Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1914-01-30

/ have taken pains to err on the
side Of safety and have committed
them to paper.
In times long past, have stared
into a long drawn out case, where II
seemed that there were four hundred
pounds Of attorney and two ounces d
stenographer, and where / found at
the finish that there were four hun
dred pounds Of stenographer and but
two ounces Of attorney; but l cannot
see, for the life Of me, why should
lay this up against this pleasant high.
browed collection OF gentlemen thfs
morning.
AS an attorney l am under lasting
Obligations to the stenographer fer
ticking out on his typewriter a much
better speech than was delivered by
me and correcting such frivolities Of
grammar as them molasses and have
did, as l was perversely guilty Of.
II it had not been for the skilled re-
porter, the speeches of congressman
as actually delivered, would have re-
suited in the defeat of many a men,
Der because of his bad prosOdy, ETY.
mOlogy or syntax appearing in the
Congressional Record. The reporter s
notes are about the only thing the
speaker cannot get away from, for
no two fellows would ever agree ON
what was said, especially if there was
a little of revenge or malice that
made them desire to differ. The
court reporter has had to sit through
the long hours of a hot day made
doubly hot by the temperature of
the lawyers, and take down the CUFF,
mG1Sh and nonsense of the lawyer, in
the lawyers one effort to find out
whether the witness saw the engines
collide or the blow struck, and who
was awarded by the astute man in
the chair saying at last that he had
got there just after the accident &C.
CURED or as they were arresting the
disturbers of the peace. The court
reporter has one thing indelibly i'm
pressed on his memory, and that is
that he never knew the infinity and
multitude Of falSifierS until he heard
them from the witness stand. be
heve in miracles, but II st. Paul were
now alive and stood by the witnesses
who were testifying, intent on max.
ing them speak the truth, l be,ieve
his omnipotence OF miracle woulc
fail him, 1913 per cent in every wits.
key case and 80 per cent in all the
others. A man who respects himSel
steers as far from being a witness
as he can. 1880
"The reporter, by his long expert,
ence, has become an absolute expert
and can tell, intuidvely, whether the
witness is telling the truth or not.
It may be by his placing his hand to
his mouth, fidgeting in his chair, fire.
quent use Of his handkerchief, jogging
his crossed knee, keeping his eyes
away from the jury, or the rapidity
and Vehemence of his answers to the
party who called him, or the long
wait for an answer by the other side,
and when it comes, if one had his
eyes shut, he would think it an eff |
fort to get a malignant stopper on
of a bottle, or it may be the tout en-
semble of the witness; but he knows
it.
The first official reporter of when
history makes mention, was Moses.
have seen a reporter in an ordi-
nary COW case consume a dozen
books Of notes, but Moses in a very
transaction had only two,
and he had to dig into them to keep
up. l do not know where Moses Is
buried, but if he could look down on
you gentlemen and see the rapidity |
with which you grind out your work,
it must be a regret with him that he
lived four thousand years too soon.