The Irish standard., 1888-01-14

- A'N'' ~AN'~A~T
shire, and settled IN elmont when he was
! youth. He studied shorthand from a
| pamphlet on the subject that came in his
way when he was preparing for the minis
! try. Years after, he endeayored to i'm
prove on this cumbersome system. The
phonetic principle is said to have occurred
ito him while he was walking home one day.
His wife saw him smiling, and asked him
if he had found gold mine. He replied:
elf it were not contrary to Scripture,
should say thai have had a revelation from
Heaven"
After working hard at his new system,
Mr. Bailey published small book on writ
ing shorthand by sound This was in 1919,
at which time Isaac Pitman was only six
years old. This book passed through many
editions, and the system never became gen.
orally popular, but it is only Of late that at
tention has been called to 1T. It is not
claimed by any one that Pitman took his
phonetic; idea from Bailey; both men
| worked on the same lines, and though
Bailey's system is very ingenious, Pitman's
is better adapted TO practical use.
To prevent confusion in the mind of the
reader some explanation Of general terms is
necessary. The word "short-hand" is ap-
piled to any system of writing by signs
l NGtuOS ttHSs' VI tllC OlA 5y StClA VI SuOiG
hand, was based on our common alphabet
words being written with the vowels
omitted. Some Of the old systems pro-
vided signs for certain sounds, but it
remained for Pitman to discover the
sounds Of the whole language and
provide q sign for each. In 'phonog
raphy'' all words are written by sound,
without any reference to the way they are
spelled. TO Illustrate: the word sthey,'
na; "writing,'' ritimg; Though" Mo, etc.
The forms, or signs, i'll the old systems
were long, awkward to make, and cuu1ber-
some, but the old stenography, i'll conlpe-
tent hands, answered all practical purposes.
For several generations a family Of stenog-
raphers have done the reporting of the En-
glish House of Parliament using q short
hand based ON a system invented by Thomas
Gurney, an ancestor: who reported in Par
iament q century ago. In our own Con-
gress there have been official reporters who
used the old systems, and one Of them.
William Hinckes, who died eight years age.
was, according to the authority of all old
New York photographer, the most rapid
shorthand writer that has ever been seen
in the United States. Mr.. Hinckes wrote
pure stenography--i. e., a separate sign tor
each letter of our common alphabet. He
used few arbitraries, OF special signs, and
his notes, written OH unruled paper in d
large hand, would strike terror into the
ghost of an Egyptian mummy; the signs
looked as bad as {; combination of Egyptian
hieroglyphics and cuneiform writing.
Stenography is laughed at by many pho
nographers, but the fact is that it is just as
practicable as the newer system, only it
requires more practice to become proficient.
Tt has certain advantages photography:
the signs can be written without regard to
lines. and there is no distinction between
light and heavy strokes: as there is iii writ
ing photography. But photography is sci
entifc. and, in spite Of some aisadvan-
tages connected with it, will always be pop
ular.
Professional shorthand work, to speak
plainly, is drudgery, but it is well-paid
drudgery. and u competent, Woodworking
shorthand writer earns every dollar that
he makes The salaries of official court
stenographers in New York run from s., ON
to $4,000, with extra fees for transcribing
their notes. In other States the yearly earn
ngs of shorthand court reporters will av-
erage about l,50n The reporters Of Con
gressiolal committees each receives -: ::2QO
yearly. The private shorthand secretary
to the Presidents paid a salary Of S1.Sho;
Secretary ,Fairchild's stenographer, $4,000:
and Secretary Endcotts, 1900. The pay
OF the shorthand anlanuenses runs froms1C
to $50 a week. the higher wages being paid
to exceptionally competent workers.
Twenty years ago the newspapers were
in the habit OF making full reports of lect-
ures aud meetings, and shorthand report
ers were in great demand for journalistic
work That is All changed now. 1t is SC
rare that full shorthand reports are re-
quired by the newspapers that such work is
given to men specially employed for the
occ aston: they are paid from s6 to $40 a
column.