SHORTHAND INSTRUCTION. Shorthand has been disseminated in the United States largely through the efforts of those who, believing it to be worthy of adoption on account of its general usefulness, have taught it to others without regard to compensation. Professional stenographers have at all times been engaged more or less in giving instruction, either in their offices or in connection with educational institutions, and hundreds of persons have thus received practical lessons. The Christian Brothers and other orders have long been noted for the thorough instruction in the art imparted by them in Catholic schools. Attention is particularly called to the great variety of institutions which now give shorthand courses in connection with other branches, and to the number of public schools, especially in evening classes, which afford instruction in this specialty. The art is now generally included in the curriculum of studies e mbraced in evening classes of the Young Men's Christian Associations. Probably not more than one person out of a hundred who take up the study of shorthand is physically and mentally qualified to make a verbatim reporter. The number of those who are able to fit themselves as office shorthand clerks is however solely dependent upon qualifications entirely apart from a knowledge of swift writing. In other words, any intelligent person with a good general education is capable of learning enough of the art to make a successful business amanuensis. In very few schools is there an established standard for graduation, and even in such as maintain a definite degree of proficiency this requirement varies greatly. It will thus be seen that the figures given in the column showing "time required for completion of course" may refer to a variable standard of proficiency or may simply mean that, within the time stated, some students have been able to secure employment as stenographic clerks. The growth of shorthand instruction, following its rapidly extended use, has been perhaps the greatest educational movement of recent times. The business men of the United States so quickly and so generally availed themselves of the benefits of the art that there was not a sufficient number of properly qualified amanuenses to meet the demand. This condition of affairs (obviously one of short duration) is passing away, and the "professor" who had learned all he knew of shorthand in six weeks or less, but who was benefited by the unprecedented demand for stenographers, does not now find it so easy to decoy ignorant persons into the study of an art for which only those naturally intelligent and having a good English education are fitted, even in the lowest grades of business amanuenses. It must be confessed that the shorthand teacher who keeps "one lesson ahead of his class," references to whom have been repeatedly printed, has not had his only existence in editorial fancy. This indiscriminate instruction has brought discredit upon shorthand writers generally, for it has filled many portions of our country with so-called stenographers having a partial knowledge of the art and able to move the carriage of a typewriter, but who are destitute of many of the essential qualifications of amanuenses. The salaries regarded as satisfactory by these "three months' graduates" are, it is true, but little higher than those paid office and errand boys, but business men soon become weary of revising their work and correcting their errors, and they are set adrift to seek new victims of their incompetency. The Chicago Herald says, editorially, "The country is overrun with a plague of inaccurate stenographers, whose errors lead merchants into trouble and entangle courts in conflicting testimony. Check must be put upon the army of incompetents." The "Shorthand Writer" for May, 1891, says, in an editorial commenting upon the above, "The evil has become so great that some action is forced upon us." The editor of "The Phonographic Magazine," in November, 1890, writes as follows: The impression was formerly almost universal, but is now rapidly fading, that in order to secure and hold a good position as a shorthand clerk one needs but to learn to write rapidly. At no time has this single qualification been sufficient to make a successful stenographer, and its insufficiency was never more apparent than to-day. Some years ago, indeed, a very modest mental furniture might suffice to bolster up the uneducated shorthand writer who could take dictations, but nowadays the increased pressure for the best places and the enlightened judgment of employers are such as to demand of all applicants at least four fundamental accomplishments, which must be acquired by hard study and which do not come by nature." These qualifications are specified as (1) correct spelling, (2) correct grammar, (3) good business form, and (4) a rapid and legible longhand or skill in the use of the typewriter. A teacher, in sending in his report of instruction, writes: Equipped with a knowledge of composition, punctuation, etc., the student of shorthand enters the field of phonographic preferment as assured of ultimate success as was David of old. Lacking these important needfuls, dark indeed is his way, slow his progress, and, unless endowed with an indomitable will, in the end he finds only disappointment and distress. I fancy that statistics of the art of shorthand would be incomplete without some reference to the imposition which is practiced upon the unwary in the form of "systems mastered in one month" and "reporting skill in three months." The advertisers of such boons (heaven save the mark) can not be too severely handled. The following statement in The Phonographic Magazine for March, 1891, is particularly pertinent: What sane man would think of offering his services as a plumber, a carpenter, or a barber after an apprenticeship of three months? What sensible young woman would presume to call herself a dressmaker or a cook within that quarter of a year in which she makes her first acquaintance with the work of such an occupation? Ought it to seem plausible to the uninitiated that the mental and technical requisites of the shorthand writer in business as an amanuensis are so much more limited and meager than those of practitioners of the trades we have named as to justify the idea that time is a hardly appreciable element in his preparation for his work? Does it not seem reasonable to suppose that at least as much time must be given to the preparatory study and practice of shorthand, in order to make a fairly good amanuensis, as must be given to the preparatory study and practice of horseshoeing in order to make a fairly good farrier? Is the work of the amanuensis so inmeasurably inferior to that of the barber that it can be mastered with a smaller expendiditure of mental power and technical drill as measured by time? If anyone thinks so, we would earnestly entreat him to be true to his higher ideal and try to become a good barber or cook (for many of which there is still room in the world), and to manfully resist the temptation to sink into the position of a mere three-months stenographer. That all teachers of shorthand should give preliminary examinations to applicants before undertaking instruction is beyond question, yet an inquiry as to the number of schools providing such tests has resulted in obtaining information of very few and these generally in institutions offering free instruction. The Free School in Stenography for Women of the Cooper Union, New York, has held such examinations for several years. Applicants must be at least 18 and not over 35 years of age. Mr. L. C. L. Jordan, assistant secretary, writes: We have no regular examination papers for admission to the class in stenography. I examine about forty applicants at once. They are first required to write their name, age, and address at the head of the page. Then they are asked to write a letter of application for a position as stenographer. After this I dictate slowly a few well-written editorials from some first-class newspaper. A page of foolscap paper of original matter on some given subject or subjects completes the examination. Simple as the above is, it is astonishing that not more than one out of six of the applicants, who for the most part are graduates or students in the higher grades of the public schools, can give a sufficiently good account of themselves to enable them to pass. The penmanship is a matter of great importance, as well as the ease and facility with which applicants handle a pen or pencil. Examinations for admission to the shorthand class of the Young Women's Christian Association, New York, are conducted in accordance with suggestions of Mrs. E. B. Burnz, as follows: Seat thirty or more applicants, each at a separate desk, in the large room, with three large sheets of paper and pen and ink before each, no pencils or rubbers being allowed. Forbid all communication with each other during the examination. The examiner, to insure this, must not leave the room. As a test of spelling, dictate sentences like the following, to be written on one sheet. Tell them to begin each sentence with a capital and place a period at the close: Sulphur is highly inflammable. I gave a nickel for the fossil. Glass is neither ductile nor malleable, unless heated. He leaped from the precipice into the abyss. I have catarrh and can not sing to the guitar. At the siege of Paris the military maneuvers were admirable. I will give one specimen of her ridiculous suspicions. The balance of the stationery was damaged. It is possible that Her Majesty will confer the privilege. A recipe is not a receipt. Madam Joy possesses a brilliant intellect. After this, say: "Now, please take another sheet of paper and write a letter which I shall dictate to you. Take it down exactly as I say the words. The number of the house, street, city, State, and the date are to be put in their proper places. Write slowly and carefully, because you can have but one sheet of paper. When I have done dictating conclude the letter in your usual way and sign your own name." No. 7 E. 15TH STREET, NEW YORK, September 11, 1890. MY DEAR MRS. FISH: Being informed that you have decided to remove into the country, I shall feel under obligation if you will inform me as to the interior of the house you occupy at 93 Madison avenue. How many rooms are there on each of the three floors? Are the parlor and kitchen of suitable size for a family of eight persons? Are the washtubs movable or stationary? Does the dumb-waiter work smoothly, and are there facilities for thoroughly ventilating every apartment? Is the dining room sufficiently large to admit of a party of, say, twenty guests being comfortably seated? How many will the dormitories accommodate, should you think, on an emergency? A complete and speedy reply will be appreciated by, Yours truly, After each has signed her letter, request them to take the remaining sheet, and write a reply to each question asked in the foregoing letter, in the order in which it was stated. They may be permitted to refer to the first letter so as to reply seriatim. Tell them to begin by imagining that each girl is "Mrs. Fish," and therefore putting the Madison avenue residence at the beginning of the letter. Then each addresses herself and replies to the questions as she chooses, signing Mrs. Fish's name at the end. An exercise like this will test the applicant's knowledge of spelling, capitalizing, punctuation, grammar, use of words, and facility of imagination; the latter being really an ability to adapt oneself to surroundings, and this is very important in business life. When the sentences and the first and second letter have been written, let each girl pin her three papers together, and give them up at once. Let no one take anything written away, It is best to have large-sized sheets, so as to hold all that is dictated, as some persons write a large hand or spread their writing. But I think it is best to limit the girls to one sheet for each of the three exercises, and allow no second beginning to anyone. A fairer estimate of the comparative ability of each individual applicant can thus be made. Of course various sentences containing words liable to be misspelled and letters to be answered can be arranged, and the examiner should have several on hand for different occasions. My idea in presenting these suggestions is to give a fair but thorough test of the education and ability of each applicant, with the least expenditure of time and labor on the part of the examiner. A short editorial from some leading paper is also given as a dictation. The marked success which has attended the efforts of Mr. W. L. Mason, the teacher of the Female Stenographic Class of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of New York, is no doubt largely due to the carefully prepared preliminary examinations which have weeded out those unfitted to practice the art. "Great stress," Mr. Mason states, "is laid on educational qualifications for the study of shorthand and typewriting in our school, and each applicant is required to pass a moderately difficult examination in the simple English branches, such as spelling, grammar, punctuation, and composition." 3061-10 |