New-York tribune., 1909-02-14


.oo. three wears before his death. Sir Isaac
u = ceased TO supervise personally the issue
- ,,srso.rs writings Barely half century
G ,,onsed since the publication Of his first
N0- o., li,.le I6mo pamphlet bearing. under the
oS-- r,- -s.eaographic Sound Hand" the imprint
tue. ., Faagstar, the London Bible publisher,
added lines: "Also sold by the Author,
snu .-,,,asr-Edge- Price Four-pence." Yet
hs.f century had seen the Manual of
ups -.--a,hy" reach its S00th thousand. and the
fI-..-aus,ic Teacher fits second million Not
- g ,fonograpE1y in daily use IN every part
o.. Oh 47,rlisfl speaking world and throughout
q -. South America, but il had practically
0Ps.5 all earlier shorthand systems well
ST. lind that could originate and perfect a
- of speech transcription destined TO such
hide utility must have possessed, one in
so-,e uncommon and strongly marked
= and the inference finds fun justification
., ,.ges Of Nj Bakers Life" They show
: T.oac gl,e received the accolade from Queen
: 10 in ISg4) TO have been man Of infinite
,.,;on Of Neutrality-suspicious. eccentric
'i l,-vze.jsns. Of unbounded self-confdence and
= .,,-,,fsrn. With him the propagation Of
+-,oe--aphy was more akin to a religious cam
- than 10 any ambitious pursuit Of fame or
- For years-pntil the very Yoluminous-
e n his correspondence forbade 1.-THE offered
-.,,,ous correction and criticism Of any exer-
'..s submitted TO him by students Of the new
--1a,oe He never willingly gave countenance to
,slv testimonials even when his oHn circuIn-
-..,ces were painfully straitened, but always
-,,sS-ed that any sums OF money raised in his
sonor should be applied 20 the work of propaga-
- His last Illness found him stin in harness
70, so Iate as 1885 he had inaugurated the
.l,catigu OF a new monthly journal The
c,elsr- dedicated TO six special objects, Of
zAi,h tie first three related 10 SWedenbo-gian-
i'm his adopted creed: the fourth TO spelling
sso-rnL the fifth 10 photography and the sixth
n The peace movement Negesarianism and
-Tee-totalisIn" had both received his lifelong
rruDort But il is the inventor of phOnog-
rsDhy that his name viii be remembered
M It's boyhood in the English manufacturing
,av1 Of Trcwbridge Joseph Pitman. an Older
.rother. once wrote: Isaac never had any OF
.tst raIlicking nonsense about him peculiar to
,ost cf rs bows nor do 1 remember his ever
sopuing on his way from school to play, but
bape directly be went either TO his books or to
ss work Punctuality and tireless industry
s44p 10 have been inbred virtues with him.
Ebae still a mere lad he formed the habit Of
-sing at in The morning in order to Sc
rre tvo hours of study before the time when
bs must be at his desk in the weaving mill
ssee At the age Of seventeen he read through
Fslkers Dictionary from cover 70 cover,
aDring out all the words whose pronunciation
saa gwen him trouble, and making himself an
shsalute master of diacrticai science At about
he sane period, too he was acquiring his first
knowledge Of shorthand
Long before Pitman's day shorthand had
been faYorite pastime of ingenious minds; but
as tine saving device it had only rarely been
Il tu-ned to serious account So far back as 1902
me Thomas Willis had brought out steno-
c-sphic systern and between that date and 1857,
lie birth year of photography, no fewer than
1 tao hundred other varieties OF shorthand had
been promulgated. The majority Of these were
/ wholly lnscientific devised solely for purposes
ciTter writing That Eaciest OF diarists Sam
al Pepys learned his cipher out OF a -'rachyg-
rz1hs" Of le41 by Thomas Shelton The 'Tay-
hr" system acquired by young Pitnan adhered
to the traditional method Of representing each
ster Of 3 word by its appropriate symbol To
4 U1r ambitious student, stITI drenched In the
ts-ftical lore Of Walker, the wastefulness OF
such ALPHABETICAL procedure must soon have be
cane apparent: vet for want of anything bet
tE be accepted it; and when, few years later,
! be set up q private school for boys at Wotton-
gn5sr-Edge, in the Cotswolds, he undertook to
siEe instruction in shorthand according to the
Taylor system
One more step, and the trail that leads up to
/ he great" wear, 1897. viii be complete Visit
/ ag one day in the house Of Methodist friend
/ htnan happened upon a copy Of Bagsters
L.