disregarding the British _cheques_, _tyres_, _kerb_, _pyjamas_.
Make the plural of _Knight Templar_, _Knights Templar_.
Don't add _s_ to: _afterward_, _backward_, _forward_, _toward_.
As a general rule change _-re_ to _-er_ when it is the last syllable, as
in _theater_, _caliber_, _timber_.
Beware of _effect_ and _affect_, and use them carefully.
A long _way_, not a long _ways_.
Distinguish between: _depository_ and _depositary_; between _insanitary_
and _unsanitary_; between _immoral_ and _unmoral_; between _councilor_,
_consular_ and _counselor_; between _council_ and _counsel_ and
_consul_; between _capitol_ and _capital_; between _clamant_ and
_claimant_; between _sear_ and _seer_ and _sere_; between _emigrant_ and
_immigrant_; between _faker_ and _fakir_; between _breech_ and _breach_;
between _auger_ and _augur_; between _hoard_ and _horde_; between
_lessen_ and _lesson_; between _principle_ and _principal_; between
_prophecy_ and _prophesy_; between _advice_ and _advise_; between
_maize_ and _maze_; between _site_ and _sight_.
The people of Panama are Panamans, not Panamanians, just as we are
Americans, not Americanians.
Two cities in the United States take final _gh_. They are _Pittsburgh,
Pa._, and _Newburgh, N. Y._ Also write it _Edinburgh_.
Drop the unsounded final letters in such words as _program_, _catalog_,
_suffraget_, _dialog_, _cigaret_, _decalog_. Similarly, write _armor_,
_favor_, _color_, and _Savior_.
Some words have lost prefix or suffix, and if they are in good use in
their curtailed form, they should be written without apostrophes, as,
_cello_ and _varsity_.
POPULAR NAMES OF RAILROADS
Big Four Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis.
Burlington Chicago, Burlington & Quincy.
Clover Leaf Toledo, St. Louis & Western.
Cotton Belt St. Louis Southwestern.
Katy Missouri, Kansas & Texas.
Lackawanna Delaware, Lackawanna & Western.
Lake Shore Lake Shore & Michigan Southern.
Lookout Mountain Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis.
Monon Chicago, Indiana & Louisville.
Nickel Plate New York, Chicago & St. Louis.
Pan Handle Pittsburg, Cleveland, Chicago &
St. Louis.
Queen & Crescent Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas.
Rock Island Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific.
Soo Milwaukee & Sault Ste. Marie.
St. Paul, or Milwaukee Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul.
NOTES
DO AND DON'T
Don't use the words _suicide_ and _murder_ in heads on stories
recounting the details of specific crimes or their prosecution. However,
should a story of the sociological type appear, dealing with, for
example, the increase in the number of suicides or the attempts of the
police to reduce the number of murders, the use of either word in the
headline is allowed. In the body of the story the most natural
expression and good taste must guide the writer, and the use of these
words is permissible if they most clearly and effectively express the
information in hand.
Names of girls or women who are the victims of actual or attempted
indecent attack are not to be published under ordinary circumstances.
Authority for exceptions will be granted by the editor when there is
sufficient reason.
Use the names of POISONS only when essential to the story.
Never call _a policeman a cop_.
Keep the reporter or a representative of The News out of the story. It
is understood that a reporter and a reporter for The News writes a story
that appears in The News.
Write the English language. For _sine qua non_, write _essentials_; for
_de riguer_, _coup d'etat_, _coup de grace_, _Sturm und Drang_, _au
fait_ and similar phrases use English equivalents. Some exceptions are
_decollete_, _fiancee_ and _fiance_, and other words which have been
taken over into the language. Don't mix languages. Write _a day_, not
_per day_. As a general rule use _per_ only in the phrase _per cent_.
_Comatose_ means in a state of _profound insensibility_, not merely
dazed as some writers believe.
_Et al._ stands for the Latin _et alii_, _et aliae_, or _et alia_,
meaning _and others_. Of course it should never be written _et als._ to
form a fancied plural.
_Prone_ means lying flat and face downward. One can not lie prone on the
back. _Supine_ means lying on the back.
Use _pseudonym_, a good English word, or _pen name_, and not _nom de
plume_, which isn't even good French. Says L'Intermediaire, a French
journal: "We do not know in our language the expression _nom de plume_.
We have the phrase _nom de guerre_."
Don't use _most_ for _almost_, as, _I am most as tall as you_.
Never write _kiddies_ or _tots_. Write _kids_ when referring to young
goats or to children in stories written in a spirit of levity, as, _This
is the big day for the kids on Belle Isle_. Don't try to arouse sympathy
for children in unfortunate circumstances by calling them _poor little
tots_, or _poor kiddies_.
Avoid words borrowed from the yellow-backs, such as, _The bullet crashed
through his brain_, _She tripped down the steps_. Try such sentences as
this on your hisser: _"I will not go," he hissed._
In news stories don't use thieves' slang, as, _dick_, _frisk_, _dip_,
_gat_.
Don't use the editorial _we_. It is old-fashioned. Say _The Detroit
News_.
Don't refer to the Darwinian theory or to Dr. Osler's theory without
knowing what they mean.
Don't call _a revolver a gun_ or _a pistol a revolver_. It is _automatic
pistol_.
Reporters frequently quote Kipling to the effect that west is west, east
is east, and never the twain shall meet. But if they knew the poem, they
would be aware of the fact that the next line qualifies the quoted lines
and vitiates the observation.
_The exception proves the rule_ is a phrase that arises from ignorance,
though common to good writers. The original word was _preuves_, which
did not mean _proves_ but _tests_.
Say in bad _condition_, not in bad _shape_.
A toga was a garment worn by a Roman citizen. The word is persistently
misused to refer to senatorial honors.
Avoid newspaper slang. To all but a few of our readers the word _story_
means not _an item of news_ in the paper but a _piece of fiction_. To
speak of a _story_ meaning a piece for the paper is to confuse them. Say
_article_ or _item_.
Don't write _alright_. There is no such word in the language.
Avoid poetic forms. Do not use _amongst_ for _among_. _Thither_ and
_whither_ have a bookish sound. Prefer the simple _while_ to the fancy
_whilst_.
There are no degrees of _certainty_. Don't write a thing seems _more
certain_.
_Amateur_ means _non-professional_, not necessarily _unskilled_.
_Novice_ implies lack of skill.
_Spectators_ see; an _audience_ is a collection of _auditors_.
_Spectators_ go to ball games and motion picture theaters.
Use _render_ in speaking of lard and not of songs.
Don't use _complected_ for _complexioned_.
Don't write _better half_ for _wife_.
Do not write that a thing _grows smaller_.
We write _wages are_. The biblical phrase is, _The wages of sin is
death_.
Don't write _the three first_. You mean _the first three_.
A _justice_ presides in police court, in justice court and in the
supreme court. A _judge_ presides in other courts except the recorder's
court, which is presided over by the _recorder_ and his associate.
Justices of the supreme court of the states and the nation are referred
to as _Mr. Justice Jones_ or _Chief Justice White_.
Avoid the hackneyed phrase, _a miraculous escape_.
It is almost an unbreakable rule that reporters and copy readers shall
verify all quotations. Many of the most familiar phrases are popularly
misquoted.
Don't write _the above statement_ or _the statement given above_. It may
not be _above_ when it gets into the paper. Write _the foregoing
statement_.
Don't use _about_ meaning _approximately_ except with round numbers. Do
not write _about 27 cents_ or _about 12 minutes after 8 o'clock_, but
write _about $10_ or _about 10,000 persons_.
Don't confuse _O_ and _Oh_. The former is the formal spelling of the
interjection and is used usually in poetry, as, _Sail on, O Ship of
State!_ It is used in supplication, as, _O God, hear our prayer!_ The
_Oh_ spelling is that commonly used, as, _Oh, dear_; _Oh, what shall I
do?_ It is usually written with a comma.
DANA'S EIGHT RULES
Charles A. Dana's eight rules for the guidance of a newspaper man are:
1. Get the news, all the news, and nothing but the news.
2. Copy nothing from another publication without giving perfect credit.
3. Never print an interview without the knowledge and consent of the
party interviewed.
4. Never print a paid advertisement as news matter. Let every
advertisement appear as an advertisement; no sailing under false colors.
5. Never attack the weak and defenseless, either by argument, by
invective, or by ridicule, unless there is some absolute public
necessity for so doing.
6. Fight for your opinions, but do not believe that they contain the
whole truth or the only truth.
7. Support your party, if you have one; but do not think that all the
good men are in it or all the bad ones outside.
8. Above all, believe that humanity is advancing, that there is progress
in human affairs, and that as sure as God lives the future will be
better than the past or present.
+-----------------------------------------+
| ... PROMOTER OF CIVIC WELFARE AND |
| CIVIC PRIDE ... BOND OF CIVIC UNITY ... |
| PROTECTOR OF CIVIC RIGHTS. |
+-----------------------------------------+
THE CANNERY
Dean Alford says: "Be simple, be unaffected, be honest in your speaking
and writing. Call a spade a spade, not a well known oblong instrument of
manual husbandry. Elegance of language may not be in the power of all of
us, but simplicity and straightforwardness are."
Many pages would be required to list all the so-called bromides that
have been worn threadbare by constant use and abuse in newspapers. Often
these phrases are used to avoid what the writer believes to be annoying
repetition. It is better to use the word _fire_ many times in a
paragraph than to use the word _conflagration_ once.
So many phrases have become hackneyed in newspapers that the comic
magazines make jokes about them. This is from Puck:
A NEWSPAPER DICTIONARY
=Appropriate Exercises.=--What the celebration opened with.
=Good-Natured Crowd.=--People out on election night.
=Firm, Clear Tones.=--What the bride uttered the responses in.
=Heart of the Business Section.=--District threatened by fire. (See =under
control=.)
=Land Office Business.=--What the charity bazaar did. (See =pretty girls=.)
=Luscious Bivalve.=--What the pearl was found in. (See =poor shoemaker=.)
=Musical Circles.=--What the hostess is prominent in. (See =artistic
interpretation=.)
=Pool of Blood.=--What the body was lying in.
=Sensational Failure.=--A Wall street bankruptcy.
=Trojans.=--What the men were working like.
=Undercurrent of Excitement.=--Something that ran through the audience.
(See =tense moment=.)
=Well-Known Southern Family.=--What the bridegroom is a member of.
Avoid such phrases as:
burly Negro
smoking revolver
cheered to the echo
in durance vile
herculean efforts
it goes without saying
limps into port
daring robber
bolt from a clear sky
facile pen
breathless silence
crisp bill
grim reaper
dusky damsel
tonsorial parlor
vale of tears
denizens of the deep
finny tribe
knights of the grip
like rats in a trap
speculation is rife
for 10 long years
severed his connection (say _he quit_)
solon
probe
city father
leave no stone unturned
whipped out a gun
old Sol
fair Luna
Dan Cupid
Dame Fashion
milady
Jupiter Pluvius
affixed his signature
vast concourse
edifice was consumed
infuriated animal
summoned a physician
busy marts of trade
breakneck speed
high dudgeon
fragrant Havana
divine passion
city bastile
immaculate linen
minions of the law
rash act
never in the history of
sad rites
tidy sum
light collation
pale as death
totally destroyed
news leaked out
rooted to the spot
war to the knife
fair sex
white as a sheet
to the bitter end
well-known clubman
pillar of the church
large and enthusiastic audience
natty suit
giant pachyderm
swathed in bandages
tiny tots
checkered career
angry mob
dull, sickening thud
foeman worthy of his steel
great beyond
downy couch
toothsome viands
Study of a thesaurus--there is one in the library--will enlarge the
vocabulary and help the writer to rid himself of these trite phrases.
How fresh words may give life to a piece of writing is shown in the
chapter in this book on the use of adjectives.
CLARITY, FORCE, GRACE
"Of the three generally recognized qualities of good style--clarity,
force and grace--it is the last and the last alone in which critics of
newspaper English find their material," reads an editorial in the New
York Evening Post. "Beauty, grace, suggestion of that final touch which
confers on its object the immortality of perfect art, are nearly always
conspicuously absent."
MICHIGAN INSTITUTIONS
There are no convicts in Michigan except men who have escaped or who
have been discharged from institutions in other states. The Michigan
State Prison at Jackson houses inmates. The same is true of the Michigan
Reformatory at Ionia and the State House of Correction at Marquette.
Industrial schools, homes, hospitals and a state public school have
succeeded reform schools in Michigan. The humanizing movement has led
the state to declare that persons detained in such institutions shall be
designated pupils, patients or inmates. There are no prisoners in
Michigan juvenile institutions.
The practice of printing the prison record of a man arrested in
connection with the commission of a crime but not convicted of that
crime is discouraged on The News. Often, former inmates of prisons,
striving to lead decent lives, are brought in by the police on
suspicion. To print their names may be to injure them needlessly without
imparting valuable information to our readers.
The correct names of state institutions as given in the Michigan
Official Directory and Legislative Manual (the red book) are:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Michigan Agricultural College, East Lansing.
State Normal College, Ypsilanti.
Central Michigan Normal School, Mt. Pleasant.
Northern State Normal School, Marquette.
Western State Normal School, Kalamazoo.
Michigan College of Mines, Houghton.
Michigan School for the Deaf, Flint.
Michigan School for the Blind, Lansing.
Michigan Employment Institution for the Blind, Saginaw.
State Public School, Coldwater.
Industrial School for Boys, Lansing.
Industrial Home for Girls, Adrian.
Michigan Soldiers' Home, Grand Rapids.
State Psychopathic Hospital, Ann Arbor.
Kalamazoo State Hospital.
Pontiac State Hospital.
Traverse City State Hospital.
Newberry State Hospital.
Michigan Home and Training School, Lapeer.
Michigan Farm Colony for Epileptics, Wahjamega.
Ionia State Hospital.
Michigan State Prison, Jackson.
State House of Correction, Marquette.
Michigan Reformatory, Ionia.
Detroit House of Correction.
State Sanitorium, Howell.
ARMY AND NAVY ORGANIZATION
The United States Army consists of officers, non-commissioned officers
and privates. Officers hold commissions. Non-commissioned officers hold
warrants. Officers in the regular army engage to serve the United States
for life and may leave the service only on the acceptance of their
resignations, on retirement or on dismissal imposed by sentence of a
general court martial. Enlisted men in time of peace engage to serve for
a definite term of years and at the expiration of this term, return to
civil life or re-enlist as they may elect. Non-commissioned officers are
enlisted men and the duration of their service is governed by the same
rules that apply to privates.
The grades of commissioned officers, given in accordance with their
relative rank are: General, lieutenant-general, major-general,
brigadier-general, colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, captain, first
lieutenant, second lieutenant. The grades of enlisted men are sergeant,
corporal and private. There are numerous special grades in each of these
general classes. Master sergeants, master electricians, etc., are the
highest paid enlisted men and rank all others. Every commissioned
officer ranks every enlisted man regardless of the length of their
respective services. All officers are of equal social rank. Officers and
enlisted men are forbidden to associate socially.
Cadets at the United States Military Academy are neither enlisted nor
commissioned but have a status of their own. Socially they rank with
officers. They are required to salute all officers but are not entitled
to the salutes of enlisted men. Flying cadets in the Signal Corps, who
are candidates for commissions as aviators or aeronauts, also have a
status of their own. They are required to salute officers but do not
receive the salutes of enlisted men. Officers salute one another, the
juniors saluting the seniors, who acknowledge the courtesy.
The infantry organization is based on the company. Under war conditions,
the company consists of 250 men. Four companies form a battalion, and
three battalions a regiment. A headquarters company, a supply company
and a machine gun company also are attached to each regiment. These
three are smaller than the other companies. The band is part of the
headquarters company.
The cavalry organization includes the troop, squadron of four troops,
and regiment of three squadrons, with headquarters, machine gun and
supply organizations. The field artillery regiment is made up of six
batteries, divided into two battalions. It also has headquarters and
supply companies.
The infantry company is divided into platoons and the platoons into
squads of eight men each. The field artillery battery is divided into
platoons and sections. The coast artillery until the war had no
regimental organization but consisted of several separate companies. All
the companies stationed in a coast defense district were under the
command of the ranking officer in that district. For service abroad with
heavy mobile artillery, several coast artillery regiments were organized
on the infantry model.
The United States Navy consists of commissioned officers, warrant
officers, petty officers and enlisted men without ratings. The officers'
grades are: Admiral of the Navy, vice-admiral, rear-admiral, captain,
commander, lieutenant-commander, lieutenant, lieutenant junior grade,
ensign. The warrant officers rank below commissioned officers and above
enlisted men. Gunners, boatswains, machinists, etc., are warrant
officers. They wear a uniform similar to that of commissioned officers
but with different insignia. Chief petty officers and petty officers are
enlisted men. Chief petty officers wear a double-breasted blouse and a
cap similar to that won by officers but with a different ornament. Petty
officers and unrated enlisted men wear the sailor shirt and either the
flat hat or the watch cap. Petty officers are rated first, second and
third class, the first the highest. Men aboard ship are organized in
divisions. The commander of a ship is called captain by courtesy
regardless of his real grade.
The marine corps is under the control of the Navy Department but has an
organization separate from the Navy proper. It has the same grades of
officers and non-commissioned officers (with some exceptions among the
latter) as the army. The corps is commanded by a major-general, which is
the highest grade to which marine corps officers are eligible.
THE WAY TO BECOME ORIGINAL
Here is a classic bit of advice given by Flaubert to de Maupassant:
"Whatever one wishes to say, there is only one noun to express it, only
one verb to give it life, only one adjective to qualify it. Search,
then, till that noun, that verb, that adjective are discovered; never
be content with 'very nearly,' never have recourse to tricks, however
happy; or to buffooneries of language; to avoid a difficulty. This is
the way to become original."
+--------------------------------------------+
| UPBUILDER OF THE HOME ... NOURISHER OF THE |
| COMMUNITY SPIRIT ... ART LETTERS AND |
| SCIENCE OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. |
+--------------------------------------------+
DATES OFTEN CALLED FOR
Battleship Maine blown up in Havana harbor, Feb. 15, 1898.
Baltimore fire, Feb. 7, 1904.
Black Friday, Sept. 24, 1869.
Columbus discovered America, Oct. 12, 1492.
Chicago destroyed by fire, Oct. 8-11, 1871.
Dayton flood, March 24, 1913.
Emancipation Proclamation by Lincoln, Jan. 1, 1863.
Equitable Building fire, New York, Jan. 9, 1912.
Ft. Sumter fired on, April 12, 1861.
Francis Ferdinand, Austrian archduke, assassinated at Sarajevo,
Bosnia, June 28, 1914, by Gavrio Prinzip, a Bosnian.
Galveston flood, Sept. 8, 1900; hurricane blew 18 hours and attained
velocity of 135 miles an hour; 5,000 lives lost; $17,000,000 damage.
Garfield assassinated, July 2, 1881.
Halifax explosion and fire, December 6, 1917, 150 killed, 2,000
injured, property loss, $40,000,000.
Iroquois Theater fire, Chicago, Dec. 30, 1903.
Johnstown flood, May 31, 1889; 2,235 lives lost; $10,000,000 damage.
Lincoln born near Hodgenville, Larue County, Ky., Feb. 12, 1809.
Lincoln assassinated, April 14, 1865.
Mayflower Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Dec. 11, 1620, O. S., or Dec.
21, N. S., but landing is celebrated Dec. 22.
Mount Pelee eruption and destruction of Martinique, May 8, 1902.
McKinley assassinated, Sept. 6, 1901.
North Pole discovered by Peary, April 6, 1909.
New York great fire, Dec. 16, 1835.
Republic sunk in collision with Florida off Nantucket, Jan. 23,
1909; six lives lost.
South Pole discovered by Amundsen, Dec. 14, 1911.
San Francisco earthquake, April 18-19, 1906.
Steamship Eastland capsized in Chicago River, July 24, 1915; more
than 800 lives lost.
Steamship Lusitania sunk by German submarine, May 7, 1915; 1,149
lives lost.
Steamship Titanic wrecked, April 14, 1912, 1,503 lives lost.
Steamboat Gen. Slocum burned in East River New York, June 15, 1904;
more than 1,000 lives lost.
Steamer Larchmont sunk in Long Island Sound, Feb. 12, 1907; 131
lives lost.
Volturno burned at sea, Oct. 9, 1913.
Washington died, Dec. 14, 1799.
Woodrow Wilson born, Dec. 28, 1856.
NOTES
THE LAW OF LIBEL
The following general statement of some of the fundamental principles
governing the law of libel is intended to enable the newspaper writer to
guard against the publication of indefensible libelous matter.
The intention is to state the rules and principles, as far as possible,
without legal technicalities, and to include only such portions of the
law on the subject as may be necessary or essential for the
accomplishment of the double object desired.
For the purposes of the newspaper writer, libel may be defined as
malicious defamation, either written or printed, charging on or imputing
to another that which renders him liable to imprisonment, or tends to
injure his reputation in the common estimation of mankind, or to hold
him up as an object of hatred, scorn, ridicule or contempt.
Slander is malicious defamation by speech or oral language; hence the
newspaper writer has no especial concern for the law relating to it,
further than to remember one general principle--that the law of libel is
much stricter than the law of slander. Thus, one may apply to another
_orally_ words of personal vituperation and abuse that would not render
him liable in a suit for slander, but which if published of another in a
newspaper would be libelous and actionable.
The definition of libel here given is broad enough to cover all the
experiences of the newspaper office. But the character of defamatory
publication that is brought within its scope is best shown by the
language of the courts in individual instances.
ACTIONABLE LANGUAGE