Arizona republican., 1906-10-14

Dollars and Sense" Practical Public ty," "FowIer's cyeloPedia of Public ty and Printing" "Gumption," etc.
 copyright 1906. by NathT c. Fowler Jr.
 Outside of the courts and newspaper ,ffices more than eighty per cent of he stenogra phers and typewriter Op- .rators are women; and even in the .ourts today, women are vieing with nen for the occupancy of these cler- cal positions.
 The reason for this is obvious. The york is not particularly difficult after he necessary speed has been acquir d: and women, rightly or wrongly, Ire willing to work for less pay than 'eceived by men occupying parallel po- sitions
 Business is cruel and there is no philanthropy about it. It pays what it wants at the lowest possible price con- sistent with reasonable efficiency. So ong as the woman continues to work 4t lower price than Is paid to the man for a similar seTvice,~ the man cannot conpRte with the woman on what may be assumed to be the wo- mans ground. The woman stenogra- pher has become an office fixture and necessity.
 however, a6 t#1tsSE aTNlCiGS are HUT hoys, I cannot here discuss in detail the advantages and disadvantages of stenography as applied to girls and wo- men.
 Comparatively few city professional or business men BOw use the pen for more than the signature. depending for their correspondence almost entire ly upon the stenographer and type writer operator.
 There is less demsnd in the country for stenographers. because the major ity of country business and profession al men attend personally to their cor respondence. and large proportion of the stenographers employed in the country are engaged by lawyers or are in factory offices. But in the city, they are as common as bookkeepers. and the demand for them is rapidly in creasing.
 The principal work of the stenogra- pher, consists of taking down in short hand what Is dictated and of trans cribing the notes upon the typewriter. Comparatively few stenographers per form any other service than that of shorthand or typewfiting, although there should be no reason why they could not attend to other duties. and thereby enhance their commercial value. In many cases there is not enough stenogra phic work to keep one busy, and this condition gives the stenographer opportunity 10 learn something of the business and to per form other duties; but for some req son, which need not be discussed here. the average stenOgrapher, whether man or woman, is seldom more than a stenographer and seems to have no thought or nOdesire, beyond the note book and the typewriting machine.
 The higher grade of stenographer, however, is often more than machine If he did not have the ability to be more than a routine stenOgrapher he would probably not be an expert in that art. In connection with his stem ographic work, unless he occupies some governmental position. he ire quently has more or less to do with the confidential duties of the office, and sometimes occupies the position of private secretary.
 Some of our most eminent business men were once stenOgraphers, and rose from the ranks to commanding posi- tions in business. But it must be ad- mitted that comparatively few male stenographers of not more than Ordi- nary ability obtain advancement other than moderate increase in salary from time to time; and when they be- come too old for office work, they usu- ally drift into some subordinate cler- ical position, where they indefinitely remain. This sad condition, however, Is not limited to the stenographic pro- fession alone.
 The court stenographer. so far as stenography goes. is next to the top of his profession, and is second only to the official government stenOgrapher, who is capable of reporting legislative lay .,fc eral thousand dollars per annum. and often their salary. or income from all sources is in excess of three thousand dollars a year. They frequently re- ceive more from their outside work than from their salaries The attor- neys on both sides often desire extra copies of testimohy. or minutes. and sometimes several extra copies, which the stenographer furnishes at profit able price.
 Nevertheless. there are comparative ly few high priced stenographic posi- tions, and yet there are more Cf these positions than there are men competent to fill them. The top of stenOgraphy is by no means crowded, and the high class verbatim EtenOgrapher is seldom out of a position. His income, as a rule is considerably in excess Of the or dinaFy clerical salary and sometimes equal to that enJOyed Dy the manager of a department in a business house StiiI, even with his comparatively high salary he has little or no opportunity for advancement beyond certain limits unless lac goes outside of his duties as stsuOErapheF.
 It is quite easy Co acquire a stene- graphic speed of from eighy to one hundred words a minute, and to read notes taken at this rate with reason able accuracy, but every word over the hundred mark comes harder and the majority of stenographers cannot for any length of time. maintain 2 speed much in excess of one hundred words a minute. The stenOgraphel who can easily, and with accuracy write one hundred and fifty words minute for a period of an hour or more is an expert who ought to enjoy an i'm come Of from one thousand to twenty five hundred dollars a year, and occas