The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1880-05-07
THREE DAYS OF SHORT HAND.


The following aneedote was told at
the recent banquet Of the Chicago
Short Hand Reporters Association, re-
ported In the Inter-ocean. The relater
was John Richie. lie says: "A young
law student pranced into the Office
where Neyins and / were cutting of
coupons, one afternoon, and said he
had a vague sort Of an idea that he
would like to pick up short hand for
recreation. Pick up short handl So
easy you know; just rs one OF us would
look upon a parallelogram Of cheese at
a free lunch. The GOODNESS Of that
youthful chief-justice was rs refreshing
rs a noseful Of Limberger to afamished
Dutchman. He was n Of those thin,
lank, lathy-looking fellows, hungry
from college. and with the supernatu-
raj cheek that ordinarily comes To n
lawyer only after thirty years Of prac-
tice. II | had n job Is railroad presi-
lent or United states senator TO offer
.iim, | have no doubt he would have
surrounded 1t with thanks. But | hap
pened To be out Of jobs Of that kind just
then, so | didn't offer him any. You
want 10 jerk short hand around just a
little for sport, rs II wereY' said Nevins,
with a critical look ut the pimrles
above his shirt collar. Exactly; l
gnss | can manage II In about three
weeks. Don't you think SOP oh,
yes said Nevins. But wouldn't you
rather take 1t in three days? l guess
we can thump II into you In that time,
II you will do as you're told Suits
suits me 10 n T. says he, lets call to-
day one. An right said Nevins;
book him, john So / got down an
old ledger and we took his age,
and felt his pulse, and rubbed
the bumps on his head and meas
ured his waist, and then we started
him blowing with all his wind into the
end of an old gas pipe that stuck out of
the wall, to test his lung power. Then
we got down Graham's Handbook"
and set him TO work copying some Of
that microscopic short hand in the tail
end Of the volume, where II says, %
tell me IL there be ang relcnting pity in
your bosom? How could you endure
tito behold the agouies of a dying man?'
all In one short hand enclosure, with
ont taking your pencil of the paper.
lie worked away at II the rest OF the
day, and when he went home we told
him lie would have to buckle into 1t un.
til after midnight, because 1t wasn't
any fool Of q job TO learn short hand in
three days, and think he thought so
too. When we came in next morning.
there he was, ready for business. lie
was n little blue around the gills, and
his ears Topped down like n dogs in hot
weather, but he said he'd be dondinged
II I've wouldn't pump all there was out
of short hand into himself IL II got
away with him doing 1t. We put him
on the pulmometer again and measured
his waist, aud found II hadn't shrunk
very much, SC at It he went again like
a bull pup at n woodchuck hole. At
loon we went out for our regular han
quett, and when we came back there
was n vacant area in the air we had left
him. We thought he had blown him
self into the gas-pipe and got lost in
there, but we received n letter from
him about n month afterward saying
that lie had secured n position, was
brevet griddle-greaser on a canal boat,
and didn't think short hand agreed
with his constitution"