Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-10-23
REPORTING TRIALS.
POSITIONS THAT DEMAND THE BEST
SHORTHAND WRITER'S.

20 Do Good WORK the stonocrapher Must
Know Something of the Case In Adj
xnpee-Grave Responsibilities That Ao.
company the Employment.
Tborc arc thousands of shorthand writ.
.rs lint of first class, gilt edged stenogra.
,bers who can go into court and report n
rial with accuracy and thorough under.
stonding of the situation the number will
,ot exceed score. Out of these there Is
ono woman who is thoroughly competent
Asa musician who aspircs to he called
srcb should DO able to read at sight and
,lay any music that may be set before
Kim. so the first class stcnographer should
hc and IS capable of following literally
,be speech of the most rapid talker and
can read his notes aftcrward as easily as
bc could read the letters on signboard.
In court work there is much that makes
,be work partake of u technical nature
The law terms, the peculiar phraseology OF
the courts, Is something which il takes
,rnre for men to familinrizo themselves
with and great many of the lawyers are
men who pour out n perfect torrent OF
words in their arguments to the court or
jury
Tho FIRST thing that a stenographcr must
do when he starts in to report a case Is to
cei the theory of both sides AS to tho case.
often one stenographer is engaged to take
tho case for both sides, and he must famil.
iorizc himself with the case from the diff.
forcnt standpoints in order to report the
case intolligcntly, 1t is not merely manu-.
al dexterity that is required. There must
be auickness Of apprehension to marked
degree nnd nm unwoarying and keen at
tention pNid TO the case in all its details.
In taking down what goes on there IL
considerable that should be omitted from
the proceedings, and this is where the
stenoCrnpher's judgment comes into play.
The lawyers do not wish to have the record
numbered up with the little side remarks
OF witnesses or interpretations of the court,
and yet they do not want anything omit
ted on which a possible objection could
hang.
A Judge may make remark which
does not have any particular Significance
in trial, and witness is apt to follow
up an answer by u subsequent qualihca-
ton which may have much to do with the
matter in hand. Tho wary stenographer
md the good one separates the wheat from
tho chnif and what Is relevant and i'm
pOrtant he sets down. What is immaterlal
no ignores. OF course In the evidence he
takes the questions and answers literally
And in the taking of the testimony he
must always be on the alert for here the
lawyers may get into dispute as to what
witness said In regard to some other
point in the testimony, and 1t may be nee
essary to 90 buck several pages to find out
the truth OF the matter This the stenog-
rapher must bo able to do without the
slightest hesitation, remembering just
nbout in the testimony where the matter
came up and reading the notes without
the slightest hesitation or inGccuracy. Per
ccptiye faculties Of high order are neces-
sary to the success of stcrugraphcr and
AL active brain and excellent memory.
Given the intellectual foundation to be-
gin with, and 1t is possible for man to
become fairly good shorthand writer In
five or six years Constant practice is nee
esslry to keep in trim for court work, and.
in spite of the fact that so much legal
business is done, the demand for experts
is always in excess of the supply.
The court stcnographer's work Is coupled
with not only n sense of great responsible
ity, but a very high degree of confidence
Is Of necessity placed in him by the men
who employ his services. The appealing
Of cases to tho appellate and supreme
courts, necessitating the working over of
oil the evidence and the arguments in the
case, must depend, as far as the ground
for argument and tho true status of the
case is concerned, on the stenographic re-
ports. 1t is one of the professions where
tho hand and tho brain combine to pro-
ducc results, and tho first class expert is
more truly born than made.
1t Is one thing to be able to write down
the report of trial and quite another
thing to dictate correctly from the steno-
graphic notes to n typewriter Some men
hre only fair at reporting trial, but get
out excellent transcripts of the evidence,
while others arc "chain lightning at the
trial, but uncertain when they get back to
their office; and commence TO make copy.
The ease hardened expert will take trial,
put away the report for six weeks and
then take the shorthand books and reel off
the contents without break as fnst us u
Vpcwrting operative can drum it off on
the machine
a great deal of work is done at night by
the shorthand men. So much of what is
taken down at a trial on one day is needed
on the succeeding day that the lawyers
generally keep up with the evidence us 1t
Is brought out, c-ld this keeps the short
hand people on the move Work in the
courts Is done Mt u high tension of the
nerves and brain, and not an instant Is
the stenographcy's mind permitted to in
dulgo In day firearms, for any form of
mental wool gathering" would be fatal
10 faithful work. Concentration is an in
aispensable requisite to success.-Chicago