The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-08-19
TYPEWPITER'S BURDEN.

"
10 him than a typewriter and that's
Cod"
The statement was meant to be start
ling It was. The young girl blushed;
me school teacher said: "o-o-oh, did
you ever!" and the married woman
said, my dear. isn't thai tribe trrev-
erent?"
Not in the least" SAID the ex-type-
writer, in nowlse abashed by the hor-
ror she had created. "uAiean It. You
may talk all you please about priests
and doctors being repositories Of grave
secrets that would overthrow nations
and build new empires on the ruins.
Why, those men are mere urns Of emp
uness compared with tho Typewriter.
Now, this is fact. IL should tell Just
a few of the professional Hecrets have
In my mind at the present moment
could land sixteen men inIthe peniten-
tIary, send FIVE to Bankruptcy, and
bring on eleven divorce suits"
The young girl screamed az that. ''F'or
goodness, gracious sakel" she said.
And here I've been studying short
hand for the past two months. But IL
I'm apt to run into anything like that
when take pOsltiQni III strangle my
ambition while IT'S young couldn't
stand 1t, neverl neverl ,peyer!"
"Oh, yes, you could, returned the e8-
stenographer, soothlngly 4ou could do
more than stand 1t. YOU arm to like
II, You'd come TO craVeA The excite
ment, as an habitual drinker Graves
stlmulants, and II a few. days should
happen to pass unmRrked 10y the de-
veiopment Of some acahbhi, you'd feel
lonesome and imagine you were not
earning your salary" Woi
elizabeth" said the married woman,
rcprOvingly, don't you think you had
better say no more on that subject at
present? There are those present
here the married woman glanced fur
lively at the young girl4''w Whose minds
are as yet uncontamiritbd by such
frivolity, and-and evilo iRgd the lon
ger they remain in lgnoFRRee' the bet
ter"
"Oh, this won't hurt her" returned
the ex-stenographer, calmly ignoring
the plural number, "a little wholesome
advice will do her good She thinks
now. that as soon as sheIlRarns to take
one hundred and twenty words a min
ute and chews gum at the same time,
u she WIZ DG EEhuE LNE ~ H9oANAulAs l0S
she won't Making potboQkS and cur
leycues and humping the typewritlng-
machine constitute only about 10 per
cent Of stenogrGpher'St huties. The
other 80 per cent consists ip locking up
IN her own bosom the various portions
OF her employers kelet6hslnt he-closet
that come bObbing up under her ears
and eyes every now and then. In other
words, the first requisite Of compe-
tent stenographer Is abgqlpte secrecy.
II Is far more Important th0n rapldity
and accuracy in dictatlon. When man
suys. I'm pay you $50 a wees$ he means
S. for your work, and SIS for your Keep
Tug your mouth shut"
Were you thoroughly prohcientF'
asked the young girl, tlmldly.
II was" said the &-stenographef,
proudly. II was an expert. haven't
a spark OF natural affection for one or
the men whose regulations hold In the
hollow of my hand, YET all the Crap
tling-hooks in the United States could
not drag one iota Of the truth from
me-" oyl a..
you must have comm99led a fine
salary, at that rate" hazarded the mar
ried woman.
Al did. Twenty-Five dollars a week,
two months vacation every summer,
and $500 for Christmas present"
And you deliberately gave up such
snap as that?" cried the young giri;
"What In the world did you do 1t fOr!
Tie ex.stenbgrapher sighed. MY
conscience couldn't stand the strain,
she said. "YOu see, it's Just like this.
You Gun stand Just so much Of any
thing, then II an atom mQreE is piled on
to you, you break. Well, It's that way
with keeping secrets. You can hold a
certain quantity, then II you're put un-
der pressure you bubble oyer Gnd let
them all leak DOT. had gotten to the
bubbllng point. II l learned another
secret ] should have overlooked, ana
spilled them all. My conscience would
not permit that. had BECOME so har--
dened that / could carry the crime OF
years on my shoulders and never finch,
but when 1t came to exposing the
criminals, weakened, So changed
my occupation" ,s.,
learned" Implored the Young girl, who
was always eager to explore other peo-
pies experiences. VI.
"Oh, can't so into details much:
that would be telling. Besides, should
not know where to begirEs1 know so
much There is one incident, however,
that has always hung heayily on my
soul, and I'm going TO relieve myself by
telling II. taking care motto mention
names, Of course. The man who dicta-
ted the letters was trying to cheat his
stepchildren out Of property inherited
from their father. The fVst letter he
wrote was to lawyer in a distant city.
and Il was so skIlfully wOfded that II he
had not given me credit for being
smarter than l was / shouldn't have
paid much attention to It, But he took
II for granted that would1see through
his little scheme right away and give
me the whole history Of--the affalr.
Really don't think was ever mixed
up In more pathetic case. The chill
dren were not very big, andlsome one, l
think II must have been their aunt, used
to bring them into the Office now and
then while negotiations were pending.
The boy was the dearest hide fellow in
the world and when l realized that 1
was an accompllce In the plot to do him
out OF his inheritance, I--wOrried so
much that lost three pounds OF flesh
In a week. couldn't give the villain
81 n stepfatheF away, Of course, for that
would have been n breach Of profess
hnal etiquette that wOuld have ruined
me forever, but did the BID I could.
gate up the position and Cooked for
something where wouldnltelilve to soil
my hands with quite such dirty work.
Beyond that one Instance, ] can't par
tlCullrize. There is too much to choose
from. That old saw that you don't
know a man until you are married to
him IL all wrong. It ought to be alter
cd 10 reRd. you don't know him until
you have been his stenOgrapher, for the
chances hrc ten 10 one that his wife
doesn't know half so much rs the type
writer does. Writers have entrusted
me with the plot Of their stories, sclen-
lists with their lntcst theories and dis