Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-12-12
MANDAMUS NETS
STEN0GS S125,769
Some Court Typists Get More
Than Governor, Official
Records Show
BIG OVERHEAD THEIR PLEA

In the nrat eleven months OF this year
Ernest N. Ross. an official stenographer
Of Common Plea. Court No: 1. has
mandamused the city for S15. .210.S4 for
ings mt fifteen cents n hundred words
and expenses Of stationery aud sup
plies.
This Is In addition to his salary of
$4,000 a year as oficiaf court stenog.
rapher and his 8 per cent bonus Of 5000.
The records do not show how much has
been collected from lawyers for carbon
copies Of the. records for which he IL
allowed to charge ten cents hun
dred words.
Ross IL only one stenogrnpher in this
court. There are two others. Every
other court also has its official stenog-
raphers who are allowed this rate Of
pay for their work in addition to their
salaries, until the mandnmus receipt
book to date for this year shows that
the work Of the court stenographers
and their typewritinE supplies have
cost the county S125, ,769. IL.
The size Of the yearly payments to
these stenographers was brought to pub
lie attention by Councilman Devlin last
month, but It remained for study of
the mandamus receipt book to show ex-
actly how much each man had received
Ross holds the record. His close sec
ond is Lewis Hopper, Of Common Pleas
Court No. 8, whose nandamus nc
count shows So, 5000 so Tar this
year.
The stenographers have been making
more money than the Governor OF the
Commonwealth. Judges and others IN
high authority. Once or twice the sub
iect of salaries and fees Of court stenog-
raphers has been buffetcd about the
Council floor.
Point to "Overhead'
Tho stenographers insist. however
that "all isn't gold that g'itters,' and
that the greater portion OF their man.
damus receipts are paid out IN salaries
and compensation for their assistants.
Their average net earnings for years
period. they say runs between Soooo
and $4,000. :,
for these fees, which are allowed by law
in this State, hence the mandamus., And
the mandamus receipt records when are
available in the Office Of the City Solici-
tor show what has been collected in the
way OF fees and expense money by the
shorthand experts. The record reveals
that the popular conception OF ste
nographers' earnings is far from the
truth, at least in these cases.
The fees for Ross, for instance,
month by month this year, as shown by
the mandamus receipt book, were as
follows:
S1746.73; March, $1S74:76; April.
S12S5.97; May, $s54.0o; ..o June,
S2GS1. "A ; July. $4s5 !: August. SS24.40;
September, 1101.3O: October, S1353.3S;
November, $1103.35.
Hopper's heaviest month for the year
is the present one. His first mandamus
this month was for S1G74 %. In four
months this year his fees and stationery
expenses amount to more than $500
each. Three other months show receipts
of more than $1,000 each.
Profit Small. He Says
Ross, the second man on the list,
although his mandamus receipts for
eleven months amount to more than
$15, 900 and his salary $4,000 more for
the year, he asserts that his net earn
ings for 1922 will not be much higher
than $4,000.
William F. Cliff, Of Common Pleas
Court No. ., has a mandamus record so
far this year amounting to S3412.75.
He keeps accurate records of his re-
ceipts and expenditures. and in 1921 hi. |
net earnings were approximately S400 |
less than his salary. He received in !
salary and by mandamus $1O,OS5. 40. |
lie paid $2637.11 for typewriting. He
paid S2S66.20 to stenographers who MS.
sisted him and $733. 40 for miscellaneous
expense. This left him n net balance
of S3SOS.5O.
In addition to this, he sold to law.
yers interested in the cases he reported |
copies Of transcripts at five cents |
hundred words for total of S1995 80. |
The collections for this work. however, |
and other official stenographcrs bear
him out, amount to only so per cent.
The rest are not paid for.
g. c. McClain. also Of Common Pleas
Court No. 2, and president Of the as
sociation composed Of court stenog.
raphers, has had mandamus receipts
this year Of $780, 10.
'I've got four people living on what
get.' he said. "two typists and an
assistant stenOgrapher, and the net
earnings aren't so very much for what
you do.
II get into the Office at o o'clock,
attend every session of court, stick
around until II o'clock ut night getting
put the work. On Sundays it takes
from 10 until Z to stay even with the
record and holidays from until l.
On Election Day 1t was all day"
The system used by the stenographers