The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1899-12-20
sTENOGRAPHY.
me Ideas and Events Con-
nected with this Branch
of Business.
ALWAYS ROOM AT THE TOP.
Harris.


Ohm TeliOrd, referred tom his interview
recently published in the Louisville
Nmes," and am Satisfied there are few
older stenographers in the country to-day
ihan am.
Like nearly all of the old time stenog-
..l.,l,e.s 4 =lsaEnad- shnrthaud without q
teacher, simply taking Graham's Hand
Book and mastering it by hard study at
night, and I want to say that, provided
boy or girl can read and write the Eng
li8h language correctly, and is possessed
of ordinary common sense, know Of no
study as well calculated to train the
memory and enable one to think quickly,
as stenography You can imagine how
one's brain has to work when they are
writing from 100 to 200 words a minute
/ have had days in my experience as a
sienOgrapher when have been worn out
body and mind, but that was probably
partly caused from the fact that we had
no typewriters then and had 10 use pen
and ink. 1 can remember, on more
than one occasion, working steadily for
thirty six hours, and have no doubt
others have had similar experiences.
know, from sad experience, that the
average stenographer of the present day
does not compare with the old.timer,
and believe the trouble is that the ma
iority of those who learn stenography at
the business colleges and elsewhere,
know virtually nothing OF the English
language. The Shorthand schools are
very good 80 far as they 90, but 1 would
not be bothered with a graduate from
one Of these schools who taught that his
or her stenographic education was fin
ished when they left the school Such
an one can generally get a position, and,
after nearly worrying the life out of their
employer by mistakes both lud Crous
and serious, may finally become very
rapid writers in their particular branch
Of business life, but they will seldom
command really good salaries, and will
never become experts unless they thor
oughly iamiliarize themselves with what
is known as the reporting style, and
especially phrase writing, that is, writing
several words at a time without lifting
the pen or pencil from the paper
The successful stenogTapher, like the
successful lawyer or doctor, must study
until he has the details of the profession
at his fingers ends What kind Of
lawyer would a young man make who
imagined that his education was finished
when he graduated from the law school
and got his certificate to practice law?
The same thing holds good with the
graduate from any Of the Shorthand col.
leges.
All the standard systems Of stenogra-
ply have readers written in the report
Ing style, with keys. The exercises con-
tain extracts from the writings Of the
most celebrated men OF both ancient and
modern times and have been put into
Shorthand by the best stenographers in
the country. A faithful study OF these
4 exercises will not only materially in
crease speed and insure pure steuogra-
ply, but will enrich the mind with a
variety Of useful knowledge. l am a
great believer in the necessity of devot-
ing as much time TO reading shorthand
as 10 writing it. When / had reason to
expect long and rapid dictation, fire.
quently devoted an hour or two the
previous night to reading one or more Of
these exercises written in the reporting
style, and it invariably increased my
speed the next day. This study not only
assisted my memory, but it kept me
from writing bad shorthand,
To show how useful good writing may
sometimes prove, 1 will cite one OF my
own personal experiences in st. Louis
many years ago. 1 frequently had a
great deal Of work to do, in addition to
my Btenographic duties, and have, time
and again, turned my note over to a
friend and co-Worker, who has tran
gcribed them for me as correctly as
could have done myself, simply because
we both wrote pure shorthand and the
ame system. Another great advantage
Is sticking closely to the text books in
udying stenographY is the fact that
your notes never get too "Cold" for you
o read. / have diary at home now,
written in shorthand in 1878, that 1 eau
read as readily as did twenty-one years
g0
hIg friend Teliord tells Of the tough
times We used TO have taking notes on
ng. especially while running over the
b tracks we generally had in those
but ho forgot to mention the fact
.rI We we're frequently called upon to
.c notes when the only paper at hand
an old envelope or the margin Of
1paper, but we we're case hardened
and 40 paper "looked alike 10 u.s."
However, we always took care to have
% band a stock Of our iavorite pens, and
th an our trangcribing having to be
done with pen, this was a very impor-
nni item with as.
What particular event ia my career as
r.onogapher made the greatest impress
.on on my mind2 Well, I can very
,adi.y answer that question. ] was one
o' th6 party from 81. Louis, q good many
Iaau ago, that went 10 a certain city IN
Texas % close a very important railroad !
.nHInn il urnn nffffnr "a fIn .ofrnTa Of i