Show BROADWAY AND MAIN STREET so wilson held up the war for fast shorthand lesson t by BILLY RO ROSE SE w during the closing days of world war 1 I 1 I took the president of 1 the united states out of play for 15 minutes I 1 did it with my little t short shorthand Kand pencil at the time I 1 was wag working for the war industries board in wash i ington as a stenographer and running out to get chocolate sodas for mr bar baruch ch its cb chairman sirman il A few d day aye before the armistice a board executive handed me a let 1 iter and told me to deliver it to the proper party the proper party was waa A woodrow wilson the white house that day was a 0 jumble ot of senators cabinet members ambassadors and one important brass news of the armistice was expected any hour and the tension was like the last few seconds of the dempsey firpo fight I 1 handed tho the letter to one of mr wilsons Wll Wil sona sons secreta secretaries fles and was asked to wait in case ot of a reply A few minutes later the secretary re turned looking hl 9 puzzled IT the h e president would like to see you he n TV f said I 1 got tre trembly ably inside I 1 was pushing IS 18 at the time fresh out of the east side and also plain fresh but my billy rose dealings with pros pres identa had been limited to the one I 1 had seen on dollar bills mr wilson smiled when he saw in me e 1 I understand youre quite a shorthand writer was hla his greeting 0 MY TREMBLES vanished I 1 anew the president was a shorthand of sorts the p magazines were always bragging about it 1 I hear youre pretty good yom yourself sel mr president I 1 blurted out mr air wow blushed prettily dont dons get much chance to fo practice then d day ays hf be said we uke a fisherman a for f six inch trout grout mr air baruch sells me you can write words a minute I 1 wonder if give me a little bide demonstration ile he handed me a pad and a penell pencil and picked up a new newspaper on his desk then in his clipped precise speech he read one of the editorials at about words a minute when he had finished the president said now lets hear you read it back well as every stenographer knows its the reading back that counts I 1 shot the editorial back at him a good deal faster than he had dictated it and then I 1 started at the bottom of 0 the page and read the editorial backwards wilson chuckled ile ho asked me questions about gregg shorthand ho he was a pitman writer by this time I 1 was patronizing him a lit tle the caddie who shoots a 01 self conscious when he als discusses lashle shots with a rockefeller I 1 PICKED UP the new york paper and handed the pad and pencil to mr wilson 1 I wonder if mind writing for me mr president I 1 said wilson rubbed his bis glasses on his sleeve dont go too fast he warned I 1 read the be editorial it at about ono one hundred words a minute and then dished asked him to read it back when I 1 told fold bi him m he hail bad made no mistakes kei the president sighed like a kid who has yuji just finished playing claying the elves walts for I 1 picked up his bis notes if you dont mind sir I 1 said id like to keep them woodrow wilson reached for my shorthand shor sh orthan thanA notes well exchange ho he said k I 1 walked out of the white house and floated back to my office via tho the rooftops I 1 had no sooner gotten to my desk than the phone rang mr baruch wants to see you said his secretary pretty good for or delancey street I 1 said to myself as I 1 walked down the hall woodrow wilson and bernie baruch in one hour the girl in mr barucho Ba office looked up as I 1 bounced in the boss wants you to get him a chocolate soda she said |