Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-11-23
SHORTHAND WRITING.

OF the Government. during the parliamentary
session there are always many committees sit
ting on bills Of a private or public nature, and
at each of these a short hand writer must be In
attendance, TO take notes of the evidence Of all
the witnesses who may be examined, and, in
some eases, Of the speeches delivered by the
counsel on either side Shorthand writers are
also employed to take notes Of evidence in the
parliamentary examinations, and inquiries In
important law casos, of which the Government
desires to preserve an official record. The
Government shorthand writers are the Messrs.
GurneJ, In whose family this Office has been
vested for about = century, the first appoint
ment having been given to Mr.. Thomas Quincy,
who, IN l75l, Published an edition Of Mayors
Shorthand, with some slight modification.
Mr. W. b. Gurney, till lately occupied the
post be, however, died about two months ago,
,I0sO,) at an advanced age, leaving his two
sons, MesSrs. Thomas and Joseph Quincy, rs
his successors. Officially, Nr. Joseph Quincy
10 shorthand writer TO the House of Lords, and
Mr.. Thomas Quincy TO the House of Commons;
but all the business Of both houses is conducted
by the two Brothers by single firm. OF
course large establishments required to meet
the e1igencies of the public business. About
10 shorthand writer's, of great experience and
talent, form the principal portion of this estab-
lshment. The gentlemen are engaged in taking
notes OF evidence in the committees of the House
OfCOmmOns and House of Lords. They do not
transcrbe their own writing into long g-hand,
but are occupied almost exclusively in note
taking by which means they have attained
degree Of dexterity which is little short Of mar
vellous, when we remember that the system
which they write is one of the longest and most
tedious of any in ordinary use. The notes are
Transcribed by readers, of whom there are
several specially attached TO eaoh shorthand
writer, with whose peculiaritie. Of style they
thus become acquainted.
In the committee room. the short hand writer
takes his seat at the little table provided for
him in front Of the Chairman. On one side of
the table is chair for himself, and on the
other another chair for the witness He has
thus no difficulty in hearing the evidence, and
being close to the witnesses he can easily ask
them to repeat an answer when he has not un-
derstOod it. or to slacken their pace when they
are speaking too rapidly The hours during
which the Committees sit, are usually from II
to 4. After about an hours writing, the notes
OF the shorthand writer are taken to the read
ers by messenger employed for that purpose,
who comes with an open book in his hand TO
substitute for that which he takes away. The
samo thing Is repeated several times in the
day, 30 that in few hours after the Committee
has risen, all the notes have been transcribed
1t must not be supposed, however, that the
shorthand writer's work is finished when 4
o'clock has arrived. A laborious task is often
before him, for il is bis duty in the evening TO
examine and correct the Transcription that has
been made by his readers. From this correct
copy fair copy is made for the use of the
Committee, and when required, several Office
copies are made for the use of the parties con-
cerned- These are always delivered at the
meeting Of the Committee on the following day
or whenever they may assemble, and they are
often referred to in the course Of the proceed
ings- sometimes the evidence is printed at the
close Of the enquiry, together with the report of
the COMMITTEES, and occasionally in important
inquiries, such as that of the Sebsstopol Com
mlttee, the evidence IS printed from day 70 day
and copy placed in the hands Of each member
at the commencement of each days sitting In
such cases, n ID not uncommon for two short
hand writers to be engaged in one day, 90 as to
tighten their labors and expedite the work
The notes are generally very accurately
taken, though mistakes are sometimes made
The immense practice which the shorthand
writers have, being constantly engaged in taking
notes, ard spending little or none VI their time
In transcription, Ia of course highly favorable
10 the attainment OF great speed, and to a con-
siderable extent eOmPOnsates for the difficulty
ana length OF the system which they employ
"A long course Of preparation, however, ia gen
orally required before they are entrusted with
the flsk Of taking notes. They usually COM
mence As readers, being occupied with tran
scrlbIng tho notes of others and in this way
they are employed sometimes as long as 7 or S
years before they are considered capable of
IAAA4S AOtes themselves premium of 200
gulneas 81 ,000) is taken with each pupil wben
LIE first enters the establishment But there
ara frequently occasions when more work ia To
De done than IS possible by the regular staff
1he MessrS. Gurney then employ independent
snort-hand writers, of whom there are many in
London practising in the law courts and else
where, Some twenty Of these are on the
ist, and are engaged as occasion NAV re-
qulre They employ their own assistants, and
get their transcriptlOns completed as best they
can, 80 as 10 be delivered early on the morning
following the day on which they are engaged
after their day note taking iscOmpleted they
generally dictate their notes to assistants to
take them down AS fast as they can in short
hand, and then transcribe them. In the case
Of a long committee, as many as or of these
assistants are required, In order 10 get the tran
scriOlng finished In time. Attempts have been
made by a few Of the private shorthand writer's
10 break up the monopoly Of the Government
business, So long enjoyed by the Messrs. our
ney, but with no effect. When any active sten
has been taken in the matter, the moving party
has perhaps had good committee given 10 him
as u sop TO the dlscOntented Cerberus which
has generally had the natural effect of putting
stop TO his antagOnistic measures
IL may interest some of our readers 10 know
the rate Of payment for this kind of work Tn
10 very recent period the rate paid by the
Government 70 MessTs. Gurney was $40 day
Tor attendance, and Is cents folio of ~ words
f'r the transcript. But a few years ago, on the
occasion vi the appointment Of Mr. Joseph CUR
ney " his office as shorthand writer TO the
House Of Lords, the charge for transcription
was reduced to y cents per folio, which IS the
rate at present paid. The gentlemen of their
stan are paid cents per folio for taking the
notes and correcting the transcription Private
shorthand writer's engaged for extra work, are
paid IA cents per folio and g. so for attend
ance. Formerly, however, when the rate paid
by GoTeTnment was 25 cents they received
from the Messrs. Quincy Is cents per folio for
the transcription. Out of the sum received by
them they of course have 10 pay the assistant
whom they engage Sometimes a days work
will yield as many as 400 or 500 folios, in which
case the labor is very profitable. 1t does DOT.
however. extend over the whole OF the year.
but only lasts during the parliamentary ses-
SION Ia addition ~ the government business
the Aessrs- Quincy have private business Of
their own but not 50 much Gs formerly. Other
shorthand writer's are now On the g1t pirs for
private business. and thus the gains of the gov
ernmeut OstGbli i.hment under this haad ha ySo =,