Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-01

- ONE DAY some puDut SlcHo5id-
pher of Washington IS going to
write a book on men and types
she has known-and that book
will be of incalculable value to
the student of human nature. or all
the classes and professions. than hers
there is none that has a better oppor-
tunity TO see the diversity of the mascu-
line mind and the pecuiiarities of man in
general
\ man in town for perhaps one day
desires the services of an expert Ste
nographer and is directed TO a certain
building or hotel lobby. where he will
find Miss So-and-So. He enters a neat
little office or a coy little alcove, and is
Immediately confronted by a business
like young woman sitting in front Of a
typewriter There he dictates his let
ter and receives sheets of carefully
written. correctly spelled copy-or per-
haps the document is a lengthy legal
affair in which case il is taken down
first in shorthand. And if he be in
hurry. as each sheet of the stenog-
rapher's pad is. filled with pothOoks
and dots. il is turned over to another
husneSs-iike young woman. VINO tram
scribes il ION machine" and a few
minutes after the last dot has been
put down the typewriter document is
all ready for the court. 1t all seems
prosaic enough.
But as a matter OF fact the life OF the
public stenographer is many sided. some
times pathetic. again humorous, but al
ways interesting. Washington woman
who has been in the business for fifteen
years-in fact. is one of the pioneers of
the PROFESSIONALS commenting on her
experiences.
Il have done every ina ginable variety
of work and have seen traits of human
nature which before | went into business
j would hardly have believed possible.
said she. II have written proceedings of
ecclesiastical bodies. rules for the pro-
Cedurc of cockfght, descriptions of
prizefghts and endless battles of the
tongue. j have written applications for
just about every office under the sun
AT least every office within the gift OF
The President. / have also written resig-
nations from office. though not often.
Then have written business contracts OF
every description. near-poetry by the
yard statistics galore. newspaper jokes.
novels plays. sermons. obituary notices.
descriptions of weddings, proceedings for
divorce. tiresome documents unnumbered
on the tariff and arguments on both sides
Of every sort of question. until, to my
own personal De!lef. had not the fdfnt-
est idea in the world where I was at.
] have written pages i'm all sorts OF
known dialects. not to mention number
that nor any one else save the man die
1ating ever heard of before. / have writ
ten love stories. ghost stories and blood
and-thunder stories by the ream. Yes,
an these and more. I have even written
the HbrettO of comic opera-One how
ever, which has never seen the light Of
day.
Love letters? I've written more OF
them than / can count-not my own
either And three separate times 1 have
written letters for men breaking engage
nents OF marriage And, what is more,
they We're all dictated by educated men.
Every one of them unhesitatingly gave
me the name and address of the lady in
question.
The first was the editor of an out-of-
town paper He was In a terrible hurry.
First he ratified off lot of business let
tiers. Then he dictated q brief editorial.
Then. calmly as II he were answering an