Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1889-11-21
The Blue Pencil.

The Blue Pencil.
HOW Az ARTICLE ",> "HOILEp boNN"
-ri>ts 10 THOSE VINO WRITE foK >tne-
P,PFKs.
Space in newspaper ha- prescribed
limits There j. always more news than
space The chief problem In editing j. 50
10 condenSe news reports that every item
may b., given the exact amount of room
due its Importance. The whole stan j.
trained 10 write matter with direct re-
gard to IT. value not q elaborate tritr~,
not 10 be lsCouC In treating affairs Of $40
+ mcut. Condensation Is much harder to
learn and 10 practice than j. ainpllfcation
50 the bne pencil Of the editor j. perenni
ally used u prnue into compactness the *
u,crauce Of expression common To- read,
writers. Any Que can pad out skeleton
report with ahjccijvcs; few writers can
reduce expression to its simplest form
without much labor.
The country correspondent" and his
cousin. the special fcud, are both
tran>grc>~cr> Of the Law Of breSty. They
ar. both space writers. l. N. paid 80 much
a word or line. ali 20 IL j. a matter OF pc
cuniary profit to them TO he verbose.
Hence from twin motives Of economy OF
space and expense the judIciou~ editor
use, hi, blue pencil" with All unsparln1
hand on heir redundant news letters An
example OF condensation i given below
in which the boHu Hd> dispatch. barring
names nf persons and places, j. reproduced
together with some successive editing
made upon IL bv different members Of the
stan, Ia Illustrate To what mragrc space an
item Of news may be compressed without
los Of value to the reader.
Following j. tie dispatch a. received
from the telegraph Office
SAPoi 10. o., Feb. 10 There Is almost
universal mourning here tonight over the
suicide Of one of the most beautiful ac-
compli> she'd and e-timablc young married
ladies In the upper circles ot society
Mr.. Ana>tasta z EmDonpnint, wife "t
Anaxagoras EmhOnpoint, Of the Self
Amounting Car Axle and Anti Friction
Bearing Works TOOK her own life to-day
in A hidden raw inc on the out>k rts OF The
city BY shooting herself through the heart
She was a daughter of the Hon. Misccgrn-
atu> X. DollageT. wealthy and innucntlal
cigar box manufacturer OF Manay unh. and
the family was prominent and had !nfurn-
tial connections throughout the state. e.
pecially in Tidoute MIR and Mrs En-
bonpotnt occupy separate Sleeping rooms
Her husband heard her a~tir before day
break thl> morning and Id answer 70 ms
inquiries She said She could not sleep
Long after daylight one of the children
came 70 Mr EmboupoInt'> bedside, saying
Mamma j. gone, and hurried scar th
failed to discover her. pi,tn! was
found missing, and one of the outside
doors vas open All day searching par
tie~ secured the town aud surrounding
IN dEl-E
this evening a man who knew nothing Z
Of her disappearance found the dead body
in A lonely ravinr living ON drift of snow
/ The pistol was in her hand. one Shot had
killed her and she lay Il, II ai>eep her
rich clothing scarcely di>arran1cd aud no
trace Of pain to mar the marvellous beauty
of her face She had given signs of All
hereditary taint of insanity during the
past summer and this accounts for her
self-murder.
The city editor first read the Item pass
ng his blue pencil through the superiin-
Gus words indicated by brackets. The
beauty" and accomplishments" and the
influential connections" were unfeelin9ly
eliminated and the pathos of the passage
about the childish proclamation only eXclt-
ed a sneer which broke out in the emphat-
ic exclamation, Rats. !" when the mar
I the UarttIOus, etc, anu y
taint" at last were reached. Calling To
one OF the oldest reporters on the force.
he said Reuben, if you aren't busy,
wish YOU would boil down this rot. 1t has
got to be rewritten" This is the result of
Reuben's revision.
S,PoIIo, o., Feb. l7.-Mrs. Ananta>ia
O. EmboDpoint, wife of Mr.. A. &, Embon
point, of the Self-Anointing Car Axle
and AntiFriction Bearing works, and
daughter of the Hon. n. X. Dollager, OF
Manayunk took her life to-day in raw Inc
on the outskirts of the city by shooting
herself though the heart. Mrs. Embon
point was missed from the house by her
family shortly after daybreak, as was alsC
pistol. aud one of the outside doors wa'
found open. All day parties secured The
town and surrounding country without
success but at dusk man found the bod,
lying in ravne, the pistol in the hand
She had previously shown signs of insani
tv, and this accounts for her self murder
'.Reub," commented the city editor. a.
he glanced over the above, ''your work a
special fiend for the Fort Erie Hustler i,
uniting you for active service on thi:
street. What do we care about self-anoint
ing car axles? Hughle," he called to the
man whose voice was heard petitioning
for a match to light his cigarette. ''boi
this suicide into as few words as you can.
These are the few words
SAPoLIO, o., Feb. l7.-MTs. A. z. EN-
bonpoint, wife of Mr. A. g. Embonpoint
took her life this morning in ravine il
the suburbs by shooting herself through
!, the heart She arose shortly before day
break and taking pistol left the house
In the evening the body was found lyins
! in the rayine, the pistol in the hand. He
! reditary insanity is the alleged cause o.
her self-murder.
The assistant city editor had just com'
! into the Office and was getting into ofic'
r costume, when the above was handed in
See if you can edit that down any more,
said his chief tossing Hughes effort u
. him. The assistant, who thinks he is
, boiler from Boilerville, handed back tn
! following:
: SAPoIIo, O., Feb. l7.-This mornin,
Mrs. A. @. Embonpoint, wife of Mr.. A. g
, Embonpoint, arose before daybreak and
taking a pistol from the house, went to
ravine in the suburbs and shot hersel
T through the heart. Her body was no
found until evening. Insanity is the al
. legged cause of her suicide.
, His chief pulled at his silky moustach
3 for moment as he conned the subordi
| mates revision, and then with two o
3 three serpeatine movements, dele-mar