The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-05-19
REV ORLEANS BULLETIN
NEW ORLEANS, MAY 10, 1875.
/" BOIL IT DOWN"

BOIL LII UUWN
One of the gravest errors committed by
writer's or orators is a habit OF strlnging out
xheir ideas in long line OF useless verbiage,
,znder the false impression that frequent repe.
4ition or lengthy explanation is necessary to
szirly present their case to their readers OF
hearers. Many really splendid idea has
been densely clouded, and really suffocated,
by the heavy drapery OF rhetoric which
mistaken authors have chosen to throw
around it, enveloping its real strength and
beauty in a mass of high sounding but fatal
words, which serve to obscure rather than
Brighten the intrinsic fire Of the thought
itself.
No style of expression, whether in speak
ing or writing, has half the effect or hall the
real beauty, as the clear and concise. This
wandering about in search of elegant figures
wherewith to express ones thought, has the
effect of firing the reader or listener whose
mind, kept SO long anxiously waiting, at last
becomes wearied and has no strength left to
fully grasp the thought in it's entirety when
sinaliy it is presented to them for contempla-
aion OF, perhaps worse, they, following the
writer in his poetic flights, entirely lose sight
of the main thought, and with him go wan
aering in the rhetorical garden admiring the
beauty Of the picture, but forgetting the OBJ
Jet Of their search.
How often have we heard parties who have
listened to an Grafton of an hours length ex-
press their entire opinion by saying, "How
beautifully he expresses himself or, Chow
poetic is his fancy" The argument Of the
s,rator's effort has fallen unheeded upon their
cars, and they admire him, not as a man Of
Thought, but as pretty writer and sparkling
10 suffer from this verbose style Of some
people more than any other persons in the
world. Correspondents send them long
drawn out articles of many pages, wherein
shsre is possibly but one single idea, and ex-
pect The entire contribution to be published.
Let the editor dare to apply his scissors or
xttempt to prune the article down to its real
merit and he may expect very shortly to be
interviewed by an irate contributor, who de-
naands why his "article was SO terribly mutt
lated : intimating that it was done with
some hidden desire to injure him in the eyes
of the public, or to warp his rising ambition.
an explanations are in vain, and the paper
possibly loses subscriber and the editor an
acquaintance. We know Of one paper whose
ssiitor prefers losing such contributors, and
unless they can submit to judicious correc-
lions and abreviations, prefers to dispense
with their articles
In oil products of the pen, in ell oratorical
siIDrts or chance conversations, there are
many useless words and sentences, and
whichever of them it may be, our advice is to
think over it carefully and take the advice Of
the writer who said:
Whatever you have to say, my friend,
Whether witty or grave or gay,
Condense as much as ever you can,
W. And say it the readest way;
And whether you write of rural affairs
Or OF matters and things in town,
Just take word of friendly advice
Boil 1t down.
When writing an article for the press,
whether prose verse, just try
To settle your thoughts in the fewest words,
And let them be crisp and dry;
And when it is finished and you suppose
IL is done exactly brown,
inst look it over again and then
Boil it down.