Sometimes space can be wisely saved and strength gained by avoiding the 'if' clause; e. g. 'Men blinded by prejudice cannot see the truth,' is shorter and stronger than, 'If men are blinded by prejudice, they cannot see the truth.'

individual was precipitated: =man fell infuriated animal frightened horse lower limbs, nether extremities = legs morning repast = breakfast

=

offer some brief observations patrons of husbandry farmers pecuniary liabilities debts

=

perform ablutions = wash

say a few words

perform the rites of Bacchus drink

=

The too-explicit writer says 'the lodge will meet Tuesday evening, January 15, at 7.30 o'clock P. M.,' where 'January 15, at 7.30 P. M.,' is all the detail necessary in a newspaper. According to this writer 'the lodge has extended an invitation to the Board of Grand Officers to be present and take part in the ceremony.' The lodge in reality 'invited the Grand Officers to take part in the ceremony'; they surely could not take part if they were not present. After the affair this same writer says, 'the lodge celebrated its anniversary by giving a supper,' though the necessity of the word 'giving' does not appear. After 'the gathering had assembled' and 'the large audience that filled the hall' had heard the entertainment, the people 'adjourned to the banquet hall [supper room?],' where the always 'bounteous collation was enjoyed.' 'After the cigars had been lighted', as usual, 'speech making was in order and addresses were made,' as if addresses might be made if speeches were not in order. Then 'District Deputy Grand Commander John Brown was presented with a jewel by Brother B. B. Smith,' when the paper wants to say that 'B. B. Smith presented a jewel to D. D. G. C. John Brown.' According to the report Deputy Brown said he would do all that lay in his power to organize a lodge in the town of Smithley, as if his hearers cared whether Smithley was a town or city, and whether he would do all that lay in his power or all he could. At another meeting of this lodge the business was 'proceeded with' very slowly, instead of being

'transacted.' Some member 'desired' the lodge to occupy a new hall 'providing' the 'expense' would not be too 'heavy.' He really 'wanted' this if the 'cost' would not be too much.' 'A great majority of the members,' instead of 'most of the members,' 'antagonized' instead of 'opposed' the project. It was announced that another member had 'sustained an accident,' which sounded better than 'met with an accident,' but he was 'recovering from its effects,' or in other words 'getting well.' It seems he had been thrown 'a distance of fifty feet' by an explosion, though what fifty feet could be but 'a distance' did not appear.

RELATING TO DEATH.

Nothing is harder to write about than death. There is the fear that the language may seem cold, unsympathetic, even flippant. Instinctively the writer seeks more formal, dignified words and phrases than the ordinary happenings of life require, and in doing this he often gets beyond the borders of good taste, though writing with the best of intentions. Let him remember that in language as in everything else relating to death, the simplest is the wisest. For instance, let him avoid both noun and verb 'decease,' and above all, not refer to 'the deceased' or 'the defunct.' Do not say, 'he departed this life,' 'he passed out of existence,' 'he paid the debt of Nature,' 'he was gathered to his fathers,' 'his spirit quitted its earthly habitation, winged its way to eternity, shook off its burden.' In point of brevity, good taste, and solemnity, 'he died' is far preferable. Likewise 'death' is better than 'demise' or 'dissolution.'

'Funeral from the late residence' is a common phrase

that grates on the ear of every person of good taste. The funeral may be the ceremonies or the procession, and of course it is only in reference to the procession that the word 'from' can be used with propriety, and that is not what is meant. 'Late' is a useless word, so that the better phrasing would be, 'Funeral at the residence.' Likewise 'funeral' alone is better than 'funeral over the remains.' 'Cortége' is a French word meaning 'procession, retinue, train of attendants,' and is not appropriately used in describing funerals. The word 'obsequies' should be reserved for imposing funeral rites.

A dead body is a 'corpse,' but that word is too suggestive of the morgue and the dissecting-room; it is a 'carcass,' but usage restricts that word to beasts. 'Remains' is a word to be avoided and 'relics' is archaic. 'Body' is much the safest word.

'Coffin' is a simpler and better word than 'casket.' Say 'crape,' and not, 'sable insignia of death.' A 'cerement' is a cloth that has been dipped in melted wax, in which bodies are wrapped when embalmed. A 'cenotaph' is an empty tomb or monument erected to the memory of one buried elsewhere. A 'catafalque' is a temporary structure like a tomb or cenotaph on which a body lies in state. A 'mausoleum' is a magnificent tomb. A 'mortuary' is a burial-place. 'Cemetery' has come into common use for 'grave-yard,' but the old term, still common in rural districts, has too many solemn associations to be discarded. 'Morgue' is more clearly acceptable, a substitute for 'dead-house' or 'charnel-house,' terms no longer in oral use. 'Burial' is preferable to

'interment.'

If it is ever in good taste to put 'the late' before the

name of a dead man, surely it is superfluous to speak of 'the widow of the late John Smith' or 'the will of the late Henry Brown.'

Whether when a husband dies, he leaves a wife or a widow, is a subject of controversy, but as everybody says that the wife who dies leaves a husband, not a widower, it would seem that consistency favors the form, ‘leaves a wife.' 'Suicide' must never be used as a verb. Whenever 'fatal' is used in the sense of 'mortal, deadly,' it is absurd to couple with it 'serious,' or similar words. Met with a serious and fatal accident' is part of a sentence not rarely seen. 'Sad and fatal' is another deplorable phrase.

In writing for newspaper publication, it is desirable that these facts should be given: Name; Place; Age; Cause; Time; Personality, character, standing in the community; Names of children, brothers, and sisters; Wife or husband left; Date and place of funeral; Place of burial; Officiating clergyman.

Flippant language wherever death is concerned, no matter what the circumstances, is in the worst of taste. The body of a person found drowned should never be called a 'floater,' nor should a corpse ever be called a 'stiff.'

THE USE OF TITLES.

The ordinary use of titles should conform to custom. Although Professor White may be a Ph. D., the chances are that his associates and friends speak of him as 'Professor,' and not as 'Doctor,' and so you should write, 'Professor J. W. White.' If a man's friends apply to him indiscriminately two titles such as 'Colonel' and 'Judge,' it is better in writing to use the title of the office now held or last held. If a man gets a title by serving