Occasionally a particularly facile phrase, such as when the President spoke of the need of "spiritual efficiency" as a basis for military efficiency, started the hand-clapping and gusts of applause swept through the hall.
General Effect of the Visit
For Pennsylvania, Republican stronghold, which gave Roosevelt a plurality of 51,000 over Wilson in 1912, the reception accorded the President is regarded as quite satisfactory. Downtown in the business district there was hardly a ripple.
Inquisitive Crowds
But in the neighborhood of the Hotel Schenley, out by the Carnegie Institute, a large crowd turned out a few hours after the President's arrival and kept their glances on the seventh floor, which was banked in roses and orchids.
Beginning of the Speech
"As your servant and representative, I should come and report to you on our public affairs," the President began. "It is the duty of every public man to hold frank counsel with the people he represents."[20] ...
[20] Arthur M. Evans in The Chicago Herald, January 30, 1916.
202. Body of the Story.—In writing the body of the story, the first thing to strive for is proper coherence with the lead. This caution is worth particular heed when the lead contains a single-sentence quotation, an indirect question, or a paragraph of direct statement from somewhere in the body of the speech. Few things are more incongruous in a story than a clever epigrammatic lead and a succession of quoted statements following, none of which exhibits a definite bearing on the lead. Oftentimes this incongruity is produced by the reporter's attempt to follow the precise order adopted by the speaker. Such an order, however, should be manifestly impossible in a news report when the writer has dug out for use in the lead a lone sentence or paragraph from the middle of the speech. Rather, one should continue such a lead with a paragraph or so of development, then follow with paragraphs of direct quotation which originally may or may not have preceded the idea featured in the lead.
203. Accuracy.—The second consideration must be the same accuracy and fairness that was emphasized in the discussion of the interview. Some reporters, for instance, take the liberty of putting within quotation marks, as though quoted directly, whole paragraphs that they know are not given verbatim, their grounds for the liberty being that they know they are reporting the speaker with entire accuracy, and the use of "quotes" gives the story greater emphasis and intimacy of appeal. This liberty is to be condemned. When a reporter puts quotation marks about a phrase or clause, he declares to his readers that the other man, not he, is responsible for the statement exactly as printed. And even though a man may think he is reporting a speaker with absolute precision, there is always the possibility that he may have misunderstood. Indeed, it is just these chance misunderstandings that trip reporters and frequently necessitate speakers' denying published accounts of their lectures. Only what one has taken down verbatim should be put within quotation marks. All else should be reported indirectly with an unwavering determination to convey the real spirit of the lecture or sermon, not to play up an isolated or random subtopic that has little bearing on the speech as a whole. Any reporter can find in any lecture statements which, taken without the accompanying qualifications, may be adroitly warped to make the story good and the speaker ridiculous in the eyes of the reading public.