The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1894-02-09
-SHORTHANDWRITERS
THOUSANDS TAUGHT STENOGRAPHY
EACH YEAR IN AMERICA.

to Cicero, Who Used More Than 1000
Characters-New York's Veteran.
! There are more stenographers in New.
York and it's vicinity than there are
! lawyers or doctors. But not all of them
are competent. A first class shorth
! writer is very difficult to find, AID &
he is a fast writer he is sure of good
salary.
| Shorthand writing as a means of earn
! ing a livelihood is not as lucrative aa
many other callings, but it affords a
young man, if he is quick witted, a fine
chance to watch the internal workings
of business house, and thereby helns
him toward business education such
as he could get in no other way.
The only field that is highly remH-
nerative is law reporting, but to become
competent for this work requires years
Of assiduous practice, and the field of
employment is limited. The highest
salary paid to court stenOgrapher in
| New York is in the surrogate s court.
Mr.. Edward F. Underhill, probably the.
oldest practicing stenographer in Amer
ica, holds this position and receives a.
salary Of So. 600 per year. He has BEEN
in the service since 1S49. s
The municipal departments and courts
in New York city pay annually III sal
aries for stenographic services S154.-
| OO0 This salary list includes 90sfe-
nographers, 81 of whom are co1lrt re-
porters, each receiving So, 500, and 10
o,,,,1,o1Iyr 90 CI!arv n a1dit nTrA
to this, however, all court stenographerss
ale allowed by the code Il cents per To-.
iio of 100 words. for furnishing copies
| of transcripts to the parties interested
in any case when desired.
Up town at 332 West Twenty third
str ct the stenographers Of New York
| have club, where they meet each Oth-s
er socially, In connection with the
| club is classroom, where the mem-s
bers may practice the art Of shOrthanda
writing. Here nearly every evening are
gathered scores of ambitious young
shorthanders industriously driving their.
pens for love Of perfection in their
craft, while some one of e8perienees
reads or dictates, The classroom Is
provided with ali the different styles of.
typewriting machines for the use Of
members when there is no dictatio1l.
The club also maintains an employ
ment bureau. The club is open to ei-s
ther sex. In fact, it is the large mem
bership Of young ladies that gives zest
to the social side of the club, which isS
one of its important. features. In the
winter the club gives receptions, enter
tainments, occasionally a dinner and
once every year BALL M
In many of the public schools Of thea
country stenographysisya is 81 part of the
training. An evidence Of its recent re-
markable growth is shown by Il circu-
lar issued by the bureau of education at
Washington.
Here il is shown that from July 1, 1889,
to June 80, 1890, 81, 375 persnns receiv-
ed obstruction in the art of shorthand
in schools and colleges in the United
States. Five thousand five hundred and.
fifty of these were In New York and
Brooklyn. A similar circular was is5
sued by the bureau in 1884, in which ifA
was shown that during the year 1882
the number of pupils receiving such
instruction was -, 47O 1t is therefore
1898 exceeded 5000.
But this nanben docs not take into
consideration an af41S 4bably equal
iy large who receive instruction from
some other source or frPm professional
stenographers.
Out of this vast army, however, but
a very small minority are either phys
ically or mentally qualities to become
court reporters or even once Eamanuen-
ses. S8
Cicero is said to have been the invent
or of shorthand writing, and the freed
man, Marcus Tullius Trio, his friend,
the first stenographer. and heundoubt
edly did use a method of Shorthand
writing as early as 60 B. G. ).
The first English treatise was by Tim
othe Bright, entitled An Arte of Shorte
Swifte and Secrete Writing by Charac-
ture, Inuented by Timothe Bright, Doc
tor of Phisike. Imprinted at London by
[. Windet, the Assingee of Tim Bright,
1888. Cum priuilegie Regiae Maiesta-
tbs, Forbidding all others tosprint the
same"
DR.. Bright in this work says: cicero
did account it worthie his labour, and
no less profitable to the Roman common
weale Most Gracious Soueraigne), to-
inuent speedie kinde of wrytings by
character, as Plutarch reporteth in the
life of Cato the younger. This inyen-
ton was increased afterYardby Seneca
that the number of characteks grue to
1000. Whether through inur& of time,
or that the men gaue it ovei fDf tedious-
ness of learning, nothing Mmaineth ex-
tant of Ciceros inuention at thiH day
Every stenographer who recalls the
efforts required to properly master the
few characters used in the art today
will not wonder that of Cicero's system,
with its 1000 characters, nothing re-
mains at this day,
1t was not until l642 that the art be-
came OF any practical use, and it was
first used in the house of lords in 1899 4
IN taking testimony in Il divorce suit. u
Stenograpbers were not regularly e1a-
ployed in parliament. however, until
ls02.-New York World.