Chapter 19

8. Cut out all useless words in students' exercises; strive for brevity. Go through a student's story and weigh the value of each word, phrase, and sentence; cut out the useless ones or try to express them more briefly. Do the same to actual newspaper stories.

9. Weigh the value of every detail introduced into a lead and cut out the unnecessary ones; relegate them to the rest of the story.

10. Wage war on all meaningless generalities; demand exactness.

11. Refer the class to the Style Book in this volume and require them to follow a uniform style. Point out the differences in style of various papers.

12. See if the bodies of students' stories mean anything without the presence of the leads. Require the body of the story to be separate and complete in itself. This need not, of course, be carried to the point of repeating addresses given in the lead.

13. Try writing a story by simply elaborating and explaining the details mentioned in the lead of the story. Determine what facts must be added.

14. See if any story can stand the loss of its last paragraph. Determine how many paragraphs it can lose without sacrificing its interest.

15. In writing the body of a fire story, list the facts that are to be told, in their logical order; thus: origin, discovery, spread, death of firemen, escapes, injuries, rescues, explosion, extinguishing of fire. Number them in the order of their importance. 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 beginning.

16. Practice getting the facts of a story by means of interviews. The instructor may have the students determine what persons they wish to interview for the facts and the instructor may impersonate these persons in turn. The class may then write the story from the facts gained in this way without reference to the interviews. This is for selecting and arranging facts in their logical order.

17. Practice the use of dialogue in stories. Judge its effectiveness and show that in most cases it is well to avoid dialogue.

18. Practice rewriting long stories into short press dispatches of 150 words or less, considering the different news value.

EXERCISES FOR THE EIGHTH CHAPTER

1. Collect clippings of other kinds of news stories.

2. In writing these other stories use the fire story as a model; the facts may be presented as they were in the fire story.

3. Study the possible features in accident stories; write accident stories with various features; make lists of dead and injured.

4. Study and write robbery stories with various features; distinguish between the various names applied to robbery and to the people who rob.

5. Study and write murder and suicide stories with various features, striving in each case to give the facts without shocking the reader. Show how the featureless murder or suicide story is very much like a featureless fire story.

6. Study and write riot, storm, flood, and other big stories.

7. In the study of police court news have the class go to the local police courts and report actual cases.

8. Send the students to report meetings. Report conferences, decisions, etc. Insist that the story begin with the gist of the report in each case and never with explanations.

9. Write stories on bulletins, catalogues, city directories, etc. Study them with reference to their timeliness and try to discover what in them has the most news value. Require the student to begin with this element of news value and to give the source (the name and date of the bulletin, etc.) in the lead.

10. 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 features.

EXERCISES FOR THE NINTH CHAPTER

1. Collect good examples of the follow-up and the rewrite story; follow one important story through several days' editions to see how it is rewritten day by day. Examine an afternoon paper's version of a story covered in a morning paper.

2. Take any news story and work out the follow-up possibilities; imagine what the next step in the story will be.

3. On this basis, write follow-up stories and rewrite stories.

4. Write a follow-up story which, while beginning with a new feature, retells the original story.

5. Study and write follow-up stories involving fires, accidents, robberies, murders, suicides, storms (present condition), etc.

EXERCISES FOR THE TENTH CHAPTER

1. Collect good examples of speech reports.

2. Take notes on oral speeches and write reports of varying lengths. Practice taking notes in the proper way and write the report at once--perhaps as an impromptu in class. The instructor may send his students to public lectures or read representative speeches to them in class.

3. Write reports of speeches from printed copies of the speech; that is, edit them in condensed form.

4. Take one lead and experiment with different beginnings, playing up the same idea in each case.

5. Discuss speeches to determine the newsiest and timeliest thing in the speech--the statement to be played up in the lead.

6. In the body of the report try to use as much direct quotation as possible, use complete sentence quotations, do not mix quotation and summary in the same paragraph or sentence. Study the rules regarding the use of quotation marks.

7. Have the students write running reports of speeches--that is, have them write their report as they listen to the speech and submit their report in this form. Naturally the lead must be written later.

EXERCISES FOR THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER

1. Collect representative interview stories.

2. Have students interview various people without the aid of a note book; have them bring back quoted statements by the use of their memory. Have them interview some one who will criticize their manner and method.

3. Have a definite reason or timeliness for every interview--have the student map out a definite campaign beforehand. Try writing out the questions beforehand in shape to fill in the answers.

4. Write interview stories from the results of these attempts.

5. Begin the same interview story in various ways.

6. Write an interview story in which the feature is a denial or a refusal to speak; tell what should have been said and what the denial or refusal signifies.

7. Study the form of the body of the report (see Speech Reports).

8. Write stories which are the result of several interviews on the same subject; arrange them informally and formally.

EXERCISES FOR THE TWELFTH CHAPTER

1. Collect examples of good court reports.

2. Attend and report actual cases in the local courts (preferably civil courts).

3. Determine what is the most interesting thing in each.

4. From this, write court reports--reports of the cases which the students have heard.

5. Experiment with the various beginnings for the same report.

6. Try summarizing a case in one paragraph.

7. Practice getting down testimony verbatim.

8. Practice summarizing testimony in indirect form.

9. Practice writing out the testimony in full in the various ways.

10. Write testimony with action in it for the sake of human interest.

11. Show how all of these may be combined into one good court report.

EXERCISES FOR THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER

1. Notice how various newspapers treat social news; study the reason in each case; collect examples.

2. List the facts of a wedding story; write short and long wedding stories.

3. Write wedding announcements, beginning in various ways.

4. Write engagement announcements.

5. Write up receptions, banquets, dinners, etc.; report actual functions.

6. Write announcements for the same functions.

7. Write up some unusual social story as a news story.

8. Practice writing obituaries and simple death stories with accompanying obituary. Write sketches of the lives of prominent people.

9. In these exercises use actual events as subjects.

EXERCISES FOR THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER

1. Study sporting stories for their material and method.

2. Report a football game or some other sporting event.

3. Make a running account of a football or baseball game.

4. Write a brief summary of the game to be sent out as a dispatch, limiting it to 150 words.

5. Write up the same game in 200-300 words; attach a condensed running account of the same length.

6. Write a long story of the same game, following the outline given in the text; attach a detailed running account by periods or innings; compile tables of players and results for the end.

7. The study of sporting news may be taken out of its logical place and studied during the baseball or football season.

EXERCISES FOR THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER

1. Collect human interest and newspaper feature stories.

2. Watch for material for human interest stories; look at the facts in your other news stories in a sympathetic way and see how they could be made into human interest stories.

3. Write human interest stories on facts given by the instructor and on facts discovered by the students.

4. Write animal stories, and witty comments on the weather.

5. Write up some timely local subject as a 1500-word feature story.

EXERCISES FOR THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER

1. Gather good theatrical reports and watch for those in which the whole report is written around a single idea.

2. At the theater watch for things to comment on; try to bring away one definite idea about the play--with illustrations.

3. Write dramatic criticisms that are the embodiment of a single idea or criticism on the play.

4. Try to point out the bad things in a play without being bitter or personal.

5. Write a half-column of copy on a vaudeville show, supposing that the copy is paid for and must praise, not only the show as a whole, but each individual act.

EXERCISES FOR THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER

1. Notice the form and punctuation of the date line: MADISON, Wis., Feb. 29.--

2. Notice the writing of street addresses: 234 Grand avenue, 4167 Twenty-sixth street; 3857 138th street; (without "at").

3. Notice in the use of figures--sums of money, hours of day, ages, figures at the beginning of sentence.

4. Notice use of titles; use of Mr. before a man's name--always give a man's initials or first name the first time you mention it in any story.

APPENDIX II

NEWS STORIES TO BE CORRECTED

(The following stories have been prepared to illustrate some of the most usual mistakes in newspaper writing. They may be rewritten or used as exercises in copy-reading. As a class exercise, the student may revise and correct these stories _without recopying_, just as a copy-reader revises poorly written copy.)

I

Shortly after 2:30 this morning fire

broke out in a pile of old papers in the

basement of the Harmony Flat building,

at 1356 Congress avenue, a four-story

eight-apartment structure. Two firemen

were killed by a falling wall.

The fire had a good start before the

janitor, Michael Jones, who sleeps in the

basement, awoke. He turned in an alarm

and ran through the halls awakening the

occupants. The people on the two lower

floors escaped in their night clothing by

the stairways, but the fire spread very rap-

idly, the occupants of the upper floors be-

ing forced to flee down the fire escapes in

the rear.

When the firemen put in an appearance,

Mrs. Jeanette Huyler appeared at a third

story window and called for help. An ex-

tension ladder being hoisted, she was res-

cued without difficulty. During the fire

the wall on the east side fell and killed

Fireman John Casey and Jacob Hughes;

Fireman Williams Jacobs was hit on the

head by a brick and seriously injured.

The fire was extinguished before it

spread to an adjoining three-story flat

building on the west.

The firemen in searching the ruins

found the body of a man who was later

identified as Rupert Smithers; he was 70

and occupied a lower flat by himself. The

janitor said that he was deaf and prob-

ably did not hear the warning. The three

dead and injured firemen belong to Hose

Co. No. 24.

Loss $50,000, fully insured.

II

The police have arrested John Johnson,

23 years old, 2367 Sixth Street, charged

with murdering Mrs. Laura Buckthorn,

the well-known proprietor of the Duchess

Restaurant, 438 High street. He is now

in the county jail.

Mrs. Buckthorn was sixty years old and

the widow of one of the oldest settlers in

the city.

She lived in her small cottage at 2367

Sixth Street and supported herself by

means of the restaurant. John Johnson, a

street car motorman occupied a room in

her cottage. Mrs. Buckthorn was found

dead in her bed, in a pool of blood, with

two bullet holes in her head this morning.

Mrs. Grady, the restaurant cook said, "I

became alarmed when Mrs. Buckthorn did

not appear as usual at the restaurant this

morning and went to her home to find

her."

Inquiry showed that Mrs. Buckthorn

had drawn $250 from the First National

Bank yesterday and her daughter, Mrs.

J. D. Jackson, 1548 Sixth Street, says that

her mother often kept such sums of money

at home under the mattress of her bed.

Mrs. Jackson also says that she often

warned her mother against such habits.

The money was not under the mattress

this morning.

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 yards.

He had with him $223.67 and a ticket to

New York. He was known to be hard up

but refused to account for the money and

was given a berth in the county jail.

Samuel Benson, cashier of the First Na-

tional, is sure that the two 100-dollar

bills which were found on Johnson are the

same bills that he gave to Mrs. Buckthorn

yesterday afternoon. Johnson will be

given a hearing to-morrow but it is al-

ready considered certain that he is the

guilty party, the evidence being so strong.

(This story may be rewritten for local use and for a dispatch.)

III

Sparks, resulting from the grounding

of an electric wire, ignited a bucket of gas-

olene and fired the shop of the G. W.

Smith Motor Co., at 228, 232 West street

last night, five automobiles valued at

$5,800 being destroyed and the building

being damaged to the extent of 6,200 dol-

lars by fire.

The insulation on the wires of an exten-

sion light that Edward Flasch, one of the

repair men was using became cracked, the

wire grounding as a result. The sparks

fell into a bucket of gasolene standing

nearby and in a few minutes the entire

building was ablaze. G. W. Smith, pro-

prietor of the garage, 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-

trol. He then started to run out as many

machines as possible.

Six cars, valued at $9,000 were saved.

IV

Madison, September 25th, 1912; 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 6:sO a. m. this morning,

and now lies partly submerged in water,

a total wreck. The damage will be fully

25,000 dollars, but there will be no inter-

ruption to the service the company's excel-

lent reserve equippment being immediately

brought into action for the emergency.

The cause of the explosion was at first

clothed in deep mystery before the officials

of the company had time to make any in-

vestigation.

However it was definitely ascertained

during the morning when Mr. John W.

Jackson, the secretary and treasurer of the

company, being interviewed by a Daily

News correspondent this morning, stated

that the immense quantities of snow on

the roof of the holder was primarily re-

sponsible. 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

standing. 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 averted.

As it was dozens of windows at the

planing mill on the opposite side of the

street were all left intact. In fact no dam-

age whatsoever outside of the holder re-

sulted from the unfortunate accident.

Two workmen, Jacob Casey and Nelson

Jones, were unfortunately caught beneath

the wreckage and their bodies were

removed later in the morning by the fire

department. 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

today.

(This story illustrates, among other things, excessive wordiness.)

V

After being chased by a young woman

for several blocks, a man who gave his

name as John Weber, was pursued through

a saloon at 11-97th street by Policeman

Arthur Brown and captured on the roof of

a building adjoining the saloon, where the

man had hidden behind a chimney. Weber

was arrested by the policeman and is held

on a charge preferred by Charles Young, a

grocer at 2145 Sixth avenue, of attempt-

ing to rob Young's grocery store.

According to Young, just before he

closed his store for the night last evening,

a young man entered the store and asked

for a pound of butter. "I thought," said

Young, "that the man was just married

and might be a possible new customer. I

started for the back of the store to open a

new tub but just as I turned to go, he hit

me over the head with his cane. The

blow dazed me but I still had sense enough

to grab him by the collar. In the fight we

both fell through the glass door at the

front of the store and the d--n rascal got

away." A young woman, who was pass-

ing the store, seeing the fracas, screamed

and started to run after the young man.

She followed him until he ran into a sa-

loon. Then she ran up to Policeman

Brown, who was standing at the corner of

97th st. and Sixth-av and told him that a

robber had gone into the saloon. The po-

liceman ran into the saloon, but found the

man had left by the back stairs. The po-

liceman followed up two flights of stairs

leading to the roof, on the run, where he

found Weber hiding behind a chimney.

Weber refused to give his address.

After watching until she saw the robber

taken away in the paddy-wagon, the

doughty young woman disappeared. Her

name is unknown.

VI

A burglar dressed in a Salvation Army

uniform was arrested for attempting to

burglarize Walter White's home, 16 West

62nd st. at about two o'clock last night.

He gave his name as Julius Woll and his

address as 129 23rd ave.

The caretaker at Walter White's said

he was awakened at 1 o'clock by the noise

of bureau drawers opening and he at once

phoned to the station. An officer came

and found the would-be burglar under the

bed. After considerable scuffling the man

was arrested and taken to the station.

The Salvation Army denied any connec-

tion with the prisoner but the landlady at

his address said he had two uniforms and

always wore one. He also carried a

prayer book under his arm whenever he

left his room. She also said that he had

resided in her house for six weeks and

owed four weeks board; also that he had

not been there for two weeks. Inquiry

proved that he was out regularly until

three or four in the morning.

VII

The wedding of Mr. James Henry,

1463 Seventh Street, and Miss Sarah

Jones, last night at the home of the bride's

parents, at 316 North Johnson Street, was

a brilliant success.

Fifty guests were present and the pres-

ents which they brought all but filled the

parlor. After the ceremony a seven-

course banquet was served until 11:30

o'clock. Miss Sadie Jones rendered "The

Rosary" to the accompaniment of Mr.

John Field.

The bride wore a gown of pink taffeta

and carried sweet peas. The bridesmaid,

Lily Swenk, was dressed in white muslin.

The groom and best man, Mr. Arthur

Howles, wore conventional black. Rev.

Stone of the First M. E. church officiated.

The groom is a promising young law-

yer of this city. His bride is one of the

city's leading young society woman, being

deeply interested in the Womans' Suf-

frage League. 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 friends. After a trip

to the Coast, the happy couple will reside

in this city.

VIII

"What we need in our universities are

sportsmen and not sports," said President

G. E. Gilbert of the Western University,

in the convocation address yesterday aft-

ernoon at four o'clock. "The sportsman

plays for the game, but the sport plays for

the victory."

The President continued, "Before the

battle, and during the battle, the

sportsman can be told from the sport."

It is the actions of the man, he

said, when he is in the test that determine

to which class he belongs. The President

summarized the various college

activities and showed how the two

classes of men appear in each different

activity. And in each, as the President

said, "you can tell the sportsman from the

sport."

"I think that this, the relation between

the sportsman and the sport, is the truest

analogy that can be applied to human life.

Life as a sea, life as a battle, life as a river

in which you must always paddle your

own canoe upstream, life as a hill-climbing

contest--all these analogies have their

weaknesses. But life as a game is a true

analogy."

The President concluded with a glowing

tribute to our university.

IX

FAULTY LEADS

Evading the police by sliding down a

rope fire escape from a hotel window, Jo-

seph Matus, charged with robbing a lum-

ber jack of $125, escaped the police

temporily only to be arrested an hour

later at the Chicago, Milwaukee and St.

Paul depot.

Ignited by the breaking of an electric

lamp, a tank of whiskey containing 7,705

gallons exploded and threw Francis Tab,

120 W. 139th St., thirty feet against the

opposite wall at the E. J. Jimkons Com-

pany, 40th street this morning.

Fire of unknown origin started in the

big lumber yards owned by Charles John-

son at 763 Clinton Avenue, yesterday aft-

ernoon. The yards and one million feet

of lumber were totally destroyed. The

entire district between Mitchell street and

the South River was in danger of total

destruction, according to fire Chief Casey.

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 walls. Loss $120,-

000.

Trade war is the only probable result

of the abrogation of the Russian treaty,

was the statement of the Hon. Frank J.

Blank, secretary of State, before a large

and enthusiastic audience at the opera

house last evening. 1800 people packed