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Shorthand has been used to some extent in the United States since its earliest publication in England. During the early days of the republic a considerable number of works based on Gurney's and Taylor's systems was brought out. After the publication of Pitman's phonography numerous imitators of it appeared in America. In 1854 the first of the Graham publications by Andrew J. Graham appeared, "The Reporters' Manual, a Complete Reporting Style," which was but the beginning of the prolific promulgation of phonographic literature of the Graham system. To Mr. Graham belongs the credit for having so perfected the Pitman system as to make it an adequate instrument for reporting purposes. The success of Graham's phonography was the cause of its being widely imitated, and at present text-books by a large number of different authors are published. In 1867 "The Complete Phonographer," by James E. Munson, official stenographer of the New York Superior Court, appeared. Mr. Munson adopted the vowel scale used in the "tenth edition" of Isaac Pitman's Phonography, as well as nearly all the consonantal characters. Both Graham's and Munson's shorthand have attained great popularity, and probably are the best known of the American Pitmanic systems. Some of the well-known systems based on the original Pitmanic alphabet are: Graham, Benn Pitman, Munson, Lindsley, Osgoodby, Scott-Browne, Day, Barnes, and Dement. Of another school of authors using an entirely different basis for their systems are: Pernin, Cross, Sloan (Sloan-Duployan), McKee, and others. Up to 1893 nearly all the work of American phonographic authors, with the possible exception of Cross, was done along the line of developing the Pitmanic system. So it may be said that these systems reached the acme of their development many years ago. As Mr. Pitman had said, "all the stenographic material had been used," thereby implying that if there was to be further development along the line of phonographic research and invention, it would have to be accomplished by different means than that adopted in the Pitmanic system and its numerous modifications. In 1893 there was introduced into this country a system by Mr. John R. Gregg, of Liverpool, England, entitled "Light Line Phonography," based on longhand. The invention of this may be said to have marked the beginning of the third and most important era in the evolution of shorthand writing. Phonographers had realized that the possibilities of a system based on the geometrical foundation had long since been exhausted, and that improvements in that direction could not be made, but there was also as full a realization that the limit of phonographic perfection had not by any means been reached. Therefore with the advent of Gregg Shorthand (the title Mr. Gregg later gave to his system), there sprang into existence a new interest in shorthand, and a revolutionary movement began that has reached every part of the civilized globe. There began at once an appalling defection in the ranks of Pitmanic writers; schools that for years had taught one or the other of the Pitmanic modifications, began to investigate and adopt the new system.
Mr. Gregg struck out boldly on new lines. The characters of his system are taken from ordinary longhand, which, as the author says, "in the adaptability to the hand embodies all the wisdom of the ages." He uses neither position nor shading, but joins vowels and consonants in their logical sequence and in the order of their delivery in spoken language. Studying closely the causes for the failure of Pitmanic phonography to meet the exacting requirements of a modern civilization, the author of Gregg shorthand, through scientific research, became convinced that shading, position writing, the innumerable exceptions to rules, and the arbitrary characters that abound in the Pitmanic system and its modifications, would have to be abolished in a system that would endure. After exhaustive experiments an alphabet was evolved based on the fundamental phonographic truth, that the value of a letter or shorthand character is determined by its combination with other letters or characters. By the wise selection of the characters for the alphabet, the frequent syllables or combinations of sounds in the language, could be expressed by one stroke of the pen, and with the further great advantage of securing a full phonographic representation. The following brief synopsis will suffice to show the closeness with which the author adhered to great natural principles that govern ordinary longhand, and the resultant legibility:
Gregg shorthand has received the highest scientific endorsement ever given to a system of shorthand, as will appear from the following taken from "Researches on Movements Used in writings," by Cloyd N. McAllister, Ph.D., of the Yale Psychological Laboratory: "For the student of stenography the question of speed is of the greatest importance. The older systems contain many characters that must be made in the direction of the radii of quadrant IV. (the most difficult). These movements are very slow, requiring twenty-seven per cent more time on the average than the movements of quadrant III. (the least difficult). "One system of shorthand introduced into this country in 1893, Gregg shorthand, contains no characters that must be made in either quadrant II. or IV., and the slope of the characters is such that they lie very near the middle of the quadrants I. and III. In this respect, then, this system of shorthand is the most rapid yet devised." In spite of the fact that Mr. Gregg brought his system to the United States at a time when the country was in the throes of a financial panic, and that it was met by the most violent opposition by the ultra-conservative element of the profession, the system sprang almost instantly into popularity. It is in use at present in a larger number of commercial and high schools than any other. Its writers are engaged in every branch of stenographic work from amanuensis to the most difficult reporting, where speed and legibility are indispensable. The field for shorthand is ever widening and with this extension of its usefulness, there comes a constantly increasing demand for greater proficiency. The business men of the United States so quickly realized the value of shorthand that almost anyone who called himself a stenographer could obtain a situation. But of late years the business has steadied down to a good basis and the demand for really first-class stenographers is greater than ever before. The unparalleled business expansion of the last few years has given an impetus to shorthand that it has never known before. In New York last year one of the large typewriting concerns placed over 5,000 stenographers in positions, the salaries averaging about $50 a month. In Chicago the same concern placed almost as many with only a slight decrease in the average salary. The same was true of all the large cities. Another innovation in the shorthand business that has given it greater prominence, has been the introduction of what is known as touch typewriting, by which is meant the operation of the typewriter without looking at the keys. By this method fully fifty per cent in efficiency is gained, and with it greater accuracy. Besides adding to the efficiency of the typewriter operator, touch typewriting has had the effect of forcing shorthand writers to become proficient in order that the shorthand notes might be read more rapidly to keep pace with the additional speed on the typewriter. Touch typewriting is now taught in all the leading commercial schools, and there are many text-books on the subject. During the last five or six years, the question of teaching shorthand and typewriting in the public schools has been much agitated, and in the larger cities, the high schools and especially the evening schools are taking up this work, and the demand for it seems to be constantly increasing. RULES FOR JOINING CIRCLES |
