The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-05-21

The Five 0meial Stenographers
Of the House.
MEN WHO RECEIVE GOOD PAY
TIE usgAest sktu Resssr<A-TAey
Report staaaiax ana work hot
Few Minutes as . rsn~.


scntstsves II the spectator Is sufficiently
vel iafNTned. Z Is very Interesting 10
watch the work OF Ire ave cstle.al sseno-
graphic reporters. wsso lake down in saers-
hand notes evsrytaiag saas Is said by the
MEMBER that spr.rsalns 60 TIE business
OF The house. Al FIRST Thought thss would
seem to I've aethiag more than she ordinary
WORK OF court stenaxraphe-, wAtch -
familiar 70 every body. sat after ycQkasa
taken note 81 these ave nsn 1er while
and have learned something about theua.
from those who know. yoa gradually re-
alsxe thai teey are p.cked men. that they
60. and mist occupy the very ter OF their
profession ia this country. ANA yea SEQ
why Il IS that there Is necessity for ave OF
them and why II Is that they receive q SAL
AIRY OF $500 session. The same as that OF
the representatives themselves.
They are an men well advanced In years.
probably all OF them eefng included be-
tween The ages or - and IS years. They
are as prominent among the ssenograeherx
OF the country a. are Choats. Coudert and
Others among the lawyers. Their names
and duration OF service are a. follows;
David Wolfe Brown. who has been In the
service Tor over thirty years. or ever since
this corps OF government oficsal steno-
Sraphers was established. Before that of
eoese. the membership OF the house was
smaller. and tho work was done by con-
tract
Joha II. White. who has seen s.ehseea
pears OF service.
andrew Dev.ns. who has seen eleven
years.
A. c. weleA. eight years. ana Fred Ire
land. four years.
The reporters table IL Just underneath
the high desk OF the reading clerks Dur
tng a session you viii nearly aiways see
three or four OF them sitting there. and
ra.z
They arc awaiting their turn. The man
who Is doing the work il on the door Of
the house. near the member who 10 speak
Ing. He generally stands La the aisle. .
short distance in front OF the member
He holds his notebook at about tho height
OF his chest in his left hand. and writes
with his hight. The fatigue and dif,iculty
OF This position may be imagined. II 10
hard enough 10 write IN long hand in that
position. when you have plenty Of time,
but or course in shorthand the characters
must be made with the greatest exact
ness for the least change may involve q
decided change OF meaning. This position
Is necessary because in the great noise
and hubbuo OF the house one must be
close 20 the speaking member in order 10
hear him correctly. and OF course to get
every word just as IL is uttered u what 10
demanded by the Congressional Record.
Frequently during a long speech there 10
opportunity for the reporter TO sit down
in a members vacant seat. But Of course
he must be prepared at all times to do
the work in an awkward standing posi-.
ton.
After you have watched for few min.
utes the reporter who 10 working you VII
see another Of tho reporters leave the desk
and stand ready TO relieve his predecessor
The latter mods his head and stops work.
He leaves the new man at the point where
he left of. walks down to the desk and
Immediately disappears from the hail. lie
has written column OF the Congressional
Record The time occupied In doing tt is
of course dependent upon the rapidly with
which member or members speak. 10
varies from about four TO twelve minutes.
II averages about six or seven minutes
When he leaves the haii be goes down
stairs to the reporters room and talks of
his column OF notes TO photograph.
lumedia tely after his typewriter has tha
phouograph talk on the column to him SO
that within twenty minutes after the
words are spoken in the house they hays
been preserved In print, and copies Of
them furnished TO such members OF tho
house as desire.
Before The first reporter takes another
column OF notes. the other four taxa each
a column. which occupies period OF
from twenty-five minutes upward 20 pos
sibly forty-ive or dfty. SO that each re-
porter Is engaged In actual reporting work
but an average OF between one and two
hours OF time day. except when there In
an evening session. for the business Of
the house begins a; L m. and closes be-
tween and .. m.
This seems to be easy enough. ana GER
tainiy not worth the compensation %
t5.eQo per session. which would be at tbs
rate OF sit an hour for the actual work OF
reporting: allowing seven months for .
session. twenty-six days for month. ard
two hours OF work day.
Sometimes II Il easy enough. II was
as easy a. rolling or . log on Thursday
afternoon OF this week. Judge Burton.
OF Missouri. spoke for a long time on the
bankruptcy bill, with only occasional
brief interruption lie is one of the
siowest. most deliberate. most forctbie
and distinct speakers In this. or any other
couptry. There we're very few members
In the house. 80 that there was plenty
Of opportunity for the reporter TO ~
down 10 an empty chair near by and take
It easy. II must have been mere ehiid's
play for those skilled men
Al the beginning Of the speech the first
reporter was occupied for tAeiye min
utes In taking enough notes to make . coll
umn OF the Congressional Record; tho
rext reporter was occupaed for ten min
utss: the next ten: and the next seven
warmed up. yeu see. ana was moro RAPID
in Efteranc>. Therefore from the time
the firss reporter stopped work TIA he be-
ran again was about forty minutes. OF
course oriy about Tern minutes Of this was
occupied in taking on the column to the
phon0graph.
This Il ali very easy, bat u Is excep-
tlonai. Any stenogsapher could do that.
But contrast !; with tine of heated
debate and flashes Of colloquy and res'ar-
tee. when members are jgnpiag up AMI
shouting all over the house. sr5 all the
meraber or uost cr them. are present
and are walking sruard and tzixlag ard
langmsng and making a perfect beiiafo
Of uproar. A. such llrss here are very
few in this country who can report the
proceedings Of the house. Not only h the
utmost ss1i AID rapidly in ire use q
shorthand derna nded. but the reporter
must know the nzns ard face ard state
OF every member OF the house sDd he
must also know the voice. In many IT.
stances. so ths: when \ nan jumps up
and sasats SyrlstainE to distant correr
OF TIE nall he mus, nos escape tAe ear. IL
be does tbs eye.
Al such times the spectator VINO = o.
serving the reporters s8nders h9w u Is
n0ewss.ls for any rnAn 70 secure aceurt tsiy
every word that is uttered. Yet they do
Il. as the Congressional Record shows.
Some IDEA % the graf strain % the weTk
AZ sprn times mxy Be gained from an In
eseers Of tse Flsty-nrst congress. wien
Speaker Reed was enforcing his quorum
rides. ara the So1nd Of angry uproar and
xocsfsrpus debate was heard around TIA
whole CIVILIZED world At that time John
n. white had 20 give up work for y Shils
because the strain had induced q dangerous
attack OF nervous prossratior. He en-
RACED 20 take his place the most SKILLED
, - ~ q
country ard pad hin $50 week. Whea
finally relieved By Nr. white, sitter few