The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-13

however, in personal damage suits against | the city. the street car ll7es. ste am | railroads, manufactories, anG l. ouat. and sanitary district. The municipality | in it's various branches pays perhaps the | largest shorthand bills. amounting to about $3O,000 annually; the Chicago City Union Traction Company 20,0O0, the com bined steam railroads $50,OOO the sani- tary district $12.000 and the county and criminal courts about $15,OoO. The Board of Trade in recent years has expended large amounts of money for stenographic fees in it's fight on the bucket-shops, and the bucket-shops have been equally profit able patrons of the reporters.
 The State law providing for official re- porters Is practically ignored in Chi cago. with one or two exceptions, which makes it possible for the graduate of the shorthand school, with no experience and meager ability. to engage in court reporting in competition with the best qualified reporters, and for this reason, while there are in Chicago probably 25O people who follow court reporting as a means of livelihood this number Is mar rowed down to about fifty thoroughly competent reporters. capable of making a cases, on the most technical subjects and of the fastest speakers. As the degree of competency finally determines the sue cess of the reportr the greater part of these fifty men, who are members of or connected with five or six of the large reporting firms in Chicago. and have gradually acquired clientele which has assured them prosperity and success
 Walton, James & Ford is the largest shorthand firm in Chicago, and does mere business probably than any other general shorthand firm in the world
 They occupy a suite of fourteen rooms
 have SIX telephones. as well as telephone connections with all the courtrooms in the courthouse. and employ thirty men and women. They do a business which un ONi ir11n fac mn ice
 na DiCkerson, who has a contract with the City of Chicago to report all personal injury cases and who also does a large amount of railroad work. having several men and women in her employ does a business annually of about $35,00O. James Nj. Purcell who does the greater part of the work of the City Railway Company and some smaller corporations, probably makes $25.000 annually. G. Russell Leon ard. who does the greater part of the convention and newspaper work in and around Chicago, makes about A5,OOO an hually. John Gray, who has been a court reporter for over thirty years, controls perhaps the largest individual business, and his firm annually does business of about $30.000
 Contrary to the general belief that n stenographer of necessity must Oper- ate a typewriter. practically none of them is able to do so, but all dictate their notes to expert operators. A maS iOrity of them are women and there all ways has been and is today a scarcity of competent operators n this city. They receive for their services 10 cents a page Of 25O words. and ? cents for each car hon copy. As they are expected to write at least fifteen pages an hour, 1t will be seen that this branch of the profession offers hattering Inducements for women
 who, however, must not only have ac- qured the necessary proficiency in oper- ating the ma chine. but must be trained to both mental and physical endurance
 They require aknowledge of medicine and anatomy. so as to take the testimony of medical experts; of machinery, because of the engineers who testify almost daily in our courts: of mineralogy. geology and mining or Board of Trade terms and le- gal and commercial technicallties, be- cause of the vast amount of such litiga-