The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-03-07
SHORTHAND WRITING.
The Incompetence OF Some Per-
sons to Learn It.
Worry Fcw OF tho Many Who Undertake
sho Study Ever Become ProHoiont--
Horace Greeley and tho
Stenographor.

.SO NAOo&oy u&A0 SAc
Stenographer.
There is good deal Of nonsense writ
ten and talked, both by those who know
and by those who don't, concerning the
possibilities and actual achievements of
shorthand writing. Not long ago an
elderly woman, accompanied by child
OF apparently about thirteen years Of
age, appeared before q justice Mt the
jefferson Market police court and told
pitiful tale. She said that she was q
widow and that the child was her only
daughter; that in order to procure some
employment for the girl she had been
induced to send her to school Of type
writing and shorthand She had paid
to the professor sixty dollars of her
hard earnings and had been informed
and believed that at the conclusion OF q
few months tuition this child would be
,able to earn q fair salary. The pro-
lessor, however, had failed to carry out
his agreement, and at the conclusion Of
the tuition she found herself with her
money gone and no probability of the
fulhllment Of the promises which had
been mode to her. She YVES informed
by the justice that II she bad any
remedy at all it wac In q civil suit for
damages for breach Of contract
The experience Of this child, says tho
New York Sun, Is but q repetition Of
the experiences Of by far the larger
number of those who attempt 70 learn
shorthand writing. IL Is o foot that but
o very few Of those who begin to learn
ever succeed in becoming competent
stenographers- Tho experience detailed
so graphically and amusingiy by Charles
Dickens in tho story Of David Copper
field" which is said to DO In fact tho
experience of Dickens himself, Is q fair
sample Of the difficulties with which
the learner has to contend Few per-
sons, indeed, havo the requisite persc-
verance to continue tho much-needed
practice in the face of discouraging re-
suits, which is essential before pro-
fciency Gun possibly be reached
Many Of these failures might have
been predicted from tho start, because
of tho utter disqualification of the
learner on account Of the lack of tho
preliminary study and training and
knowledge which arc necessary to
mako n competent stcnographer. It
must be borno In mind that tho sub.
jects which may possibly be presented
for accurate reporting comprise the en-
tire field Of human knowledge. There
Is no department of science, literature
or art which may not somo timo or
other appear in the course of speeches,
OF arguments, of lectures, Of briefs, of
dissertations, Of debates, or of diotation.
There is, of course, no stenographer
who Is 30 thoroughly familiar with the
vocabulary even Of his own language, In
all departments of study, as to be able
on tho spur of the moment TO report ac-
curately nll kinds of scientific matter.
There arc, in fact, but very few of the
most reliable stenographers in this or
any other country who con be relied
upon to give verbatim report of q
scientific congress. How futile, how
foolish, must 1t be, then, for nero chill
dren, for persons without even the
rudimentary elements Of education, to
undertake to qualify themselves for such
a business. And yet there ore shorthand
schools and professors of shorthand
that take tho money OF pupils who at
tempt this impossible task, when it is
known at the beginning that the money
SO expended is really thrown away by
the pupils.
1t was related of the late Horace
Greeley that upon one occasion an In
competent stenographcr was employed
by him to take at dictation q political
speech. Mr.. Greeley talked away with
great earnestness and volubinsy upon q
subject with which he was entirely
familiar, using the names of many.
prominent public men in the present
and past generation, referring to vari-.
Gus public measures OF the times, until
he had reeled off, as he supposed, con-
siderable address. It so happened that
the stenographer was thoroughly UNI
familiar with about every subject of
which the great philosopher had treated
and his manuscript when presented for
review proved to be SO crowded with err.
rors and omissions and misspelling Of
names and misrepresentation Of what,
MIR. Greeley had said that it was entirely
useless, and with that force for which
Mr.. Greeley was renowned among those
who knew him, the founder Of the
Tribune exclaimed: what the deuceI
Is stenography worth?"
There are limits to shorthand. EVERY,
honest stenographer will admit that no.
person is able to report the most rapid
speakers or to follow with accuracy an
argument which consists Of many refer
ences to scientific books and contains
quotations which must be accurately re,
corded. In practice, wherever q speaker
makes use of many quotations, particu-
larly of poetry or Of statistics, the stem
ographer is always anxious to be sup
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