The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Style Book Of The Detroit News, edited by A. L. Weeks

For helpful suggestions the editor is beholden to the style books of the United States Government Printing Office, the Universities of Missouri, Iowa and Montana, the Indianapolis News, the Chicago Herald, and the New York Evening Post; to "Newspaper Writing and Editing," by Willard G. Bleyer; "Newspaper Editing," by Grant M. Hyde; "The Writing of News," by Charles G. Ross; and to the New York Tribune for permission to make applicable to Michigan its digest of the libel laws of New York.

The inscriptions on the building of The News, reprinted in this book in boxes, were written by Prof. Fred N. Scott, of the University of Michigan.

The

Style Book

OF

The Detroit News

Edited by
A. L. WEEKS

Published and Copyrighted 1918 by

The Evening News Association

Detroit

[1] THE AIM OF THE DETROIT NEWS

Formation of a newspaper's ideals comes through a process of years. The best traditions of the past, blending with hopes of the future, should be the writer's guide for the day. Nov. 1, 1916, the editor-in-chief of The Detroit News, in a letter to the managing editor, wrote his interpretation of the principles under which the staff should work, in striving toward those journalistic ideals to which this paper feels itself dedicated. His summary of the best practices of the profession follows:

The place to commence this is with the staff members: First, getting men and women of character to do the writing and editing; and then training them in our way of thinking and handling news and other reading matter.

If you make an error you have two duties to perform—one to the person misrepresented and one to your reading public. Never leave the reader of The News misinformed on any subject. If you wrongfully write that a man has done something that he did not do, or has said something that he did not say, you do him an injustice—that's one. But you also do thousands of readers an injustice, leaving them misinformed as to the character of the man dealt with. Corrections should never be made grudgingly. Always make them cheerfully, fully, and in larger type than the error, if there is any difference.

The American people want to know, to learn, to get information. To quote a writer: "Your opinion is worth no more than your information." Give them your information and let them draw their own conclusions. Comment should enlighten by well marshaled facts, and by telling the readers what relation an act of today has to an act of yesterday. Let them come to their own conclusions as far as possible.

No issue is worth advocating that is not strong enough to withstand all the facts that the opposition to it can throw against it. Our readers should be well informed on both sides of every issue.

[2]Kindly, helpful suggestions will often direct officials in the right, when nagging will make them stay stubbornly on the wrong side. That does not mean that there should be any lack of diligence in watching for, and opposing, intentional criminals.

A staff can be good and strong only by having every part of it strong. The moment it becomes evident that a man, either by force of circumstance or because of his own character, does not fit into our organization, you do him a kindness and do justice to the paper by letting him know, so he can go to a calling in which he can succeed, and will not be in the way of filling the place with a competent man.

No one on the staff should be asked to do anything that will make him think less of himself or the paper.

MAKE THE PAPER GOOD ALL THE WAY THROUGH, so there will not be disappointment on the part of a reporter if his story is not found on the first page, but so he will feel that it must have merit to get into the paper at all. Avoid making it a "front-page paper."

Stories should be brief, but not meager. Tell the story, all of it, in as few words as possible.

Nature makes facts more interesting than any reporter can imagine them. There is an interesting feature in every story, if you will dig it out. If you don't get it, it is because you don't dig deep enough.

The most valuable asset of any paper is its reputation for telling the truth; the only way to have that reputation is to tell the truth. Untruth due to carelessness or excessive imagination injures the paper as much as though intentional.

Everyone with a grievance should be given a respectful and kindly hearing; especial consideration should be given the poor and lowly, who may be less capable of presenting their claims than those more favored in life. A man of prominence and education knows how to get into the office and present his complaint. A washerwoman may come to the door, timidly, haltingly, scarcely knowing what to do, and all the while her complaint may be as just as that of the other complainant, perhaps more so. She should be received kindly and helped to present what she has to say.

Simple, plain language is strongest and best. A man of little education can understand it, while the man of higher education, usually reading a paper in the evening after a day's work, will read it with relish. There is never any need of using big words to show off one's learning. The object of a story or an editorial is to inform or convince; but it is hard to do either if the reader has to study over a big word or an involved sentence. Use plain English all the time. A few readers may understand and appreciate a Latin or French quotation, or one from some other foreign language, but the big mass of our readers are the plain people, and such a quotation would be lost on the majority.

[3]Be fair. Don't let the libel laws be your measure in printing of a story, but let fairness be your measure. If you are fair, you need not worry about libel laws.

Always give the other fellow a hearing. He may be in the wrong, but even that may be a matter of degree. It wouldn't be fair to picture him as all black when there may be mitigating circumstances.

It is not necessary to tell the people that we are honest, or bright, or alert, or that a story appeared exclusively in our paper. If true, the public will find it out. An honest man does not need to advertise his honesty.

Time heals all things but a woman's damaged reputation. Be careful and cautious and fair and decent in dealing with any man's reputation, but be doubly so—and then some—when a woman's name is at stake. Do not by direct statement, jest or careless reference raise a question mark after any woman's name if it can be avoided—and it usually can be. Even if a woman slips, be generous; it may be a crisis in her life. Printing the story may drive her to despair; kindly treatment may leave her with hope. No story is worth ruining a woman's life—or a man's, either.

Keep the paper clean in language and thought. Profane or suggestive words are not necessary. When in doubt, think of a 13-year-old girl reading what you are writing.

Do not look on newspaper work as a "game," of pitilessly printing that on which you are only half informed, for the mere sake of beating some other paper; but take it rather as a serious, constructive work in which you are to use all your energy and diligence to get all the worth-while information for your readers at the earliest possible moment.

[4] INSTRUCTIONS TO REPORTERS

Drill yourself into searching for facts; almost anybody can write a story—it takes real brains and resourcefulness to get one.

You are urged to call the city editor for instructions whenever in doubt, and it is a good idea to call as often as possible to keep the office informed and also to get any information on your story that may have come in from other sources.

Before you write or telephone your story, make sure that you have all your facts marshaled in your own mind. A good reporter usually plans his story, lead and details in his head on his way to the office.

When you turn in a story KNOW that everything in that story is true—and if you feel there is a statement you can not prove, call your city editor's attention to it.

To color or fake a story is not newspaper work—it is prostitution of the profession of journalism.

Be sure of your sources of information. Never take anything for granted—find out for yourself. You will discover that many persons talk convincingly about things although they have no actual knowledge of the subject under discussion.

Remember always that a newspaper has to prove what it says—and any decent newspaper is eager to.

If you don't know, tell the city editor you don't know. To guess is criminal because nobody can guess with any consistent degree of accuracy. And accuracy should be your guide.

Reporters should study their stories after they are printed, with the realization that any changes made in them were made to better them. Ask why your stories have been changed so your next story will be better through avoidance of the same mistake.

The essentials of newspaper writing are accuracy and simplicity. The newspaper is no place for fine writing. Simplicity means directness and conciseness in telling the story as well as an avoidance of hifalutin phrases, obsolete words and involved sentences.

Walt Whitman wrote: "The art of arts, the glory of expression, and the sunshine[5] of the light of letters, is simplicity. Nothing is better than simplicity—nothing can make up for excess or the lack of definiteness."

Every worker on a newspaper knows the value of accuracy. Accuracy is the god before whom all newspaper men bow. If one could analyze the effort put forth in one day in this office, one might discover that perhaps a third of that effort was in an attempt to obtain accuracy. The city directory is the newspaper man's Bible because accuracy is his deity.

The hardest lesson the journalist must learn is the development of the impersonal viewpoint. He must learn to write what he sees and hears, clearly and accurately, with never a tinge of bias. His own views, his personal feelings and his friendships should have nothing to do with what he writes in a story.

The ideal reporter would be a man who could give the public facts about his bitterest enemy even though such facts would make the man he personally hated a hero before the public.

In journalism more than in any other profession does the advice hold good: "Beware of your friends; your enemies will take care of themselves." By this is meant: Learn well the code of ethics which governs your profession, and when any man in the guise of friendship asks you to violate that code, you may say to him, "If you were truly my friend, you would not ask me to do this any more than you would ask a physician as a matter of friendship to perform an illegal operation, or a lawyer to stoop to shyster practices."

Supplying his editors with the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, is the only mission of the reporter, and any man who asks the reporter to deviate from that principle asks that which is dishonest.

BE TRUE

Thomas Carlyle: To every writer we might say: Be true, if you would be believed. Let a man but speak forth with genuine earnestness the thought, the emotion, the actual condition of his own heart; and other men, so strangely are we all knit together by the tie of sympathy, must and will give heed to him. In culture, in extent of view, we may stand above the speaker, or below him; but in either case, his words, if they are earnest and sincere, will find some response within us; for in spite of all casual varieties in outward rank or inward, as face answers to face, so does the heart of man to man.

[6] INSTRUCTIONS TO COPY READERS

The copy reader's position carries with it larger responsibilities than the position of any other member of the staff. He can mar or ruin a good story; he can redeem the poor story; he can save the reporter from errors of commission or omission in the matter of his story or in the manner of its writing. No matter how accomplished a writer a reporter may be, the copy reader who handles his story can destroy his product. Then, too, it is the function of the copy reader, if he believes that a better story can be written with the same facts as a basis, to suggest to the city editor that the story be rewritten by the reporter, by another reporter or by the copy reader himself. Because a man is reading copy, he should not imagine that he is not to write a story or rewrite one when occasion demands.

Charles G. Ross writes: "His [the copy reader's] work is critical rather than creative. It is destructive so far as errors of grammar, violations of news style and libel are concerned. But if his sense of news is keen, as that of every copy reader should be, he will find abundant opportunity for something more than mechanical deletion and interlineation. He may insert a terse bit of explanation to clear away obscurity, or may add a piquant touch that will redeem a story from dullness. To the degree that he edits news with sympathy and understanding, with a clear perception of news values, his work may be regarded as creative. If, on the other hand, he conceives it his duty to reduce all writing to a dead level of mediocrity * * * * he richly deserves the epithet that is certain to be hurled at the copy reader by the reporter whose fine phrases have been cut out—he is in truth a 'butcher' of copy."

Dr. Willard G. Bleyer writes: "The reading and editing of copy consists of (1) correcting all errors whether in expression or in fact; (2) making the story conform to the style of the newspaper; (3) improving the story in any respect; (4) eliminating libelous matter; (5) marking copy for the printer; (6) writing headlines and subheads."

LEARNING THE METIER

Said Robert Louis Stevenson to a painter friend: "You painter chaps make lots of studies, don't you? And you don't frame them all and send them to the Salon, do you? You just stick them up on the studio wall for a bit, and presently you tear them up and make more. And you copy Velasquez and Rembrandt and Vandyke and Corot; and from each you learn some little trick of the brush, some obscure little point of technic. And you know damn well that it is the knowledge thus acquired that will enable you later on to deliver your own message with a fine and confident bravado. You are simply learning your metier; and believe me, mon cher, an artist in any line without the metier is just a blind man with a stick. Now, in the literary line I am simply doing what you painter men are doing in the pictorial line—learning the metier."

[7] PREPARING COPY

Use the typewriter. See that the keys are clean. Use triple space. Write on one side of the paper. Do not paste sheets together. Leave wide margins on both sides and at the top. Write your name and a brief description of the story in two or three words at top of first sheet. Number sheets. Never write perpendicularly in the margin. Never divide a word from one page to another, and if possible do not divide a word from one line to the next. Try to make each page end with a completed paragraph to aid the composing room in setting the story in "takes." When necessary to write in long hand, underscore u and overscore n, and print proper names and unusual words. Ring periods or write x to stand for them. When there is a chance that a word intentionally misspelled will be changed by the printer, write Follow Copy in the margin. Indent deeply for paragraphs. Use an end-mark to indicate your story is completed. Avoid interlining by crossing out the sentence you desire to correct and writing it again.

Save time for your office by care in writing and editing. A little thought before setting down a sentence will save you the trouble of rewriting and the copy reader the annoyance of reading untidy copy.

LEADS

There is generally a better way to begin a story than with A, An, The, It is, There is, There are.

Avoid beginning a story with figures, but when this must be done, then spell out, as: Ten thousand men marched away today.

The comprehensive A. P. lead is generally preferable, but in writing some stories, particularly feature stories, a reporter may find a more effective lead than the sentence or sentences that summarize the story.

Remember that your reader's time may be limited and that if your story begins with a striking sentence, arresting either because of what it says or the manner in which it says it, your story will be read.

THE CUTTLEFISH

He that uses many words for the explaining of any subject doth, like the cuttlefish, hide himself in his own ink.—Anon.

[8] HEADS

"The head," says Ross, "is an advertisement, and like all good advertisements it should be honest, holding out no promise that the story does not fulfill. It should be based on the facts as set forth in the story and nothing else."

The head should be a bulletin or summary of the important facts, not a mere label.

It is usually best to base the head on the lead of the story. The first deck should tell the most important feature. Every succeeding deck should contribute new information, not merely explain previous statements or repeat them in different language.

The function of the head is to tell the facts, not to give the writer's comment on the facts.

The head for the feature story, the special department, the editorial or the illustration may properly be a title that suggests the material it advertises instead of summarizing it. Indeed, the success of a feature story often depends on its having a head that directs the reader to the story and arouses his curiosity in it without disclosing the most interesting content. Head writers should beware of revealing in the head the surprise of a story, if it has one.

Never turn in a head that you guess will fit. Make sure. Heads that are too long cause delay and confusion.

Principal words should not be repeated. Do not, however, use impossible synonyms, as canine for dog or inn for hotel.

Use articles sparingly. Occasionally they are needed. Observe the difference in meaning between King George Takes Little Liquor and King George Takes a Little Liquor.

Observe that in reading these heads there is a natural pause that comes at the end of the line. The same principle may govern the writing of three-line heads, as,

In the head just written observe that the first line has fewer letters because it contains two W's and an M. Either an M or a W is equal to a letter and a half, and an I and a space are each equal to half a letter. The first line contains 14½ units; the second line contains 15 units; the third line contains 15 units. And yet the first line contains 14 letters and spaces, the second 16, and the third 17.

If the subject of the verb in the first deck is not written, it should be the first word of the second deck, as,

[10]Avoid expressions that are awkward because of omission of some form of the verb to be such as this:

Negatives should be avoided. The head should as a rule tell what happened, not what did not happen.

Avoid the word may. The head should as a rule tell what happened, not what is going to take place, perhaps.

Insert subheads in long stories at intervals of 150 to 200 words. Use at least two subheads or none.

When there is a paragraph ending, The President spoke as follows:, place the subhead before this paragraph and not between it and the quoted matter.

Avoid beginning a head with quotation marks because the white space destroys the balance of the head. When it is unavoidable, use single quotation marks.

It is permissible to make the first deck of a head a quotation without quotation marks, writing the name of the person quoted in full-face caps immediately below the deck. One need seldom resort to this expedient.

[11]Be careful of the present tense in writing of historical events. The head on a story about the legality of Christ's trial should not read,

Remember always in writing heads that although a newspaper man seldom reads more than the first deck, deciding by that whether to read the story, many readers of the paper read no more than the head, and for them it should summarize the story, embodying all its salient features.

GRAMMAR

The position of correlative conjunctions with relation to the elements they connect.

To gain grace in writing one must either be born with a natural aptitude in the use of words—and such men: Stevenson, Poe, Walter Pater and others, are geniuses—or one must study the writings of these masters of prose and attempt to discover the secret of their success. It is not necessary that a good writer should know rules of grammar, but he must know enough to observe them. A writer may be unable to tell why a dangling participle is faulty English by testing it with a rule, but he may nevertheless avoid such a construction because his ear tells him it is not the best style.

Copies of the best grammars may be found in the office library and should be consulted when reporters and copy readers are in doubt.

SIMPLICITY

In character, in manners, in style and in all things the supreme excellence is simplicity.—Longfellow.[12]

[13] NOTES

[14] DICTION

The newspaper writer must beware of two pitfalls in writing: Fine writing and dialect. Stilted English, pompous and high-sounding, is in just as bad taste as garish clothing or pungent perfume. Reporters often give to their stories a wordy and turgid flavor by their refusal to repeat a word, preferring a synonym. One often sees such sentences as this: "The policeman took his pistol away as he was about to shoot at the bluecoat's partner, another officer of the law." This is a quite unnecessary avoidance of the repetition of the word policeman.

Fine writing is quite out of place at all times in a newspaper and is particularly obnoxious when a reporter quotes a person of inferior mentality in polished—or what the reporter thinks are polished—phrases. Things like this shouldn't get into the paper: "It is with poignant grief that I gaze on the torn frame of my dear spouse," said Mrs. Sowikicki, as she stood beside a slab in the morgue.

On the other hand reporters should not try to be funny at the expense of someone inexpert in the use of the language. If a person interviewed uses bad grammar, correct him when you write the story. To make a person say Hadn't ought to of or Hain't got no is not only insulting to that person and to your readers, but is poor comedy.

Dialect must be absolutely accurate if it is used. Finley Peter Dunne can write Irish dialect and not many other persons in America can write as good. Probably no reporter on The News can write it. Dialect that might hurt the feelings of others who speak the same way should not be used. In fact as a general rule: DON'T WRITE DIALECT. The greatest masters of humor, such as Moliere, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, have obtained their best effects by writing their language straightforwardly.

THE GRIT OF COMPACT, CLEAR TRUTH

I began to compose by imitating other authors. I admired, and I worked hard to get, a smooth, rich, classic style. The passion I afterwards formed for Heine's prose forced me from this slavery, and taught me to aim at naturalness. I seek now to get back to the utmost simplicity of expression, to disuse the verbosity I tried so hard to acquire, to get the grit of compact, clear truth, if possible, informal and direct. It is very difficult. I should advise any beginner to study the raciest, strongest, best spoken speech and let the printed speech alone; that is to say, to write straight from the thought without bothering about the manner, except to conform to the spirit or genius of the language. I once thought Latinized diction was to be invited; I now think Latinized expression is to be guarded against.—W. D. Howells.

[15] A. P. STYLE

What M. E. Stone says to his correspondents on story writing may be read with profit by any newspaper man. The following is clipped from the monthly bulletin issued by the Associated Press to its correspondents:

A plain statement of fact is the best introduction to a news story. A simple, direct style—which does not mean a wooden style—is always desirable. In the opening sentence it is of particular value.

The news which a story contains is the one thing which entitles it to place in the Associated Press report. It is the news, not the manner of telling the news, on which the story must stand. It is therefore essential to present the vital point at the outset, in such form as will enable the reader to grasp it quickly, clearly and easily. For this purpose there is no acceptable substitute for plain English.

In an effort to make the most vivid and emphatic impression at the opening, objectionable forms of construction often are employed. A highly-colored or strained introduction almost always fails of its purpose of enlisting interest at once, since it tends to divert the attention of the reader from the subject-matter of the story to the writer's manner of telling it. This renders the introduction cloudy and lessens interest instead of stimulating it. Once the main point is established, the well known rules of news writing should be observed.

To say that "'William Brown may obtain a fair trial in Greene County,' Judge Smith so ruled today," is to misstate the facts. It places the Associated Press on record as making a statement made by the court. Use of this and similar introductory sentences which require subsequent qualification is objectionable.

Opening sentences frequently lose directness and clearness because of the effort to crowd too much into them. All that is essential is to cover the vital point, leaving details for subsequent narration.

Introductions must be impartial. It is possible to take almost any given set of statements and present them in such a way as to convey any one of several shades of meaning. This may depend merely on the order of presentation. Associated Press stories must be accurate and accuracy involves not only the truthfulness of individual statements but the co-relation of these statements in such a way as to convey to the reader a fair and unbiased impression of the story as a whole. An account of a court proceeding, a political debate, or any other event which involves conflicting claims or interests, should not be introduced by singling out a particular phase of the story which is limited to one side of the controversy, simply because that is the most striking feature. Such a form of introduction[16] tends to place the emphasis on one side of the case, giving bias to the entire story.

Stereotyped introductions should be avoided. One of the most common is the "When" introduction, as: "Two men were killed when a train struck . . . " etc. "If" and "After" often are used similarly. Inverted sentences are also frequent; as "That the prisoner was guilty was the opinion expressed by . . . " etc. Constant employment of these fixed styles becomes monotonous. Moreover, it is possible to state the facts more simply, directly and effectively without them.

BROADEN THE VOCABULARY

Edward Harlan Webster gives this excellent advice on how to broaden the vocabulary:

Practice is the first aid. Actually get hold of new words and then use them. You will perceive that you will not startle others so much as yourself. Gradually the words will begin to assume a standing in your vocabulary, and before long, they will seem like old friends.

2. Record words with which you are familiar but you never use—and then "work" them.

3. Make a list of important, unfamiliar words which you hear, or discover in your reading.

5. If possible, try to translate from a foreign language. In this way a fine perception of shades of meaning, almost unattainable by any other method, is acquired.

6. Get interested in the dictionary, where you can trace the life history of words.

THE PICTORIAL POWER OF WORDS

"Words have a considerable share in exciting ideas of beauty—they affect the mind by raising in it ideas of those things for which custom has appointed them to stand. Words, by their original and pictorial power have great influence over the passions; if we combine them properly, we may give new life and beauty to the simplest object. In painting, we may represent any fine figure we please, but we never can give it those enlivening touches which it may receive from words. For example, we can represent an angel in a picture by drawing a young man winged: but what painting can furnish out anything so grand as the addition of one word—'the angel of the Lord'? Is there any painting more grand and beautiful?"—Edmund Burke.

[17] CAPITALIZATION

Capitalize titles preceding names, as, Chief of Detectives Fox, Gen. Bell. Lower-case titles following names, as John Downey, superintendent of police, except these which are capitalized always:

Do not capitalize former preceding a title, as former Senator Wilson. Former is preferred to ex-.

Capitalize the full names of associations, clubs, societies, companies, etc., as Michigan Equal Suffrage Association, Detroit Club, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Star Publishing Company. The preceding such a name is not to be capitalized. Do not capitalize association, club, etc., when not attached to a specific name.

Capitalize university, college, academy, etc., when part of a title, as University of Detroit, Olivet College. But do not capitalize when the plural is used, as the state universities of Michigan, Kansas and Ohio.

Capitalize the first word after a colon in giving a list, as, The following were elected: President, William Jones; vice-president, Sam Smith, etc. Try this menu: Rice, milk and fruit. When the colon is used merely to indicate a longer pause than a semicolon, it is not followed by a capital, as, A tire blew out: the car skidded: we were in the ditch.

Capitalize building, hall, house, hotel, theater, hospital, etc., when used with a distinguishing name, as Book Building, Hull House, Cadillac Hotel, Garrick Theater, Harper Hospital.

Capitalize the names of federal and state departments and bureaus, as Department of Agriculture, State Insurance Department, Bureau of Vital Statistics.[18] But lower-case municipal departments, as fire department, water and light department, street department.

Capitalize the names of national legislative bodies, as Congress, House of Representatives or House, Senate, Parliament, Reichstag, Duma, Chamber (France).

Capitalize state legislature and synonymous terms (legislature, assembly, general assembly) only when the Michigan Legislature is meant.

Capitalize the names of all political parties, in this and other countries, as Democratic, Republican, Progressive, Socialist, Liberal, Tory, Union. But do not capitalize these or similar words, or their derivatives, when used in a general sense, as republican form of government, democratic tendencies, socialistic views.

Capitalize pole, island, isthmus, cape, ocean, bay, river, and in general all such geographical terms when used in specific names, as North Pole, South Sea Islands, Cape Hatteras, Hudson Bay, Pacific Ocean, Mississippi River, Isthmus of Panama.

Capitalize the East, the West, the Middle West, the Orient and other terms used for definite regions; but do not capitalize east, west, etc., when used merely to designate direction or point of compass, as "west of here." Do not capitalize westerner, southerner, western states and other such derivatives.

Capitalize sections of a state, as Upper Peninsula, Western Michigan, etc., but not the northern part of Michigan, etc.

Capitalize, when used with a distinguishing name, ward, precinct, square, garden, park, etc., as First Ward, Eighth Precinct, Cadillac Square, Madison Square Garden, Palmer Park.

Capitalize room, etc., when followed by a number or letter, as Room 18, Dime Bank Building; Parlor C, Normandie Hotel.

Capitalize distinctive names of localities in cities, as North End, Nob Hill, Back Bay, Happy Hollow.

Capitalize the names of holidays and days observed as holidays by churches, as Fourth of July, Dominion Day, Good Friday, Yom Kippur, Columbus Day, Washington's Birthday.

Capitalize the names of notable events and things, as the Declaration of Independence, the War of 1812, the Revolution, the Reformation, the Civil War, the Battle of the Marne.

Capitalize church when used as a specific name, as North Woodward Methodist Church, First Christian Church. But write: a Methodist church, a Christian church.

Capitalize the names of all religious denominations, as Baptist, Quaker, Mormon, Methodist.

[19]Capitalize names for the Bible, as the Holy Scriptures, the Book of Books. But do not capitalize adjectives derived from such names, as biblical, scriptural.

Capitalize the names of races and nationalities, as Italian, American, Indian, Gypsy, Caucasian and Negro.

Capitalize titles of specific treaties, laws, bills, etc., as Treaty of Ghent, Eleventh Amendment, Workmen's Compensation Act, Good Roads Bill. But when the reference is general use lower-case, as the good roads legislation of the last congress.

Capitalize such terms as Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, Union Jack, Stars and Bars, etc.

Capitalize names of military organizations, as First Regiment, B Company (do not quote letter), National Guard, Grand Army of the Republic, Michigan State Militia, University Cadet Corps (but University cadets).

Capitalize such names as Triple Alliance, Triple Entente, Quadruple Entente, Allies (in the European war).

Capitalize the fanciful titles of cities and states, as the City of the Straits, the Buckeye State.

Capitalize the nicknames of base ball, foot ball and other athletic teams, as Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves, Tigers.

Capitalize epithets affixed to or standing for proper names, as Alexander the Great, the Pretender.

Capitalize the names of stocks in money markets, as Federal Steel, City Railway.

Capitalize college degrees, whether written in full or abbreviated, as Bachelor of Arts, Doctor of Laws, Bachelor of Science in Education: A.B., LL.D., B.S. in Ed.

Capitalize high school when used thus: Central High School (but the high school at Port Huron).

Capitalize, but do not quote, the titles of newspapers and other periodicals, the New York World, the Outlook, the Saturday Evening Post. Do not capitalize the, except The Detroit News.

Capitalize and quote the titles of books, plays, poems, songs, speeches, etc., as "The Scarlet Letter," "Within the Law," "The Man With the Hoe." The beginning a title must be capitalized and included in the quotation. All the principal words—that is, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and interjections—are to be capitalized, no matter how short; thus: "The Man Who Would Be King." Other parts of speech—that is, prepositions, conjunctions and articles—are to be capitalized only when they contain four or more letters; thus:[20] at, in, a, for, Between, Through, Into. The same rules apply to capitalization in headlines.

Capitalize adjectives derived from proper nouns, as English, Elizabethan, Germanic, Teutonic. But do not capitalize proper names and derivatives whose original significance has been obscured by long and common usage. Under this head fall such words as india rubber, oriental colors, street arab, pasteurize, macadam, axminster, gatling, paris green, plaster of paris, philippic, socratic, herculean, guillotine, utopia, bohemian, philistine, platonic. When, however, a name is comparatively recent, use capitals, as in Alice blue, Taft roses, Burbank cactus.

Capitalize the particles in French names, as le, la, de, du, when used without a Christian name or title preceding, as Du Maurier. But lower-case when preceded by a name or title, as George du Maurier. The same rule applies to the German von: Field Marshal von Mackensen, but, without Christian name or title, Von Mackensen. Always capitalize Van in Dutch names unless personal preference dictates an exception, as Henry van Dyke.

Capitalize the names of French streets and places, as Rue de la Paix, Place de la Concorde.

Do not capitalize street, avenue, boulevard, place, lane, terrace, way, road, highway, etc., as Ninth street, Boston boulevard, Maryland place, Rosemary lane, Seven Mile road.

Do not capitalize addition, depot, elevator, mine, station, stockyards, etc., as Wabash freight depot, Yellow Dog mine, Union station, Chicago stockyards.

Do not capitalize postoffice, courthouse, poorhouse, council chamber, armory, cadets, police court, women's parlors.

Capitalize only the distinguishing words if two or more names are connected, as the Wabash and Missouri Pacific railroad companies. (In singular form, Wabash Railroad Co.)

Capitalize O. K., write it with periods, and form present tense, O. K.'s and past tense, O. K.'d.

Capitalize Boy Scouts (referring to organization). Make Campfire (referring to the girls' organization) one word, capitalized.

Capitalize Constitution referring to that of the United States. But state constitution (lower-case).

[21] NOTES

[22] PUNCTUATION

A series of three or more words takes commas except before conjunctions, as: There were boxes of guns, bayonets, cartridges and bandages. Separate members of the series with semicolons if there are commas within the phrase, as: There were boxes of guns, bayonets and cartridges; casks of powder, high explosives and chemicals; and many other prohibited articles.

Use asterisks to indicate that part of quoted matter has been omitted, as, He said: "I favor all measures that * * * will help the people."

Commas set off an explanatory phrase but not a restrictive phrase of inclusive qualification. One writes: Poe, a poet of America, wrote "The Raven." But one writes: Poe the poet is a finer craftsman than Poe the fiction writer.

Use commas before conjunctions in a sentence made up of separate clauses, each with its own subject nominative, as, The horse is old, but it is still willing. If the same subject, write it: The horse is old but willing.

Use no period after letters used in place of numbers, as, B Company. (Companies of soldiers are designated as B Company, not Company B.)

Use no commas in years and street numbers, as, 1904, not 1,904; and 2452 High street. But write: 2,156 persons and $1,560.

Follow this style in date lines: CHICAGO, May 10.—
BROWNSVILLE, Mich., May 10.—

Place a comma or a colon after said, remarked and similar words when quoted matter follows.

THREE RULES

Writes the Duke of Argyll: I have always held that clear thinking will find its own expression in clear writing. As to mere technical rules, there are very few that occur to me, except such as these—first, to aim at short sentences, without involution or parenthetical matter; second, to follow a logical order in construction of sentences, and in the sequence of them; third, to avoid absolutely such phrases as "the former" and "the latter," always preferring repetition to the use of such tiresome references. The last rule, and in some measure the other, I learned from Macaulay, and have found it of immense use. There is some mannerism in his style, but it is always clear as crystal, and this rule of repetition contributed much to this.

[23] QUOTATIONS

Quotation marks are not needed when matter is indented, thus: The speaker said in part:

Sometimes marks of punctuation belong inside quotation marks and sometimes outside, as: "Did you hear him say, 'I am here'?" But in this case: "I heard him say, 'Are you here?'" Continental usage permits this form: "Are you shot!?" but it is not in good use on this side.

Observe the style on quotes within quotes: The witness said: "I asked him, 'Where is my copy of "Paradise Lost"?'"

OBSERVATION

Writes Arnold Bennett: One is curious about one's fellow-creatures: therefore one watches them. And generally the more intelligent one is, the more curious one is, and the more one observes. The mere satisfaction of this curiosity is in itself a worthy end, and would alone justify the business of systemized observation. But the aim of observation may, and should, be expressed in terms more grandiose. Human curiosity counts among the highest social virtues (as indifference counts among the basest defects), because it leads to a disclosure of the causes of character and temperament and thereby to a better understanding of the springs of human conduct. Observation is not practiced directly with this high end in view (save by prigs and other futile souls); nevertheless it is a moral act and must inevitably promote kindliness—whether we like it or not. It also sharpens the sense of beauty. An ugly deed—such as a deed of cruelty—takes on artistic beauty when its origin and hence its fitness in the general scheme begin to be comprehended. In the perspective of history we can derive esthetic pleasure from the tranquil scrutiny of all kinds of conduct—as well, for example, of a Renaissance Pope as of a Savonarola. Observation endows our day and our street with the romantic charm of history, and stimulates charity—not the charity which signs cheques, but the more precious charity which puts itself to the trouble of understanding. The condition is that the observer must never lose sight of the fact that what he is to see is life, is the woman next door, is the man in the train—and not a concourse of abstractions. To appreciate all this is the first inspiring preliminary to sound observation.

[24] NOUNS

Watch for nouns ending in -ics. Many of them are singular, such as politics, mathematics, ethics.

Make sums of money singular: Five dollars was spent, unless individual pieces of money are meant, as: Five silver dollars were placed on the table. Write moneys, not monies.

Remember that data, memoranda, phenomena, paraphernalia, bacteria and strata are plural.

Distinguish between majority and plurality. Majority means the lead of a candidate over all other candidates. Plurality means the lead of a candidate over one other candidate.

Event, incident, affair, occurrence, happening, circumstance do not mean the same things. Look them up.

Avoid feminine forms of such words as author, artist, dancer, violinist, pianist, poet. It may be necessary occasionally to change more than the spelling. For example, the world's greatest pianiste may not mean the world's greatest pianist.

Sewer is a drain. Sewage is what goes through it. Sewerage is a system of drains.

Don't write a large per cent of when speaking of persons when you mean a large proportion.

When nouns are attended by participles, two constructions are possible. One may say either I know of John's being there, or I know of John being there; The fact of the battle's having been lost, or The fact of the battle having been lost. The possessive is to be preferred with proper names and in most simple constructions; it is altogether to be preferred with pronouns when the principal idea is in the participle. One says: I saw him going, I heard them singing; but I heard of his going; I urged his going; I advised their attending; I objected to his staying; I opposed their going; the fact of his being there made a difference; On his saying this the people shouted; With their consenting the thing was settled; He spoke of my setting out as already agreed to; He found fault with our accepting the place, etc.

[25]Collective nouns are usually singular, as, The club has increased its membership. However, a collective noun, when it is used to refer more particularly to individuals than to the mass, is plural, as The crowd was orderly, but, The crowd threw up their hats. In using collective nouns beware of mixing the number. Do not write, The audience was in their seats, but The audience was seated, or The audience were in their seats.

THE JOURNALIST'S CREED

By WALTER WILLIAMS

I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust.

I believe that clear thinking and clear statement, accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good journalism.

I believe that a journalist should write only what he holds in his heart to be true.

I believe that suppression of the news for any consideration other than the welfare of society is indefensible.

I believe that no one should write as a journalist what he would not say as a gentleman; that bribery by one's own pocketbook is as much to be avoided as bribery by the pocketbook of another; that individual responsibility may not be escaped by pleading another's instruction or another's dividends.

I believe that advertising, news and editorial columns should alike serve the best interests of the readers; that a single standard of helpful truth and clearness should prevail for all; that the supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service.

I believe that the journalism which succeeds best—and best deserves success—fears God and honors man; is stoutly independent, unmoved by pride of opinion or greed of power; constructive, tolerant, but never careless; self controlled, patient; always respectful of its readers, but always unafraid; is quickly indignant at injustice; is unswayed by the appeal of privilege or the clamor of the mob; seeks to give every man a chance and, as far as law and honest wages and recognition of human brotherhood can make it so, an equal chance; is profoundly patriotic, while sincerely promoting international good will and cementing world comradeship; is a journalism of humanity, of and for today's world.

[26] NOTES

[27] PRONOUNS

Avoid the use of he or she and his or her. The use of either phrase is seldom required for clearness' sake. When a noun is used which may refer indifferently to both sexes, the accepted practice is to use the masculine pronoun. For example, say: Let the teacher do his duty and he need not fear criticism, not Let the teacher do his or her duty and he or she need not fear criticism.

Similarly after indefinite singulars like each, every, somebody, anybody, use the masculine singular pronoun. Thus, Everyone should do his duty and he should do it every day. Here one is not only to avoid the use of he or she and his or her, but also particularly and constantly to be on guard against they and their. Sentences like Nobody knows what they can do till they try; Everyone is urged to come and bring their pocketbooks with them, are frequently heard and often get into print.

Do not use the same for a third personal or a demonstrative pronoun. The farmer brought a load of wheat to town and sold it (not the same) at the mill.

Do not make such a pronoun, except in the phrase such as. He has fruits of all sorts and his prices for such are unreasonable, is the sort of use to be avoided.

Distinguish between its, possessive pronoun, and it's, contraction of it is.

Use either or neither only of two, any one or none of more than two, as: In one group are Russia, Germany and Austria, in another France and England. Any one of the first group acting with either of the second could determine the question. (As conjunctions, either and neither may introduce the first of a series of particulars consisting of three or more. It is correct to say Neither this nor that nor the other thing; but when used as pronouns, either and neither should be rigidly confined to use with reference to two only.)

Prefer always no one and nobody to not any one or not anybody, as It is no one's (or nobody's) business, not, It is not any one's (or not anybody's) business.

Do not use apiece for each of persons. Say: The men each took an apple or took an apple each, not The men took an apple apiece. But they might have bought the apples at so much apiece.

Be careful not to say these sort of things, these kind of men, for this sort of things or this kind of men.

In questions direct or indirect be careful to use whom when the objective[28] case is required. Do not say, Who did you see there? or, I do not know who he meant.

The relative who should be used only of persons (or of beasts or things personified). Do not say: The dog whom you saw or He drove the horse who made the best record. The relative which should be used only of beasts and inanimate objects. Do not say: The women and children which were numerous then came trooping in.

That should be used after a compound antecedent mentioning both persons and animals or things, as, The soldiers, the ambulances and the pack mules that were recaptured, were sent to the rear.

Be careful of the case of who if a parenthetical sentence intervenes between it and its verb. He said that Gen. Harrison, whom, everybody well knew, had long been interested in the case, would make the closing argument. Such faulty objective is often heard in daily speech and not infrequently gets into the papers. Of course who should be used. But whom should be used when the infinitive follows: He said that Gen. Harrison, whom everybody admitted to be profoundly versed in the law, would discuss the point.

It is proper to omit the relative pronoun on occasion when it is the object of the following verb, as He was among the men (whom) I saw.

CONJUNCTIONS

Never use like as a conjunction. John may look like James or act like James or speak like James, but he never looks, acts or speaks like James looks, acts or speaks; he never looks like he wanted to do something, nor conducts himself like he thought he owned the earth, or like he was crazy. Like (as in the first example) may be followed by an objective case of a substantive, with which the construction is completed: You are like me in this; You, like me, believe this; He conducted himself like a crazy man. When a clause is demanded, as if should be used: He looks as if he wanted something; he acts as if he were crazy.

Do not use if for whether in introducing indirect questions: I doubt whether (not if) this is true; I asked whether (not if) he would go.

Do not use as for that. Not I do not know as this is so, but I do not know that this is so.

Do not use without for unless. We cannot go unless (not without) he comes.

Do not use but what for but that or that. I do not doubt that (or but that) he will come, not but what he will come; They did not know but that (not but what) they might accept it.

Do not use while for although, as, while it is probable. While refers to time.

[29] VERBS

The verb should agree with its subject in person and number. It ought not to be necessary to give this obvious rule, but hardly a day passes without violation of it in almost every paper. Its violation is especially common in the inverted sentence, introduced with there. There is likely to be some changes; There is, at the present writing, some hopes of peace; There seems to be, in view of all the conditions, many objections to this plan, are examples of the faulty usage.

The to should not be separated from the infinitive by word or phrase. The modifier should precede the to or follow the verb. Do not say to promptly act, but to act promptly or promptly to act. Such use as in the example just given is bad enough, but it is not so offensive as the intrusion of time adverbs and negatives as, for example, He decided to now go, or He expected to not only go but to stay, or He preferred to not stay.

Do not end a sentence with the to of an omitted infinitive; as: He could not speak but tried to; but He refused to go but he ought to go, or He ought to go but he refuses.

Subordinate infinitives and participles take their time from the verb in the principal clause. They should therefore be the simple so-called present forms. Do not say: I intended to have gone, or I intended having gone, but I intended to go, I intended going; not He had expected to have been present, but He had expected to be present; not He would have liked to have seen you; but He would have liked to see you; not I was desirous to have gone, but I was desirous to go.

With the verbs appear (in the sense of seem to be) and feel, look, smell and sound (used intransitively) use an adjective and not an adverb, i. e., The rose smells sweet; Miss Coghlan as Lady Teazle looked charming; She appeared happy. But appear in the same sense of behave is followed by an adverb, as He appears well; and the other verbs used transitively of course take an adverb, as He looked sharply at the man.

When one wishes to imply doubt or denial in a condition of present or indefinite time, the imperfect subjunctive should be used, as If the book were here, I should show you—but the book is not here; If it were true, you would long ago have heard it—but it is not true. But if one is referring to past time, the imperfect indicative must be used, as, If he was here yesterday, I did not know it.

Be careful to distinguish between lay and lie, raise and rise, set and sit. The first of each pair is transitive, and always requires an object; the second is intransitive and never takes an object. (The only exception is sit used of a[30] rider, as, He sits his horse well.) One lays or sets a thing down and raises it up. One lies or sits down and rises from one's place. Land lies this way or that. (But we speak of the lay of the land.)

Especially pains must be taken to keep straight the past tenses and past participles of lay and lie. Of lay past tense and participle are alike laid. He laid or he has laid the case before the authorities. The past tense of lie is lay (the same as the present tense of the transitive verb), the past participle is lain. These forms are seldom if ever used for parts of lay; but for them laid is very often used, as, He laid or he has laid down to take a nap, where the correct usage is He lay or he has lain down, etc.

Prices rise, wages rise, bread rises, bread is set to rise; men raise prices or wages; He rose and raised his hand. Clothing of every sort sits well or ill, it does not set. The corresponding noun, however, is set; He admired the set of the garment. You set a hen, but the hen sits and is a sitting hen. The heavenly bodies set, but that is another word, which means to sink or to settle.

Use wish to mean simple desire, as, I wish to see him. Use want to mean acute need, as, I want food.

Only moving objects collide. Two automobiles may collide, but an automobile does not collide with a fence.

Things of a general class are compared with each other to bring out points of similarity or dissimilarity. One thing is compared to another of a different class. He compared Detroit with Cleveland. He compared Detroit to a busy hive of bees.

Things occur or happen by chance and take place by design. An accident happens or occurs; a pre-arranged act takes place.

Transpire does not mean to take place but to leak out, as, They tried to keep their deliberations secret, but it transpired that * * *

Allege is used only in referring to formal charges and not as a synonym for say or assert.

[31]The past tense and past participle of forecast are forecast. Don't use forecasted.

The past tense and past participle of hang are hung, except in reference to an execution; then write, He was hanged.

The past tense and past participle of plead are pleaded and not plead or pled. Don't write, He plead guilty, but He pleaded guilty.

BARRED BY THE SUN

Newspaper men can read with profit this list of words and phrases to be avoided, compiled by Charles A. Dana for his associates on the New York Sun:

DOUBLING UP HAVE'S

Mark Twain in "A Tramp Abroad" wrote: "Harris said that if the best writer in the world once got the slovenly habit of 'doubling up his have's,' he could never get rid of it; that is to say, if a man gets the habit of saying 'I should have liked to have known more about it' instead of saying 'I should have liked to know more about it,' his disease is incurable."

[32] NOTES

[33] ADVERBS

Great liberty may be exercised in placing the adverb according to the emphasis desired. In general it should be placed near the word or phrase it modifies to express the thought most clearly. One should not say, Not only he spoke forcefully but eloquently; nor He was rather forceful than eloquent, but He was forceful rather than eloquent.

Note particularly that when the adverb is placed within the verb, it should regularly follow the first auxiliary. For example: This can truthfully be said, not This can be truthfully said; He will probably have set out by noon, not He will have probably, etc.; It has long been expected, not It has been long expected.

If the adverb is intended to modify the whole sentence, it very properly stands first, as, Decidedly, this is not true; Assuredly, he does not mean that. In such sentences the adverb really modifies some verb understood, as, I say decidedly this is not true.

Do not use this, that and some as adverbs. Never say this high, this long, that broad, that good, this much, that much, some better, some earlier. Say thus or so whenever tempted to use this or that in such connections, and use somewhat instead of some.

Do not say a man is dangerously ill; say alarmingly or critically. Never use illy; you might as well say welly.

After a negative use so in a comparison. This is as good as that, but This is not so good as that.

Say as far as, as long as, etc.; not so far as, so long as. Thus, As far as I know, this is true; As long as I stay here, you may use my book.

Use previously to, agreeably to, consistently with, etc., instead of the adjective forms, in such expressions as Previously to my arrival, he had been informed; We acted agreeably to the instructions.

Beware of only. Better not use it unless you are sure it is correctly placed. Observe the difference in the meaning here: I have only spoken to him. I have spoken only to him.

Don't use liable when you mean likely. A man is likely to park his automobile so he will be liable to arrest.

Occasionally means on occasion. So don't write very occasionally, but very seldom or infrequently.

Farther is used to denote distance; further in other senses, as, I told him further that I walked farther than he.

[34] ADJECTIVES

Be sparing in the use of epithets and of adjectives and adverbs generally. Especially avoid the use of superlatives. Superlatives are seldom true. Rarely is a man the most remarkable man in the country in any particular; rarely is an accident the worst in the history of the city. Better understate than overstate; better err on the side of moderation than excess. William Cobbett says: "Some writers deal in expletives to a degree that tires the ear and offends the understanding. With them everything is excessively, or immensely, or extremely, or vastly, or surprisingly, or wonderfully, or abundantly, or the like. The notion of such writers is that these words give strength to what they are saying. This is a great error. Strength must be found in the thought or it will never be found in the words. Big sounding words, without thoughts corresponding, are effort without effect."

Be sure to remember that nee means born. It is of course impossible then to speak of Mrs. Doe, nee Mary Roe, as one is never born with a Christian name, but Mrs. Doe, nee Roe. And, of all things when a widow has remarried, do not write Mrs. Richard Roe, nee Mrs. John Doe.

Adjectives, if wisely used, give desirable color to a story. A thesaurus will brighten up a reporter's adjectival vocabulary. These are suggestions for possible substitutions of fresh words for more or less hackneyed words:

Words like perfect and unique cannot be compared. Never write, more perfect, most perfect, most unique.

It is better to use such words as feline, bovine, canine, human as adjectives only.

[35]Healthy means possessing health, as, a healthy man. Healthful means conducive to health, as, healthful climate, surroundings, employment. Do not use healthful in speaking of food, but wholesome.

Parlous is archaic. Don't use the phrase in these parlous times. The word in good usage is perilous.

Nobody has explained the difference between actual photographs and photographs.

Awful means inspiring awe, fearful inspiring fear, and terrible inspiring terror.

The first meaning of hectic is habitual. The second meaning is fevered. It connotes heat more particularly than red.

Great care is needed in using these three words: livid, lurid and weird. Livid means primarily black and blue. It also means a grayish blue or lead color, as flesh by contusion. It doesn't mean anything else. Lurid means a pale yellow, ghastly pale, wan; figuratively it means gloomy or dismal, grimly terrible or sensational. When used in its first sense it is properly applicable to the yellow flames seen through smoke. It does not mean fiery red. In its figurative sense it can be used to describe a series of incidents calculated to shock or to stun by the enormity of them. Weird means primarily pertaining to witchcraft and is used in reference to the witches in "Macbeth." It also means unearthly, uncanny, eerie. A green light might be called weird. It must not be used to mean peculiar, as, She wore a weird hat.

YOUR AUDIENCE

Says Irvin S. Cobb: I'd rather have my work read by thousands of people throughout the country than be the author of the greatest classic that ever mouldered on a shelf.

In my opinion, the masses are worth our art. If we believe in a democratic form of government we should believe in a democratic attitude toward the art of the short story, and I, for one, frankly admit that I write for the shop girl and business man rather than for the high-brow critic. That does not mean you must necessarily choose between them, but if I had to choose I would let the critic go.

[36] NOTES

[37] PREPOSITIONS

We say a man lives on, not in, a street, an avenue, etc. Children play in the street, but on the pavement.

One writes under, not over, a signature. The preposition has no reference to the place of the signature.

Do not overwork on the part of. This phrase is often used where by or among is to be preferred, as, Much patriotism is displayed on the part of the Greeks.

Say off, not off from or off of. He fell off his horse, or He fell from his horse.

Discriminate carefully between beside and besides. The first is always a preposition and means either by the side of, as, He stood beside me, or aside from, or out of, as, This is beside our present purpose; He was beside himself for joy. Besides is either preposition or adverb: as the former it means in addition to, as Several others were present besides those you saw; as adverb it means moreover or more than that, as There were, besides, many pompous volumes.

Be careful with between and among; between is used with reference to two persons, parties or things; among with reference to many: In this city Democrats and Republicans divide the offices between them; in some cities they are distributed among all the parties.

Distinguish between in and into. Into implies action. A man goes into his house and then he is in the house.

Distinguish between consist in and consist of. Virtue consists in right living. The family consists of seven persons.

A book is illustrated with sketches and it is illustrated by the artist who made the sketches.

[38] ARTICLES

Use an article with every noun of a series unless the nouns are so closely related that one concept is implied. Say, The bread and jam was good, but The bread and the jam were good. Say, A horse and buggy, but A man and a woman.

Do not repeat an article before each adjective of a series when all modify the same noun. Say, A red, white and blue flag. If you mean three flags, say, A red, a white, and a blue flag.

Do not write a or an after sort of and kind of. Make it: He is the right sort of man for mayor.

The definite article is used too often when it might better be omitted, as in this sentence: The study of the dictionary is helpful. Write it: Study of the dictionary.

NUMBERS

The general rule on The News is that all numbers above nine shall be written in figures, and that all numbers below 10 shall be spelled out. There are, of course, many exceptions to this rule. Figures are always used for degrees of latitude and longitude, degrees of temperature, per cent, prices, racing time, scores, definite sums of money, time, votes, dates (as Sept. 27), ages, street numbers and tabulated statistics.

Use Roman numerals in writing of kings, as George V, and then without a period. Do not use Roman numerals in designating centuries. Write it fourteenth century, not XIVth century.

All ages shall be written thus: John Smith, 8 years old. Do not write it: John Smith, aged 8, or aged eight. It will be easy to remember the rule if you observe that in writing it thus: John Smith, aged 18, 48 Jones street, you are opening an opportunity for an error easily made. It may appear: John Smith, aged 184, 8 Jones street.

All ordinals are spelled out. Write it thirtieth, not 30th. Write a date: Feb. 6, not February 6th, or February sixth.

Do not use both numerals and figures spelled out in one phrase. Write it: Eight feet eleven inches. If in a phrase a number over 10 precedes a number under 10, express both in figures, thus 18 hours 4 minutes. If vice versa, express it thus: two hours eighteen minutes.

[39] ROMAN NUMERALS

[40] WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

The metric system is the system of measurement of which the meter is the fundamental unit. It was first adopted in France and is now in general use in most civilized countries except the English-speaking countries. The system is now used throughout the world for scientific measurements. Its use was legalized in the United States in 1866.

The meter, the unit of length, was intended to be one ten-millionth part of the earth's meridian quadrant and is nearly so. Its length is 39.370 inches. The unit of surface is the are, which is 100 square meters. The theoretical unit of volume is the stere, which is a cubic meter. The unit of volume for the purposes of the market is the liter, which is the volume of one kilogram of distilled water at its maximum density and is intended to be one cubic decimeter. For 10 times,[41] 100 times, 1,000 times and 10,000 times one of these units, the prefixes, deca-, hecto-, kilo- and myria- are used. For 1-10, 1-100 and 1-1,000 of the units, the prefixes deci-, centi- and milli- are used.

In this table the equivalents are measures common in the United States and are not to be confused with British measures, which in some cases vary slightly.

[42] ABBREVIATION

This is the style of The News on abbreviating the names of states and territories:

Do not use state with names of well-known cities, such as Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, etc.

Follow a firm name as the firm writes it, except in the capitalization of the, as the Ford Motor Co. Later in the story the name may appear as the Ford company. It is the J. L. Hudson Company. However, one may say, after writing the firm name, that the Hudson company will, etc.

Beware of the names of cities in other states identical with those in Michigan. Also watch for the names of cities identical with those in other states, as Portland, Me., and Portland, Ore. A few cities that should carry a state designation because there are places of the same name in Michigan are:

Do not abbreviate first names except in reproducing signatures, as, Wm. H. Taft, if Mr. Taft wrote it that way.

Abbreviate senior and junior with commas on each side, as John Jones, Jr., spoke.

Do not make Tom, Dan, Ben, Joe, etc., abbreviations unless you are sure they are. Alex Dow is written without the period.

Write S O S and similar telegraphic abbreviations, and I O U without periods.

[44]Spell out United States except in addresses or in army and navy phrases. Military and naval titles should be written thus:

Use only abbreviations that will surely be understood, such as Y. M. C. A., W. C. T. U., etc., in referring to organizations.

Abbreviate saint and saints in proper names, as St. Louis, Sault Ste. Marie, Ste. Anne's, SS. Peter and Paul's church.

Abbreviate names of political parties only thus, Smith (Rep.) defeated Jones (Dem.) for alderman.

Do not abbreviate street, avenue, boulevard, place or other designation of a thoroughfare.

Abbreviate clock time when immediately connected with figures to a. m. and p. m.

Use don't only when you may substitute do not. Perhaps you have seen the advertisement which reads: "Hand Made Tobacco Don't Bite the Tongue."

[45] NAMES AND TITLES

The one infallible way to insult a man is to misspell his name; that is an old newspaper maxim. More care should be taken with the spelling of the names in a story than with any other mechanical detail. Often a name is misspelled because a typewriter is not clean and an e or an a is mistaken for an o or a u. It is wise for the reporter to make sure these letters particularly print clearly or he may be held to account for an error. An even better way is to write a proper name in CAPS if it is at all uncommon. When the reporter writes a name such as Willson or Jonnes or Georg, a name which deviates slightly from a familiar name, it is wise to write it thus ". . . and Georg (Correct) Brandes who . . . " then the copy reader knows that the reporter has not left off a letter and the printer and proof reader also know that the word must stand as written.

All proper names should be looked up in the directory, dictionary or encyclopedia unless the reporter or copy reader is sure of the spelling. To misspell a man's name shakes that man's faith in the newspaper; leads him to believe that if the newspaper can't write his name correctly, it is likely to make other mistakes.

Never use Mr. before a man's Christian name. Give his full name and then speak of him thereafter as Mr. Blank. Do not write: Mr. John J. Blank.

Do not quote familiar nicknames, such as Billy Sunday, Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, Jim Corbett.

Do not write: Superintendent of Police Marquardt, but Supt. Marquardt, or Ernst Marquardt, superintendent of police.

Never refer to a woman, no matter how lowly her social position, as "the Smith woman." Call her Mrs. Smith or Miss Smith.

Do not use the title professor unless the person spoken of is or was a member of a college or university faculty. Because a man is a principal of a high school, a mesmerist or the trainer of sea lions, he is not for that reason entitled to call himself Prof. Blank.

Use the indefinite article, as Frank Smith, a plumber; William Jones, a barber. Use the definite article in naming persons of distinction, as William Dean Howells, the writer; Sarah Bernhardt, the actress.

The surname is written first among the Chinese. Sun Yat Sen is Dr. Sun. Li Hung Chang is Mr. Li. Chinese is a monosyllabic language and all names should be written with each syllable capitalized, but hyphens are used with geographical names, as, Yang-Tse-Kiang, Ho-Hang-Ho, except Pekin,[46] Nankin, Shanghai, Hankow and Canton. Drop unnecessary letters in Chinese names whenever possible, as Pekin(g), Yuan Shi(h) Kai, Ho(w)-Hang-Ho.

Write a man's name as he writes it. It is not A. H. Frazer; it is not Allan Frazer; but Allan H. Frazer. It is not F. H. Croul or Frank Croul, but Frank H. Croul.

Writing of a knight, be sure that you use his first name with the title Sir. He is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, not Sir Conan Doyle. Never write Sir Doyle. The wife of a knight, however, is addressed as Lady Blank, not necessarily Lady Mary Blank.

JEW AND HEBREW

The proper use of the words "Hebrew" and "Jew" has been explained by the American Jewish Committee, as follows: "Although no hard and fast rules can be laid down, the word 'Hebrew' has come to have a purely racial connotation. It refers to a race and to the language of that race. Thus we hear of a 'Hebrew Christian,' meaning a person of Hebrew descent who has been raised in or adopted the Christian religion. The word 'Jew,' although often used for denoting a member of the Hebrew race without reference to religion or nationality, has come, in the best usage, to have two restricted meanings—a national and a religious meaning. It used to mean a person who was a subject of the Kingdom of Judah, in the southern part of Palestine, and later it was also applied to those who were subjects of the northern Kingdom of Israel. Under Roman domination Palestine was called 'Judea' and its inhabitants 'Jews.' The word Jew has the same sense now among those who believe that the dispersion of the Jewish people and the fact that they possess no territory of their own has not deprived them of their character as a nation or nationality. The other meaning of 'Jew' is any one who professes the religious principles laid down in the Old Testament as interpreted in the Talmud. Thus, a Gentile who adopts the Jewish faith may be called a Jew, but may not be called a Hebrew, because he does not descend from that sub-class of the Semitic race from which the Hebrews are reputed to come. Up to the last quarter of the nineteenth century the Jews rarely applied the term 'Jew' to themselves, as it was used as a term of opprobrium and as a contemptuous epithet. The Jews preferred to call themselves 'Hebrews' or 'Israelites.' Since about 1880, however, the Jewish people have come to adopt this name more and more generally, and it has begun to lose its derogatory meaning. The word 'Jew' is always a noun, and its use as an adjective in such cases as 'Jew boy' and 'Jew peddler,' etc., is as ungrammatical as it is vulgar."

[47] NOTES

[48] CHURCH TITLES

Writing of clergymen, follow this style: the Rev. Dr. John J. Blank, Dr. Blank, the Rev. Mr. Blank. Never Rev. Blank or the Rev. Blank.

Bishops of the Catholic, Anglican or Episcopal communions use the prefix Right Reverend, abbreviated Rt. Rev.

Bishops of the Methodist church NEVER use the prefix Rt. Rev. They make no claim to apostolic succession. The usage of Methodism is to write, for example, "Bishop Theodore Somers Henderson, of the Methodist Episcopal area of Detroit."

In the Methodist church an episcopal division is denominated, Area; in the Catholic and Anglican communions, Diocese.

Under no circumstances call priests of the Roman Catholic church ministers. Call them either priests or pastors.

The denominational usage in the Methodist church is to call clergymen preachers. In the Congregational and Presbyterian churches it is in accord with denominational usage to call clergymen ministers.

Archbishops of the Catholic church carry the prefix Most Rev.; cardinals, His Eminence; as, His Eminence, James, Cardinal Gibbons.

Invariably the word Rabbi should be placed before the name of a Jewish pastor. It should be written, Rabbi Leo M. Franklin, of the Temple Beth El; never Dr. Leo M. Franklin, rabbi of the Temple Beth El.

Never use indiscriminately the prefix Dr. in the case of a clergyman. Clergymen of any denomination are not entitled to the prefix Dr. unless the degree of Doctor of Divinity has been conferred on them by some recognized college or university.

COMPOUNDS

Webster's New International Dictionary is the standard of the office on compounding words, on hyphenation and on spelling, except as the style of The News noted in this book is different.

[49] SUPERFLUOUS WORDS

Avoid awkward phrases as a man of the name of. A man named is not only better style but shorter. Do not write at the corner of State and Griswold streets, but simply at State and Griswold streets. In place of so that use either so or that. In the phrases that follow, observe that the italicized words are not needed.

Don't write general consensus of opinion. Omit the general. Consensus means a general agreement.

Don't write that he has a brilliant future before him. Futures do not lie in the past.

Don't write widow woman, true facts, old veterans, the la grippe, the hoi polloi.

Don't say possibly may or possibly might. The verb conveys the idea of possibility.

Two words may be discarded generally in the phrase whether or not. Write it: He doesn't know whether he will go.

[50] VITAL STATISTICS

In writing obituaries the reporter must use the greatest care, for it is very easy to offend the family of the subject of the obituary. Avoid the conventional euphemisms.

Marriage is a state. The ceremony is a wedding. Don't marry the man to the woman. The woman is always married to the man.

Funeral means interment. Write: Funeral services were held at the church and burial was in Evergreen Cemetery.

Do not use heart failure for heart disease. All persons die because the heart fails to beat.

Write simply, he died, and not passed away, shuffled off this mortal coil, gave up the ghost, or any similarly amateurish phrase. There is no occasion for clothing the incident of death in a panoply of words, nor should birth be written of except simply. Do not say, a little stranger was ushered into a cold world, but a child was born. In writing of vital statistics—death, birth, marriage—be content to state the facts without unnecessary embellishment. Forget about the stork, the grim reaper, Hymen and Cupid.

A DICTIONARY

Wrote Sir Clifford Allbutt: "A dictionary 'sanctions' nothing of its contents, but it enables us by consultation of its stores to compare and choose for ourselves. In using this liberty we shall neither be subservient to the prescriptions of age, nor scornful of modern freedom; in every use we shall be guided by historical growth, the example of the best authors, and our present necessities."

[51] SPELLING

Use no diphthongs when they can be avoided. Write: anesthetic, esthetic, medieval, maneuver, subpena, homeopathic.

Follow the American spelling on checks, tires, curb, pajamas, disregarding the British cheques, tyres, kerb, pyjamas.

As a general rule change -re to -er when it is the last syllable, as in theater, caliber, timber.

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

[53] NOTES

[54] 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.

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."

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.

[55]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.

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.

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.

Avoid poetic forms. Do not use amongst for among. Thither and whither have a bookish sound. Prefer the simple while to the fancy whilst.

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.

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[56] states and the nation are referred to as Mr. Justice Jones or Chief Justice White.

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

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.

[57] 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

Heart of the Business Section.—District threatened by fire. (See under control.)

Land Office Business.—What the charity bazaar did. (See pretty girls.)

Musical Circles.—What the hostess is prominent in. (See artistic interpretation.)

Undercurrent of Excitement.—Something that ran through the audience. (See tense moment.)

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."

[59] 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:

[60] 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[61] 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

"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."

[62] DATES OFTEN CALLED FOR

[63] NOTES

[64] 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

Language in writing has been held to be actionable per se which "denies to a man the possession of some such worthy quality as every man is a priori to be taken to possess"; "which tends to bring a party into public hatred or disgrace"; which "tends to degrade him in society"; which "tends to expose him to hatred, contempt or ridicule"; which "reflects on his character"; which "imputes something disgraceful to him"; which "throws contumely and odium on him"; which "tends to vilify him"; which "tends to injure his character or diminish his reputation"; which is "injurious to his social character"; which "shows him to be immoral or ridiculous"; which "induces an ill opinion of him"; which "detracts from his character as a man of good morals"; which "imputes to him a bad reputation" or "degradation of character" or "ingratitude," and "all defamatory words injurious in their nature."

Each of the following terms charged on one personally in writing or in print has been adjudged in one or more reported cases to be libelous and actionable, namely:

[65]That he was a "villain"; "liar"; "rogue"; "rascal"; "swindler"; "drunkard"; "informer"; that he was the author or the publisher of a libel or slander; that he was a "libelous journalist"; "a hypocrite, and using the cloak of religion for unworthy purposes"; "an imp of the devil"; "a miserable fellow it is impossible for a newspaper article to injure to the extent of six cents"; and "that the community can hardly despise him worse than they do now"; that he had paid money to procure an appointment to an office; that he had received money for offices; that he had been "deprived of the ordinances of the church"; that he was "thought no more of than a horsethief and a counterfeiter"; that he had infringed a patent; that he had been guilty of falsehood; of "dishonesty"; or "moral obliquity"; of "smuggling"; of "blasphemy"; of "false swearing"; that he was "insane"; that he was "fit for a lunatic asylum and unsafe to go at large"; that he had been guilty of gross misconduct in insulting females, etc. Where quotation marks are used, they indicate the exact language used in the respective publications complained of on which the suit was brought.

OBJECTIONABLE PUBLISHED CHARGES

Want of chastity (as applied to women, at all events) or adultery (charged on either man or woman); the publication of the obituary of a person known to the writer to be living; a charge that a member of Congress was a "misrepresentative" and a groveling office-seeker; that a juror agreed with another juror to rest the determination of the damages in a case upon a game of checkers; characterizing a verdict of a jury as "infamous" and charging the jurors with having done injustice to their oaths; stating in the criticism of a book that the motives of the author are dishonorable or disreputable.

The illustrations of this character might be multiplied indefinitely, but these cover the general range of libelous expressions when personally applied to an individual.

Imputing to a person the qualities of a frozen snake in the fable; heading an article in regard to a lawyer's sharp practices, "An Honest Lawyer."

The general rule is that it is libelous per se to impute to a person in his official capacity, profession, trade or business any kind of fraud, dishonesty, misconduct, incapacity or unfitness—any imputation, in fact, which would tend to prevent him deriving that pecuniary reward from a legitimate business which otherwise he would have obtained.

It has been held actionable to publish of a butcher that he used false weights; of a jeweler that he was a "cozening knave" who sold a sapphire for a diamond; of a brewer that he makes and sells unwholesome beer or uses filthy water in the malting of grain for brewing; of a tradesman that he adulterates the article he sells; of a schoolmaster that he is an "ignoramus" on the subject he pretends[66] to teach; of a clergyman that he is immoral, or "preaches lies" or is a "drunkard" or "perjurer"; of an attorney that he offered himself as a witness in order to divulge the secrets of his client, or that he "betrayed his client," or "would take a fee from both sides," or that he "deserves to be struck off the roll"; of a physician that he is an "empiric," or "mountebank," or "quack," or "vends quack medicines"; of a mechanic that he is ignorant of his trade; of a judge that he lacks capacity and has abandoned the common principles of truth; and of anyone in public office of a charge of malfeasance or want of capacity to fulfill its duties.

So also personal criticism of an author might go so far as to injure him in his business as an author and come within the rule. And so of any other occupation from which the injured person derives pecuniary benefit.

CHARGING WITH A CRIME

It is hardly necessary, except for completeness, to add that to charge a person with any crime brings the publication within the definition of libel.

If matter libelous per se is published falsely concerning a person he is presumed to have suffered loss without proving the specific amount or the manner of loss, the amount of damages being found by the jury in accordance with the circumstances of the case and various legal rules.

If the language complained of does not come within the foregoing definitions and limitations, and is not therefore libelous per se, still, if untrue, it may furnish the basis for a libel suit where it has resulted in pecuniary loss or the loss of other material advantage.

"Any false words are actionable," say the courts, "by which the party has sustained special damage."

But special damages have to be proved. That is to say, in such case, excluding general damages arising from a per se libel, the character and manner of the loss and the amount in dollars and cents must be proved, and the verdict should not exceed such amount.

A newspaper falsely publishes that a man has died of the smallpox at a certain hotel. The proprietor brings a libel suit, claiming loss of custom by way of special damage. His recovery would be limited to such special damages as he could fairly show.

Libel has been defined above as "malicious defamation," etc. But it is not generally necessary that the injured complainant should prove actual malice. If the defamatory matter complained of is false, the law presumes that the publication was malicious, unless it can be shown either that it was "privileged" by statute or otherwise, or the presumption of malice is overcome by actual proof. That is to say, if the publisher claims that, although false and not privileged, the defamatory publication was not malicious, he must prove it.

THE THREE DEFENSES

(3) To prove circumstances connected with the publication tending to show that it was not malicious, or was provoked and excused by the conduct of the complainant. This is called a defense "in mitigation of damages."

To prove that the defamatory publication complained of is true is an absolute and complete defense.

The old maxim of the English criminal law, "The greater the truth the greater the libel," frequently quoted erroneously in this connection, has no application to actions in the civil courts, and at the present time would scarcely be invoked even in any of the criminal courts of this country, except under the most extraordinary circumstances.

But it is not enough that the writer of defamatory articles himself knows that they are true, unless he is able to produce, when required, competent legal proof of their truth. What he himself has witnessed is, of course, competent evidence as far as it goes; when such proof can be strengthened by official records or other documentary proof, and by the evidence of other persons who can testify of their personal knowledge to the truth of the publications, a defense of the strongest character is presented.

But one distinction should be observed carefully, a misconception in regard to which has given rise to many libel suits that have been difficult to defend. When it is said that "the truth is a complete defense," the literal truth of the published statement is not meant; but the truth of the defamatory charge.

To illustrate: A prominent official, say a judge, during the progress of a political campaign, either in the course of an interview or of a public speech, makes the charge against a candidate for an important office that he (the candidate) obtained his naturalization papers either through perjury or subornation of perjury. A newspaper publishes the interview or the speech, giving the speaker's name and the exact language he used. If the candidate referred to should sue the newspaper for libel because of this publication, it would be no defense for the publishers to show that it was true that the speaker had said just exactly what the newspaper represented him to have said. To justify they would have to show that the defamatory charge was true, that the candidate had been guilty of perjury or subornation of perjury in obtaining his naturalization papers.

In other words, no publishers or writers can escape responsibility for defaming a man's character by showing that it was on the authority of some other individual.

The same principle applies to defamatory accusations republished from another[68] newspaper, whether the name of the newspaper from which they are copied is given or not.

PRIVILEGED PUBLICATIONS

There is a certain class of publications concerning official proceedings which, although they be defamatory in character, public policy demands that publishers should be protected in making, entirely regardless of the question whether the defamatory matter be true or false. These are termed "privileged publications" and are defined by law.

The mere fact that a paper is entitled as being in a certain suit or that its contents are sworn to does not necessarily make it a part of any "judicial, legislative or other public and official proceedings." Such proceedings must actually and legally have been instituted before it becomes entitled to the privilege.

An instance would be the publication of libelous statements taken from a complaint or affidavit that had been sworn to in a suit but before the paper had been actually introduced in the trial of the case. Here there would be no privilege.

The same would be true of an affidavit charging crime on a person which had not before the publication of it been presented to and judicially recognized by the committing or police magistrate.

Criticism is also privileged in a limited degree. Nowhere else in the world, not even in England, is so great freedom of legitimate criticism allowed and protected by law as in the United States.

The Constitution of the United States provides: "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press."

The Constitution of Michigan provides: "Every citizen may freely speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all prosecutions for libel the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, accused shall be acquitted."

But the right to criticise is general, and belongs quite as much to any other individual as to the newspaper writer, editor or publisher.

The actions of individuals are always legitimate subjects of discussion and criticism.

"In this country," says Judge Smith, of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, "every citizen has the right to call the attention of his fellow-citizens to the maladministration of public affairs or the misconduct of public servants, if his real motive in so doing is to bring about a reform of abuses or to defeat the re-election or reappointment of an incompetent officer."

[69]"No one can doubt the importance," is the language of Judge Story, "in a free government of the right to canvass the acts of public men and the tendency of public measures—to censure boldly the conduct of rulers and to scrutinize the policy and plans of government."

"God forbid that you should not be allowed to comment on the conduct of all mankind, providing you do it justly and honorably," says Baron Alderson.

Chief Justice Cockburn said: "It is of vast importance that criticism, so long as it is fair, reasonable and just, should be allowed the utmost latitude, and that the most unsparing censure of works which are fairly subject to it should not be held libelous."

CRITICISM DOES NOT EXTEND TO PERSON

But the privilege of criticism extends only to the actions or works of an individual; it does not extend to the person. In the case of an author, his works may be criticised as severely as the occasion demands. "Every man who publishes a book commits himself to the judgment of the public," says an eminent English judge; but this can not be made the excuse for personal abuse of the author himself.

The author, the artist, the architect, who produces a book, a painting or a building, is in this respect in the same position as the maker or producer of a watch, a piano or a carving-knife.

The thing produced in either case may be "criticised." But if the person who produces it is defamed, this must be defended, if at all, upon some other ground than that it is criticism.

Moreover, to justify such comment on men's actions or on the products of their hands or brains as criticism, it is essential that the acts or things so criticised should have actual existence.

For instance, a newspaper comments with great severity on certain occurrences which it publishes as the official acts of a mayor of its city. Before these strictures can be defended as criticism, it must appear that such official acts really occurred.

Again, newspaper proprietors might well be held liable for publishing a ridiculing criticism of language pretended to be quoted from the book which the critic is reviewing, but which language the author of the book had not actually used.

If the publishers who are defendants in a libel suit are unable to show that the defamatory publication is true or that it is privileged, then the injured plaintiff is entitled to a verdict in some amount. How small this sum shall be will depend upon how good a case the defendants can make out in mitigation of damages. The range of defenses that may be interposed for this purpose is very broad. The following may be enumerated as the most important:

[70](1) That the general conduct of the plaintiff gave the defendant "probable cause" for believing the charges to be true.

(3) That the publication was made in heat and passion, provoked by the acts of the plaintiff.

(4) That the charge published had been made orally in the presence of the plaintiff before publication, and he had not denied it.

(5) That the publication was made of a political antagonist in the heat of a political campaign.

(6) That as soon as the defendant discovered that he was in error he published a retraction, correction or apology.

(7) That the defamatory publication had reference not to the plaintiff, but to another person of a similar name, concerning whom the charges were true, and that readers understood this other individual to be meant.

ABSENCE OF ACTUAL MALICE

The principle underlying all the above defenses is that they tend to show an absence of actual malice. Many other circumstances, too numerous and varied to be classified, and which properly could be used in the same manner and for the same reason to reduce damages, will readily suggest themselves to every one.

The successful defense of libel suits depends largely on having clear and trustworthy proof of the facts sought to be sustained promptly at hand as soon as the suit is brought.

Any metropolitan newspaper that deserves the name finds itself compelled every day to publish matter that is defamatory in character. Otherwise there would be no journalistic records of crimes or of a large portion of the other occurrences in which the public is interested. The publisher's concern in that particular is a double one—that whatever of that nature is published in his newspaper should be true or privileged and that there should be clear proof of the truth or privilege.

Every newspaper writer frequently finds himself called upon to deal with such matter. If it is the report of a trial in court, he need have regard, so far as his report is concerned, to four points: (1) that the judicial or official proceedings have been already begun in open court; (2) that his report of the testimony, etc., or synopsis of the sworn papers is fair and impartial; (3) that he knows where he can put his hands on the official records to sustain the privilege at any time; and (4) that both sides are similarly published.

If the matter is defamatory and not privileged in any way, then the utmost care before publication with regard to the proof of its truth will be the only safeguard against libel suits.

The publication of such matter on the authority of any person's mere word,[71] however truthful, trustworthy and careful that person may be believed to be, will always be attended with danger. The statements may be entirely true, and yet the giver of the information when called upon may not be able to furnish the proof. If he is, probably he could furnish it as well before as after publication.

The only absolutely certain way for any newspaper writer to avoid all risk of this sort is for him to furnish for publication such defamatory matter only as he can sustain by his own testimony as an eye-witness, or such as he has seen the proofs of before writing the article.

The almost certain result will be to prevent the bringing of a libel suit—the first consideration in this connection. If, on the other hand, a libel suit should be brought, the writer would be able to furnish the publishers with the best means of defense, namely, proof of the truth of the publication—which is of next importance.

PRECISION, SIMPLICITY, EUPHONY

Adams Sherman Hill, professor of rhetoric at Harvard University for nearly 30 years, gives these three rules for good writing:

Precision: Of two forms of expression which may be used in the same sense, that one should be chosen which is susceptible of only one interpretation. Observance of this rule tends to give each word a meaning of its own.

Simplicity: Of two forms of expression which may be used in the same sense, the simpler should be chosen. The simpler a word or phrase, the more likely it is to be understood, and simplicity in language, like simplicity in dress or manners, belongs to the best society.

Euphony: Of two forms of expression which may be used in the same sense, that one should be chosen which is the more agreeable to the ear. It is of course wrong to give undue weight to considerations of euphony, but when no sacrifice is involved it is desirable to avoid an expression that is unusually difficult to pronounce or to substitute for an extremely disagreeable word one that is agreeable to the ear.

[72] FIRST THREE YEARS OF THE WAR

[76] NOTES

[77] INDEX

A

Abbreviations in heads, 10
rules governing, 42

about, use of, meaning approximately, 55

above statement barred, 56

academy, capitalization of, 17

Accuracy, 4-5

acts, capitalization of, 19

actual photographs barred, 35

a day preferred to per day, 54

Adjectives, capitalization of, 20
rules governing, 34

administered, use of, 30

administration, capitalization of, 17

Adverbs, rules governing, 33

advice confused with advise, 52

advise confused with advice, 52

affair, misuse of, 24

affect confused with effect, 52

afterward, spelling of, 52

Ages, writing of, 38

agreeable preferred to nice, 34

agreeably to preferred to agreeable to, 33

Agreement of verbs, 29

airplane, spelling of, 51

alarmingly preferred to dangerously, 33

Alford, Dean, quoted, 57

Allbutt, Sir Clifford, quoted, 50

allege not a synonym for say, 30

alliance, capitalization of, 19

allies, capitalization of, 19

Alliteration in heads, 10

almost preferred to most, 54

alright barred, 55

although preferred to while, 28

a. m., capitalization of, 20
use of, 38-44

amateur, meaning of, 55

ambassador, misuse of, 24

amendment, capitalization of, 19

among, misused for between, 37
preferred to amongst, 55

amongst, prefer among to, 55

Ampersand, use of, 43

anesthetic, spelling of, 51

a number of, prefer several to, 34

anxious misused for eager, 35

anybody, use masculine pronoun with, 27

A. P., leads, 7
style, 15

apiece misused for each, 27

Apostrophe, use of, 22

appear, use of, intransitively, 29

approximately preferred to about, 56

Arab, capitalization of, 20

armor, spelling of, 52

armory, capitalization of, 20

army, abbreviation of titles of, 44
capitalization of, 19
organization of, 60

Articles, in heads, 8
rules governing, 38
use of, with names, 45

artist, avoid feminine form of, 24

as far as, use of, 33
misused for that, 28
long as, use of, 33

assembly, capitalization of, 18

Associated Press, see A. P.

associations, capitalization of, 17

Asterisks, use of, 22

as yet superfluous, 49

at the corner of superfluous, 49

attorney, abbreviation of, 43

audience, meaning of, 55

au fait to be avoided, 54

[78] auger confused with augur, 52

augur confused with auger, 52

author, avoid feminine form of, 24

auto, prefer automobile to, 25

autoist, prefer motorist to, 24

automatic pistol preferred to automatic revolver, 55

automobile preferred to auto, 25

automobilist, prefer motorist to, 24

avenue, capitalization of, 20

awful, meaning of, 35

ax, spelling of, 51

axminster, capitalization of, 20

ayes and noes, spelling of, 51

B

backward, spelling of, 52

bacteria, plural of, 24

balance misused for rest, 25

Barred by the Sun, 31

base ball, spelling of, 51

basket ball, spelling of, 51

battle, capitalization of, 18

bay, capitalization of, 18

bazar, spelling of, 51

be, forms of, in heads, 9
omission of, in heads, 10

Belgians, king of, 46

Belgium, king of, misused, 46

Bennett, Arnold, quoted, 23

beside not to be misused for besides, 37

besides not to be misused for beside, 37

better half, prefer wife to, 55

between not to be misused for among, 37

Bible, capitalization of, 19

bills, capitalization of, 19

birdseye, spelling of, 51

birth, avoid euphemisms regarding, 50

birthday, capitalization of, 18

bishop, use of, 48

Bleyer, Dr. Willard G., quoted, 6

blond, spelling of, 51

body preferred to remains, 50

Bohemian, capitalization of, 20

Book sizes, 44

bought preferred to purchased, 30

boulevard, capitalization of, 20

bovine used as adjective, 34

boy scouts, capitalization of, 20

breach misused for breech, 52

Brevity, 2, 22

bridegroom preferred to groom, 25

Bromides, 57

bros., use of, 43

Budapest, spelling of, 51

building, capitalization of, 17

bureau, capitalization of, 17

burial preferred to interment, 50

Burke, Edmund, quoted, 16

but that preferred to but what, 28

but what misused for but that, 28

by, book illustrated, artist, 37

C

cabinet, capitalization of, 17

cadets, capitalization of, 20

caliber of guns, punctuation of, 22

caliber, spelling of, 52

campfire girls, capitalization of, 20

canine, use as adjective, 34

Cannery, 57

can not, spelling of, 51

cape, capitalization of, 18

capital misused for capitol, 52

Capitalization, rules governing, 17

capitol misused for capital, 52

cardinals, how referred to, 48

Carlyle, Thomas, quoted, 5

casket, prefer coffin to, 50

catalog, spelling of, 52

cello, spelling of, 52

century, use ordinal with, 38

certainly, no degrees of, 55

[79] chamber, of deputies, etc., capitalization, 18

checks, spelling of, 51

Chile, spelling of, 51

Chili, spelling of, 51

Chinese names, 45

Christmas preferred to Xmas, 18

church, capitalization of, 18
titles, 48

cigaret, spelling of, 52

circumstance, meaning of, 24

cities, abbreviation of, 42

citizens misused for persons, 24

City directory, importance of, 5

City editor, telephone to, 4

civil war, capitalization of, 18

claimant misused for clamant, 52

Clarity, 22-58

Clauses, punctuation of, 22

Cleanliness of thought, 3

Clemens, Samuel L., see Mark Twain, 31

Clock time, how to write, 44

clubs, capitalization of, 17

clue, spelling of, 51

Cobb, Irvin S., quoted, 35

Cobbett, William, quoted, 34

coffin preferred to casket, 50

Collective nouns, 25

college, capitalization of, 17

college degrees, abbreviation of, 44
capitalization of, 19

collide, only moving objects, 30

Colon, use of, 22
capitalization after, 17

color, spelling of, 52
of, 49

comatose, meaning of, 54

Commas, use of, 22

compared to, meaning of, 30

compared with, meaning of, 30

Complected preferred to complexioned, 55

Compounds, how formed, 48

consistently with preferred to consistent with, 33

condition, bad, preferred to bad shape, 55

congress, capitalization of, 18

Conjunctions, punctuation before, 22
in heads, 8
rules governing, 28

consensus of opinion, use of, 49

consist in misused for consist of, 37

consist of misused for consist in, 37

constitution, capitalization of, 20

consul, confused with ambassador, etc., 24
confused with counsel, 52

consummated, when to avoid, 50

convict, prefer inmate to, 59

cop barred, 54

Copy, reading, 6
preparation of, 7

Corrections, making, 1

council confused with counsel, 52

council chamber, capitalization of, 20

councilor confused with counselor, 52

counsel confused with council, 52

counselor confused with councilor, 52

county, capitalization of, 18

coup de grace, use of, 54

coup d'etat, use of, 54

couple, misuse of, 24

courthouse, capitalization of, 20

courts, capitalization of, 17

Creed, journalist's, 25

critically preferred to dangerously, 33

crown prince, capitalization of, 17

Cupid, avoid use of, 50

[80] curb, spelling of, 51

Curiosity, 4

Cuttlefish, 7

czar, capitalization of, 17

D

damaged, inanimate things are, 30

Dana, Charles A., quoted, 31, 55

dancer, avoid feminine form of, 24

dangerously, prefer alarmingly to, 33

Dangling participle, 11

Darwinian theory, 55

Dash in heads, 10

data, number of, 24

Date lines, punctuation and capitalization of, 22

Dates, how to write, 38
often called for, 62

day, capitalization of, 18

dealt, use of, 30

death, write simply of, 50

decalog, spelling of, 52

deceased, prefer dead man to, 50

declaration of independence, capitalization of, 18

decollete, spelling of, 51

decoration day, capitalization of, 18

Definite article misused, 38

defunct, avoid use of, 50

degree of temperature, use figures for, 38
abbreviation of, 44
capitalization of, 19

deity, capitalization of names and pronouns used for, 19

democrat, -ic, capitalization of, 18

denial, use of subjunctive to imply, 29

Department head, 8
capitalization of, 17

departs, prefer leaves to, 30

depositary confused with depository, 52

depot, prefer station to, 25
capitalization of, 20

de riguer to be avoided, 54

Derivatives, capitalization of, 20

Dialect, 14

dialog, spelling of, 52

dick to be avoided, 55

Diction, 14

Dictionary, get interested in, 16
sanctions nothing, 50

different, when superfluous, 49

different from, preferred to different to, 37

Dimensions, how to write, 38

dip to be avoided, 55

dispatch, spelling of, 51

distance of superfluous, 49

dive, past tense of, 30

dived preferred to dove, 30

divine to be avoided as noun, 24

Do and don't, 54

dominion day, capitalization of, 18

don't, use of, 44

Double meaning in heads, 10

Doubling up have's, 31

dove, prefer dived to, 30

Dr., use of, 48

draft, spelling of, 51

drouth, spelling of, 51

duke, capitalization of, 17

Duke of Argyll, quoted, 22

duma, capitalization of, 18
spelling of, 51

E

each, preferred to apiece, 27
use masculine pronoun with, 27

eager preferred to anxious, 35

East, -ern, -erner, capitalization of, 18

Editing copy, 6

Editorial head, 8

effect confused with affect, 52

E. G., use of, 44

[81] either, use of, 27

emigrant confused with immigrant, 52

Emperor, capitalization of, 17

employe, spelling of, 51

Ending a sentence with to, 29

End-mark, use of, 7

English money, abbreviation of, 44

entente, capitalization of, 19

enthuse to be avoided, 30

entirely completed, use of, 49

envoy, use of, 24

Epithets, capitalization of, 19

equally well, use of, 49

Errors in grammar, 11

Eskimo, spelling of, 51

esthetic, spelling of, 51

et al., use of, 54

Ethics of the profession, 5

Euphony, 71

event, use of, 24

Events, names of notable, capitalization of, 18

every, use masculine pronoun with, 27

ex-, use of, 17

Exception proves the rule, 55

F

facsimile, use of, 51

Facts, 2, 4, 8

faker misused for fakir, 52

fakir misused for faker, 52

farther distinguished from further, 33

favor, spelling of, 52

fearful, meaning of, 35

Feature heads, 8

feel, use of, intransitively, 29

feline misused as a noun, 34

Feminine forms of words, 24

fiance and fiancee, use of, 54

Fictitious names, capitalization of, 19

Figures, beginning a story, 7
rules governing, 38
punctuation of, 22

Filipino, spelling of, 51

Fine writing, 4, 14

Firm names, use of, 42

first of series, writing of, 55

First three years of the war, 72–74

flag, capitalization of, 19

Flaubert, Camille, quoted, 61

floral offerings, use of, 50

flowers, use of, 50

follow copy, use of phrase, 7

foot ball, spelling of, 51

Force, 58

forecast, past tense of, 31

forecasted, prefer forecast to, 31

foregoing statement, use of, 56

Foreign phrases, 2, 14, 54

former, capitalization of, 17

fort, abbreviation of, 42

forward, spelling of, 52

Fourth of July, capitalization of, 18

Fr., use of, 48

frisk, misuse of, 55

from misused with diseases, 37
when to omit, 37

Front page paper, 2

funeral, terms referring to, 50

further distinguished from farther, 33

future before him, phrase to avoid, 49

G

gaiety, spelling of, 51

gaily, spelling of, 51

Game, newspaper work as a, 3

garden, capitalization of, 18

gat, misuse of, 55

gatling, capitalization of, 20

gentleman, use of, 25

Geographical terms, capitalization of, 18

[82] Girls, protection of good name of, 54

goodby, spelling of, 51

government, capitalization of, 17

governor, capitalization of, 17

Grace, 58

Grammar, 11
bad, not funny, 14

Grievance, treatment of reader with a, 2

grim reaper to be avoided, 50

groom misused for bridegroom, 25

guarantee misused for guaranty, 51

guillotine, capitalization of, 20

grows smaller, misuse of, 55

gun, misuse of, 55

H

Hackneyed phrases, 57

hall, capitalization of, 17

Handles, name, 45

hang, past tense of, 31

hanged, use of, 31

happen, use of, 30

happening, use of, 24

Heads, 8

heart disease, use of, 50
failure, use of, 50

Hebrew, rules governing use of, 46

he or she, avoid, 27

healthful, use of, 35

healthy, use of, 35

Herculean, capitalization of, 20

high noon, avoid, 49

high school, capitalization of, 19

highway, capitalization of, 20

Hill, Adams Sherman, quoted, 71

Hindu, spelling of, 51

his or her, avoid, 27

hoard confused with horde, 52

hoi polloi, use of, without article, 49

holidays, capitalization of, 18

holy names, places, events, etc., capitalization of, 19

home preferred to residence, 25

homeopathic, spelling of, 51

horde confused with hoard, 52

hospital, capitalization of, 17

hotel, capitalization of, 17

house, of representatives, etc., capitalization of, 18
Hull, Palmer, etc., capitalization of, 17
preferred to residence, 25

Howells, William Dean, quoted, 14

human used as adjective, 34

hung, use of, 31

Hymen, avoid use of, 50

Hyphens, use of, 22

I

I, when barred, 27

-ics, nouns ending in, 24

i. e., use of, 44

if misused for whether, 28

Illustration head, 8

illy, never use, 33

immigrant confused with emigrant, 52

immoral confused with unmoral, 52

Impersonal viewpoint, 5

in a street, prefer on a street to, 37

incident, meaning of, 24

Indefinite figures, 38

Indentions, 7

india rubber, capitalization of, 20

in distinguished from into, 37

Infinitives, split, 29
time of, 29

injured, inanimate things not, 30

inmate preferred to convict, 59

in order to, avoid use of, 49

insanitary misused for unsanitary, 52

Institutions, Michigan, 59

Instructions, to reporters, 4
to copy readers, 6

Interlining, 7

interment, use of, 50

[83] Interrogation point, use of, 22

into distinguished from in, 37

invited guest, misuse of, 49

I O U written without periods, 43

island, capitalization of, 18

isthmus, capitalization of, 18

item used for story, 55

its distinguished from it's, 27

J

Jew, use of, 46

Journalist's creed, 25

judge, capitalization of, 17
distinguished from justice, 55

junior, abbreviation of, 43
capitalization of, 18

justice, capitalization of, 17
distinguished from judge, 55
of supreme court, 56

K

kaiser, capitalization of, 17

Khartum, spelling of, 51

kiddies, avoid use of, 54

kidnaped, spelling of, 51

kids, use of, 54

kind of not followed by article, 38

king, capitalization of, 17
with Roman numerals, 38

knight, use of title of, 46

Knight Templar, plural of, 52

Korea, spelling of, 51

L

Labor Day, capitalization of, 18

lady, use of, 25

la grippe, omit article with, 49

lane, capitalization of, 20

late, the, use of, 50

latitude, use figures to express, 38

Law of libel, 3, 64-71

laws, capitalization of, 19

lay, use of, 29-30

Leaders, use of, 22

Leads, 7
A. P., 15

leaves preferred to departs, 30

legislative bodies, capitalization of, 18

legislature, capitalization, 18

Leipzig, spelling of, 51

lend preferred to loan, 30

lengthy, prefer long to, 34

lessen confused with lesson, 52

Libel laws, 3, 64-71

liable misused for likely, 33

Liberal, capitalization of, 18

lie, use of, 29-30

lieutenant-governor, capitalization of, 17

like misused as conjunction, 28

likely preferred to liable, 33

live at hotel preferred to stop at hotel, 30

lives preferred to reside, 30

livid, use of, 35

loan, prefer lend to, 30

localities, capitalization of names of, 18

long preferred to lengthy, 34

Longfellow, Henry W., quoted, 11

longitude, use figures with, 38

long way, spelling of, 52

look, use of, intransitively, 29

lurid, use of, 35

M

M in heads, 9

macadam, capitalization of, 20

Macaulay, Thomas Babington, quoted, 51

maize confused with maze, 52

majority, meaning of, 24

man preferred to gentleman, 25

maneuver, spelling of, 51

[84] many preferred to a number of, 34

Margins, 7

marriage confused with wedding, 50

master to be avoided, 45

may in heads, 10

mayor, capitalization of, 17

maze confused with maize, 52

medieval, spelling of, 51

memoranda, number of, 24

Metric system, 40-41

Metier, learning the, 6

Mich., use of, 43

Michigan Institutions, 59

middle west, capitalization of, 18

Military titles, punctuation of, 19
capitalization of, 19
abbreviation of, 44

minister, diplomatic, 24
of gospel, 48

miraculous escape, avoid use of, 56

Misspelled names, 45

Mohammed, spelling of, 51

Money, sums of, 24
how written, 38
English, abbreviation of, 44

months, abbreviation of, 44

more certain to be avoided, 55

most misused for almost, 54

Most Rev., use of, 48

motor car preferred to auto, 25

motorist preferred to autoist, 24

mount, abbreviation of, 42

murder not always barred, 54

Mrs. Judge, use of, barred, 45

N

Names, abbreviation of, 43
connected, capitalization of, 20
holy, capitalization of, 19
of railroads, 52
rules governing use of, 45
rules governing capitalization of, 17

nationalities, capitalization of, 19

navy, abbreviation of titles of, 44
capitalization of, 19
organization of, 60

nearby, spelling of, 51

nee, use of, 34

Negatives in heads, 10

neither, use of, 27

Newburgh, spelling of, 52

new recruit to be avoided, 49

News, aim of, The, 1
capitalization of The, 19

Newspapers, capitalization, of names of, 19

New Year's, capitalization of, 18

New York Sun, words barred by the, 31

nice, prefer agreeable to, 34

Nicknames, use of, 45
capitalization of, 19

No., use of, 43

nobody preferred to not anybody, 27

no one preferred to not any one, 27

nom de guerre in good usage, 54

nom de plume to be avoided, 54

north, -ern, -erner, capitalization of, 18

Nouns, rules governing, 24

novice, meaning of, 55

Numbers, rules governing, 38
punctuation of, 22
street, 22, 38

O

O, use of, 55

obsequies to be avoided, 50

Observation, 23

obtain preferred to secure, 30

occasionally, use of, 33

occur, use of, 30

occurrence, meaning of, 24

ocean, capitalization of, 18

[85] off from, prefer off to, 37

off of, prefer off to, 37

off, use of, 37

of when used with diseases, 37

oh, use of, 55

O. K., use of, 20

old adage to be avoided, 49

Old Glory, capitalization of, 19

old veterans to be avoided, 49

on a street preferred to in a street, 37

on the part of to be avoided, 37

only, beware of, 33

Ordinals, 38

orient, capitalization of, 17

oriental, capitalization of, 20

Originality, 61

Oslerian theory, 55

over a signature to be avoided, 37

Overscore n, 7

P

pajamas, spelling of, 51

Panamans, spelling of, 52

pants, prefer trousers to, 55

painfully, when to avoid, 33

paraphernalia, number of, 24

parcel post, spelling of, 51

paris green, capitalization of, 20

park, capitalization of, 18

parliament, capitalization of, 18

parlor, capitalization of, 18

parlous, prefer perilous to, 35

Participial construction, 24

Participle, dangling, 11

Particles, capitalization of, in foreign names, 20

parties, political, capitalization of, 18
political, abbreviation of, 44

partly completed to be avoided, 49

party misused for person, 24

Paste sheets, do not, 7

pasteurize, capitalization of, 20

pen name preferred to nom de plume, 54

people misused for persons, 24

per, use of, 54

per cent, use of, 38, 54

per day, prefer a day to, 54

perilous preferred to parlous, 35

Period, use of, 22
ring, 7

periodicals, capitalization, of names of, 19

person preferred to party, 24

phenomena, number of, 24

philistine, capitalization of, 20

philippic, capitalization of, 20

phone, prefer telephone to, 25

Phrases, holy, capitalization of, 19

pianist, avoid feminine form of, 24

Pictorial power of words, 16

pistol confused with revolver, 55

Pittsburgh, spelling of, 52

place, capitalization of, 20

platonic, capitalization of, 20

plead, past tense of, 31

pleaded preferred to pled, 31

pled, prefer pleaded to, 31

plow, spelling of, 51

plurality, meaning of, 24

p. m., use of, 38, 44
capitalization of, 20

poet, avoid feminine form of, 24

Poisons, use of names of, 54

pole, capitalization of, 18

police court, capitalization of, 20

policeman preferred to cop, 54

poorhouse, capitalization of, 20

port, abbreviation of, 42

Porto Rico, spelling of, 51

possibly, redundant with may, 49

Post, New York Evening, quoted, 58

postoffice, capitalization of, 20

preachers, use of, 48

[86] precinct, capitalization of, 18

Precision, 71

Preparing copy, 7

Prepositions in heads, 8
rules governing, 37

present incumbent to be avoided, 49

present tense, heads in, 8, 10

president, abbreviation of, 8
capitalization of, 17

preventative, prefer preventive to, 24

previously to preferred to previous to, 33

Prices written in figures, 38

priest, use of, 48

princes, capitalization of, 17

principal confused with principle, 52

Prison record, do not print, 59

procure preferred to secure, 30

Profanity, use of, 3

professor, use of, 45

program, spelling of, 52

progressive, capitalization of, 18

prone, meaning of, 54

Pronouns, rules governing, 27

Proper nouns and derivatives, capitalization of, 20

prophecy confused with prophesy, 52

proportion preferred to per cent, 24

proven, prefer proved to, 30

pseudonym preferred to nom de plume, 54

Punctuation, in heads, 10
inside quotation marks, 23
rules governing, 22

purchased, prefer bought to, 30

Q

Question mark, use of, 2

Quotation marks, in heads, 10
use of, 23

Quotations misapplied, 55
verify, 56

R

rabbi, use of, 48

racing time written in figures, 38

races, capitalization of, 19

raise, use of, 29, 30

Reading copy, 6

recorder, definition of, 55

reformation, capitalization of, 18

regular monthly meeting to be avoided, 49

reichstag, capitalization of, 18

relieved of, prefer robbed of to, 30

religious denominations, capitalization of, 18

remains, prefer body to, 18

render to be avoided, 55

repertory, spelling of, 51

Reporters, instructions to, 4
kept out of story, 54

republican, capitalization of, 18

Reputation, woman's, 3

residence, prefer home to, 25

rest preferred to balance, 25

resides, prefer lives to, 30

Rev., use of, 48

revolution, capitalization of, 18

revolver misused for pistol, 55

rise, use of, 29, 30

river, capitalization of, 18

road, capitalization of, 20

robbed of preferred to relieved of, 20

Roman numerals, use of, 38
table of, 39

room, capitalization of, 18

Ross, Charles G., quoted, 6, 8

S

sable hearse to be avoided, 50

sad rites to be avoided, 50

saint, abbreviation of, 44

same, the, use of, 27

[87] Savior, spelling of, 52

Scores written in figures, 38

Scriptural texts, how to write, 44

sear confused with sere, 52

seasons, capitalization of, 20

sections of states, etc., capitalization of, 18

secure, prefer obtain to, 30

seer confused with sear, 52

Semicolons, use of, 22

senate, capitalization of, 18

senior, abbreviation of, 43
capitalization of, 18

sere confused with seer, 52

set, use of, 29, 30

several preferred to a number of, 34

sewage, meaning of, 24

sewer, meaning of, 24

sewerage, meaning of, 24

Shakespeare, spelling of, 51

Shakespearean, spelling of, 51

shape, prefer condition to, 55

ship body to be avoided, 50

sight confused with site, 52

signature, write under a, 37

sine qua non to be avoided, 54

sit, use of, 29, 30

site confused with sight, 52

skilful, spelling of, 51

Simplicity, 2, 4, 5, 11, 71

Sincerity, 5

Slang, use of, 55
punctuation of, 23

smell, use of, intransitively, 29

socialist, -ic, capitalization of, 18

societies, capitalization of, 17

socratic, capitalization of, 20

so far as to be avoided, 33

so followed by negative, 33

solemn black to be avoided, 50

so long as, use of, 33

some, barred as adverb, 33
prefer somewhat to, 33

somebody, use masculine pronoun with, 27

somewhat preferred to some, 33

sort of, omit article after, 38

S O S, punctuation of, 43

so that to be avoided, 49

sound, use of, intransitively, 29

Sources of information, 4

south, -ern, -erner, capitalization of, 18

Space, triple, 7

spectators, meaning of, 55

Spelling, 51

Split infinitives, 29

square, capitalization of, 18

Stars and Bars, capitalization of, 19

Stars and Stripes, capitalization of, 19

States, abbreviations of, 42

station, preferred to depot, 25
capitalization of, 20

Statistics, use figures in, 38
vital, 50

Stevenson, Robert Louis, quoted, 6

stocks, capitalization of names of, 19

stop at hotel to be avoided, 30

stork, avoid reference to, 50

story, prefer item to, 55

street, capitalization of, 20

strata, number of, 24

street numbers, writing of, 38
punctuation of, 22

sturm und drang to be avoided, 54

subpena, spelling of, 51

Subjunctive, use of, 29

such, use of, as pronoun, 27

suffraget, spelling of, 52

suicide, when to use, 54

sultan, capitalization of, 17

Sun, the New York, words barred by, 31

Superfluous words, 49

Superlatives to be avoided, 34

[88] supine, meaning of, 54

supreme court, capitalization of, 17

Synonyms, search for, 16
in heads, 8
misuse of, 14

T

take place, use of, 30

technic, spelling of, 51

telephone preferred to phone, 25

temperature, how to write, 38

terrace, capitalization of, 20

terrible, meaning of, 35

testimony, punctuation of, 23

Thanksgiving Day, capitalization of, 18

that, barred as adverb, 33
preferred to as, 28
use of, 28

the, capitalization of, 17

theater, capitalization of, 17
spelling of, 52

Thesaurus, use of, 58

these sort misused, 27

things, names of notable, capitalization of, 18

this barred as adverb, 33

thither to be avoided, 55

Three rules, 22

Tibet, spelling of, 51

timber, spelling of, 52

Time, how to write, 38

tires, spelling of, 51

Titles, capitalization of, 17
church, 49
punctuation of, 19
rules governing, 45

to, different, barred, 37
in infinitives, 29
things compared, 30

today, spelling of, 51

toga, misuse of, 55

Tolstoy, spelling of, 51

tomorrow, spelling of, 51

tory, capitalization of, 18

totally destroyed to be avoided, 49

tots to be avoided, 54

toward, spelling of, 52

trade unions, plural of, 51

transpire, meaning of, 30

treaties, capitalization of, 19

triple entente, etc., capitalization of, 19

Trite phrases, 58

trousers preferred to pants, 55

true facts to be avoided, 49

Truth, 2, 5, 14

Turgenieff, spelling of, 51

turn over preferred to turn turtle, 30

Twain, Mark, quoted, 31

tying, spelling of, 51

U

under a signature preferred, 37

Underscore u, 7

union, -ist, capitalization of, 18

Union Jack, capitalization of, 19

Unit lines in heads, 9

university, capitalization of, 19

unless preferred to without, 28

unmoral confused with immoral 52

unsanitary confused with insanitary, 52

Untruth, 2

upper peninsula, etc., capitalization of, 18

utopia, capitalization of, 20

V

varsity, punctuation of, 52

Verbs, in heads, 9
rules governing, 29

very, eschew the word, 34

Very Rev., use of, 48

vice-president, capitalization of, 17

viceroy, capitalization of, 17

violinist, avoid feminine form of, 24

[89] Vital statistics, 50

viz., use of, 44

Vocabulary, broaden the, 16

votes, use figures for, 38

vilify, spelling of, 51

vying, spelling of, 51

W

want preferred to wish, 30

War, first three years of, 72-74

ward, capitalization of, 18

war, capitalization of, 18

W in heads, 9

wages, number of, 55

way, capitalization of, 20

Way to become original, 61

we, editorial, use of, 55

Webster, Edward Harlan, quoted, 16

Webster's dictionary, 48

wedding confused with marriage, 50

Weights and measures, 40

weird, use of, 35

well known, use of, 49

west, -ern, -erner, capitalization of, 18

whether, or not, 49
preferred to if, 28

while misused for although, 28
preferred to whilst, 55

whilst to be avoided, 55

whisky, spelling of, 51

White House, capitalization of, 20

whither to be avoided, 55

Whitman, Walt, quoted, 4

wholesome preferred to healthful, 35

who, use of, 28

whom, use of, 27

widow, use of, 50

widow woman to be avoided, 49

wife, use of, 50, 55

Wilkes-Barre, spelling of, 51

Williams, Walter, quoted, 25

wish preferred to want, 30

with, book illustrated, sketches, 37
things compared, 30

without misused for unless, 28

woman preferred to lady, 25

Women, protection of good name of, 54

Words, pictorial power of, 16
superfluous, 49

woolly, spelling of, 51

world series, spelling of, 51

X

Xmas, prefer Christmas to, 44

Y

years, punctuation of, 22

Your audience, 35

Founded by James Edmund Scripps	August 23, 1873
Absorbed the subscription lists of the Detroit Daily Union	July 27, 1876
Established a Sunday edition	Nov. 30, 1884
Sunday News and Sunday Tribune combined as Sunday News-Tribune	October 15, 1893
Daily Tribune merged with The News and discontinued	February 1, 1915
Ground broken for present building	November, 1915
Sunday News-Tribune became The Sunday News	October 14, 1917
The News entered new building	October 15, 1917

President	}
Vice-President	}
Cabinet	}	of the United States.
Government	}
Administration	}
Supreme Court	}
Governor (of Michigan).
Lieutenant-Governor (of Michigan).
Mayor (of Detroit).
Supreme Court (of Michigan).
Judges and Justices of all courts of record.
The names of all courts of record.
King, Emperor, Czar, Kaiser, Sultan, Viceroy, etc.
The Crown Prince.
The Duke of Blank.
The Prince of Dash.

I	1	XIX	19	CL	150
II	2	XX	20	CC	200
III	3	XXX	30	CCC	300
IV	4	XL	40	CCCC	400
V	5	L	50	D	500
VI	6	LX	60	DC	600
VII	7	LXX	70	DCC	700
VIII	8	LXXX	80	DCCC	800
IX	9	XC	90	DCCCC	900
X	10	C	100	M	1,000

1 myriameter	5.4 nautical miles or 6.21 statute miles.
1 kilometer	0.621 statute mile or nearly 5/8 mile.
1 hectometer	109.4 yards.
1 decameter	1.988 rods.
1 meter	39.37 inches or about 1 yard 3 inches.
1 decimeter	3.937 inches.
1 centimeter	0.3937 inch.
1 millimeter	0.03937 inch.
1 hectare	2.471 acres.
1 are	119.6 square yards.
1 centiare (square meter)	10.764 square feet.
1 decastere	13 cubic yards or about 2¾ cords.
1 stere (cubic meter)	1.308 cubic yards or 35.3 cubic feet.
1 decistere	3½ cubic feet.
1 hectoliter	26.4 gallons.
1 decaliter	Little more than 2 gallons 5 pints.
1 liter	1 quart 1/2 gill.
1 deciliter	0.845 gill.
1 millier	2,204.6 pounds avoirdupois.
1 kilogram	Little more than 2 pounds 3 ounces.
1 hectogram	Little more than 3 ounces 8 drams.
1 decagram	154.32 grains troy.
1 gram	15.43234 grains.
1 decigram	1.543234 grains.
1 centigram	0.154323 grains.
1 milligram	0.015432 grains.

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	Pittsburgh, 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.

The Aim of The Detroit News	1
Instructions to Reporters	4
Instructions to Copy Readers	6
Preparing Copy	7
Leads	7
Heads	8
Diction	14
A. P. Style	15
Capitalization	17
Punctuation	22
Quotations	23
Nouns	24
Pronouns	27
Conjunctions	28
Verbs	29
Adverbs	33
Adjectives	34
Prepositions	37
Articles	38
Numbers	38
Roman Numerals	39
Weights and Measures	40
Abbreviation	42
Names and Titles	45
Jew and Hebrew	46
Church Titles	48
Compounds	48
Superfluous Words	49
Vital Statistics	50
Spelling	51
Popular Names of Railroads	52
Do and Don't	54
The Cannery	57
Michigan Institutions	59
Army and Navy Organization	60
Dates Often Called For	62
The Law of Libel	64
First Three Years of the War	72
Index	77

The Style Book of the Detroit News

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