The Wichita daily eagle., 1893-11-17
1he qiehta alu Eagle graau oruiuo gounber II 1888


big DAYS work, and while taking the note
was not so difficult he would have found
it impossible to trarscribe them with his
own hand. As soon as the reporter finishes
his turn on the floor he goes to his room ir
Che hasement and dictates his notes to a
typewriter operator or TO a phoncgraph.
from which it is afterwsrd taken upon the
typewriter by young women operatives,
Not all of the reporters use the phono-
graph, some preferring to dictate in the old
way, and one or two of the old fogies OF the
senate corps still write their matter ont
with pen. as they were taught TO do liz
the days when ;ypewriters and phono
graphs were unknown.
One Of the deliberations of official report
ing is the desire of members to revise their
remarks. The reporters take down the
speeches exactly as they are delivered. and
a large proportion of the statesmen like TO
get hold of the copy and fix II up 10 suit
themselves. Every cne knows what OF
fenses are committed in the name of re
vision. New speeches are written or old
ones so transformed that no one who heard
them delivered would be able To recognize
them in print. The oaly restriction that Is
placed upon q member by rule Is that
in revision lie must not interject per
sonal matters. 1t often occurs wnen two
senators or menlb bers have had personal
alteration on the floor that by mutual
consent they arrange to have all reference
to the quarrel cut out OF The Record. In
this way the hot dispute between Sena-
tors Carey and Wolcott few days ago
was kept out OF the Official reports
A High Com pIin,ent.
Ex-Congressman Horr, in a recent public
address, paid high compliment TO the of1-
cial reporters Of the house. 1T Is won
derful requirement. that power OF taking
down words as fast US they are uttered,
he said Amid the jargons and wrangles
of congress, when half dozen statesmen
were all on their feet at once, all yelling
like so many lunatics. ! have seen these
wonderful men. with their pencils flying,
do their work so well that they would never
miss single foolish utterance or skip q
single disgraceful word AS typewriters
are the bane of poor spoilers, so these short
hand writers are the terror of public speak
ers. To have them come in and take down
in cold blood just what a fellow does say
aye, there's the rub. Its enough to make
ones blood curdle even to think Of it. l
to get relief by abusing the reporter.
make this confession. however, here to-
night. Up to date it is their accuracy that
has got me into difficulty. l have suf-
fered vastly more from their printing ex-
actly what did say than l have by their
putting down what it seemed to them
would better have said"
webster's Reply to Hayne.
Official reporting Of debates in the Ameri-
can congress. began in 1S4S. Before that
time semiof6cial reports had been made by
contract with newspapers, and stenogra-
pliers were used, but not to make verbatim
reports They took down what they thought
was important and letlthe Remainder 60.
Among the first. Official reporters in the
senate wassMr. Murphy then a: boy of "A,
but a bfilhant reporter who had learned
his professiony from Oliver Dyer in Phila'
delphia. A third Of century Mr. Murphy
has been taking senatorial speeches, and he
is not an old man yet. In the house corps
David Wolfe Brown is the senior, having
been Is years on the staff.
Two or three weeks ago when objection
was made in the senate to the reading OF
speeches Senators Hoar and Vest had dis
cussion rs to the famous speech Of Webster
in reply to Hayne. The point was as to
whether that speech had been given 70 pos
terity as it was delivered, or whether it had
largely been made up afterward. No such
contention weuld have been possible il
there had been official reporters in the old
senate chamber. Mr.. Brown, the brilliant
veteran of the house corps, gives me the
facts about this speech of Webster and
shows that great oraterical effort to have
been rescued from oblivion by a woman.
The story as Mr.. Brown gives it was told
to him some years ago by James Watson
Webb, the famous New York newspaper
publisher. who was q correspondent in
Washington in his earlier career. Webb
got the story from Webster himself in these
words:
An Interesting Postscript.
81 had no idea Of the Importance that
would be attached to my speech in reply to
Hayne," said Mr.. Webster. land a. had
enly meager notes of the speech, when my