|

=218. Buildings or Property.=--The particular buildings, if especially
valuable by reason of their age, location, or cost of construction, may
be features.

|Historic Grace Episcopal Church in South Wabash |
|Avenue, considered one of the finest examples of |
|French Gothic architecture in the city since it was |
|erected nearly fifty years ago, was destroyed to-day|
|in a fire that did damage estimated at $500,000. |
| |
|The main building of the Union Switch and Signal |
|Company, of the Westinghouse interests, at |
|Swissvale, where thousands of shells have been |
|manufactured for the Allies, was swept by fire this |
|afternoon, entailing a loss estimated at $4,000,000.|
|Officials of the company said that the origin of the|
|fire had not been determined. |

=219. Other Features.=--Similarly, one may feature any one of a number
of other particulars: as, the occupants of the building, the owners, any
prominent persons involved, the amount and character of the damage, the
amount of insurance, how the fire was discovered, how it spread, when
the alarm was given, the promptness or delay of the fire department,
etc. Any one of these particulars may be featured, provided it has
unusual importance or interest.

=220. Body of the Fire Story.=--The body of the fire story may continue
with such of the details enumerated in the preceding paragraphs as are
not used in the lead. Somewhere in the story the extent of the damage
and the amount of insurance should be given. Those are sufficiently
important particulars to be included always. Greater emphasis and action
can be given the story, particularly in case of loss of life or great
damage, by quoting direct statements of eye-witnesses or of persons
injured. A janitor's account of how the fire started, or how he
discovered it, or a woman's story of how she knew the night before that
something terrible was going to happen, always adds greatly to the
interest.

=221. Rumors at Fires.=--In reporting a fire, however, particularly a
big one, the reporter should guard against the wild rumors about the
extent of the loss, the number of persons injured or burned to death,
the certainty of arson, etc., which usually gain currency among the
spectators. Such stories are always exaggerated, and they account for
the fact that f