The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-01-27

nation suggested would be OF very
great value. not only TO the shorthand
writers themselves. but also to every
n concerned directly or indirectly
with verbatim reporting. In ninety-nine
cases out Of one hundred, the stenog-
rapher who reports a speech, or a de-
bate, or a trial in court, must read ms
own notes; otherwise his report is OF
absolutely no value. If, for any reason,
he Is unable to do this, those depending
upon his transcript must wait until he
can furnish il, no matter how long the
delay may be.
And yet IL il prescribed by law In
nearly all the States of the Union that
the shorthand notes Of a court reporter
constitute the official record y OF the
proceedings reported. These notes are,
Of course. subject to the control and
supervision OF the court. but rarely r
they of any value except In the hands oil
the stenographer who made them. An
instance OF this sort occurred not long
ago in this city during the second trial
of DR.. KENNEDY, when the s~tenographer
then officiating was called upon to read
the notes Of his predecessor, deceased.
bearing upon the testimony Of a witness
at the first trial, who had since died.
AS 1t happened. however, the reporter
at the second trial had been a co-worker
with the author Of the record, and, in
asmuch as his translation Of the notes
agreed with the typewriter transcript
ton made Of them Immediately after
they were taken, the testimony was, we
believe, allowed by the court, although
exception was taken to its admission.
But more than once it has been found
necessary TO retry cases from beginning
to end because of the unreliable charac-
ter of a deceased stenographer's record:
as witness an instance, some years ago,
In the Third Judicial district Of New York
State. Obviously, therefore, the value
Of an official shorthand record depends
upon its legibility.
It Is easier TO disclose defects in the
present systems Of stenography than II
il to remedy them. Mr.. MURPHY's
idea that the Benn Pitman method is
the one best adapted to form the founda-
ton OF a universal system may be
thoroughly commendable, but there
are many other expert reporters who
infexibly believe that the hooks and
curves and ingenious combinations OF
GRAHAM and HAVEN and ISAAC PITMAN.
and. perhaps, also of MUNsoN and ScoTT-
nnnuvNrR ohAtlA hax-a mora shan N atthnr-
dinate place, if stenography is to be
revolutionised advantageously.
We speak Of " lightning " note takers.
but an expert verbatim reporter re-
sembles lightning in mo ways than one.
He takes the shortest road home"
II he knows how to find II. regardless Of
any fixed rules TO be found In text books;
and nc matter what system he has
studied. he is bound to devise and in
vent for himself signs and phrases which
will prove particularly helpful to him
in his own practice. Accordingly. II
every s~tenographer in the land wrote
precisely tho same system to-day. we
dare say that thirty years hence there
would be as many so-called " bastard "
or mongrel systems in use as ever.
Experience has shown hat too much
" doctoring Of shorthand is a bad
thing and is apt TO lead to disaster.
ELIHu BURRITT. the Learned Black
smith, once closed an address with this
sentiment: Labor -thought-honore
labor-msy be the only earthly poten-
tate that shall be crowned on this con-
tinent." He vas surprised and dis
gusted 20 find that the stenographer had
1t printed next day in the newspaper
" Labor. though honored. may be the
nail lately patented. which shall be
crowned on this continent
II would be very much better 10 leave
shorthand as IL is than 10 open the door
90 all manner Of ridiculous blunders such
as would be likely TO result from the
reform proposed. Nevertheless. the
efforts toward simplifying and rendering
more legible the systems now used are
interesting and praissworthy.