Although the participial phrase usually gives the summary of the speech, not infrequently the participial construction is used to play up the name of the speech or some other fact and the summary comes after the principal verb of the lead; thus:
Paying tribute to the memory of President William McKinley last night at the Metropolitan Temple, where exercises were held to dedicate the McKinley memorial organ, Judge Taft told in detail of his commission to the Philippine service and his subsequent intimate connection with the President.—New York Tribune.
7. Title Beginning.—There are two reasons for beginning the report of a public utterance with the speaker's subject or title. The title itself may be so broad that it makes a good summary of the speech, or it may be so striking in itself that it attracts interest at once. In the following examples the title is really a summary of the speech:
NEW YORK, Dec. 15.—"The Compensation of Employes for Injuries Received While at Work" was taken by J. D. Beck, commissioner of labor of Wisconsin, as the theme of his address before the National Civic Federation here today.—Milwaukee Free Press.
"The Emmanuel Movement" was the subject of an address by Rabbi Stephen S. Wise of the Free Synagogue yesterday morning.—New York Evening Post.
In the following stories the reporter began with the title evidently because it was so strikingly unusual and also because it was the title of a strikingly unusual speech by an unusual man. This kind of title beginning is always very effective:
"Booze, or Get on the Water Wagon," was the subject on which Rev. Billy Sunday, the baseball evangelist, addressed an audience of over 4,000 persons at the Midland Chautauqua yesterday afternoon. For two hours Sunday fired volley after volley at the liquor traffic.—Des Moines Capital.
"If Christ Came to Milwaukee" was the subject of the Rev. Paul B. Jenkin's Sunday night in Immanuel Presbyterian Church.—Milwaukee Sentinel.
8. Speaker Beginning.—It is obvious that this is the easiest beginning that may be used in the report of a speech. But just as obviously it is the beginning that should be least used. Just as in writing news stories a green reporter always attempts to begin every lead with the name of some person involved, in reporting a public discourse he has a strong desire to put the name of the speaker before what the speaker said. But the same tests may be applied to both cases. Are our readers more interested in what a man does than in the man himself; do our readers go to hear a given speaker because they wish to hear what he has to say or because they wish to hear him? Whenever the public is so interested in a man that it does not care what he says, then you may feel safe in beginning the report of what he says with his name. This test may be altered, especially in smaller cities, by previous interest in the speech; if the speech has been expected and looked forward to with interest, then, no matter if the speaker is the President himself, his name is not as good news as what he has to say. Even if the lead does begin with the speaker's name, the reporter usually tries to bring a summary of the speech or the most striking statement into the first sentence after the name. For example: