Omaha daily bee., 1905-08-20

porter Is called upon 20 take a lecture on
some given subject This he reports In
shorthand and then writes Il up. 1t stands
20 reason that the lecturer is an authority
on that subject. else he would not be lee
turing This matter is given for the edi-
hcation Of his audience. and n the audi
ence is benefited by the lecture the re-
porter Is doubly benefited for he first takes
the lecture In shorthand and then tran
scribes &. thus receiving the matter twice.
In this way he is broadening himself and
becoming more and more informed in all
lines. Then. Of necessity his business re-
quires that he shall broaden himself for,
IN order 20 report a talk on a given sub
ject. he must acquaint himself as much
possible with the subject. The result is
that in a few years the general reporter,
through his profession. acquires a knowl-
edge on various subjects which could be
acquired in no other profession.
Shorthand introduces the writer Of IL to
successful men. There is one reporter In
Chicago who is personally acquainted with
every prominent politician. every prominent
lecturer and every eminent divine In the
country. He has reported all ~ them. has
travelled with candidates for high offices,
has met the brightest minds in the literary
world, and has obtained an acquaintance
Of the prominent politicians OF the country
took trip abroad visiting the king Of
England, the pope. the car and other
foreign notables a shorthand man ac-
companied him as private secretary. He
met these people. and Il would have been
an imposslbility for him TO have obtained
an audience with them in any other way,
no matter how rich in this worlds goods
he might become.
Opportunity for independence.
Then, there is another consideration
which should not be lost sight Of. The
shorthand reporter does not work for
someone else on a salary. He can go into
business for himself at any time. The man
in the ordinary walks OF life who works at
stated salary and who has a family to
support, IL he works all his life when he
comes to die he will have saved possibly
enough to buy a shroud and perhaps leave
HIS family a few thousand dollars in life
Insurance. The shorthand man goes into
business for himself, and many young men
in Chicago are now well-to-do, owning their
homes, and have acquired a competency
through court reporting.
There is fallacy that a shorthand re-
porter is man who is born with a certain
something without which It is an i'm
possibility to succeed. People have be-
IleNed that a shorthand reporter is born
and not made and many stenographers
have hesitated about entering this work
for fear that they had not that certain
indescribable element which they believe
must be possessed in order to become an
expert The shorthand reporter is not diff
terent from anybody else. He is Just an
ordinary man who has perfected himself
by devotng to shorthand the same study
that he would have devoted TO any other
profession in order TO succeed. The
young man or young woman of fair ed
ucauon who desires to become expert in
the profession may rest assured that he
or she will succeed providing conscientious
persevering study is given the subject.
There is such a thing as aptitude, but the
man who is made IN Of Is per cent Of
aptitude and Is per cent Of perseverance,
VIII not attain success as will the man who
is made Of 70 per cent of perseverance and
20 per cent of aptitude. 1t is the "plugger'-
the one who goes at the study with de-
termination TO succeed, and perseveres in
MS work-who Is successful in this line