The herald., 1897-05-02
. SHALL J. STUDY
i STENO0RAPhY?
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ing stenography under the impression
that he will soon be behind the age Il
he does not. Over twenty-four years
ago learned it with that same idea
But of those who study 1t not over one
in ten keeps it up, as have done, ani
L could not advise anyone to follow ir
my steps, unless he is to be profes.
sional reporter or lawyer. Had my
health allowed me to continue the prac.
tice OF law it would no doubt by this
time have fully repaid me the time and
labor 1t cost to become expert in short
hand. But although still use it, and
find 1t very convenient in writing and
correcting anything that requires
much care, shall never be compensated
for one-fourth Of the pains it has cost
me.
| To nine out often the study represents
totally wasted time Any other study
Is still Of some use, even though one
fails to master it sufficiently to make
money out Of it directly. But stencg-
raphy, unless we'll learned. is of no
use, not even for mental discipline, as
it requires the minimum of brain and
is almost pure drudgery. With a smat-
| tering in any other branch of learning
one may still do something, or delude
some one with the idea that he knows
something But a smattering in short
hand is utterly worthless.
Dickens estimates the difficulty of
learning it as about equal to the mas
| terry of six languages. I have mas
tered" as the term is generally lnisused,
just six languages, besides English, and
knowing what Dickens means by mas
terry" can fully endorse him. To learn
to write and read shorthand as fast
as long-hand is the work of but few
weeks Cor even days, with enough ap-
plication) and the learner thinks he
is making great progress. To double
that speed is. Only the work of months,
and the learner is still happy, though
troubled at times with tired feeling
But this second stage is as useless as
the first, except for third rate aman-
uensis or clerk to some reporter with a
little business, or for a typewriter in
some Office where there is no haste, and
accuracy is not of distressing import
ance. But with a good machine, you
can in about the same time write just
as fast and read what you have writ
ten in one-tenth of the time.
And now comes the tug of war. So
far doubling speed has seemed easy
and pleasant. But to double it again
is now the work not of months. but of
years, while doubling the speed of read
ing is twice that of doubling the speed
of writing. 1t is clearly very little ad-
vantage to anyone not a professional
reporter or amanuensiS to be able to
write at the rate Of one hundred words
a minute if your reading is limited to
that speed. To the lawyer, literary
man, clergyman. or other person who
thinks shorthand would be great help
to him, it is better to write at a speed
CT forty words and read at tie rate of
four hundred a minute. No one can
compose anything of value even at the
rate of forty words a minute for any
length Of time. And for taking notes
to be laid away, shorthand is too treach-
erous, unless slowed down to about
sixty words a minute. Even at that
rate If you have left much to implica-
ton you will have great difficulty in
reading it with certainty, especially if
in a hurry. The rapid reading with the
great accuracy you sometimes see in
fine reporters is the result of nearly
half a lifetime of practice, and cannot
possibly be acquired in much less time
than that by anyone who has other bus
mess
The rapid and accurate reading of
shorthand, especially when cold, in
wolves sight familiarity with several
thousand abbreviations, any one of
which may stand for from 10 to 100
different words. The proper one must
be decided at once and decided by the
context or sense of the writing, for all
deciphering by the hooks or vowel signs
is too slow. These are of use only to the
learner The expert reads both ways at
a glance and decides by the sense. Un-
til one can do this one has gained moth
ing of value except to the third-rate
clerk. And to do this REQUIRES an
amount of practice beyond the concep-
ton of those who have never tried II
combined with knowledge of the SUBJ
ject matter that only considerable of
a scholar could have. Many of the best
court reporters would come to grief at
once over lecture on theoeophy, no
matter how slowly delivered. while
many of the best reporters of sermons
would cut sorry figure in court re-
porting.
The author, editor, clergyman or other
writer who would have shetland re-
pay what it costs to learn it must read
1t even better than most reporters. For
1t Is no advantage to him to write very
fast, but rather a disadvantage. unlesa
he knows how to restrain the speedy
hand. But it is very essential to be able
to read with great speed, and especially
. glance over pages of matter with GER
tainty. A lawyer would gain more in
fast writing, but even he would find slow
reading disadvantage hardly balanced
by the speed of writing in these days
when every court has it's reporter.
These difficulties cannot be overcome
by any modern improvement. New
systems of stenography change one diff
ticulty for another. Anything that
claims to make a good shorthand writer
in few months is like the systems that
will enable one to master language in
few weeks. You might as we'll talk Of
learning the violin in a few months. It
depends upon what you call learning the
violin. One can soon learn to "fiddle,"
and very poor fiddler" can earn a few
dollars playing at country dance and
also amuse himself as we'll as some of
his admiring friende. But fiddler in
stenography is of no use to himself or
to any one else.
Shorthand could be learned by many
to great advantage If they would begin
could be better spent at some thing else