JOURNALISM HIGH SCHOOLS Class __-i=^^i-^^^ lOKfRlGHT DEPOSrr. JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS A guide-book for students in conducting the school paper, and in preparing them- selves for newspaper work as a profession BY CHARLES DILLON II Formerly Professor of Industrial Journalism in the Kansas State Agricultural College at Manhattan LLOYD ADAMS NOBLE, Publisher 31 West 15th Street New York City LB SU2-I Ms- Copyright 1918 BY Lloyd Adams Noble FEB 23 1918 ©CI.A481873 ^t.1^ / PREFACE With more than forty state institutions offering courses in journalism as an elective study, it seems logical to assume that sufficient interest has been manifested to warrant the writing of a book giving definite preparation for such work in the high school years. Persons familiar with such questions have long known that few students enrolling in the freshman year in college have any clear idea of just what they intend to do. Too frequently journalism is chosen to fill out the assignments in college without any intelligent conception of its requirements, and just as often, perhaps, the student is disappointed after weeks or months have been wasted in attempting work for which he is unsuited. It is with the hope of eliminating this doubt and wasted time that I have arranged the program of study set down in this little book. Why should not the high school student know before going to college whether he cares to undertake journalism as part of his course? With hundreds of high schools printing papers of one sort or another, usually for practice in writing, why should not the methods and the ethics of this old profession be made plain in the formative years, when association and proper direction have the strongest influence in deciding the career to be chosen ? I believe careful study of the methods and rules iii iv PREFACE presented here will provide the help so many of these students need. The managers of newspapers, farm journals, trade and professional periodicals, and of great commercial and industrial enterprises also, find it increasingly difficult to obtain men and women who are competent to write concise, simple, correctly spelled English. Moreover, in striving for the sensational or so-called popular form of presentation too many forget the importance of accuracy, and so give evidence and conviction to the charge of carelessness, or worse, so frequently lodged against news- papers and magazines. Vocabularies burdened with trite, shopworn phrases are the despair of employers in every publishing house, whether the product be a news paper, a farm journal, a magazine, or books. In arranging the material presented here some peda- gogical necessities have been remembered. Every exam- ple has stood the test of long experience and of editorial supervision in standard colleges, newspaper offices and publishing houses. In brief the accepted method is pre- sented by use of which a writer may gain respectful con- sideration for his product whether he be student, teacher, reporter or man of business. "Magazines and newspapers never sleep or take vacations," said Professor J. T. Willard, Dean of Science in the Kansas State Agricultural College. "Their power to elevate mankind is incalculable. But printed knowl- edge becomes effective only as it is read, and to be read in this day it must stand out from the great mass of other matter, and gain the attention and hold the interest of the reader. To do this its points must be sharp and easily PREFACE V seen, and the style must be attractive. But if the pres- entation is not essentially true, the more attractive it is the worse it is; the greater the harm that follows its reading." Charles Dillon. ToPEKA, Kansas. CONTENTS PAGE Preface iii The High School Paper i In Actual Practice 3 The Equipment 9 The Staff 1 1 Paying its Way 13 Making Up the Paper 17 The Type for Advertising 27 Writing the Headlines 30 Preparation of Copy 43 The Names of Things — Illustrations 48 Cautions for Writers 50 Studying the Exchanges 60 What Is School News? 62 Special Articles 66 Interviews 73 The Writing of Fiction 79 Editorial Writing 86 The Paper, the School, and the Alumni go Style 92 Mixed Metaphors, and Other Errors 98 The Law of Copyright 106 The Law of Libel no Journalism, College, University, and Profes- sional 112 Notes on Newspaper History 115 vii Journalism for High Schools THE HIGH SCHOOL PAPER Every high school should have a paper, and if the best results are to be obtained it should be published once a week. If the purpose . be to give students practice in writing, and that should be the first thought, it should be a real paper, not a toy, no matter how small it may be, and every line written by students should be supervised by at least one member of the faculty. To conduct the enterprise without competent direction is to waste time and material, and very often' to injure the school. No better practice in the use of language could be devised than is to be found in writing of a day's events; but once permitted to go uncensored, unedited by a careful proof- reader in the school, the whole plan becomes worse than failure because it will create a false idea of the proper writing of English. No school should have a paper for any other purpose than to set up and maintain the right standards and ideals. Inevitably the writing of a paper will attract students who believe that later in life they may wish to engage in journalism in one or another of its special fields as a career. Quite naturally the experience will prove to be a process of elimination. A few months, often only a few 2 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS weeks will be needed to prove that some of these boys and girls were mistaken, their enthusiasm short-lived. This fact, unfortunately, seldom is discovered until one or two terms in college have been wasted in trying to understand the purposes of the course in journalism. A student who is interested sincerely in newspaper work, who wishes earnestly to fit himself for a career in that profession, will not need to be urged to produce copy for his school paper. It provides his first genuine chance to write for publication something to be read by those whom he wishes to please, whose praise or approval he values. When the number of students who measure up to these requirements is compared with those who seldom write except under compulsion, it is not difficult to under- stand why the school paper may be a perfect machine for testing the students' real attitude toward journalism; or why it may be a dreary failure instead of a very valuable asset. The boys and girls who do the work that falls to their share will know when they go to college whether they care to undertake journalism in one of its branches as a career, or to enroll in the course merely for the practice in writing, an important part of any man's equipment in the business or professional world. A student assigned to write about an actual happening, something he has seen or erpects to see, is almost certain to produce a better theme or story than will be turned in by the average boy whose task is 500 words on the con- struction of Ivanhoe or The Winter's Tale. This is not intended, of course, to detract from the value and im- portance of the study of literature, for in this the boy prepares himself to write about the news event. Obvi- IN ACTUAL PRACTICE 3 ously if he neglects the work in English he will have no vocabulary, no treasury on which to draw. The excel- lence of the high school paper, then, rests primarily upon the foundation built with good books. Certainly no such paper can have any value as practice if students put into it only the language of the ball field or the gymnasium. Careful preparation, censorship, faculty supervision will produce the high-class, commendable school paper. Censorship should not mean the excluding of all humor or student merriment from the weekly paper or the class annual. But it should mean the eliminating of attacks on those who have no chance to defend themselves; in- sinuations likely to injure the good reputation of boy or girl; "getting even" with some member of the board or faculty whose idea of duty has made him unpopular; caricatures that wound; jokes that leave a sting; slang that reflects unfavorably on the intelligence of writers, and, in short, every form of coarse, questionable wit or sarcasm resorted to by persons who seize eagerly an oppor- tunity to injure others anonymously. Wholesome fun, and every school abounds with it, is enjoyed by all normal human beings. Satire adds no laurels to the writer, and cynicism is not an evidence of mature wisdom. In Actual Practice. The most carefully edited metropolitan daily papers, and good trade and agricul- tural journals, should be examined for specimen stories or items. Note the principal facts upon which these stories are based, and then observe how those facts are described in detail. Analyze every sentence and paragraph for the information the writer seeks to convey. Set down in a note book any unusual words in the story, and watch for 4 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS an opportunity to use them in your own writing. Con- trast the items you have selected with items in the high school paper, and discuss with the faculty adviser the different methods of treatment. While it would be unjust to expect gravity in every- thing written by the student staff, the tendency to write trivial and silly items will disappear if the best news- papers and magazines are studied, or at least that ten- dency will be very largely discouraged. Such exercise may be resented, gloomily, at first, but after the school paper has been quoted in reputable publications a few times the writers will know the satisfaction that comes to those whose work has been done well enough to merit outside attention. Perhaps there is no better way to emphasize the im- portance of mature supervision than to show here a paragraph clipped from a high school paper over which, apparently, the faculty has no control: Help! Police! Thieves! This was the cry of the frightened Physics 1 1 class Wednesday morning when Mr. , in- structor, stepped into the lecture room and found the package of test papers, indis- pensable to his marvelous discovery of ten- minute "quizzes" that have won for him renown in the halls of the high school had been taken from his desk ! It should not be difficult to convince students that no newspaper conducted by experienced, normal, human beings ever printed or would print such an item. A little reflection and study should prove to the satisfaction of the staff that the writer of this piece not only spoiled a really good story but in trying to be funny about it actually IN ACTUAL PRACTICE set down what did not happen, and made his paper ridiculous by affecting levity in telling about cheating in examinations. Such an item, read by parents or others not familiar with the situation, places the school in dis- repute. What the parents might think of the student's English diction also is worth considering. This point and its significance is emphasized in a paragraph taken from the seniors' column in another high school paper; the punctuation is reproduced exactly: A hardhearted blonde, of the senior class, came near committing a serious crime Tuesday night this week, when, ac- companied by her dark haired chum, who is much taller and much kinder-hearted, this little maiden went to the library to get her history notes, but before leaving home she called up a boy friend, and delib- erately told him that he should come to the library at 9 o'clock, and bring her chum's rosy-headed friend with him. Here, in sharp and pleasing contrast, is an editorial from another high school paper, written by a senior student : A school is judged by the conduct of the persons in it, both in and out of school. If one of us gets into trouble on account of some act or other the world at large con- cludes that we are all of the same caliber. Therefore every one of us should see that we do nothing which can reflect upon the good name of the school, and we should try to encourage all things which add to the good reputation of the school. Every school activity can be described in good English, and this includes athletics. An outlet for humor should be provided in a column set apart for the purpose, but it should be clean, with a proper restraint. In short, the 6 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS high school paper should aim high so that in after years the files will be a source of pride instead of regret. Its purposes and its policies are well described in this edi- torial : It is the desire and intention of the pres- ent staff of this paper to make Red and Black, while under its control, outshine all productions of former years. We have made a departure from the usual order in appointing a faculty adviser who, although doing nothing herself, will be ever ready to lend a helping hand to any poor editor who has found his Rubicon. One of our chief endeavors will be to instil some "pep" into this magazine gotten out by one of the "peppiest" high schools in the South. We shall attempt, as far as lies in our power, to make the paper satisfy the needs of every student. The various depart- ments will be brimful of news of interest to a Hillsboroite. The literary department, especially, gives promise of being very good. Its aim is not only to give aspiring authors an opportunity of seeing the "chil- dren of their brains" in print, but also to give the students a chance to read some of the best short stories of modern times. The purpose of the local editors is to keep us acquainted with the activities of the several classes. Our exchanges keep us in touch with other schools; the athletic department gives an account showing whether the Terriers beat or are beaten, and the joke column contains a summary of the wise and witty sayings of the Sol- omons of the age — in Hillsboro. To get the best results in news-gathering the staff should meet at least three times a week, and in the begin- ning of its career should have present either the local editor or a teacher of EngHsh. To neglect such frequent conferences is dangerous to discipline, creates confusion, and results in a shifting of responsibility which sooner or IN ACTUAL PRACTICE 7 later brings disaster. Particular attention should, of course, be given to proofreading. Printers will make no correction not plainly marked on the proof. An example, reproduced on page 8, showing the need of constant atten- tion to this part of high school journalism, is quoted from a monthly paper or book prepared by students in a town in the Middle West. It is characteristic of many such articles in the same publication. The need of careful editing and condensing is shown in this item : A meeting of the Sophomore Girls' So- ciety was held on Thursday, October 19th. Plans for a big Puritan Dance were dis- cussed. It will be held on the Friday be- fore Thanksgiving in the big gymnasium. All sophomore girls whose dues are paid are entitled to a ticket admitting her and an escort. For others it is 15 cents sin- gle, and 25 cents a couple. It's to be a real dance with extra fine music. Refresh- ments will be served, and there is to be an interesting program. Be sure and come! Everybody! Your money will be well spent. An editor, remembering the value of space, and having regard for the diction of his contributors, might be ex- pected to send this information to the composing room in this form : The Sophomore Girls' Society met Thursday, October 19th, and arranged for a Puritan dance, to be given Friday before Thanksgiving in the gymnasium. Sopho- more girls whose dues are paid are entitled to tickets for themselves and their escorts. For others the charge will be 15 cents a person or 25 cents a couple. There will be good music, and refreshments will be served. Be sure to come and enjoy your- selves. H JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS The New Lincoln School The. fJunior High School is H«^W on the north part of the Central School jjfrounds and faces the. south. It occupies the width of the iiloci< b etween Sev- enth and Eig-hth streets. It is constricted of dark brick and concrete and is decorated with syml)ols of learning- and other designs Over the main entrance is a desig^n of the "Alma Mater" teaching a boy and a girl. There are four floors, the sub- basement, basement, first and second floors. The sub-basement contains the ventilat- ing- system, the g-ymnasi um, and the furna ce room. The furnace room h a-; two |of the; next larg-est^ fur.iac^s of that constructioiy Either of these will heat the building-. The gymnasium is forty-six feet by seventy two feet with dressing- rooms and shower bath opening off oQ it. The heating and ventilatmg system occupies most of the subl basen-.ent. The fresh air comes from an opennig in the wall and passes through a spray of* water, and is heated to about a hundred and twenty dtigrees. It is then driven through the l.uiilding bv two enormous fans which make three huifillred revolutions a minu*e and are motors. The b run by two tenj horse Tpower electric asement comes next. The east end of thi^ floor is devoted to the girl^nre[)artment and has the ~^ domestic art, domestic science and lunch room and girls — toilet room The west end is for the boys, and has the manual training, printing, painting and box^y^toHet room. The manual training and )/rinting ro oms are fitted with machinery and toolsjto w/)rk with.Jj^ There is no connecting dojii" and girl the xxamn i assc ■k iTthis flooy(- between the boy^^r ments. The first floor is reached ' entrance. On this flow are six class rooms. 1 mbly hall, study hall, and tWe principal's office. ). THE EQUIPMENT 9 The Equipment. Before deciding to have a paper those chiefly interested, which number will, of course, include several members of the faculty, should consider carefully the human material at hand. Has any member of the teaching force had newspaper or magazine experi- ence? Can the editor of the local paper be depended upon to give his advice and assistance, and will he, if practicable, set aside a column in his own paper for a few weeks exclusively for school news written by the students, so that when the paper finally is established it may have a fairly well-prepared staff? Will the journalism depart- ment in the state college or the university provide the information needed in getting the paper started? Can the school afford its own printing plant, or shall the paper be printed in a local plant, by contract ? Because of the frequent fluctuations in prices charged for printing it is difficult to give more than an idea of how much, approximately, the school may have to pay for its work by contract. Some monthly school magazines in the Middle West pay $50 for an issue of twenty pages. One pays $2 a page for issues of 1000 copies having from 24 to 48 pages; and this, in the smaller cities, is the price commonly charged. Although nearly all high school papers are printed by contract, it will be worth while here to present estimates for two of the less expensive outfits arranged by the sales manager of one of the largest type foundries. The first outfit might easily be bought by a high school, but its operation would call for skill not possessed by students, and not likely to be acquired by them without expert direction. A school having a manual teaching staff might 10 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS very well undertake such work. The Pilot Lever press will print a paper as large as any high school should have : PILOT LEVER OUTFIT I Pilot Lever press, 65 X 10 inches $ 35 . 00 I All brass galley, 6X10 inches 2 . 00 I Imposing stone, 12X18 inches 2.00 25 Pounds lo-point Caslon Old Roman type 1465 I Font each, 8-, 12- and i8-point Plate Text No. 4 type 8. 25 I Font each, 6-point No. 2, 4; 8-point No. 6; 10- point No. 7 and i2-point No. 9, Lining Plate Gothic 6. 20 I Font each, 8-, 12-, 18-, 24 point Caslon Old Roman 1 1 • 75 I Font each, 6-, 8-, 10-, 12-, 18-, 24-point spaces and quads. ... 3-15 1 Pair new cases i . 60 7 California job, and two Triple cases 8.10 I Single stand. No. 4 for 12 cases 3.25 I Font copper and brass thin spaces i . 00 I Pound font 2-point L. S. single rule i . 60 I Pound font L. S. bevel music rule i . 60 5 Pounds 2-point L. S. leads i . 00 5 Pounds 6-point L. S. slugs i . 00 I Dozen Challenge Hempel quoins No. i , and key i . 50 I Small mallet and planer .50 I Six-inch Yankee stick .75 Assortment of inks i . 00 I Harris rule case No. I 1 . 25 $107.15 The more pretentious, six-column paper involves a still higher degree of skill in typesetting and in "making up." Some schools produce papers of this size, but it is some- what risky because of the uncertainty attending the supply of "copy." Two hundred dollars is rather more than many high schools could invest in equipment in which the depreciation is so rapid and expensive : THE STAFF ii ARMY PRESS FOR SIX-COLUMN PAPER 1 Amiy press, 14X20 inches $ 60. 00 3 All-brass galleys, 3^X23! inches 6,00 2 Six-inch composing sticks i . 50 3 Pairs new cases 4 . 80 6 Job and Triple cases 5 . 40 I News stand 3-75 Mallet, planer, lye brush i . 10 10 Pounds news ink 2 . 00 ID Column rules, 6-point, 5 short 5.25 3 Head rules, 6-point, 2 double, i parallel i . 20 20 Advertising rules; 10 double; 10 single dashes i . 70 20 Pounds leads and slugs cut to measure 4 . 00 I Head for the paper 2 . 50 75 Pounds lo-point Roman, standard Hne 34- 50 50 Pounds 8-point, standard line 26 . 00 I Font 8-point Woodward '. 2.25 I Font 8-point Woodward extended 2 . 25 I Font lo-point Woodward 2 . 50 I Font lo-point Woodward extended 2 . 50 I Font lo-point Woodward condensed 2 . 50 I Font 1 8-point Woodward 3.20 I Font i8-point spaces and quads .55 5175-45 The Staff. Social popularity is not necessarily a proof of business ability. Students who are to have charge of the business affairs of the school paper should be selected with regard to their class standing. They should be young men and young women of pleasing personality and keen intelligence who are likely to realize that the project they are undertaking involves certain moral standards not lightly to be set aside. It is an excellent course in business management, and it provides what many persons believe to be the most interesting laboratory. 12 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS Ordinarily the seniors should lead the work of organiza- tion, but the juniors, sophomores and freshmen should have positions and assignments agreeable to their differ- ent educational qualifications. In this way there will be the proper incentive to work for promotion, and a laudable spirit of competition will be engendered which, if the underclassmen are ambitious, will prevent the paper's becoming wholly a senior publication. The year in which he is to be graduated should appear after the name of every member of the staff. Here is an ideal arrange- ment, offered as a suggestion : POINT COMFORT WEEKLY Printed every Thursday by the students of the Washburn High School, Rich- mond, New Hampshire Thursday, November 27, 1916. John W. Riley Managing Editor 1918 Associate Editors Martha Washington, '18 Locals Mary Scott, '18 Society Marco Morrow, '18 Athletics J. E. Griest, '18 Alumni Wilber Rhoads, '19 Exchanges Stanley Powell, '19 Art Mary Williams, '20. . . .Domestic Science Stella Nash, '20 Faculty News Floyd Nichols, '21 Agriculture Business Department George Stratton, '18. Business Manager D. W. HiTDDLESTON, 'i8 Circulation J. L. Vincent, '18 Advertising Faculty A dvisers Miss Rice Professor J. E. Brown Professor White PAYING ITS WAY 13 To the foregoing list may be added, of course, several other assignments having interesting possibilities. Among these are literary editor, personals, drama, and any other school activity not included in the staff shown. Occa- sionally, too, the paper may be turned over for one issue to the girls or to some special class. When this happens the names of those chosen for the week should, of course, be substituted for the regular staff. As the girls pre- paring the special edition probably will have had no experience in making up a paper the regular staff, or at least the managing editor, should give all the help needed in that task. This service will not detract from the girls' record for getting out the paper. In some of the larger cities, notably Chicago, the special editions of high school papers are prepared with new cover, and sometimes with an entire change of type throughout the edition. Such elaborate plans are expensive, however. The staff must have an office. Good work cannot be done without it. The school authorities should set aside one room in which the students may have their desks or tables, their personal belongings, books of reference, dictionary, directory, typewriters and supply of paper. Here the editors and the reporters should do all work for the paper. Here all meetings should be held. The name of the paper should be on the door. To have the work done and the meetings held in the students' homes will prove a failure. The first lesson in dignity, the pleasure in owning something, of being in business, comes when the school staff moves into its own office. Paying Its Way. It should be realized in the beginning that the revenue from subscriptions will not pay for the 14 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS paper and its printing. Advertising must be sought, and this puts the school into direct competition with local newspapers whose owners, especially in a small town, usually need the business very much more than do the students. In justice they are entitled to it without coming into conflict with the schools which they are taxed to support. However, if the staff still is determined to solicit advertising it should engage expert advice from the state college or university in preparing contracts for the space sold. If only local advertising is to be sought the work may be entrusted to one of the older students, but if outside or national business is desired the paper should be listed with one of the advertising agencies in the larger cities. These agencies charge a commission on all adver- tising placed for their clients. That is to say the large advertisers pay the agencies for placing their business. The paper expecting to get a share of this business must satisfy the agency as to circulation, not only in volume but sometimes in quality also. It is important for the agent to know whether the medium he selects goes into homes or into the campus trash cans. Quality has much to do with the rate. Business managers of high school papers should be very careful in accepting advertising contracts from agencies at a great distance. Among the many agencies in business there are certain to be some whose methods are not always what they should be. It will be important for business managers to inquire into the commercial standing of every agency. Having accepted a contract, copies of the paper carrying the advertising should be sent to the agency promptly upon publication, by regis- PAYING ITS WAY 15 tered mail, as proof that the paper has done its part. This is necessary because many of the agencies pay for advertising for their cHents and are required to show- proof of service. The contract should stipulate that bills are to be paid promptly every sixty or ninety days, and no excuses for delayed payments should be accepted. Almost all national advertisers pay the agencies without any delay, and the same treatment for the school paper should be insisted upon. Ordinarily no subscriptions or advertising can be obtained until the students have something to show the prospective customers. Therefore a "dummy" is pre- pared. This is a copy or sample of the proposed paper as it is to appear regularly. It may be made up of school news, essays or short stories written by the students, and a number of free advertisements, set up to show type faces, and positions to be sold. With this sample the students, in seeking patronage, will in reality make a survey which will serve to indicate the paper's chances for success. No contract for printing the paper should be signed until the entire project has been described to the school at morning assembly, or in some other meeting of students and faculty. In order to give students an opportunity to consult their parents, no subscriptions should be requested in a preliminary meeting, but another meeting for this purpose should be announced for a date not more than two or three days distant. At that time subscription blanks should be signed, and the money paid to a com- mittee or treasurer before adjournment. No chances should be taken in this part of the negotiations. School i6 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS "pep" very often does not produce money if allowed to die out. No amount of sentiment will pay the bills for paper and printing. The business must be gone into carefully and wisely, with a full and intelligent under- standing of its responsibilities. Such activities will bring to the surface whatever business ability the students may have, and frequently will develop the most gratifying results. With encouragement from the faculty, the experiences encountered in getting the paper properly started will prove a very important part of the boys' and girls' education. They will learn the value of a dollar. With this knowledge will come a keen understanding of the importance of living up to obligations. In this one regard, if in no other, the boys and girls concerned in printing and managing papers in schools and colleges have gained a very important advantage over those who had no such practical experiences. No high school paper, regardless of size or number of issues, should be offered to subscribers for less than fifty cents a year, and no advertising should be printed for less than ten cents a line. In this connection it should be said that while no school paper is at all likely to accept ob- jectionable advertising, a violation of this rule is certain to embarrass its publishers with the Federal postoffice authorities. These officials maintain very rigid super- vision not only over the quality of the advertising, but over the subscription books also. They may, without previous notice, examine these books, and deny the paper's right to mail facilities as second-class matter if too high a percentage of the subscriptions are found to be in arrears. Advertisements describing contests or lotteries should not MAKING UP THE PAPER 17 be printed until the opinion of the postmaster has been obtained. Making Up the Paper. A well-edited paper or a class annual carefully and intelligently prepared is an excellent advertisement for a high school, just as a slov- enly product is a detriment. Thoughtful students and instructors have realized the truth of this, as many very excellent examples prove. Printed pages, like bread cast upon the water, frequently come back in after years when life has taken on a different aspect. Not alone the con- tents of a paper are important, but its make-up also has an effect at once pleasing or disappointing. The paper's name should mean something for the school, and its whole appearance should be as inviting as an artistic menu. If the staff decides to issue a book or magazine instead of a newspaper it should prove its loyalty to the school and the town by putting the names of both on the cover. Many high school magazines fail to give this information except on the editorial page, where it is required by law in the notice of postoffice entry. An agreeable effect may be produced by using some such plan as this : THE EAST END HERALD A Monthly Magazine Published by Students of the East End High School January, 191 8 Pittsburg Penna Vol. II, No. I 18 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS trfte Jligf) ^cljool OTorlb Published by the Students of T. H. S. Eighth and Harrison Streets. Member of Kansas State High School Editorial Association. Entered as Second-class Matter in the Postoffice at Topeka, Kansas STAFF Editor-in-Chief Ewing Fergus Associate Editor Maym Parsons Business Manager Orrin Berridge Assistant Manager Harry Bennett Faculty Manager Mr. Brawford Literary Editor Charles Hoyt Pills "Pill" Bowman Locals. . . . Lillian Gleissner, John Troxell, Dorothy Wahle, Claire Menninger Assemblies Natalie Romans, Mary Christman Athletics Paul Young Freshman John Ferris Exchanges Lawrence Myers Komics Harry Davis In the Meantime Homer Davis Staff Artists Maym Parsons Ralph Oman Esther LindcU LAWRENCE ? For the last five or six years the game with Lawrence high school has been the big event of the football season. For that game we always saved all our surplus energy, all our best plays, and all our loudest cheers; for no other game could attract so large a crowd, bring forth such splendid rooting, or exhibit such brilliant The first page of a school magazine, or what printers usually refer to as Page 3, should bear the name of the MAKING UP THE PAPER 19 paper, the name of the school, the date, and the volume and number. Here is a very sensible example : The Hyde Park Weekly THE GREATEST HIGH SCHOOL JOURNAL SIXTY -SECOND STREET AND STONY ISLAND AVENUE Volume VII Thursday. November 9, 1916 No. 9 A Marine Mistake Jean Bruce. The door from the smok- The first twenty-four ing room of the steamship hours of the trip were so "Madrid" opened and a rough that but few of the young man of fashionable passengers appeared on appearance stood in the deck. In the evening the flood of light. He closed storm waves were left be- The editorial page may be arranged to suit the fancy of the staff. The necessary details may be confined to one column or the entire width of the page may be used. Both styles are shown in this chapter. If the business office can provide the money to pay the bills the paper can be improved in appearance by having cut heads for all departments, and by using as many engravings as possible. The drawings for these usually can be made in the art department of the school. Only black ink 20 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS can be used for this purpose, and it should be of the same quality used in all drawings for reproduction. Depart- ment headings, of course, may be kept standing for fre- quent use. Zinc etchings are to be preferred to half- tones because they are very much cheaper, and in most cases give better results unless the best of book paper and high-grade inks are used in printing. Cartoons by clever students always are welcome, and do much to brighten the pages. Illustrations receive attention where solid printed matter is neglected by readers. No issue should go to press without one or two good engravings on the front page, if in newspaper form. It may be neces- sary occasionally to write a story around some available picture, and this is not difficult to do. News value is to be considered, of course, but any clear, sharp engraving suited to the season would be acceptable to enliven the page. Printers are, as a rule, more cordial to writers, editors or copy readers who understand the limitations of type, and who have, in addition to their knowledge of routine desk work, an intelligent idea of make-up. This knowl- edge can be acquired only after long experience, but enough for the purposes of a high school paper will be gathered in a few months, depending of course, on the keenness of perception and artistic ideals of the student. Some persons will see nothing wrong in a poorly balanced page while others, with eyes for proportion, will know immediately that a five-column paper should carry only three three-deck headings on a page, the alternating col- umns being filled in with two-line headings. Too much balance, the placing of items according to size, rather MAKING UP THE PAPER Colorado Stale Normal School News Letter 21 ®I|0 '^nm IG^tt^r EDITORIAL STAFF Junior A Composition Class with Miss Helen BlacltstoA, Editor-m-Chief ENROLLMENT AT GRAND JUNC- TION PASSED FIVE HUN- DRED MARK It was a lively and enthusiastic bunch of pedagogues that filled the streets of Grand Junction during the three days of the Western Slope meet- ing. Their eagerness for inspiration was pretty well met hy the speakers selected. I>r. Bryan seemed to be a general favorite: his addresses d'^alt ■with things ^^ta^ to character rather than with specific theories of teaching. The C. S. N. S. luncheon was ex- cellently planned. .One hundred twen- ty-five loyal Normal School' Alumni flid ample justice to the well served meal. Mr. Quigley presided with grace, and the after-dinner speeches and music were unusually apt and entertaining. President Kelley, who is president of the State Teachers' Association, showed his executive ability in the management of the three division •meetings; and the Normal School is proud of his success. — 00 — Miss Neva Newell, '17, writes from Mancos, Colorado, that fhe is teach- ing thirty-two pupils in the Wattles rchool two miles from Mancos. Sh'? bas a splendid building of cement with a large assembly hall, a lunch room, a pantry, and a fine enti-ance hall. They do not lacTt for music or good literature either as thev have an Edi- son, an organ, and a library contain- ing three hundred volumes. Miss "Newell planned a social for Hal- lowe'en, the funds to go to the Red •^••oss. Under- the direction of Hon. J. L. McBrien of the National Bureau of EducatioT\, a conference on Rural Edu- cation will be held in Denver, Nov. 22-24. Miss Mary M. Hughes, Direc- tor of the Rural department of the C. S. N. S. and President Kelley expect to attend. Mr. Kelley has been invited to preside over the afternoon session of Nov. 22, and to give an address on the 24th on ths subject: The Making, of the Ruial Teacher — ^in State Noi^ nal Schools. President Kelley left Friday for Sa- lida to attend the Chaffee County Teachers' Institute. He will give an address on the subject "Danger Points." The Montrose County Teachers' and Directors' Association will be held at Nucla, Nov. 16 and 17. Miss Emma Full, the County Superintendent, is doing a great work for the rural schools under her supervision. Miss Bonita Heiner, '14, has com- pleted a four months' school at Gothic. She has been elected at Maher, Mont- rose County, and took up her work there about the middle of Octdber. They are just completing a- new school house in Maher which accounts for the late beginning. Miss Hulda Johnson, '17, reports that she is teaching in Orangeville, Utah. Although Ot-angevflle is forty mfles from a railroad, it is a delight- ful community. They have a six-teach- er school, with domestic science and art, supervised play, and other up-to- date features. Miss Evelyn Parr, '17, is at San Fernando, about twenty-one miles from Los Angeles. There is a train- ing school in connection with the ac- ademy in which she teaches, and th". is critic teacher of sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. She also has a class in music methods. She says, "I received the Ne^vs Letter the other day, and how I did appreciate it! It seemed just like a friend from home; it will always be welcome;'" ' A letter has been received from Miss Laura Taylor, '15, at Pueblo. The following is an extract: "All last year "The Pueblo Alumni" thought they would organise and at least plan a luncheon, but you know we are so busy and lime flies so quickly that we never accomplished that puipose. This year some are here and some are there. Lila Haines, 16, has a leave of absence and is in Canada. She re- ports many interesting features con- cei-nrng the vrar and- is taking an ac- tive part in Red Cross work among the convalescents in the hospital. Clara Wilson, '16, is doing special work in seventh and eighth grades at Hinsdale. Eva Parker, '16, is back at Riverside; she is much interested in her dry fai-m near Rye. As usual I am back and have a few new ideas for Riverside. We have a class in knitting and one class in First Aid." 22 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS !illIilIlillliilllllllllll!llllllllllllillll!illlllIlllll!!illlllllllM^ illlliB I The INDIAN LEADER I ■IIIIIIH^ A SYSTEM OF SCHOOL ENROLLMENT RECORDS. By C. E. Birch. SYSTEM of school enioUment records to fulfill its purpose sat- isfactorily should be planned with reference to the following essen- tials: 1. Accuracy. 2. Permanence. 3. Convenience. The first can only be obtained by regularity, daily checks which are religiously observed. To obtain the second is comparatively easy, as it is necessary only to use good ink and paper and to provide a place for safe-keepins. The most convenient form of record is un- doubtedly the loose leaf and binder, which makes it possible to transfer all obsolete or inactive material without interference with that which is active. The five forms shown herewith have been found very convenient and satisfactory at Haskell. Forms 1 and 4 are kept in loose-leaf binders. Form 2 is a temporary record, sub- ject to change and verification, and is placed in the pupil's folder after it has served its purpose. Form 3 is also merely a temporary record and is not preserved after the detail list is completed. Form 5 i> but partially shown. It is a heavy manila card, not kept in a binder but in a folder when not in use. A more de- tailed explanation of each form follows: Forml. — This is the first record of the pu- pil's attendance. Two reports are made daily, one for boys and one for girls. These reports include all changes in enrollment up to mid- night of the day preceding the date given. In the column for names should be given those of all pupils who have been enrolled, returned from leave, -.ent outing, deserted, etc., with proper explanations under thd "Remarks" column. From this record it will be easyto ,comi)ile the data required in the monthly re- port of attendance to the office (5-249). Post- ings are also made to Form 4, "Attendance" column. t'orm 2.— When the pnpil is sent to the principal for classification, this form is made in triplicate, by the use of carbon sheets. A copy is retained by the principal and a copy sent to the person in charge of detailing; the remaining copy to the classroom teacTier. When grade and detail have been definitely determined, the copies are turned over to the principal, who makes the proper entries on Form 4, showing the grade entered and the industrial department to which assigned, and any other information not available from the pupil's application blank. Form 3, — This temporary blank is given the pupil to carry to the industrial instructor to whom he is assigned. A carbon copy should be retained by the person making the assignment. From these tickets a complete detail list can be complied. In .case of changes or transfers, the same form may be used. Form U. — As indicated, this "Enrollment Re- cord" is compiled from the pupil's application, from the temporary enrollmentrecordslip, the daily attendance report, etc. These records, should be arranged alphabetically, with boys' MAKING UP THE PAPER 23 than because of their relative importance, becomes inar- tistic, and tires the critical eye. Some make-up men carry balance to excess, and thereby create the impression of machine-made, rule-of-thumb make-up. SHAMOKIN DAILY NEWS HAIL STORM CAUSED DAMAGE AT MT CARMEL AND KULPMONT 'Hpsp.fALsi pqr HEAD OF NEW HOSPITAL Mm Ikin a Fool of Ha.l Fell list E>»mg in KNIEHtS OF C E llcilK!i>nng lonni-eirdl Killed as Ihi) Salon I "FID BANguil f«oi- FoliaflO of Troel and Tfuek PalcNcs \ ...... ^ Wore Fluinod TampofafurB Dropped to 40 '"...' . Oajreei and Cfcildfen Made Nerr) |.;,. .i; •„- V";,; , Stedding on Ika Ice— The Damago ur£; ■''";;':,r''?^'"V' ■ OUNt CARMEl HAS Anoouneem.nl Made al lit Carmil That lahaie, AOOt l^fllCHFR c,^ ,,„ i, 1, j„ tk, -Appplntmeol-«an, . . ....I Fade Lead Up to Belief That Ruimf la Wall Founded Doctor la at F'reaent " Pony ' ;':-.- inj Courie ■« Famooi Kayo Hoapilal. ■'..;•.'■! Has Offered Kn Home For Sill 'ixr,:: SHOOTING RFFR/iY ATKENTRALIA WILL ! IN ALL PKOBABILITY RESULT IN MURDER , AH A6iD WOMAN .[WITMEB BENDIRED WHERE DO All ■ -~, ~.« g.,— ..■c..„^r...„..„. UGHTNINd STRUCK A HOME; | 'J^ suicide^ i«P0RTANr ofcisiON^ the pehnies GoyoUNO BOYS DAMAGED THE ■""" ■ . .......-'..-..._......' PROPERTY OF LOCAL FIRM WOMEN HAD A CLOSE CflLt .«j;;_'--j;?.tLSi£-.v SfrMDRiN'TunBEn tOMMflr AW ARDED HOSP ITAL WORK ^^^j11i^~^L^. STATE CONVENTION OF ODD FELLOWS TO READING I N.STEHP QF TO HARRISBURG tlONEr (UOFlELO IPIOKEER RESIDEtlT „. JS iOOHmAllI . _ {lEO AI NOON SUSPECTED WRECKER IS WEAK MINDED : MAY BE C UILtV ONE 24 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS BEAT INDEPENDENCE TURICEY DAY N. H. S. BOOSTER NEODBSHA, KANSAS. MOND LOST TO ALTOONA ^r«oii6 i Jtmmy GlUey and hta tinancee. an^ ftk^t hall coach stated that he later, wife, Fanny. She put enouga -would make an effort to st^ure the pathos In the characters of ISx. Star- building if the student body aatT ford and Virginia, but 'not eoougb t'oe tonn basket ball rans would can- to make It seem eeDtimenlal; and tribute enough lo pay the reot'Prof. there was enough wit and humor'lo Griffin's plau Is ro have a town leacc I p(«s]bti- udlei ^efforts. atlon by besidea basket ball, so IhM a m^oibershlp may 0' obtatnod. : hand dapping dDWi^ay; caused e pupils '' MANUAL TRAINING n,e ;.n,e .Irb Columbus I. .h»jM Monday -He »aid Ibai If the tAm Mar- Lord Study. Mar> Lord Let's Have a Come-Back bu] Turkey Day ^J I ilQTi«biAfor the >Wbti« obtaI;^d It, MAKING UP THE PAPER 25 The Kansas Industrialist Kanwi fiUUi Acricoltanil CoUr^e, MftnltH TDRNONTHEltOUDEAUX. .js:.7i:p"r.ir.::: CLOD. NOT DIST MULCH. '^f^^;^;^ WOKK IN THE GAKlJKN. iR*T sruAt II Dire nuoKC JANDl^r nrLtlMl HI* advicb cob • IITV NI'H3>M*n«**PAMMB«« rr/orcr"^"' iia^ti OUT THIS iv.iM. ft^.. .... i.M—. r... M-r ".w. t- !!..». «»« ^-.. r.™«. 1)^4.^.^ B«-.4. *« »..p. o. K..,. ..,.,„., ,.^ *"i«'w-!:,.^-v^:'T;.;t:;i;«f* -«lth7c'l.ul'l orwi^LnT''.. W "'-^V«.-'!l w ."" ."ilC"' ■■WI,»™il-,MuodU !..««««.. "'■';.«. Tm*""".:;;."'" J«U 4tl«r Ui- cloM*r o«p» open loJ for .11 lh.»«Mi. bul ™'^'";' •» 'J- Il-«iclod o«.'.du.in.»lA ib.L bi-d betora planKoK tlioc Sucli t..l ll.a Kkntaocn al itia K.nta* Sum |«%t"bi'l(ir« (h«"llo-cr UaJi uololJ ii Dl" w'"l''vi*Bi'iif»'to 'i:'l'rf'^'"""tho .h..a •« earl^ iv po. Alh!Tu?eirAV'pfofl 1'^. iiinchtrepol the -...ill I o" O.ll ttlMV b^I.MO lMl-« PMoroM-t..1«l ram Iherrafler Wllh lucli «-'J'»> *|iiinj fof MpiriDicniatin-i I:.eri(«] « .k^le.^ toahat coDd.lloni a.e n.wl. "Th. ■Haiti. fTDOtator oa ahMH. ".Vit"°I.'nl^'oM^.'J 'Jio«» '-^^ i«rr^^" wb^j^.u"' ««?''*'''' Xp?"C.>.V'('J^'lr«oI'ito'' ."^ ^°g™/.d .a hZconZiTL pV.»; C'iji^'ll'l.il'^wlrt '"' """" "^ Ml°M.Vp'"J PC.-J." .f«l m. 1. (ioxrniiKat reiwrt* l»ic .1 Apnl 1 «arlau* t,p» nf eoni culU»aM.r* are mu"ur. and i-Um lw.d Uw I!) Iht' •niuCHivu TMe v>ii. )utl befwe >!'« l""!! l"!" "J HW" *»j tl.al tho tgoO'lioo '.i "nc»t id **—"•• "''•'%*"tVriD!V^-.*.': T ' Of course no paper, in school or in the business world, would be properly prepared if it had no accepted style for doing things, for presenting its contents. There must be a standard for every act. Rules of capitalization must be adopted and enforced. Nearly every newspaper has a formal set of such rules, and so have all well- managed schools. Students conducting a high school paper may obtain such guidance from the department of journalism in the state university or they may adopt the standards offered here as representative of many of the largest publishing houses. For example: Capitalize all departments of the Fed- eral government, and all bureaus of those departments. This includes the President, the Chief Justice, the Secre- taries of the several departments. Do not capitalize state boards. Use capitals for state institutions. Capitalize: Bill Brook Farm; Connecticut Valley; the Potomac River; Civil War; Fourth of July; Twen- tieth Century; Declaration of Independence; Golden Rule; Ten Commandments. Capitalize large geograph- 26 JOURNALLSM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS ical divisions such as Southwest, Middle West, North, South, East and West, when those parts of the country are referred to, and not points of the compass. The wind was blowing from the east. The man made his fortune in the South. He was going north. He had lived in the North. Ordinarily all figures below lo should be spelled. Use figures for age, inches, feet, yards, rods, acres, and miles, and for minutes and hours and time; also for quantities, as in recipes. The rule for figures should vary when necessary to avoid awkwardness. Examples accepted: Not two in fifty would sign it. One by one the men left camp. Nine times in ten. Write it lo million dollars, i| million bushels. Other numbers require ciphers: He owned 2,600,000 acres. It amounted to $2,300,000. Fig. I for Figure i. No. I for Number i. In pedigrees. Crimson Wonder 2d, instead of Crimson Wonder 2. But write it Eighth Duke of Waterbury when number precedes name. The character "&" is used in all firm names or titles of railroads. Use judgment concerning use of hyphen, but avoid making fussy distinctions about it when correcting proof. Comm^on words of one syllable may be combined without hyphen, but where one of the words is of two or more syllables the hyphen may be used to make the sentence clearer. Such expressions as one-horse cart and two-row cultivator require it. Use hyphen and word combina- SETTING TYPE FOR ADVERTISEMENTS 27 tions as sparingly as possible to facilitate linotype com- position. Such combinations as today, yesterday, nowadays, withhold, notwithstanding, are to be used according to custom — without the hyphen. Ordinary rules of punctuation should be followed, but introduce a quotation a single sentence in length with a comma; two or more sentences with a colon. Avoid use of parenthesis when a comma will do as well. Don't use dashes too frequently in sentences. Possessive Case — Jones's dog (appHes to names of persons only). Brackets are used for all interpolations. Spell out name of state where it follows name of county, but abbreviate it after name of town or place. Example : Topeka, Shawnee county, Kansas ; Topeka, Kan. Spell out names of all railroads. Spell out Professor unless initials are used. Christian names, except where purposely used as nicknames with quotation marks. Titles, such as Governor, Colonel when followed by the name. Write it "The Rev. J. W. Brown," not "Rev. Brown." Nearly all ministers prefer to be called "Mr." unless they have a degree of Doctor of Divinity. Setting Type for Advertisements. Very little free- dom of choice should be permitted the printers in setting advertisements, especially in small towns where the best talent is not always employed. Some compositors are disposed to use all the type faces in the shop in 28 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS setting a page of cards, with the unpleasant effect shown here: DA. 0. A. HENNERICH \ Dr. H. B. Neiswanger Physician & Surgeon OCULIST Office over The Hays City Drug Store Phone No. 356 Dr. W. H. JORDAN Office over Citizens Bank Building, entrance Soathside Phones;.Office 84 Residence 59' FOR ALL KINDS OF GROCERIES HAYS, - - - KANSAS DENTIST Guaranteed Dentistry; Painless Ex- traction of Teeth. STAINER BLOCK, Phone 291. K. C. HMS. M.D. Physician and Surgeon Office in First National Bank Building Phones: Residence, 333; Office, 273 DR. GEORGE P. HEMM Physician &. Surgeon Phone 90. Weisner Block HAYS, - - KANSAS THE MISSES VIRMOND Millinery | Hays, DR. A. A. HERMAN Dentist Office: Hays City Drug Store Phone 341. K ansas , DR. E. J. CARLSON ^ 1 Physician & Surgeon The Ellis County News Phone485. Weisner Block The best Advertising medium HAYS, KANSAS Trr Western Kansas ; . . . First-Class Job Work a Specialty. E. A. RE A LAWYER HAYS. - KANSAS CALL AT King's Barber Shop J. S. Vermillion M. D. Practice Limited to Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Including Fitting of Glasses Office in Ryan Block Hays, Kas Geo. B. Snyder, M. D. Office Phone, Residence Phone, HAYS, 148 69 KANSAS SETTING TYPE FOR ADVERTISEMENTS 29 How much better is this page in which the compositor has been restricted to one style: PROFESSIONAL CARDS DR. W. N. WEST DENTIST Phone 1155 W 707 MiUs Bldg. DR. L. V. SAMS PHYSICIAN AND SUKGEON Phone 1660 W 726 Kansas Ave. DR. S. A. BOAM PHYSICIAN 3>hone 261-W Orpheum Bldg. DR. A. B. JEFFREY PHYSICIAN Phone 1604-W 706 Kansas Ave. FOY & FOY CHIKOPEACTOES Phone 3078 716 Kansas Ave. DR. A. F. HARRISON Phone 1086 B 718 Kansas Ave. DR. S. G. STEWART DR. JAMES STEWART DR. R. B. STEWART New England Bldg DRS. BOYD & KUTZ DENTISTS Phon« 3458-W Orpreum Bldg SETH A. HAMMEL PHYSICIAN Phone 1428 811 Kansas Ave. DR. W. E. JEFFREY DENTIST Phone 1604 W 706 Kansas Ave. DR. C. B. VAN HORN PHYSICIAN AND SUBOEON Phone 301 W 803 Kansas Ave. DR. F. E. ISERMAN DENTIST Phone 1003-W 716 Kansas Ave DR. K. S. McGREW DENTIST Phone 3103 729 Kansas Av* DR. MENNINGER Phone 19W 727 Kansas Ave. so JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS Headlines and Copy Reading. Instruction in read- ing copy and in writing headlines is invaluable. It teaches students to detect the errors in their own writing while correcting the copy of others. It sharpens the in- tellect and adds very materially to the vocabulary in SCHOOL SPIRIT COMES WITH NEW PRINCIPAL STUDENTS AT CENTRAL HIGH PUT THE SCHOOL BACK ON SCHOOL SPIRIT MAP M. C. PRUNTY IS WELL LIKED New Principal Starts All Activities at Full Speed and Inaugurates New Ones — Will Add Jour- nalism Next, Year. That Central High School is back on the school spirit map, is an established fact. With the coming of Merle C. Prunty, the new principal of tlie school, all the latent and undeveloped spirit of Central sprang into vivacious life. At Auditorium meet- ings, in the halls and on the athletic field this new spirit is manifest. It has talten the f.- n.-innln.-, I r,f_ll,c seeking words to fit the requirements of type for head- Hnes. It is a study no student should miss, regardless of whether he intends to become a professional writer or to enter some other business. A copy reader is the safety-valve to regulate the enthusiasm of the reporters. It is his duty to correct their errors, supply deficiencies, re-write parts, and so.me- times all, of their stories, and finally, to put over every HEADLINES AND COPY READING 31 story a headline that tells, in a few words, what the re- porter could not describe in less than a column. By con- g,| ,,|U, .|':|ir,S|«l|;|| ■; li llll|;i|i!:fet»Jj*1» Athletics LeGRAND CANNON, 17 Editor c=^$ Jiiii!!!;iihiisi:iikfhiiiSiiiiiiii:i)iiiiiiiiiiiiBiiii:iiiiiiw;i;J;:aiifi.iJ!!itiii'i;:E > V ^W few^ LOCAL EDITORIAL STAFF William Blvens EdItor-ln-Chlef Harold Porterfleld ... Asst. Business Mgr. Sarah Mcintosh ..... .Associate Editor Melville Hunter Business Manager Charles Copp Circulation Mgr. stant reading of newspapers, magazines and books he is expected to keep abreast of the times, and be familiar especially with everything in current topics pertaining 32 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS to the affairs of his town, county and state, and to the nation in a general way, depending upon the desk he iniiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiHuiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiHiHiii THE GIRL/ DEPARTMENT Miss Julia Lincoln, 191? Miss Beatrice Lomas. 1917 lllllllillllllllllllllillilllllllllllllHIIIIilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHIIIIIIIIIIIIillllilllHIIIIIIIIIlim occupies. He must, primarily, know the style of his paper so well that he can eliminate from the reporters' copy all the words and phrases not permitted in its col- HEADLINES AND COPY READING 33 umns. He should have, at least to a working degree, a knowledge of the laws of libel. In short, a copy reader is 10 THE HYDE PARK WEEKLY. SOCIETY. -^^t // DISCUSSION CLUB. Program Commitee. Last Wednesday night, the Hyde Charles Smith, Chairman Park Discussion Club started on its J&rome Nefif expected to know everything the reporters know, and very much more. 34 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS A study of newspapers will disclose many styles of head writing. Some country papers are content with a "one-line" head while another, in the same county, would use what is called "three decks" to describe the same event. Newspapers are judged largely by their headlines. Some, in the sensational class, find a large, f!iioiiiillliJillilllililliliilll{UII:lllii{||||||llilll!l||||||||||lllll|||||||i||l|l|{l|||ii[l1i|l[|ll!{illlli;illlil^ SCHOOL NOTES Raymond Bush, '17, Editor ->illlllllllliKllllllli:lllllllll!IIIIIIIIIIIllll||llll!yillli:illlll!llil!l::lllllli;IIIIUIIII>lilll!llll,|l|lli|llllil!llli;iO^ black-face scare-head necessary to decorate a twenty-line story that received a mild, two-line head in a more sedate competitor. Some papers use the past and others the present tense in heads; many omit the articles from the several lines, and others would not permit an issue to appear without them. Words or figures are used to designate the several kinds of headlines. This designation is written, usually, at the right-hand side of the page, as shown in the examples on page 31. Headlines must, of course, conform to type require- ments. Thus, the top line of a three-deck head in HEADLINES AND COPY READING 35 The Kansas City Star will hold twenty to twenty-three letters, depending upon the letters used. If M or W are included each counts two units; but these may be used if there are several thin letters, like L, I, or T. A three-deck head, usually, is put only at the top of the column, depending upon the width of the paper and SHERMAN KEIXET EI.MER CrsiCK ■ lAZEL MACK LICII.LE BIDfiWAY MARION BIALAC r.UV T01.A>n. RuBlne ROBERT WII-LIAMS. HAROLD MILLER. Ai NINA LODGE. Secretit editorial Staff MILTON HERBRICK. Editor WII.Itl'R HOLE. AKiit. Editor Rl Til HOLMES. A»8t. Editor — AaBorliiti< Edltorn— LEONARD Mr(;RATII. Alumni — Eftt-ulty Advisers— CLASS REPORTERS IBuslness Staff IRENE TAl'CHEN JEANNETTE McDONALD LA1RA PETERS WALTER JOHNSON ARVID PEARSON / (iUATTON WILLOIGIIBV HIRA PETERS. Clr SIMVIN PEARSON. A AsHt. Secretary the style of make-up. Stories of less importance carry two-line heads, and others only a single line. A one-line head should not be used on an item containing more than one paragraph, but a two-line head may be put on one paragraph. In some newspaper offices a knowledge of type names is not necessary. A set of heads has been agreed upon; only three or four kinds of type are used. The copy 3 6 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS reader marks the story "i column head" or "2 column scare ' ' and the foreman of the composing room directs the man in his department assigned to set headlines. But in a publishing house in which many papers are printed copy readers and, indeed, every writer should know the names of the type used. The big type foundries have catalogs admirably suited to this study in college. This work teaches condensation, enriches the vocabulary, and in- creases the earning power of the man who may wish, later, to obtain employment in a printing house. Instructors in schools will find editors of all publications willing to mark on their pages the names of the type used. These specimens, with one or two catalogs, will form material for many exceedingly interesting lectures, and for much instructive laboratory work. Printers or the type foun- dries will provide samples of type faces from which to choose the headings. In the magazines it will be found easier, and just as satisfactory to use short headings, suggestions for which are easily obtainable in any of the standard publications. In preparing a weekly in news- paper form, however, students will find it to their ad- vantage to choose a good, clear type small enough to admit at least three words, and if possible four words in the top line. This line should contain an active verb if possible. It is not good form to use figures in the top line of a newspaper heading, and particularly not to begin the line with a figure. A noun used in this line should not be repeated in the second line, or deck, as it is called in the composing room, and each line should be complete in itself ; that is to say the headings should not be merely a sentence divided into lines, such as one frequently sees HEADLINES AND COPY READING MARKS USED IN PROOFREADING ?>1 # SI a C ] Delete: take out. Letter reversed; turn it ove Insert spactt. Close up; no space. Bad spacing; make spaclne even. Transpose words or letters. Make paragraph. No paragraph; run in. Indent; put In an em-quad space. i""u i II Move to the left. Move to the right. Raise to proper position. Lower to proper position. Imperfect type; change. Space shows; pur'j down. Line up; make the margin straight. Straighten lines or type out of line. ® aXoJU o /^ M Let It stand; ritain crossed-' out word or litter. See copy for omitted words. Query to author: Is this cor- rect? Put In capitals. Put In small capitals. Put In lower-case. Put to roman type. Put In italic type. Put In bold-face type. Wrong font; change to proper style of type. Apostrophe. Quotation marks. Period. Comma. One-em dash. Two-em dash. Hyphen. 38 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS in some poorly edited papers in the professional field. Although the head-writer who prepared the example given here — referring to a band concert — has erred in repeating his nouns, the type employed is so well-chosen that it is reproduced : NEW BAND SCORES! CENTRAL'S BAND SHOWS UP WELL IN CONCERT Other Lines of Music Progressing — Boys' Glee Club Scores — Orchestra Under Most Favorable Conditions in Years. A feature at Central High School this year is the band, comprising fifteen pieces, which was organized at the beginning of the school term. Mr. C. Prunty, prin- cipal of Central, early in the term, asked the pupils if they desired a band. The response was hearty and a band was im- mediately organized under the leadership of W. C. Maupin. The members in the band are working industriously. Their success was illus- trated by the extended applause by the school when several selections were played at the auditorium meeting, Oct. 27. Mr. Maupin said concerning the band: "We are progressing nicely, but want 30 or 35 members. We need players for the following instruments: Clarinets, flute, piccolo, saxophones, altos, trombones, baritone and basses, oboe and bassoon. "There are many good times in store for the boys who go into the band and learn to play. Not only in high school, but in the university, musicians are always in demand and often have the privilege of HEADLINES AND COPY READING taking trips with the band and seeing the great games." Orchestra Starts Favorably Asked about the orchestra, Mr. Maupin said: "The orchestra is starting out this year under more favorable circumstances than ever before. We now have twenty- A Three-deck Head SCOTT IS PRESIDENT 39 Seniors Elect Officers, Using Real Poll System. Freeman Rcott^ nineteen years old, a member of the Ciceronian Society, was elected president of the vSenior class Tues- day, Oct. II, by a large majority. When Mr. Scott was interviewed by a reporter for The News he said: "I feel that the honor is greatly out of proportion to my capability. But the honor of any position is just what you make it. My policy shall be the policy of A Two-deck Head Here, as specimens, are three standard newspaper headlines. For a high school paper they should prove acceptable to very nearly any staff. They are sedate, if one accepts the opinion of the sensational head writers, but they will serve admirably to describe the news of a school. The scare-head should not be over-worked. A football victory or a fire or other happening of surpassing interest may appear under a scare-head. The examples: FALL ENDED A FISHING TRIP. John B. Warner, Federal Court Clerk, Back From Wyoming on Crutches. A Two-deck Head 40 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS SHE MAY WEAR A CROWN POLAND MAY HAVE PONIATOWSKI'S AMERICAN WIFE AS QUEEN. The Possible Future King, Now Paris Banker and Head of Once Royal House, Married Helen Sperry, Rich California Girl. Three-deck Head, or Triple MOB AFTER OFFICERS Death Threatened for Captain and Mate of the Steamer Eastland. PLACED UNDER ARREST On the Way to PoHce Station Crowd Attempted to Capture the Two Men. One Man Struck the Boat's Com- mander in the Face Despite the Guard. GRAND JURIES TO PROBE Federal and State Officials Ordered Deputies to Begin Immediate Investigation. The Short vScarc Head HEADLINES AND COPY READING 41 In an office issuing several publications the type to be used in a headline should be designated in this way: What is an American 24 Pt. Cheltenham Bold C. & L. C. A House That Made History 18 Pt. Blanchard C. & L. C. How to Run the Home 14 Pt. Caslon Bold C. & L. C. We*d Hear an Interesting Story If Walls Could Talk 12 Pt. Cheltenham C. & L. C. RAILROAD CONTROL BY THE UNITED STATES URGED 8 Pt. Gothic No. 8 Caps BY MARY CATHERINE WILLIAMS 6 Pt. Black Machine Caps Where a decorative initial is desired, customarily it is indicated in this way: 24 Pt. Lowell 'np'HE fine, modern harvesting machin- I ery which we use in Kansas today has been perfected only in recent years, but the idea is old. Men were working on harvesting machinery 3000 years ago. The record of the first ma- chine, so far as I can discover, is on an engraving on stone in the museum of Stories run under three-deck heads should carry sub- heads, set in small capitals, about two sticks apart. These 42 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS TAYLORVILLE, ILLINOIS, JANUARY, 1918. Table of Contents. ■Vmcrica the Hope of the World—//"". K. O. ■CUbcrl, Slalp S:i/. C. Ridgley. . .... 214 Five More States in Kindergarten Advance.... The Field that .Scouty Plowed , Studies of Famous Pictures and Statues Per- taining to .American History — Lincoln — L. Eveline ■ Merrill • . Ccography^£ighth Year — Cora M. Hamilton Household Arts — ^^Eighth Year-=-/«er M, Boyce Forbearance , Cohstruction Work — Alberta SIrome American Exports Again Soaring ' Geography — Sixth Year — F. M.Vaneil Katiire-Study Agriculture — First and Second Yc.irs- /}imiV E. Harper.. .'..■ Grammar — Eighth Vea"r — Clara M. Penstonc. . . To .School News Subscribers Editorial Comment -H. L. powkes, Co. Supl. Calendar of Meetings to be Held. Dr. E. Benjamin Andrews Department of Superfntendence. ■ Religious Education Association U. S. Government War Savings ' Illinois Centennial Celebration An Indian Hint Reading- C. M. Sa'nford Americanism in the School^OrZ^y E. Gray Magazines Received A GREAT COMBINATION OFFER For Current Events THE PATHFINDER $1.00 per year Tlie Leadinij Current Events IVeekly The School News and The Pathfinder Both for One Year $] .90 C. M. PARKER PUBLISHING CO., Taylorville, Illinois. For Educational Matters THE SCHOOL NEWS $r.25 per year The Lcadinq Educational Monthly PREPARATION OF COPY 43 UNIYEESITY DAILY KANSAJV Jonior Prom Tonight in Robinson Gymnasiuin A Realistic War Party TrutsporU Arc Not A: mfl* R*li«» ml MldBlfhl TnM -Tm. U 2 k •. SU Cold Makes Morality , Many Changes Reported Coaoly Clubs Placing [ MiKh. Uviuii c. 01 K.U.^es Wor« |„ f^„p,„y „ sj„„ I pe^anent Income Tax ■"■ "■ "■ *'"'°^' "T.'^J'S:' JT "•« AnivalatFI. SiHOHa. Before Voleis' Attention Many Have 6««n PromoUd No Additional Tax In Bill Ptain Tattt From TV Hm Authorities Set Time Limit For Vaccination As Monday, Jannary 21 On« Ca»« tUpoilnl On HiB sub-heads should describe the matter immediately fol- lowing. They should have not more than two or three words in them. A half-column story, for instance, should carry at least two sub-heads. Never run a story with only one sub -head. Preparation of Copy. Few persons realize how important it is to have their manuscript, or copy, as it is commonly called, prepared properly. Compositors very often are paid by the day or hour; sometimes they are paid for what they do, the type they set. Therefore every minute used by them in trying to decipher illegible copy, or in folding sheets that are too large, is money lost. Even before the day of linotype machines it was econom- ical to use paper of uniform size in writing for the press; it is more urgent now, in the face of competition, and the 44 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS general rush to be first on the streets with the afternoon edition. But there are other considerations. Editors and copy readers on all kinds of periodicals work, usually, at high speed. Typewritten copy, then, is especially de- sirable, and in many offices no other kind will be con- sidered. Every writer should accustom himself to setting down his thoughts with the machine, that is without first writing the story with a pencil or pen. Use unglazed paper, eight by five inches, and write the long way of the page. Colored papers, in light shades, are always welcome. They rest the eyes. Never use red ink with pen or typewriter. THE MYSTERY OF MERIDEN 2,000 words. By John W. Walker, 1234 Fifth Street, Bucksport, Maine. THE MYSTERY OF MERIDEN By John Wells Walker It was midnight. Snow was falling on Meriden Meadows as Walter Winthrop, the aged millionaire, walked slowly along the street. The first sheet of a manuscript should be prepared as shown here. Every succeeding sheet should bear the name of the story, to avoid losing any part of it in editing. If writing for a newspaper put your name in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. This rule applies to members of the staff, also. For publications other than PREPARATION OF COPY 45 newspapers write the title or subject of the story first with your name and address under it in the upper left-hand comer of the page. In the middle of the page, a third of the distance from the top, put the title, and under it, as you desire it printed, your name. In the upper right- hand corner put an estimate of the number of words. Put the lines at least two spaces apart; three spaces will please even better. If using a pencil write the lines at least one-half inch apart. Begin the first line of the first paragraph one-half way down the page, at scale ten or fifteen, if using a typewriter, or two inches to the right with a pencil. If you must use a pencil have it soft. The remaining lines of the story, begun at scale one or five, will give what printers call an indent, as type is set. Leave margins of one-half inch or more at the top and bottom and at both sides of every page. Having finished the first paragraph, begin the next on another page, unless you are writing conversation or testimony. Put a ring around all abbreviations that are to be spelled out. Never begin a sentence with figures; spell them or recast the sentence. Number every page at the top, in the middle, or at the right-hand corner. Put a half circle around the figures, or a line under them to distinguish them from the text. If new pages are to be inserted they may be marked 9^, 9I, or better 9a, and 9b, 9c, and so on. Page 10 of the original copy should then be renumbered gd, so that if the extra pages are dropped out they will be missed. In some offices where typewriters are used, every writer adds a 46 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS letter to his page number on every page, so that his copy may readily be distinguished from the copy of another writer. Thus: id, 2d, 3d, 4d, and so on. Do not try to tell the whole story on one page. One hundred and fifty words, typewritten, is a good limit. Seventy-five words with a pencil is enough for an ordi- nary page, and it will give the copy reader his chance. Do not try to write the headlines for your article unless y.ou have been directed to do it. Remember, also, that "the blue pencil," in the city editor's office, is a myth. The foreman of the composing room, usually, is the only person permitted to use one. Do not, therefore, make any marks in blue on your copy. Do not fasten the pages together. If it is necessary to insert anything in the copy it should be indicated by writing at the proper place ' ' Insert A " and at the end of the insert "End of insert A." If using a pen or a pencil be careful about the capital letters I, J, L and S. Underline u and a, and overline n and o. Small letters often are confusing unless plainly written. Make your punctuation marks clearly, espe- cially the periods. If you begin a quotation do not forget to end it with the proper mark. Carelessness in this one respect has darkened the lives of many copy readers. Telegrams and long quotations are to be set in small type, in most offices, usually agate or nonpareil, or "six point." This should be indicated in the copy by writing the name of the type desired at the top of the quoted matter and then drawing a line down the left side of the page to the bottom. This line should continue on every PREPARATION OF COPY 47 page to the end of the quotation. Matter set in this fashion is run without quotation marks. If your story contains words that are to be mis- spelled or set in any manner out of the ordinary rule, the page should be marked "Follow copy." Avoid dividing words at the bottom of the page. The division often causes confusion in the composing room. Some offices paste the copy together, but many do not do it. If your story is to be printed with pictures this fact ' should be shown at the top of the first page. Under your name write a line describing the picture, thus: " i column cut — Horace Raymond Plimmer." Write short paragraphs. Punctuate carefully. Learn the style of the paper you write for; and, for your own safety, read it every time it is printed; learn its style as to capitals and abbreviations. THE NAMES OF THINGS Illustrations Anything written for publication is called manuscript until it enters the editor's office, when it becomes copy. The contents of a newspaper, farm journal or almost any other periodical, are called stories. A stickful is about two inches of type. A stick is a metal frame used in hand composition — typesetting. A catch-line, sometimes called a slug, is a word or phrase written at the top of the first page of a story to identify it in the composing room. When a long story goes to the foreman iii several sections or takes a catch- line is put on every piece. Thus: "2 — Corn Show." The most interesting part of a story, the theme or subject, is called the feature. A story of human interest appeals to the emotions rather than to the news sense. Upper case means capital letters; lower case means small letters. One line under a word or sentence calls for italics; two lines for small capital letters; three lines for large capitals. To cut a story means to reduce it. The meaning of kill is obvious. The patent insides of a country paper are electro- plates or stereotype plates made in a central plant and sold by the column or pound to several hundred papers. Cut. Used commonly in referring to newspaper en- gravings. 48 THE NAMES OF THINGS— ILLUSTRATIONS 49 Zinc etching. A relief printing plate engraved on zinc by etching fluids. Vignette. An engraving with a background, or edges, that shade off into white. Vignetted half-tone. A half-tone in which one or more of the edges are shaded from dark tones into pure white. Half-tone process. A photo-mechanical method of making printing surfaces in which the object is photo- graphed through a grating called a half-tone screen. Half-tone screen. A grating of opaque lines on glass through the apertures of which light from the object passes to the sensitive plate in photographing for the half-tone process. Outlined half-tone. One in which the background is cut away. Chalk plate. An engraving made with a steel point. A cutline is the legend, name or description to go with a picture. Nine-tenths of the photographs received in publishing plants are worthless. Editors always welcome pictures out of the ordinary. If students having cameras would only realize this fact and give it some attention they might add materially to their incomes. Black or reddish brown photographs with intense shadows and bright high-lights, on glossy or semi-glossy, smooth papers, make good half-tone reproductions. Avoid all rough papers. They are bad to work from. Negatives and tin types should never be offered as copy. Unfixed photographs or proofs should never be sent with stories, as they turn black when exposed to 50 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS light. Remember that a good half-tone cannot be made from bad copy. A half-tone reproduction from a half-tone print is Hkely to show more or less "pattern" from interference of the two sets of cross lines. Blueprints should never be sent as copy from which to make zinc etchings. The original tracing or other drawing in black on white should be sent, as it is impos- sible to make a zinc etching from a blueprint. Poor photographs handicap engravers. If the print isn't sharp and clear, throw it away and have another exposure made. The new photograph generally will cost less than retouching. Don't depend upon an artist to draw details which should have been produced by the camera. Retouching is expensive. Resort to it only when you have exhausted all photographic possibilities. Colors interfere with reproduction. Usually it is impossible to reproduce from copy printed on colored papers or partly printed in color. Yellow, orange, red, and greens are especially bad, and black-printed over these colors cannot be reproduced except by redrawing the copy. Very dark blues, purple and brown are likely to cause the same trouble. Pale blues do not, usually interfere with reproduction, as this color does not photo- graph. Keep in mind that black printed over the colors named cannot be reproduced. Put your name and address on the back of every photo- graph. Cautions for Writers. Country editors, school teach- ers or principals, and occasionally students act as cor- respondents for daily newspapers published in nearby CAUTIONS FOR WRITERS 51 cities. What may appear to be perfectly good English, in the writer's opinion, will be likely, very often, to en- counter rules in the editorial rooms that are surprising to the uninformed person. When a correspondent sends in an item to the effect that "a glorious rain fell in our community last night, making the farmers jubilant, and causing a great outpouring of thanks to the All-wise Creator," he does not know, presumably, that the busy editor must take out the "our,'' the "glorious," the "jubi- lant," the "All-wise Creator," and let the plain fact remain that "an inch of rain fell last night at Water- town. ' ' Try to avoid using old, shop-worn expressions. Don't fall into the habit of beginning your first sentences as you have seen such sentences begun in mediocre newspapers. In short, don't begin any sentence in your story with anything except the thing of prime interest. Few persons are important enough to justify using their names as the first words of a sentence. The thing a man does usually is a better feature than his name. The best method for growing wheat is valuable information. The name of the man who discovered the method is a secondary matter. Don't mix your tenses. General propositions should be stated in the present tense: He taught that God governs the world. He said that the air is forty-five miles high. He realized that man is an animal. An infinitive should be in the present tense unless it represents action prior to that of the governing verb: It was not necessary for him to know (not, to have known) . 52 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS I intended to answer (not, to have answered). A conditional verb-phrase in a dependent clause should be in the present tense unless it represents action prior to that of the governing verb : Incorrect : I should not have planned it if I had known it would have displeased her. Correct : I should not have planned it if I had known it would displease her. In writing or telling a story do not vary carelessly from one tense to another. Decide what tense to use, and use it consistently. Don't get your English from street signs, and don't depend too much on dictionaries; they contain errors and some language not sanctioned by the best usage. "To make intelligent use of the dictionary," says Prof. L. H. Beall, "it is necessary that we know what is to be found in it, and how to find what we desire, with the great- est possible speed, accuracy, and satisfaction. We con- sult the dictionary most often to find the spelling, pro- nunciation, and meaning of words. The careful dis- criminating user of English, however, consults it often on questions of syllabic division, history and derivation, and usage. He finds there valuable lists of synonyms, antonyms, and so forth. The general reader finds a substitute for the encyclopedia in the pronouncing gazetteer, the biographical dictionary, the dictionary of noted names in fiction, and the list of foreign words and phrases." Don't begin all your stories with interrogative sen- tences. It becomes tiresome for the readers. Don't begin with: "Some time ago;" "Now is the CAUTIONS FOR WRITERS 53 time;" "A few months ago;" "Today;" "Yesterday;" "Last night;" "In 191 1 it was;" "Because she could not;" "There are;" "A terrible accident occurred last night;" "The worst storm that ever;" "Never in the history of;" "Never within the memory of the oldest inhabitant;" "A bumper crop of;" "In a bulletin soon to be issued;" "In a scientific demonstration;" "The Massachusetts Agricultural College has;" "Professor Henry Blinker is to;" "Before the Civil War;" "Thirty years ago." Don't hesitate to repeat a name in the interest of clearness. Too many pronouns are confusing. Don't use "/can" as a verb, notwithstanding some dictionaries. The preferred verb is "lend." Don't use "audience" when you mean "spectators." The persons witnessing a picture show, or photoplay, are spectators. They do not listen to the picture. How- ever, as music usually accompanies the pictures the dis- tinction is not made easily. Don't use "amateur" for "novice." Some amateurs are as skillful as professionals. A novice is unskilled, a beginner. Don't say " the funeral of the late Mr. Brown." Don't say "be careful and" or "try and." Be care- ful to avoid this, and try to remember it. Don't say "Over 400 people attended the meeting." Write it "More than 400 persons." The American people, the German people, but not "Five people were in the room." Don't say the "vast majority" more than once a week. Leave out the adjective occasionally. 54 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS Don't refer to hogs and cows and other animals as "who.'' "Which'' or "that" will do very well. Who is used to refer to persons, or to personified beings of a lower order. The man who came was my uncle. The lion, who had been hunting, said, "I have found him." Don't refer to the state, town or county as "she^' or "her." Use "it." Don't say "by leaps and bounds." Don't write, "carpenter by trade," "plumber by trade." Don't say "roughly speaking." Don't say the man died "suddenly." Unexpectedly is better. Don't use "s" in ending eastward, westward, upward, downward, backward, toward, and similar words. Don't say "the above"; use " the foregoing." In direct address use O with a noun, as O John, come. No punctuation follows O. In expressions of joy, pain, surprise, use oh, as: Oh, how beautiful the mountain is! When the sentence as a whole is exclamatory a comma follows oh and an exclamation point is used at the end; otherwise this is the cqrrect punctuation: Oh! I have forgotten my camera. O is always a capital, but oh is capitalized only at the beginning of a sentence. Don't "pave the way" for reforms or new ideas. Don't refer to all public undertakings as "movements" or "steps in the right direction." CAUTIONS FOR WRITERS 55 Don't say "the remains." Use "body." Don't say "shipped the body." Say "the body was taken, or sent." Don't say "had his leg broken." Smith broke his leg. Smith's house burned last night. Not "Smith's house was burned." It is not necessary to say the house burned down or burned up. Just say it burned. Don't say "burned like tinder;" "crushed like an eggshell; " " like a bolt from a clear sky; " " crazy to do it;" "tired to death;" "tickled to death;" "died laugh- ing;" "bursting with curiosity." Don't say "the policeman kicked him. with his foot; " "walked 20 miles afoot;" "slapped him with his hand;" "went to the barber shop for a sJiave." In short, don't write the obvious. Never write that a speech was "breezy" or "neat" and that it was "punctuated with applause." A clergy- man does not "perform at a ceremony." Do not say a player "presided" at the piano; do not say a person's features are "pronounced" or "clean cut"; questions are not ' ' pivotal ' ' ; achievements are not ' ' colossal ' ' or "monumental"; do not make persons "put in an appear- ance." An assertion is "untrue," not necessarily "ab- solutely false." Say wedding or marriage — not the "bonds of matrimony." The more careful editors now rule against the use of "partially," where "partly" is meant. A building is partly of brick. Be careful of "endorse" and "approve." Don't "inaugurate" everything. Use "begin." Ordinarily don't use "commence." This word is in 56 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS the dictionaries and in English text books: and it is pop- ular with many persons, including the writers of circus and theater posters. But it is a Latin word that came to America from, or at least through, the French. Careful writers insist that commence and begin are interchange- able, but seldom, or never, use the first. Don't use any of the words printed in Italics in the same connection as here used : "Bought forty acres of land in Smithville." "In the month of September." ' * In the year 1 9 1 2 . " "He paid him, annually, $4500 a year." "Three different kinds." "He left in company with his mother." "The committee presented him with a cane." Better, "gave him a cane." "The horse was much smaller in size." "Judge Blewer was present and spoke." "As time passed, the bond issues grew smaller." This is impossible. The bond issues were smaller, or they decreased. Put the time after the verb, thus: "The 10 million dollars to be spent this year for furs;" "Bill Jones was elected yesterday;" "The wheat crop of 1913," not "In 1 9 13 the wheat crop." Don't use "burglarize." The house was entered, or broken into by burglars. Burglary consists of breaking into a house in which someone is sleeping. It refers to a crime committed at night. The law makes a sharp dis- tinction between burglary and robbery. Look up words of this kind before using them. CAUTIONS FOR WRITERS 57 Don't use "claim'' without looking it up. You can claim your hat ; but do not claim you were injured. This word is misused every day in nine-tenths of the news- papers. Nearly all carefully edited publications forbid the use of certain words and phrases. No well edited paper wishes its writers to use : Anxious for Eager. Would for Should. Will for Shall. People for Persons. Want for Wish. Expect for Suspect. These kind for This kind. Rise up for Rise. Climbed up for Climbed. Climbed down for Went down or Descended. Love for Like or Admire. You like horses or admire them. You like pie or cake. But you love the girls. Work w'as begun for Work began. Landlord for Landowner. There are no "lords" in this country. Hard for Difficult. Rocks for Stones. The man threw a stone. Anticipate for Expect. You may expect trouble, and anticipate it by timely precautions. Proven for Proved. Initial for First. Biddy for Hen. Old Dobbin for Horse. Bovine for Steer. 58 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLvS Bossy for Cow. Fight for Oppose. Hardly for Scarcely. Preventative for Preventive. Between for Among. Between is correctly used with reference to two things or two persons; among, to more than two or several. Splendid for Excellent. Son of the soil for Farmer. Secure for Get or Obtain. Practical for Practicable. Practically all for Virtually, Almost or Nearly all. But one for Only one. Above or Over for More than. Aggregate for Total. Balance for Remainder. Conscious for Aware. Couple for Two. Donate for Give. Lads for Boys. Tot for Child. Kids or Kiddies for Children. Babe for Baby. Augur for Auger. Generally for Commonly. Colored for Negro. Replace for Supplant. From Whence for Whence. Individual for Person. Party for Person. In our midst for Among us. CAUTIONS FOR WRITERS 59 Less for Fewer. There was less rain and fewer thun- derstorms. Like for As if. Notice for Observed. Onto for On or Upon. Mutual for Common. Past two years for Last two years. Propose for Purpose. Realize for Obtain. Section for Region. Universal for General. Vicinity for Neighborhood. Would seem for Seems. Doubtful if for Doubtful whether. It is doubtful whether many persons will remember this rule. No doubt but that for No doubt that. Last for Latest. Infinite for Great or Vast. Setting hen for Sitting hen. Finding out for Learning. Per acre for An acre. Furnish for Provide. You provide the money to fur- nish the house. Coffin for Casket. Affect for Effect. He is Affected by the disease; the medicine Effects a cure. Ante for Anti. Ante means previously; Anti means opposition. Fungus, a noun, for Fungous, an adjective. Reliable for Trustworthy. Neighborhood of 50 cents for About 50 cents. 6o JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS Studying the Exchanges. Students will find it to their advantage to study their exchanges, the papers printed in other high schools. Many of these conduct criticism-columns in which the faults of other publica- tions are discussed frankly but good naturedly. With careful attention to details, and frequent chats with the foreman in the printing plant, the student editor will be able, almost before he knows it, to detect the weak spots in the make-up of his paper or the papers of other schools. This practice will be invaluable to every mem- ber of the staff, especially if these members intend to study journalism in their college years, and afterward to engage in the newspaper profession. A knowledge of type faces and type possibilities increases very materially the earning ability of any reporter or editor. One student, an intelligent reader with an assistant if possible, should be assigned to the work of caring for the exchanges. Desks should be given them in one comer or in a separate room where they will not be interrupted, and a certain time should be reserved every day, or at least twice a week for an examination of papers received. In order to get these exchanges it will be necessary for the managing editor to write a courteous letter to the man- aging editors of papers printed in other schools, setting out the plan under which it is hoped to operate, and in- viting an exchange of papers. An effort should be made to get papers from a distance, in many states, so that a comprehensive idea may be obtained of the work done by others. Particular care should be exercised by the cir- culation manager to see that no school be overlooked. After the first few copies have been received it should STUDYING THE EXCHANGES 6i be the exchange editors' task to assemble the best exam- ples, and present them to the managing editor and the entire staff for discussion. Many high schools neglect their exchanges or fail to understand their importance and value. It seems quite impossible for some editors to grasp the fine opportunities presented in these papers for criticism which is certain to be very important for every member of the staff. Some of the most successful, most popular newspapers in the United States maintain expensive staffs of specialists whose sole task is the reading of exchanges, and the selecting of the best material they contain for re-printing. This material is called re-print or miscellany. The great metropolitan dailies give it the most particular atten- tion. In a high school the purpose of exchanges is not so much to provide reprint as it is to give school staffs an opportunity to study the manner in which other schools prepare their papers; how they edit the copy received; how faithfully they observe the rules with respect to style; how loyally they are supported, or the reverse; the type they use, and how they use it; new courses in- troduced in the schools, and many other subjects inev- itably to be found by the thoughtful student who is sin- cerely interested in his business. Obviously the student who proves to be the best reader may not be also the most deeply interested in the purely mechanical part of a paper. After a Httle prac- tice, however, he will detect at a glance the strange or unusual in type or make-up, and will refer his discoveries to some other member of the staff whose qualifications 62 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS fit him to judge their value. These discoveries should then be clipped and referred to the whole staff for dis- cussion, and should be taken eventually to the printing plant producing the paper for consideration by the fore- man. Very often these exercises result in important improvements which otherwise might never have been made. A column set aside for criticism of exchanges should prove an interesting department of any high school paper if only the persons producing it have a proper under- standing of its purpose. Above everything else criticism should be constructive, friendly, courteous. In such guise it is welcomed by every sensible school editor. Some school critics, like dramatic editors, appear to believe that fault-finding and hair-splitting technicalities are proof of keenness. Sarcasm frequently ruins this department, as it has impaired the usefulness of many otherwise excellent writers of theatrical reviews in city offices. Faculty supervision appears to be the only remedy in some cases. High school editors might find much very important help in conducting their exchange columns by consulting the expert criticisms in such publications as The Printer- Journalist, published at Chicago, The Editor, issued at Ridge wood, N. J., and The Writer, printed at Boston. In such reading the students will learn that it is possible to point to another's failings without being offensive. What is News in School? A great editor once de- clared that anything the Lord permitted to happen was news for his paper. But this rule will not apply in a school paper any more than in a metropolitan daily. WHAT IS NEWS IN SCHOOL? 63 The unusual always is news in the clearest meaning of the word, but not all news should be printed. What appeals to a high-school student as a particularly attractive story very frequently belongs in the waste basket. This is where the mature judgment of the faculty is needed. Paper and ink and printing are too expensive to be given over to columns of valueless, silly or harmful paragraphs. The literary or social organizations of the average high school; the changes in classes; courses to be introduced or eliminated; school board meetings; athletics; new books in the library or reading room of the school ; theat- rical or musical entertainments coming or in preparation, all provide inexhaustible sources from which the student staff may draw its news. In addition the editor-in-chief should have the English instructor's help in selecting the best themes, and one or two, or even more, according to quality, should be printed in every issue. Indeed the students will find it to their own advantage to receive cheerfully every suggestion of the faculty advisers in this respect. To encourage students to provide material suitable for use in the paper it will be found advisable to conduct a contest every month in which money prizes may be offered. In some high schools extra credit in English is allowed students for exceptionally good work. In one contest in a city high school three prizes were offered, $2, $1 and 50 cents. All stories should be handed in by a certain hour on a date agreed upon, and absolutely no deviation from the rules should be permitted. Here is an editorial printed in an Eastern high school, setting forth a standard which all students might strive to attain: 64 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS "Give unto the Breccia the best you have, and the best will come back to you." The one who, evidently think- ing that "anything is good enough for the Breccia," passes in a contribution scrawled in pencil and showing every sign of carelessness and haste, is not giving his best. He is giving nobody, and, least of all himself, a square deal. Such an example is, unless positively glowing with genius, fit for no place but the waste- basket; and to the wastebasket it usually goes. The writer is not giving his best. Consequently the best does not come back to him. His harvest is discontent, disappointment, and distrust. It is the neat, well-written article that goes to the printer: it is the neat, well-written contribution that becomes a source of pride to the contributor; it is the carefully planned and executed con- tribution that always "gets by." Those that put the most into their articles are those that get the most from them. Which is to say, "What isn't good enough for your English teacher, isn't good enough for the Breccia." That is not too much to expect, is it? What true son or daugh- ter of Deering would allow such small matter to dampen his worthy ardor to boost the Breccia, which is one way to boost D. H. S.? When the school staff has learned that the paper pro- duced and sent out to the country represents its insti- tution, and that the country will judge of that institu- tion's value very largely by what its students are doing, the paper will prove to be a very important asset indeed, precisely as a college or university weekly may be a real advertisement of value when the faculty and students need its help. It is proper to impress upon students the fact that legislators may be influenced in favor of a meas- ure affecting the whole future of an educational institu- WHAT IS NEWS IN SCHOOL? 65 tion by reading the paper printed there. It is a matter of record that upon several occasions appropriations amounting to thousands of dollars were given a state college for printing and journalism after members of the committee on ways and means had examined the weekly paper issued by the students. A high school paper's staff need never search far for news. The important thing is to learn what to print and what to leave out, and this qualification is not always present in youthful editors, any more than in some of mature years. In almost any large body of students there is likely to be a black sheep, or several, and they are likely at any time to do something detrimental to school discipline. If it appears wise to describe their miscon- duct in the school paper, after consulting with authorities, it should be done in a way certain to convince the reader that punishment was to follow, or had been given. This subject is referred to here because contrary publicity has been harmful to many schools whose weekly papers treated such matters with levity. The fear of notoriety should be encouraged. To glorify hoodlumism in a school is to cast a blight on its usefulness, and such glorification in a paper is a serious reflection on the intelligence of the staff. The kindly but firm advice of a member of the faculty, popular with the students, is invaluable here. As a leader it will not be difficult for him to convince the staff that printing a funny story about the students running a theatrical troupe out of town will not add to the dignity of the paper, but on the contrary will injure it, and prove damaging to the school. No well- conducted newspaper will print one word to encourage 66 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS mob spirit, no matter what may have been the provoca- tion. And the ethics of upright journaHsm, in the pro- fessional field, are as applicable to the papers printed in high schools. Special Articles. Subjects upon which special articles may be written for a school paper are innumerable, and exceedingly attractive. No issue should go to press without two or three such pieces. Naturally, untrained young men or young women will not readily create such material. They will need mature direction and sug- gestion. One column may well be the limit, but too much condensation should not be insisted upon in the beginning because it will discourage the writers. As few students will be found able at first to turn in finished copy, ready for the printer, the original draft should be gone over carefully by a teacher. Very often the most interesting paragraph will be found buried several pages from the top, and quite frequently the story will lack incident, without which it will fall flat. A little encouragement, a little help in "getting away" will save the contribution from failure. The student should be asked to re-write his piece, cutting it down one-third, leaving out every superfluous word, and getting the action near the starting point. By citing the feature stories in one or two good dailies the instructor will find it easy to maintain the writer's interest, and encourage him to try again. Usually the second attempt will arouse enthusiasm leading to a third writing, by which time the piece will be presentable. Students should remember that this method is necessary in the work of many of the most successful writers whose stories they read in the magazines and newspapers. Very SPECIAL ARTICLES 67 few persons can "dash off" acceptable stories. One writing usually is enough in getting up a strictly news story, but this will seldom apply to the product requiring dehberation. George Randolph Chester, whose Walling- ford stories were so successful, declares that he never has sold one that was not written at least three times; and nearly every line in the present volume has been re- written twice. To be painstaking is not an evidence of amateurishness. Hand-made furniture has much more value, and is very much to be preferred to that turned out with machinery. The best feature stories are those touching closely some human interest, something the reader recognizes as having happened in his life, something that makes him think of home or friends, or stirs a laugh over some recol- lection aroused in his mind. To achieve this result the writer will use no long, involved sentences, no big words, no fancy writing as if he were striving for effect. "My Room at Home," will do for a girl's assignment, but might be lost if given to a boy. "Athletics and Their Effect on Studies," will bring out the best there is in a student sincerely interested in the subject, and provide material for faculty consideration. It will send him to the library for facts, and to the coach for advice. Indeed nearly all the assignments given students should have this work in view. Here is a list of subjects suitable for boys and girls studying English or journalism: Fraternities in School and College. Summer Schools. Fraternity Effect on Scholarship Studying at Night. Standing. The Importance of Shaving and Faulty Supervision of Societies. Shining. 68 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS Clean Teeth, and the Effect on Health. Socials for All Seasons. Games for the Boys. Athletics for the Girls. Life in the Army. Successful Men of America. Men Who Have Helped the Na- tion. Great Reporters in the World War. Successful Journalists of England. Humorists of America. What Is the Chautauqua? The Winter's Lyceum Course. What are You Going to Be? The Minister and His Income. Sermons or Lectures — Which? Are There too Many Churches? How Much Do You Spend in a Year? What Did You Earn in Vacation? Ways to Earn Money. Working Your Way through Col- lege. What the Cashier Told Me. The Country's Great Merchants. The Value of Latin. Fish I Have Caught, and Others. Where I Went for My Vacation. Camp Comforts and Camp Cookery. Sleeping on the Ground. Tackle I Use, and the Bait. Amateur Theatricals. Making Things at Home. Pictures for Bedrooms — Not Por- traits. Building a Log House. Dressing for $ioo a Year. How Much Does My Schooling Cost the County? These assignments are merely suggestive. They give some idea of the possibihties of feature writing, and nearly all of them have been arranged with a thought for the reference work involved. For instance, "What the Cashier Told Me," will send the student to one of the banks for a talk on thrift. Few young persons realize just how much money they spend foolishly in a year, and not many ever have been told what the amount might be made to do. So the visit will have an educational value. The student will discover what, perhaps, no one had taken the trouble to tell him, that a very small saving every day will amount to a hundred dollars in a year; that many boys and girls spend at least ten cents every day for things they do not need, and that this amount is enough money in many instances to dress one person SPECIAL ARTICLES 69 for school. The story should contain the most convincing facts and figures. It should show how much interest might be paid on a loan with the money squandered by thoughtless students, and what might be done with the borrowed money, not forgetting the attractive invest- ments offered by some banks and by building and loan companies. In every way possible the ambitious stu- dent should be encouraged to search for the human side to his story so that he may arouse the interest of his readers as his has been aroused. A story about the winter lyceum course should not be merely a formal list of the numbers to be presented. The chairman of the entertainment committee in school or town should be visited, and an effort made to get him to tell something about the personality of the chief per- formers or lecturers. Such an assignment should provide at least a half -column piece of much interest. "Working Your Way through College" might be written by a member of the faculty, as a sort of pacemaker for the staff, while "The Minister and His Income" should be assigned to one of the girls whose sympathy will lead her to respond quickly to the possibilities of the theme. Instructors will discover that girls are exceptionally quick as a rule in grasping the idea sought to be con- veyed in any article touching home affairs, and usually treat it more carefully, and possibly more respectfully than many of the boy writers. Some of these girl stu- dents may aspire to editorial or departmental desks on papers or farm journals after graduation, a fact which will lead them to do their best work on the high school assign- ments. They respond more quickly to the economic 70 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS appeal than do the boys. "Household Drudgery" or "Who Should Handle the Pocketbook?" will receive the most sympathetic treatment from girl writers. To the same extent the boy student's enthusiasm rises over a subject in which, naturally, he is interested. He should not be expected, especially in the beginning, to show much energy in assembling the facts about a proposed summer school, a meeting of the women teachers, a cooking demonstration, or kindred items. Assigned to prepare an article about games for boys, the vacations he has had or those he hopes to have, the boy student will use every minute of leisure in writing. These are human traits to be encountered in high school exactly as they are found in the offices of daily newspapers. Certain students, it will be discovered, find it almost impossible to write the first paragraph of their story satisfactorily. Merely to tell them how ; to issue general, class instructions that "the most interesting fact should be given first place," will be as useless, as little help, as the average city dweller would find in a bulletin telHng him to "prepare ground early for the spring garden," or to "have the proper tools at hand." The beginner in journalism, unless he is a marvel, will need to have specific examples or specimens of stories on his desk. Only a few such examples can be given here. What, for instance, would be an attractive beginning for a story on thrift? Try this: The boy who puts his weekly allowance into his little iron bank at home, not trusting himself to carry it for even a day or two, is not learning to resist temptation. He presents two possibilities: Either he will grow up a miser, hardening himself, SPECIAL ARTICLES 71 against every pleasure, or he will spend his money foolishly, some day, in a weak- kneed sort of way, and get little for it. Henry W. Watson, cashier of the Peoples' National Bank, says the only way to give a boy an allowance is to give it with a string tied to it, metaphorically, or what legislators call a joker. "I give my boy thirty-five cents a week," Mr. Watson said, yesterday. "And I require him to carry it in his pocket. There are no restrictions about his spending the whole thing in one riotous whirl of ice cream and soda. But if he hasn't fifteen cents to show me Monday morning he gets no allowance for another week. No member of the family will lend him money. In this way I am teaching him how to resist temptation." The cashier then goes on to tell the student-reporter how much a boy may save in a year by putting away fifteen cents a week or ten cents a day, or some other small amount, and provides a table showing the possibilities of this fund if maintained and increased until the boy is twenty-one. These facts, arranged naturally, without any attempt at ostentation, will prove absorbingly inter- esting. Instructors will discover that some students have a tendency toward "fine writing." This should be dis- couraged in the beginning. It is a fault most frequently associated with the work of those inclined to write fiction, with a particular liking for love stories. To ridicule this kind of writing or to embarrass the student turning it in at class recitations will have a very bad effect on future work. Probably the most successful and at the same time the most considerate way of overcoming such weakness will be to read examples in sharp contrast for 72 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS the benefit of the entire class without naming anyone as guilty of the offense. The "fine writer" has no place in the journalism of the Twentieth Century. The public likes the plainly written article which the average person can understand without re-reading, and without the aid of a dictionary. Instruct- ors should quote the sentences taken from a story turned in by a student in a high school class in journalism, in which the writer described the hero as "peering into the steamy obscurity of the enfevered night," while the "purple shapes of palms were swaying and genuflecting," the while he "seemed to suspire sigh on sigh," and the heroine "vouchsafed no answer to his throbbing appeal." It should not be difficult to convince the class that such things seldom happen in real life. The happiest and safest boy, ordinarily, is the busiest boy. Assuming that this is true the student writers should not confine their journalistic or literary efforts to the school paper. They should watch eagerly for every opportunity to send a good story to one of the big city papers, preferably for a Sunday edition. The story most likely to receive a welcome will be, first, the properly prepared story, and, secondly, the story having some real value, a record of achievement in town or country, what editors call a feature story. This need not, nec- essarily, be news. The man who builds a house of cracker-boxes and old tin cans gathered in alleys and back yards; the farmer who produces an exceptionally fine crop of wheat or corn or potatoes; the boy or girl who makes an unusually high grade in school or wins a con- test in a particularly brilliant way; the horse or dog or INTERVIEWS 73 cow that insisted upon returning to its old home after being sold to someone at a great distance — these are features or news-feature stories which, if properly pre- pared, are very likely to be accepted at space rates. Manuscript may be addressed to the editor, the man- aging editor, or to the department editor. In any event it will be handed to the proper person upon receipt. This rule is safe in reference to all periodicals. Do not neglect to enclose enough postage to bring your story home. The editor may not care for it. Interviews. Gathering the school news and writing special articles for the high school paper provides the first and most valuable instruction in interviewing. Scarcely any item should be written and printed until every person likely to know anything about it has been questioned. This teaches the student how to meet per- sons and how, eventually, to get from them with as much tact as possible the facts he needs. He will be astonished to learn, perhaps, that no two or more prin- cipals in any certain incident will agree as to what actually happened, so that it will be necessary for him to strike a happy medium, tell both sides, and be as fair and truthful as the testimony will permit. As this is work certain to come to him daily in after Hfe, provided he chooses journalism as a career, the student should give it his closest attention. The experiences of reporters on newspapers should prove valuable because men and women in the business world are very much Hke men and women in school in their human impulses. Reporters know that one man cannot be made to remember any- thing worth telling if encountered in his office. He is 74 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLvS impatient, irritable, difficult to approach. He glares at a reporter as if the reporter had come to ask for money. But this man is a wholly different person at luncheon. Over his steak or chop, and the other influences that apparently have so much to do with regulating the sociability of men everywhere, he is affability personified. He remembers the most interesting things. He talks of deals and contracts and great undertakings, and is throughout the visit a real human being. If he has dined well he is disposed to treat the reporter whom he meets at his club as considerately as he would treat other men. He tells him as much as he can safely, and sends him away feeling that he, the reporter, has done him a favor. There are very few really big men w^ho cannot be questioned without danger of affront. The men who affect a desire to keep their names out of print in con- nection with a laudable enterprise; who do not under- stand the compliment paid them by the newspaper that evinces a willingness to publish their opinions; who keep newspaper reporters waiting for an unnecessarily long time in an outer office, often are men whose views are not of much consequence either to the newspaper or to the public. The man worth while in public life, with nothing to conceal, with no executive sessions, is the man who takes two or three minutes, even in the busiest hour, to answer a question and send the questioner on his way satisfied. Men who constantly avoid the news- papers are worth watching, especially if they are en- trusted with public affairs. This is an age of publicity, and the man who fears or evades it is not the man for the people. INTERVIEWS 75 No student, and no reporter, should attempt to inter- view anyone without first knowing exactly the questions he intends to ask. If possible he should learn something about the personality of the man to be interviewed, remembering that it is immensely flattering to a man — or woman — to believe that his name is known to the paper, and his opinion sought. Men differ in their conduct in the presence of reporters. One speaks freely without regard to whether the reporter takes notes of what is said; another, although eager to be quoted and entertaining the most kindly feelings for the paper, apparently, is stricken dumb the instant a pencil is displayed. One man insists upon every word being taken down as he utters it ; another does not appear to think about how his words will read when published. The reporter must be quick to detect these things. He must humor his host; and if he reads his notes, repre- senting that he intends to print them just as he reads them, he must not violate his promise. Some professional men really object to newspapers using their names, and others object as did a somewhat noted physician who gave a reporter certain information only upon condition that its source should not be revealed. "It's unethical," he declared, solemnly, "for doctors to be quoted in the newspapers. And — ah — going? Don't forget there's no letter 's' on the end of my name — that's a good fellow." Students showing particular aptitude for interviewing will create sources of news that are closed to others less gifted. Without certain reporters some classes of news never would reach the papers. Men will give an item to a 76 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS man for whom they cherish a liking while having no especially high opinion of the newspaper for which he writes. The city editor can seldom induce these men to give their stories to another reporter. Sources of news in many parts of the city are closed to strangers until properly introduced by the favored one. This is scarcely fair, but every old newspaper reporter and every city editor of experience knows it is a condition to be reck- oned with. It proves that the successful reporter has done just what every reporter should do: created sources of news ; cultivated the friendship of men in many walks of life; listened to the bootblack, the banker, the poli- tician and the preacher. The old-fashioned interview in which questions and answers were given verbatim is no longer used, unless a very formal statement is desired. Such interviews require too much space, and are dull reading. Nowa- days the most successful reporters use several methods of writing, depending upon the circumstances. In one instance it may be interesting to begin the interview in this way : Wlien Superintendent Billings entered his office, this morning, he was smiling, the first smile his clerks had seen since the leg- islature began to consider the High School Funding Bill. Contrary to custom he gave his first attention to visitors instead of to his books and accounts. "I should say I am happy," he exclaimed. "Who wouldn't be happy with the High School Funding Bill out of the way, and the future of the schools assured? " Evidently the superintendent was eager to begin planning the proposed auditorium. An architect was the first person admitted. "Yes, sir," Mr. Billings replied to a ques- INTERVIEWS 77 tion. "We shall start immediately to talk about this work. We shall have our au- ditorium for the next commencement, and that fact ought to make every student in the school put forth his best efforts. It ought to make all of us work better. We shall no longer be cramped for room." The interviewer may proceed from this point in his own language, without quotation marks, telHng just what Superintendent BilHngs said about the proposed addition to the school, setting down, occasionally, a paragraph directly quoted. This tells the story and at the same time presents a picture of the superintendent at his desk, smiling, shaking hands, and eager for the winter's work. It would be ostentatious, and therefore in bad taste, to say that "Superintendent Billings told a reporter for the High School World." The fact that the interview appears in that paper, apparently with authority, will be enough to indicate that a reporter actually was present. The best interviews, and the best special articles are those that contain no mention of the reporter. As a matter of completeness of detail the student should not forget, in the instance quoted, to include in his story a paragraph or two showing how the High School Funding Bill fared in the legislature; who voted for it and who opposed it. This informs the readers as to the school's friends, and will prove valuable in future sessions and elections. The student should know, of course, all there is to know about the Funding Bill and its importance in school life before he visits the superintendent's office. Another popular form of interview is that in which the person speaking is made to tell the important facts in the first paragraph. For example: 78 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS "No more dances will be permitted during examination week. That is to say no dances will be sanctioned by the faculty. And we shall decline, also, to approve any fraternity or sorority events. Students need all the sleep they can get at such times." Henry J. Byers, principal, was speaking. Judging by the emphatic manner in which he addressed his visitor there seemed little doubt of his sincerity. He wasn't angry. He didn't even seem annoyed. He spoke as one who has at heart the best interests of the students, and created the impression that anyone attending a dance during the proscribed period might just as well pack up and go home. "We rnean exactly what we say, " was his concluding sentence. And it seemed to end the interview. Indeed it did end it. Still another method is to describe the person inter- viewed and the surroundings. This may be termed the narrative form. An interesting paragraph : It was snowing, as the records show, at 9 o'clock this morning, snowing hard. In the office of Principal Smith the atmos- phere was a few degrees warmer than just outside the main entrance, but not much warmer. The head of the school shivered as he stood at an east window, his hands in his pockets, his coat collar turned up. In the pipes and radiators a noise resembling that heard in a boiler factory indicated that some hopeful employe in the base- ment was trying, vainly, to distribute heat through the school rooms. "Cold?" Mr. Smith exclaimed. "Well, I may have been more uncomfortable in my life. But I can't remember when it was. And we are expected to instnxct the youth of this county in such an atmosphere!" "What about the heating fund?" the visitor incjuired, one hand on the door knob, as if ready to leave hastily. "Heating fund?" Mr. Smith laughed sardonically. "In the language of the farmer who was looking at his first giraffe, 'they ain't no such thing.' " THE WRITING OF FICTION 79 Under no circumstances should a student-reporter allow his own feelings to enter into the story. An ill- natured item growing out of a man's refusal to be inter- viewed is in bad form. The brief statement that Mr. Smith had nothing to say is sufficient. Students should never forget the cardinal rule, so often violated: Be accurate. Particularly be careful of names. Never guess at the spelling of a proper name; it may be Smith or Smythe, Brown or Browne. Errors in names are extremely offensive to many persons. Never take chances with facts or figures, and never reproduce ungrammatical language if such is used by the person interviewed. Never write anything tending to make the person ridiculous before the public. News- papers have been compelled to pay damages for such treatment. The Writing of Fiction. What some tempera- mental persons call the commercialism of the press is an influence not to be ignored by a student who has an ambition to write fiction. Three meals a day, with as much regularity as a man's income will permit, are as much a physical necessity for literary men as for any other human beings. No man not having an inde- pendent fortune can afford to write stories or poetry that will not sell, and even a man of wealth would soon tire of the practice because everyone in the world who writes wishes to see his productions in print. Immature minds cannot produce worthy fiction. No man, in the opinion of expert critics, can hope to succeed in such a field unless naturally fitted for it, or until by training and experience, he has gone through a process of 8o JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS cultivation likely to give him the proper ability. But these same critics admit that the ability to write fiction, lying dormant in the man or woman, may be developed by contact with humanity, by environment and observa- tion. That is to say, the critics declare, no man may choose fiction or even newspaper reporting as a career in preference to hod-carrying because it might be the easier job, and expect to be a sensational success or even an average writer unless somewhere in his make-up there was hidden away the natural tendency to write. This does not mean, either, that the man coming from a long line of writers can hope, because of some hereditary influ- ence asserting itself to produce a best-seller. He must first have training, and this will show quickly enough whether the ability exists or can be developed. Some experienced editor has declared that no one who has had no experience can hope to write an acceptable love story. The reading of such stories will not impart the necessary touch, and the most vivid imagination cannot do it. No man can write a good story of the Far North if he has lived always in the United States. The unreality of it will crop out in every chapter. In short, natural tendency and careful training are believed neces- sary in literature, and that neither is sufficient, alone, to insure success. Quite naturally no teacher expects a boy or girl of sixteen or eighteen years to know very much about human nature or the impulses actuating men and women in the different walks of life. The best to be hoped for is that the student will learn the rules of writing. A branch of instruction in which the most important help is to be THE WRITING OF FICTION 8i found is a careful study of English literature — the reg- ular course. At this point an ambitious student will begin to see the reason, if he never saw it before, for much of the drill he has undergone in the English department. He will learn, finally, that what may seem to be the most easily read, the smoothest, most natural writing, is the product of patient toil, of much revision, of re- arranging and making over until the finished piece was ready to submit to an editor. Many of the most successful writers of fiction in America have served as reporters for newspapers, and count it their most valuable experience. In no other way could they learn so quickly to detect shams, to know the man who poses for selfish ends, the politician, the society leader, and most of the other characters making up a city's population, and likely to prove acceptable material in after years for a novel, or a short story. Writers rising from the newspaper ranks often keep scrapbooks and diaries showing interesting incidents. Properly handled such material is almost as good an asset as a bank account because, for one thing, it teaches the aspiring writer of fiction that nearly all human actions appear abnormal or tiresome if described precisely as they happened. Per- haps no better way could be imagined of demonstrating this than by considering the ten-page letter of a suicide. Nine times in ten such a letter would be a disaster if read on the stage in a dramatic performance or used in a story. Few^ newspapers would give it space unless written by a person of very much importance, but would be content with describing its contents. Such a tragic document, however filled with pathos, must be reduced to a few lines. 82 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS So, while learning to reflect real humanity in his stories, the writer must learn also to come to the point, the action, the important incident, and to have his char- acters act so that when the reader meets them they will be recognized as everyday men and women. Still, if a writer were to portray, faithfully, act for act and word for word the persons he meets every hour, the average reader would declare the work an exaggeration. A noted actor once objected to a part given him because, as he insisted, not a line of it permitted him to be natural. "My dear William," exclaimed the stage director, "that is exactly what we do not wish you to do ; that would ruin the piece. Act according to copy." The actor accepted the advice and the character was an instantaneous success. In another scene the actor believed he should be allowed to return to the young lady's side and make one more appeal after being rejected. The stage director declared it would be a failure on the stage, no matter how true it might be to human nature, and directed the actor merely to look back from the door for an instant, regretfully, as he was about to leave the room. This conduct, scarcely what one might expect in real life between two young persons, had the right effect on the audience. All of which goes to show that audiences and spectators and readers do not care for exact portrayal of humanity. In order not to discourage the students showing a liking for fiction it is proper to let them write their best imaginings for the high school paper, or for the home weekly. Before such offerings are accepted for publi- cation they should have the most critical inspection so that the writer may not be led to believe himself approach- THE WRITING OF FICTION S^ ing perfection too rapidly. The weak spots in the story should be pointed out; the difference between lofty sen- timent and maudlin nonsense ; the lack of action; dearth of incident ; weakness or transparency of the plot. Strange as it may seem, the average writer, even in the professional field, is the last person to see his own deficiencies in these directions. The story he has written is perfect, in his eyes. The fact that the action is "off stage" and un- natural, the conversation stilted and mawkish seems never to impress him. Sometimes it takes years to con- vince writers that they know nothing about men and women, and less about children, if that were possible. Students will find it excellent practice to try to set down in writing descriptions of five or six persons with whom they are closely acquainted. The first draft of such work will be amazing. Instructors will have second and third or even half a dozen reductions made until, at length, the perfect paragraph will be turned in, and the characters will be shown, usually, as they are often seen, as clear as a painting. All the superfluous words and buncombe will have been taken out. Try reading some of Hans Andersen's fairy tales for exercise in making pen pictures. One has only to look about him among the hundreds of "average" reporters, and then to count the really worth-while writers of good books to be convinced that the number of successes is woefully small. Students should make up their minds from the beginning not to be average men or women. And the only way to avoid being counted in that class is to work, and work hard. There is no such thing as "pull" in the Hterary field. 84 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS Even if influence were exerted in favor of a second-rate writer his reign would be short. The pubhc, not the editors, bestows fame upon a genius, and unhappily neglects to do it in many instances until it is too late for the worker to know about it. It is worth while here to set down the advice for stu- dents in high school journalism classes not to imagine that opportunities for the exercise of their abilities are to be found only in large cities. No more regrettable mistake could be made than to leave the town or state where they know many persons, where they have been educated, to face the uncertainties of a literary career in the presence of the keenest competition. Very few of the great writers of America have their homes in New York, Chicago or Philadelphia. For the most part these men and women live in small cities or towns, travel about as they can in search for new material, but choose most of their characters and scenes from among their own people, and near their own homes. A search through the biographies will provide some convincing informa- tion on this point. After a beginner has had a few years' experience on a country, or small-town newspaper in many capacities he should begin to offer special articles to the best mag- azines. After a few of these have been accepted he may safely try his hand at fiction. His first offerings are very likely to come back to him, and he will begin to know the heart-ache that goes with a literary career. Unless he is made of stem material, and is earnest enough to overcome disappointment he might better lock his ambi- tion away and forget it. There are very few instant THE WRITING OF FICTION 85 successes in the business of writing. Nearly every man whose name is known in hterature has had to persist, to work year after year, never letting up in his determina- tion to produce something worthy, before recognition has come. During the period of probation, when the world of editors seems thoroughly organized against him, the literary aspirant is tempted, very often, to lower his standards and write down to satisfy the demand for cer- tain fads in story-writing. About the poorest of these strange outbreaks is the slang story, purporting to rep- resent types of characters found in the slums of the cities, on baseball fields or in racing stables. Without ques- tioning the faithfulness of the portrayal of these types or the doubtful importance of preserving their annals for future generations, it is not too much to say that the student who gives time to studying this class of writing, except as a diversion is wasting his talents. "Pot- boilers" sometimes are necessary to sustain life, but the person who establishes a reputation for slang-writing is more than likely to encounter some difficulty in con- vincing the public or the editors that he can write any- thing else in after years. These writers soon disappear from view, and are heard from no more. There is just one road to success in literature as in any other human activity calling for brains, and that road leads to work every day, with patience, good nature, and plenty of smiles in discouragement. "Don't think too much of style," said William Morris, "but set yourself to work to get out of you what you think beautiful." And then work at it. 86 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS Editorial Writing. The first purpose of an editorial page should be to make clear the significance of news, to amplify, perhaps, and secondly, to comment upon the day's happenings and their relation to the human family. Most newspapers have what is known as editorial policy. They approve or condemn certain political activities, and exert any influence they may believe they have in turning public opinion to their way of thinking. Whether the editorial page does this nowadays is not to be dis- cussed here, for whatever the basis for the professional confidence in its power for good or evil, the fact remains that as an educating factor, as the disseminator of informa- tion, it is an agency second only to the news columns. In the days of Horace Greeley and the elder James Gordon Bennett, names that come naturally to mind in thinking of the subject, editorials were ponderous, heavy, deliberate, dictatorial in tone. Often they were very thoughtful and scholarly productions, but oftener, as history shows, they treated men of opposite views with scant courtesy, and frequently in a way which the libel laws of this generation would make exceedingly costly for the paper. They represented then, more than now, the overshadowing personality of one man, rather than the views of at least a part of the public. With the exception of, possibly, Henry Watterson of the Louisville Courier -Journal, few such personalities now remain in American journalism. Editorial pages now are the joint productions, usually, of a group of specialists trained to write of specific subjects. Persons charged with this kind of work may well be considered much better in- formed than the average layman. The ordinary, hustling EDITORIAL WRITING 87 business man is too far removed from the history he stud- ied in school or college to grasp readily the important relation between an event of 1918 and one of similar nature recorded in 1850. He has no time to keep himself informed as to progress in municipal government. He knows nothing, usually, about the fitness of men nom- inated for public office, and he has no leisure for investi- gation. A news item to the effect that several men have organized to control the supply of iron or chemicals or cotton receives only passing attention until the editorial writer, going into his books for obscure facts, tells him how disastrously such a combination may affect a commodity used largely by a factory to which he sells thousands of dollars, worth of goods. Few householders know whether the cost of paving is right or wrong until the editorial page shows them that the supply of asphaltum or creosoted blocks or bricks does not warrant the price. A news story describes the declaration of war, but the editorial shows why the conflict is just or unjust, and sets out the relative preparedness of the combatants. Writing of this department, a contributor to a high school paper, J. Orin Oliphant, said: Newspapers are makers as well as con- trollers of public opinion. They can force a break in diplomatic relations between two nations; they can counsel peace and be obeyed. Statesmen and politicians utilize their columns to convert and to subvert. A certain New York newspaper made Woodrow Wilson president. It could exert a great influence in contributing to his defeat next November if it so desired. What newspapers can do for politics they can do likewise for education. They can prepare the public mind and make it recep- JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS tivc for any and all changes. They control the potential energy upon which educators of tomorrow must draw for power to turn ' the wheels of their machinery. But, whatever one's opinion may be with respect to the editorial's power in the professional press no one will doubt its value in a high school paper, when properly conducted, and this means with dignity. Obviously the writing of such matter should be intrusted only to the most mature students, preferably in the senior year. Some of the classmen will be found peculiarly fitted for the work, and encouraged by contributions from the faculty, may be led to exercise their ability in the inter- est of activities approved by the older heads but still unpopular, through ignorance, in the student body. Indeed the possibilities of the editorial page are almost limitless. Exceptionally good work in classes ; a proposal to add certain courses to the curriculum; a new. order from the board of education; methods of teaching; fraternity obligations to the school; honorable conduct in examinations; the influence of the alumni; good morals in school; the dignity of labor as touching self- supporting students; silly fads in dress; the significance of sanitation in preventing epidemics; the importance of legislation affecting the schools; the kind of men the county has sent to the legislature — and numberless other subjects encountered in every high school may properly be discussed editorially. Aside from every other consideration, constant prac- tice in editorial writing prepares students for more mature work when they enter college or when they begin work for themselves in newspaper offices. The young man EDITORIAL WRITING 89 with a well-developed tendency for editorial expression is almost certain to be discovered before he has been very long a reporter. It is a faculty to be encouraged in every way, especially in one or two specific lines. Assembling material for an editorial about the country's financial system may be of inestimable value when the student enrolls in the course on banks and banking in college, or it may induce him to prepare himself for the position of financial editor, a lucrative post. Constant writing about school matters may develop an executive mind which, later, will prove its value in the interest of the school, or send the student to college intent upon getting an education in engineering. Future governors, mayors, superintendents, legislators, may grow out of the prac- tice gained in studying facts and figures for high school editorials. With proper guidance students may learn, more quickly while writing editorials than in any other way, how to express themselves clearly, truthfully, persua- sively, and this guidance will be found in high class news- papers. Such reading will convince the student that small words, simple sentences and brevity are the most efficient means to employ in his writing. This part of the work is exceedingly important because editorial writing very often leads to pomposity, or self-importance which will convey the impression that the student is assuming more mature wisdom than he actually has to his credit. Editorials must be timely. Suggestions for com- mencement or holiday activities may be printed a month or more in advance of the date vv^hen they are to take place. Christmas and what it means in school life would 90 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS fit into a November issue; the history of Hallowe'en or the Fourth of July or any other great day gives a legiti- mate excuse for editorials certain to revive lessons the students might otherwise forget. Above all things, the editorial page should not be used t j stir up discontent or agitation among students. To quote the language of the street, the writers should not imagine that their mis- sion is to start something which the authorities will find it difficult to stop. Ruskin's assertion that his one hope in life was to arouse "some dissatisfaction" has been taken too literally by some editorial writers, especially in high schools. It will be exceedingly wise to reserve the editorial page for the purposes outlined: Comment, interpretation, amplification. An editorial may be biographical, referring to some member of the faculty, a student of high standing in classes, or some graduate who has made a place for him- self in the business or professional world. It should be simple, always. The honor of the school should be kept uppermost in the minds of the writers, for in no other way can high school journalism gain the high standards it should have, and maintain them. The Paper, the School, and the Alumiji. Several very important things should be remembered by the staff in charge of the high school paper with respect to the alumni, the graduates who have gone on to college or into business for themselves. One of these objects is continued loyalty to the old school, and another is the selfish interests of the paper's business office. If the students' paper is conducted properly it can be made the principal link between the school and the grad- PAPER, SCHOOL, AND ALUMNI 91 uates, and the former students who may not have been graduated. This is especially true in the first five years after the students leave school. The appeal to school loyalty is particularly strong then because the graduate knows most of the boys and girls he left behind, and is interested in their progress. He likes to see the paper. Indeed the graduates' moral, friendly, and money sup- port is invaluable. It gives the paper's staff, also, the active encouragement of a body of loyal, experienced, older men and women. Alumni news aids materially in holding the names of the graduates on the subscription rolls. If there is some- thing in the paper every week about boys and girls and teachers he formerly knew, the graduate is likely to sub- scribe for it for many years, perhaps indefinitely. In addition to helping to hold the interest and friendship of the graduates this news has another value : It tends to give encouragement to the undergraduates. If a student who is downhearted about his geometry or physics, and is about to quit school and seek a job in a grocery or a garage, learns through the school paper of the progress or success of others who have gone over the same road before him, very often he takes new courage, and goes ahead with studies that seem at the time to have no pos- sible connection, however remote, with any human activity. The effort to hold all the boys and girls until they have been graduated should be one of the high purposes of the paper. The staff, but especially the managing editor, should consider it a pleasant duty to put the "pep" into the everyday routine of the school so that the life will be interesting. 92 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS To help in getting alumni news a graduate, preferably- one of the faculty, should have charge of this department, or some one living near the school who knows the grad- uates for several years, should be selected. Every school has at least a few graduates who preserve a deep, personal interest in its work, and are willing to help it in every way possible. Such a person would be an ideal editor in charge of the alumni department. Encourage members of the alumni to write letters, however brief, for every issue, or at least once a month. Some high school papers have found it XJrofitable to have contests for small prizes, from time to time, to increase the number of these letters. An editor never should fail to print letters from the alumni. If it contains an item of surpassing interest it should be put on the first page, under a display head, in a good position. Show the graduates that you like to hear from them and that you value their help. Have an alumni column in every issue if possible. If the letters are not available, put in something to hold interest in that department. Style in Writing. By reading the books of standard authors, and by painstaking practice in paraphrasing one may acquire some of the style of great writers. A boy having read much of Dickens or Thackeray or of any other writer in whom he has been sincerely interested is very likely unconsciously to imitate the style to which his mind has been accustomed. While this early influ- ence will be most excellent training, students should remember that the newspaper's purpose is to convey information, that its material should be facts, and that it STYLE IN WRITING 93 is intended, first, to be interesting and accurate rather than Hterary. The style of Dickens or Victor Hugo would scarcely be acceptable in news-writing. A stu- dent wishing to be successful as a reporter should, there- fore, try to develop a style suited to the extremely mixed audience to which he must appeal. His writing should be clear, direct, and compact. To tell what happened should be the first purpose; how it happened may be recorded later in the story. Involved sentences, non- essentials, elaborate descriptions, will destroy the prin- cipal characteristics of an ideal news story: Conciseness, virility, straightforwardness, honesty. If the incident suggests dramatic action, so much the better, particu- larly if it is described in language within the understand- ing of the very large number of readers who have had no high school or college education. Ordinarily a bulletin issued by an experiment station or a board of agriculture is a depressing thing. It may contain the facts but the writers have been so buried in the search for information, so steeped in their sciences that their natural style of writing was suited only to minds like their own. This is where the "middlemen of science," as Dr. Slosson calls them, may find their field of labor. These middlemen are the writers who know the technical terms and who have, also, stored away a useful vocabulary of everyday, plain English, in other words, an acceptable style quite impossible to the scientific men who discover the facts. One can easily imagine the descrip- tion Alexander Graham Bell prepared for scientific men in telhng the story of the telephone, and then compare the imaginary product with the newspaper stories an- 94 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS nouncing the telephonic conversation in the spring of 1 9 1 5 between New York and San Francisco! The great, reading pubHc is concerned with the fact, succinctly stated; it cares precious little about the means. There- fore the readable style is the style to be desired for pub- lication. This is the brief, narrative way in which one writer told of Bell's marvelous achievement: Less than forty years ago, Alexander Graham Bell, standing in a little attic at No. 5 Exeter Place, Boston, sent through a crude telephone, his own invention, the first spoken words ever carried over a wire. Tlie words were heard and understood by Thomas A. Watson, who was at the re- ceiver in an adjacent room. On that day, March lo, 1876, the telephone was born, and the first message went over the only telephone line in the world — a line less than a hundred feet long. The world moves a long way ahead in the span of one man's life. On Monday afternoon, Jan- uary 25, 191 5, this same Alexander Gra- ham Bell, sitting in the offices of the American Telephone and Telegraph Com- pany, at New York, talked to this same Thomas A. Watson in San Francisco, over a wire stretching 3400 miles across the continent and part of a system that in- cludes 9 million telephones, connected by 21 million miles of wire. Another writer, intent on getting the news to the reader immediately, began in this way : New York and San Francisco talked by telephone today. It is about 3400 miles from one city to the other. The most in- teresting fact in connection with this re- markable achievement is this: Dr. Alex- ander Graham Bell, inventor of the tele- phone was the speaker of the occasion, and the man who listened to his voice on the Pacific Coast was Thomas A. Watson ; and these two men spoke the first words that ever a telephone carried about forty years ago. STYLE IN WRITING 95 The first example illustrates the narrative style; the second is news. Some writers are happiest in one style, and some in the other. A newspaper writer rarely changes his method, his manner or style. Ostentation enters into the style of many writers. This is seen in bulletins in which, instead of getting the reader's attention by telling something interesting, im- portant or novel, the author begins with this sentence: The Division of Public Welfare of the Department of Extension of the University of Texas was established for the purpose of assisting the people of the State in their study and solution of the economic and social problems which confront them. Nothing could be more deadly. Titles and depart- ments and "the solution of problems" gain no friends for the article which it is so important to have read. How much better to begin simply with the thing of impor- tance ! How much more human it would be to adopt the advice of William H. Hills, editor of The Writer: "Always begin your story with a short strong sen- tence. Come to the point at once. Don't waste words telling what you are going to tell. Go ahead and tell it. What you want is to interest your reader at the outset, and if your story is going to interest him at all, the main fact put at the beginning, simply and strongly, will attract his attention quicker than anything else. "Don't get the idea into your head that because a sentence is simple it must be commonplace. ' ' Do away utterly with the idea that writing a special despatch to be sent by telegraph to a paper 1500 miles 96 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS away, is essentially different from writing a story to be printed in your own city." " I do not say that racy, reckless writing, be it never so wrongful, is unattractive," says Henry Watterson, in his Compromises of Life. "It certainly pleases our worse side; it flatters a combativism more or less common to all men. But it cannot hold its own, and never has held its own, when brought face to face with upright, pains- taking, sensible, and informed writing." A grave and famous physician was asked once, and only once, as it turned out, to write a column for the Sunday edition of a metropolitan daily paper on "The Graceful Walker." The editor had in mind the many peculiar persons seen in a city throng, the men who take mincing, hesitating, timid steps, and the women striding along independently, mannish to the last degree, and reckless of the toes they tread upon. What, then, was his amazement upon receiving from the scientific con- tributor a treatise in which, in the first paragraph, the reader was admonished, solemnly, to see to it that in walking gracefully he first set in motion the crural and the tibial muscles, not forgetting to make the adductor muscle act in harmony with the sartorial muscle and the peroniiis longiis. All this, the editor knew, was superfluous. The assignment he had given might have been made into an absorbingly interesting Sunday article. The trouble was in the physician's inability to distinguish between audiences: The readers of the medical journal, whom he so often addressed, and the ordinary, everyday, common sense world where his services were demanded only when STYLE IN WRITING 97 everything else had failed. He would have hesitated long before saying "leg muscles," like a well-meaning lecturer on sociological questions who insisted upon hav- ing things "function," rather than "act." Practice in writing is necessary for every educated person, particularly practice in paraphrasing. This work, if persistently continued, with a standard dictionary at hand, will give the most astonishing results. It will enlarge the vocabulary and make correct spelling easier. It will give buoyancy and originality of expression obtain- able in no other way. Finally, it will prove to the stu- dent's satisfaction that he understands the words and passages he has molded to his own liking. Do not fear to imitate. Some of the best, the most successful writers of exquisite English, Stevenson and Carlyle among them, acquired vocabularies and expres- sion in this way. Of course this imitation must be within limits: It should consist of copying striking passages from favorite books, making condensations of them, and a few days later, producing the same thought in your own way. This should be done frequently. The best newspapers and magazines, those most carefully edited, should be read daily. Particular atten- tion should be given the first sentences and first para- graphs, the arrangement of facts, and the way in which the stories end. An excellent plan is to collect clippings on selected subjects and arrange them alphabetically, in envelopes. In time this will become an almost invaluable library. Newspaper men call such a collection a morgue. No well-equipped metropolitan paper is without one. Obvi- 98 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS ously, the editor has this help at hand chiefly for the facts it contains, and not for the EngHsh, but a student can afford to keep it for both. In going to it for inspiration he should remember, too, this cardinal rule: In fiction the climax may be anywhere, usually near the end; in writing for the press, in journalism for the industries, it should be in the first paragraph. An attempt to show superior education by "fine writing," always is grotesque or ridiculous. This fault very often appears in the writing of inexperienced persons. Another grave fault found in the writing of many persons is in the indiscriminate use of pronouns or syno- nyms as a result of an excessive fear of tautology, the repetition of words. It will require reading and study to overcome this fault. Tautology, of course, is to be avoided, but no writer should hesitate to repeat where a substitution might cloud the meaning. For example: "There was danger for the people in the proposed action of the convention; danger for property, danger for the party itself." Or in this: "As far as one could see, alfalfa was waving: alfalfa on the windswept lowlands, alfalfa on the plain." Such sentences make distinct mind-pictures and convey a lasting impression upon the reader. Of course this is as true in writing about cows or crops as it is in writing of any other subject. The purpose is to attract readers and to impress them, either with entertainment or infor- mation of much value, so strongly that what they read they will remember. Mixed Metaphors, and Other Errors. Young writ- ers, and many old ones, are much inclined to similes and MIXED METAPHORS 99 metaphors. These, frequently, are mixed in a way cer- tain to irritate the copy-readers, prove very entertaining to the subscribers, and make the paper ridiculous. No usage is more dangerous. "The noted aviator," wrote a young reporter, "declared he would leave no stone un- turned in his efforts to win the altitude record." While this is sufficiently absurd it is no worse than a quotation from the Hartford Times, found in Robert Luce's "Writ- ing for the Press," in which a correspondent said of Mr. Blaine: "Like a drowning man, he did not let the grass grow under his feet before snatching at a straw," or the Boston JoiirnaVs editorial declaration, cited in the same book, that Fred Douglass would not "be bHnded by the noise of brass bands." "Mr. Jones once shook hands with a crowned head," is astonishing, when crit- ically considered, but certainly no more remarkable than the story of a young reporter in Kansas City in which the public learned that a gasoline stove "exploded without a word of warning," and, upon another occasion, that a man "struck the girl he was engaged to's brother." Some of these examples are, of course, rather extreme. They are used here merely to impress upon students and others the folly, altogether too common, of trying for effect, and thereby achieving a most undesirable result. The safest rule is to say plainly what is to be said and to have done with it. Avoid exaggeration. What, for instance, did the student mean who wrote: "A college education is worth its weight in gold to me?" Attempted epigrams, superlatives that will not bear analysis at the editor's desk, incorrect quotations that prove one's lazi- ness, carelessness or ignorance; all these faults should be loo JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS guarded against, and the best way to do it is to keep the vocabulary clean by reading well written books and newspapers and magazines. Such faults are as objection- able in the office of a professional or trade publication as at the desk of the city editor of a metropolitan daily paper. Excursions abroad in English may safely be taken only by the experienced, and many experienced writers are guilty of grave errors. It is always advisable, when in doubt, to follow the purists. This may save the writer's reputation in some places. There is excellent authority for saying reliable and as though, but it is better to use trustworthy and as if, and thereby escape criticism. ' ' Every writer, ' ' says Alfred Ayres in ' Some 111 Used Words,' "should aim to preserve the individuality of the words he uses; he should not allow any word to trench on the domain of any other word. This he should do in the interest of clearness; in this way only can he avoid ambiguity. The so-called new meanings are the product either of a restricted vocabulary or of a lack of painstaking. It is not the purpose here to give students a course in English, but it is deemed wise, nevertheless, to point out several errors made by nearly all young writers. While these errors are not always embarrassing and may not, indeed, be detected by many persons, they are errors just the same, and for that reason should be avoided. How many persons can write, correctly, a hundred words in which will and shall and would and should are necessary, and use these auxiliaries properly? Bourke Cockran, a somewhat noted orator, was reported by the New York SitJi in this way: MIXED METAPHORS lOI I believe it should be allowed to carry out any reasonable tariff policy without obstruction. If it brings prosperity we ivill (shall) all be content. If it does not we will (shall) all know that some other remedy is required, and by the process of elimination (we) will (shall) come down to the only radical cure. Let tariff legisla- tion be enacted immediately and we will (shall) have a chance to test the sentiments of the country on the silver question alone, unembarrassed by tariff. Shall is to be used in the first person, and will in the second and third persons simply as auxiliaries to predict future action or condition. For example: — I shall return Monday. You will miss your train. We shall fail. You tvill injure yourselves. You will lose your way. Simply to foretell that something is going to happen use shall with I, or we, and will with other subjects. Will is used with I or we, and shall with other sub- jects, to promise or to show the intention or determination of the speaker, who controls the action whoever may perform it. Thus: I will pay the bill. We will help you. They shall not escape. You shall go. He shall be detained. You shall vacate the house. Should and would follow the same rule as shall and will. In this way: I02 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS I should not need your help, and, if I did I would not ask it. I asked him whether he should go or stay (" Shall you go or stay? ") He said that he should stay ( " I shall stay"). He said that he would go ("I will go "). He feared lest he should fall ("I shall (fall". The foregoing are simple rules of grammar taught in the grade schools, but experience shows that they are forgotten by many pupils. The writer wishing to use the proper word, and being in doubt should consult his grammar or lessons in English, or even a dictionary. Another example from The Sun, quoted by Alfred Ayres, shows the improper and the proper use of would and should: If that were all that he meant he would not be supporting it, and I would (should) not be taking the trouble to oppose it. If everything in the world be increased lo per cent in value, why we would (should) pay ID per cent in addition for what we would (should) buy and we would (should) get ID per cent more for what we would (should) sell, and we would (should) be exactly in the same place we occupied (were in) before. A particularly troublesome form of noun construc- tion, seen in every issue of most newspapers, might be eliminated with much credit to what is termed "News- paper English." Several examples are given: The Sons of Erin 'will hold a meeting, (will meet) Thursday night, /or the purpose of electing (to elect) officers. Material was, Friday morning, received (received Friday morning) for the construc- tion of (to construct) the first wing of the new depot (station) at Twentieth Street and — . In the consideration of (in considering) MIXED METAPHORS 103 Dr. Ling's evidence (testimony) Judge Brooker stated that he (said he) did not want (desire or care) to be responsible for the establishment 0/ (for estabUshing) a pre- cedent — . In the collection of (in collecting) taxes, Mr. Harrison claims (says) he has ex- ceeded all — . It is not by the consolidation of (by con- solidating) these mills that the millers of Kansas hope to win, but in the distribution of (in distributing) the products — . It was shown that in Denver over (more than) $1,000,000 (i million dollars) was spent in the repression (in repressing) and correction (correcting) of crime. This means a per capita — . The mixing of languages is exceptionally bad style. The Latin preposition per is much over used. It is cor- rect before Latin nouns only: per cent, per annum, per diem. How much better to write "He received five dol- lars a day;" "the yield was 50 bushels an acre;" "he spent $5,000 a year." Obviously, it is impracticable for editors or copy- readers to correct more than a small number of such errors as those quoted; the wonder is that they correct so many. It is under the pressure inevitable to such work that these editors pass quickly over sentences like these : The board of regents and President Waters were given a reception last night. Johnson was given the fight in the ninth round. An hour later he was given the gate receipts, or at least a large share of those receipts, and a purse on the side. Farmers are given another chance to grow a crop of corn. Roosevelt was given a reception as he entered the auditorium. I04 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS Correct example : A reception was given the board of regents and President Waters. Managing editors have wept over this double-headed savage. Warnings have been issued, men have been dis- charged, rewards have been offered, but still this queer construction nolds its place in many offices. Seldom can writers be induced to turn it around. It is as difficult to make them understand that "the fight was given to John- son in the ninth round," as it is to impress upon them that committee, board, commission, are collective nouns, that the committee was, and not were. Only in rare cases in which the individual members of the committee, board, or commission are thought of should were be used instead of was. Reporters seem to delight in using former and latter until readers are wearied trying to follow the meaning. These words, and any other form of antecedent con- struction, should be used very sparingly. Anything that sends the reader back or takes his attention from the story — foot-notes, for example — should be avoided. As the student progresses in the study of special journalism he will encounter rules against many words and phrases that have been to him as family heirlooms, words he sees daily in the newspapers and in books, phrases that have become a part of the speech he uses and hears others use. He probably will be interested, and perhaps amazed to learn that the final "s" has been dropped from afterward, backward, upward, downward, in this country, although not in England; that antici- pate does not mean what it is supposed to mean ; that there is a rather important distinction between anxious and MIXED METAPHORS 105 eager; that desirous, solicitous, concerned are perfectly good words, little used ; that financial and pecuniary are not interchangeable ; that hurry is used frequently when haste would be a better word; that each other should be used in speaking of two persons and one another when referring to more than two, an error found in the books of nearly all English writers, and in many American publications. Example: When Nichols and Case met they greeted each other as old friends. Ten or twelve women and girls jostled one another in their eagerness to enter the department store in time for the White Sale. THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT Under the Copyright Act now in force these are the steps required to be taken to obtain copyright registra- tion for periodicals : 1. Publish each number (that is, place it on sale, sell or publicly distribute it), after printing therein the required copyright notice, and before making any appli- cation to the Copyright Office for registration. (As to the form and position of the notice see below.) 2. Promptly after the publication of each issue send two copies thereof to the Copyright Office, Wash- ington, D. C, with a formal claim to copyright as re- quired by law to protect the copyrightable contents. This may best be done by using application Form Bi. Also send a remittance by money order for the statutory fee of $1, which sum includes the cost of a certificate under seal. Such certificate the law expressly provides "shall be admitted in any court as prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein." Application forms for registration will be forwarded by the Copyright Office on request. Publishers who desire to do so may send in advance a sum to be placed to their credit against which the fees will be charged for each registration to be made thereafter upon the deposit in the Copyright Office of the copies of the successive issues promptly, from time to time, as they are published, accompanied by the required "claim of copyright" made upon Form B2. This must state 106 THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT .107 the exact date of publication of the issue (the earliest date when copies of the first authorized edition were placed on sale, sold, or pubHcly distributed by the proprietor of the copyright or under his authority). Notice of Copyright: The law prescribes that the copyright notice shall consist either of the word "Copy- right" or the abbreviation "Copr. " accompanied by the name of the copyright proprietor, and the year in which publication was made. In the case of a periodical the law directs that the notice sheuld be applied either upon the title-page, or upon the first page of text of each separate number, or under the title heading. The law expressly provides that one notice of copyright in each number of a newspaper or periodical published shall suffice. Titles : The general title of a newspaper, m^agazine, or other periodical cannot be recorded under the copyright law to protect the title as such, or apart from any par- ticular issue of the periodical. Copyright registration is not for the purpose of securing the exclusive right to use the title, but to protect the contents of a number. Typesetting in the United States: Section 15 of the law provides "That of the printed book or period- ical . . . the text of all copies accorded protection under this Act . . . shall be printed from type set within the limits of the United States, either by hand or by the aid of any kind of typesetting machine, or from plates made within the limits of the United States from type set therein, or, if the text be produced by lithographic process, or photo-engraving process, then by a process wholly performed within the limits of the United States." io8 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS Franking Privilege : The law requires that the post- master to whom the articles to be deposited in the Copy- right Office are delivered shall, if requested, give a receipt therefor and shall mail them to their destination without cost to the copyright claimant. According to the ruling of the Post Office Department the money order (or other remittance), and the revenue stamp are not entitled to free postal transmission. These with the application should therefore be forwarded in an envelope addressed to the Register of Copyrights to which letter postage has been affixed. Fees : The statutory fee of the registration of any one issue of a periodical is one dollar, including a certificate under seal as explained in the foregoing. Every issue of a copyright periodical requires the payment of its own registration fee of one dollar. Contributions to Periodicals: Section 3 of the Copy- right Act provides "That the copyright provided by this Act shall protect all the copyrightable component parts of the work copyrighted, and all matter therein in which copyright is already subsisting, but without extending the duration or scope of such copyright. The copyright upon composite works or periodicals shall give to the pro- prietor thereof all the rights in respect thereto which he would have if each part were individually copyrighted under this Act." But copyright registration may be specially made for any particular contribution to a periodical if desired. The copyright notice should be printed upon such con- tribution in the periodical and a single copy of the peri- odical should be deposited for registration of the particular THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT lo^ contribution, accompanied by a copyright claim, foi which application Form A5 should be used. Remittances should be made by money order, pay- able to the Register of Copyrights. No money (cur- rency or coin) should be placed in any letter or other matter sent to the Copyright Office; all remitters are urged to send an identifiable remittance. Postage stamps should not be sent as fees. Checks cannot be accepted because of the procedure in relation to copyright fees established under the rules of the Treasury Department. To avoid the trouble of their being returned, therefore, checks should not be sent for capyright fees, unless cer- tified. THE LAW OF LIBEL It is not wise for a newspaper writer to concern him- self too much about the law of libel, but every writer, and for that matter every business man also, should have some knowledge of what is meant by freedom of speech and freedom of the press. If a reporter's mind be kept constantly on the danger of libel his writing is likely to be cramped and his expression restricted. The fear of possible consequences would hamper his work. But the public has certain rights he must respect. When the Constitution guaranteed free speech and a free press it guaranteed no more freedom to the press than to the people. A newspaper cannot rightly and safely print anything a man may not speak. No man can reasonably set his reputation at a higher estimate than the law puts on it, and the law, acting in the same spirit in which in criminal cases it presupposes a man innocent until he is proved guilty, declares him wronged until the accusing paper proves its case. And even then, if malice be proved, the truth is not a complete defense. Libel laws differ in the several states but all, finally, are based on the Constitution. Libels affecting the repu- tations of private persons may be classified in this way : Libels imputing to a person the commission of a crime ; libels having a tendency to injure him in his office, profession, calling or trade; libels holding him up to scorn and ridicule, and to feelings of contempt or execra- THE LAW OF LIBEL iii tion, or impairing him in the enjoyment of general society. On this subject Newell, on "Slander and Libel," in de- scribing the general doctrine, says it is a libel to impute to anyone holding office that he has been guilty of improper conduct in his office, or is actuated by wicked, corrupt or selfish motives, or is incompetent for the post. It is libelous to say of any member of the learned professions that he does not possess the technical knowledge neces sary to the proper practice of such profession, or that he has been guilty of professional misconduct. It is not necessary, as in the case of slander, that the person libeled should still hold office or exercise that pro- fession. It is actionable to impute past misconduct when in office. The books are filled with cases supporting this view. There is little distinction between libel and slander because slanderous words are punishable whether printed or spoken. In short, to put it very plainly, do not print anything about a man that you would not dare to say to his face. JOURNALISM, COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL Students who have maintained their interest in journaHsm throughout their high school years, who have worked dihgently to make the school paper the best in the state, are very likely to know, before graduation, whether journalism is to be a part of their course upon entering college or university. No more dependable test could be imagined. If the university be their choice they will turn, very naturally to preparation for country or city newspaper, while in the state college, where the two institutions are separate, agricultural and industrial journalism are presented. In either field the students will learn after graduation that for the energetic and am- bitious man a living wage is assured from the beginning, and that in both, as time will prove, advancement will depend wholly upon themselves. The average newspaper reporter receives from $12 to $20 a week for the first year or two. Thereafter, if he is determined not to remain in the ranks of the average, and is smart enough to get out of that class, his pay will be increased to $35 or $50 a week. Few reporters, the country over, receive more than this, but the work pre- sents opportunities for special writing for papers and magazines so that, as in any of. the professions, the income depends entirely upon the man's resourcefulness, and his intelligence and activity. An industrious reporter may turn his attention to desk work, or copy reading and JOURNALISM, COLLEGE, PROFESSIONAL 113 ultimately become a city editor, managing editor, news editor, or editorial writer with very much higher pay. City editors on large dailies receive from $2500 to $5000 a year or even more, while in a few instances the salaries range upward to $8000. The scale for managing editors begins at $2500 and goes up to $10,000 or $12,000 a year. Some, of course, are paid very much more than this, but these are the exceptions not to be considered as representa- tive of the professions. Where such attractive salar- ies are paid 'the positions are filled with grave responsi- bilities calling for a wide range of world-knowledge of men and affairs, and for the best executive talent. Com- petition in the newspaper field of employment is keen and the demand for brains is constant. Only the best reach the top of the ladder, and these, usually, are spe- cialists. A reporter, eager to get ahead rapidly, will give his attention to things outside the day's routine.. He will study some particular subject upon which he may, eventually, become an authority, and so be in position to command higher pay. Every large newspaper needs specialists in municipal government, political science, finance, literature and the drama. Experts in any of these subjects are seldom idle, and very frequently receive the highest salaries. It is distinctly important not to be an average reporter. The profession is filled with them. In nearly all universities offering courses in journalism the work covers the entire scope of newspaper making. This includes materials and methods; organization; comparative journalism ; history of American journalism ; 114 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS interpretation of the news; advertising; newspaper administration; magazine writing; the short story; editorial problems and policies; editorial practice; the mechanics of printing, and the art of printing. NOTES ON NEWSPAPER HISTORY The Chinese vs^ere printing with wooden type, large blocks with which they made impressions in some way not recorded in history, long before printing or presses were thought of in other countries. Printing from movable types was invented by Guten- berg about 1440. Journalism undoubtedly had its beginning in Rome. The Acta Diurna, on tablets or manuscript, reported the general news, such as fires, executions, storms and other happenings. News was distributed before the era of newspapers in letters and circulars written in Venice, Nuremberg, Paris, London and other European cities, and in Boston, in this country. There is evidence of these letters in 1536, a century after type and ink had appeared. The first newspaper in the United States was pub- lished at Boston in 1690 by Benjamin Harris. It was called "Public Occurrences, both Foreign and Domestic.'" It lived only one day. The government suppressed it. Nearly fourteen years later, April 24, 1764, the Boston News-Letter was issued. The title was changed later to Massachusetts Gazette and Boston News-Letter, by Richard Draper. The character of the paper was antagonistic to the rising spirit of independence and allegiance to British rule, and this spirit continued when the paper was published by Draper's widow. It was the only paper printed in Boston during the siege, and "5 ii6 JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS it ceased to appear when the British troops evacuated the city. From 1690 to 1775 many papers were started but were discontinued, usually for political reasons. The most noteworthy of these was the Boston Gazette, 1719^ 1754. A paper deserving special mention was the New Boston Gazette, published by Edes in 1735. This was an able and dignified paper to which Otis, Samuel Adams and Warren were contributors. The New England C our ant appeared August 7, 1721. It has been distinguished in history as the paper on which Benjamin Franklin began his career as an apprentice. It was edited by a brother, James Franklin. His vig- orous and fearless editorials created a sensation. He published the news under serious difficulties. Franklin was soon in trouble with the clergy — especially with Cotton Mather and Increase Mather, stern and merciless, and of great influence in their day — and finally with the government officers. The comments of the C our ant produced so much trouble and scandal in the little town that its issue was forbidden, except under very arbitrary restrictions. Franklin was imprisoned for attempting to evade these restrictions. In 1722 Benjamin Franklin, then only 16 years old, became editor and publisher and continued those duties for several months. The same spirit of independence characterized his work. The paper was finally abandoned in 1727. The Franklins removed to Newport, R. I., where they established the Gazette in 1732. From 1729 to 1769 Benjamin Franklin published the Pennsylvania Gazette. During the period of the Revolution and the days of NOTES ON NEWSPAPER HISTORY 117 unsettled government that followed, many stirring papers were published. Probably the most noted of these was the Massachusetts Spy, published by Isaiah Thomas, a distinguished journalist and author. The paper was very outspoken in denouncing the British government, and for this was forced to move to Worcester, Mass. The transfer was made on the day of the battle of Lexing- ton, 1776. Until 1725, Boston and New York were the only cities having newspapers. At the beginning of the struggle for independence, 1775, the New England colonies had thirteen newspapers. The oldest, but not the first, newspaper in the United States is the New Hampshire Gazette, founded in 1756, known as the "father of the New England press." It is still issued under its original name. The first daily newspaper published in the United States was the New York Journal and Register, 1788. One of the historical papers of the period was the Boston Liberator, established Jan. i, 1831. This was an abolitionist paper, published by WilHam Lloyd Garrison. So bitter were its denunciations of the existing conditions of slavery that the state government offered a half mil- lion dollars reward to any one who would cause the editor to be arrested and brought to trial. The paper was sus- pended December 30, 1861, but the editor lived to see slavery abolished. The period of immense expansion in journalism in the United States began about 1830, on the estabHshing of the great New York dailies. The Daily Sun was the first penny paper in the ii8 ■ JOURNALISM FOR HIGH SCHOOLS United States. It was established in 1833. The paper was reorganized by Charles A. Dana in 1868, and gained wide repute for its concise news items and brilliant editorials. Harper's Weekly, now merged with the Independent, is the oldest of the illustrated weekHes. It was founded in 1857. In 1875 the New York Graphic was the only illustrated daily paper. The Civil War produced Sunday newspapers. Before the Battle of Bull Run, the citizens of New York and Chicago frowned at the thought of a Sunday newspaper. As in London and Edinburgh today, they would not sanction it. But when there were a million men in arms, and the whole Nation trembled with the thunder of can- non, anxious parents, fearful wives, knowing that the battle was on, could not wait until Monday morning for news from the front. But if the war did much for the press, newspaper men did much for liberty. To supply the people of the country with news from the field, a veritable army of war correspondents was organized and a telegraphic system perfected that resulted in the founding of the Associated Press. In the beginning of newspaper history one man, usually, was editor, publisher and printer. Next came the reporter. In the Seventeenth Century the special or war correspondent appeared here and there, but did not gain a recognized place in the newspaper world until the Crimean War, and not in the United States until the Civil War. Now every great daily has its special cor- respondents in every war and at every great event in NOTES ON NEWSPAPER HISTORY 119 addition to the service of the Associated Press and other organized news agencies. The Associated Press is a co-operative association of newspapers. In addition to a staff of reporters or cor- respondents in the principal cities of the world this organization and others similar in purpose have agents who are permitted to use the proofsheets of member- newspapers before those papers go to press. In this way all the available news is obtained for telegraphic transmis- sion to other points where member-newspapers are pub- lished. These members pay pro rata shares of the ex- penses of the rews association, the amount to be paid being determined according to the service given. Some papers use the entire twenty-four-hour report while others take only the news sent for an evening or morning paper. The news agencies described provide, also, what is called a "Pony service," condensed especially for daily papers in small cities. The "books named in the following list will be a valua- ble addition to the high school library; they may be obtained from any large bookstore: Authors and Publishers, A Manual of Suggestions for Beginners in Literature. G. H. Putnam and J. B. Putnam. Practical Journalism. Edwin L. Shuman. Making a Newspaper. John L. Given. Making a Country Newspaper. A. J. Munson. The Writing of News. Charles G. Ross. Writing for the Press. Robert Luce. Reporting for the Newspapers. Charles Hemstreet, Proofreading and Punctuation. Adele M. Smith. ENGLISH Journalism for High Schools (Charles Dillon) $1.00 Tells you how to organize every department of news- paper work ; provides excellent models for the school paper; shows how to get business to support it, and goes carefully into every item likely to be needed in this branch of the work. Graded Exercises in Punctuation and Use of Capitals 25c. By Elmer William Smith, Professor of Public Speaking and Associate Professor of Literature, Colgate University The usual method of teaching punctuation is to re- quire the pupils to commit a list of rules and, without practice in applying them to well-worded and easily analyzed sentences, try to use them in their own writing. Graded Exercises reverses the process. This method requires the pupil to commit only one or two rules at a time and gives ample exercise in applying them to a variety of sentence forms before passing to the next. The value of its rules and suggestions is seen in the greatly improved transcript and letters which students prepare. Write for a sample copy. New Grammar Drill (Elsie Gemmill) 50c.* Contains principally a thorough review in those parts of English Grammar which the pupil should know previous to the study of Latin. Short Stories (by Harvard Men) $1.25 Selected by Prof. Howard Maynadier as the best among the stories written by his advance classes in English at Harvard University. Educational Dramatics (Emma Sheridan Fry) 75c A most helpful textbook for teachers, directors, club leaders, and all others who are interested in Dramati- cal work. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS m\ •_ '■' "■" "'" 'I'll "III iiiii 1 1 ^ 020 313 927 5