Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-26

years old at the time. and his compensation
| about s. a week. The firm had a tremen-
dous mail to answer daily, and the words
! used were necessarily out of the usual run.
Time and again the boy wanted to throw
! up the position, but his father persuaded
him to hold on. He did SO for three years,
and at the end of that time had really be-
come an expert. Then came his opportun-
tty. prominent man wanted a secretary
| and stenographer, and was willing to pay
for good one. The boy entered the COM
petition for the place, and easily secured
| 1t through his proficiency. The place paid
500 a month, and substantiated the keen
foresight of his father. That boy is now
one of the best stenographers in Baltimore.
Although the principles upon which
| shorthand is founded are not hard to COM
prehend II is quite another matter to put
them into application and become really
| successful stenographer. Good shorthand
men, like poets. are more frequently born
| than made, which Is only another form OK
stating that one must possess certain facuI-
| ties to an unusual degree in order to attain
| any considerable success In either work.
| The work of taking rapid dictation In
| shorthand is two-fold. One must strain
] every nerve to catch each word rs 1t falls
| from the lips Of rapid speaker and at
| the same time he must have every expe-
dent In shorthand writing constantly at
his command, so that no time may be lost
| In 1ottfng down the correct characters to
| represent the words which are being de-
| livered. If one stops an instant to recall
| the best outline for an unfamiliar word be-
fore 1t will be remembered and transferred
| TO the note book the speaker will probably
be dozen or more words ahead, and the
| text OF the speech hopeIessIy lost. The
| only recourse when one gets behind is TO
drop the word and continue with the
| speaker, and trust to the memory or to
reasoning to supply what is missing when
! the time comes to transcribe the notes
rms course is adopted by all the experts
up at the Capitol, but they seldom lose
word. When they do through noise and
| CONFUSION, they are bright enough to sub
| stitute word that will be perfectly ac-
ceptabie to the one who has spoken.
Work of the Expert.
| Il nave noticed that the older one grows
| In the business the less attention is neces-
sary to be given to the mechanical part of
stenographic writing. One becomes so thor
oughly familiar with the system that II is
as though the writer was for the time being
| transformed into an automaton and made
the necessary characters mechanically ana
| without effort as each word came 20 h,s
| ear. Ihen, too, in special kinds of work
"here shorthand is OF value such as courf
| reporting, certain words and phrases are SO
| frequently used that very contracted char
| acters may be used to represent them ana
aIterward the eye readily recognizes them
] without any attention being paid TO their
pnone.ic meaning. In other fields, notably
1
! this neid the stenographic art Is very U,tIe
| used now the application of shorthand writ
ing Is SO varied that phrasing or contracting
Is impracticable to any great extent for The
| reason that usually no time can he lost IN
| transcription. The reporter who goes IN a
| ponuca! meeting at which an irnportant
speeeh Is 70 be delivered that is wanted YER
| patim, ana starts for his Office after a Is
| over, WIN only an hour or two in which 10
| write out his copy, cannot take too MANY
p atn against illegible writing Every
a r4k
| against making Roadway. and the rts@ortar
knows this fact thoroughly
| me great stumbling block to beginners
wr ieauilg tneir notes after they have once
| mlItten them In majority of the short
nand schools d!ctation usually never va ris.
,nuch from this form: My Dear Sir: Yonr
letter or the 9TH instant received and in re.
ply we beg to state. &C. Confininy n-ac,,ca
| IN writing and reading shorthand 70 th,s
| class or matter makes the student so "a n,ii'
| iar win the outlines that In a short time he
.s,a ao,e 10 De graduated as a full-nedged
| stenographer It Is only when. In nrac-
| tlcai work, he endeavors to take matte,
| Si'n whlch ne is totally unacquainted that
ne begins to realize how much he has 70
Ieaih' ana even though he may make some
| notes OF what Is said. the Chances are sSo,,t
| hundred to one that when ne comes ~
translate his characters he win find himself
| IN dreadful muddle
| There Is much in common hatv.., s
ing and reading on the telegraph and Soina
the same with shorthand characters Ors
| - soon earn 10 send the matter over the
wire at a hot pace. but II takes a ereat daaI
OF practice to receive II as RAPIDLY Tbs
same Is true OF shorthand MANY beeIn.
hers. as soon as they can represent steSeo-
sSprtha Enaacters and business phrases in
| shorthand, Imagine that they are Competent
| stenographers, but there usually comes q
sudden and disagreeable dispeliinS ~ the
| tempted. - AZ
| Almost q Tragedy.
| ITO illustrate 70 x,o,, bo,r
thing shorthand Is. let me tell YOU a story
wherein one Of the brightest men In the
] force on the House side of the Canitol
| figured as a victim.
| III was several years ago. and at that
| time he was private secretary to one OF
the highest officials on the Pennsylvania
raiiroad. The position was a hard one and
consequently paid big money The ofFcioI
Vas something of wag and one day
from his room for a short time he deftlv
| inserted several shorthand Characters
| among the latter's notes. When the sten-
oSrapher returned to his desk the ofacial
! carelessly asked him to read over the las
letter he had dictated The letter was a
| long one and full of technical railroad
phrases. The stenographer started In read
| ing In matter-of-fact way, and when Re
came to the false charac ters besitataS
| stumbled and finally stopped The oficiai
looked up In well-assumed surprise and in
puIi gu the cause. The young man was of a
super-sensitive nature, and without reply
ing rushed from the room. 1 happened to
| be In the room at the time and noticing
| something TN his face didn't like, / went
afteT MIN. l found him In the wash room
ana on the point of putting a bullet in his
| brain. After considerable trouble 7 ner-
| suaded him to drop the idea OF taking his
life. and told him the particulars of the
| joke. The official came In and offered pro-
| tuse apologies but the young fellow never
rorgave him, and after drawing the money
due him left his service. He told me after
ward that he had been troubled with his
thinking apparatus for some time and that
in his note book, he thought his mind haS
weakened II was not long after that thai
he came to Washington, and through his
| me work as shorthand writer secured a
place up at the Capitol"