WRITING FOR THE PRESS A MANUAL FOR Editors, Reporters, Correspondents, and Printers THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED BY ROBERT LUCE BOSTON : THE WRITER PUBLISHING COMPANY 1889 COPYRIGHT, 1886, 1888 and 1889, By. ROBERT LUCE. Geo. B. King, Printer, 105 Summer St., Boston. PHI Jftf " Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar" SHAKESPEARE. " Of all those arts in which the wise excel, JVature's chief masterpiece is writing well.' 1 '' SHEFFIELD, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. " True ease in writing comes from art, not chance. As those move easiest who have learned to dance" POPE. " The more general the terms are, the picture is the fainter; the more special -they are, the brighter." CAMPBELL. " If men would only say what they have to say in plain terms, how much more eloquent they would be ! " COLERIDGE. " One of the greatest of all faults in speaking and writing is this : the using of many words to say little" COBBETT. "Accuracy of expression is the most essential element of a good style; and inaccurate "writing is generally the expression of inaccurate thinking" RICHARD GRANT WHITE. " And if in no other way, vet, as facilitating revision, a knowledge of the thing to be achieved a clear idea of what constitutes a beauty, and what a blemish cannot fail to be of service." HERBERT SPENCER. " When a short word will do, you always lose by using a long one. You lose in clearness: you lose in honest expression of your meaning; and, in the estiniatic-n of all men who are qualified to judge, you lose in reputation for ability" DEAN ALFORD. 360150 WRITING FOR THE PRESS. PRINTER'S COPY. 1. Paper from eight to ten inches long, and from five to six inches wide, is the most convenient for everybody concerned in writing for the press. Avoid paper of letter size, and never use a foolscap sheet. Should only folded paper be at hand, tear or cut it into single sheets. 2. Writers for the press use colored paper when they can get it, as it is better for the eyes of writer, editor, compositor, and proof-reader. The usual colors are yellow, orange, or brown, in light shades. If you cannot get it from a stationer, order it through a printer, or get it at a paper warehouse, and have it cut to the desired size. Ordinary wrapping paper is not bad for copy. 3. Many writers prefer unruled paper, and there is no objection to its use for copy, provided the lines are written far enough apart. Close writing is objectionable, and it is better to err in the other direction. Writing for the Press. 4. Use a pen whenever possible, and in these days of stylo- graphic and fountain pens it is generally possible. Do not use a pencil with hard lead on white or any calendered paper. An automatic pencil with colored or soft black lead is the best- thing to use in editing copy, but do not use it with black lead on yellow paper. Editors and printers detest copy written with a very fine pen or with pale ink. Throw pale ink away. 5. Never write on both sides of the sheet. 6. Leave a margin of half an inch at both top and bottom of each page, for convenience in pasting. The side margins are not of so much consequence, but they make the page look better and are often useful to the editor. 7. Do not fasten the sheets of a manuscript together in any way. Pins betray the novice. 8. Number each page at the top, either in the middle or at the right-hand corner. Draw a quarter circle or two straight lines under the number. If new pages are inserted in the middle of an article, say after Page 9, number. them 9 A, 96, gC, etc. If pages are taken out, say from 10 to 14 inclusive, number the ninth page "9-14," or the fifteenth page, " 10-15." It is a common and often useful practise to choose arbitrarily some letter and put it after every page number in any one article ; for instance, if the Providence correspondent of a Boston paper numbers his Sunday letter pages, " ix, 2x, 3X," etc., confusion will be avoided if the pages should happen to get mixed up with those of the Portland correspondent who has Writing for the Press. numbered his, "iz, 2z, 3z," etc. Some story writers number each chapter by itself, a bad practice, but one that can be tolerated if to the sheets of each chapter are also given a letter in common, to distinguish them from the sheets of other chapters. 9. Write legibly. By writing illegibly you always do an injury to the editor, the compositor, and the proof-reader, and often do one to yourself. Be especially careful with foreign and other unusual words. The capitals, / and J, are often con- founded ; so are the small letters r, n, u, v, zv, and m. 10. If in reading your own copy or editing another's you find single letters or words that are illegible, write others plainly above them. It is needless to erase and replace them. 11. Be particular to write the names of persons plainly, and above all spell them correctly. Nothing gives the editor, the compositor, and the proof-reader more annoyance than careless- ness in this respect. If a name is worth printing at all, it is worth printing right. 12. Reporters and others who must write swiftly often find it of advantage to have acquired the habit of writing without taking the pen from the paper, except to dot "i's" and put in punctuation marks. The connecting of words by long pen strokes makes copy hardly less legible, and certainly saves much time. Of course when time permits it is better to make the words wholly distinct. The wise writer will make a study of penmanship with an eye to speed One hint may be given : Learn to write the letter "t" without making a separate stroke to cross it. Writing for the Press. 13. To save time, "and " may be written & with a semi-circle after and half enclosing it, In general, curves or, better, full circles round abbreviations indicate that they are to be spelled out ; e. g., Col. encircled will be printed Colonel; N. K, New York ; 9, nine. Vice versa, a circle round a word means that it is to be abbreviated ; e. g., Massachusetts encircled will be printed Mass.; nine, g. 14. The practice of abbreviating in copy can of course be carried too far, but it is safe to abbreviate most titles, many given names, the names of days and months, and to use easily understood contractions like "com^," "eve.," "Dem.," "Rep.," with curves like parentheses tipped over, above and below the last letter. 15. Make frequent paragraphs and always put the paragraph mark, IF, before every one ; it is advisable also to put the mark after every one. In many newspaper offices the compositor is supposed never to put a paragraph where it is not marked. In editing your own or another's copy, you can make a paragraph where you choose by inserting the mark. Copy looks better and is more legible when the paragraphs are begun at some distance in from the edge of the sheet. 1 6. Avoid ending a paragraph with the first or second line on a page ; that bothers and vexes the compositor. Rather compress the writing at the bottom of one page than carry a few words over to the next. Writing for the Press 17. When the last word on a page ends a sentence and does not end a paragraph, follow it with a large caret. When you have made a break in the middle of a page, and afterward decide not to have any IT, elide it, put a caret after the last word before the break, and another before the first word after the break. The same idea may be conveyed by a curving line connecting the last word before and the first word after the break. 1 8. In cancelling, be careful to show clearly where the cancel- lation begins and where it ends. Not only make the cancelling lines distinct, but if the cancellation comes in the middle of a paragraph, put a caret before and another after it, or connect the last word before and the first word after it with a heavy curving line. If you regret a cancellation before the sheet leaves your hands, you may save the trouble of re-writing by putting in the margin the word stet (Latin for " let it stand ") ; the better way when time allows is to re-write the cancelled passage. If only a few words have been cancelled, in addition to the marginal " stet" make a dotted line under the cancelled words. 19. If in editing your own or another's copy you wish to elide a letter, draw an oblique line through it downward from right to left. If you wish to change a capital to a small letter, draw an oblique line through it downward from left to right. If you wish to change a small letter to a capital, draw three lines under it. One line under words means that they are to be printed in italics; two lines, SMALL CAPS; three lines, FULL CAPS. 20. Begin every sentence with a capital letter. If it is not clear that the letter as written is a capital, draw three lines under i o Writing for the Press. J it. When you cancel the first few words of a sentence, or when you break a sentence in two, draw three lines under the first letter of the first uncancelled word, or the first word of the new sentence, and thus save the time and trouble of writing a capital over the small letter. 21. Avoid division of words at the end of lines. In cutting "copy" into "takes" in the composing-room, divided words often make trouble. A good compositor studies to avoid divisions. Never divide a word at the end of a page. 22. For the sake of clearness accustom yourself to encircle every period that ends a sentence. After a little practise you will do this almost involuntarily. It often saves editor and compositor much trouble. Some writers prefer the short-hand period, a small cross with the right-hand points joined so that it can be made without lifting the pen from the paper. Clearly distinguish colons from semi-colons. 23. In adding more than a few words to copy, it is far better to cut the sheet and paste in the new lines than to interline or to write the additions on the margin. It is not necessary that the sheets shall be all the same length, though of course that makes the manuscript more presentable. When a leaf has been lengthened by pasting, you may, for the sake of convenience, fold the lower edge forward upon the writing; if it is folded backward, it may escape notice and to insert it may afterward cause much trouble. 24. In writing a foot-note, let it immediately follow the line of text that contains the asterisk, or other reference mark, and Writing for the Press. do not write it at the bottom of the manuscript page. He who makes up the matter will transfer such note to its proper place. 25. A proof of any cut to be used in illustrating an article should be pasted as near as possible in the proper place in copy. If a proof cannot be had, leave a space in copy, and write in it, " Here Cut," with the title of the illustration. If the cut has not been made, send the drawing on a separate sheet and indicate in copy in the way described, just where the cut is to go. 26. When writing in dialect, or quoting a sentence with mis-spelled words which you want printed just as written, put the direction, " Follow copy," in the margin. Do the same when in a matter of spelling, abbreviation, capitalization, or punctuation you wish to follow a style different from that of the office to which your manuscript is going. 27. Never roll sheets that are to be sent to an editor. Copy once rolled can never be made perfectly flat again, and is a nuisance to everybody who handles it afterward. Furthermore, round packages are likely to get into the newspaper mail, and be delayed or lost. Also it is hard to remove the wrapper from a rolled manuscript without tearing some of the sheets. It does not make much difference whether short manuscripts are sent folded or flat, though of course the flat method is preferable. COMPOSITION. 28. After you learn, it is just as easy to write good English as bad English. Why not learn ? In return for a little trouble at the start you will stand higher in the estimation of all educated Writing for the Press. people and will not stand lower in the estimation of the unedu- cated. Perhaps only one man in a hundred will appreciate your good English, but is he not the only man in the hundred whose appreciation is worth caring for ? 29. Study to avoid stiffness in beginning. Never hesitate to jump into the middle of things. Introductions, when necessary, should be brief. 30. Let clearness be the first consideration, brevity the second, and remember that metaphor is briefer than literal statement. " Brevity is the soul of wit," and Polonius in saying so put it better and briefer than if he had said it is "the animating part of wit." 31. Prefer the First Person to the Third Person wherever it will not appear egotistic. The First Person gives more personality, more life to the sentences. When you mean " I," say "I," and not "your humble servant," nor "the pen pusher," nor "the scribe," nor any of the thousand and one equally useless and stilted paraphrases. " The editor," " the reporter," and "the correspondent" are phrases pardonable in newspaper writing, but are to be avoided ; and when the article is signed, are needless. Usage has not yet sanctioned the " I " in an unsigned newspaper article when referring to the writer, but good taste long ago condemned the use of " we " for the same purpose. The tendency of the day is to discard " we " even in editorial writing, when used with specific significance. 32. Direct quotation is more forcible than indirect; "/ am shot, 1 " he said is far preferable to, He said he was shot. Direct Writing for the Press, 1 3 quotation is especially to be preferred in newspaper writing, both because it is more spirited, and because it is more easily handled. 33. Florid writing, oddities of style, grotesque phrases, and obsolete words may give a temporary popularity, but the public soon wearies of second-rate Carlyles. The best foundation for success as a writer is the ability to write easily, naturally, as you would talk. The power to make a simple narration may be developed into the power to arouse the deepest emotions, but only a fool will try to begin building his house at the roof. 34. The habit of " writing against space " is the greatest literary danger to a young newspaper writer. When you have expressed one idea clearly and tersely, go on to the next. Above all things, stop when you have done. SOME GRAMMATICAL QUESTIONS. 35. "The best way," says Richard Grant White, "is to give yourself no trouble at all about your grammar. Read the best authors, converse with the best speakers, and know what you mean to say, and you will speak and write good English, and may let grammar go to its own place." There is much truth in this, but we cannot all and cannot always converse with the best speakers, and many of us are obliged to read the productions of very poor authors, so that even the best of us are puzzled sometimes to know what is the best form to use. Some of the more common of the questions that arise are treated below ; others are treated under the head of "Words and Phrases." 14 Writing J or t/ie Press. The pronoun standing for a noun of multitude (sometimes called a collective noun) is used in the singular if the idea of unity is to be conveyed, and in the plural if the idea of plurality is to be conveyed. The number of a verb after a noun of multitude is determined in the same way ; e. g., " The mob comes on in one compact body and it hurls itself at the gates " ; "The mob now scatter in every direction and yell as they move off" ; " The lodge will attend the funeral and it will march to the cemetery" ; "At the last meeting of the lodge they disagreed on that matter." When in doubt, it is safer to use the singular. Never write a personal pronoun without duly considering to what noun it will be found to relate, upon the reading of a sentence. The careless use of the personal pronouns is a source of great annoyance to news-editors, particularly when it occurs in reports of trials. It is always better to repeat a name than to use a pronoun when there will be uncertainty as to its antecedent. The use of direct quotation rather than indirect, often obviates the difficulty. Use the comparative degree when comparing only two things ; e. g., " He is the elder of the two brothers " ; but, " He is the youngs/ of the trio." Adverbs should be placed as near as possible to the words they modify. After all forms of the verb to /;, or giving charity, but not giving of charity nor the giving charity. The above. An inelegant phrase. Then. Wrongly used as an adjective, as in, "The then mayor of Philadelphia." There. Often uselessly employed in the phrase there are, as in the sentence, "There are many who frown on it ; " it would be briefer and in most cases better to say, " Many frown on it." Those kind. Ungrammatical, as is also those sort. To. Implies motion. " I was down to the hall " is wrong. " I went down to the hall " is right. Transpire. Correctly used if leak out can be substituted for it ; wrongly used if take place can be substituted for it. Ult., inst., prox. Use as little as possible. Say last month, this month, next month. Upon. Do not use for on, as in the sentence, " I called upon him to speak." On is shorter. Writing for the Press. 47 Veteran. " Old veteran" is tautological. Omit old. Veracious. Say truthful; likewise, truthfulness for veracity. When. Shorter and far better than at the time that or at which time. In at the time when three words are clearly super- fluous. Whence. It is as wrong to say from 'whence as to say from hence or from thence. Whereabouts. Do not use as the subject of a plural verb. Say, " The whereabouts of the criminal was unknown," not, '"''were unknown." Who are. The wordy writer delights in saying, " The men and women who are employed," etc. Such use of the phrase, though not ungrammatical, is often needless. Whose. May be applied to brutes and inanimate things as well as to human beings ; e. g., " The dogs whose barking I heard and the houses whose roofs I saw led me to think a village was near by." Witness. Do not use as a big, stilted synonym for see. Young. Needless in such phrases as a young girl eleven years old. " Pants are worn by gents who eat lunches and open wine, and trousers are worn by gentlemen who eat luncheons and order wine." {Alfred Ayres. 48 Writing for the Press. Shoddy people might donate caskets for deceased females ; refined people would give coffins for dead women. Reliable parties commence operations for the erection of a depot ; trustworthy men begin building a station. Do not spell forward, backward, homeward, afterward, down- ward, toward, earthward, upward, and heavenward, with a final s. The letter is useless, and it takes time and space. Be careful not to use needlessly the phrases the other day, recently, not long ago, and the like. Often they detract from the force of an otherwise interesting paragraph. Moreover, they sometimes stamp as too old for printing what might without them pass the editor and make good reading. It is not always wise to be too specific about time. It is an easy rule to remember that around denotes rest, and round, motion. The too-explicit writer says "the lodge will meet Tuesday evening, January 15, 1889, at 7.30 o'clock P. M.," where "January 15, at 7.30 P. M.," is all the detail necessary in a newspaper. According to this writer " the lodge has extended an invitation to the Board of Grand Officers to be present and take part in the ceremony." The lodge in reality " invited the Grand Officers to take part in the ceremony"; they surely could not take part if they were not present. After the affair this same writer says, "the lodge celebrated its anniversary by giving a supper/' though the necessity of the word giving does not Writing for the Press. 49 appear. After "the gathering had assembled" and "the large audience that filled the hall " had heard the entertainment, the people " adjourned to the banquet hall (supper room ?)," where the always "bounteous collation was enjoyed." "After the cigars had been lighted," as usual, " speech making was in order and addresses were made," as if addresses might be made if speeches were not in order. Then " District Deputy Grand Commander John Brown was presented with a jewel by Brother B. B. Smith," when the paper wants to say that " B. B. Smith presented a jewel to D. D. G. C. John Brown." According to the report Deputy Brown said he would do all that lay in his power to organize a lodge in the town of Smithley, as if his hearers cared whether Smithley was a town or city, and whether he would do all that lay in his power or all he could. At another meeting of this lodge the business was "proceeded with" very slowly, instead of being "transacted." Some member "desired" the lodge to occupy a new hall "providing" the "expense" would not be too "heavy.'" He really "wanted" this if the " cost " would not be too "much." "A great majority of the members," instead of "most of the members," "antagonized" instead of " opposing " the project. It was announced that another member had " sustained an accident," which sounded better than "met with an accident," but he was "recovering from its effects," or in other words "getting well." It seems he had been thrown " a distance of fifty feet " by an explosion, though what fifty feet could be but " a distance " did not appear. "Newspapers and novels alike keep their 'pet words' words which, like other pets, are often in the way, often fill places that belong to their betters. A good speech is termed * breezy ' 50 Writing for the Press. or ' neat '; a good style, ' crisp ' or ' incisive ' ; an ' utterance ' or a comely countenance, ' clear-cut ' or ' clean-cut.' Bad features are ' accentuated ' by sickness. Lectures are * punctuated ' with applause. Many things, from noses to tendencies, are * pronounced ' A clergyman 'performs ' at a funeral ; a musician * officiates' at the piano-forte. Many questions are 'pivotal.' Many things, from a circus to a new book, have an ' advent.' Every week something is ' inaugurated ' or ' initiated.' ' Factor ' and 'feature' appear in the oddest company, and 'environment' has become a weariness to the spirit. "Newspapers and novels are each fond of the last new word that has crept into the slang of the day from some quarter too obscure to be known or too vulgar to be named. We read, for example, of schemes for * raking in the dimes.' One poetical paragraph ends : ' It pulls one up dreadfully in one's reverie to hear,' etc. Newspapers ' take stock in ' a senator, and ' get to the bottom fact ' of a discussion. The hero of one novel is ' padded to the nines ' ; the heroine of another has a brow, eyes, and face that are all 'strung up to the concert-pitch.' The journalist's candidate and the novelist's villain alike 'put in an appearance.' " \Prof. A. S. Hill, "English in Newspapers and Novels," Scribner's Magazine, September, 1887. ERRORS OF ARRANGEMENT. 45. Among the most amusing errors in the use of language, are those that result from bad arrangement of words. The following examples, many of them from recent newspapers, will illustrate this. The words or phrases in italics are misplaced : " He blew out his brains after bidding his wife good-by 'with a gun." Writing for the Press. 51 " An unquestioned man ot genius." " They will not merely interest children, but grown-up persons." " We never remember to have seen," etc. " I saw a man talking to the Rev. Mr. Blank, who was so -drunk he could hardly stand." " The action of Mr. Walker is condemned on all sides in removing the windows and doors." " The snake remained coiled about his limb until he ran home, nearly a mile, and was dispatched by his mother" " The tannery property at Milford has been sold to A. J. Foster, who has a currying' business in Woburn, and a morocco business in Boston Highlands,/^ $7,000." " Carrera died on the same day that President Lincoln was shot and was buried with great pomp." " A little girl was struck by some cars that were being switched in the yard and crushed." Buffalo Express. " The buildings were begun in 1876, and Mrs. Stewart met. Bishop Littlejohn and the clergy of his diocese on the 8th inst., for the purpose of opening them" Illustrated London News. The St. Mary's (Md.) Enterprise relates that a few days ago a buggy occupied by gentleman and lady caught fire from a brick that was heated for the benefit of the lady's comfort while on the road to Leonardtown. Writing for the Press. " Erected to the memory of John Phillips accidentally shot as a mark, of affection by his brother" "The Present Constitution. Hon. John D. Long Tells How It Came to be Adopted in a Lecture in the Old South Course." " The Norristown Herald is happy over a new Hoe press, and points with pride to the fact that it was started in the last century." [The clauses connected by "and " should be reversed.] The Waterville Mail said that a Waterville young lady of somnambulistic tendencies (addicted to sleep-walking ?) found herself in her father's stable by the side of a vicious horse in her night-dress. The head-lines of the Manchester Union's report of Sunday services read: "'SINFUL PLEASURES/ THE FIRST OF A SERIES BY REV. C. W. HEIZER." Advertisements from English newspapers : " Lost A cameo brooch, representing Venus and Adonis whilst walking on Sandy Mount, on Sunday last." " Wanted A nurse for an infant between twenty-five and thirty, a member of the Church of England, and without any followers." In the Morning Chronicle's account of Lord Macaulay's funeral occurred the following sentence : " When placed upon the ropes over the grave, and while being gradually lowered into the earth, the organ again pealed forth." Writing for the Press. 53 MIXED METAPHORS. 46. Take care not to mix your metaphors. Here are some examples of this error from recent newspapers : " Bill Nye is on the tidal wave. He is too original to ever lose his grip, to speak plain." [Notice "to ever lose " and "to speak plain."] " The chariot of revolution is rolling onward and gnashing its teeth as it rolls," is what a Berlin revolutionist told the students in 1848. The regular correspondent of a Boston paper wrote the following sentence in one of his letters : " It was bastard-born so to speak, the unwelcome offspring of an ill-considered and hastily-conceived scheme for a new City Hall, which was railroaded through the City Council under whip and spur, and finally collapsed because in the end nobody cared to father it." The Boston Journat editorially declared that Fred Douglass would not "be blinded by the noise of brass bands." A correspondent of the Hartford Times wrote thus of Mr. Elaine's course : " Like the drowning man, he did not let the grass grow under his feet before snatching at a straw. From the festal capital of France sounded a bugle blast that sent an electric thrill of no narrow vibrations through the grand old party, whose worn-out bloody shirt was rapidly transforming into a funeral shroud." 54 Writing for the Press. 47. SOME WORDS WITH PUZZLING PLURALS. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Addendum Addenda Grcmus *s Geniuses(men)' Aide-de-camp Aides-de-camp Genii (spirits) Analysis Analyses Hypothesis Hypotheses Appendix Appendices Appendixes Larva Magus Larvae Magi "Dpnrlif J Banditti Matrix Matrices JjctllQlL *) "Rpaii ) Bandits Beaux Memorandum Memorandums \ Memoranda -OLtt LI ^ Beaus Miasma Miasmata Chef d'oeuvre Chefs d'oeuvre Parenthesis Parentheses Cherub Cherubim Phenomenon Phenomena. Crisis Crises Seraph Seraphim Criterion Criteria Spoonful Spoonfuls. Datum Dictum Data Dicta Stigma Stigmata Stigmas Effluvium Effluvia Tableau Tableaux. Erratum Errata Terminus Termini Facetia Facetiae Thesis Theses Focus Foci Tumulus Tumuli Formula Formulas Formulae Vertebra Virtuoso Vertebrae Virtuosi PUNCTUATION. 48. It is foolish for a newspaper writer of any grade to suppose that the desk-editor or proof-reader exists mainly for punctuation, purposes. It is the duty of every writer to punctuate his own copy to the best of his ability. It is a strange fact that some reporters and correspondents who have been writing for the press for years,. Writing for the Press. 55 constantly break even the few very simple rules that follow, thus imposing needless drudgery on desk editor, compositor, or proof- reader. 49. Put a period after every sentence that does not require an interrogation or exclamation point ; after every abbreviated word that is not abbreviated by an apostrophe for letters omitted ; after Roman numerals. 50. Use the colon when introducing a speech or quotation consisting of more than one sentence ; before a series of propositions or statements formally introduced by as follows, namely, thus, etc. ;, and before a short quotation formally introduced. 51. When two or more clauses of a sentence are not so closely- connected as to admit the use of a comma, a semi-colon is used. 52. Bigelow well says ; " Commas are properly used, not for the purpose of showing where pauses are to be made in reading, but to- present to the eye the proper grammatical construction of the sentence, so that one reading a new book or newspaper cannot fail to perceive the meaning at first sight." It is clear, then, that only a good grammarian can use the comma correctly, and so I must beg leave to refer the reader to any of the many good works on grammar or rhetoric. 53. An indirect question should not have an interrogation-mark after it. 5 4. Oh! always requires the exclamation-point immediately after it, save when the sentence has an exclamation-point at the end. O should never have the point immediately after it. 5 6 Writing for the Press. 55. Note the difference in the use of parentheses and brackets. The use of brackets is restricted to interpolations, corrections, notes, or explanations made by writers in quotations from others, or by editors in editing works. 56. All nouns in the singular number, whether proper names or not, and all nouns in the plural ending with any other letter than, .r, form the possessive by the addition of the apostrophe and the letter s. The possessive pronoun never takes the apostrophe. 57. Probably quotation marks cause more serious errors in the daily newspaper than any other of the marks of punctuation. It is a common thing to see a quotation begun and never ended. Often the misuse of the marks puts the responsibility for the words on the wrong person and sometimes it is impossible to tell who is responsible for them, the writer, the speaker, or some third person quoted by the speaker. The fault is usually that of the writer, sometimes that of the compositor. The proof-reader cannot be blamed, because of the disconnected way in which newspaper proofs usually come to him. The writer should be very careful to make the quotation-marks large and clear, that they may not be mistaken for commas or apostrophes. The .compositor should exercise equal care. Double marks should precede and follow direct quotations ; where one quotation occurs within another, single marks only should be used. If the quotation does not begin a paragraph, none should be made before its close. Every new paragraph or stanza of the quotation should have the beginning marks, but only the last should have the closing marks. A paragraph of a quotation within a quotation has both double and single marks at the beginning, but only the single mark at the end, unless it closes the whole quotation, when it has both single Writing for the Press. 5 7 and double. In quotation do not repeat typographical errors and mis-spellings unless you wish to hold printer or author up to ridicule. 58. The fashion changes in punctuation as in everything else, and it is the fashion now to use capital letters sparingly ; once every prominent word was capitalized, and the style may still be seen in the letters of very old people. Fashion also now frowns on the use of italics to emphasize single words. They are now rarely used with propriety except for words distinctly foreign. Many people, especially women, have a habit of underscoring words they wish to emphasize, and those who have acquired the foolish habit find it hard to bear in mind that the printer will set underscored words in italics. Therefore it is wise not to acquire the habit. It may not be the fashion, but it is surely the ten- dency of the fashion, to discard the semi-colon and the colon. Wherever the comma can serve the purpose formerly effected by the semi-colon, preference is given to the comma, and the colon is now seldom used except in formally introducing quotations, extracts, etc. (By the way, when the extract or quotation thus introduced contains more than one sentence, a new paragraph should begin with it, but if only one sentence, it is usually "run in," as the printers say. If the new paragraph is made, the colon is followed by a dash ; if not, the dash is omitted.) If the colon and semi-colon are used, it is surely worth while to use them intelligently, and not indiscriminately, for their object is often only to express fine shades of meaning, and this requires a clear understanding of the exact significance of the points them- selves. Especially obnoxious is the habit many people have, of writing these points so carelessly that the compositor cannot tell which of them is meant. 5 8 Writing for the Press. 59. The best way to learn to punctuate is to take a well- printed book and ask yourself the significance of every punctua- tion mark in as many of its pages as you can find time to study. No two newspaper offices punctuate alike. The best way for you to find out about the punctuation of the paper for which you write, is to study its columns. PROOF-READING. 60. To make sure that printed matter shall appear as you wrote it, or as you want it to appear, you must stipulate with the printer that he shall show you a " proof," which is a rough print made as soon as the type is set. Unless this stipulation is made, you can make no just complaint if errors have crept in and been unobserved. Newspapers almost never submit proofs to contri- butors outside the office unless they are especially requested, but the request will be almost never refused. Job printers, too, seldom send proofs voluntarily. Some of the magazines send them without the asking, and some do not. Book printers usually take the trouble to consult the author's wishes, and every wise author takes the chance to verify his work. 61. It should be the writer's aim to have his copy before it leaves his hands, just as he wants it printed. Changes in proof that could have been avoided by care with copy, make a needless cost and a sheer waste to somebody. If the writer is paying the printer, such changes are at the writer's expense, and they often make not the least considerable item in the bill. If the pub- lisher, whether it be of book, magazine, or newspaper, pays the charges, the writer that has been careless, inflicts on him the unnecessary loss. Of course the look of a thing in print is often different from its look in manuscript, and then changes may be Writing for the Press. 59 pardonable, but it is the duty of the literary workman to realize beforehand how the types will make his sentences read, and the better workman he is, the less work will he make the printer. 62. The first proof is known as the " galley proof," because it is taken from the type while yet in the " galley," or frame, and not made up into pages. The printer's proof-reader corrects on it the compositor's errors, and if they are many, usually has them corrected in the type before any proof is submitted to the writer. If not, the writer also makes his changes on this first proof. 63. After the type has been corrected, or presumably cor- rected, another proof is taken, known as the " revised proof," or, more commonly, the "revise." The careful and particular writer will also demand a look at this, to see that the changes he wanted have been made. In fine book work, a third and even a fourth proof is sometimes submitted, but every new proof means of course added expense to somebody. After the last " revise " has been returned, if it is proof of a book or a magazine article, the matter is made up into pages, and then " page proofs " are taken which it is desirable the author should see for fear lest in handling the type some lines may have been transposed, or some other accident have happened. Changes in page proofs are more costly than in galley proofs, for if they consist of adding or taking out more than a few words, they necessitate " making up " anew at least two pages and perhaps several more. An inex- perienced printer may neglect to send any proofs till the matter has been made up into pages, and it will do no hurt always to stipulate that galley proofs shall be submitted. . 6o Writing for the Pre 64. Proof is read in the printing^mce by two persons, one who reads the proof itself, the " proofreader," and one who reads the copy, the "copy-holder^ In book offices the copy-holder reads aloud from the manuscript while the proof-reader looks down the proof. In newspaper offices, wh/ time is more precious^and ^ not so essential, the processis usually re- )& versed, the copy^rT&kkr being the listener. *The writer, being )( thoroughlyjfamiliar with^the subject matter, can safely read proof / , by himself, but where figureVand names are plenty, ^ will find w/, 3 If you feel obliged to strike *A / ,/ out a single word from proof try to insert another, if possible^/ ' about the same length and in the same line, or at least in the f\ same sentence. If you make a new paragraph in page piuof, (/ take out some wordo or oontence,, The insertion of several uJ&l words, or the eraswwi of several, may necessitate the re-arrang- ing of many lines and so make a mighty sort of trouble if the paragraphs are*1ong and the change does not come near the end of one. ^_^The addition or subtraction/ of words enough to make an even line does little harm, exc/pt prnnfg in a cross-line is inserted in newspaper pr oo f s . try to take such words for the cross-line that th/next worj a f ter f s one tnat begins a line. By the way, the proper marks for such cfppp line are paragraph marks before smd after the words to make it, with a continuous line drawn binder th^se words from If to IF. The best newspaper practice is to have these cross-lines not ^ \/ A break, i. e. to take only enough words to make one line in the heavy-faced type used for/lhem^ 66. Never hesitate u use the proof marks GIVEN HERE OR TO found in the i4ar ot dictionaries. They will be understood >y every printer who/knows ' ' A r/ / [EXPLANATIONS: "Ital." stands for Italics; " n ", indent; "stet", let it si i ,1 i .1 , i _ . i .. IL_ .>? 7 .*.,,,-. . iiV" 7svJ 7f, dots under the word that is not to be taken c of the page. The other marks are self- printing-office", and the sentence in the middle Writing for the Press. 6 1 64. Proof is read in the printing office by two persons, one who. reads the proof itself, the '' proof-reader," and one who reads the copy, the " copy-holder." In book offices the copy- holder reads aloud from the manuscript while the proof-reader looks down the proof. In newspaper offices, where time is more precious and the utmost accuracy not so essential, the process is usually reversed, the copy-holder being the listener. The writer, being thoroughly familiar with the subject matter, can safely read proof by himself, but where figures and names are plenty, he will find the help of a friend useful. 65 If you feel obliged to strike out a single word from proof, try to insert another, if possible of about the same length and in the same line, or at least in the same sentence. The inser- tion of several words, or the erasure of several, may necessitate the re-arranging of many lines and so make a good deal of trouble if the paragraphs are long and the change does not come near the end of one. The addition or substraction of words enough to make an even line does little harm, except in page proofs. When a cross-line is inserted in newspaper proofs, try to take such words for the cross-line that the next word after is one that begins a line. By the way, the proper marks for such cross-line are paragraph marks before and after the words to make it, with a continuous line drawn under those words from IT to If. The best newspaper practice is to have these cross- lines not "break/' i. e. to take only enough words to make one line in the heavy-faced type used for them. 66. NEVER HESITATE to use the proof marks given here or to be found in the rear of dictionaries. They will be under- stood by every printer. 62 Writing for the Press. 67. The author should never rub out proof marks with an eraser, but if he wishes to cancel them, should draw a line through them. 68. When the proof-reader is in doubt about some change or wishes to call the author's attention to what may or may not be an error, he puts a question mark, ?, or Qy., for " Query," in the margin, next the mark indicating his idea of the desired change, if he ventures any. In that case it is the author's duty in the first place to draw a line through the ? or Qy., to show that he has noticed it. If he wants the proof-reader's suggestion to stand, he does nothing to it, the line through the ? or Qy. being approval enough. If he disapproves the correction, he draws a line through that 7 also. 69. Book, magazine, and job printers usually submit the copy with the proof, and when this is done the copy should always be returned with the proof. If the first proof is sent with the " revise," or if two proofs are sent, one with the proof-reader's corrections and the other for the writer's, both should be re- turned. 70. It is better to correct proofs with ink than with pencil, especially when they are to be sent to a distance, as pencil marks are likely to become illegible. NEWSPAPER WRITING. 71. First of all, study the columns of the paper for which you write. Note the system by which the styles of type are used. Mark the position of dates ; the way letters to the editor are addressed ; the use of " sub-heads " and "cross-lines;" the style Writing for the Press. - 63 of punctuation and capitalization; and the many other points on which uniformity is desirable. Every newspaper has definite forms for summaries of sporting matters, such as base-ball and cricket games, trotting and running races, lacrosse and polo matches. Note the forms used in the paper for which you write, and always follow them. Shipping news, market reports, and other department matter is often formulated. 72. Every well-ordered composing-room has wbat is called its ' style," i. e., its system of printing words that maybe printed in two or more ways. For instance, Boston's chief thoroughfare may be printed "Washington Street," ' Washington street," or " Washington St." The paper for which you write, will always print it in one way, and you will save somebody time and trouble if you will notice what that way is, and write it so in the first place. Some offices spell out figures up to fifty, and use the Arabic numerals for higher figures ; e. g , " thirty-seven," "87." Notice where the change is made from letters to figures in the paper for which you write. It is in the matter of abbreviations that observation on this point is most desirable. 73. Put your name on everything you write, at the top of the first sheet. 74. Date everything sent by mail, messenger, or telegraph. Whenever anything is dated, use tenses, the words " to-day," " yesterday," etc., in reference to the date. When it is not dated, use them in reference to the date on which the matter is to be printed. If matter be intended for use on any special day, such as Sunday, or in any special department, such as the sport- ing department, always make a note of it on the envelope. 64 Writing for the Press. 75. Everything in the nature of news should be sent or given at the earliest possible moment to the editor who is to take charge of it. Nowhere else is time so precious as in the news- paper office. 76. Whenever time permits, read over what you have written before any one else sees it ; never act on the principle that as some one else is to edit it, you need not exercise care. After the matter appears in the newspaper, read it over to see what changes have been made, that any errors you have committed may never be repeated. 77. Write your own head-lines whenever you well can, except when matter is sent by telegraph. Note the number of letters in the different head-lines and model your own thereby. If you do not write your own "head," leave space enough for it at the top of the first sheet. 78. Editors often find it hard to judge of the relative value of news items sent by mail from a remote city or town, and if lack of room makes it necessary that some shall be omitted, the deci- sion is made easier if the important items are designated by a note on the margin or on a separate sheet A story that can wait as well as not should be marked, "When Room," on the top of the first page. Anything of especial consequence that the cor- respondent believes no other paper will get, may well be marked, " Exclusive." 79. In measuring copy or printed matter it is safe for news- paper purposes to assume that the average number of words in a line found by counting the number in a few lines, is the correct Writing for the Press. 65 average for the whole thing. The number of words may always be estimated ; no editor demands an exact count. Therefore in measuring slips for making out bills, it is safe to count the words in any inch and multiply by the number of inches. Compound words count as two words. When an editor orders 1000 words, he means an article that will fill about the space that 1000 ordinary words would occupy. The lines in most newspapers average be- tween seven and eight words. The news columns of most news- papers are set in nonpareil, and there are twelve nonpareil lines to the inch. The columns are usually between twenty and twenty- four inches long, so that the number of words in a news column ranges from 1600 to 2400. It is the custom to speak of 2000 words of news matter as a column, and many papers pay on that basis. Editorial matter, being set in larger type and leaded, will range between 1000 and 1500 words to the column. It will be found useful to remember that ordinary type-writer copy averages almost exactly twelve words to the line. 80. Never address an article intended for publication to any particular person connected with a newspaper, unless it requires his personal notice before it goes to the printers. The most com- mon blunder is to address news packages to the managing editor, using his name and not that of his position. If the paper prints both morning and evening editions, the chances are even that the news will be delayed twelve hours, for no managing editor is on duty more than half of the twenty-four. The envelope should be marked " News," and then it is best not to put the managing editor's name on it, for, if he ought to look it over, it will get to him anyway, and if there is no need of his seeing it, chance of delay will be avoided. 66 Writing for the Press. 8 1. C. M. Hammond gave good advice in The Writer to writ- ers who wish to submit manuscripts in newspaper offices where they are not regularly employed. Said he : " You gain nothing and lose much by calling on the editor personally with your articles. If he be an editor who amounts to anything, he is always busy in office hours. He has no time to talk with you or listen to your explanations. He wishes you hadn't called, and he is prejudiced against you and whatever you may have written. He would rather treat with you by means of the mail. It saves time and annoyance, and you are sure of being used as well." 82. Never put an editorial opinion into a news paragraph. Never allow personal feeling to bias what you write. Never write anything the authorship of which you would not be willing to own. Never write anything that you would not like your mother, your sister, or your child to read. 3. If you cannot say anything good of a man or thing, say as little as possible unless the public good requires the contrary. Tell the truth. Make every effort to be accurate in every partic- ular. False statements may end in libel suits. An enovmous responsibility rests on every writer for the press. A single piece of carelessness, a single credited rumor may ruin some man's life. The newspaper makes and unmakes reputations. Honor and justice demand the greatest care in the exercise of what is unquestionably the most tremendous power of modern times. 84. The Cincinnati Enquire?' added to the reprint in its columns of the first edition of this book some directions for its own cor- Writing for the Press. 67 respondents, of which these may be profitably read by any writer for the press : " It is assumed that every woman whose name is written in copy intended for publication, is beautiful or handsome or lovely or all three. Therefore, it is unnecessary to mention that any person is either. " Always tell the truth, no matter who is hurt or helped. " Remember that as a correspondent of the Enquirer you oc- cupy a place of great responsibility and trust. Do not try to use it to injure any one. Do not try to punish any person you may dislike. He has rights, even if you don't like him. Always aim to be absolutely impartial and just. In this way you can best serve the Enquirer and elevate the noble profession of journal- ism. You preach to more people in the Enquirer every morning than any minister addresses in a yeaF. Your influence for good may be boundless ; for evil, equally great. Remember this, and be careful and sure. If you are right, let no man or men frighten you from your position." TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENCE. 85. Never send a telegraph despatch to any paper unless (a) you have general authority to do it, () you have received speci- fic instructions, or (c) the pressure of time and the importance of the news seem to you to warrant your proceeding without author- ity or instructions. (a) An appointment as a regular correspondent of a news- paper does not as a rule convey authority to use the telegraph without specific instruction in each instance. (b) If the correspondent knows in advance of some impor- tant meeting, celebration, or other affair that cannot be reported 68 Writing jor the Press. in time by mail, he should write to his editor and ask for instruc- tions. If time will not allow that, or if the news is of the unex- pected sort, like the news of a murder, fire, explosion, or other catastrophe, the request for instructions should be made by wire, in which case it is known as a "bulletin" or "query." Few papers of consequence are unwilling to pay the telegraph tolls on bulletins, whether sent by regular or unknown correspondents, but still an unknown correspondent has to run some risk of hav- ing to pay these tolls. Despatches sent without bulletins by un- known correspondents are almost invariably returned to the sender for payment, when not accepted, and most papers also make it a rule with regular correspondents to return for payment of tolls matter sent without a bulletin and not printed. Some editors always make a reply to bulletins, either accepting or de- clining, but many do not, $nd the rule is that no reply means "No." (c) Important news secured late is often sent without bulletin, but seldom profitably by inexperienced telegraph correspondents. Few kinds of newspaper work require better judgment or more skill. Regular correspondents can usually send safely without bulletins despatches of 100 words or less. In the case of a long story that the correspondent has no time to bulletin, he often sends his first sheet of copy to the telegraph office a little ahead of the rest, and prefaces the story with a sentence like this : "One thousand words on - . Stop if you do not want." Then if the editor does not want it, he can stop it before more than one sheet has been sent. 86. Do not send more words than are ordered unless you are unusually positive that your knowledge of facts or the develop- Writing for the Press. 69 merits after the bulletin was sent, make your judgment better than the editor's, whose knowledge is of course limited by the bulletin. Remember that his order is often determined by the space available or by other considerations of which you know nothing. A variation from his order of one-tenth the number of words one way or the other will seldom be censured. 87. Every correspondent should learn at what hours the dif- ferent editions of his paper go to press. He should always allow time enough to get his despatches " through," and remember here as always that time is an all-important factor. The earlier a despatch is filed, the more likely it is to get printed. In sending despatches to a paper at a distance, do not forget to take into account the difference in time. Correspondents should never order matter for morning papers sent before 6 o'clock, though it may be filed at the telegraph office earlier with instructions to send after that hour, thus securing night rates. 88. When long despatches are filed at the telegraph office where several wires can be secured, time will be saved if the order is given, " Send by letters," and the despatch is divided into three or more parts, with pages numbered respectively, " la, 2a, 3a," etc., " ib, 2b, 3b," etc., " ic, 2C, 30," etc. 89. Instructions to the operator, written at the beginning of the despatch, will secure attention to paragraph marks. 90. Telegraph correspondents should always sign their full names to despatches, and not simply their initials or surnames. When correspondents employ substitutes to send despatches, the jo Writing for the Press. name of the regular correspondent, and not that of the substi- tute, should be signed. 91. Few big papers now want despatches " skeletonized," i. e. sent with the articles and other minor words omitted. If cor- responding for a small paper get instructions beforehand on this point 92. The following extracts are from articles by William H. Hills in The Writer for April, May, and June, 1887 : - " Always begin your story with a short, strong sentence. Come to the point at once. Don't waste words telling what you are going to tell. Go ahead and tell it. What you want is to inter- est your reader at the outset, and if your story is going to interest him at all, the main fact put at the beginning simply and strong- ly will attract his attention quicker than anything else. " Don't get the idea into your head that because a sentence is simple it must be commonplace. " Do away utterly with the idea that writing a special despatch, to be sent by telegraph to a paper 1500 miles away, is essentially different from writing a story to be printed in your own city. " You may gain a temporary advantage by exaggeration and untruthful ness ; but, in the long run, you will find that honesty is the best policy for the special correspondent, as it is for most other people. Be truthful, then, in writing your despatches. At the same time make them as picturesque and entertaining as you can, avoiding the common-place and trying always to look at your subject from some novel point of view. " Study the style of the paper to which you are telegraphing. Notice how much space it gives daily to telegraph news. Notice Writing for the Press. 7 1 with what sort of news that space is filled. Notice what kinds of despatches are printed in full, and what kinds of despatches are condensed to a paragraph. Notice, more than anything else, the disposition of the despatches you yourself may send." TYPOGRAPHICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 93. Everybody knows that books are printed in sheets, with several pages on a sheet, but everybody does not know that these sheets are called " signatures." The name comes from the " sig- nature" or sign at the bottom of the sheet, put there chiefly as an aid to the binder, the various sheets of a book being num- bered (i), (2), (3), etc., or (A), (B), (C), etc , or by combinations of letters and figures. On each signature are printed as a rule four pages, or some multiple of four. A signature of four pages is known as a folio, being made by folding the sheet once. ^ Fold it again and a quarto is the result, bearing eight pages. Fold it a third time and you have an octavo, with sixteen pages. Still another fold makes a i6mo., with thirty-two pages. The fifth fold makes a 32/720., with sixty-four pages. The sheets of few books are folded more than this, but occasionally a 6$mo., or even a is seen. Years ago when books were printed on the hand press, the al- most invariable size of printing paper was 20X24 inches. Then the terms folio, quarto, etc., had an exact significance, the size of the folio page being of course half that of the sheet, or 20X12; the quarto was half that, or 12X10; and so on, the octavo, 10 X6 ; 1 6 mo., when square, 6X5, when oblong, 7X4^ ; 32 mo., 5X3- When the quarto sheet was folded twice instead of once, a \2.mo. (duodecimo] was made, with dimensions 8X5. If the 72 Writing for the Press. sheet was folded so as to carry 36 pages, it was an i8mo., with each page 6^X4. but that size is no longer used. Nowadays all these terms have come to lose their exactness, for with the cylinder press the size of the paper may suit the whim of the publisher, and of course every change in the size of the sheet changes the size of each page. So it is no longer possible for even an expert, by a glance at a page, to tell the size of the book. He can determine it quickly, however, by counting the leaves from one signature to the next. People dealing with printers often have occasion to remember that 24 sheets make a quire, and 20 quires, or 480 sheets, make a ream. Sometimes, but not generally, 25 sheets are put in a quire, making 500 to the ream. Printers in their reckoning must take account of the waste in getting the forms on the press, and in bad impressions. So they often reckon a ream as 19 quires, allowing the other 2 4 sheets for waste. Paper is sold either by the pound or ream. If designated as, for instance, "22X324-40," the meaning is that each sheet is 22X32 inches and that one ream weighs 40 pounds. Such a paper, of the grade found in first-class trade papers, now costs about seven cents a pound. Magazine and book papers run slightly above this price, and news paper is of course a good deal cheaper. Type is measured by " ems," the name coming from the por- tion of a printed line formerly occupied by the letter " m." The size of the em of course varies with the size of the type. Print- ers have by common consent made that size known as " pica " the standard of the printing office. This line is set in pica, and 1 1 is the size of a pica em. Until very recently, hardly any two type foundries agreed Writing for the Press. 73 exactly in the sizes of their type. Now, however, what is known as the "point" system is coming into general use, and is doing as much for typography as the metrical measure is doing for measures in general. Under the new system the " point " has dimensions just one-twelfth those of the standard pica em. Set in a row, 867 points would measure one foot. Of course no i-point type is made, but the measure is used for the thickness of the thinnest leads. Pearl is the smallest type of any practical use in printing. It is seldom seen outside of very small Bibles. A pearl em is five points square, and so the type is coming to be known as 5-point. Agate is the smallest type seen in newspapers. It is often used in advertisements and some papers also use it for extracts, letters embodied in articles, and tabular matter. Agate is 5^-point type. Nonpareil is the smallest type used for the body of newspapers, and probably more big dailies are set in it than in anything else. In book-work its use is very general for tabular matter, side-notes, and foot-notes. Many papers set the news matter in solid non- pareil, and their editorials in leaded nonpareil. It is 6-point type. Minion is most found in newspapers, being used by most of the big papers that do not use nonpareil. It is a favorite type for editorial paragraphs. A minion em cast on the new system measures 7 points. Brevier is more used than any other size. Most weekly papers and almost all trade and class papers use it, and the paper-cov- 74 Writing for the Press. ered ''libraries " are set in it. It is the 8-point type, and there- fore in advertisements and job-work is a favorite, because, as the printers say, it "justifies " well, i. e., can easily be made to fit with type of other sizes. Bourgeois is the favorite size for magazines, and it is used by most of those printed in this country. The printer dislikes it, partly because it will not justify with other sizes, partly because it is so likely to get mixed with brevier. It is the g-point type. Long Primer is the customary type for book-work. Almost all the standard editions of fiction are printed from it, and it is much used for text-books and poetry. It is the lo-point type. This, book is set in long primer. Small Pica is mainly used for city and town documents, law books, and law reports. It is the type of the North American Review and the principal quarterlies. It measures n points. Pica is found most commonly in standard histories, sermons, and addresses. It is the largest size much used in book-work,, though English and Great Primer may often be seen in prayer- books, the Bible, and books for children. The pica em measures 12 points, is 0.166 of an inch square, and sets a little more than 72 ems to the foot. To find the number of ems of a given type in a given space, first divide the area of the space in square inches by 0.0138, which will give the number of points. Dividing that by 6 will give the number of 6-point or nonpareil ems ; by 8, the brevier ems; 10, the long-prirner ems ; etc., etc. The number of ems in a square inch is the same whether the matter is set solid or with leads. The following tables presume that the type is set solid: Writing for the Press. 75: X ^o w? 43U3JIJ 3uO-[ VO N 00 M VO EDIJ 10 O vo^ sioaSjnog ^ BOIJ TTBUIS ^H M 10 coco ABLE. jaiAsag O\ M 10 M 10 W j J9UIUJ Suoq O co "* CO co H M PQ h NNSNSOT < \N Z uomipj ^^^ h uaiAaag 00 vO CO M M * h *z CO N H PS D CO ,,^d MN vO OO co * W H liaaBduo^j 00^. < N co M 10 04 W D X GQ < . ti NC^\^^^- W w 3}3V OO >-O N s ft N CO < UJ Du CO i ^ . i s o o n ( ~ l r wruvirvm, NEW YORK, N. Y. THE PRESS CLIPPING BUREAU supplies people with what the newspapers print of interest to them. To this end it reads several thousand newspapers a week. It is serving many large business houses, to which references will be given if they are wanted as to thoroughness, promptness, and accuracy. In the personal line of work its relations are often confidential, but it may be said that it has among its cus- tomers men and women prominent in literature, on the stage, and in public life. To the Writer the Bureau may serve a two-fold purpose. It may give him the reviews of his work, and it may give him materials for more work, especially if he is writing essays, treatises, or anything to which contemporaneous happenings will be pertinent. To the Specialist in any line of work the Bureau offers a constant supply of information, whether the subject of research be in the line of literature, language, science, law, medicine, theology, psychology, or any other "ology" whatsoever. To the Man with a Hobby, whether it be photography, philately, numismatics, chess, whist, or any other of the thousand and one things that serve as avocations or recreations, the Bureau is a labor-saving device that helps gratify tastes and ambition. In the way of gathering "scraps" it does for any man what no man could do by himself. The fee for subscription to the Bureau is Five Dollars for One Hundred Clippings, whether it takes a week or a year to find them. The subscription fee is PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. A specialty is made of serving trade and class papers, and the Bureau now acts as the exchange editor of many. Special contracts are made in such cases. For further information address THE PRESS CLIPPING BUREAU, 103 MILK STREET, P. O. Box 197. BOSTON, MASS. '*.**. vri.iiv-.ri j LOAN DEPT. ~~ " ' ; _____ . . General Library University of California Berkeley