The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1907-03-05

had acquired from his long service.
A hts manner Was. he hcsiiated a
few moments bsfor. replying aud
then said
ITO use few words and make them
short "
That sentence sums up all the eri-
| ticism the verbatim stenographer
has against th. general public He lis
! so used to the verbose witness and
speaker that his idea OF the happy
! land is place where the general se-
cabulary Is limited 20 less than Toe
words and where no one person IL
allowed 10 speak more than twice a
day.
In many respects the court repor-
| ter. writes Edgar White In TIL. Kan
sas City Star occupies similar po-
sition toward mankind MS does the
| trial Judge. He Is not supposed TO
have an opinion until the case Is de-
cided. Through his brain and arm
| the evidence travels on It's way 70
| the higher court. If his work Is well
done that tribunal can act intelli-
gently upon the issues. Heavy In
terests are frequently involved in the
accuracy of the stenographer's notes.
1t frequently happens that the
! stenographer' notes are challenged
| by the parties to an action, In Lam
caster, Mo, some time ago, daugh-
| ter was suing her fathers estate for
services rendered during the last
days of his life. II was necessary to
prove a contract before she could re-
cover. A Mrs. Rodgers, a most en-
thusiastic witness for the plaintiff,
said she heard the old man repeated
ly state that he intended that Liza
Ishoud be paid for her work" When
he came to pass upon the demurrer
the court said: Il do not think the
Language Of the witness, Mrs. Rod
gers, implies "A contract. If he had
lsaid, in the light of these Missouri
Idecisions), Liza, You go ahead and
do this work for me and | will pay
lyou.' the claimant might have a
lease Thereupon the lawyer for the
plaintiff insisted that Mrs. Rodgers
I
the court said was necessary. The
court said he did not remember il
|. that way. The stenographer trans
cribed his notes and they showed tina
the witness had neglected the i'm
iportant part. The witness insiste
that she had said just what tn
,, court remarked. Then the court cal
? ed her back to the stand and aske
her to repeat her evidence. She W.
q more than willing.
Well, SIR" he said, as she withel
$ ed the stenographer with her blac
eyes, "old Mr.. Jones said that da,
and / heard him, this language
: Liza in the light of these Missouri
decisions, you go ahead and do thi
work and | will pay you for it,
The plaintiffs attorney retired
from the case then and there.
There was funny miX-up in a
Brookfield case when the defense
was trying to prove good character,
A young man just winning his spurs
was doing the reporting. All Ben
Pittman writer's know that there is
considerable similarity between the
ioutlines for "veracity' and ''feroci-
ty" The witness was asked regard
ing the defendants reputation for
veracity. A multitude of objections
followed, and by and by the court
overruled them and told the steno-
grapher to repeat the question to the
witness, which he did this way:
What is the reputation of the de-
PENDANT for ferocity in the communi-
!ty where he resides"
"Fine." said the witness.
In speaking of the various man
ners of witnesses, George y. Davis,
son of Judge Samuel Davis of Mar
shall Mo, relates this from his stem
ographic experience:
After working some years al the
business the court stenographer
learns to have a pretty good idea as
Ito whether a witness is telling The
truth or not other people might OBJ
serve the symptoms of lying as Well
as the reporter. but the latter Is
lprobably the quickest 10 detect them
because he is in closer contact With
the subject. When he reaches the
crucial point of his testimony he
iliar shutters over the prunoun ] and
lhis sentences come In jerks Then
there Is an ntouatiou Of the voice
that is very different from lbs nor
NAL condition n js either lower on
louder when the times comes 10 tell
I'm, fib II he has been prac'lcing ~
ou Dr. DO les likely tO be louder 20 sud
ldeuly yaueht ,be voice drops Th'
lhonust man has Wing to his voice
lthat carries conviction with De-
rrhs hardest witnesses 1n earth
: Tor thr stepograph,r ro report. NJ
Davis went ON. care the women win
ia grievance and rhe tarsY from ihs
southland Thef hay" rh"ir stories
lnNed 100 hffnr. 1ud ohun rle 'im,
.of rrlsasc comics the. arr ururt
loo.s upon 'hu c0urf and iury ise a
lnod nf stream. eifAout pune lHfinr