The Virginia enterprise., 1911-02-03

IAueS uoe tueH eyes 10 out adVan-
tage, or at least try to hear every
thing that Is going on. That is the
idea Of fiction writer's of what a stem
ographer is, and it seems to have
become pretty generally the idea.
But there are stenographers and
stenographers, and maybe it would
surprise you if somebody should tell
you what lot of great men began in
exactly that position. To refer to two
who have been considerably in the
public eye of late, take Cortelyou and
Loeb, the former now the head of the
Consolidated Gas company OF New
York, one of the biggest corporations
in the country, and the latter the COL
lector of the port OF New York, the
biggest job in the customs service
Both of them were s1enographers and
earned their living through it, and
they got their start through the same
means.
Indeed, there is probably no occu-
patton on earth that offers to the
young man SO many opportunities for
biography. The stenographer is the
father confessor of the man he works
for; he listens to tie inner commu-
nings of his employer, who is pro-
fessOr or business Ilan or a lawyer
or politician, and writes all his
letters and knows all about every
thing he is doing If he is a wise
stenographer and becomes personally
intimate with his employer, as the
very nature Of his job is sure to make
him, be- has access e. sgery opportu.
nifty that his e!ayloye: IaS; for every
thing o. consequence IS this world of
actici+:' &C soIn: st:ge W all stages
has letters written al.odt xt--z:H3 the
stenographer takes down these let
ters. And, of course, knowing that
the amanuensis knows all about it,
isn't it the most natural thing in the
world for that employer to give his
favorite assistant direct opportu-
nifty to get in on things in an honor
able way-perhaps, in time, to be-
come business partner, even?
Taken generally, a private secre-
tary begins as stenographer; for it is
by the showing OF proficiency and dis
creetness as a stenographer that the
promotion comes. Every big business
man has a private secretary; hence,
when your boy takes up stenography,
every big business man in the coun-
try is potentially his future boss
Therefore, it follows that your boy
has made a start that may land him
anywhere he chooses to go, provided
he attends to business.
The getting of job as stenograph-
er is not at all difficult OF course
your boy must have first learned to
be stenographer, which requires
about six months Of study and prac-
tise Many of the public schools have
added stenography and typeWr1ting to
their curriculums; practically all the
Y. NJ. c.. AS have a course that is
free to members; the country is filled
with business colleges and special in
structors, who for $25 to 800, accord
ing to the particular "classiness'' of
the promoters, give courses in ste
biography and typewriting. But if
through some strange circumstances
your boy is unable to avail himself of
any of these opportunities, he can
buy textbook on stenography for 81
or less, rent a typewriting machine
for So to IS a month, and learn it all
himself. There is no business the
rudiments of which can be acquired
so easily. Most typewriting machine
agencies maintain employment agen-
cies open to those who use their ma
chimes. The educational requirements
of stenographer are practically
nothing except the common school
sort, with special attention to gram
mar and punctuation.
There is great bugaboo about the
speed requirements Of stenographer
and typewriter. The aspirants first
Job will undoubtedly be with some
business man who will ask only that
his letter writer shall be able to take
down what he says, read it back to
him when he gets stuck and wants to
make a correction, and after awhile
bring in the transcription neatly type
written. Most business men, espe-
ctally when debating, speak very
slowly; so that your boys speed of
taking seventy-five to hundred words
minute, which he can easily do after
his six months study. is amply, as is
his ability to typewrite forty to fifty
words a minute.
If in small city, the beginner will
be paid IS to $40 week in the be-
ginning. Larger cities run as high as
SIS, and in ordinary work, such as
taking letters Of the average business
man, a beginner will not be likely to
rise to more than, say. s25, when he
| mas become the favorite of several
stenographers employed and is get
| ting into sort of private secretary
ship. Some law offices, which require
| quicker and more accurate work, pay
as much as s35 or even more a week
If your boy should decide to make
stenography his permanent vocation
| instead of being merely a stepping
| stcne to something else, he had bet