ire
last night is due to, etc." Here the _that_-clause is subject of the
verb is and the expression is entirely grammatical as well as very
useful as a beginning.

4. _Prepositional Phrase._--When the feature of a story is an action
rather than a thing, a noun can hardly be used to express it. Very
often this lead may be handled by means of a prepositional phrase at the
beginning. For example, one of the stories in the last chapter begins:
"With her home on fire and with smoke swirling around her head, Mrs.
John, etc." In this case the prepositional phrase modifies the subject
and should not be far from it. Another variation of this is the
prepositional phrase of time, modifying the verb; e.g., "During the
wedding of Miss Mary Jones, last night, the house suddenly caught fire,
etc." This beginning is effective if it is not overworked, but the
reader should never be held back from the real facts of the story by a
string of complicated phrases, intended to build up suspense.

5. _Participial Phrase._--Very much like the prepositional phrase
beginning is the participial beginning. "Sliding down an eighty-foot
extension ladder with a woman in his arms, Fireman John Casey rescued,
etc." It must be borne in mind that the participial phrase must modify a
noun and there should be no doubt in the reader's mind as to the noun
that it modifies. It would of course be absurd to say "Sliding down an
eighty-foot extension ladder, fire seriously burned John Casey----," but
such things are often said. Never should this participial phrase be used
as the subject of a verb, as "Returning home and finding her house in
ashes was the unusual experience of Mrs. James, etc." The phrase must
always modify a noun just like an adjective.

6. _Temporal Clause._--A feature may often be brought to the beginning
of the lead by a simple transposition of clauses. Should the time be
important a subordinate _when_ or _while_ clause may precede the
principal clause of the sentence; i.e., "When the snowstorm was at its
height early this morning, a three-story brick building burned, etc.,"
or "While 15,000 people watched from the street below, 250 girls escaped
from the burning building at, etc."

7. _Causal Clause._--Should the cause of an action or an occurrence be
attractive enough for the first line, a _for_ or a _because_ clause may
begin the lead. "Because a tinsmith upset a pot of molten solder on the
roof of pier No. 19, two steamers were burned,