What the Government has characterized as "unfair competition and discrimination" on the part of the Standard Oil Company continued to be the subject of the investigation of that corporation today before Franklin Ferris of St. Louis, referee, in the Custom House.—New York Evening Post.
The summary may be presented in as formal a way as the that-clause beginning which we used in reports of speeches:
That the Adams' Express Company's business in New England in 1909 yielded a profit representing 45 per cent. on the investment, including real estate and, excepting real estate, a net income of more than 83 per cent., came out in the course of the hearing before the Interstate Commerce Commission, etc.—New York Evening Post.
4. Direct Quotation Beginning.—A direct quotation of some striking statement made by the judge, by a lawyer, by a witness, or by any one connected with the trial may be used at the beginning of the lead. Here is a lead beginning with a quotation from the title of a case:
"Captain Dick and Captain Lewis, Indians, for and on behalf of the Yokayo tribe of Indians, vs. F. C. Albertson, T. J. Weldon, as administrator of the estate of Charley, Indian, deceased, Minnehaha, Ollagoola, Hiawatha, Wanahana, Pocahontas, etc."
So runs the title of as unusual a case as jurists, etc.—San Francisco Examiner.
5. Human Interest Beginning.—The human interest beginning is a more or less free beginning which may be used in the reporting of rather insignificant cases which are of value only for the human interest in them. The beginning is capable of almost any treatment so long as it brings out the humor, beauty, or pathos of the situation. Sometimes the story begins with a rather striking summary of the unusual things that came out in the testimony, as in this case:
How suddenly and how radically a woman can exercise her inalienable prerogative and change her mind is shown in the testamentary disposition made of her estate by Mrs. Jennie L. Ramsay. She made a will on July 4 last, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, leaving her property to her husband, and at 7 o'clock in the evening of the same day she made another will in which she took the property away from her husband.—New York Times.
Here is an interesting illustration of the use of a trivial incident as the basis for a humorous lead:
Bang, an English setter dog, accused of biting 11-year-old Sophie Kahn, made an excellent witness in the City Court today when his owner, Hirman L. Phelps, a real estate dealer of the Bronx, appeared as defendant in a damage suit brought by the girl for $2,000.—New York Evening Post.