Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1895-03-28
RAPID TYPEWRlTlNG.
The Methods by Which Expert Operators
Are Able to Attain Great Speed.

Are Able to Attain Great Speed.
Not one person in hundred who has
dictated to an expert typewriter is
aware of the numerous devices and
methods of practice which the operator
resorts to in order to keep up with the
dictation. Five years ago pupil was
thought to be qualified to be an office
amanuensis who wrote correctly an
average of one hundred and fifteen
words a minute in shorthand, ample
time being allowed for transcribing
the notes. Nowadays there are those
who maintain this speed direct on the
typewriter without resource to any
form of abbrcviation whatever, An
observer of the peculiarities of many
speedy typewriter operators said that
in almost every instance the most rapid
were piano players.
"Piano players" said he, "have
great facility of finger movement and
eyenness of touch and pressure upon
the keys, which is indispensable to
fast typewriting. They also have the
faculty of so covering the keyboard
with the hands MS to strike each key
with great skill and precision. BY n
much improved method of typewriting
all the fingers of each hand are utilized,
and piano practice is highly beneficial
in strengthening and adapting for use
the third and fourth fingers, which are
always weaker and less easily con-
troled than the others. 1t also edu-
Gates the fingers to cooperate with the
mind, and on the whole is quite an es.
sential preliminary training for the
expert typewriter.
This theory was denied, however, by
expert typewriters whom the reporter
interviewed. 1t was found that, in
stead of using all of the fingers, us on
| the piano, comparatively few OF the
best typewriters employ more than
two fingers of each hand, and that at
least one of the foremost operators
uses only the index fingers. Great
speed is attained, these experts said,
not by specially training the fingers to
act quickly, but by learning to write
rapidly the component parts OF words,
and by becoming familiar with the
relative position of the keys that must
be struck to form words. To follow
the speech of the average person die.
tating it is necessary to strike at least
eight keys every second, and the pres
ure upon each key must be uniform
and regular or the writing may appear
ragged and indistinct.
A slkillful typewriter usually mag
ines the key board of his machine to be
divided near its center and each divis'
sion of keys he operates with the right
Or left hand exclusively. BY always
using the same fingers to write fire.
quently-recurring words and combina'
tions he becomes so familiar with them
as to be able to write with great speed
and accuracy even when blindfolded
Until within very few years the
ability of the operator seems to have
been greater than the capacity OF the
machine, and the latter would not re-
spond to more than ten or twelve
strokes of the keys per second. New
machines and devices are now provided
by which sixteen characters have beer
written in second, with perfect i'm
preston and spacing. This would
equal speed of more than one hun
bred and sixty words minute, which
if it could be maintained, would be suf
fcient to record verbatim more thar
nine-tenths of all public speeches a.
they arc delivered
In very rapid writing every little
hinderance to speed has to be avoided
and the operator can seldom stop t.
examine any part of his work until i
is finished. Many business houses o
the city now employ expert type
writer's for the purposes of correspond
ence instead of having shorthand
writer's to receive dictation and after
ward transcribe the notes. The mum
Der of operators relied upon to do thi
work is very small, for to become al
expert typewriter requires aptness an'
ability and many months, if not years
of methodical practice; and if familiar
ity with the piano assists typewrite
TO speed, it is principally through
, strengthening the operators memor.
and perseverance, N. Y. Sun.