stories at intervals of from 100 to 150 words. The insertion of these subheads at comparatively regular intervals makes for symmetry of effect. Significant matter in the story, or an important change of topic, warrants a subhead, regardless of the regularity of the interval. It is generally considered preferable not to place a subhead immediately after a sentence ending with a colon and introducing a quotation, because the subhead interrupts the quotation and appears to be part of it. This difficulty can usually be avoided by placing the subhead just before the introductory sentence, thus:
NEW YORK, Dec. 14.—On the eve
of his retirement from the post of
British ambassador at Washington,
which he has occupied with distinction
for six years, James Bryce Saturday
night paid an extraordinary tribute to
the constitution of the United States.
The occasion was the annual dinner of
the Pennsylvania society of New York,
and he spoke from the topic: "The
Commemoration of the One Hundred
and Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the
Framing of the Constitution of the
United States."
Work of Men of Genius.
The ambassador said in part:
"The constitution was the work of
an extraordinary group of men such as
has seldom been seen living at the
same time in any country and such as
had never been brought together in
any other country to undertake the
immensely difficult task of framing a
fundamental instrument of government
for a nation. The nation was then a
small one, and it is one of the most
striking tributes to the genius and
foresight of the men that the frame of
government which they designed for
37,000,000 people should have proved
fitting to serve the needs of 93,000,000."
