1 just ,mrs4
 ,smith4      ,don't say between when   
more than two are mentioned4      ,don't
 use proven for proved4      ,don't     
confound staid with stayed4      ,don't 
say different than1 but different from4 
,don't split infinitives or other verbs4
      ,don't use onto4      ,don't use  
babe or tot for baby or child4          
,don't use superlatives when you can    
help it4      ,don't use trite          

expressions or foreign words and        
phrases4      ,don't use corner of in   
designating street location4      ,don't
 say died from operation1 but died after
 operation--to       avoid danger of    
libel4      ,don't get the very habit4  
,don't use couple of instead of two4    
,don't use ,mr4 before a man's full     
name4      ,don't use slang unless it is
 fitting--which is seldom4      ,don't  
mention the reporters1 singly or        
collectively1 unless it is              
necessary4 ,it rarely is4      ,don't   
qualify the word unique2 a thing may be 
unique1 but it       cannot be very     
unique1 quite unique1 rather unique1 or 
more       unique4      ,don't use the  
inverted passive3 e4 g41 ,a man was     
given a dinner1       ,smith was awarded
 a medal4      ,don't concoct long and  
improper titles3 ,justice of the        
,supreme ,court       ,smith1           
,superintendent of the ,insurance       
,department ,jones1       ,groceryman   
,brown4 ,if the title is long put it    

after the man's       name2 thus3       
,george ,smith1 justice of the ,supreme 
,court4      ,don't use the verb occur  
with weddings1 receptions1 etc42 they   
take place by design and never          
unexpectedly4      ,don't say a number  
of1 if you can help it4 ,be specific4   
,don't use the word lady for woman1 or  
gentleman for man4      ,don't say a man
 by the name of ,smith1 but a man named 
,smith4      ,don't use depot for       
station--railway passenger station4     
,,appendix ,i   ,,suggestions ,,for     
,,study  ,these ,suggestions for ,study 
embody the method used in the course in 
,news ,story ,writing in the ,course in 
,journalism of the ,university of       
,wisconsin4 ,the text of the several    
chapters corresponds to the lectures    
that are given in preparation for1 and  
in connection with1 the study of the    
various kinds of news stories4 ,these   
,suggestions for ,study correspond to   
the exercises by which the students     
learn the application of the principles 

embodied in the lectures4 ,hence these  
suggestions are given mainly from the   
instructor's point of view2 however1 a  
slight alteration will adapt them to    
home or individual study4 ,although they
 give very little practice in news      
gathering1 they enable the student to   
gain practice in the writing of news--in
 accordance with the purpose of this    
book4 ,the reporter who is studying the 
business in a newspaper office may use  
them to advantage in connection with his
 regular work4   ,,exercises ,,for ,,the
 ,,first ,,chapter       #a4 ,collect   
clippings of representative news        
stories1 printed in         the daily   
papers1 to be used as models4       #b4 
,keep a book of tips of expected news in
 your town or city4       #c4 ,study    
news stories in your local paper and try
 to determine from         what source  
the original news tip came4 ,try to     
discover from the         story the     
routine of news gathering which         
furnished the facts4       #d4 ,in the  

same stories try to determine what      
persons were         interviewed2 frame 
the questions that the reporter might   
have         asked to secure the facts4 
,the instructor may impersonate         
various persons in a given news story   
and have the students         interview 
him for the facts2 this is to assist the
 student in         learning to keep the
 point of view and to keep him from     
asking         ridiculous questions4    
#e4 ,try to discover what stories in any
 newspaper are the result of            
actual reporting by staff               
reporters--point out where the others   
come from4       #f4 ,notice the date   
line on stories that come from the      
outside1 and         learn its form4    
,,exercises ,,for ,,the ,,second        
,,chapter       #a4 ,watch for local    
stories that seem to be worth sending   
out2         determine what element in  
them makes them worth sending out2      
calculate how far from their source they
 would be worth         printing4       

#b4 ,study the news value of stories    
that are printed in the local           
papers2 determine why they were printed4
 ,look for the same         things in   
stories with date lines in the local    
papers4       #c4 ,determine what class 
of readers any given news story would   
interest4       #d4 ,notice the time    
element 7timeliness7 in newspaper       
stories4       #e4 ,try to determine the
 radius of your local paper's personal  
news         sources3 how near the      
printing office one must live to be     
worth         personal mention4         
#f4 ,watch for local stories whose news 
value depends upon the death            
element1 upon a prominent name1 a       
significant loss of property1           
mere unusualness1 human interest1 or    
personal appeal2 see what         the   
local papers do with these stories and  
whether the local         correspondents
 send them out4       #g4 ,analyze the  
nature of the personal appeal in stories
 that are         printed only for their

 personal appeal4       #h4 ,notice how 
local reasons change the news values of 
local         stories4       #i4 ,in any
 or all of these stories determine what 
the feature is4         ,distinguish    
between the fundamental incident which  
the story         reports and the       
additional significant feature which    
enhances         the news value of the  
fundamental incident4   ,,exercises     
,,for ,,the ,,third ,,chapter        #a4
 ,run over the ,style ,book at the end  
of this book2 note the         essential
 points in newspaper style4       #b4   
,give the principal rules for the       
preparation of copy4       #c4 ,glance  
over the ,don'ts in the ,style ,book4   
,,exercises ,,for ,,the ,,fourth        
,,chapter        #a4 ,study the form and
 construction of news stories1          
especially         simple fire stories4 
#b4 ,pick out the feature of each       
story--the additional incident in       
the story which increases the news value
 of the story         itself--and see if

 the striking feature has been played up
 to         best advantage4       #c4   
,notice how the reader's customary      
questions--what1 where1 when1           
who1 how1 and why--are answered in the  
lead4 ,make a list of the               
answers in any given story4             
,,exercises ,,for ,,the ,,fifth         
,,chapter       #a4 ,collect good fire  
stories appearing in the newspapers4    
,study         the construction of the  
lead and the order in which the facts   
are presented in the body of each story4
       #b4 ,write the leads of fire     
stories4 ,the chances are that actual   
fires will seldom occur at the time when
 the student wishes to         study the
 writing of fire stories1 but the       
instructor may give         his class1  
orally or in writing1 the facts of a    
fire story4 ,he         may use         
imaginary facts or he may take the facts
 from a story         clipped from a    
newspaper--the latter method is better  
because it         enables the          

instructor to show the students1 after  
they have         written their stories1
 just how the original story was written
         in the newspaper office4 ,the  
facts should be given in the order      
in which a reporter would probably      
secure them in actual         reporting 
so that the student may learn to sort   
and arrange the         facts that he   
wishes to use1 and to select the        
feature4 ,the         instructor may    
even impersonate different persons      
connected with         the story and    
have the class interview him for the    
facts4 ,this         method is to be    
followed throughout the whole study of  
news         story writing4 7,in        
individual study1 practice may be       
secured         from writing up         
imaginary or real facts47       #c4 ,in 
these first fire stories1 use fires that
 have no interest         beyond the    
interest in the fire itself--that is1 no
 feature4         ,begin the story with 
,fire and devote the lead to answering  

the         reader's customary          
questions4       #d4 ,look for newspaper
 fire stories that are not correctly    
written         and reconstruct the lead
 according to the logic of the fire     
lead4 ,that is1 strive for conciseness  
and cut out details that         do not 
properly belong in the lead4       #e4  
,make a list of the reader's customary  
questions concerning any         fire   
and write out the briefest possible     
answers4 ,then construct         a lead 
to embody these answers4 ,determine     
which answer should         come first  
and which last1 according to importance4
       #f4 ,write the bodies of some of 
these stories4 ,first list the facts    
that are to be presented and determine  
the order of their         importance4  
#g4 ,emphasize the separateness and     
completeness of the two parts of        
the story--the lead and the body of the 
story4 ,test the leads to         see if
 they would be clear in themselves      
without further         explanation4    

#h4 ,strive for brevity1 conciseness and
 clearness2 wage war on all             
attempts at fine writing4   ,,exercises 
,,for ,,the ,,sixth ,,chapter       #a4 
,study fire stories which have          
features--an interest beyond the        
mere fire itself--and see how the       
newspapers write them4       #b4 ,in a  
feature fire story of ,class ,i41 make a
 list of the reader's         customary 
questions concerning the fire1 as if it 
were a simple         fire story1 and a 
list of the answers4 ,see if any answer 
is more         interesting than the    
fire itself1 or if its presence makes   
the         story more interesting4     
,show that such an answer is the        
feature4       #c4 ,write fire stories  
with features in some one of the        
reader's         customary answers4     
7,class ,i47       #d4 ,study a simple  
fire story and try to imagine what      
things--properly answers to the reader's
 customary         questions--might     
happen to give the fire greater news    

value4         ,this will show the      
student how to look for the feature of a
         story4       #e4 ,write the    
lead of any fire story in as many       
different ways as         possible1     
striving in each one to play up the same
 feature4       #f4 ,study a simple fire
 story and try to imagine what          
unexpected         things might occur in
 connection with the fire which would be
 of         greater interest than the   
fire itself4 ,show that these would be  
features and that they do not fall      
within the answers to the               
reader's customary questions--i4 e41    
they are unexpected4       #g4 ,write   
fire stories with features in unexpected
 attendant         circumstances4       
#h4 ,make up lists of dead and injured2 
notice how the newspapers               
arrange and punctuate these lists4      
#i4 ,study fire stories with more than  
one feature4 ,work out the              
possibilities in any given fire along   
these lines4      #aj4 ,write fire      

stories in which there is more than one 
feature         worth a place in the    
lead4 ,try various combinations in the  
lead         to discover the happiest   
arrangement4 ,show how one of many      
striking features may be of so much     
importance as to drive the         other
 features entirely out of the lead4     
,,exercises ,,for ,,the ,,seventh       
,,chapter       #a4 ,count the number of
 words in the sentences and paragraphs  
of         representative newspaper     
stories4       #b4 ,practice writing    
fire leads that might be printed alone  
without         the rest of the story4  
#c4 ,take a fire lead and experiment    
with various beginnings to show         
the possibilities3           a4         
,noun--experiment with and without      
articles4          b4                   
,infinitive--,distinguish infinitives in
 to and               in -ing4          
c4 ,that clause4          d4            
,prepositional phrase4          e4      
,temporal clause4          f4 ,causal   

clause4          g4 ,others4            
,show that any of these beginnings may  
be used in the          playing up of   
any one feature4       #d4 ,study how a 
name may overshadow an interesting      
story2 determine         when a name is 
worth first place in a lead4 ,study the 
practice         of representative      
papers in this--do not hesitate to show 
how a         paper has been illogical  
in beginning certain stories with an    
unknown name1 for everything one sees in
 a newspaper is not         ipso facto  
good usage in newspaper writing4        
#e4 ,in students' stories1 notice what  
the principal verb says and             
point out any misplaced emphasis4       
#f4 ,wage war on was the unusual        
experience of and was the fate          
of in leads4       #g4 ,try to avoid    
broke out in fire leads4 ,devote the    
space to more         interesting       
action4       #h4 ,cut out all useless  
words in students' exercises2 strive for
         brevity4 ,go through a         

student's story and weigh the value of  
each word1 phrase1 and sentence2 cut out
 the useless ones or try         to     
express them more briefly4 ,do the same 
to actual newspaper         stories4    
#i4 ,weigh the value of every detail    
introduced into a lead and cut          
out the unnecessary ones2 relegate them 
to the rest of the         story4       
#aj4 ,wage war on all meaningless       
generalities2 demand exactness4         
#aa4 ,refer the class to the ,style     
,book in this volume and require        
them to follow a uniform style4 ,point  
out the differences in         style of 
various papers4      #ab4 ,see if the   
bodies of students' stories mean        
anything without         the presence of
 the leads4 ,require the body of the    
story to be         separate and        
complete in itself4 ,this need not1 of  
course1 be         carried to the point 
of repeating addresses given in the     
lead4      #ac4 ,try writing a story by 
simply elaborating and explaining the   

details mentioned in the lead of the    
story4 ,determine what facts            
must be added4      #ad4 ,see if any    
story can stand the loss of its last    
paragraph4         ,determine how many  
paragraphs it can lose without          
sacrificing         its interest4       
#ae4 ,in writing the body of a fire     
story1 list the facts that are to       
be told1 in their logical order2 thus3  
origin1 discovery1         spread1 death
 of firemen1 escapes1 injuries1 rescues1
 explosion1         extinguishing of    
fire4 ,number them in the order of their
         importance4 ,try to build a    
story out of these by following the     
logical order and at the same time      
crowding the most interesting           
facts to the beginning4      #af4       
,practice getting the facts of a story  
by means of interviews4         ,the    
instructor may have the students        
determine what persons they         wish
 to interview for the facts and the     
instructor may         impersonate these

 persons in turn4 ,the class may then   
write the         story from the facts  
gained in this way without reference to 
the         interviews4 ,this is for    
selecting and arranging facts in their  
logical order4      #ag4 ,practice the  
use of dialogue in stories4 ,judge its  
effectiveness and show that in most     
cases it is well to avoid               
dialogue4      #ah4 ,practice rewriting 
long stories into short press dispatches
 of         #aej words or less1         
considering the different news value4   
,,exercises ,,for ,,the ,,eighth        
,,chapter       #a4 ,collect clippings  
of other kinds of news stories4         
#b4 ,in writing these other stories use 
the fire story as a model2         the  
facts may be presented as they were in  
the fire story4       #c4 ,study the    
possible features in accident stories2  
write accident         stories with     
various features2 make lists of dead and
 injured4       #d4 ,study and write    
robbery stories with various features2  

distinguish between the various names   
applied to robbery and to         the   
people who rob4       #e4 ,study and    
write murder and suicide stories with   
various         features1 striving in   
each case to give the facts without     
shocking the reader4 ,show how the      
featureless murder or suicide           
story is very much like a featureless   
fire story4       #f4 ,study and write  
riot1 storm1 flood1 and other big       
stories4       #g4 ,in the study of     
police court news have the class go to  
the local         police courts and     
report actual cases4       #h4 ,send the
 students to report meetings4 ,report   
conferences1         decisions1 etc4    
,insist that the story begin with the   
gist of the         report in each case 
and never with explanations4       #i4  
,write stories on bulletins1 catalogues1
 city directories1 etc4         ,study  
them with reference to their timeliness 
and try to         discover what in them
 has the most news value4 ,require the  

student to begin with this element of   
news value and to give the              
source 7the name and date of the        
bulletin1 etc47 in the lead4      #aj4  
,look over the daily papers and pick out
 news stories which         bury the    
gist of their news and have the students
 rewrite the         leads to play up   
the real news or to give greater        
emphasis to         buried features4    
,,exercises ,,for ,,the ,,ninth         
,,chapter       #a4 ,collect good       
examples of the follow-up and the       
rewrite story2         follow one       
important story through several days'   
editions to         see how it is       
rewritten day by day4 ,examine an       
afternoon         paper's version of a  
story covered in a morning paper4       
#b4 ,take any news story and work out   
the follow-up possibilities2            
imagine what the next step in the story 
will be4       #c4 ,on this basis1 write
 follow-up stories and rewrite stories4 
#d4 ,write a follow-up story which1     

while beginning with a new              
feature1 retells the original story4    
#e4 ,study and write follow-up stories  
involving fires1 accidents1             
robberies1 murders1 suicides1 storms    
7present condition71 etc4   ,,exercises 
,,for ,,the ,,tenth ,,chapter       #a4 
,collect good examples of speech        
reports4       #b4 ,take notes on oral  
speeches and write reports of varying   
lengths4 ,practice taking notes in the  
proper way and write the         report 
at once--perhaps as an impromptu in     
class4 ,the instructor         may send 
his students to public lectures or read 
representative         speeches to them 
in class4       #c4 ,write reports of   
speeches from printed copies of the     
speech2         that is1 edit them in   
condensed form4       #d4 ,take one lead
 and experiment with different          
beginnings1 playing         up the same 
idea in each case4       #e4 ,discuss   
speeches to determine the newsiest and  
timeliest thing         in the          

speech--the statement to be played up in
 the lead4       #f4 ,in the body of the
 report try to use as much direct       
quotation as         possible1 use      
complete sentence quotations1 do not mix
 quotation         and summary in the   
same paragraph or sentence4 ,study the  
rules         regarding the use of      
quotation marks4       #g4 ,have the    
students write running reports of       
speeches--that is1         have them    
write their report as they listen to the
 speech and         submit their report 
in this form4 ,naturally the lead must  
be         written later4   ,,exercises 
,,for ,,the ,,eleventh ,,chapter        
#a4 ,collect representative interview   
stories4       #b4 ,have students       
interview various people without the aid
 of a note         book2 have them bring
 back quoted statements by the use of   
their         memory4 ,have them        
interview some one who will criticize   
their         manner and method4        
#c4 ,have a definite reason or          

timeliness for every interview--have    
the student map out a definite campaign 
beforehand4 ,try writing         out the
 questions beforehand in shape to fill  
in the answers4       #d4 ,write        
interview stories from the results of   
these attempts4       #e4 ,begin the    
same interview story in various ways4   
#f4 ,write an interview story in which  
the feature is a denial or a            
refusal to speak2 tell what should have 
been said and what the         denial or
 refusal signifies4       #g4 ,study the
 form of the body of the report 7see    
,speech ,reports74       #h4 ,write     
stories which are the result of several 
interviews on the         same subject2 
arrange them informally and formally4   
,,exercises ,,for ,,the ,,twelfth       
,,chapter       #a4 ,collect examples of
 good court reports4       #b4 ,attend  
and report actual cases in the local    
courts 7preferably         civil        
courts74       #c4 ,determine what is   
the most interesting thing in each4     

#d4 ,from this1 write court             
reports--reports of the cases which the 
students have heard4       #e4          
,experiment with the various beginnings 
for the same report4       #f4 ,try     
summarizing a case in one paragraph4    
#g4 ,practice getting down testimony    
verbatim4       #h4 ,practice           
summarizing testimony in indirect form4 
#i4 ,practice writing out the testimony 
in full in the various ways4      #aj4  
,write testimony with action in it for  
the sake of human         interest4     
#aa4 ,show how all of these may be      
combined into one good court            
report4   ,,exercises ,,for ,,the       
,,thirteenth ,,chapter       #a4 ,notice
 how various newspapers treat social    
news2 study the         reason in each  
case2 collect examples4       #b4 ,list 
the facts of a wedding story2 write     
short and long wedding         stories4 
#c4 ,write wedding announcements1       
beginning in various ways4       #d4    
,write engagement announcements4        

#e4 ,write up receptions1 banquets1     
dinners1 etc42 report actual            
functions4       #f4 ,write             
announcements for the same functions4   
#g4 ,write up some unusual social story 
as a news story4       #h4 ,practice    
writing obituaries and simple death     
stories with         accompanying       
obituary4 ,write sketches of the lives  
of prominent         people4       #i4  
,in these exercises use actual events as
 subjects4   ,,exercises ,,for ,,the    
,,fourteenth ,,chapter       #a4 ,study 
sporting stories for their material and 
method4       #b4 ,report a football    
game or some other sporting event4      
#c4 ,make a running account of a        
football or baseball game4       #d4    
,write a brief summary of the game to be
 sent out as a dispatch1                
limiting it to #aej words4       #e4    
,write up the same game in #bjj-cjj     
words2 attach a condensed               
running account of the same length4     
#f4 ,write a long story of the same     

game1 following the outline given       
in the text2 attach a detailed running  
account by periods or         innings2  
compile tables of players and results   
for the end4       #g4 ,the study of    
sporting news may be taken out of its   
logical place         and studied during
 the baseball or football season4       
,,exercises ,,for ,,the ,,fifteenth     
,,chapter       #a4 ,collect human      
interest and newspaper feature stories4 
#b4 ,watch for material for human       
interest stories2 look at the facts     
in your other news stories in a         
sympathetic way and see how they        
could be made into human interest       
stories4       #c4 ,write human interest
 stories on facts given by the          
instructor         and on facts         
discovered by the students4       #d4   
,write animal stories1 and witty        
comments on the weather4       #e4      
,write up some timely local subject as a
 #aejj-word feature story4   ,,exercises
 ,,for ,,the ,,sixteenth ,,chapter      

#a4 ,gather good theatrical reports and 
watch for those in which the            
whole report is written around a single 
idea4       #b4 ,at the theater watch   
for things to comment on2 try to bring  
away         one definite idea about the
 play--with illustrations4       #c4    
,write dramatic criticisms that are the 
embodiment of a single         idea or  
criticism on the play4       #d4 ,try to
 point out the bad things in a play     
without being bitter         or         
personal4       #e4 ,write a half-column
 of copy on a vaudeville show1 supposing
 that         the copy is paid for and  
must praise1 not only the show as a     
whole1 but each individual act4         
,,exercises ,,for ,,the ,,seventeenth   
,,chapter       #a4 ,notice the form and
 punctuation of the date line3          
,,madison1         ,wis41 ,feb4 #bi4--  
#b4 ,notice the writing of street       
addresses3 #bcd ,grand avenue1 #dafg    
,twenty-sixth street2 #cheg #achth      
street2 7without at74       #c4 ,notice 

in the use of figures--sums of money1   
hours of day1 ages1         figures at  
the beginning of sentence4       #d4    
,notice use of titles2 use of ,mr4      
before a man's name--always         give
 a man's initials or first name the     
first time you mention         it in any
 story4     ,,appendix ,,ii   ,,news    
,,stories ,,to ,,be ,,corrected  7,the  
following stories have been prepared to 
illustrate some of the most usual       
mistakes in newspaper writing4 ,they may
 be rewritten or used as exercises in   
copy-reading4 ,as a class exercise1 the 
student may revise and correct these    
stories without recopying1 just as a    
copy-reader revises poorly written      
copy47                                  
,i                ,shortly after #b3cj  
this morning fire              broke out
 in a pile of old papers in the         
basement of the ,harmony ,flat building1
              at #acef ,congress avenue1
 a four-story                           
eight-apartment structure4 ,two firemen 

were killed by a falling wall4          
,the fire had a good start before the   
janitor1 ,michael ,jones1 who sleeps in 
the              basement1 awoke4 ,he   
turned in an alarm              and ran 
through the halls awakening the         
occupants4 ,the people on the two lower 
floors escaped in their night clothing  
by              the stairways1 but the  
fire spread very rap-              idly1
 the occupants of the upper floors be-  
ing forced to flee down the fire escapes
 in              the rear4              
,when the firemen put in an appearance1 
,mrs4 ,jeanette ,huyler appeared at a   
third              story window and     
called for help4 ,an ex-                
tension ladder being hoisted1 she was   
res-              cued without          
difficulty4 ,during the fire            
the wall on the east side fell and      
killed              ,fireman ,john      
,casey and ,jacob ,hughes2              
,fireman ,williams ,jacobs was hit on   
the              head by a brick and    

seriously injured4                ,the  
fire was extinguished before it         
spread to an adjoining three-story flat 
building on the west4                   
,the firemen in searching the ruins     
found the body of a man who was later   
identified as ,rupert ,smithers2 he was 
#gj              and occupied a lower   
flat by himself4 ,the                   
janitor said that he was deaf and prob- 
ably did not hear the warning4 ,the     
three              dead and injured     
firemen belong to ,hose                 
,co4 ,no4 #bd4                ,loss     
#ej1jjj1 fully insured4                 
----------                              
,,ii                ,the police have    
arrested ,john ,johnson1                
#bc years old1 #bcfg ,sixth ,street1    
charged              with murdering     
,mrs4 ,laura ,buckthorn1                
the well-known proprietor of the        
,duchess              ,restaurant1 #dch 
,high street4 ,he is now              in
 the county jail4                ,mrs4  

,buckthorn was sixty years old and      
the widow of one of the oldest settlers 
in              the city4               
,she lived in her small cottage at #bcfg
              ,sixth ,street and        
supported herself by              means 
of the restaurant4 ,john ,johnson1 a    
street car motorman occupied a room in  
her cottage4 ,mrs4 ,buckthorn was found 
dead in her bed1 in a pool of blood1    
with              two bullet holes in   
her head this morning4                  
,mrs4 ,grady1 the restaurant cook said1 
,i              became alarmed when     
,mrs4 ,buckthorn did              not   
appear as usual at the restaurant this  
morning and went to her home to find    
her4                ,inquiry showed that
 ,mrs4 ,buckthorn              had drawn
 #bej from the ,first ,national         
,bank yesterday and her daughter1 ,mrs4 
,j4 ,d4 ,jackson1 #aedh ,sixth ,street1 
says that              her mother often 
kept such sums of money              at 
home under the mattress of her bed4     

,mrs4 ,jackson also says that she often 
warned her mother against such habits4  
,the money was not under the mattress   
this morning4                ,further   
inquiry showed that ,john ,johnson      
did not appear for work as usual this   
morning and was later found by ,police- 
man ,patrick ,o',hara in the railroad   
yards4              ,he had with him    
#bbc4fg and a ticket to                 
,new ,york4 ,he was known to be hard up 
but refused to account for the money and
              was given a berth in the  
county jail4                ,samuel     
,benson1 cashier of the ,first ,na-     
tional1 is sure that the two            
#ajj-;dollar              bills which   
were found on ,johnson are the          
same bills that he gave to ,mrs4        
,buckthorn              yesterday       
afternoon4 ,johnson will be             
given a hearing to-morrow but it is al- 
ready considered certain that he is the 
guilty party1 the evidence being so     
strong4                7,this story may 

be rewritten for local             use  
and for a dispatch47                    
----------                              
,,iii                ,sparks1 resulting 
from the grounding              of an   
electric wire1 ignited a bucket of gas- 
olene and fired the shop of the ,g4 ,w4 
,smith ,motor ,co41 at #bbh1 #bcb ,west 
street              last night1 five    
automobiles valued at                   
#e1hjj being destroyed and the building 
being damaged to the extent of #f1bjj   
dol-              lars by fire4         
,the insulation on the wires of an      
exten-              sion light that     
,edward ,flasch1 one of the             
repair men was using became cracked1 the
              wire grounding as a       
result4 ,the sparks              fell   
into a bucket of gasolene standing      
nearby and in a few minutes the entire  
building was ablaze4 ,g4 ,w4 ,smith1    
pro-              prietor of the garage1
 said that he was sit-              ting
 in his office at the time of the explo-

              sion and tried to put the 
fire out with sand              but     
could not get the blaze under any con-  
trol4 ,he then started to run out as    
many              machines as possible4 
,six cars1 valued at #i1jjj were saved4 
----------                              
,,iv                ,madison1 ,september
 #beth1 #aiab2 ,with              a loud
 deafening roar that violently          
aroused hundreds from their beds of     
slum-              ber the monster gas  
holder occuppying              the      
southwest corner of ,south ,blount and  
,main ,streets at the gasplant of the   
,madi-              son ,gas and        
,electric ,company collapsed            
very suddenly at #f3s,o a4 m4 this      
morning1              and now lies      
partly submerged in water1              
a total wreck4 ,the damage will be fully
              #be1jjj dollars1 but there
 will be no inter-              ruption 
to the service the company's excel-     
lent reserve equippment being           

immediately              brought into   
action for the emergency4               
,the cause of the explosion was at first
              clothed in deep mystery   
before the officials              of the
 company had time to make any in-       
vestigation4                ,however it 
was definitely ascertained              
during the morning when ,mr4 ,john ,w4  
,jackson1 the secretary and treasurer of
 the              company1 being        
interviewed by a ,daily                 
,news correspondent this morning1 stated
              that the immense          
quantities of snow on              the  
roof of the holder was primarily re-    
sponsible4 ,the weight of the snow on   
one side of the holder causing it to    
drop              down broke the wheel  
and pushed the              holder off  
the foundation on which it was          
standing4 ,there was a momentary blaze  
but when the tank settled down into the 
reservoir below the fire went out and   
the              awful peril from this  

highly dangerous              source was
 fortunately averted4                ,as
 it was dozens of windows at the        
planing mill on the opposite side of the
              street were all left      
intact4 ,in fact no dam-                
age whatsoever outside of the holder re-
              sulted from the           
unfortunate accident4              ,two 
workmen1 ,jacob ,casey and ,nelson      
,jones1 were unfortunately caught       
beneath              the wreckage and   
their bodies were              removed  
later in the morning by the fire        
department4 ,the tank was full when it  
collapsed and that it did not scatter   
de-              struction and take more
 innocent lives              was one of 
the fortunate features of the           
accident and a great cause for          
congratula-              tion among the 
officials of the company                
today4                7,this story      
illustrates1 among other                
things1 excessive wordiness47           

----------                              
,v                ,after being chased by
 a young woman              for several 
blocks1 a man who gave his              
name as ,john ,weber1 was pursued       
through              a saloon at        
#aa-igth street by ,policeman           
,arthur ,brown and captured on the roof 
of              a building adjoining the
 saloon1 where the              man had 
hidden behind a chimney4 ,weber         
was arrested by the policeman and is    
held              on a charge preferred 
by ,charles ,young1 a                   
grocer at #bade ,sixth avenue1 of       
attempt-              ing to rob        
,young's grocery store4                 
,according to ,young1 just before he    
closed his store for the night last     
evening1              a young man       
entered the store and asked             
for a pound of butter4 ,i thought1 said 
,young1 that the man was just married   
and might be a possible new customer4 ,i
              started for the back of   

the store to open a              new tub
 but just as ,i turned to go1 he hit    
me over the head with his cane4 ,the    
blow dazed me but ,i still had sense    
enough              to grab him by the  
collar4 ,in the fight we                
both fell through the glass door at the 
front of the store and the d--n rascal  
got              away4 ,a young woman1  
who was pass-              ing the      
store1 seeing the fracas1 screamed      
and started to run after the young man4 
,she followed him until he ran into a   
sa-              loon4 ,then she ran up 
to ,policeman              ,brown1 who  
was standing at the corner of           
#igth st4 and ,sixth-av and told him    
that a              robber had gone into
 the saloon4 ,the po-                   
liceman ran into the saloon1 but found  
the              man had left by the    
back stairs4 ,the po-                   
liceman followed up two flights of      
stairs              leading to the roof1
 on the run1 where he              found

 ,weber hiding behind a chimney4        
,weber refused to give his address4     
,after watching until she saw the robber
              taken away in the         
paddy-wagon1 the              doughty   
young woman disappeared4 ,her           
name is unknown4                        
----------                              
,,vi                ,a burglar dressed  
in a ,salvation ,army                   
uniform was arrested for attempting to  
burglarize ,walter ,white's home1 #af   
,west              #fbnd st4 at about   
two o'clock last night4              ,he
 gave his name as ,julius ,woll and his 
address as #abi #bcrd ave4              
,the caretaker at ,walter ,white's said 
he was awakened at #a o'clock by the    
noise              of bureau drawers    
opening and he at once                  
phoned to the station4 ,an officer came 
and found the would-be burglar under the
              bed4 ,after considerable  
scuffling the man              was      
arrested and taken to the station4      

,the ,salvation ,army denied any connec-
              tion with the prisoner but
 the landlady at              his       
address said he had two uniforms and    
always wore one4 ,he also carried a     
prayer book under his arm whenever he   
left his room4 ,she also said that he   
had              resided in her house   
for six weeks and              owed four
 weeks board2 also that he had          
not been there for two weeks4 ,inquiry  
proved that he was out regularly until  
three or four in the morning4           
----------                              
,,vii                ,the wedding of    
,mr4 ,james ,henry1              #adfc  
,seventh ,street1 and ,miss ,sarah      
,jones1 last night at the home of the   
bride's              parents1 at #caf   
,north ,johnson ,street1 was            
a brilliant success4                    
,fifty guests were present and the pres-
              ents which they brought   
all but filled the              parlor4 
,after the ceremony a seven-            

course banquet was served until #aa3cj  
o'clock4 ,miss ,sadie ,jones rendered   
,the              ,rosary to the        
accompaniment of ,mr4              ,john
 ,field4                ,the bride wore 
a gown of pink taffeta              and 
carried sweet peas4 ,the bridesmaid1    
,lily ,swenk1 was dressed in white      
muslin4              ,the groom and best
 man1 ,mr4 ,arthur              ,howles1
 wore conventional black4 ,rev4         
,stone of the ,first ,m4 ,e4 church     
officiated4                ,the groom is
 a promising young law-              yer
 of this city4 ,his bride is one of the 
city's leading young society woman1     
being              deeply interested in 
the ,womans' ,suf-              frage   
,league4 ,there marriage is the re-     
sult of a love affair begun at the      
univer-              sity and is the    
cause of heart-felt congrat-            
ulations from their friends4 ,after a   
trip              to the ,coast1 the    
happy couple will reside              in

 this city4                             
----------                              
,,viii                ,what we need in  
our universities are                    
sportsmen and not sports1 said          
,president              ,g4 ,e4 ,gilbert
 of the ,western ,university1           
in the convocation address yesterday    
aft-              ernoon at four        
o'clock4 ,the sportsman                 
plays for the game1 but the sport plays 
for              the victory4           
,the ,president continued1 ,before the  
battle1 and during the battle1 the      
sportsman can be told from the sport4   
,it is the actions of the man1 he       
said1 when he is in the test that       
determine              to which class he
 belongs4 ,the ,president               
summarized the various college          
activities and showed how the two       
classes of men appear in each different 
activity4 ,and in each1 as the          
,president              said1 you can   
tell the sportsman from the             

sport4                ,i think that     
this1 the relation between              
the sportsman and the sport1 is the     
truest              analogy that can be 
applied to human life4                  
,life as a sea1 life as a battle1 life  
as a river              in which you    
must always paddle your              own
 canoe upstream1 life as a hill-climbing
              contest--all these        
analogies have their                    
weaknesses4 ,but life as a game is a    
true              analogy4              
,the ,president concluded with a glowing
              tribute to our university4
                                        
----------                              
,,ix                                    
,,faulty ,,leads                ,evading
 the police by sliding down a           
rope fire escape from a hotel window1   
,jo-              seph ,matus1 charged  
with robbing a lum-              ber    
jack of #abe1 escaped the police        
temporily only to be arrested an hour   

later at the ,chicago1 ,milwaukee and   
,st4              ,paul depot4          
----------                ,ignited by   
the breaking of an electric             
lamp1 a tank of whiskey containing      
#g1gje              gallons exploded and
 threw ,francis ,tab1              #abj 
,w4 #acith ,st41 thirty feet against the
              opposite wall at the ,e4  
,j4 ,jimkons ,com-              pany1   
#djth street this morning4              
----------                ,fire of      
unknown origin started in the           
big lumber yards owned by ,charles      
,john-              son at #gfc ,clinton
 ,avenue1 yesterday aft-                
ernoon4 ,the yards and one million feet 
of lumber were totally destroyed4 ,the  
entire district between ,mitchell street
 and              the ,south ,river was 
in danger of total                      
destruction1 according to fire ,chief   
,casey4                                 
----------                ,fire starting
 in a shed on ,west street              

caused the total destruction of the     
,first              ,baptist church and 
the death of two fire-              men 
killed by falling walls4 ,loss #abj1-   
#jjj4                                   
----------                ,trade war is 
the only probable result              of
 the abrogation of the ,russian treaty1 
was the statement of the ,hon4 ,frank   
,j4              ,blank1 secretary of   
,state1 before a large              and 
enthusiastic audience at the opera      
house last evening4 #ahjj people packed 
the building to overflowing4            
----------                ,john ,jones1 
a workman1 who was              slightly
 injured when a thousand pounds         
of powder exploded and wrecked the      
,three-,ex ,powder mill last night1 was 
taken to the ,st4 ,james hospital4      
----------                ,the presence 
of mind and coolness of                 
,mrs4 ,j4 ,b4 ,sweeny1 #geh ,north      
,street1              saved little      
,johnny ,sweeny from death              

last night when she caught him by the   
coattail and dragged him from beneath   
the fender of a street car4 ,mrs4       
,sweeny              was dragged #ej    
feet by the car and taken               
to the ,st4 ,luke's hospital in an      
ambulance              that was hastily 
summoned4                               
----------                ,falling      
through a street car window             
without receiving so much as a bruise   
was              the unusual experience 
of ,michael ,casey              last    
night on ,main ,street4 ,michael was    
not intoxicated--so he says4            
----------                ,recklessly   
driving his automobile over             
the curb on ,smith street1 ,mr4 ,james  
,white1 who resides at #gfd ,smith      
street1              was fatally hurt by
 a careless chauffeur1              who 
was unable to handle his machine        
and skidded at the corner near ,mr4     
,white's home4                          
----------                ,at a meeting 

of the ,sane ,fourth com-               
mittee in the city library last evening 
at seven thirty1 it was decided that    
,smith-              town must pass a   
law forbidding the sale              and
 use of cannon crackers4     ,,index    
,a      ,abbreviations1 #bhg4           
,accidents1 #c1 #ajg-aji1 #bia4         
,accuracy1 #ade1 #afh1 #bji1 #bab1 #bij4
     ,addresses1 style of1 #bgh1 #bgi1  
#bhf1 #bhh1 #bij1 #caj4                 
,advertising1 #bh4     ,ages1 how       
written1 #bhf4     ,animal story1 #bec4 
,announcements1 of engagements1 #baj2   
social1 #bab2       stories on1 #aba2   
wedding1 #bji4     ,article beginning1  
#dc1 #hj4     ,assignments1 #e1 #bi4    
,associated ,press1 #aj4                
,association1 ,city ,press1 #aj1 #aic4  
,athletic news1 #bai-bcb1 #bgh1 #bhc4   
,b      ,baseball stories1 #bai4        
,beat1 or run1 #e1 #bi4     ,beat1 or   
scoop1 #f1 #cj4     ,beginning of lead1 
#hj1 #hi2       with article1 #dc1 #hj2 
with name1 #eg1 #he1 #afa1 #age1 #ahj1  

#aie1 #bdi2       with time1 #dg4       
,beginnings of court reports1 #aie-bjj2 
of human interest stories1 #bdd-bej2    
of interview stories1 #agi-ahg2       of
 speech reports1 #aea-afd4     ,big     
story1 #e1 #ca2       following-up of1  
#adj2       handling of1 #aaf2          
resulting interviews from1 #agf1 #ahg4  
,bills1 stories on legislative1 #aba4   
,body of the story1 #de1 #gf2           
discussion of1 #ia2       of court      
reports1 #bjj2       of follow stories1 
#abi2       of human interest stories1  
#bej2       of interview stories1 #ahe2 
of news stories1 #abb2       of         
obituaries1 #baf2       of speech       
reports1 #afd4     ,book1 of tips1 #c1  
#bie2       style1 #cc1 #bgf-bic4       
,box1 #cb1 #ahh4     ,break1 to1 #ca4   
,brevity1 #ac1 #bjf1 #bag1 #bca4        
,brief summary athletic story1 #bbb4    
,bulletins1 stories on1 #aba4           
,business office1 #bh4       ,c         
,capitalization1 #bgf-bha4              
,circulation1 #ae1 #bh4     ,city       

editor1 #b1 #bi4     ,city ,press       
,association1 #aj1 #aic4     ,classes of
 readers1 #af4     ,clause beginning of 
lead1 #hb4     ,clean copy1 #cj4        
,clearness1 #ia1 #ajd1 #abc4            
,clippings1 #bie4     ,coherence1 #aff1 
#bff4     ,column1 #cb4     ,compositor1
 #cj4     ,compounds and divisions of   
words1 #bhe4     ,concreteness1 #ajd1   
#bic4     ,conferences1 reports of1     
#aai4     ,continued case beginning1    
#aif4     ,coperation in newsgathering1 
#aj1 #aic4     ,copy1 #cj2              
preparation of1 #bhi4     ,copyreader1  
#bi4     ,copyreading1 #caa4            
,corrected1 stories to be1 #caa4        
,correspondent1 work of1 #b2            
instructions to1 #aa1 #bbc4     ,court  
reporting1 #d2       discussion of1     
#aib-bjc1 #bha4     ,cover1 to1 #bi4    
,crime1 stories on1 #aaj-aaf4           
,criticism1 dramatic1 #bei-bge4         
,crowd1 used as feature1 #fh4     ,cub  
reporter1 #bh4     ,cynicism1 #bce1     
#beb4       ,d      ,datelines1 #bhc1   

#caj4     ,dates1 how written1 #bgh1    
#bhf1 #bij4     ,day city editor1 #bi4  
,dead1 lists of1 #fc4     ,death        
element1 #c1 #bb1 #fa1 #gc1 #ajg4       
,decisions1 reports of1 #aai4           
,definiteness1 #ajd4     ,desk man1 #bi4
     ,despatch1 #ab1 #bbb4              
,dialogue1 use of1 #ajc2       in court 
reports1 #bjj2       in human interest  
stories1 #bde1 #bea2       rules for1   
#bhc4     ,dictation of stories1 #bih4  
,diction1 #bij-bic4     ,directories1   
stories on1 #aba4     ,distance1 effect 
of1 #aa1 #bj4     ,division of words1   
#bhe4     ,don'ts1 in dramatic          
reporting1 #bfe2       in general1 #bij2
       in leads1 #he-ij4     ,down      
style1 #cc4     ,dramatic reporting1    
#bei-bge4       ,e      ,editing1 #cj1  
#add4     ,editor1 #bi2       day or    
night city1 #b1 #bi2       sporting1    
#bi1 #bai2       state1 #b2             
,sunday1 #bi2       telegraph1 #b1 #bi4 
,editorial room1 #bh4     ,editorial    
writers1 #bi4     ,elections1 #c1 #bgg1 

#bha1 #bhh4     ,emphasis1 #ajb4        
,engagement announcements1 #baj4        
,entertainments1 reports of1 #baj4      
,exaggeration1 #bb1 #hi4     ,expected  
news1 #c4       ,f      ,faults in news 
stories1 #ge-ajd4     ,faulty stories to
 be corrected1 #caa4     ,feature1 the1 
#bg1 #ca1 #cg1 #da1 #ej1 #ajf-abb1 #abe1
 #aej1 #age1 #aie1     #bbh1 #bdd1 #bff2
       crowd as1 #fh2       death as1   
#fa1 #gc2       exaggeration for1 #hi2  
fire fighting as1 #fg2       how1 #eg2  
in accident stories1 #ajg2       in     
football stories1 #bai-bcb2       in    
human interest stories1 #bcc-bee2       
in murder stories1 #aad2       in police
 stories1 #aah2       in robbery        
stories1 #aaj2       in speech reports1 
#aej2       in suicide stories1 #aae2   
injuries as1 #fe2       more than one1  
#gj2       playing up of1 #bg1 #ca2     
property threatened as1 #ff2            
rescues as1 #fe2       unexpected       
attendant circumstances as1 #fj2        
what1 #ee2       when1 #ed2       where1

 #eb2       who1 #eg2       why1 #ea4   
,feature fire story1 #ej-gd4            
,feature social story1 #bac4            
,feature story1 the special1 #ca1 #bee4 
,featureless fire story1 #da-di4        
,figures1 news value of1 #bd2       use 
of1 #bhc1 #bhf1 #bij4     ,fine writing1
 #abd1 #bac1 #bah1 #bea4     ,fire      
story1 #ci1 #da1 #ej1 #ge1 #aje1 #abb4  
,fires1 #c1 #d1 #g1 #ci1 #da1 #ej1 #ge1 
#aje1 #abb4     ,follow1 or follow-up1  
story1 #cb2       relation of1 to court 
reports1 #aig2       relation of1 to    
interviews1 #ahg2       writing of1     
#abe1 #acj-adj4     ,following up       
related subjects1 #adj4     ,football   
stories1 #bai-bcb4     ,form of the news
 story1 #cd-dj4     ,freak leads in     
speech reports1 #afc4       ,g          
,gathering the news1 #a-ac2       in    
athletic reporting1 #bcj2       in court
 reporting1 #aic2       in human        
interest stories1 #bcd2       in        
interviewing1 #afi2       in reporting  
speeches1 #add4     ,generalities1      

meaningless1 #hi4     ,gist1 #ca1 #cf1  
#bcc1 #bdc1 #bff4     ,grammar1 #gh1    
#hd1 #abc4     ,group interviews1 #ahg4 
,h      ,heads1 headlines1 #bg1 #cj1    
#gh1 #ahh4     ,hospitals1 as news      
sources1 #d4     ,how1 feature in1 #eg4 
,human interest stories1 #ag1 #bd1 #cb1 
#agh1 #ahe1 #aia1 #aih2       discussion
 of1 #bcc-bee4     ,humor1 #bd1 #aih1   
#bad1 #bda4     ,humorous story1 #bda4  
,i      ,infinitive beginning of lead1  
#ha4     ,injuries1 feature in1 #fe2    
list of1 #fd4     ,instructions to      
correspondents1 #ab4     ,interest1 #ad1
 #ce1 #ib1 #ajb1 #ajd1 #ada1 #agi1 #aib2
       human1 #ag1 #bd1 #cb1 #agh1 #ahe1
 #aia1 #aih1 #bcc-bee4     ,interview   
stories1 #age-aia4     ,interviews1 for 
facts1 #f1 #ajc2       for opinions1 #f1
 #ada1 #afi-aia2       group1 #ahg4     
,k      ,keynote beginning of speech    
report1 #aeh4     ,killing a story1 #cj4
       ,l      ,lead1 #ca2              
beginning of1 #hj1 #hi2       don'ts in1
 #he-ij2       in athletic stories1     

#bbc1 #bbg2       in court reports1     
#aie-bjj2       in fire stories1 #ci1   
#db1 #ej1 #gg-ij2       in follow       
stories1 #abg-adj2       in human       
interest stories1 #bcc2       in        
interview stories1 #agi-ahe1 #ahh2      
in obituary stories1 #bad2       in     
other news stories1 #ajf2       in      
speech reports1 #adg-afd2       length  
of1 #ge2       main verb of1 #hf4       
,leaded1 #cb4     ,length1 of lead1 #ge2
       of paragraphs1 #ge2       of     
sentences1 #gf4     ,line-up of teams1  
#bcb4     ,linotype1 #cj4     ,lists of 
dead and injured1 #fc2       of guests1 
patronesses1 etc41 #baa1 #bhb2       of 
names1 #bhb4     ,local interest1 #ba1  
#bf4     ,long football story1 #bbf4    
,loss of life1 #bb1 #fa1 #gc2       of  
property1 #bc1 #ee4       ,m            
,mailing stories1 #ac4     ,main verb of
 lead1 #hf4     ,make-up1 making up1    
#ca1 #cg4     ,manner1 reporter's1 #agb4
     ,marriages1 #bjf4     ,meaningless 
generalities1 #hi4     ,meetings1       

reports of1 #c1 #aai1 #bia4     ,money1 
sums of1 #bha1 #bhf1 #bij4     ,morgue1 
#d1 #baf4     ,mr41 use of1 #bhg1 #bib1 
#caj4     ,murders1 #aac4       ,n      
,name beginning1 in court reports1 #aie2
       in human interest stories1 #bdi2 
in interview stories1 #age1 #ahj2       
in news stories1 #eg1 #he1 #ajh-aaf2    
in speech reports1 #afa4     ,names1    
prominent1 #bc1 #eg1 #ajh-aaf1 #aej1    
#afa1 #agh2       use of1 #bgf1 #bgg1   
#bhj-bhc4     ,narrative order1 in      
athletic stories1 #bbg2       in court  
reports1 #bjj2       in human interest  
stories1 #bej2       in interview       
stories1 #ahe2       in news stories1   
#cd-dj1 #ib-ajb2       in obituaries1   
#bae2       in speech reports #aff2     
in wedding stories1 #bjg4     ,news1    
#ad-bg1 #abe2       agencies for        
gathering1 #aj1 #aic2       coperation  
in gathering1 #aj1 #aic2       expected 
and unexpected1 #c2       gathering of1 
#a-ac1 #add1 #afi1 #aic1 #bcj1 #bcd2    
sources of1 #d1 #bi2       sporting1    

#bai-bcb1 #bgh1 #bhc4     ,new story1   
#cd-abd4     ,news story form1 #cd-dj4  
,news tips1 #c1 #cj1 #bie4     ,news    
values1 #aa1 #ad-bg1 #ch1 #da1 #bjd1    
#bcc4     ,newspaper terms1 #bh-cc4     
,night city editor1 #bi4     ,nose for  
news1 viii4     ,notebook1 #agj4        
,note taking1 in athletic reporting1    
#bcj2       in court reporting1 #aid2   
in dramatic reporting1 #bfg2       in   
interviewing1 #agj2       in speech     
reporting1 #add4     ,noun beginning of 
lead1 #hj4       ,o      ,obituaries1   
#bad4     ,order of narrative 7see      
,narrative order74     ,outlining of a  
story1 #ii4       ,p      ,paragraph    
length1 #ge1 #bij4     ,paragraphing1   
#dh1 #ge1 #aff1 #ahf1 #bij4             
,participial phrase beginning for lead1 
#hc1 #aeh4     ,parts of a news story1  
#df1 #gf1 #ia4     ,pathetic story1     
#bch4     ,pathos1 #bd1 #aih1 #bch4     
,personal appeal1 #be1 #bdi4            
,personal news1 #bj1 #bjd4              
,photographs1 #ac4     ,playing up1 #ca2

       of the feature1 #bg1 #ca4        
,point of view of newspaper1 #h4        
,police court news1 #d1 #aah4           
,policy1 #bf4     ,political news1 #be4 
,practice1 #bid4     ,preparation of    
copy1 #bhi4     ,prepositional phrase   
beginning1 #hb4     ,press              
,associations1 #aj1 #aic4     ,printed  
matter1 stories on1 #aba4     ,prominent
 names1 #bc1 #eg1 #ajh-aaf1 #aej1 #afa1 
#agh4     ,proof1 #cj4                  
,proofreader's signs1 #cb1 #bij4        
,property losses as features1 #bc1 #ee4 
,property threatened as feature1 #ff4   
,public records1 #d4     ,punch1 #ac4   
,punctuation1 #bha4     ,purpose of     
newspapers1 #ad4       ,q      ,q4  ,a4 
testimony1 #bja1 #bhc1 #bhh4            
,queries1 #ab4     ,questions1 reader's 
customary1 as features1 #ea2       in   
fire stories1 #ch1 #db1 #ej1 #gg2       
in follow stories1 #acb2       in human 
interest stories1 #bcc2       in        
interview stories1 #agi2       in       
obituaries1 #bae2       in other news   

stories1 #ajf2       in speech reports1 
#aej4     ,quotation beginnings1 direct1
 #aea1 #aec1 #ahc1 #aih1 #bde2          
indirect1 #aed4     ,quotations1 #ajc1  
#adf1 #afd1 #ahf1 #ahi1 #bjj1 #bhd4     
,quoting1 rules for1 #bhd4       ,r     
,range of news sources1 #bj4            
,readers1 classes of1 #af4     ,reader's
 customary questions4 ,see ,questions4  
,receptions1 #baj1 #bia4     ,rehashing1
 #abe-acj4     ,related stories1 #adj1  
#agf1 #ahg4     ,releasing a story1 #ca1
 #add4     ,reporter1 #b1 #bh1 #agj1    
#ahf1 #bai1 #bce1 #beh1 #bei1 #bib4     
,reporting court news1 #aib-bjb1 #bha4  
,reports1 dramatic1 #bei-bge2       of  
meetings1 conferences1 decisions1 etc41 
#aai2       of speeches1 sermons1       
lectures1 etc41 #adc-afh4     ,rescues  
as features1 #fe4     ,rewrite man1     
#abe4     ,rewrite story1 #cb1 #abe-acj4
     ,robberies1 #aaj1 #bia4     ,runs1 
or beats1 #e1 #bi4     ,running a story1
 #cj4     ,running story1 #ca1 #ahi1    
#bjj1 #bbc1 #bbg4       ,s              

,sarcasm1 #bgd4     ,scoop1 or beat1 #f1
 #cj4     ,season story1 #beg4          
,second day story1 #cb1 #abe1 #acj-adj4 
,sensationalism1 #ah1 #ij1 #bcd4        
,sentence length1 #gf4     ,sermons1    
reports of1 #c1 #adc-afh4     ,set up1  
to1 #cj4     ,simple fire story1 #dj-di4
     ,slang1 #bh1 #bib4     ,slash1 to1 
#cg1 #ib4     ,slug1 #cj4     ,sob      
squad1 #bcf4     ,social announcements1 
#bab4     ,social news1 #bjd-bad4       
,sources of news1 #d1 #bi4     ,speaker 
beginning1 #afa1 #ahj4     ,special     
feature story1 #bee4     ,speech        
reports1 #c1 #adc-afh1 #bhd1 #bia4      
,sporting editor1 #bi1 #bai4            
,sporting news1 #bai-bcb4     ,staff1   
#bh4     ,state editor1 #b4             
,stenographic reports1 #add1 #aid4      
,stickful1 #cb4     ,stories to be      
corrected1 #caa4     ,storms1 #c1 #aaf4 
,story1 #cj2       baseball1 #bai-bcb2  
big1 see ,big story2       body of1 see 
,body of the story2       faults in     
news1 #ge-ajd2       feature fire1      

#ej-gd2       fire1 #ch1 #dj1 #aje1     
#abb2       follow1 follow-up1 or second
 day1 #cb1 #abe1 #acj-adj2       form of
 news1 #cd-dj2       news1 #cd-dj1 #ej1 
#ge1 #aje-abd2       on announcements1  
bulletins1 and other printed matter1    
#aba2       on legislative bills1 #aba2 
parts of news1 #de1 #gf1 #ia2           
police court1 #aah2       related1 #adj2
       rewrite1 #cb1 #abe-acj2          
running1 #ca1 #ahi1 #bjj1 #bbc1 #bbg2   
simple fire1 #da-di2       special      
feature1 #bee2       summary athletic1  
#bbb2       unusual social1 #bac4       
,street numbers1 #bgh1 #bgi1 #bhf1 #bhh1
 #bij1 #bib1 #caj4     ,style1 #ac1 #cc1
 #ajc1 #bcc1 #bea4     ,style ,book1    
#cc1 #bgf-bic4     ,suggestions for     
study1 #d1 #bid4     ,suicide stories1  
#aae1 #bia4     ,summary beginning1 for 
court reports1 #aig2       for interview
 stories1 #ahb1 #ahh2       for speech  
reports1 #aeg4     ,sums of money1 #bha1
 #bhf1 #bij4     ,sunday editor1 #bi4   
,superlatives1 #bbb1 #bib4       ,t     

,tables of athletic results1 #bcb1 #bhc4
     ,taking notes4 ,see ,note taking4  
,telegraph editor1 #b1 #bi4             
,telegraph queries1 #ab4     ,telephone1
 use of1 #ac4     ,terms1 newspaper1    
#bh-cc4     ,testimony1 #bjj4           
,that-clause beginning1 in interview    
stories1 #ahb2       in speech reports1 
#aed4     ,theatrical news1 #bei-bge1   
#bhd4     ,time1 indication of1 #bha1   
#bhf4     ,time beginning1 #dg4         
,timeliness1 in general1 #ai2       in  
human interest stories1 #bch1 #bef1     
#bhf2       in interviews1 #agf1 #ahg4  
,tips1 #c1 #cj1 #bie4     ,title        
beginning of speech report1 #afj4       
,titles1 use of1 #bgf1 #bgg1 #bgi1 #bhb1
 #bhd1 #bhg1 #bij1 #bib4     ,track     
news1 #bai1 #bbc4     ,truthfulness1 #h2
       in general1 #bij2       in human 
interest stories1 #bci2       in        
interviewing1 #agi2       in speech     
reporting1 #ade1 #afh4     ,typewriter1 
use of1 #bhi4       ,u      ,unexpected 
attendant circumstances1 #fj4           

,unexpected news1 #b4     ,uniformity1  
#cc1 #cd1 #bhi4     ,united ,press1 #aj4
     ,unusual social stories1 #bac4     
,unusualness1 #bd1 #bac4     ,up style1 
#cc4     ,uplift run1 #bcf1 #bed4       
,usual football story1 #bbc4       ,v   
,values1 news1 #aa1 #ad1 #bg1 #ch1 #da1 
#bjd1 #bcc4     ,vaudeville reports1    
#bfd4     ,vernacular1 newspaper1 #bh4  
,vividness1 #ajd1 #aad1 #aaf4       ,w  
,weather story1 #bef4     ,wedding      
announcements1 #bji4     ,wedding story1
 #bjf4     ,what1 as feature1 #ee4      
,when1 as feature1 #ed4     ,where1 as  
feature1 #eb4     ,who1 as feature1 #eg4
     ,why1 as feature1 #ea4             
,wordiness1 #hg4       ,y      ,yarn1   
#cj4                                    
----------------------------------------
-----------------------                 
,transcriber's ,note3                   
,inconsistencies in spelling1           
hyphenation1 punctuation and in         
spacing in abbreviations have been      
retained as in the original1     along  

with deliberate misspellings and errors 
in ,news ,stories      to be ,corrected 
in ,appendix ,,ii4                      
----------------------------------------
-----------------------