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.
FIRST THREE YEARS OF THE WAR
- June 28, 1914—Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to throne of Austria-Hungary, and wife shot by Gavrio Prinzip, a Bosnian, at Sarajevo, Bosnia.
- July 28—Austria declares war on Serbia.
- Aug. 1—Germany declares war on Serbia.
- Aug. 4—Great Britain declares war on Germany.
Germany proclaims state of war between Germany and Belgium.
Wilson proclaims U. S. neutrality. - Aug. 6—Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
- Aug. 7—Montenegro declares war on Austria.
- Aug. 8—British troops land in France.
- Aug. 12—Great Britain declares state of war with Austria-Hungary.
- Aug. 19—Germans occupy Louvain.
- Aug. 20—Germans occupy Brussels.
- Aug. 23—Japan declares war on Germany.
- Aug. 31—St. Petersburg becomes Petrograd.
- Sept. 1—After seven days' battle Russians take Lemberg.
- Sept. 3—French capital transferred to Bordeaux.
- Sept. 4—Germans occupy Rheims.
- Sept. 10—Joffre reports five-day battle at the Marne a victory.
- Sept. 28—Japanese invest Tsing-Tau.
- Oct. 9—Antwerp surrenders.
- Oct. 13—Seat of Belgian capital moved from Ostend to Havre.
- Oct. 21-31—First battle of Ypres.
- Nov. 5—Great Britain and France declare war on Turkey.
- Nov. 10-12—Second battle of Ypres.
- Dec. 2—Austrians capture Belgrade.
- Dec. 8—British sink German fleet off Falkland islands.
- Dec. 14—Serbians force evacuation of Belgrade.
- Dec. 20—Germans evacuate Dixmude.
- Jan. 24, 1915—Naval battle in North Sea.
- Feb. 4—Germany declares war zone about England and Ireland after Feb. 18.
- Feb. 25—Allied fleet reduces four forts at Dardanelles entrance.
- March 22—Austrian fortress of Przemysl surrenders to Russians.
- April 22—Gas first used in war by Germans at Ypres.
- May 1—American steamer Gulflight sunk.
- May 7—Lusitania sunk by German submarine off Ireland; 1,149 lost, 707 rescued.
- May 23—Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- June 3—Teutons recapture Przemysl.
- June 8—Bryan resigns.
- June 22—Russians driven out of Lemberg.
- Aug. 6—Germans occupy Warsaw.
- Sept. 9—U. S. asks recall by Austria-Hungary of Ambassador Dumba.
- Sept. 18—Germans capture Wilna.
- Oct. 5—King Constantine of Greece won't support Allies and Premier
Venizelos resigns.
Allies land at Saloniki. - Oct. 11—Bulgaria enters war by sending army into Serbia.
- Dec. 4—Ford peace party sails.
- Dec. 19—Allies evacuate Gallipoli.
- Jan. 17, 1916—Montenegro surrenders to Austria-Hungary, first belligerent to withdraw.
- Jan. 26—Compulsory service measure passes final reading in British House of Lords.
- Feb. 23—Germans open Verdun offensive.
- March 8—Germany declares war on Portugal.
- March 15—Von Tirpitz resigns as German minister of marine; succeeded by Admiral von Capelle.
- April 24—Sinn Feiners' revolution breaks out in Dublin.
- April 28—British besieged in Kut-el-Amara, Mesopotamia, surrender.
- May 25—King George signs compulsory bill, applicable to all men from 18 to 41.
- May 30—Battle of Jutland.
- June 5—Lord Kitchener drowned.
- July 9—German submarine Deutschland arrives at Baltimore.
- Aug. 27—Rumania enters the war on side of Allies.
- Nov. 10—First great air battle; 67 airplanes brought down.
- Nov. 21—Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, dies; 86.
- Dec. 6—Germans occupy Bucharest.
- Feb. 3, 1917—U.S. severs diplomatic relations with Germany.
- Feb. 26—Cunard liner Laconia sunk.
- Feb. 27—Wilson asks authority to arm merchantmen; declares sinking of Laconia is overt act.
- March 11—British take Bagdad.
- March 15—Czar Nicholas II abdicates in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch.
- April 2—American steamer Aztec sunk.
- April 6—U. S. declares state of war with Germany. April 7—Cuba declares war on Germany.
- April 11—Brazil severs diplomatic relations with Germany.
- May 18—Wilson signs selective conscription bill for army of 500,000.
- June 5—Americans register for draft.
- June 8—Gen. Pershing in England.
- June 12—King Constantine abdicates.
- June 15—American mission reaches Russia.
- June 26—First U. S. troops arrive in France.
- June 29—Greece severs relations with Germany and her allies.
- July 2—Chinese empire re-established for three days.
- July 14—Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg resigns, Dr. George Michaelis succeeding.
- July 22—Kerensky made dictator in Russia.
- Aug. 28—U. S. rejects pope's peace proposal.
- Sept. 3—Germans capture Riga.
- Sept. 16—Kerensky proclaims Russia a republic.
- Oct. 6—Peru severs diplomatic relations with Germany.
- Oct. 7—Uruguay severs diplomatic relations with Germany.
- Oct. 19—U. S. transport Antilles torpedoed.
- Oct. 23—First of U. S. troops enter French trenches.
- Oct. 26—Brazil declares war on Germany.
- Nov. 2—Three-cent postage in effect.
- Nov. 8—Bolsheviki in control of Russian government.
- Nov. 10—Lenine made Russian premier.
- Nov. 18—British capture Jaffa.
- Dec. 4—Wilson asks congress to declare war on Austria-Hungary.
- Dec. 6—Part of Halifax wrecked by explosion and fire.
- Dec. 7—Congress declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- Dec. 10—British capture Jerusalem.
- Dec. 26—U. S. takes over the railroads.