the story.

=299. Sporting News.=--In handling sporting news a few specific
instructions are needful, the first being the necessity of absolute
impartiality in all controversies. Local rival sportsmen in their keen
desire to win are continually breeding quarrels, which frequently make
it difficult for the observer not to be biased; but the correspondent
must be careful to present simple facts only, without editorializing.
The need of filing all afternoon scores by 7:30 P.M., with 8:00 P.M. as
the outside limit, should also be noted. Morning papers put their
sporting news on inside pages and must make up the forms early. There
is need of the utmost caution in having the news correct, particularly
the box scores of baseball games, which have an unhappy way of failing
to balance when one compares individual scores with the totals. In all
contests where a seeming new record has been made, the correspondent
should be sure of the record before telegraphing it as such. If there is
the slightest doubt, report it as "what is said to be a record."
Finally, one should be cautioned against reporting mere high-school
contests, boxing bouts between local men, and other sporting news
possessing limited interest only.

=300. General Instructions.=--In conclusion, a few general instructions
may be given for the guidance of correspondents:

1. When forwarding time stories, advance manuscript of speeches, cuts,
etc., send by mail. The express companies do not deliver at night.

2. In telegrams spell out round numbers; and mark the beginning of
speeches by the word _quote_, and the end by _end quote_.

3. Keep the telegraph companies informed always of your street address
and telephone number. It is well also to maintain friendly relations
with the operators. Frequently they can be of valuable service to a
correspondent.

4. Finish all incomplete stories. It sometimes happens that one will
wire a dispatch of the beginning of a seeming big fire or a seeming
great murder mystery, which the paper will feature as important news,
but which later will prove of no worth. Such stories should be cleared
up and the results made known to avoid keeping the paper in a quandary
over the outcome.

5. When reporting fires, accidents, disasters, etc., locate the scene as
accurately as possible. This is sometimes accomplished by reference to
well-known buildings or landmarks, in addition to the exact street
location.

6. When a big story breaks, g