Do not abbreviate _Attorney_ to _Atty._ before a name.
Do not abbreviate first names except in reproducing signatures, as, _Wm. H. Taft_, if Mr. Taft wrote it that way.
Abbreviate _senior_ and _junior_ with commas on each side, as _John Jones, Jr., spoke_.
Do not make _Tom_, _Dan_, _Ben_, _Joe_, etc., abbreviations unless you are sure they are. _Alex Dow_ is written without the period.
Write _S O S_ and similar telegraphic abbreviations, and _I O U_ without periods.
Use _Bros._ only when firm name is so written.
Use ampersand (&) in firm name only when the firm uses it.
Abbreviate _number_ when followed by numerals, as _No. 10_.
Spell out United States except in addresses or in army and navy phrases. Military and naval titles should be written thus:
Adjt. Adjt.-Gen. Brig.-Gen. Capt. Col. Corp. First Lieut. Gen. Lieut. Lieut.-Col. Lieut.-Gen. Maj. Maj.-Gen. Private Q. M.-Gen. Q. M.-Sergt. Second Lieut. Second Sergt. Sergt. Sergt.-Maj. Surg.-Gen. Surg.-Maj.
_Class of '08_ may be used for _Class of 1908_.
Book sizes, _4to_, _8vo_, _12mo_, should be written without periods.
Use only abbreviations that will surely be understood, such as _Y. M. C. A._, _W. C. T. U._, etc., in referring to organizations.
Ald. Atty.-Gen. Gov. Lieut.-Gov. Sen. Rep. Cong. Supt.
Abbreviate _saint_ and _saints_ in proper names, as _St. Louis_, _Sault Ste. Marie_, _Ste. Anne's_, _SS. Peter and Paul's church_.
Write scriptural texts _Gen. xiv, 24_; _II Kings viii, 11-15_.
Abbreviate names of political parties only thus, _Smith (Rep.) defeated Jones (Dem.) for alderman_.
Do not abbreviate street, avenue, boulevard, place or other designation of a thoroughfare.
Abbreviate clock time when immediately connected with figures to _a. m._ and _p. m._
Write English money _£5 4s 6d_, without commas.
Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Use _don't_ only when you may substitute do not. Perhaps you have seen the advertisement which reads: "Hand Made Tobacco Don't Bite the Tongue."
The one infallible way to insult a man is to misspell his name; that is an old newspaper maxim. More care should be taken with the spelling of the names in a story than with any other mechanical detail. Often a name is misspelled because a typewriter is not clean and an _e_ or an _a_ is mistaken for an _o_ or a _u_. It is wise for the reporter to make sure these letters particularly print clearly or he may be held to account for an error. An even better way is to write a proper name in CAPS if it is at all uncommon. When the reporter writes a name such as Willson or Jonnes or Georg, a name which deviates slightly from a familiar name, it is wise to write it thus "... _and Georg (Correct) Brandes who ..._" then the copy reader knows that the reporter has not left off a letter and the printer and proof reader also know that the word must stand as written.