The record-union., 1897-02-04
SHORTHAND IS old.
Dickens Among the Students Of Light
and Heavy Marks.
At One Time Three Hundred Symbols
Were Used i'm Stenographic
Work.

w OEk.
The student of shorthand to-day has
decided advantages over those VINO
went before him in a period prior 10
1887 when Isaac Pitman, then an I'M
known teacher, made such improve
ments upon the systems then in use that
he is called the father of modern short
hand. Charles Dickens and his rather,
when they began the study OF stenog-
raphy about the year 1921 adopted the
best method then in existence, but they
We're compelled to learn the use of more
than 100 signs and symbols, many OF
which were arbitrary. Samuel Pepys,
author of the diary, wrote his inlnlt-
able work in a system of shorunand,
known as Sheltons which demanded
the use of nearly 300 signs and SYM
lools
What appears strange in this matter
is that the people of the United States
should be, as they arr, far behind Eng
land, Germany and France, in general,
practical knowledge of this important
work. Americans are SO active, ener-
getic and inventive, seeking to over
labor saving machinery, that it would
seem that the economic value Of short
Rand would have been recognized at
once. Such, however. has not been the
case, knowledge of it being restricted
chiefly to those who follow it as a IVel-
hood. while in other countries named
ii is pursued as a study by those who
expect to follow professional or bust
mess life, because they realize how val
Iva BILE it may be to them in their sew
eral pursuits.
The old Greeks and Romans We're
wiser in their day and generation, be-
cause their students Of all classes and
stations carefully mastered the systems
then in use, employing them generally
ir correspondence. recording of minutes
of various assemblies, etc. Such of the
speeches of DemOsthenes and Cicero as
We're not read from manuscript were
taken down in this manner and after
ward ''longhanded."
Those Greek and Roman systems
We're the only ones known to Europe
until the tenth century Of the Christian
era one or other being adopted indif-
ferentiy by the various countries until
the division of the Catholic Church.
While it is commonly said the art be
came lost for a century or more. and
was then revived in an improved form,
this is altogether erroneous. 1t was
simply that both systems failed to meet
the requirements Of the literature of
that age, which was chiefly religious
and largely confined to the jewellers in
nonasteries The common sense monks
- o
conditions. adding a number of signs
and symbols as substitutes for words OF
q purely ecclesiastical nature. Thus
the monk Of the eleventh century really
set the foundation for the present APP
parently perfect system of sign writing
by sound.
Shorthand is one Of the arts that has
never been lost. 1t lived in one form OF
another and always with the centu-
ries in an improved and improving con-
dition, because there have lived in
every age those who appreciated its
economic value. II is believed that II
was practiced in Phenidia before Atica
existed as a people, and possibly also al
Babylon. One finds no traces Of it IN
China or Japan, primarily because the
first named country has always, and
the second until recently, opposed al
manner of labor and time saving de-
vices Besides. theirs is kind Of char
acter writing, to which there might be
difficulty in applying practical short
hand method.
beginning, however. with the fifth OF
sixth century g. c.. ii is not difficult Ia
find it in one form or another in most OF
a period. say. from the fifteenth to tbs
seventeenth century, when il was in
partial obscurity. bus in this time, while
less used, it made steady devlopment- \
somewhat curious fact I'm connection
with IFS history is that its revival in
England was due TO the reformation
and grew out Of a strong desire Of tbs
preachers Of the church to have YER
batim reports of their sermons for sub
sequent publication. The first short
hand really worthy cf that name. how
ever, appeared in 1902, How strong a
hold ii took upon the English mind may
be realized from the fact that from tina
date until Isaac Pltlnan invented hi:
system, nearly 300 methods. each under
the name of its devissr or inventor, has
been published in that country alone.
From 1850. when the gins and sym
bols reached their greatest number. up
ward Of 300 untH Pitman's day, sue.
cessive writer's gradually reduced them
until when he appeared there wers
about 100. His predecessor uniformly
adopted the a, b, c system, as ii i
called. except in about eight instances
in which abortive attempts were made
TO introduce i method of writing by
sound. Doubtless the failures Of thes,
men were of assistance to Mr.. Pitmar
(afterward knighted by the Queen), bu
to him IS due all the honor and famt
which pertains TO the real discoveries
of phonetic shorthand. the great mod
ern system in universal practice in tn
United States and largely 50 in Grea
Britain and on the continent of Europe
In England alone. since 1897. 200 book
upon shorthand have been published By
as many different authors. but these
like the nearly 100 which have ap
peared in this country in the same pc
7-od. give buk more or less altered form.
Of PHman's Invention. That many o
those in Europe and in this countr,
arr decidedly better than the system
originally senk out by Sir Isaac may b
admitted The evOlutjOns wrought il
the passage Of time are progressive
Crudities, redundanc.ss, arbitrary signs
etc. have been gradually eliminated
and the present admirable economic
forms are the result.
The present history Of shorthan,
shows conelusively that 1t is in nor,
general use in Europe than in tn
United States. the Other countries hay