The Port Gibson reveille., 1907-04-11
Typewriting and Stenosraphy
BY EDWARD wILLIsToN FRENTz.

BY EDWARD WILLISTON FRENTz.
Great numbers OF girls who.
through lack of early advantages and
education, are wholly untitled for the
work, have been tempted TO learn
typewritings and stenography simply
as a short cut to being called Miss
Smith" or Miss Williams" rather
than Jennie" or Pauline.
No girl should think Of learning
this trade who has not had at least
thorough high-school training; and
If, either In school or out of 1t, she
has been able to give time to the
special study of English composition
of grammar and rhetoric and the
correct use of capitals and marks Of
punctuation-so much the better.
Nowadays in the high schools in
most OF the larger towns one finds
fairly competent instruction in type
writing and stenography; but If this
is not provided, a course in some
typewriting school is advisable.
The tuition will cost, on an aver
age, four dollars a week, and living
expenses must be reckoned in addi-
ton. The term may be anything,
from ten weeks to twenty. The more
reputable schools fix no time limit,
but grant a diploma or certificate
whenever the pupil Is able to pass the
examination.
r. a. - oo,,~-o rorsfh1a FOR a
bright and persistent girl to learn
the trade by home study and prac-
tice; but in such cases there is al
ways danger OF acquiring faulty fin
ger methods, which later on will be
found a serious handicap to speed.
A good commercial typewriter should
be able to write in shorthand from
one hundred to one hundred and
twenty words a minute and to pro-
duce about sixty words a minute on
the typewriter.
Having mastered her trade, the
young girl faces the difficulty of Sc
curing a position. At the start, the
school where she has studied will be
Of assistance II its standing and repu-
tation be good. Applications from
employers are constantly coming In,
and an effort is made to provide the
right person for the right place.
Wages at the start are almost sure
10 be low. From six to eight dollars
is the usual price for beginners, and
unless the girl shows ability and APP
titude, that is likely to remain the
price. Ability and aptitude mean not
merely the power to reproduce the
sounds which the employer utters,
but the knowledge Of how to correct
poor English, when to begin and
when to end a sentence, where cap
itaIs should be used and how to
punctuate. 1t also means grasp
OF business terms and unfailing ac-
curacy.
Girls too seldom understand that
letter Is a contract, for the fulfil.
ment of which the employer may be
held responsible; and that little
carelessness on the typewriter's part
may cost him thousands Of dollars.
The really desirable positions In
this trade-positions which pay If
teen, eighteen, twenty, twenty-five
or even forty dollars a week-are
held by girls who are much more
than mere typewriters and stenog-
raphers. They are virtually private
secretaries. fully cognizant of their
employers business. keeping track Of
his engagements, and helping him to
meet the needs of the hour. Such
women are In constant demand, at
high salaries, because they are inyal-
liable to any employer.
Girls who intend to follow the oc-
cupation of the typewriter and stem
ographer would do well to study
French, German. Italian or Spanish
or all Of them: for the ramihcations
of modern business life give special
advantages to those who are compe-
tent to conduct the business corre-
spondence of a general importing
house.-Youth's Companion.