The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1884-01-11
RAPID REPORTERS.
How the Debates I'm Congress Are
short handed - The Official sten0-
eraphers.


Short handed The Official steno-
eraphers.
John J. McElhone, the chief of the
official stenographers Of the House,
says the Washington Post, has been in
the service of that bo1y as an official
reporter since 1649. He was an ex-
pert stenographer when a mere boy.
When he was 18 years old he was re-
porting the official debates. Dennis
Murphy, the chief of the senate staff,
began his official work for congress six
months earlier than McElhone. Both
are from Philadelphia. McElhone is IA
very tall, straight, vigorous, good-look-
ing man. He has more the air Of "a
dashing soldier than that Of civilian.
His eyes are clear and resolute, his nose
straight. while his military moustache
and imperial accentuate his appearance
of vigor and energy. lie is a very cul-
tivated man, and few members have
such thorough knowledge of public
affairs as McElhone. 1t is strange that
none of the young stenographers of
Washington, who are looking forward
to fill the places of the official stenog-
raphers Of congress, are not doing
something to qualify themselves fot
the work. The average stenographer
looks only to the mechanical part of
his work, without thought of how
necessary to his final success is the
possession Of thoroughly broad ani
comprehensive education.
Mr. McElhone explained the other
day his method Of working. 1t will
probably be revelation to the average
reporter. He pays no attention to the
mechanical part Of its work. He
writes the Pitman system in its
simplest forms. When he is reporting
speaker he follows his every sentence,
criticising it and taking in fully its
sense, while his hand follows his
thought like bit of eXquisitely train
ed mechanism The result is that nc
has never yet met speaker who can
talk too fast for him. When he meets
man who can think faster than he
can, then only will McElhone be at
loss. He says that in the last house
the three hardest men to report were
Thompson, of Iowa; Blackburn, of
Kentucky, and Ranney, of Massachu.
sets.
The hardest piece of reporting ever
done by McElhone was during the eX-
citing Incidents of the electoral cornt
IN the house or representatives IN
1877. When Beebe, of New York,
jumped upon his desk, perfect bedlam
appeared to be let loose. To report
what was said, with 20 or 30 members
apparently talking at once, must have
seemed almost an impo5sibility. In
less than a second McElhone saw that
his reputation as one of the greatest of
living reporters was at stake. lie
seized his notebook and dashed right
into the center of the excitement. The
voice of every member was familiar to
him. Without turning his head he
stood erect amid the widest confusion
and caught with rigid accuracy the
words of the most distant speaker. He
was very nervous over the result, bs-
cause if any member at that time had
by chance been omitted from the page
Of history Of that day McElhone
would have been the subject of many
row. None of the members believed
that he had been able to get them all,
yet when his report came out in the
Record the next day, not one had a
single word of fault to find. In fact.
it is the only perfect picture of that eX-
citing period. 1t was one of the great
est feats of stenographic reporting
ever done in congress. When McElhOne
had finished he was bathed in perspira-
ton from head to foot and was as weak
as if he had been running in ten-mile
/ II, otab