BOYS TRAPPED ON A ROOF
Youths Finally Slide to Ground
on Rain Pipe—Fire Loss
Is $25,000.
The Kansas City Star and Times, recognized as one of the most carefully edited newspapers, affords a striking exception to the general practice of putting the head in the present tense and omitting the articles. The Star prefers the past tense when it can be properly used and encourages sentences with all the articles supplied. For example: “A Tennessee Wreck Hurt 21—Two Coaches Were Burned, but Sixty Persons Escaped.” Most newspapers would have said: “Tennessee Wreck Hurts 21—Two Coaches Are Burned (or Burn), but Sixty Persons Escape.” Without arguing the relative merits of the two types of heads, it is worth noting that the Star’s departure from custom in this and other respects has given it a distinct individuality that no reader can overlook. (See [Figure 4].)
Whichever tense is used, take care to make the head consistent throughout. Don’t switch from the present to the past, or vice versa, without reason.
[Figure 4.]—Typical Kansas City Star head, using the past tense.
TWO ROBBERS GOT $10.523