The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-05-01

:hads"; the wills" and "Shalls" are
"wouldS" and "shouds." and so the fOssili-
Zation of what should be throbbing
vital. language proceeds, and no Won
der spch reports are very dead.
But shorthand is the wade mecum
to professional eminence. 1t was not
always The case. There are men still living
who took their notes in longhaDd, and pro-
duced CONVERSATIONS, or reports in extenso
/ II 0tyerbatlm, of wonderful grasp ana ac-
'curacy. The system now in vogue tends to
lncOherency, dlslOcati0n of the narrative,
and to much slipsh0d laundering A man
who has tcrn of twenty minutes or half
an hour, and Is only required TO write outR
third OF what he hears, and possibly less.
is not apt TO strain his mental gifts in pro-
>duclng crisp, closely-phrased> digest OF
oratoIy ne may consider. dltfuSe ana
Hat, He probably SEXES a few tell
ing sentences in the wilderness Of
his notes and adds here and there some
deduction OF his own to show the drift OF
the argument. Where two or three take a
turn at the same speaker. and each exer-
eises his ingenuity Independently the re-
suit is apt to be n patchwork of startling
inharmOBy. There are, however few
speakers who arc crisp and concise them
selves, and there are many rambling, cOnse-
Quential nGnentlties who deserve not line,
and never set more than a few lines of recOg-
milton. So the reporter is mt to De censured
who comes to look upon parliamentary ora
tory as. in the main, garrulity, yerbOsiiy,
egotistic rubbish. Most of the brotherhood,
indeed, regard Mr.. Gladstone as a sinner in
veTbOslty, and think him capable OF unwind
Ing a sentence as long as an ocean cable.
When leading men speak on big SUBJ
jects their speeches are considered worthy
Of verbatim report. Then 1t is that the
gallery man plies his pencil or pen, and
would like to improve his hearing, for, as
doors bang behind him and chatter pro-
ceeds around him or cheers drown the
sound, he may miss the closing words of
scTibed they are faithful. They are free
from garbling and erratic transition from
one unfinished topic to another. As the
turns are relieved at about the same
moment, the members OF the diff
ferent corps HE themselves to the
writing out rooms. and there in little
groups they help one another out Of difficult
ties and keep the printers supply of copy
flowing. The Times men alone keep to
themselves and have room of their own.
They have some advantages even isolated.
Ministers. send up TO them all the replies
they make toquestiOnS and they are also in
dulgent with extracts quoted: On budget
night tie Chancellor Of the Exchequer sup
plies the. gallery generally with a leafiet
of his principal figures. and this
consideration may be instrumental in
preventing millions " running -" astray.
Otherwise, reporters have 10 derend
solely upon their own wits in keeping pace
with the wisdom OF Parliament. The edit
ing Of the copy" if performed at all, is
done at the Offices of the journals. Ii space
is abundant the reporters take full swing
for lengthy harangues; il not the editing
usually takes the shape. of abbreviation by
slashiug out dull passages and suppres3ng
unimpOTtant speakers. No effort is made
to brighten the reports by headlines or