, 1886-11-25
STRAIN OF SHORTHAND WRITING.


Subtieties of Stenography-Serves Must
BE Kept In Excellent Trim.
McElhone, chief of the corps OF Off
cial reporters OF the house of representa-
tives, is n man of a great deal of cul-
ture, who has a remarkable library. He
probably reads more than any man con
nected with the house of representa-
tves. Among the c%uriosities of his
library he has n great many rare books
upon the profession of shorthand, in
which he is so greatly skilled. He re-
ceived recently from one of the states n
request to aid in furnishing them infor-
nation as to the history of short hand,
and he has of late been consulted, with
the sar-e object in view, by shorthand
societies in Europe. Speaking upon this
subject the other day McElhone said:
The shorthand writers of our day are
mistaken in thinking that they are the
masters of a new art. Shorthand is
centuries old. 1t was an art known in
early Roman history. The Catholic
councils from a very early time Were re-
ported in shorthand. There was a
period in the history of England when
the art of shorthand writing was a part
of the education OF every gentleman.
Pepys' diary was wholly written in
short hand, and had to be translated be
fore it was published
was talking some time ago with an
other one OF the most experienced stem
ographers at the national capital. He
said: Shorthand is a$slrt. Public men,
however, seem to think that anybody can
xnrft. .I,.., I..l nj tho a.n,.tt,,.g
say it is mere mechanical work. | rave
given twenty-five of the best years Of
my life to this art, and am learning
something to this hour. Seldom a day
passes that | do not discover something
new about the intricacics and subtleties
Of stenography. There is another thing
about shorthand that is not generally
understood. A man Of bad or irregular
habits can not bea permanently success
ful shorthand writer. Success in this
profession depends upon the nerves,
and n man with broken nerves will be-
come a poor writer. You will find that
the best writers in the two houses Of
congress are compelled to take long sea
sons of rest to tone up their nerves, and
to recover from the tremendous strain
of a session of congress. | have often
heard Mr.. Murphy and Mr.. McElhone,
who are Mt the mead of the official corps
of stenographers in the senate and
house, respectively, say that they need
all h rest of the long vacation to re-
cover from the arduous exertiong which
they are required to put forth during the
sessions of congress.
AS for myself, | am affected in short
hand writing by the simplest things. |
am obliged TO be careful even with my
eating in order to keep my nerves in
proper condition. | can not eat corn
beef and cabbage, for instance, and read
my notes with the facility that / like.
CThis stenographer re%dictates all of his
notes to shorthand am%anuenses, who
are themselves accomplished writers.)
Often, when | have been travelling over
the country with Investigating commit
tees, when they have accepted invita-
tons to lunches and dinners, | have
been compelled to decline the invita-
tons, in order to keep my nerves in
good trim for the work of the day.
Some of the congressional reporters are
so broken down at the end of IA long
session that they have to take trips to
Hot Springs to recuperate. Some of
them make it a point not to do any
hort-hand writing during the vacation,
in order that their nerves may secure
the proper tone for the winter work.
Some have had the idea that the phono-
graph might ultimately take the place
of the shorthand writer, and that every
lawyer or public mau could have one