New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-14
TYPEWRITERS SECRETS.
THEY ARE KEPT INVIOLATE EVEN FOR
THEIR CASUAL CLIENTS.

lished. hundreds of people wondered why the
victim had not been warned by the person who
made copy of the murderers statement. which
he carried with him to the Burlington Hotel.
| In this statement Plumb gave notice that he
would kill his man, and went into all the de-
tails OF his grievances. Inquiry at the office OF
the typewriting establishment developed the
| fact that the filled in the passages In
which the murder was foreshadowed. and that
the typewriter document simply the story
of the alleged wrongs which had made him des-
peratc.
1--WE considered it a good story" said Miss
Rosenfeld. and l read it with the girl who
did il in type with as much interest as one
would take in a story by Jules Verne. But the
idea that the man contemplated murder never
occurred to me. and it never suggested by
anything that the statement contained"
But the circumstance opened the question; To
what extent should typewriters and stenog-
raphers go in the matter of keeping the secrets
of their clients?
One OF the well-known men in that line OF
business said: "A typewriter is the confidential
clerk of tho person who employs him. and al
though there are no fixed rules ON that score,
we know very well that it would be impossible
to do business unless we knew how to keep
silent in several languages. We are taken on
our honor because men go to stenographers
and typewriters in hotels and other public
places whom they have never seen before, and
without a word of warning unfold their bust
ness and private affairs to them. In their own
business establishments, where they have posi-
, bly, twenty clerks they consider only one OF
these the confidential man, and he is always
| within call and often under bond. But they
come to q hotel and allow the stranger to do the
same work which at home they would intrust
only to the confidential clerk And still have
never heard of case where a man has been
given away
"The Typewriter OF the right kind writes the
words which are dictated and for the time being
is a machine and when the work has been fin
ished is supposed to have no recollection Oh
what has been written. Newspaper men die
tate exclusive stories to us, and merchants
and brokers give us opportunities to look into
their business affairs with as little hesitation
as though the letters were orders for so many
tons of coal or loads OF hay
A typewriter who made her headquarters in
a New-York hotel for number OF years sad:
zone meets many queer people and hears many
strange stories in the regular typewriting Ofnces
but the real place for experiences of that KIND
is a large hotel. Hotel paper is usually free for
ALL and all handwriting is alike when done with
a machine; and knowing this, hundreds OF peo-
ple who wish to conceal their identity or VINO
fear to make evidence against themselves 90
their corresponding with the aid of the hotel
typewriter. Correspondence goes through the
hands Of many of these hotel typewriters which
II published would wreck the happiness OF iatni-
lies; but the persons concerned seem 10 nave
no fear and rarely instruct the operator to say
nothing.
sometimes we get a man who when his let
ter is finished asks, We'll, how was that? or
| VIII that be all right?' or some question OF
that kind In those cases the safest ana the
best thing t. do Is to give the man to UNDER
stand that his words have not been remem-
bered and | invariably tell such man that ne
must get some other authority to pass upon the
quality of his work There instances, how
ever when we must watch every word, partlcu-
larry in cases where the person who dictates
GAYS in advance that he is not a good letter.
writer and wants the letter fixed up ana maze
, all right
"Once in a while We have to do work for sus-
melons people who tell us to destroy our steno-
graphic notes if their letters happen to be taken
down that way and to say nothing to anybody
about their correspondence. one OF TINS CLASS
dictated a letter to me recently which was OF the
gushing type. 1t had expressions OF love ana
endearment in every paragraph, references 10
clandestine meetings and lots OF cohtrapahd
matter When it was all done the man tore
the notes from which ne had dictated into small
SCRAPS and asked to put an envelope INTO
the machine as he wished to write the ADDRESS
himself 1t was an unusual request but aXed
the machine for him and stepped away. ana
then heard him pick around for the letters.
FINALLY he called me and said he wanted an