The three men were drinking together on Saturday when the issues between the North and South caused a dispute. They parted in wrath.
“We’ll show that fellow where he gets off at,” the McGuire brothers are reported to have said as they left for the loop to buy arms to protect the honor of the South.
Charles McGuire, with a revolver as his artillery, went alone yesterday to the saloon. His brother, not feeling well, remained at home. Soon Charles met White and had no trouble in drawing an attack from him.
He drew the revolver and shot White through the cheek. Then the police arrived and took Charles prisoner. White was rushed to St. Anne’s hospital.
CHAPTER V
NEWS STORIES OF UNEXPECTED OCCURRENCES
Kinds of Occurrences. Reports of unexpected occurrences of various kinds may be taken as typical of news stories generally. Fires, railroad and trolley wrecks, mine and tunnel accidents, floods and storms, marine disasters, explosions, runaways, automobile accidents, etc., form one large group of events in this class. Murders, suicides, robberies, embezzlements, and all other crimes constitute the second important division. The application to each of these groups of the principles of structure and style discussed in the preceding chapter will be considered separately.
Fires and Accidents. In news stories of fires and accidents, the number of lives lost or endangered, the character and extent of the damage, and the cause are the features in which readers are most interested. Lists of the killed or injured are always included in local stories, and should be sent in telegraph stories when the persons are known in communities in which the newspaper circulates. The names, the addresses, the occupations or business connections, and often the age of persons killed, are given, and the same details are reported for the seriously hurt, as well as the extent of the injuries and the hospital to which each person is taken. The form in which such lists are arranged is shown in the explanation of “boxed” lists (pages 86–88). The extent and the character of the damage caused by a disaster are important, particularly when the amount or the area affected is large. Curious and unusual causes and results, remarkable escapes, pathetic or humorous incidents, and novel circumstances generally are frequently “played up,” particularly in telegraph stories of occurrences in which the persons involved are known only locally. In such cases the peculiar circumstances are the only reason for publishing the stories outside of the community in which the events happen. Unusual incidents are also good in the lead of local stories when the other phases are not more important.
The chief considerations in writing the body of news stories of unexpected occurrences are to select and emphasize important details, to eliminate or subordinate minor ones, and to connect firmly the different parts of the narrative. Whether the reporter is limited to a given number of words or is instructed to write as much as the news is worth, he must choose and reject particulars with great care, remembering always that what he retains must be so arranged that to the rapid reader the relation of one part to another will be perfectly clear. In a complex story with a series of incidents taking place simultaneously, different threads of narrative must be woven together skillfully to make it evident how the several incidents took place at the same time.