Show 1 < T r I WOBKOJP S i1OILFILAXD 1tiPO1iING Tic IrtiuiL Difference BcfwecnCotir Work aistt General Office Work I i Is it an exceedingly difficult matter 1 to learn stenography asked a reporter I of a Detroit court stenographer the other dayWell Well rather To become a practical i I shorthand reporter requires far more than a mere knowledge of shorthand I characters There are ways by which poison may in a few weeks time attain a I speed in shorthand writing perhaps twice as rapid as that of a good longhand long-hand writer To be a firstclass reporter one must be able to write 200 words per minute or more and to read it like print How about general education 1 A good stenographer must be able to take a medical expert who talks of the anterior superior spinous processes of the illiae and treat it as a matter of course What is the difference between taking testimony and taking a dictated letter or rather between court and office reporting report-ing Very considerable Court work requires I re-quires average work of 200 words a I minute whereas dictation and office is generally given at a snails I pace comparatively speaking There are probably several hundred estimable es-timable young people in Detroit who I have taken lessons and are capable of taking down matter twice as rapidly as a j good longhand reporter but as for their I doing court work convention work or political massmeeting speeches they 1 couldnt keep up with the talker for an entire minute Ability to write 100 words T a minute is of no earthly use in court re j j I porting whereas in office work one can get along fairly well at that rate of speed I Who make the best stenographers To become really expert one must begin be-gin young The exceptions only prove I lime 1 general rule The necessary re quirements at the startare a good English education a vast amount of perseverance and a good constitution When a ateno grapher has reported all day he feels more tired out than any one else can except ex-cept a newspaper man who has worked all night Then when couit adjourns the ohoithand writer is perhaps asked to write out half what he has taken during the day and he sits up with an amanuensis amanu-ensis until o or 4 oclock in the morning For all this he is paid and paid pretty well but it is killing work and requires constant care skill and good judgment Detroit Free Press |