The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1894-07-13
HARD ON STEN0GRAPHERs.
New York Is No Place for the Idle
or Incompetent.
A High Standard of Proficiency Set by
EmplOyers-Ap pplIcants Are Sub
iected to a Thorough
Examination.

iected to a Thorough
Examination.
That New York is the grand center
for competent stenographers and a
short-lived rendezvous for incompe-
tents is frankly admitted. Yet, of the
estimated thirty thousand stenograph-
ers and typewriters in the city to-day,
! the proportion who are credit to the
shorthand profession is said to be sur
prisingly small. A veteran phono-
grapher in touch with the progress of
the art recently said: t'Here in this
| city there are every year legion of
young people who commence the study
of shorthand through the i'll advice of
parents or friends, without making the
first inquiry into the mental or phys
ical qualities requisite in the makeup
of skillful stenographer; hence it is
that only about one person in twenty
ever reaches the goal of success"
One instructor says much more is ex-
pected of stenographer to-day than
ever before, and more talent is re-
quired here in New York city than in
any other place he knows of in this
country. Business men no longer
tutor and humor incompetent en-
ployes. Schools are demanding a
higher standard of excellence than
ever before. We will not recommend
pupil for position until he has
passed technically rigid examination
in taking from dictation and properly
transcribing all forms of office CORE
spondence, legal matter in the form of
complaints, answers, aff1davits, agree
ments, testimony, specifications amend
ments and other details. Besides
this, we frequently dictate extracts
from magazines, newspapers and en-
cyclopedias.
Only few years ago the prediction
was made that shorthand schools must
decrease their production of graduates,
or, as a natural result, one of two
things was imminent among shorthand
writers-a reduction of wages or
raising of the degree of excellence re-
quired for the obtaining of employ
ment. The latter alternative seems to
be rapidly approaching. Probably fifty
per cent. more shorthand skill and gen.
eral education is to-day required to
hold a good position in New York city
than was needed five years ago. When
questioned as to this the above in
structor said:
Work here is done quickly and sys-
tematically, and the stenographer who
succeeds in this busy metropolis must
know a great many things besides
having the mere ability to make
marks and operate a typewriter. He
must have education, skill and discern
ment, and be able to use shorthand
and to typewrite with great intelli-
gence. One years training in a busi-
ness house here is conceded to be as
valuable, from a practical point of
view, as three years training in many
other large cities.
''That this fact is rapidly becoming
known and appreciated is shown by
the steadily increasing number of
young people who come here from a
distance to learn and practice the art.
They come to this city from Florida,
Kansas, California, Cuba, Spain, and,
indeed, from all over the world; yet,
despite this great influx, salaries here
range higher than in any other part of
the country. In Chicago, for instance,
many stenographers last summer ac
cepted positions at three or four dol
lars less per week than they would re-
ceive here.
Our best shorthand schools now re
quire an entrance education. Candi-
dates for admission are closely exam
ined in spelling, punctuation, penman-
ship, English composition, geography
and many other vital points, and there
is no hesitancy in rejecting any appli-
cant who is disqualified. Only a few
years ago the average speed necessary
to answer the requirements of an
amanuensis was seventy to one hun
dred words per minute, while at the
present time rate of less than one
hundred and twenty words per minute
is deemed inadequate.
''Of high-grade stenographers," said
Mr., Snyder of the Remington bureau,
''there is not half enough to meet the
demands. Through this agency alone,
three thousand stenographers and
typewritists were last year recon-
mended to paying positions. Of this
number, probably two-thirds were
young women.
1T is curious to note" he added,
''that the young men who come to New
York from the country meet the re-
quirements far better than those who
are residents of the city. The former
come here with definite aim and pur-
pose, look upon their position and sur
roundings more seriously. and work
with much greater earnestness and sin
certify"