|_DIED_--Claus, Santa, in the American Hospital, |
|Christmas morning, aged 11._ |
| |
|Santa Claus, who wasn't such an old fellow after |
|all, overslept on the great morning. He had gone to |
|bed plain Vern Olson--not in a toy shop at the North|
|Pole, but in a little room behind his widowed |
|mother's delicatessen shop at 111 South Robey |
|Street. |

|The cause of the high cost of living has been |
|discovered. It's pie,--plain pie. Teeny Terss, who |
|runs a Greek restaurant on Hodel Street, made the |
|announcement to-day. |

=120. Conclusion.=--Of the two types of lead, the beginner is advised to
attempt at first only the summary lead, relying on the excellence of the
news to carry the story. This kind of lead is definite. A reporter
always can know when his lead answers the questions _who_, _what_,
_when_, _where_, _why_, and _how_. And if he has presented his facts
clearly in the lead, he may feel a certain degree of assurance that he
has been successful. In writing the informal lead, on the contrary, one
can never be positive of anything or of any effect. (And it is a
particular effect for which the reporter always must strive in the
informal lead.) Climax and suspense are such elusive spirits that if a
writer but give evidence he is seeking them, he immediately loses them.
The only safe plan for the novice, therefore, is to confine himself at
first exclusively to the summarizing lead. Then as his hand becomes
sure, he may take ventures with the elusive, informal, or suspense,
lead.

X. THE BODY OF THE STORY

=121. Inaccuracy and Dullness.=--If the reporter has written a strong
lead for his story, he need have small worry about what shall follow,
which usually is little more than a simple narration of events in
chronological order, with interspersions of explanation or description.
If a wise choice and arrangement has been made in the organization of
details, the part of the story following the lead will all but tell
itself. The reporter's care now must be to maintain the interest he has
developed in the lead and to regard the accuracy of succeeding
statements. There are just two crimes of which a newspaper man may be
guilty,--inaccuracy and dullness. And the greater of thes