Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1908-05-22

Shuey and Murphy-hold the contract
and employ their associates. That
the contract plan prevails in the Sen
ate was due 10 the wish of the late
Dennis F. Murphy. pioneer of the ia.
nous Senate reporters. When the
method to be followed in allowing
compensation for the official reporting
in Congress was under consideration
third OF a century ago Dennis Muir
ply, who was in charge of the Senate
reporting, expressed a preference for
contract system, which would give
him a lump sum for doing the work,
instead of a salary, and would Incl
dentally allow him free rein in the
selection of assistants. Mr.. Murphy
first took the contract in the early '7Os
and after his death 1t was transferred,
in 1896, to his brother Edward V. Muir.
ply and Mr.. Shuey, who hold it joint
ly.
The price paid for reporting tie pro
ceedings OF the Senate is $4,000 a
year. so that 1t would appear on the
face Of things the House OF Represen-
tatives pays somewhat more for the
verbatim record of its proceedings
than does the Senate. 1t was the ORR
ginal intention, however. that the ex-
penditIre for this purpose should be
about equal for the two houses of Con-
gress. In the investigation of the
matter which resulted in the adoption
OF the contract plan in the Senate
and the salary scheme in the House
it was discovered that there was very
little difference in the volume of the
reporting in the two houses. A COM
putation covering several years
showed that on an average the varia-
tion between the chronicles OF the
Senate and House of Representatives
did not exceed thirteen columns OF
the Congressional Record for an entire
session Of the law making body.
To the army of stenographers en-
ployed on small salaries in all parts
OF the country the $4,000 received by
Congressional official reporter for work
that seldom occupies more than seven
months Of the year, and sometimes
does not exceed three months in u,
may appear decidedly alluring. AS
matter of fact, however, the pay is
not excessive considering the high or
der of ability and exceptional quail
fications required. The shorthand.
sharps at the Capitol are in literal
truth the pick of their profession.
First OF all, it is requisite that they
shall have the ability to attain the
acme OF high speed work-not in an
occasional squirt but as a regular daily
grind.
Many of the achievements in rapid
writing which the Congressional off,
cial reporters dismiss lightly as CON-
monplace feature of their regular rou-
tine are little short of miraculous.
Issac Pitman in his text books claimed
that 120 words minute is the average
public speaking, whereas many OF the
revised modern text books on short
hand promise the beginner that q
speed of $50 words a minute will quail
fly him to do verbatim reporting. A
speed OF 200 words a minute is gener-
ally considered amply sufficient for
all court and convention stenogra- 4.
ply, and yet even this rate of writing
would fall far short OF the require
ments in recording the sharp colo
quies that occur In any exciting de-
bate in Congress. Just to illustrate
the skill of the official reporters ii
might be cited that one of them in
a recent demonstration before the stu
dents of a shorthand school wrote on
an ordinary blackboard with common
chalk at the record breaking speed OF
260 words a minute. making charac-
tiers that were legible in all parts of
the large schoolroom. The principal
of the school was so dumbfounded that
he had the blackboard photographed
and had a number of the persons pres
ent make affidavit to the time occu-
pied by the test.
That the Congressional reporters
must keep up their whirlwind writing
in abbreviated form not merely for
a minute or an hour but for working
day of six or seven hours is attested
by the fact that at one recent sitting
of the House of Representatives there
were spoken and recorded in the leg
islatiye chamber an aggregate of CO.
900 words. OF course no one reporter
keeps tabs on the proceedings for any
protracted interval. When his note
book is filed he is relieved by another
reporter and repairs to the work room
of the corps in the Capitol, where he
reads his notes to receptive phono-
graph or a listening stenographer.
This done he can If need be go back
and in turn relieve his alternate.
Meanwhile his dictated notes are be-
ing transcribed on the typewriter, and
later in the day he must correct the
duty of very exact
ing character.
Not only in equipment but in work
ing methods have the passing years |
Witnessed an evolution in the most |
difficult form of reporting in the world. /
Years ago when the membership of
Congress. and particularly OF the |
House OF Representatives, was small |
err it was entirely feasible for an Of |
fetal reporter to sit near the speak
sr's desk and hear clearly all that
took place. With the larger body Of
lawmakers and the perhaps more
strenuous proceedings this is no longer !
Nowadays the official stem
,grapher must be on the firing line,