The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-22
Shorthand Good field For
 Girls
By BETH M'ILYAINE.

the quick interview, the door closing behind her as she departed.
 She was on her own, free lance writer without the moral backing of some great newspapers name. She dreamed of writing a great story that would open every door to her. This interview, she felt, was her chance.
 Feverishly she wrote the story, choos- ing a word here, casting out another there. On reading it over the conver- sation sounded flat, without the sparkle and snap of the actress's own words Perhaps that was the matter-she couldn't remember very well just how she had said it all, and had to use her own comparatively commonplace phrase ology.
 Four different editors read it the next day and shook their heads brusque- ly: No, we cant use it. Not live enough stuff
 If she could only have put down what the actress had said as she said it! But concentrated writing abstracts one while talking. What to do?
 Like a flash it came to her-short- hand! How simple She could keep on trying as she learned, and the course wouldn't costsmuch.
 To learn the theory and as much practice as she needed for her purpose took two months and $20. On the day of her last class she heard that the actress whom she had unsuccessfully interviewed some time before was in town. Armed with new confidence, she stormed the citadel and obtained a sec ond interview, this time making little pen scratches on an inconspicuous piece of paper.
 At home the little marks resolved themselves into witty observations, del icately sardonic valuations, frank crit icisms, which she transcribed and wove into story. Her first bet, tn, editor of a large feature syndicate, was com plimentary in his acceptance. And any more you can do of the same kind we will take.'
 Now that same girl is in Europe on her way home from a trip around the world for a syndicate. She has talked with Princes and beggars and caught the flavor of their personalities in her stories. She frankly admits that short hand turned the trick
 Every one doesn't aspire to be an interviewer, but every girl dreams, as this one did, of her great chance" and may be kept from finding it or its find ing her by some ridiculously small in- efficiency, like ignorance of shorthand or typewriting.
 One family in Brooklyn consists of five girls and one boy, a cripple. When the oldest girl graduated from high school she went to business school for two months. Then her mother became ill and she had to stay at home to nurse her. But those two months had con- vinced her that the other five should go to business school if she had any thing to say about it. And, sure enough, they went, one after the other, even the crippled boy.
 Ida, the middle sister, studied Span ish in addition to stenography, and the school was able to place her in an i'm porting house as stenographer at SIS week. She is 26 years old now, mem- Der of the firm, and drawing down a salary of 5000 year. At least twice in the year she is sent abroad for sev- eral weeks. Last week the total income of the family. four members of which are now working, was $250.
 Shorthand has saved many day. talked to one young woman, a private secretary, who told me the following story:
 My firm, which handles materials for making shoes, has rival, a bitter enemy. The hostilities were very much under cover until one day the manager called up and made up favorable prop osition over the telephone. I happened to answer, and fearing slip, took down his exact words in. shorthand.
 'We acted immediately on the offer. thinking everything was O. K. But in a weeks time we found ourselves served with a court summons and a big law suit on our hands. In their statements they denied even having telephoned, un- til l brought forth my notebook with the telephone conversation staring them in the face. They wilted and the suit was thrown out of court. My boss gives me the credit, but I give it to short hand. l used to be just typist until short while ago T. studied shorthand, ard Mir. N took me on as his secre- tary. So you see''-
 The business manager of large busi- ness school told me that most of their night school pupils are sent there by their firms, which generally pay half the tuition. One girl in particular, remarkably bright young person, has been doing clerical work in New York S largest bank. The officials recognized her ability and her deficiencies at the same time, and so are sending her to business school to train her for a very important secretarial job.
 "The demand for trained stenogra- phers is amazing" he went on to say. 'Stenography nowadays seems to be n,1lx Na responsible positions. No girl, the col lege graduate especially. should feel above shorthand and typing. Many do. you know, and cut off their noses to spite their faces"
 That reminds me of what the busi- ness manager of a woman's magazine told me.
 Every day several girls come here for jobs. We practically never have po- sitions in the writing end open, and that's what most of them want. But I -sk them if they have stenography, and if they have, 1 can almost always find them a job in the business end. If they're wise, they'll snap at the chance, because before long, if they're ambitious and talented, they'll be edging into the actual writing. One girl here started a year ago as stenographer and is now running her own column. That's what mean"
 In this same connection is what an advertising man in a department store said. ''In our store, we directly hire no women advertisers, but work them up through the stenographic end. A girl with ambition in advertising, but without shorthand and typing, is out of luck if she comes to us for a job"
 A girl wouldn't think of appearing on the street without stockings. Just so, she shouldn't imagine herself equipped for success in tie bushes sworld with out a knowledge of stenography.
 sISnld hnfnrn ronn 2 Thn frnn,,nr,t