1. _Write legibly._—Rain, wear in the pocket, dim and fading lights, and crumpled paper are going to make havoc of your orders and messages in war time. Your commanding officer must be able to make out your script as well as your meaning. Now is the moment to make your handwriting a size or two larger and noticeably plainer. 2. _Inspect the form._ After you have written your ideas legibly, _look at them searchingly to see that they mean only what you intend_. You cannot be too cold-blooded about this act for two reasons. In the first place, there is a habit which is strong upon us. We have all been too prone to state a thing haphazardly, and then to exclaim, “You know what I mean!” The person addressed, of course, is not going to acknowledge that he has not the brains to understand; so the jumble is never smoothed out. Thus in nine-tenths of our off-hand moments we have been accustomed to say what we do _not_ mean. The habit is so strong that when we find ourselves dealing with matters of life and death, we are still liable to whisper to ourselves, “O, well, he’ll get it.” The result is that the part of the order, message, or report, which struck us as having our usual clearness, is a puzzle to the recipient. In the second place, the impression has grown up in the minds of many that substance, no matter how it is mixed, is all that is necessary. There has come about a certain proud disregard of the _manner_ in which a thing is expressed. Too many technical books have failed of their purpose because the writer, although he was an expert in his line, did not know how to present his subject in an attractive form. In the same way explanations have failed upon the drill ground, and lectures have made excellent tacticians appear like school-boys. The very manner of communication has not only spoiled the taste for the subject matter but has hindered its absorption. His audience has not understood his explanation. In inspecting your work, take the attitude that the recipient is skeptical of everything you have said. * * * * * It is assumed that you wish to fasten in your mind everything in this chapter. The following method is suggested as the best short-cut: 1. Make an outline of the whole chapter, expressing the main idea of each paragraph and sub-paragraph in two or three words. 2. Close your books. 3. With the aid of your outline see whether you can call to your mind everything the paragraph or sub-paragraph means. CHAPTER II MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS The following are the various types of military communication: FIELD MESSAGES convey verbal or written information by messenger or wire. REPORTS are written accounts of some enterprise, undertaking, or event, such as a reconnaissance, march, or battle. WAR DIARIES are daily records of events kept during campaign by each battalion and higher organization. From the entries in these diaries the facts of our military history are obtained.