CliLER THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS BY WALT H. MECHLER, Ph.B. Associate Professor of Secretarial Science, Boston University THE GREGG PUBLISHING COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO LONDON COPYRIGHT 1922, BY THE GREGG PUBLISHING COMPANY F-H55-3 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA PREFACE >~ Interest in the results of the shorthand speed con- tests seems never to wane. Every student of shorthand at some time in his career usually very early wants to know what his speed is. The second point he wishes settled is, what is the highest speed ever achieved? And a third is, what kind of matter was dictated? Unfortunately for the peace of mind of the perennial strivers for shorthand speed, the history of the contests giving these particulars has never been set down in one volume. The object of this book is to satisfy the thirst for knowledge on these points and, what is of even 3 greater value, to present for study and practice the * material actually dictated in the various championship *? contests. The material in Shorthand Championship- I Tests is of particular value because it not only gives a basis of comparison, but it has been tested. More- en over, it is of sufficient variety to be of great value in w building up a shorthand vocabulary, which is, after ^ all, the basis of stenographic efficiency. The literary matter is the product of many minds and therefore is varied enough in style to relieve monotony. p| Many features of obvious value have been included. 2 The syllable intensity is given on all matter; this enables the writer to form a fairly accurate opinion of his comparative speed on different kinds of matter. "Syllable intensity" simply means the average number of syllables to the word. It is a factor that vitally affects speed, for it is a general rule that longer words have longer shorthand forms. This is not an infallible SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS index, however, for owing to the construction of the shorthand system many long words are written by extremely brief outlines. The matter has been counted in quarter-minute "blocks" at contest speed for the various dictations. Each quarter minute is marked by a distinctive vertical line to facilitate easy reading at the required speeds. A feature that will be appreciated by the dictator is the large and clear style of type employed. We believe that the Shorthand Championship Tests is a valuable contribution to dictation material, and that it will stimulate the quest for speed and accuracy in shorthand. THE GKEGG PUBLISHING COMPANY TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I A Brief History of the Shorthand Championship Contests PAGE THE FIRST CONTEST 1 THE SECOND CONTEST . . 2 THE FIRST MODERN CONTEST 3 THE SECOND MODERN CONTEST 5 THE GREAT "IMPROMPTU CONTEST" .... 7 THE MINER MEDAL CONTESTS 13 SECOND MINER MEDAL CONTEST ..... 14 THIRD MINER MEDAL CONTEST . . . . .14 FINAL CONTEST FOR THE MINER MEDAL . . . .15 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MINER MEDAL . ... 16 FIRST EGAN CUP CONTEST ....... 18 SECOND EGAN CUP CONTEST 18 THIRD EGAN CUP CONTEST . . . . . .20 FOURTH EGAN CUP CONTEST . . . . .20 1919 CHAMPIONSHIP CONTEST AT DETROIT ... 22 THE CHAMPIONSHIP CONTEST OF THE NATIONAL SHORTHAND REPORTERS' ASSOCIATION ... 24 WINNERS OF THE N. S, R. A. WORLD SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP .27 ADAMS TROPHY CONTEST IN 1911 31 BEST AMERICAN CONTEST RECORDS 39 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP CONTESTS 42 1908 CONTEST, LONDON 43 1909 CONTEST, LONDON 43 1910 CONTEST, LONDON 43 1912 CONTEST, LONDON 44 COMPARISON OF BRITISH AND AMERICAN RECORDS . 45 DUBIOUS RECORDS IN SHORTHAND 47 ALLEGED "300-woRD-A-MiNUTE" RECORD .... 47 TWO-MINUTE RECORDS 48 HANDICAP CONTEST, 1920 49 VARIATION IN SYLLABLE INTENSITY OF MATERIAL . 50 yi CONTENTS PART II Test Material Dictated in the World Championship Contests PAGE 1909 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST 61 1910 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST 81 1911 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST 101 1912 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST 130 1913 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST 150 1914 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST 171 1919 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST 192 1920 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST 221 1921 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST 245 1908 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP SPEED CONTEST . . 269 1909 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP SPEED CONTEST . . 280 1910 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP SPEED CONTEST . . 291 1912 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP SPEED CONTEST . . 295 HANDICAP CONTEST, 1920 . .... . . .299 PART ONE A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP CONTESTS THE FIRST CONTEST ABOUT 75 A. D. Shorthand contests are of ancient origin. Project yourself back to the first century of Christianity and imagine if you can the "scribes" or "recorders" of those days with waxen tablets and styli furiously scratching down their crude shorthand characters, hi a contest for speed ! This is not a fancy of the imagi- nation. It actually happened; it is history. Caius Suetonius Tranquillus, the Roman historian, writes of Titus Fabius Sabinus Vespasianus, the eleventh of the twelve Caesars (69-81 A. D.), familiarly known as Titus : "He was capable of writing shorthand with the greatest rapidity and he often competed with the scribes for his own amusement." Shorthand was a fashionable art with the nobles of those days and it was the custom for them to engage hi shorthand contests with other writers. Shorthand "speed contests" may have even antedated this, for shorthand was a recognized and important medium of recording speeches. Through it some of the choicest bits of Roman oratory have been handed down to posterity. SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Marcus Tullius Tiro, in 63 B. C., had invented a shorthand system that was employed in reporting the proceedings of the Roman Senate. When we consider the Romans' love of sports and the zest for competitions of all kinds, it is not at all surprising that shorthand contests came in for their share of popularity. But there is no historical record of these. And we do not even know how Titus came out in the one contest men- tioned in ancient history. After the fall of the Roman Empire and during the Dark Ages shorthand became practically a lost art forbidden to be used. Titus Vespasianus, the First- Speed Contestant, 75 A. D. THE SECOND CONTEST, 1720 Nearly seventeen centuries rolled by between the first shorthand contest and the second. The next short- hand speed contest of which we have any historical record was held in the year 1720. It was at London and was in the nature of a private duel with pens between James Weston and Dr. John Byrom, two rival shorthand authors. We can imagine that these two authors got into a controversy over the merits of their systems and finally one said, "Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating thereof." But there was no "clash of steel," not even steel pens, for quills were the weapons used in settling the dispute. This contest occurred before the days of stop-watches, SECOND CONTEST 3 "syllable intensity," scientific methods of transcrip- tion and correction, and accurate recording of re- sults. All we know of it is that Byrom came off victorious. And there is poetic justice in this fact for it was Weston who was the chal- lenger. Byrom cut quite a figure in the g Dr. John Byrom, the Winner of the Second Speed Contest in History, 1720 A. D. and 1 11 is today so well thought of that there is an important asso- ciation in America which bears his and Willis's name the Willis-Byrom Club. It is interesting to recall that John and Charles Wesley, founders of Methodism, were writers of Byrom's system. John Wesley for more than fifty years wrote his diary in Byrom's shorthand. Charles Wesley's present to his wife on their wedding day was a Bible containing an inscription in this system. But this is getting away from our story of contests. Anyone who is interested in the history of shorthand should read A Brief History of Shorthand by John Robert Gregg. THE FIRST MODERN CONTEST, 1887 Almost two centuries elapsed between the second and third shorthand speed contests. The second, however, suggested the third. Mr. E. N. Miner, who was for twenty-eight years editor and publisher of the Phono- 4 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS graphic World, says that "it was through my publica- tion of an account of the Weston-Byrom contest in my magazine for December, 1887, that I thought of having a public contest in this country." This contest was staged at Lake George, New York, in the summer of 1888. Two years before that, at the 1886 annual meet- ing of the New York State Stenographers' Association (now known as the New York State Shorthand Re- porters' Association) held at Lake George, one of the members read a paper on "Stenographic Braggarts," which made a profound impression. It was common then, as it is now, for stenographers to have vivid imaginations, and as the public was unacquainted with the meaning of shorthand speed, speeds up to even four and five hundred words a minute were common in the imagination. Even so late as three or four years ago the publishers of a shorthand system were taken hi by a "fake contest" in which the hero claimed 300 words a minute with 99.99 per cent accuracy (why it was not 100 per cent has not been explained) and ad- vertised this writer and advertises him today as "the world's champion shorthand writer." The result of this paper, "Stenographic Braggarts," was that Mr. A. B. Little, then an official stenographer at Rochester, New York, made an offer to present to any person who would write 250 words a minute for five consecutive minutes a gold medal to cost $50. It developed in the discussion that no one present had ever seen anyone write even 225 words a minute for five consecutive minutes. No one undertook to win the medal offered by Mr. Little. But at the next annual meeting in August, 1887, Mr. Little renewed his offer, but laid down the condition that the successful contestant must "write 250 words a minute FIRST MODERN CONTEST 5 for five consecutive minutes and read and transcribe the notes without an error, the dictation to be on law matter to be selected by a committee appointed by the chair, who shall also act as judges on the test- subject matter to consist of 1250 consecutive words." Mr. Isaac S. Dement, a court stenographer of Detroit, who was present, accepted the challenge. A contest committee was appointed, consisting of Mr. George R. Bishop, of New York, Mr. George H. Thornton, of Buffalo, and Mr. E. T. Easton, of Washington. The matter was selected and the contest held. After five trials Mr. Dement took 1289 words in five minutes, which he read back with forty errors, of which thirty- four were immaterial and six words added in reading back, two of which were material errors, giving him a net of 1249 words. The $50 was not paid, because Mr. Dement lacked one word of qualifying under the conditions laid down. Col. Stewart, of Phila- delphia, however, in the interest of good sportsman- ship, donated $40, which was presented to Mr. Dement, who was the only contestant and was therefore declared the winner. THE SECOND MODERN CONTEST, 1888 Nearly a year later Mr. Andrew J. Graham wrote a letter to the editor of the Phonographic World, in which he suggested a contest, and offered $500 in prizes to be competed for as follows: $225 for not less than 250 words a minute for five minutes; $125 for not less than 240 words a minute for five minutes; $90 for not less than 230 words a minute for five minutes; and $60 for not less than 225 words a minute for five minutes, "each writer to have the 6 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS privilege of choosing his own reader, each reader having the privilege of reading the matter over at least once before dictating and a synopsis of the case to be stated by the committee before the reading begins." Mr. Graham appointed as a committee Mr. Edward B. Dickinson, Mr. E. N. Miner, and Mr. George B. Kellogg, to select the matter and award the prizes. The contest was finally scheduled to take place at the meeting of the New York State Stenographers 'Association, at Lake George, in August, 1888. Five contestants presented themselves, all court stenog- raphers, four of whom were officials, three from Michigan, one from Ohio, and one from Illinois. One of these with- drew after the rules had been read. Another with- drew after taking the dicta- tion and a third failed to qualify in his transcript. The two contestants left were Mr. Isasc S. Dement and Mr. Fred Irland. Mr. Dement had written 1338 words in five minutes. In transcribing he made 68 material and 36 immaterial errors (one-half being deducted for each of the latter), making 86 deductions, or a net of 1252 words, an average of 250.66 words a minute. The matter dictated was testimony, the Q's and A's being neither dictated nor counted. Mr. Irland had 1308 words read to him in five minutes, 106 deducted for errors, giving him a net of 1202 or an average of 240.4 words a minute. Three tests were given each contestant and each chose his Isaac S. Dement, Winner of the First American Contest, 1888 SECOND MODERN CONTEST 7 third test. The committee awarded the first two prizes as indicated in the foregoing, but Mr. Graham subse- quently divided the prize equally and sent $250 each to Mr. Dement and to Mr. Irland. For the sake of present-day comparisons, it may be stated that had questions and answers been dictated and transcribed, as at present, and the rating made on the present basis, Mr. Dement would have had a net average of 273 words a minute. A comparison with the contest figures of today will show that there is little to choose between the speed of Mr. Dement and the present-day writers. THE GREAT ''IMPROMPTU CONTEST" The next American contest if it could be called such came to be known as the " Irland Impromptu," and took place at the annual convention of the National Commercial Teachers' Federation, at Cincinnati, in December, 1903. It was the idea, it appeared, to stage a demonstration by Mr. Irland and then adroitly to draw Mr. R. P. Kelley, who had achieved a reputation for rapid writing with the Gregg system, into the matter and make it appear that it was a competition between him and Mr. Irland, the accomplished Con- gressional reporter and veteran speed contestant. The plan was cleverly conceived and probably would have gone through had not the fates that sometimes work in mysterious ways defeated it. The complete story is told in the April, 1904, Gregg Writer. But, to make a long story short, at a certain point in the proceedings, when the schedule was very much behind time, the chairman said: "If anybody desires to speak a few minutes on the original topic 'Should 8 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS a teacher aim to vary his style and speed in dictating to the same class?' they have the privilege." There- upon Mr. Lafayette P. Temple of Washington arose and after some preliminary remarks about his class- room methods said: "I would like very much if I were a rapid stenographer to write something on the black- board, but as I am not I would like to ask my friend, Mr. Irland, if he would write something that will give you an idea of just the way we conduct our classes." Mr. Irland after protesting that he did not like to be used as a "horrible example," and saying that he did not know much about writing on the blackboard, con- sented to write. Mr. Temple said: "I have brought some Congressional Records with me from which I would like to select something to give to Mr. Irland." At any rate the "impromptu" was staged and Mr. Irland succeeded in writing 205 words a minute. Later the Andrew J. Graham Company published a photo- graphic facsimile of a blackboard containing matter written by Mr. Irland at the Temple School in Wash- ington, certified by Mr. Temple, and dated Nov. 25, 1903, more than a month before the "impromptu" test at Cincinnati. The matter written by Mr. Irland was as follows: The Speaker (pro tempore): The chair understood the gentleman from Ohio had yielded the floor, and the chair h recognized the gentleman from Tennessee. Mr Grosvenor: The chair must have misunderstood I will yield to the gentleman from Tennessee to ask a quest on, and if the gentleman wants time he can have it. Mr. Richardson of Tennessee: The rule gives us twenty minutes on a side, and I insist on my twenty minutes unde the rule. The Speaker (pro tempore): The previous question has been ordered or asked for. Mr. Richardson of Tennessee: I understand we twenty minutes to debate the rule. GREAT "IMPROMPTU CONTEST" 9 The Speaker (pro tempore): Not unless the previous question has been ordered. Mr. Grosvenor: Mr. Speaker, I am willing to yield to the gentleman from Tennessee twenty minutes. Mr. Richardson of Tennessee: But the rule of the House gives me twenty minutes. Mr. Grosvenor: The previous question has not been ordered. Mr. Speaker, I will demand the previous question. Mr. Payne: A parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker. It will be noticed that the above matter consists almost entirely of a number of simple congressional routine words and phrases, repeated over and over again matter which is familiar to congressional re- porters. An analysis of the passage shows : The word "Mr." (which is not written in such matter) occurs twelve times; "the chair," three times; "the speaker (pro tempore)" three times; "Mr. Speaker," three times; "the gentleman from" (Ohio two, Tennessee three), five times; "Tennessee," seven times; "pre- vious question," four times (also, "to ask a question"); "Mr. Richardson of Tennessee," four times; "Mr. Grosvenor," four times; "twenty minutes," four times (also, "gives us twenty minutes," and "gives me twenty minutes"); "the rule," four times; "I will yield," "I am willing to yield," "I am ready to yield," "had yielded," "has not been ordered," twice (also, "has been ordered"); "understood," twice; also, "misunderstood," and "understand" and so on. At the conclusion of Mr. Irland's demonstration the chairman called on Mr. Kelley, who was a mere stripling in shorthand experience compared with Mr. Irland, to write on the board, and although Mr. Kelley was wholly unfamiliar with the matter he wrote 160 words a minute on the following: . . . and greatly successful, and I would take the judg- ment of the Senator from New York (Mr. Platt), who is a member of that committee, before I would take that of any 10 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS man of the committee in respect to any financial proposition connected with this subject or any other subject, and so would the people of the United States. The Senator from Iowa commenced in rather a despon- dent strain on the subject of raising the money for the canal. I thought it was one of the glories of the American people that we, with absolute security and sincerity, could Say that we were the only people in the world who could go into our own treasury and find the money to build the canal, and I have even been led to suppose by the reports that have come from time to time in regard to the surplus of our receipts over our annual expenditures, the accumulation of money in the treasury. ... The "impromptu" contest and the controversy that arose over it culminated in Graham's challenge dated March, 1904, to a contest between writers of the Graham and the Gregg systems. Mr. Graham proposed that he and Mr. Gregg each put up $500, the winner to take the $1,000. The challenge was promptly accepted by Mr. Gregg, with the proviso that only writers of equal length of years' experience be eligible to the contest. The ex-president of the National Short- hand Commercial Teachers' Federation, Mr. Charles M. Miller of New York, in whose hands the matter had been placed, wrote to the Phonographic World that he had received Mr. Gregg's check for the $500 and had so notified the A. J. Graham Company. The Graham Company insisted that the contest be held the following month at the forthcoming meeting of the National Shorthand Reporters' Association, declining to consent to the contest being held in the National Short- hand Teachers' Association, where the controversy had originated, and finally practically backed out altogether. The editor of the Phonographic World, an inde- pendent magazine, vigorously supported Mr. Gregg's stand that the contest should be between writers of equal shorthand experience, stating that it was mani- GREAT "IMPROMPTU CONTEST" 11 festly unfair for writers of long experience to compete with the less experienced writers. The "Irland Impromptu" at Cincinnati had one beneficial outcome it greatly stimulated interest in the subject of speed contests. Mr. Charles M. Miller of New York offered a trophy to be competed for in an open contest by writers, without regard to experience. This cup, presented to the Eastern Commercial Teach- ers' Association for that purpose, was to be known as "Miller's American Shorthand Cup." Thereupon the arrangement of details was left by the Association in the hands of the executive committee. Mr. E. N. Miner, the editor of the Phonographic World, who had taken the position that the young writers of limited experience be given a chance, immediately offered the Miner Medal as a trophy to be competed for annually by writers of not more than ten years' experience. At the meeting of the Eastern Commercial Teachers' Association in the spring of the following year, 1906, Mr. Miller withdrew his offer of the cup, as it developed that the lack of arrangements made it impossible to carry out the conditions he had laid down. In explain- ing his reason for withdrawing the cup, he said: My information is that this particular committee found it impossible to formulate conditions that were satisfactory to them, and in order, in their best judgment, I suppose, to relieve the situation, and to get the benefit of the best possible advice, a sub-committee was appointed, a large sub-committee the personnel of which I have no objection to whatever. I esteem the individuals of that committee most highly, but the whole proposition was made ridiculous in the same breath by an- nouncing to the world that when this committee had made arrangements under which the contests should be conducted, had laid down the plans, and, if you please, had selected the matter, they themselves should have the privilege of contesting. It was pointed out that the conditions had not been announced until the evening before, and therefore 12 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS writers at a distance had no knowledge of what the conditions were to be, and were not likely to come on to the contest while matters were in such an indefinite form. It was suggested that the cup be held over until the next year, but the committee explained that a writer had come all the way from England to compete, and that it would be unfair not to allow the contest to go on as had been publicly announced. After much discussion, Mr. Miller's withdrawal of the cup was accepted and the Association voted to accept another cup offered by Mr. John J. Eagan of Hoboken, New Jersey. Subsequent events vindicated Mr. Miller's position, as the cup was not awarded to any- one because the contestants failed to transcribe their notes within the time limit. While the judges worked hard, and it is but simple justice to say that they conducted the contest in a spirit of absolute fairness, the arrangements were very unsatisfactory in many respects. The cup presented to the Association by Mr. Eagan thereafter became the International Trophy to be competed for in shorthand contests held by the Eastern Commercial Teachers' Association to go to the con- testant, without regard to experience, who won it three times in succession. As the Eagan cup contests were not based on a definite standard of speed and the methods of rating errors varied from year to year, it is difficult to make any satisfactory comparison with the results obtained in the contests of the National Shorthand Reporters' Association which succeeded the Eagan cup contests. The results of these contests, how- ever, will be presented merely for their historical importance. MINER MEDAL CONTESTS 13 THE MINER MEDAL CONTESTS The first of the contests for the Miner Medal was held under the auspices of the Eastern Commercial Teachers' Association at the Baltimore Business College, Baltimore, in March, 1906. The entries for the contest were Mr. Sidney H. Godfrey of London, England, a writer of the Isaac Pitman system; Mr. Fayette P. Temple of Baltimore, Mary- land, a writer of the Gra- ham system; Mr. Clyde H. Marshall, a writer of the Benn Pitman system, and Mr. Emil F. Trefzger, eighteen years of age, the youngest of the contestants, who had begun the study of shorthand two and one-half years previously. The length of time the other contest- ants had been writing short- hand was stated as "not more than ten years' experience." The results of the contest were as follows : Ma- Imma- Gross terial terial Net Accu- Name System Speed Errors Errors Speed racy* Sidney H.Godfrey, England, I. Pitman 168 8 8 164.8 98.1 Fayette P. Temple, U. S. A. Graham 173 14 23 165.8 95.7 Clyde H.Marshall, U.S.A. B. Pitman 173J 52 18 159.2 91.9 Emil Trefzger, U. S. A. Gregg 168 55 27 151.6 90.2 The medal was therefore awarded to Mr. Godfrey. Mr. Godfrey was twenty-eight years old. It is only fair to Mr. Trefzger to state that he was at * Present method of rating; under this rating, 95 per cent accuracy, only the first two contestants mentioned would have qualified. Under the rules of the Miner Medal, however, contestants qualified who did not have more than 10 per cent of errors. Enoch N. Miner, Who Donated the Famous Miner Medal 14 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS the convention in the capacity of demonstrator for the Remington Typewriter Company, and, although he had been devoting his attention for some months chiefly to typewriting, he made a most creditable showing con- sidering his lack of practice, youth, and inexperience. SECOND MINER MEDAL CONTEST There was but one contestant for the Miner Medal in 1907 Mr. Sidney H. Godfrey of London, England. Mr. Godfrey transcribed the 165 words a minute dicta- tion straight literary matter making twenty-four material errors and seven immaterial errors. The official figures, after deductions, gave him a net speed of 123 words a minute. Under the present rating, he would have obtained a net speed of 158.8 words a min- ute and an accuracy percentage of 96.2. The difference in the figures is accounted for by the different method of rating in vogue at that time. The committee in charge of the contest was the same as for the Eagan International Trophy, the two contests being held simultaneously. THIRD MINER MEDAL CONTEST The third of the contests for the Miner Medal was held in Philadelphia, April 18, 1908. Dictations were given for both the Miner Medal and the Eagan Cup con- tests simultaneously, at the following speeds : 160 words a minute, speech; 180 words a minute, judge's charge; 200 words a minute, literary matter; 220 words a min- ute, testimony; 260 words a minute, testimony. Only those with ten years' or less experience were eligible to compete in the Miner Medal contest. The committee in charge of the speed contest was composed of Kendrick THIRD MINER MEDAL CONTEST 15 C. Hill of Trenton, N. J., chairman; David H. O'Keefe, Brooklyn; Oscar L. Detweiler, Philadelphia; James N. Kimball, New York City; J. E. Gill, Trenton, N. J.; C. H. Requa, Brooklyn, and Edward H. Eldridge, Boston. The official results were announced as follows: Name C. H. Marshall S. H. Godfrey W. R. Duryea R. R. Brott System Kind of Matter ' ' Success ' ' Testimony I. Pitman Testimony Graham Jury charge Graham Literary Gross Speed Net Speed 260 242 220 201 180 173 160 101 The reports of this contest do not state the number of errors made by each contestant, therefore no com- parison can be made with present methods. FINAL CONTEST FOR THE MINER MEDAL The final contest for the famous Miner Medal, known as the Fifth International Shorthand Speed Contest, was held at Wash- ington, D. C., March 26, 1910. The trophy had been the source of some of the fiercest competitions between writers of ten years' or less experience in the history of contests. Following the contest at Prov- idence, 1909, in which none of the contestants qualified, Mr. Miner announced that the trophy would be competed for for the last time at Washing- ton in 1910. Consequently, the contest drew the largest number of contestants of any previous competition for this medal. The medal Fred H. Gurtler, Final Winner of the Miner Medal 16 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS was won permanently by Mr. Fred H. Gurtler of Chicago; second place was won by Mr. Charles L. Swem, a boy of seventeen, and third place was won by Miss Salome Tarr, also seventeen. Miss Tarr estab- lished a new world's record for accuracy, transcribing the 140 matter with only four errors, giving her a per- centage of 99.4 per cent. Miss Tarr had started the study of shorthand less than two years previously. Mr. Swem who won second place had also started the study of shorthand less than two years previously. Mr. Gurtler 's speed of 173 words a minute net, on straight literary matter, dictated at 180 words a minute, set a new world's record in the Miner Medal contests on matter of this type, and exceeded by 23 words a minute the best previous record. Following is a tabulation of the results of the contest: Net Per Cent Name System Speed Errors Speed Errors Fred H. Gurtler Gregg 180 38 173 4.2 Charles Lee Swem Gregg 180 79 163 8.7 Salome L. Tarr Gregg 140 4 139.4 .6 Gordon Payne Pitman 140 11 138 1.7 George W. Hoyt Graham 140 11 138 1.7 S. A. Van Petten "Success" 140 11 138 1.7 Marie J. Warren Pitmanic 140 16 137 2.3 Charles Lee Swem Gregg 140 18 136.6 2.4 Ernest G. Wiese Gregg 140 49 130.4 6.9 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MINER MEDAL The Miner Medal was first offered in 1905 by Mr. E. N. Miner, editor of the Phonographic World, to be competed for annually by stenographers of not more than ten years' experience, the contest to be open to the world. The original plan was to give the medal to the writer who won it three times in succession. The first contest was held in Baltimore in 1906, and attracted HISTORY OF THE MINER MEDAL 17 wide attention. Mr. Sidney H. Godfrey, of London, won the medal in this contest with a net speed of 150 words a minute. At the next contest, held in Boston, he was again successful, with a net speed of 123 words a minute. The next year a change in the rules of the committee allowed testimony to be used, in which the Q's and A's were counted but not written, and Mr. Clyde H. Mar- shall, of Chicago, who began the study of shorthand over ten years before the contest, was allowed to enter through a new inter- pretation of the rules and was declared the winner. The fourth contest was held in Providence, R. I. Mr. Godfrey was excluded from this contest by the operation of the rule which required that the contestant must have had not more than ten years' experience. Again changes were made in the committee's rules re- garding the matter, and two tran- scripts were required from each competitor, one on straight matter and the other on testimony. This rule was intended to make it an "even break" for the expert on "testimony" and the expert on "straight" matter, but in practice it was found that the unfamiliar matter for each kind of writer brought the average of errors up to such a high point that none of the contestants qualified under the rule requiring less than ten per cent of errors. At the suggestion of The Miner Medal 18 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Mr. Miner, the donor of the medal, it was announced that the next contest, to be held in Washington, would be the final one, and the winner there would become the permanent owner of the medal "to have and to hold forever." Thus Mr. Gurtler, in winning, became the permanent owner of a medal, which, having twice crossed the ocean, and having been fought for so valiantly on five battlegrounds, carries with it an interest and a historic value that cannot be justly measured in a few ounces of gold from which it was so artistically wrought. FIRST EAGAN CUP CONTEST The first contest for the Eagan International Trophy was held at the Baltimore Business College, Baltimore, Maryland, March, 1906, at the annual convention of the Eastern Commercial Teachers' Association. The entries, with the exception of Mr. Temple, were the same as those in the Miner Medal contest, which was held the same day Mr. Sidney H. Godfrey (Isaac Pitman system), of England, Mr. Clyde H. Marshall ("Success" system) and Mr. Fred Irland (Graham system), of Washington. None of the contestants being able to qualify with the required accuracy within the prescribed time the cup was not awarded. SECOND EAGAN CUP CONTEST The second contest for the Eagan International Trophy was held under the auspices of the Eastern Commercial Teachers' Association at Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts, March 30, 1907. The com- SECOND EAGAN CUP CONTEST 19 mittee in charge of the contest was composed of Mr. Charles Currier Beale, of Boston, chairman; Kendrick C. Hill, of Trenton, New Jersey; W. W. Collins, of Boston; Dr. Woodford D. Anderson, New York City; Charles E. Smith, of Toronto, Canada; B. J. Griffin, of Springfield, Massachusetts; Charles T. Platt, of Hobo- ken, New Jersey, and D. H. O'Keefe, of New York City. Mr. Beale and Mr. Bates Torrey were the readers. There were eight readings at the f olio wing rates of speed : 150, 165, 175, 187.6, 191, 215, 235.8 and 250 words a minute five minutes each. The official figures are as follows : Nellie Wood Freeman, Four Times Winner of the Eagan Cup Name Nellie Wood G. P. Gehman Fred Irland S. H. Godfrey M. Welsh System I. Pitman Graham Graham I. Pitman Gross Speed a Minute 225 (jury charge) 235 (jury charge) 235 (jury charge) 165 (straight matter) 150 (straight matter) Ma- Imma- Net terial terial Speed a Errors Errors Minute 22 23 163 28 19 158 30 39 142 24 7 123 17 22 116 Under the present rating these contestants would have made the following scores : Net Speed a Accu- Errors Minute racy Gross Speed Name System a Minute Nellie Wood I. Pitman 225 (jury charge) 45 216 96 G. P. Gehman Graham 235 (jury charge) 47 225.6 95.9 Fred Irland Graham 235 (jury charge) 69 221 94.1 S. H. Godfrey I. Pitman 165 (straight matter) 31 158.8 96.2 M. Welsh ? 150 (straight matter) 39 142.2 94.8 20 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS The 225 and 235 speeds given in the foregoing were made on judge's charge to the jury. The trophy was awarded to Miss Wood. THIRD EAGAN CUP CONTEST This contest was held simultaneously with the Miner Medal contest, with the same speeds of dictation and the same committee hi charge. The official figures are as follows : Net Speed a Minute 253 245 242 238 215 201 Miss Wood was again awarded the cup. Mr. Godfrey who had qualified twice for the Miner Medal failed to win this time and the medal went to Mr. C. H. Marshall. FOURTH EAGAN CUP CONTEST The fourth contest for the Eagan Cup was held at the meeting of the Eastern Commercial Teachers' Association convention at Providence, Rhode Island, April 10, 1909. Dictations were given as follows: 200 words a minute straight literary matter (sermon) ; 220 and 240 words a minute jury charge; 240, 260, and 280 words a minute testimony. Eleven contestants presented themselves, four signifying their intention of competing for the cup; six competed for both the Kind of Gross Speed Name System Matter a Minute Nellie M. Wood I. Pitman Testimony 260 G. P. Gehman Graham Testimony 260 C. H. Marshall "Success" Testimony 260 C. W. Phillips I. Pitman Testimony 260 W. E. Newton ? Testimony 260 S. H. Godfrey I. Pitman Testimony 220 FOURTH EAGAN CUP CONTEST 21 cup and the Miner Medal; and one for the Miner Medal. The official figures are as follows: Aver. Matter Gross Words Errors Net Words Rate Nellie M. Wood (I. Pitman; 16 yrs. experience) Testimony 1386 64 1322 264.4 Judge's Charge 1202 64 1138 227.6 Willard B. Bottome (Graham; 15 yrs. experience) Testimony 1309 78 1231 246.2 Judge's Charge 1202 111 1091 218.2 Clyde H. Marshall ("Success" ; 11 yrs. experience) Testimony 1386 206 1180 236 Judge's Charge 1202 149 1053 210.6 Fred H. Gurtler (Gregg; 4J^ yrs. experience) Testimony 1309 219 1090 218 Sermon ' 982 97 885 177 The committee had announced that papers contain- ing more than 10 per cent of errors would be disqualified. Miss Wood was awarded the Eagan Cup, and as she had won it three times in succession it became her permanent property. The committee in charge of the contest was composed of the following : Charles C. Beale, chairman; Oscar L. Detweiler; George A. McBride; James N. Kimball; Charles F. Roberts; Augustus T. Swift; and Edward H. Eldridge. The cup having been won permanently, the Eagan Cup contests terminated. Following this contest, the holding of the championship contest was taken over by the National Shorthand Reporters' Association, and the first contest was held at Lake George in the summer of 1909. 22 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS THE 1919 CHAMPIONSHIP CONTEST AT DETROIT In this picture J. E. Fuller, of Wilmington, Chairman of the Contest Committee, is standing with the book in his hand; Louis Schrader, of Wheeling, W. Va., official time-keeper, stands back of Mr. Fuller, with hand raised, ready to tap Mr. Fuller's shoulder when the split-second hand on the stop-watch passes the quarter minute on its dial. Seated back of Mr. Schrader is E. H. Eldridge, of Boston, who alternated as reader with Mr. Fuller. To the left of Mr. Eldridge are seated the official checkers, Edwin L. Allen, of Pittsburgh, and Frank Weller, of St. Louis. They hold carbon copies of the matter being dictated, noting thereon such variations as the reader inadvertently makes, as the writers are held responsible only for what is read. At the extreme right of the picture is Fred H. Gurtler, of Chicago, who won the final contest for the Miner Medal in 1910. In front of Mr. Fuller is Jerome Victory, of Jersey City, and at the same table are Neale Ransom, of Jersey City, and Miss Helen Evans, of Chicago. J. Burton Faulkner, of Cincinnati, is in the background at the extreme left, wearing spectacles, and at the same table is William F. Smart, of New York. J. F. Daly, of New York, is at the next table, with his back to Mr. Smart, and H. G. Reigner, of Detroit, is seated at the same table, busy at his note-book. Albert Schneider, then but a year out of the New York High School of Commerce, and who won the World Championship two years later, is shown, in part, at the table in the foreground. Seated at the same table as Mr. Schneider, and facing the camera, is his classmate, 24 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS William Rosenberg, who won the School Championship of New York in 1916. THE CHAMPIONSHIP CONTESTS OF THE NATIONAL SHORTHAND REPORTERS' ASSOCIATION The championship contests of the National Short- hand Reporters' Association were begun in August, 1909, following the final awarding of the Eagan Cup in the champion- ship contests held under the auspices of the Eastern Commercial Teachers' Association. A trophy, which was accepted by the Asso- ciation, was offered by the Shorthand Writer, a magazine published in Chicago, in the form of a cup to be known as the "Shorthand Writer Cup," to be Competed Willard B. Bottome, First Winner of the for annually in the speed * contests of the National Shorthand Reporters' Association until won three times in succession, when it would become the property of the winner. The types of matter selected for the Eagan Cup Contests and the method of rating transcripts, as well as lack of standardization in speeds, was realized to be inadequate and incapable of a comparison with the N. S. R. A. CONTESTS 25 records of previous or future years that would be of value to writers. Consequently, when the contest was taken over by the National Association, an effort was made to standardize both method and matter. The first contest was held at Lake George, New York. Five-minute dictations were given at 150 and 175 words a minute for certificates, Clyde H. Marshall, Second Winner of the N. S. R. A. World's Shorthand Championship with an allowance of only 5 per cent for errors. The championship tests consisted of five-minute dictations at 200, 220 and 240 words a minute on jury charge, and 280 words a minute on tes- timony. Contestants were required to transcribe one of the jury charge "takes" and the testimony "take." The 220 jury charge, was, however, dictated at only 207 words a minute on account of an error accuracy was required in each Charles L. Swem, Who Wort Third Place in the World's Championship, 1912. Mr. Swem was afterwards Ap- pointed Official Reporter to the President of the United States and held this position during Mr. Wilson's Two Terms in timing. 90 per cent championship dictation. Note: The author regrets that he was unable to secure photographs of either Mr. Behrin or Mr. Victory, to use in connection with the N. S. R. A. championship history. 26 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Albert Schneider, Winner of World's Shorthand Cham- pionship in 1921 In 1910, dictations were given at 150 and 175 straight literary matter for certificates; 95 per cent accuracy required. The cham- pionship dictations consisted of five-minute dictations at 200 words a minute straight literary matter (speech); 240 words a minute jury charge, and 280 words a minute tes- timony; 90 per cent accuracy required. These dictations were standardized for 1911, 1912, and 1913. In 1913 the required ac- curacy was changed from 90 per cent to 95 per cent. In 1914 the 240 jury charge was eliminated and a piece of straight literary matter at 220 words a minute substituted. The Shorthand Writer Cup having been awarded permanently to the winner in 1913, a medal was provided by the Association to be awarded to the winner in 1914. There were no con- tests in 1915, 1916, 1917, and 1918 on account of the war. The contests were resumed in 1919 on the standard The trophy of the basis ' Preceding the 1919 contest, N. S. R. A. Short- a cup was provided by the Associa- hand Championship . . r known as thp "National LlvJil \j\j Ut5 JvllL/VVll do Lilt? -1A cL\jl\JL\.c(iL Shorthand Reporters' Association Trophy, Shorthand Championship Cup." WINNERS OF N. S. R. A. CHAMPIONSHIP 27 WINNERS OF THE N. S. R. A. WORLD SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP Name Willard B. Bottome Clyde C. Marshall Nathan Behrin Jerome Victory Albert Schneider System Graham System "Success" System I. Pitman System Osgoodby System Gregg System The results of the different contests are given in the following : 1909 N. S. R. A. CONTEST (Lake George) SPEED CONTEST COMMITTEE J. N. Kimball, Chairman O. L. Detweiler George A. McBride Charles H. Requa Charles H. McGurrin Fred J. Rose E. H. Eldridge Philadelphia Philadelphia Brooklyn Kalamazoo, Mich. Chicago Boston Munson I. Pitman Lindsley Graham I. Pitman "Success" TABULATED RESULTS 200 (1002 words dictated) 207 (1036 words dictated) Net .Net Name Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. W/B. Bottoms 12 204.8 98.84 Frank Burt 41 192.2 95.9 Clyde Marshall 83 190.6 91.99 J. D. Carson 45 198.2 95.66 Ernest B. Elson 46 191.2 95.4 280 (1386 words dictated) Net Err. Spd. Accy. 78 261.6 94.37 156 246 88.74 114 254.4 91.77 131 251 90.55 The championship was awarded to Mr. Bottome. 28 1910 N. S. R. A. CONTEST (Denver) SPEED CONTEST COMMITTEE J. N. Kimball, Chairman E. H. Eldridge Charles H. Requa George A. McBride Frank H. Barto Fred J. Rose Walter M. Scott J. C. Lowe Boston Brooklyn Philadelphia Washington Chicago Lima, Ohio Minot, N. Dak. "Success" Lindsley I. Pitman B. Pitman I. Pitman Graham Graham TABULATED RESULTS 200 (1002 words dictated) 240 (1199 words dictated) Net Net Name Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Clyde Marshall 39 192.6 96.11 85 222.8 W. B. Bottome Nellie Wood 280 (1402 words dictated) Net Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. 92.91 62 268 95.58 57 269 95.93 81 264.2 94.22 The championship was awarded to Mr. Marshall. 29 1911 N. S. R. A. CONTEST (Buffalo) SPEED CONTEST COMMITTEE J. N. Kimball, Chairman E. H. Eldridge Charles H. Requa George A. McBride Frank H. Barto Fred J. Rose Walter M. Scott J. C. Lowe Frank H. Hurt Gordon L. Elliott Samuel Powis, Jr. Charles F. Roberts Charles H. Magee James E. Fuller Boston Brooklyn Philadelphia Washington Chicago Lima, Ohio Minot, N. Dak. Boston Mason City, Iowa Trenton, N. J. New Haven, Conn. Birmingham, Ala. Wilmington, Del. "Success" Lindsley I. Pitman B. Pitman I. Pitman Graham Graham Munson "Success" Graham Graham Graham B. Pitman 280 TABULATED RESULTS 200 240 (1002 words dictated) Net Net Net Name Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. J. D. Carson 35 233 97.08 Clyde Marshall 18 196.8 98.2 10 238 99.17 Charles L. Swem 40 192.4 96 15 237 98.75 W. B. Bottome 41 192.2 95.91 26 234.8 97.83 100 260 92.86 Nathan Behrin 18 196.8 98.2 40 232 96.67 60 268 95.71 The championship was awarded to Mr. Behrin. In this contest both Mr. Charles Swem and Mr. Clyde Marshall established a world's record on jury charge, the former writing 237 and the latter 238 net words a minute. 30 ADAMS TROPHY CONTEST, 1911 In addition to the championship contest, a contest was held for the Adams Trophy, a cup offered for the most accurate records at 150 and 170 words a minute straight literary matter, 190 words a minute jury charge, and 210 words a minute testimony, in which the questions and answers were neither read nor counted. Speed certificates were awarded to all who qualified at these speeds, as well as at the championship speeds. Errors Errors Errors Errors Per- in 150 in 170 in 190 in 210 Errors cent- Name Test Test Test Test Total age Nellie Wood 4 5 2 7 18 99.5 Nathan Behrin 3 5 8 8 24 99.3 Charles L. Swem 4 3 8 13 28 99.2 H. E. Anstie 6 16 6 8 36 99.0 W. B. Bottome 5 22 3 9 39 98.9 J. D. Carson 6 18 14 22 60 98.3 Clyde Marshall 22 10 27 10 69 98.1 J. B. Faulkner 28 32 20 23 103 97.2 In this contest Mr. Swem established a world's record for accuracy on straight literary matter at 170 words a minute 99.7 per cent perfect. Certificates were awarded as follows to those who did not qualify on all the dictations : 150 190 210 Net Net Net Name Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. Paula Werning 20 146 97.3 20 206 98.0 H. E. Barnet 20 186 97.8 20 206 98.0 Frank Weller 35 183 96.3 30 204 97.1 W. R. Hill 35 183 96.3 Salome Tarr 45 181 95.2 25 205 97.6 Ned L. Harmon 35 203 96.6 W. N. Duffy 50 200 95.2 Miss Wood was awarded the trophy. 31 1912 N. S. R. A. CONTEST (New York) SPEED CONTEST COMMITTEE J. N. Kimball, Chairman E. H. Eldridge James E. Fuller George A. McBride G. R. Leonard Walter M. Scott Paul Wisenall Boston Wilmington, Del. Philadelphia Chicago Lima, Ohio "Success" B. Pitman I. Pitman Gurney Graham B. Pitman TABULATED RESULTS 200 240 280 Net Net Net Name Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. Nellie Wood 85 183.0 91.5 103 219.4 91.42 120 257.4 91.47 W. B. Bottome 70 186.0 93.0 46 230.8 96.17 89 263.6 93.67 Clyde Marshall 42 191.6 95.8 60 228.0 95.00 70 267.4 95.02 Charles L. Swem 50 190.0 95.0 39 232.2 96.76 64 268.6 95.45 J. D. Carson 44 191.2 95.6 22 235.6 98.17 53 270.8 96.23 Nathan Behrin 58 188.4 94.2 15 237.0 98.75 17 278.0 98.79 The championship was awarded to Mr. Behrin. 32 1913 N. S. R. A. CONTEST (Chicago) SPEED CONTEST COMMITTEE J. N. Kimball, Chairman James E. Fuller E. H. Eldridge Frank H. Barto Walter M. Scott James F. Campbell J. A. Williams Wilmington, Del. Boston Washington Lima, Ohio New York Council Bluffs, Iowa B. Pitman "Success" B. Pitman Graham I. Pitman Gregg Name A. Russell J. A. Butler TABULATED RESULTS 150 175 Net Net Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. 29 144.2 96.13 28 144.4 96.27 41 166.8 95.31 200 240 280 Net Net Net Name Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. J. D. Carson 44 191.2 95.6 75 225.0 93.75 129 254.2 90.78 Nathan Behrin 8 198.4 99.2 14 237.2 98.83 44 271.2 96.86 Paula Werning 27 194.6 97.3 42 231.6 96.5 The championship was again won by Mr. Behrin. Mr. Behrin having won the cup three times in succession, became the permanent possessor of it. 33 1914 N. S. R. A. CONTEST (Atlantic City) SPEED CONTEST COMMITTEE J. N. Kimball, Chairman James E. Fuller E. H. Eldridge R. E. Fuller J. A. Williams Walter M. Scott George W. Hoyt Wilmington, Del. Boston Chicago Council Bluffs, Iowa Lima, Ohio Williamsport, Pa. B. Pitman "Success" B. Pitman Gregg Graham Graham Name J. M. Shaffer A. C. Gerber J. W. Christie P. W. Peavey H. W. Syfrig Name J. D. Carson Nathan Behrin Earl PendeJl Nellie Wood G. D. Ziegler Neale Ransom TABULATED RESULTS 150 Net Err. Spd. Accy. 7 148.6 99.07 10 148.0 98.67 17 146.6 97.73 22 145.6 97.07 25 145.0 96.67 200 220 280 Net Net Net Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. 11 197.8 98.90 13 197.4 98.70 25 195.0 97.50 49 190.2 95.10 47 210.6 95.73 39 272.2 97.21 19 276.2 98.64 34 273.2 97.57 42 271.6 97.00 33 273.4 97.64 55 269.0 96.07 The championship title was awarded to Mr. Behrin. The Shorthand Writer Cup having been won three times in succession, a gold medal was presented to the winner. 34 1919 N. S. R. A. CONTEST (Detroit) SPEED CONTEST COMMITTEE James E. Fuller, Chairman Henry S. Sanders Edwin I. Allen Frederick H. Gurtler Frank Weller New York Pittsburgh Chicago St. Louis Munson Pitmanic Gregg B. Pitman TABULATED RESULTS Owing to war-time conditions, no contests were held in 1915, 1916, 1917, and 1918. The 1919 contest was held at Detroit. In addition to the 150 and 175 words a minute speed certificate dictations, it was planned to give dictations at 215 and 230. Owing to a mistake in timing the 230 dictation was given at 203 words a minute. But one writer qualified in the championship, with results as follows: 150 175 203 (752 words (873 words (1015 words dictated) dictated) dictated) Net Net ' Net Name Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. J. B. Faulkner 3 149.8 99.87 H. G. Reigner 5 149.4 99.30 C. P. Armbruster 6 149.2 99.00 F. M. Palmer 15 147.4 98.00 L. W. Temple 33 143.8 95.00 W. F. Smart 21 170.4 97.6 J. F. Daly 34 196.2 96.6 200 240 280 (1211 words (1405 words dictated) dictated) Net Net Net Name Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. Jerome Victory 15 197.0 98.5 39 234.4 69 267.2 95.08 J. B. Faulkner 28 194.4 97.2 J. F. Daly 32 193.6 96.8 54 231.4 Fred H. Gurtler 34 193.2 96.6 Albert Schneider 50 190.0 95.0 Neale Ransom 56 269.8 96.01 The championship was won by Mr. Victory. 35 1920 N. S. R. A. CONTEST (Denver) SPEED CONTEST COMMITTEE James E. Fuller, Chairman Henry S. Sanders Edwin I. Allen Frederick H. Gurtler Frank Weller New York Pittsburgh Chicago St. Louis Munson Pitmanic Gregg B. Pitman TABULATED RESULTS 150 (755 words dictated) Net Name Err. Spd. Accy. Albert Schneider Mettje Middaugh 151 100.00 L. H. Weisen- 4 150.2 150.2 175 215 (872 words (1075 words dictated) dictated) Net Net Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. 172.2 98.74 11 16 171.2 98.17 burger E. A. Reilender Neale Ransom 5 150 W. A. J. Warne- ment .6 149.8 J. E. McGuinness 9 149.2 W. F. Smart 11 148.8 Ethel Maclaskey 12 148.6 Mrs. C. S. Miller 19 147.2 J. Royse T. J. McCarthy R. MacRae W. L. James 99.47 99.47 99.34 21 146.8 25 146 26 145.8 145.4 28 N. N. Woodman 37 143.6 99.21 98.81 98.54 98.41 97.48 97.22 96.69 96.56 96.29 95.10 16 171.2 98.17 20 170.4 97.71 13 171.8 98.51 20 170.4 97.71 44 165.6 95 29 209.2 97.30 200 (1002 words dictated) Net Name Err. Spd. Albert Schneider 16 197.2 J. F. Daly 26 195.2 W. B. Bottome 39 192.6 Jerome Victory 46 191.2 240 Net Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. 98.40 97.41 52 229.6 95.67 96.11 95.41 The championship title was retained by Mr. Victory. 36 1921 N. S. R. A. CONTEST (Niagara Falls, Ontario) SPEED CONTEST COMMITTEE James E. Fuller, Chairman Nathan Behrin Henry S. Sanders E. H. Eldridge Frederick H. Gurtler New York New York Boston Chicago I. Pitman Munson "Success" Gregg TABULATED RESULTS 150 175 (747 words (873 words dictated) dictated) Net Net Name Err. Spd. Accy. Err. Spd. Accy. 215 (1074 words dictated) Net Err. Spd. Accy. Albert Schneider 3 174.0 99.65 18 211.2 98.32 Jerome Victory J. F. Daly Nellie Wood Free- 6 148.2 99.19 10 172.6 98.85 21 210.6 98.04 33 208.2 96.92 man 33 208.2 96.92 W. B. Bottome 3 174.0 99.65 Alice Mengelkoch E. A. Reilender 4 6 148.6 148.2 99.46 99.19 7 7 173.2 173.2 99.19 99.19 W. A. J. Warnement 7 173.2 99.19 Neale Ransom 8 147.8 98.92 9 172.8 98.96 L. W. Meyer Ben H. Keller 1 14 149.2 146.6 99.86 98.12 11 13 172.4 172.0 98.73 98.51 Helen W. Evans 8 147.8 98.92 15 171.6 98.28 C. P. Armbruster 1 149.2 99.86 17 171.2 98.05 L. H. Weisenburger Elnora Diehl 3 26 148.8 144.2 99.59 96.51 18 21 171.1 170.4 97.93 97.59 N. M. George T. J. McCarthy Herman N. Pugh N. H. Balcomb 8 10 2 3 147.8 147.4 149.0 148.8 98.92 98.66 99.73 99.59 28 38 169.0 167.0 96.78 95.63 Urina Roberts 6 148.2 99.19 Martin J. Dupraw J. E. Broadwater 7 10 148.0 147.4 99.06 98.66 Edward W. Cooper Thomas Bengough Ray Farell Kenneth L. Policy Ruth C. Hart 10 19 20 25 31 147.4 145.6 145.4 144.4 143.2 98.66 97.45 97.32 96.65 95.85 37 38 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Name Albert Schneider J. F. Daly Neale Ransom Jerome Victory Nellie Wood Freeman E. A. Reilender W. B. Bottome Leonard W. Meyer W. A. J. Warne- ment L. H. Weisenburger 200 (1003 words dictated) Net Err. Spd. Accy. 12 198.2 98.80 30 194.6 97.01 240 (1203 words dictated) Net Err. Spd. Accy. 22 236.2 98.17 12 238.2 99.00 21 236.4 98.25 24 235.8 98.00 38 233.0 96.84 38 233.0 96.84 44 231.8 96.34 49 230.8 95.93 52 230.2 95.68 62 229.0 95.00 280 (1391 words dictated) Net Err. Spd. Accy. 44 269.4 96.84 59 266.4 95.76 61 266.0 95.61 The championship was won by Mr. Schneider. Mr. Schneider not only won the championship, but estab- lished two world's records. He transcribed the 215 straight literary matter dictation with an accuracy percentage of 98.32, and tied with Mr. Willard Bot- tome, official court stenographer of New York City, with 99.65 on the 175 dictation. He transcribed the five highest speed dictations 175, 200, 215, 240, and 280 words a minute in the time allotted for three. The difficulty of the championship test was shown by the fact that only one other writer, out of the largest number of contestants in any contest, was able to qualify. BEST AMERICAN RECORDS 39 BEST AMERICAN CONTEST RECORDS N. S. R. A. Championship 200 Words a Minute Straight Literary Matter Per- In- Year's Diet. Net cent ten- Name System Year Exp. Speed Errors Speed Acc'y sity* Nathan Behrin I. Pitman 1913 9 200 8 198.4 99.2 1.45 Albert Schneider Gregg 1921 5 200.6 12 198.2 98.8 1.58 J. D. Carson "Success" 1914 8 200 11 197.8 98.9 1.53 Jerome Victory Osgoodby 1919 10 200 15 197 98.5 1.42 Clyde Marshall "Success" 1911 16 200.4 18 196.8 98.2 1.37 J. F. Daly I. Pitman 1920 6? 200.4 26 195.2 97.4 1.54 Earl Pendell "Success" 1914 10? 200 25 195 97.5 1.53 Paula Werning Gregg 1913 4 200 27 194.6 97.3 1.45 J. B. Faulkner "Success" 1919 19 200 28 194.4 97.2 1.42 Fred H. Gurtler Gregg 1919 15 200 34 193.2 96.6 1.42 W. B. Bottome Graham 1920 20 200.4 39 192.6 96.1 1.54 Charles L. Swem Gregg 1911 3 200.4 40 192.4 96 1.37 Nellie Wood I. Pitman 1914 23 200 49 190.2 95.1 1.53 Note: Some of these writers have qualified more than once. In such cases we have given the best record made. Four Gregg writers have qualified, four "Success," three I. Pitman, one Graham, one Osgoodby. 240 WORDS A MINUTE JURY CHARGE Those who have qualified (best tation are as follows : System I. Pitman 'Success" I. Pitman Gregg Munson Gregg Osgoodby 'Success" Graham records) in this dic- Name John F. Daly Clyde Marshall Nathan Behrin Charles L. Swem Neale Ransom Albert Schneider Jerome Victory J. D. Carson Willard B. Bottome Nellie Wood Freeman I. Pitman E. A. Reilender "Success" Paula Werning Gregg Leonard W. Meyer "Success" W. A. J. Warnement" Success" L. H. Weisenburger Gregg Years' Diet. Net Per cent Year Exp. Speed Errors Speed Acc'y 1921 6 240.6 12 238.2 99 1911 13 240 10 238 99.17 1913 9 240 14 237.2 98.83 1911 3 240 15 237 98.75 1921 11? 240.6 21 236.4 98.25 1921 5 240.6 22 236.2 98.17 1921 12 240.6 24 235.8 98 1912 6 240 22 235.6 98.17 1911 11 240 26 234.8 97.83 1921 30 240.6 38 233 96.84 1921 ? 240.6 38 233 96.84 1913 4 240 42 231.6 96.5 1921 ? 240.6 49 230.8 95.92 1921 ? 240.6 52 230.2 95.67 1921 5 240.6 62 229 95 * Indicates the syllable intensity or average syllables to the word in the matter dictated. 40 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Only fifteen writers have qualified on this test within five per cent limit of errors. In these tables we are giving the best record on each test made by each writer. 280 WORDS A MINUTE TESTIMONY Only twelve writers have qualified in the National Shorthand Reporters' Association contests within the five per cent limit of errors, at the speed of 280 words a minute, with the following results: Name Nathan Behrin George D. Ziegler Earl Pendell J. D. Carson Nellie Wood Freema: Albert Schneider Neale Ransom Willard B. Bottome Charles L. Swem Clyde Marshall Jerome Victory John F. Daly System Per Years' Diet. Net cent Year Exp. Speed Errors Speed Acc'y I. Pitman "Success" "Success" "Success" 1 1. Pitman Gregg Munson Graham Gregg "Success" Osgoodby I. Pitman 1912 1914 1914 1914 1914 1921 1919 1910 1912 1910 1919 1921 8 ? ? 8 23 5 9? 10 4 12 10 6 281.4 280 280 280 280 278.2 281 280.4 281.4 280.4 281 278.2 17 33 34 39 42 44 56 57 64 62 69 59 278 273.4 273.2 272.2 271.6 269.4 269.8 269 268.6 268 267.2 266.4 98.79 97.64 97.57 97.21 97.00 96.84 96.00 95.93 95.45 95.58 95.10 95.76 THE SOUTHWEST SHORTHAND REPORT- ERS' ASSOCIATION CONTEST, 1920 In the Southwest Shorthand Reporters' Association speed contest held at Denver, 1920, dictations were given at 180 solid matter, 200 counsel's argument to the jury (practically straight matter), and 260 testi- mony. The following are the results: S. R. A. CONTEST 41 Net Net Net Average Speed Speed Speed Accu- System at 180 at 200 at 260 racy Gregg 177.4 196.2 252 97.86 I. Pitman 177 198.4 246.4 97.43 Graham 174.4 194.4 237.2 96.38 "Success" 178.4 194.4 236.4 96.41 "Success" 168.8 193.8 246.8 95.16 Osgoodby 194.4 244.6 Munson 195.6 242.2 Gregg 193.4 ? 188.4 I. Pitman 189.6 "Success" 193 "Success" 190.2 ? 185.8 237 Name Albert Schneider* J. F. Daly W. B. Bottome E. A. Reilender W. A. J. Warnement Jerome Victory Neale Ransom L. H. Weisenburger R. McRae W. F. Smart Mettje Middaugh T. J. McCarthy J. E. McGuinness The contest was open to all writers and there were about fifty entries, but only Southwest writers were eligible to win prizes. Other writers, however, were entitled to whatever official records they made. None of the Southwest writers qualified on all three dicta- tions at 95 per cent. Only two writers, Albert Schneider and W. B. Bottome, qualified on all three dictations. Mr. Albert Schneider, a writer of Gregg shorthand, made the highest average record of 97.86. It will be seen from the table above that five writers made aver- age accuracy records of more than 95 per cent, but under the rules of the National Shorthand Reporters' Asso- ciation all but Mr. Schneider and Mr. Bottome would have been disqualified owing to their failure to obtain at least 95 per cent accuracy on each individual dictation. Following is a comparison of Mr. Schneider's and Mr. Bottome's achievements in this contest : 260 Speed 200 Speed 180 Speed Net Net Net Tot. Avg. Name Err. Speed Err. Speed Err. Speed Err. Acc'y Albert Schneider 40 252.2 19 196.2 13 177.4 72 97.86 Willard B. Bottome 64 247.2 28 194.4 28 174.4 120 96.38 * Mr. Schneider was but nineteen years of age at the time of this contest. 42 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS THE BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP CONTESTS There have been five shorthand championship con- tests held in Great Britain. The first was held at the Olympia Business Show, London, July, 1907. The following data regarding the contest is taken from Pitman's Journal of July 20, 1907. Thirteen contestants actually took part. Among these were Mr. S. H. Godfrey (220 certificate), Mr. G. E. Hall (210 certificate), Mr. W. F. Smart (200 certificate), Mr. R. J. Garwood (200 certifi- cate), and Mr. Ebenezer Howard. Five-minute dicta- tions were given at 180, 200 and 220 words a minute. The time allowed for transcribing was two hours if typed and two and a half hours if pen- written. "After one or two prelim- inary trials the actual test commenced, apparently to the surprise of some of the con- testants, with the highest speed test of 220 words a minute. The candidates were allowed to choose which- ever piece of matter they desired. All selected the 200- words-a-minute matter. Eleven handed in transcripts; two withdrew." No particulars are given as to the number of errors or other details of the test except that the prizes were awarded as follows : First prize to Mr. S. H. Godfrey. Second prize to Mr. Herbert Byers. Third prize to Mr. G. E. Hall. Fourth prize to Mr. R. J. Garwood. R . J. Garwood, Winner of the British Championship, 1909, 1910, 1912 1908 CONTEST 43 1908 CONTEST, LONDON, MARCH 3 There were eleven contestants, but beyond saying that the first place was won by Mr. Godfrey, second place by Mr. Garwood, third place by Mr. Jackson, and fourth place by Mr. Dickinson, no particulars were given in the report in Pitman's Journal. It was stated elsewhere that Mr. Godfrey was awarded the first prize for writing at a rate of 202 words a minute on the 220- words-a-minute test. Presumably, therefore, he made 90 errors in transcribing. 1909 CONTEST, LONDON, OCTOBER 16 In the 1909 contest only four writers qualified, with the following results: Net Net Per Cent Name Rate Errors Words Speed Accuracy R. J. Garwood 220 117 983 196 89.3 Herbert Byers 200 51 949 190 94.9 W. F. Smart 220 187 913 182 83 R. D. Shedlock 180 23 877 175 97.4 Under the American rules for rating transcripts, requiring 95 per cent, or higher, accuracy, all of the foregoing, with the exception of Mr. Shedlock, would have been disqualified. 1910 CONTEST, LONDON, OCTOBER 15 The contest in 1910 narrowed down to three who were able to complete it, as follows : Net Net Per Cent Name Rate Errors Words Speed Accuracy R. J. Garwood 200 12 988 197 98.8 S. H. Godfrey James McDonald 200 200 23 36 977 964 195 192 97.7 96.4 44 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS An English shorthand magazine stated that by actual count the number of words dictated was only 947. Assuming this to be correct, the figures given hi the f oregoing would therefore have to be revised as follows : Words Net Net Per Cent Name Dictated Errors Words Speed Accuracy R. J. Garwood 947 12 935 187 98.7 S. H. Godfrey James McDonald 947 947 23 36 924 911 185 182 97.5 96.1 1912 CONTEST, LONDON, JUNE 1 There was no contest in 1911. Again hi 1912 only three candidates finished the contest, as follows : Net Net Per Cent Name Rate Errors Words Speed Accuracy R.J. Garwood 200 19 981 196 98.1 W. McDougall 200 40 960 192 96 W. F. Smart 200 113 887 177 88.7 It was stated that only 987 words were dictated. The foregoing figures should therefore be revised as follows : Words Net Net Per Cent Name Dictated Errors Words Speed Accuracy R. J. Garwood 987 19 968 193 98 W. McDougall 987 40 947 189 95.9 W. F. Smart 987 113 874 174 88.5 "The matter used in the 1912 contest," according to an article by one of the judges in Commercial Education for June 18, 1912, "was taken from a speech by Henry George on land values, and was perhaps rather in the candidates' favor as compared with the 1910 contest." 1912 CONTEST 45 Pitman's Journal, in reporting the contest, said that it "presented comparatively few unusual words and phrases." An examination of the matter shows that it was extraordinarily simple, abounding in mono- syllables and containing a great deal of repetition of common words and common phrases. It could hardly be surpassed as a selection on which to make a favorable record. By actual analysis the syllable intensity was 133 syllables for each 100 words for the entire dictation that is to say> an average of H syllables for each word! One would have to search for a long while to find 1,000 words of ordinary matter equal to this in simplicity. In "A Few Comments by One of the Judges," ap- pearing in Pitman's Journal for June 29, 1912, it is stated that "there is a real danger of the various con- tests degenerating into mere struggles between a hand- ful of contest experts a result which would defeat the main object with which they are instituted." The writer adds: "It was not a difficult passage upon which Mr. Garwood's third year's success was won." No contest has been held for the British champion- ship since 1912. In all the British championship con- tests the tests consisted of speeches or straight literary matter. COMPARISON OF BRITISH AND AMERICAN RECORDS The contest achievements on straight literary matter of the American writers do not vary greatly from those of their British cousins. A comparison of these will be of interest : 46 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS BEST BRITISH CONTEST RECORDS (British Championship) Words Net Accu- Inten- Name Year Diet. Errors Speed racy sity* S. H. Godfrey 1908 1100 90 202 91.81 1.45 R. J. Garwood 1909 1100 117 196.6 89.36 1.42 R. J. Garwood 1912 987 19 193.6 98.07 1.44 Herbert Byers 1909 1000 51 189.8 94.9 1.44 R. J. Garwood 1910 947 12 187 98.73 1.44 S. H. Godfrey 1910 947 23 184.8 97.57 1.44 W. F. Smart 1909 1100 187 182.6 83 1.42 James McDonald 1910 947 36 182.2 96.20 1.44 R. D. Shedlock 1909 900 23 175.4 97.44 1.40 W. F. Smart 1912 987 113 174.8 88.55 1.44 W. McDougaU 1912 987 113 174.8 88.55 1.44 Note: Under the American contest rules an accuracy percentage of 95 or better is required to qualify. Mr. Garwood is the only writer in the British championship contests to qualify with this degree of accu- racy at a speed beyond 190 words a minute 1912 British Champion- ship Contest, 193 words a minute, with 98 per cent accuracy. BEST AMERICAN CONTEST RECORDS N. S. R. A. Championship 200 Straight Literary Matter Years' Diet. Net Per cent In- ten- Name System Year Exp. Speed Errors Speed Acc'y sity* Nathan Behrin I. Pitman 1913 9 200 8 198.4 99.2 1.45 Albert Schneider J. D. Carson Gregg "Success" 1921 1914 5 8 200.6 200 12 11 198.2 197.8 98.8 98.9 1.58 1.53 Jerome Victory Clyde Marshall J. F. Daly Earl Pendell Osgoodby "Success" I. Pitman "Success" 1919 1911 1920 1914 10 16 6? 10? 200 200.4 200.4 200 15 18 26 25 197 196.8 195.2 195 98.5 98.2 97.4 97.5 1.42 1.37 1.54 1.53 Paula Werning J. B. Faulkner Gregg "Success" 1913 1919 4 19 200 200 27 28 194.6 194.4 97.3 97.2 1.45 1.42 Fred H. Gurtler W. B. Bottome Gregg Graham 1919 1920 15 20 200 200.4 34 39 193.2 192.6 96.6 96.1 1.42 1.54 Charles L. Swem Nellie Wood Gregg I. Pitman 1911 1914 3 23 200.4 200 40 49 192.4 190.2 96 95.1 1.37 1.53 Note: Some of these writers have qualified more than once. In such cases we have given the best record made. Four Gregg writers have qualified, four "Success," three I. Pitman, one Graham, one Osgoodby. It will be noted that Mr. Schneider has the honor of hav- ing qualified on the 200 matter of the highest syllable intensity dictated in any contest 1.58. * Indicates the syllable intensity or average syllables to the word in the matter dictated. DUBIOUS RECORDS 47 DUBIOUS RECORDS IN SHORTHAND Claims of extraordinary records of speed have been associated with the writing of shorthand almost since the art came into general use. Many of these claims in the early history of modern shorthand went unchal- lenged because of ignorance about what the expert writer could actually do. It is rather strange at this late date, however, since the speed contests of the National Shorthand Reporters' Association have been inaugurated, to find occasional attempts to create questionable records. THE ALLEGED " 300-WORD-A-MINUTE RECORD" The most glaring of these speed claims was the alleged record of Herman J. Stich, made at a meeting of the Isaac Pitman Shorthand Writers' Association in New York City, January 19, 1919. Mr. Stich was credited with writing 300 words a minute for five minutes, with an accuracy of 99.9 per cent. A paper read at the 1919 meeting of the National Shorthand Reporters' Association by Mr. William F. Smart, Chairman of the Committee on Ethics (and who is a writer of Isaac Pitman shorthand), gave a compact statement of the facts in connection with the alleged record. Mr. Smart said: Recently the shorthand world was startled by the announce- ment in certain interested journals of a new record in shorthand and a new "champion" at 300 words a minute. Reverting to the alleged 300-word-a-minute record at first sight this seems to be the case of Trotzky out-trotted, Dr. Cook out-cooked, and Bob Tailor out-stitched. The man who read the test matter to the "champion," Mr. Van Gelder, his friend, who is now a reporter in the District Claims Board of the War Department, and this has been con- firmed in other directions, told me on June 3 as follows: 48 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS 1. Over 50 Q's and A's per minute were inserted in the test matter. These Q's and A's were not even read or written by the "champion." The matter was extremely easy testimony and "such as could be written at that speed." 2. Only the writers of one shorthand system were allowed to enter. 3. The contest was not advertised as "the shorthand cham- pionship of the world," but as a contest for boys at school. 4. There were no other competitors allowed to be present. Competitors of other systems of shorthand had their applica- tions returned, and when they presented themselves for ex- amination were not allowed to take it. 5 . There was no newspaper reporter present . This "record " and its story were telephoned by the "champion's" wife to the newspapers. It was no public exhibition and past champions were not invited to enter. It would be interesting to know how anyone can be a "champion" when he has no opponent and how 300 words a minute can be written when not more than 250 words a minute were dictated. This "advertising record" is boosted by certain interested journals as made by the "Champion Shorthand Writer of the World." "Record 300 words a minute for five consecutive minutes with 99.9 percentage of accuracy." "Shorthand Record Five Words a Second." "World's Champion High Speed Shorthand Writer and International Authority on the Subject." Mr. Smart's expose of the "record" thoroughly dis- credited it. Notwithstanding this, the English edition of Pitman's Journal gave an account of the contest and stated: " In the meantime, it should be noted that the contest was open to all." Mr. Stich's "record" was used extensively in the advertising of the publishers of Isaac Pitman Shorthand. TWO-MINUTE RECORDS During the luncheon intermission of the New York State Shorthand Reporters' Association, December, 1919, a two-minute speed contest was staged by a number of New York reporters merely as a "sporting proposition," as it was termed, for those who wished TWO-MINUTE RECORDS 49 to enter it, which bordered closely on the type of "con- test" just described. The dictation was of the type of "Q's" and " A's" counted but not read. The dictation was for two minutes only. Enough said! Nevertheless, the publishers of Isaac Pitman Shorthand immediately "told the world" through the medium of advertising that a new world record of 322 words a minute had been established, disregarding the fact that the dicta- tion was, if timed correctly, about fifty words a minute less than that, and also the fact that a "record" of 422 words a minute had been claimed by a well-known shorthand writer 26 years previously! HANDICAP CONTEST, 1920 This contest was held under precisely the same cir- cumstances as the two-minute contest just described. It differed from the preceding one in that the length of the "dictation" was increased to five minutes and that each contestant, except Mr. Behrin, was conceded a handicap based on his best National Shorthand Reporters' Association speed contest record. The 280 test was dictated by four readers, the whole proceedings being as closely as possible a duplicate of a scene in court. The questions and answers were not read, but were counted in the total. Mr. Behrin's record on the " 280-word-a-minute " dictation in this contest was advertised by the publishers of the system he uses as "world's record," regardless of the fact that the matter was actually dictated at 247 words a minute! The technique of the contest was not well organized. The results cannot be justly compared with those in the contests of the National Shorthand Reporters' Associa- tion. The figures as presented by Mr. Henry Sanders 50 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS in the Stenographer and Phonographic World for Febru- ary, 1921, are given for what they are worth: 240 Diet. 280 Diet. 1. Nathan Behrin 239.8 279.4 2. Neale Ransom 238.8 277.9 3. W. B. Bottome 238.8 274.3 The number of errors was not stated. As will be seen from the statement above that the questions and answers were omitted in the reading but counted, a revision of the figures on the "280" testi- mony test shows the following results: 280 Diet. Actual Speed 1. Nathan Behrin 246.4 2. Neale Ransom 240.4 3. W. B. Bottome 235.8 The best records of these writers in the contests of the National Shorthand Reporters' Association on these two kinds of matter are as follows: 240 280 Net Net Err. Speed Err. Speed Nathan Behrin 14 237.2 17 278 Neale Ransom 21 236.4 56 269.8 W. B. Bottome 26 234.8 57 269 VARIATION IN SYLLABLE INTENSITY OF MATERIAL USED IN VARIOUS CHAMPIONSHIP CONTESTS The variation in the syllable intensity of the matter dictated in the various championship and certificate tests of the National Shorthand Reporters' Association as well as in others shows some striking features. For the purpose of making the discussion clear, it will be well to make some preliminary statements with regard to syllable intensity. VARIATION IN INTENSITY 51 Literally, syllable intensity is the average number of syllables per word in a given piece of matter. The theory with respect to it is that a low syllable intensity denotes easy matter, while high syllable intensity indicates matter of greater difficulty. In other words, it is thought that as syllable intensity that is, the number of syllables to the word increases, a corres- ponding increase in difficulty of writing is encoun- tered. This is not strictly scientific, but there is a relationship between the two that makes the method fairly accurate in judging results. If each syllable in a word was represented by a stroke of equal ease or difficulty in execution, syllable intensity would be a scientific basis for comparing results. Since the shorthand representation of different syllables varies in ease or difficulty, this must be taken into consideration. In a paper on "The Essential Elements of Shorthand Speed," read by George Farrell at the 1916 meeting of theN.Y. S. S. A., he says: "The vocabulary of the pulpit and platform differs from that of the witness stand principally in that "(a) There is a smaller number of stock phrases. " (6) A larger number of qualifying words and phrases interposed between words that would otherwise form parts of stock phrases, and "(c) A much larger number of names of things. "It is because of these differences between the two vocabularies, namely, that of the witness stand on the one hand and of the pulpit and platform on the other, that none of us, no matter what his ability otherwise may be, is able to report from "straight matter" at anywhere near the same rate of speed that we can and do report testimony." 52 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS GRAPH SHOWING VARIATIONS IN SYLLABLE INTENSITY OF STRAIGHT LITERARY MATTER N. S. R. A. CONTESTS 150 words a minute 175 words a minute 200 words a minute 215 words a minute r*w*^O J O > O *- >M << O ! y>o*o>o>o>o>o> 1.60 1.50 1.40 1.30 SYLLABLE INTENSITY 53 SYLLABLE INTENSITY, LITERARY MATTER N. S. R. A. CONTESTS 150 W. P. M. 1920 1.32 1921 1.38 1911. 1914. 1913. 1910. 1909. 1919. 1912. .1.42 .1.45 .1.49 .1.50 .1.57 .1.63 .1.65 Average, 1.49 Median, 1.49 175 W. P. M. 1910 1.30 1913 1.30 1909. 1921. 1920. 1911. 1914. 1912. 1919. .1.37 .1.37 .1.40 .1.43 .1.43 .1.47 .1.64 Average, 1.41 Median, 1.40 200 W. P. M. 1911 1.37 1912. 1919. 1913. 1910. 1914. 1920. 1921. 1.41 1.42 1.45 1.47 1.53 1.54 1.58 Average, 1.46 Median, 1.45 215 W. P. M. 1921 1.35 1920 1.44 1919.. ..1.54 Average, 1.44 Median, 1.44 SYLLABLE INTENSITY, JURY CHARGE AND TESTIMONY N. S. R. A. CONTESTS Jury Charge 240 W. P. M. 1912. 1921. 1919. 1911. 1920. 1910. 1913. .1.40 .1.40 .1.43 .1.46 .1.46 .1.48 .1.53 Average, 1.45 Median, 1.46 Testimony 280 W. P.M. (without Q's and A's) 1912 1.12 1913. 1919. 1911. 1910. 1914. 1920. 1921. 1909. 1.19 1.20 1.22 1.23 1.29 1.30 1.30 1.37 Average, 1.24 Median, 1.23 Testimony 280 W. P. M. (with Q's and A's) 1912 1.26 1913. 1919. 1911. 1910. 1920. 1914. 1921. 1909. 1.28 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.35 1.37 1.45 1.45 Average, 1.33 Median, 1.30 64 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS GRAPH SHOWING FLUCTUATIONS IN SYLLABLE INTEN- SITY ON JURY CHARGE AND TESTIMONY N. S. R, A. CONTESTS Jury Charge at 240 words a minute . _. _ rg M o-ooo-o-o-o>o- Testimony at 280 words a minute 1.50 1.40 1.30 1.20 1.10 Note: In the testimony graph the upper line represents the syllable intensity with questions and answers, and the lower line represents the syllable intensity without questions and answers. Q's AND A's IN TESTIMONY 55 GRAPH AND TABLE SHOWING FLUCTUATION IN THE NUMBER OF Q's AND A's IN TESTIMONY N. S. R. A. CONTESTS o :'' Number of Q's and A'san Testimony 280 W. P. M. 1912 114 1911 128 1910 ....130 1920 130 1913 151 1919 155 1914 162 1909 165 1921 . . ..180 Average, 144 Median, 151 .iTTnlTTTtl Note: The figures at the right indicate the number of Q's and A's in the five-minute dictation. 56 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS As applied to what is termed straight literary matter, syllable intensity is 'about as accurate a method of comparing the difficulty of matter as could be devised. In both jury charge and testimony, reporters have devised special phrase forms for the frequently recurring phrases and these naturally can be written more rapidly. Any kind of matter is affected in some degree by the frequency of the phrases and wordsigns. That is, if the matter no matter what the syllable intensity is contains a large number of easily written word- signs or phrases, it unquestionably will be easier to write than another piece of matter which has a lower syllable intensity but presents fewer opportunities for the abbreviation of either wordsigns or phrases. However, on the whole, the syllable intensity basis of determining ease or difficulty of matter is fairly accurate and decidedly more accurate than the "words- per-minute " basis. As an illustration of how the intensity of matter affects the situation, an analysis of the matter used in the 200-words-a-minute dictation in the contests of the National Shorthand Reporters' Association shows that it varies from 1.37 in 1911 to 1.58 in 1921. Taking the number of entries in the various contests in relation to the number qualifying, the largest proportion of suc- cesses has nearly always been found to correspond with a low syllable intensity. In 1921, when the intensity was the highest (1.58) and the number of contestants was the largest, only two qualified Mr. Schneider with 12 errors and Mr. Daly with 30. Based on the lowest intensity matter given in any of the contests (1.37), the 1921 matter was the equivalent of 230 words a minute. Taking the median of the 200-word dictations (1.45) as a basis, the 1921 matter SYLLABLE INTENSITY 57 was equal to 218 words a minute. This analysis of the matter shows all the more strikingly the splendid work Mr. Schneider did on that "take" to say nothing of his records on the other tests. Ten writers qualified in one or more of the championship dictations in the 1921 contest. Among these were Mrs. Nellie Wood Freeman, former champion; Mr. Victory, champion of 1919; Mr. Bottome, champion of 1909; Mr. Ransom; all of whom qualified at higher speeds than 200 straight literary matter. The fact that they were unable to qualify on this particular piece of matter is a further indication of the difficulty involved in recording straight literary matter of high syllable intensity. The difficulties encountered on account of intensity seem to apply in some degree to the higher speed of jury charge, though of course this is affected largely by the character of the jury charge whether or not it contains a large number of phrases. As an example, in the 1921 contest, the matter had the lowest intensity of any year except 1912, when it was exactly the same 1.40. All ten of the contestants in the 1921 contest who qualified in any "take" qualified in this. It is difficult to draw any definite conclusions from the testimony in any year, as so many factors enter into the situation, but, in a general way, the matter in 1921 appears to be more difficult than that of any other year except 1909. There are two reasons for this con- clusion. First, the syllable intensity was the highest; and, second, the number of contestants qualifying was the smallest in proportion to the number entering. When it is remembered that two former champions did not qualify on the testimony in the last contest, further strength is given to the theory that the matter was more difficult. Only three writers turned in qual- 58 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS ifying transcripts Mr. Schneider, Mr. Daly, and Mr. Ransom. In analyzing the intensity for jury charge, an odd situation is shown in the fact that the median, as well as the average, is higher than it is for straight literary matter the former being 1.46 and the latter 1.45. How do we account for the greater speed that can be attained on jury charge in comparison with straight literary matter? Simply this: The syllable intensity of the jury charge runs high on account of the large number of long words employed, many of these in recurrent phrases, such as, "If you believe from the evidence that the defendant," "contributory negli- gence," "render a fair and impartial verdict," "my recollection of the testimony," and so on, for which the reporter has special, brief outlines. In order to judge the real speed, intensity of matter must be known. In view of this difficulty of the matter, Mr. Schneider's remarkable work in the 1921 contest is an outstanding feature of the whole series of contests. He won the championship by making the highest average that year on the three championship dictations. He transcribed the five highest speed dictations 175, 200, 215, 240, 280 words a minute- in the time allotted for three. On two of these he broke all previous records. The youngest writer to win the contest, he had had but about one-half the experience of any previous champion at the time of winning. And he enjoys the distinction of having won the championship in a contest when the matter, on the whole, was the most difficult given in any contest. PART TWO TEST MATERIAL DICTATED IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CONTESTS OF THE NATIONAL SHORTHAND REPORTERS' ASSO- CIATION, AND IN THE BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS METHOD OF DICTATING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS The table below shows the approximate rate of speed of dictation in words a minute when a quarter-minute "block" is dictated in the time indicated in the column headings: Indicated One (< block " in Contest 1 40 SO 20 Rate Minute Seconds Seconds Seconds 150 38 57 75 113 170 43 64 85 123 175 44 66 88 131 180 45 68 90 135 190 48 72 95 143 200 50 75 100 150 210 53 79 105 158 215 54 81 108 161 220 55 83 110 165 240 60 90 120 180 280 70 105 140 210 As an example, if each " block" in the 150 matter is dictated in thirty seconds, the speed will be seventy- five words a minute; if dictated in twenty seconds, 113 words a minute; if dictated in fifteen seconds, 150 words a minute. It should be kept in mind that all dictations are blocked off in quarter-minute sections at the speed stated for the particular test. 60 1909 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Lake George) 150 Words a Minute Certificate JURY CHARGE Syllable Intensity, 1.57 The undue influence which will vitiate the will must be such as operates upon the mind of a testator at the time he executes the will and thus controls and induces him to make the will in j the manner in which he does by reason of that influence. It must be such influence as affects the free agency of the testator and impels him to yield his choice to the person exerting the influence. Acts 1 of kindness, disparaging statements of one who is the natural object of the testator's affec- tion and bounty, in general, will not constitute undue influence; but if these operate on the mind of the testator at the time I of making the will so as to place him under any restraint and control the terms of the will, they may amount to undue influence. It is not necessary that the undue influence be exerted by a beneficiary j] 1 under the will; neither is it essential that the undue influence be exerted at the time of the execution of the will ; but the undue influence that will vitiate a will may be the sum total of j the effect of words spoken and acts done at or prior to the time of executing the will; but the effect of the acts must operate upon the mind of the testator in the act of 61 62 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS making his \ will and restrain his free agency at that very time; otherwise the influence does not affect or void the will. As stated, a person of full age, sound mind and memory, and not under any restraint, may ] dispose of his property or parts thereof by will, executed accord- ing to law, provided his disposition does not violate any law. The testator has a right to decide the terms of his will. He has a right to j] 2 select the persons to whom he gives his property. He determines the portion he devises or bequeaths to each. He judges the fairness, justness or quality of his disposition by will. As its provisions affect others no \ one may ques- tion his right so to do or challenge his will, if made according to law and its provisions do not violate the law. The .contents of the will, the effect and conse- quences of his provisions upon J the persons whom the testator would naturally bestow his affections and his estate, as apparent from the evidence submitted, may be considered in connection with all the evidence in determining whether the testator did possess testa- mentary capacity \ or was under restraint at the time of making the will when he did make it. Declarations of the testator made at or after making a will in respect to his children and in respect to his purpose I] 3 and intention as to making a will and the disposition of his property may be considered as bear- ing on the testator's capacity and undue influence. Old age, mental or physical weakness, will not alone invalidate a will, I unless such state or conditions render the operation of testator's mental faculties unre- liable and deprive him of testamentary capacity as defined to you. But old age, mental or physical weak- ness, disease, or either, if existing at the time [ of mak- 1909 CONTEST 63 ing a will, may be considered in determining testa- mentary capacity and undue influence. If old age and physical weakness alone or in conjunction with other causes render the operation of testator's mental faculties unreliable and render \ him incapable of com- prehending the provisions of his will and the effect thereof, or render him so susceptible to undue influence operating on his mind at the time of making the will that he acts under restraint in \\ 4 making his will, then such will would be invalid. Much evidence has been submitted bearing upon the issue between the parties. The door to the history of the life and death of John Smith, deceased, has been \ left ajar. You have been given glimpses therein. Evidence has been introduced tending to prove his age, his marriage, his domestic life, his pleasures, his sorrows, his traits of character, his virtues and his frailties, his business enterprises ] and successes; the extent and value of his estate, the names of his chil- dren, their possessions and necessities, his conduct toward them and theirs toward him and each other, his advancements to them, his health and infirmities, \ his strength and his weaknesses, his sufferings, the opinions of physicians and of acquaintances as to his mental states and faculties; all these and more have been submitted for your consideration. It is your duty to digest these [[ 5 matters of evidence . . . (750 words) 1909 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Lake George) 175 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.37 Ladies and Gentlemen: I am sorry to have been late. I would rather talk to you than to be cheered, so let me occupy the time and cheer after I am gone, unless the desire for cheer- ing is entirely exterminated by my speech. } I have but half an hour in which to speak; I understand that you like to ask questions, and so instead of giving the three-quarters of an hour that I would have, I am going to take the half an hour in speaking \ and then give you fifteen minutes to ask questions, if you like. I am always glad to have questions asked, and although when one submits to questions, he allows the few who ask the questions to determine the character of his speech instead of { determining it himself, yet I am perfectly willing to indulge that, because questioning is an important part of the lawyer's business. I appre- ciate the opportunity of speaking to you; I talk to students whenever I can; I am glad to do so; because the U 1 student is at that age of life when the mind is inquiring. When you talk to a student body, you are talking to people in the springtime, when seed can be planted with prospect of a harvest, and when you talk to students \ you talk to those who will multiply a 64 1909 CONTEST 65 hundred or a thousand fold any good impression that you may leave upon them; and in the very short time that I have to speak to you, I want to speak upon two subjects, and in | doing so I violate one of the rules of public speaking, a rule and I think there is force in it which is to have one theme, to talk about one thing and stop when you have presented one thought some have often stopped j without presenting even one thought. It is quite important that there should be one, and on this occasion I am going to try to present two, because it has been, I think, now forty-eight years that I have been trying to get to II 2 you and I don't know how long it may be before I can come again. I am going to improve the opportunity. First, as to public speaking. Sometimes I get a letter from a young man who says he is a born orator f and who asks what such a one should do to prepare himself for his work. I generally answer that while it is necessary for an orator to be born, that is the simplest part of his equipment. If I want to find out whether j a young man is going to make a good speaker, I do not inquire whether his mother spoke well or whether his father spoke a great deal, or vice versa; it is not a matter of inheritance. There are two essentials in public speak- ing, j two things that you cannot be without; first, you must know what you are talking about and second, you must mean what you say. Information and earnestness are the two things absolutely necessary, for a person cannot give information unless he has it himself, jj 3 and he cannot make others feel unless he himself feels deeply upon his subject. All eloquence is addressed from the heart of him who speaks to the hearts of those who hear. When I was in school, some- one described the difference between Demosthenes I 66 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS and Cicero, and the description was this : When Cicero speaks people say, "How well Cicero speaks," when Demosthenes speaks they say, "Let us go against Phillip," the difference being that one impressed him- self upon the audience, while the other impressed his subject. The object [ of speaking, if it is argumenta- tive, is to persuade, and when you are through making a speech, if those who have listened gather in groups and discuss what you have said, some affirming it to be true, others denying it, you may feel sure ] that you have made an impression, and it is more of a compli- ment to you to have people discussing what you said than merely saying, "What a fine speaker he is." The first essentials, I say, are earnestness, or information and earnestness, and you [] 4 can add to these other things that improve one's speech; for instance, clearness of statement is a very important thing. The Declara- tion of Independence says there are certain self-evident truths. If I were amending that statement, I would say that all truth { is self-evident, and the best service you can render truth is to state it so plainly that it can be understood, for when a truth can be understood it needs no argument. I do not mean to say that any truth can be \ stated so plainly that no one will dispute it. I think it was Lord Macaulay who said that elo- quent and learned men would be found to dispute the law of gravitation if any money was to be made by it, and so men will ] dispute any proposition, how- ever plain, if they have a pecuniary advantage to gain by so doing; but, my friends, truth can be so plainly stated that it will not be disputed unless one has a special interest in disputing it, and when you find IJ 5 a man who has a pecuniary interest adverse to a truth . . . (875 words) 1909 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Lake George) 200 Words a Minute Championship JURY CHARGE Syllable Intensity, 1.39 Gentlemen of the Jury: This is a case of some importance. In it arise an unusual number of questions of fact, and it will require the utmost of your good judgment and your care and attention to determine those questions of fact accu- rately in order that justice may be done J between the parties. Those are questions which are exclusively for you to decide. While you will get your instructions with respect to the law entirely from the Court, and you need give no consideration to what counsel have said to you about questions of law, the matters of fact are j peculiarly and exclusively your province. The suit is brought to recover damages for personal injuries which it is alleged on the part of the plaintiff were caused by negligence on the part of the employees of the defendant company. It appears that on the sixteenth of December, eighteen hundred and J ninety-nine, the plaintiff in this case, a young man in his twenty-second year, was a passenger on the car of the defendant company going southward on Sixth street. Just prior to the time of the accident he was standing on the front platform on 67 68 the east side of jj 1 the car leaning against the brass railing, and, as he says, with his hands upon it. At Johnson avenue, where the tracks of a railroad run and where the track of the defendant crosses that railroad, or a short distance below Johnson avenue, he either fell or was thrown or j pushed off the car ; he fell upon the street; his leg came across the track, and the wheel running against it so injured the leg that later it re- quired two amputations. Now, it is contended for the plaintiff that this acci- dent was due to negligence. Negligence is a want of I due and proper care; such care as a man of ordinary judgment and prudence would exercise under the cir- cumstances of the case. It is to be measured by those circumstances. The plaintiff tells you that the accident occurred in this way : He says that as the car approached Johnson avenue j it slowed up, the conductor got off of the car on the west side, ran ahead across the tracks on John- son avenue, signaled to the car to come along, that the car then crossed the tracks on Johnson avenue and that then the conductor jumped on to the front step II 2 on the west side; that at this time there were six or seven people standing upon the front platform; that the conductor in jumping on to the step pushed against this set of people arid that thus he, who was on the other side of the platform, on the east \ side, was jammed or crushed off into the street. Now, while men are beings who can think and act for themselves individually and may have their individual movements they are also creatures made up of flesh and bone and they are just as capable of transmitting momentum as are \ wood and any other solid body, and supposing the accident to have occurred in the way in which the 1909 CONTEST 69 plaintiff describes, it will be for you to say whether it was the exercise of due and proper care for the con- ductor, knowing of the presence of these people upon the i front platform, to so push against them that a possible passenger on the other side might be pushed off into the street. There is one witness who to some extent corroborates the plaintiff in his statement about the conduct of the conductor. A man named Johnson, who was coming up jj 3 Sixth street on the east side below Johnson avenue, testifies to you that he saw the conductor get on to the front platform. The plaintiff has also testified that the car did not stop on the north side of Johnson avenue, and that as it went across Johnson avenue and j down the slope on the other side it was going at a pretty lively rate. He describes it as nearly at a full rate, and he says that the car as it crossed the tracks and down to the slope was swaying to and fro. Mr. Smith testified that the \ car went across the track very fast and he describes it as jumping up and down, and Mr. Johnson testifies that when he saw the car it was jolting. Now, there is a further question for you to determine, assuming the truth of this evidence as to the manner in | which the car was going, and taking into consider- ation the situation and the circumstances. There is evidence that this car was full of passengers. There is further evidence that there were passengers upon the rear platform and passengers upon the front platform. There is some evidence that the plaintiff at jj 4 the time was either sick or in a drunken condition. You will have to determine whether, in view of these facts and in view of the further fact that after the car crossed Johnson avenue it approached a downward slope, it 70 was the exercise of due and proper care to [ run that car in the way in which the plaintiff and his witnesses say it was being run. If you should determine these questions or either of them in such a way as to find that there was negligence in the manner in which the car was managed or in \ the conduct of the conductor, and should further find that there was no contributory negligence upon the part of the plaintiff, then your duty would be to find a verdict for the plaintiff. In case you do find these questions in favor of the plaintiff you then will be met J with the duty of deter- mining how much your verdict in his favor shall be, and you are called upon to ascertain the damages. What the law looks to is compensation for pecuniary loss which the plaintiff has suffered, and it looks to compensation alone. . . . jj 5 (Six words short =994 words) 1909 N. S. R.'A. SPEED CONTEST (Lake George) 207 Words a Minute Championship JURY CHARGE Syllable Intensity, 1.42 Gentlemen of the Jury: You are the sole judges of the questions of fact involved in this case. You are not to be influenced by anything that the court has said, or that you imagined that the court has thought in regard to the facts. It is the privilege and duty { of the court to call the jury's attention to questions of fact, if he so desires; but, in the end, you must be your own judges as to what the facts are, under the instructions of the court as to the law. The law you will take from the court and from j nobody else. The first proposition I want to impress upon your minds, gentlemen, in this case is: that you must not be influenced by prejudice, or passion, or sympathy. That is a vital question, a most vital question for a jury in a case of this character. You have seen this man's 1 leg; you know his injuries. But you must not con- sider those injuries at all or the question of damages, if any, until you have considered two or three vital propositions in the case. It is right for human beings to be influenced by kindness, and by sympathy. But it is not right \\ l for 71 72 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS jurors or courts. Nothing can be more wrongful. You must hold the scales of justice here fairly, impar- tially and blindly, and consider the law and the facts nothing else. You have a right to sympathize and give your own money to this plaintiff, if you want to; but you have \ no right to give anybody else's money except under the law. That is a vital proposition; more vital, I think, in the trial of lawsuits than in any other question. The jury should do its duty, regardless of what is involved and what the injuries are. Courts are influenced by prejudice and \ passion, and influenced wrongly. But it is the duty of the court as well as the jury to withstand prejudice, passion and sympathy. So, then, I want you to start out in this case with that understanding: that you are to be cool, clear headed, cold blooded in passing upon the questions { of fact that I shall present to you. The declaration in this case states that the plaintiff was in the employ of the defendant, which was a cor- poration engaged in business, as shown here by the evidence; and that it was the duty of the defendants there are two of them to \\* use reasonable care and diligence to keep and maintain said steps which have been heretofore described, or stairway, in a reason- ably safe condition of repair, so that the said plaintiff might perform all duties and labors required of him safely. And the plaintiff avers that the said defend- ants, disregarding their duty { in that behalf, carelessly, wrongfully, and negligently allowed said steps or stair- way to become and remain in a loose, tottering, decayed, unsafe and dangerous condition, so that whilst said plaintiff was undertaking, in the exercise of due care to go upon or over said steps in passing to his said duties there, \ and was then and there conveying a 1909 CONTEST 73 ladle of molten metal thereupon, said steps did then and there tip or turn, with the said plaintiff; and as a result of their dangerous and unsafe condition as afore- said, by reason thereof, the said plaintiff was then and there injured and damaged in a \ certain amount, One vital element of that declaration, contained in every count, I want to call your attention to, where it describes the steps ; what the steps were, and what the steps did. The plaintiff does not charge, and you can- not try the question, as to whether those steps originally were sufficient, Ij 3 or not. They admit that proposi- tion. But they charge that they were loose; that they became and remained in a loose, tottering, decayed, unsafe and dangerous condition; and that as a result of that condition they tipped and turned with the said plaintiff, and threw him off. Now, they must prove { that; and the proof of anything else won't help the plaintiff. The plaintiff must prove that they were in a tottering condition; decayed condition; unsafe and dangerous condition; and as a result of that, that they tipped, and turned the plaintiff over. Now, that is their charge, and that they must prove { by the pre- ponderance of the evidence. Defendants deny that, and every other proposition in the three or four counts in the declaration. The burden of proof is upon the plaintiff to prove every allegation in the declaration, by the prepon- derance of the evidence; the greater weight of the evidence. Now it is | the duty of the defendants to use due care and caution, to furnish a reasonably safe place for its employees to work; and to use due care and caution to furnish reasonably safe appliances for them to work with. In this case it was the duty of the defend- 74 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS ants to use due \\* care and caution to furnish these steps (which are admitted in the beginning to have been reasonably safe) and to use due care and caution to keep those steps in a reasonably safe condition. That is, to do as reasonably prudent men would do under the same circumstances and conditions in j order to keep them safe the same as you would do if you were in that business or any man would do, if he were in that business. Employers are not insurers; they simply do the best they can. The law requires them to do that, as reasonably prudent men. The plaintiff \ and other employees assume the ordinary risks of their business; the ordinary dangers, that they must know, and they must see. But it is incumbent upon the plaintiff to use reasonable care and caution to avoid injury. The burden is on the defend- ant, however, to prove that he did not use such J reason- able care and caution. Now, the first proposition is that the plaintiff must prove by the preponderance of the evidence that these steps in question had become in a bad condition; so bad that when plaintiff went in there they tipped and turned him off. Now then, on passing upon that proposition ]] 5 you must consider all the evidence in the case. (1035 words) 1909 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Lake George) 280 Words a Minute Championship TESTIMONY Syllable Intensity: With Q's and A's 1.45 Without Q's and A's 1.37 Number of Q's and A's 165 The examination was resumed by Mr. Rosenthal as follows : Q. Mr. Knight, how old a man are you? A. Thirty. Q. How long have you lived in Cairo? A. All my life. Q. You succeeded your father in business, did you say? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you are now the proprietor of the business? A. One of them. Q. Is it a corporation? A. Yes, sir. Q. You have [ no prejudices then against corpora- tions? A. I have not. Q. Doing business? A. No, sir. Q. Have you any prejudice against the Standard Oil Company of Indiana? A. No, sir. Q. Do you know anybody connected with the case on either side? A. I don't. Q. When did you first know that you were going to be a juror in this case? A. Last Thursday morning. Q. Do you know { anything about this case except- 75 76 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS ing what you have heard here in the court room? A. Do I know anything about it? I did read a little about it. Q. Where? In what papers? A. In the Tribune. Q. When? A. The last trial. Q. During the last trial? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you read it every day as it came out? A. I did not, no, sir. Q. Did I you attempt to follow the evidence at all? A. No, sir, I did not. Q. Were you interested enough in it to try to follow it closely? A. No, sir. Q. Do you come in contact with freight matters a good deal yourself in the conduct of your business? A. No, sir. Q. You buy your merchandise mainly in Chicago? A. Chicago and New York. Q. Do you remember now \\ l anything about the details of the evidence in the other trial at all? A. No, sir, I don't. Q. Nothing that made any lasting impression on your mind? A. No, sir. Q. Have you ever been a juror before? A. I have in the county I live in. Q. This is the first time in the Federal court? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you know anyone connected with the district ] attorney's office here? A. No, sir. Q. Or the marshal's office? A. No, sir. Q. You are not in politics? A. I am not. Q. Have you ever been a juror in a criminal case? A. No, sir, I don't think I have. Q. The law in a criminal case is, Mr. Knight, that you start in the trial of the case against the defendant, 1909 CONTEST 77 presuming that defendant to be [ innocent of the charge in the indictment. Can you do that in this case? A. I didn't understand the question. Q. I say the law in a criminal case is that the jurors start in the trial of a case presuming the defendant to be innocent. A. Yes, sir. Q. You understand that? A. Yes, sir. Q. Can you do that in this case? A. Yes. Q. Without the slightest \ difficulty? A. I can. Q. You will start out in the trial of this case pre- suming the Standard Oil Company of Indiana to be innocent of this charge until the government establishes its guilt, if at all, by proof beyond a reasonable doubt? A. Yes, sir. Q. Can you do that? A. Yes, sir. Q. Freely? A. Yes, sir. Q. Without any effort at all? A. Yes, sir. Q. You IJ 2 believe in that, do you? A. Yes, sir, I do. Q. Now, 1 understand that you haven't an opinion upon any phase of this case at all? A. No, sir. Q. No opinion about the merits of it? A. No, sir. Q. About the guilt or innocence of the defendant? A. No, sir. Q. Is that right? A. Yes, sir. Q. Can you treat the defendant, the Standard Oil Company, | in this case just exactly the same as though it were an individual that were here on trial? A. Yes, sir. Q. Without any difficulty? A. Yes, sir. Q. The fact that it is a corporation or a large cor- poration or a rich corporation, will that influence you in any way at all? A. No, sir. Q. Not in the slightest degree? A. No, sir. 78 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. What do you say [ about it, Mr. Dixon? A. What is that question? Q. As to whether the fact that this defendant is a corporation, and a large one if you please, will make the slightest difference to you in determining the issues in this case? A. No, sir. Q. It will not? A. No, sir. Q. Not a bit? A. No, sir. Q. Do you say that without any hesitation? A. Yes, sir. ] Q. Have you any clear recollection of the facts of this case, as you may have read them heretofore? A. No, I did not follow the evidence at all in the papers. Q. Have you ever been a juror before? A. Not in a Federal court. Q. Where? A. I was a juror once in our own courts. Q. How long ago? A. Oh, it was a good many years \\ 3 ago. Q. How many men do you have under you as fore- man of the company you work for? A. Well, I have not got very many just at present. Eight or ten now. I have had as high as thirty or thirty-five. Q. You have been a deputy sheriff there in your county? A. Yes, sir. Q. When were you deputy sheriff? A. Up to about two years ago. j Q. And then after that you went into the grocery business? A. No, previous to that I went in the gro- cery business. Q. Previous to that? A. Yes, sir, I was in the gro- cery business up to 1888, or 1898 I should say 1898. Q. Do you mean 1888 up to 1898? A. Yes, sir. Q. Then you became a j deputy sheriff? A. Yes, sir. Q. How much have you read about this case? A. 1909 CONTEST 79 Well, I have not read a great deal about it. I glanced over the paper and that was about all. Q. What papers did you read? A. We read our own local papers and then the Chicago Tribune. I gen- erally read the Tribune at home. Q. Did you read the Tribune this morning? A. No, I sir; I have not seen the Tribune at all. Q. Do you know anybody on the other side of the table here? A. No, sir. Q. Nobody connected with the district attorney's office? A. No, sir. Q. Or the marshal's office? A. No, sir, I don't. Q. What? A. No, sir. Q. You have, as I understand it, no opinion about anything connected with this case any of the facts II 4 of the case? Am I right about that, or have you? A. No, I haven't any opinion in regard to the facts, for I don't know the facts myself. I don't know what the facts are. I paid very little attention to the case at the time. Q. Do you know what the Standard Oil Company of Indiana is charged with doing here? A. Only what I have heard. Q. | Mr. Black, you live at Mount Carroll? A. Yes, sir. Q. You stated that at present you were out of busi- ness? A. Yes, sir. Q. Are you engaged in any occupation or pursuit by which you make or seek to make a living? A. Not at the present time. Q. Have you since you were in the jewelry business? A. No, sir. Q. You are living on what you have { without any sources of income? A. Yes, sir. 80 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. What papers do you read, Mr. Williamson? A. I don't read any papers regularly, although at the pres- ent time I read the Record-Herald and the News. Q. The last I did not hear? A. The Daily News, The Evening News. Q. That is the Chicago Daily News? A. Yes, sir. Q. Those are Chicago papers? A. Yes, sir. Q. Are [ you accustomed to reading magazines? A. Somewhat. Q. What magazines do you read? A. Review of Reviews, the Independent and Everybody's. Q. That is the Independent that is printed at Brooklyn? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now, in your reading of the Chicago papers during the last few years have you read a good deal about this case? ... II 5 (13 words short = 1387 words) 1910 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Denver) 150 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.50 Sleep is the daily experience of everyone who lives on earth. So familiar and habitual is it, that it hardly attracts our notice. Yet there could be no stronger evidence of our Father's love and care j than that which is afforded by the taking of rest in sleep. Is it not truly wonderful, that a third part of our earthly life is spent in a state of unconsciousness? Active duties and pursuits occupy us \ during each day, and then "the night cometh, when no man can work." Our bodies are overcome by fatigue, and must rest or perish. And not only our bodies, but our minds also. There must be a j suspension of the ordinary current of thought, a complete cessation of all mental effort. So it is ordained that we shall have sleep as well as bodily repose. Finite things that we are, we soon reach the limit JJ 1 of our powers. There is not one of them but stands in need of periodical pause and refreshment. We lie down, and presently every muscle is relaxed. The eyelids spontaneously close themselves; and the darkness and silence \ of the night hours hang like a curtain between us and the busy world. Thus we are shut off from all that naturally stirs us to mental 81 82 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS activity, and soon we cease to think or even to know [ that we exist. Like the dew from heaven, sleep gently and imperceptibly descends upon us. During the time that we are wrapped in slumber we are absolutely helpless. No infant on his mother's breast is more destitute \ of the means of protection than is every man when he sleeps. There is no kind of danger which may not approach him unawares. Violent hands may be laid upon him; he may be stripped of his earthly || 2 goods, or surrounded by devouring flames, without the slightest knowledge of his peril. Many a human being has passed from sleep into the other life ignorant that any change has taken place. It is furthermore to be \ remembered that, during our sleeping hours, the usual means of defense are wanting, not to our bodies only, but to our souls also. If evil spirits should draw near with their sinful allurements, we have not the power { to resist them. Our inert condition would indeed keep us from the commission of overt evil actions, but there would seem to be no limit to the degree in which the mind might be poisoned by the [ insinuation of evil thoughts and desires. How can we doubt that we are spiritually, as well as natu- rally, protected during the night watches, and that on deeper grounds than those of strong bolts and bars, or a vigilant \\ 3 police, we have cause for thankfulness every morning? All power is the Lord's. All love and goodness are His likewise. From Him proceed alike the strength of the human arm, and the tender solici- tude which expresses itself \ in human care and watch- fulness. Howsoever, therefore, we are defended whether externally or internally, by men's precautions or angels' guardianship the Lord alone, in the strict- est sense, is our Defender; and the only true utterance 1910 CONTEST 83 which can go j forth from our lips, when we rise from slumber, is that of the text: "I awaked; for Jehovah sustained me." And what a wonderful awakening it is that comes to us with each dawning day! After a j long night's sleep, we feel a new vigor of mind and body, responsive to the freshness of the morning. Yesterday's weari- ness has vanished. Not only are we physically stronger for the work which lies before us, but obstacles jj 4 and discouragements of every kind have miraculously disappeared. Nothing seems impossible to our renewed strength. So we briskly and happily apply ourselves to the day's duties. With these preliminary observations, let us proceed to consider, with greater { fullness of detail, the nature and uses of sleep. First, it is to be noticed that during the period of slumber most of the bodily functions go on undisturbed. The heart beats, the lungs dilate, tKe brain throbs, I the digestive processes continue without interruption. Hence it appears that the whole of the physical system is not asleep. The most important and vital organs are as wide awake and hard at work as ever. No natural \ functions are suspended, except the external voluntary actions. All that takes place in man's body independently of his knowledge and volition proceeds, it is affirmed, with even greater regularity and efficiency in sleep than in wakefulness. The mention j] 5 . . . (760 words) 1910 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Denver) 175 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.30 In meditating upon what, in my weakness, I might say that would be of the utmost use to you on this occasion, I have often run over the long list of theo- logical subjects, and wondered if I should preach on the coming of \ Christ, or the divinity of Christ, the Resurrection from the dead, the necessity of belief, on salvation through Christ, of some Bible truth, and I have become more and more convinced that many of you understand some of these things and have medi- tated upon j them as much as I have. For me to go over that long list of truths, as important as they are to you, would now be a waste of time. You would be no better off when you went home than you are now \ or than you were when you came to church, and the church service would be a wasted service. A service is a wasted service that does not see us nearer the kingdom when it is through than we were at the begin- ning. Consequently, every {j 1 part of it, from the invo- cation to the amens of the hymns, should be done with that ultimate end in view that our hearts may be clearer and cleaner, our thoughts clearer and sweeter, 84 1910 CONTEST 85 our lives better, and our happiness wider, our faith \ more assured because we have been to church. So I have wondered what I could do. In wondering what I could do best to make some sort of return for the loving kindness that has characterized this people through my long illness, for the { many presents that have graced my home, for the flowers that decorate my windows, for the letters of kindness that have come by the hundreds, for the messages that have come indirectly, and for the fact that I know so many hun- dreds, and even | thousands, have prayed for me but who have had no direct communication with me con- cerning it, I recall that some of you have been through great sorrow. You have met with the loss of dear ones hi your family since I have been gone, }J 2 and I have longed to be there and say some word, if I could, that should be of some comfort to you. So I say that my responsibility to you, both for my absence and your kindness during my absence, leads me to I be very anxious to say something especially helpful this morn- ing. So you will see, of course, by the weakness of my voice and by my manner, that I have not yet fully recovered, but seem to be on the high road to it. But J while I speak to you, and speak with faltering words and poorly selected sentences, from long absence from the pulpit and from weakness of body, I have brought you a very important message this morning. The difficulty is not that you do not know [ the way of salvation, or that you do not know of God, or of Christ, or of the Bible, or of the truths as they are in the Scriptures you do know them. You have heard them all your lives. Most of you have j{ 3 been brought up in the Sunday school, and here you come to church today and expect to be led beyond your present knowl- 86 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS edge. And you ought to be. It is my duty to do it. I would be unfaithful to my charge if | I simply went over what you know and accept already. So it is of no use to restate doctrines, especially when I bring a text like the one of this morning. It is only of use to emphasize it in such a way as { to introduce a new feature, that will make it more useful to you. Nearly all of you would agree with me that the Bible is the truth of God, that its great influence upon the world is evidence enough of its power, and the \ fact that the best people in the world have believed in it is evi- dence enough of its truth, its goodness, and helpfulness. Nearly all will accept that. Now then, we believe the statement in the last chap- ter of Matthew and the last verse, wherein j[ 4 Christ says, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world," or, unto the end of time. "Lo, I am with you alway." That is a platitude. For me to state that is a waste of time unless there I is something to be said to make it of unusual interest, and it is to that point that I address myself for the few minutes that I shall speak this morning. I have not come down from my home in my illness and weakness I to deliver an essay or an address. I have come for a purpose. I will not come for anything else but for a godly purpose, a definite one. There is something to be done, and I am here to do that this morning, in j God's sight, if I can. I have realized since my illness the truth of this as I never realized it before. When the physician this week was giving me a great deal of advice about over- work and telling me to be very careful about I \ 5 doing this thing and that . . . (875 words) 1910 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Denver) 200 Words a Minute Championship LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.47 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of Group Two: If I have any regrets at all at being present with you today it is only because someone who had in charge the preparation of your program has lent a false dignity to it by defining what I am to say to you j this afternoon as an address. Some weeks ago when Mr. Jones asked me to appear before this meeting I consented to do so with the understanding that I was to talk entirely informally. Permit me, however, in the first place, to acknowledge the compliment you pay me in asking me { to be one of the speakers at the first meeting of your group, and at the same time to disabuse your minds of any mis- taken idea that I am to try your patience or test your powers of endurance with a lengthy dissertation upon any scientific banking principles. The only {scientific banking principle that I have ever felt myself compe- tent to discuss in any intelligent and understandable manner was the scientific principle of getting some good man to take a lively, personal interest in your bank, and you in turn taking a material interest from him without discrediting the social [j 1 and moral stand- 87 88 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS ing of the gentleman in the community in which he resided. Having confessed to you that I am familiar with but one scientific banking principle, I think you need no further assurances from me that my limited remarks to you this afternoon are to be along practical lines. \ I say practical lines because I purpose indulging this afternoon in a discussion of one or two evils which not only threaten but do menace the banking business, that of overdrafts and past due paper. Without posing before you as a financier or a Christian Scientist who has been successful \ in the employment of the absent treatment, I intend to give you this afternoon, without charge, the benefit of my experience as a wet nurse to overdrafts and past due paper. Those of you who know me at all well, know that for many years I have been a crank \ on this particular subject and some of my friends have been so unkind as to intimate that my eccentricities have extended beyond those boundaries, but I do not propose at this time to engage in any argument with them on a matter of such little personal concern and of no [j 2 interest to you whatever. Now I am fully alive to the fact that conditions which are a patent factor in the conduct of business particu- larly the banking business are not the same in the country that they are in the larger cities; but having been a partner in a country \ bank for more than six years and the active spirit in a large city bank for some twenty odd years, I feel I am competent to discuss the question from all sides without partiality. I am well aware too that in the smaller communities the banker comes in closer touch | with his customers than do we of the larger cities. The country banker appreciates 1910 CONTEST 89 that life holds for him more than market quotations index, and that the warp and woof of our national fabric and commercial greatness is built of stouter stuff than balance sheets and stock certificates. He exerts I a far greater influence in proportion to the figures represented than does his brother banker of the large metropolis. The country bank is greater in its scope and influence than the difference in footings between it and a city bank would indicate ; but the man who deals in large figures H 3 is quite essential too to the general financial and industrial scheme, and to attain the best results and to improve the cflnduct of our business we must be permitted to indulge ourselves liberally in the exchange of ideas, suggestions, and remedies; and so, with malice towards some and charity to \ a few, I come to you this afternoon to give you a prescription for the cure of overdrafts and past due paper. I want to qualify that statement a trifle, however, by saying to you that the prescription which I purpose giving you is one which will minimize the disease; \ for overdrafts and past due paper, like the poor, will be with us always, and if either the one or the other is entirely eliminated it will be when you and I are wrapped in the dreamless drapery of eternal sleep. My own prescription is simply this, don't permit it; I but the prescription must be administered to the patients in various ways and in varying quantities; some take it readily from the spoon and with others it is necessary to inject it directly, and then frequently without effect, and they pass along to some other financier or banker, who, if U 4 he is at all alive to the situation, will profit by the experience that the patient has received at former hands. To illustrate just what I am endeavoring to impart to you, I think it would be 90 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS well for me to tell you just how we handle a new account I in our bank. Let me preface that by saying, however, that it is easier to teach a new dog tricks than an old one. The customer who has been with you for a great many years and who has been in the habit of overdrawing his account is a great J deal more diffi- cult to handle than the man who has just commenced with you. In the first place no one is permitted to open an account at our bank I am not speaking of the country bank now; I am speaking of the city bank who has not first talked \ to the cashier or myself, who in turn presents him to tlie receiving teller. You will at once recognize the merit of such a rule. It brings the customer in personal contact with the officer or officers of the bank, and that, as you all know, counts for very much. [J 5 (1000 words) 1910 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Denver) 240 Words a Minute Championship JURY CHARGE Syllable Intensity, 1.48 Gentlemen of the Jury: It now becomes the duty of the court to instruct you as to the law governing this case, and what I shall say to you on that subject you must be governed by. The court presides at the trial of an action for the purpose of, among other things, determinied the law in the case and I advising the jury as to what the law of the case is and also passing upon objections to evidence which may be offered in support of the issues joined and seeing that improper evidence is excluded from the jury's consideration so that they may readily see the issues and apply the evidence that is adduced in support of the issues [ or to contradict the issues. The jury are the judges of the facts, and with the jury rests the deter- mination of what the facts in issue are. It is peculiarly the province of the jury to determine from the evidence, and the natural and logical inferences to be drawn from the evidence, what the facts involved in the case are; [ and by their verdict they determine the facts, and with their finding the court has nothing to do, except, as I have heretofore said, to see that they are properly instructed and only consider proper evidence. If the court, in making any ruling during the trial of this case 91 92 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS has said anything from which the jury infers that the court U 1 has any opinion, as to how this case ought to be decided, I now charge you to disregard what the court said in that behalf. I have no recollection of having said anything of that nature, but out of an abundance of caution I now say to you that it is your duty to exercise that independent judgment upon the [ evidence in the light of these instructions and by your verdict determine what the facts in issue are. A fact is said to be in issue when it is asserted on one side and denied on the other, and the facts in issue are to be found in the pleadings in the case. There is a common error which calls \ arguments of counsel to the jury before the close of the evidence, the pleadings of counsel. That is incorrect. Those statements made by counsel to the jury in explanation of the evidence and in behalf of their respective contentions are the argu- ments of counsel, while the pleadings are the written statements of the parties to the action filed in the J action before it is submitted to the jury and contain the facts which each claims exist in the case. In this action Sable and his younger brother Thomas are the plaintiffs and John William Glenn is the defend- ant, and the pleadings in this case consist of the peti- tion, the answer thereto, and the amendment to the answer and a reply Jj 2 to the amendment to the answer. Keeping in mind what I have told you constituted an issue of fact, namely, where a fact is asserted on one side and denied on the other, that there an issue is said to be joined which the jury must determine, I now say at this point that wherever one of the parties admits I an averment which the other party makes, the jury may take, for the purposes of the action, the admission to be true and the fact established; so that what the 1910 CONTEST 93 defendant has admitted in his answer to the petition you may take as true, namely, that on the first day of May, he sold and assigned to Sable Brothers at \ Pitts- burgh for the agreed consideration set forth in the con- tract in evidence here, the four or five oil leases described in the petition, together with the wells, power houses, tanks, rods, tubing, machinery, fixtures and other personal property located thereon. And further, that he was to have all the oil production from said leases up to June 1st, last, and J further, that the defendant, at the time he made said sale and transfer to the plain- tiffs knew that there were only twenty such wells located on said premises; but all the other statements of the petition the defendant denies and by his denial casts the burden of proof upon the plaintiffs; so that, before plaintiffs would be entitled to recover jj 3 any- thing in this action, they would have to sustain the burden of proof and make out their case by evidence to the degree of certainty that I shall hereafter refer to. You are the sole judges, gentlemen, of the credibility of the witnesses. That is to say, you are to determine, by the exercise of your judgment, how far you \ will believe the witnesses in their testimony. The evidence in this case consists of the sworn testi- mony of witnesses given on the stand, as well as the depositions of witnesses, parts of which were read to you, and also some papers which are called documen- tary evidence which were admitted for your considera- tion, and in finding the issues in this case | you should consider all of these classes of evidence and compare them and consider them fully, giving due weight to all the evidence and reaching a conclusion from the evidence; and, as I said before, the natural and logical inferences to be drawn from the evidence. Being the 94 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS judges of the credibility of the witnesses, you are at liberty to j believe or disbelieve part or all of the testi- mony of any of the witnesses. The witnesses were under oath while testifying and the presumption is that they were telling the truth, but you are not required by law to give full credence to everything that a witness 'may say simply because he is under oath, because the witness may be [] 4 mistaken or his interest in the result of the controversy may incline him to color his testimony, sometimes unconsciously, and other considerations of like character may make it appear proper to you not to give the full degree of credibility that the language of the witness imparts. The testi- mony of the witness should be tested by you. That is \ to say, you should consider the demeanor of the wit- ness while upon the stand, his candor and fairness or lack of it; his willingness or unwillingness, the readi- ness with which he testifies, the circumstances to which he testifies, the opportunity that he may have had of knowing that to which he testified and the extent of the opportunity he may j have had for knowing what he has testified to; his bias or prejudice for or against either party, if any was shown, and his interest in the result of the controversy, if any, and all such consider- ations as these which may enable you to determine how far you ought to accept the statements of the witnesses in ascertaining the facts j that are submitted for your consideration and determination. Now, by burden of proof is meant that the burden of changing the situation devolves upon the party who must sustain the burden of proof; the scales are sup- posed to stand equal and before the situation which the jury finds at the outset can be changed, the party upon whom the burden . . . jj 5 (1200 words) 1910 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Denver) 280 Words a Minute Championship TESTIMONY Syllable Intensity: With Q's and A's 1.30 Without Q's and A's 1.23 Number of Q's and A's 130 Q. Mrs. Rose, you have stated to the jury that you do not recollect any occasion, when your son was pres- ent, that the disappearance of Roper was spoken of? A. No, sir; I do not remember any such time. Q. You do not recollect any occasion when he was present that that was talked about? A. I do not. Q. Was your son a frequent visitor at your house? A. [ Yes, sir. Q. And the subject of Roper's disappearance was frequently talked over, there, was it not? A. No, sir, it was not. Q. Do you recollect that it was ever talked over? A. Well, I couldn't say that it was; it might have been. Q. Never in your presence? A. I couldn't say it ever was. Q. When was the last time Roper came to your house? A. The [ last time he was there, do you mean? Q. Yes; I mean the time he worked there last. A. I think that was on Tuesday the third. Q. What day was that? A. Tuesday. 95 96 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Do you recollect the time of day he came there? A. He came early in the morning I should think. Q. About what time in the morning? A. I couldn't say just what time; he \ was there to breakfast. Q. You think he got there in time for breakfast? A. Yes, sir. Q. I believe you have testified that he remained there until the next Saturday night; is that correct? A. Yes, sir; that is it. Q. And during that whole period of time he was there but one Sunday? A. No, sir; only one Sunday. Q. Do you know where Roper came from when jj 1 he came there? A. No, sir, I do not. Q. Did you hear him say anything about where he came from? A. No, sir. Q. And you do not know where he worked for three or four days previous to the time when he came to work for your husband? A. No, sir. Q. Did you make any memorandum of the time he came to work for your husband, so j that you can fix the date? A. No, I did not set it down. Q. The subject of Roper's disappearance has been canvassed a good deal when you were present, has it not? A. Yes, sir; it has been talked about a good deal. Q. And your attention has been frequently directed to those dates, has it not? A. Why, there has been but little said to me about it. \ Q. Well, your attention has been called to these dates and their importance, isn't that so? A. Yes, I have heard them spoken of. Q. And you have searched, earnestly, to find those dates, have you not? A. I have tried to recollect. Q. And you have tried to fix in your mind when they were? A. Yes, sir. 1910 CONTEST 97 Q. But your attention was never drawn to those dates until | after your son was arrested? A. I do not think it was. Q. And that was six months after the occurrence? A. Yes, sir. Q. And since that time you have tried to find out what those dates were; is that right? A. Yes. Q. And you have talked with your husband about the dates? A. I think I heard him talk about it, but I am not certain. Q. j[ 2 You would be willing to swear that you heard him talk about these dates? A. Yes, I have heard him talk of it. Q. And you have also talked about them yourself? A. I think I may have. Q. Do you know why Roper came back to your house after going away the first time? A. Well, I understood that he came back to trim apple trees. Q. To continue j his job? A. No, sir, not to continue his job there because he had finished what he came to do before. Q. Well, I mean he was to continue to work there? A. Yes, I understood so. Q. Did you hear him say so? A. I don't think I did. Q. When he went away you heard him say nothing about coming back? A. No, not that I can remember { just now. Q. Now, Mrs. Rose, can you swear that Roper and Williams were not at your place clearing oats on Wednesday? A. I don't think they were. Q. Will you swear positively that Roper was not there on Wednesday? A. I don't think he was there; not to the best of my recollection he was not. 98 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Was he there the next Sunday? A. No, sir; he was not. j Q. You will swear positively as to that? A. I will. Q. Now, as to Saturday did he stay there all night? A. No, sir; he did not. Q. Mrs. Rose, will you tell the jury why you are so positive that Saturday was on the thirteenth what reason have you for fixing the date on about the thirteenth rather than the fourteenth? A. I know it was on Saturday [I 3 because George's wife was at our house that afternoon. Q. How did you know she was at your house that afternoon and that it was Saturday? A. I take it from the date of this check that it must have been the next day. Q. Then the check has been shown to you? A. No, sir. Q. Then how do you take it from the date of the check? A. [ From others getting the date of the check. Others got the date of the check and I had it from them. Q. Who did you have it from? A. I had it from my husband. Q. Then he showed you the check and told you the day it was dated? A. He told me when it was dated. Q. Ajid you think that was the day the check was dated? j A. Yes, sir. They drawed in the last load of oats that day. Q. Have you any reason for saying that the last load of oats was drawn on that day is there any connection between that and the date of this check what reason have you for connecting one with the other, have you any? A. I think I have considerable. Q. What has that check to do with ] the delivery 1910 CONTEST 99 of the last load of oats? A. My son got the check when he took the last load of oats, and the check was dated on Saturday. Q. You say you never saw that check? A. Yes, sir; I have seen it. Q. Was it before or after your son was arrested? A. I couldn't tell you when it was, now. Q. Do you think he showed it Ij 4 to you when he returned from the bank? A. He did not go to the bank on that day. Q. Well, when he returned from seeing Jones? A. I couldn't tell you. Q. Do you recollect the circumstances of their drying any bags around the fire? A. I don't know as I do. Q. Do you recollect what the weather was whether it was rainy or snowy? A. I do j not, no sir. Q. Did you go into town to trade about Christmas time with Mr. Williams and his wife? A. I couldn't say whether I went with Williams' folks or not, but I think I did. Q. You had a Christmas tree in your neighborhood at that time, did you not? A. Yes, sir. Q. And it was before you had that tree that you went into town? A. \ Yes, sir. Q. What day was it? A. I don't recollect. Q. You went in a double team, didn't you? A. I should think it likely, but I don't recollect. Q. If there were four of you, yourself and your hus- band and Mr. and Mrs. Williams, you couldn't very well go with one horse, could you? A. I presume we had two horses. Q. Did you do any trading that \ day you were in the village? A. The day we went there we did very little. 100 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Do you recollect buying a breast-pin? A. Yes, I bought that at the store in the postoffice. Q. You were all at the Christmas tree were you not? A. Yes, sir. Q. At whose invitation? A. I don't remember; I don't know as anybody invited us. Q. But you went? A. Yes, sir. j[ 5 (1400 words) 1911 N. R. S. A. SPEED CONTEST (Buffalo) 150 Words a Minute Adams Trophy LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.42 The Bible is the young man's book. It gathers its forces, it discharges its energies, touched as they are by the influences of heaven, in the name of the young man. Thus Moses stands, a young man, I in the halls of a majestic past that he may handle the forces of a great future, and he was great never so surely as when, in the midst of the hoary ages, his eye glanced upon the I pyramids that were new, and he looked into the face of the Sphinx, and realized in himself the imperish- able and immortal elements that know no decline and that have gone on and on in unfaded significance while j kingdoms and empires have fallen to pieces. So we have the young Samuels, the young Daniels, and as we go on through the centuries we have that great civil engineer Nehemiah. And at last we find ourselves by j j l the side of the Jordan gazing upon two young men; one of them is leading his Master down into the water, and the heavens are opened above his head and the young Jew is consecrated. There, in \ the midst of the glory of that scene, all of the ecstasy, and all of the hopefulness, and all of the brilliant forces invested in young manhood have their coronation. That is the 101 102 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS young man's scene. That is j the most rapturous, tenderest, sweetest music heard in the history of young manhood, when those waters are broken, when the tinkling drops fall upon the head of Jesus, and fall again into the Jordan. It is nothing j but a sweet story, a beautiful tradition; it is nothing but the ever living prophecy of young manhood. For, above young man- hood, the heavens open; out of those unseen spaces there comes a dove, and today, for young jj 2 manhood, there are arching skies, and out of some balcony of heaven there comes a voice: "This is my son." Jesus Christ, at that moment, my young brothers, was simply claiming for young manhood the relation- ship of I the divine life; he was reaching up from the heights of humanity and touching divinity. He is finding there the privilege of coming as a young man into God's world with God's business to do, and He gave I His life and He gave salvation to man, and He comes to us through consecrated manhood as a young man. He died at thirty-three years of age and the mightiest name in all history is the I name of a young man, giving to us, as He comes through the ages, fresh inspirations, new and advancing visions, and com- manding ideals. And He is still a young man the fairest of humanity giving to us by H 3 His doctrines and by His sentiments, and by His hopes, and by His everlasting commandments of righteousness and justice giving to us that which shall make you and me eternally young, and shall present us, by and \ by, before the great God, in Whose eternity nothing grows old. We are living in a world in which a Methuselah is impossible. We have so enlarged the meaning of a year, we have so distanced slow-footed 1 Time that, today, 1911 CONTEST 103 every man is young. Today, as we look out into the opportunities and privileges of an hour, we realize we are looking into what was a little while ago a mighty century. Long stretches \ of time have been abolished, and there has come into common humanity through halls of learning in which these young men have been trained there has come into modern -life speed, movement, majesty of outlook and commanding forces, [I 4 intellectual and spiritual, so that the day in which they enter public life is a day resounding with the bells, with the clang, with the music of ages. A young man living ten years today has within ] him a certain frag- ment of eternity of which the nine hundred or more years of Methuselah had not the slightest glimpse or the smallest understanding. What tomorrow holds before these young men I know not. I know that [ the imperial value of youth shall lie in those permanent forces which shall come out of eternal facts. It is only because God revealed Himself in nature a per- petual God, an understanding God, a continuous God, the ] force of all forces it is only because God is being approached more and more nearly in mechanism, more and more nearly through the revelations of Himself in all the attitudes and aspects of the life of ][ 5 . . . (750 words) 1911 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Buffalo) 170 Words a Minute Adams Trophy LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.43 I think that rather too much fuss has been made about this meeting. It is literally and exactly what you described it in your requisition to be the wish of the business men who saw some ground for suspicion in the government \ proposals to hear my opinions on that point. From that moment it has developed into a sort of national conflagration for which neither you nor I are responsible. You did me a great honor, commercial men of the second city of the Empire, [ in wishing to know my views on this most momentous measure; and in sending me your requisition you sent me a challenge which I could not in honor or honesty decline. Painful as it is to me in many respects to speak j as I must speak today, but conscious also, as I am, that the posi- tion that I have held in the confidence of my sovereign and the country could not allow my absolute silence at a moment like this I come then today to jj 1 give you my plain, unadorned opinion, without any eloquence, without any quips or cranks, simply to put my mind into the common stock. And there is this about this meeting, that it com- promises nobody. We have no resolution, which I 104 1911 CONTEST 105 think a [ most laudable omission. We do not com- promise each other you because you belong to both political parties, and I because I belong to none. There- fore you have, at any rate, in that the impartiality that your chairman desires. Now, gentlemen, I have said \ that I was unwilling in some respects to stand here because it is necessary for me to show a very public and flagrant difference to my oldest and closest friends in politics those now high in power and in the confi- dence of I the State, from whom I am compelled to differ on a matter vital to their policy; and I hope, therefore, that one abstinence, at any rate, will be practiced. I hope what I say will not be quoted in any way against the \\ 2 party. I have long ceased to be in communion with the party. I have long since been an independent politician. It is not fair to anyone, to whatever section they may belong, to throw up my opinions as something that compromises the \ party. Now, gentlemen, it is my duty today to show why I believe it not to be in the best interests of the nation that this financial measure should become law. I know it will be said that as I am well off \ I have no right to speak on such a question; that it is only the cry of a wounded taxpayer that you will hear. Well, if you carry that proposition to its logical conclusion it will be a somewhat one-sided discussion. \ But I would venture also to point out that there is no conceivable system of taxation in which a man who is opulent will not be severely taxed when some large sum of money is to be raised, and, therefore, when a person H 3 of opulence speaks on a question like this, he is only, after all, making a choice of evils as regards himself. That is obvious enough. The other ridiculous allega- tion of which we have heard so much is that those who 106 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS cried out \ for warships are the first to cry out against paying for them. That, again, needs a very slight examination. As a matter of fact, the taxes which have been under discussion are the land taxes, which, accord- ing to the statement of the Government j themselves, would not produce a fraction of a warship; and what is more is that none, I believe, of the additional taxation provided is to go to our naval construction at all. Well, now, we clear away all that preliminary rubbish of I which we see too much and we come at once to the question that concerns us that is before the country. It is the most remarkable, I venture to say, that was ever presented by any party. I should venture to think that H 4 in that long and almost haphazard catalogue there is a multitude of taxes which seem designed for no other object than simply to cause that feeling of universal insecurity of which I have spoken. I am not going to speak of the [ deficit, for no one knows what the deficit is; an eminent econo- mist thinks there is no real deficit at all. I am quite certain of this we are not in possession of the real figures as regards the deficit, and not in possession [ of the real figures of the amount the taxes are to bring in ; and each of these omissions is so important on both sides that I won't dip into that part of the inquiry. Nor, may I say in passing, can I ] touch on the licensing clauses of the bill. They are, as I understand, unjust and largely confiscatory in their nature; but they are so complicated, that it would require a greater expert than I am, with much more time at his disposal than [[ 5 I have to deal with them properly. (850 words) 1911 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Buffalo) 190 Words a Minute Adams Trophy JURY CHARGE Syllable Intensity, 1.38 Gentlemen of the Jury: Before entering directly upon my charge covering the law in this case, I will say to you that if you have any prejudice against divorce, dismiss it from your mind entirely, for you, by your verdict, do not give a divorce, npr do J you refuse a divorce. You merely find a principal question of fact, and such other ques- tions of fact as may be necessary to throw light upon the principal question of fact. Then, after you have rendered your verdict, the court enters such decree, granting or refusing a divorce, I as may be proper under the circumstances. You can relieve your conscience and your mind of all thought on that subject, for all you have to do is to simply decide the facts which I will call to your attention, and when you have done that, you \ have no further concern in the matter. Therefore, you should handle the questions presented to you as you would any other question of fact, and just as you would a contract case, without sympathy or passion one way or the other. The desertion which has to be made \ \ l out to entitle a person to relief in a proceeding of this kind must be willful, malicious and 107 108 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS without reasonable cause, and persisted in continuously for two years. Therefore, you can see the relevancy of the testimony as to what took place at the time of the { alleged desertion, to wit, as to the fight between the sister of the libellant and the respondent, as to the conduct of the husband directly at that time, and as to his conduct shortly afterwards in the matter of the arrest growing out of that event. That has j been gone into very thoroughly, and that is all, as I say, to throw light upon the main question, so that you may make up your mind whether, when the wife left the house on that day, there was a willful and malicious desertion without reasonable cause, ] or whether she was justified in leaving at that time. If it was a willful and malicious desertion, without reasonable cause, the husband, to start with, has properly begun his suit and has made out that very important part of his action. But if you draw the conclusion, jj 2 at the starting point, that it was not a willful and malicious desertion, without reasonable cause, but that, on the contrary, the hus- band had been guilty of cruel treatment; and if the wife, (under all the circumstances that have been detailed to you as to what occurred j on that day and before that day, and considering the conduct of the husband immediately after that day, as possibly throw- ing a side light on what happened on that day) was justified in leaving him because of his cruel treatment; then there was no desertion on her part j at that time. A.S the issue is drawn and as you are to decide that as being the time of the desertion, unless there was a desertion on her part at that time, Mr. Johnson, the plaintiff, would have no right to a verdict in this case, j If there was a desertion at that time, willful and mali- cious and without reasonable cause, which was persisted 1911 CONTEST 109 in for two years continuously thereafter, then he would have a right to a verdict at your hands in this case. There was a great deal of testimony, covering a {I 3 long series of years since that time, but that is all of value only in the same way, to enable you to decide the main issue. That is, was the libellant's conduct from that time on, as you can draw it from the testi- mony, consistent with the J allegations in this case, viz. : the belief on his part that there had been a willful and malicious desertion on the part of his wife, or was it not consistent with that belief? If it seems to be consistent with that belief, it helps you to look at \ the case in one way; if it seems to be inconsistent with that belief, it helps you to look at the case in another way. I am not going to review all of the testimony in the case, for the reason that I do not think it ] is necessary to do so. The case was presented to you ably by trained counsel, and it has been argued to you, and they have given you their view of the testimony. In addition to that you listened to it very attentively. It was repeated in its main j[ 4 points by several wit- nesses on both sides, and the cross examination brought out the view of the other side as to it. After all is said and done, you are the judges of the testimony. It is for you to say whom you will believe ; it is j not for me to say whom you will believe. It is for you to say just exactly how much belief you will put in any testimony that is given to you, and how much of the testimony you will put aside as not worthy of your belief. It \ is for you to say what deductions you will make from the testimony and what inferences you will draw from it. I may be obliged, in the course of this charge, to refer to points of the testimony, but if I say anything as to the facts j which is not in accordance with your 110 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS recollection, you will take your own recollection and not mine. I want to leave the facts entirely with you, because, as I say, they are for you to decide. You take the law from me and the facts from the witnesses \\ 5 in making up your mind. (950 words) 1911 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Buffalo) 200 Words a Minute Championship LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.37 Mr. Speaker, I have remained here at the post of duty, in the face of a hot campaign at home, in order, among other things, that I may aid in passing this "anti-gambling bill." I am glad that I shall soon have the opportunity of registering my vote in [ favor of this bill. I cannot hope to say much in the short time allowed under the five-minute rule. I certainly cannot hope to say as much as I would like to, nor can I express myself as strongly as I feel against the wrongful practice of gambling in j farm products. I am opposed to gam- bling in any form. Ordinary gambling with dice, cards, wheels, or other devices and contrivances, where the players stake their cash, and in which the unsuspecting are robbed, is no more objectionable than the system of gambling in the crops of the earth, which \ are pro- duced by the sweat and toil of our American farmers. I think, indeed, that gambling in farm products is even a greater crime against the public and against the producer than a common swindle with cards or other means of gambling where men take chances on a game of [I 1 any sort, for in those cases all parties sit 111 112 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS down deliberately, coolly, with a knowledge that they are there for that purpose, and all parties are there with their own consent; but this system of gambling in farm products where the "Wall Street gambler" thousands of miles from the snowy \ -fleeced cotton fields of the South plays a one-sided game, with "stacked cards" and "loaded dice," against the "son of the soil," who is hardly aware that he is in the game, being robbed out of his earnings and out of his cotton and farm products even before the I crops are made and gathered. Sir, such practice cannot be justified morally; nor can it continue long, legalized as it is, under our laws, for the manhood of this country is beginning to assert itself. Not only are the farmers against this evil prac- tice, but thousands of honest men, whose \ fingers have not been soiled with the corrupt dollars from this "system," in city, country, and town are demanding that this wicked system of robbery be checked, and that the long, filching fingers of the "Wall Street gamblers" be removed from the pockets of our farmers, and from the pockets H 2 of the public. This bill is not as broad or as drastic as I would like to see it. It does not include all farm products, but it reaches that in which my people are vitally interested and that is, it suppresses gambling in cotton. I am for this bill [ and hope to see it enacted into law, as it will greatly remedy the situation from what it is now and will be a step in the right direction. I have received hundreds of letters from farmers in my district, the greatest number of them coming from members of the j Farmers' Union, urging especially the passage of legislation that will protect them against the farm-product gambler. 1911 CONTEST 113 Understand me clearly. It is only the illegitimate trading in cotton and farm products that I am opposed to; and that is all the farmers are opposed to. There is no word of \ complaint or opposition from any quar- ter against legitimate trading. No honest man can want more than to trade in legitimate bounds and no dishonest man should be permitted to do more, even if he so desires. It is argued by some that to upset this practice will "hurt business," and ]j 3 that it will hurt prices on farm products. One had just as well argue that to upset highway robbery or to prevent ordinary gambling in gambling dens, where young men are led away from paths of right and high ideals, would hurt business. There is always an argument when men | want to put one forth if not a legitimate argument, then a manufactured one. This legislation is in the interest of good morals and common fairness. It is in the interest of a class of people, too, who need more protection and encouragement at the hands of our national government { than they have heretofore received. All the farmers want is an honest market and such prices as will follow the unhampered operation of the law of supply and demand. The South produces nearly all of the cotton of this country, and yet the farmers of the South are annually juggled \ out of millions of dollars by the "sharks" that scheme on the cotton crop before the seed goes into the ground and fix prices from distant points a year or more in advance. What we want, and what the farmers of this country want, is not a legalized system, as jj 4 it now exists, whereby the illegal speculator can fix prices and say "I'll give this or that price," but, under the honest law of supply and demand, we want it in such shape that the farmer will have some say in the matter as to 114 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS what his cotton and produce j is worth, and so that he, as a citizen of this country, equal in rights with those of any other living man, can say, like merchants when they have things to sell, "I'll take this or that price for my cotton or produce." Instead of leaving the farmers in the { clutches of the speculators, we want to fix it so that the gambling speculators will have to retire from the field or be in the clutches of the law. Turn about is fair play. The New York cotton gambler has had his turn and has feasted and fattened long enough [ at the expense of our cotton farmers. I for one am ready now to amend this bill so that the pen- alties will be heavier and the provisions of the bill be broader and made to include all farm produce. I believe that the passage of this legislation will bring [[ 5 gladness to millions of American farm homes. (1000 words) 1911 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Buffalo) 210 Words a Minute Adams Trophy TESTIMONY Syllable Intensity: With Q's and A's 1.29 Without Q's and A's 1.24 Number of Q's and A's 71 Q. Do you recall the transaction of the sale of a car of melons on July 20? A. I do. Q. Just state to the jury exactly what occurred on that morning. A. I offered the car of melons for sale, and Mr. Roberts came up to me and I showed it to | him, and he got in and examined the car. The doors were open. He got in and examined the car, and I asked him a little more than $200 for the car, but we agreed on a price of $200, and he bought it. I gave him an order [ for it, as we did everybody else that we sold carloads of melons to. Q. What time of day was that? A. About 9:30 to 10 o'clock, I presume, in the morning. Q. By the order you mean an order on the Railroad Company for the delivery of the car? A. I The rules of the company were when we sold a car of melons, to give the buyer an order, and that is all we had to do with it. Q. Did you give him that order? A. I gave Mr. Roberts that order. 115 116 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. When you say Mr. Roberts got into the car, I] 1 what kind of a car was it? A. It was a common ordi- nary box car. Q. A railroad car? A. A railroad car, yes, sir. Q. The melons came up how far from the bottom of the car? A. About, I should judge, four and a half feet ; four to four and \ a half feet. Q. Did he have opportunities to go in from end to end of the car and examine the whole lot of melons? A. That is the privilege the buyer has. He can go in the car and examine it wherever he wants to. Q. Did he do that? A. He \ examined this car of melons, I suppose, thoroughly. Q. How many times did he see you that morning with reference to the car of melons? A. Two or three times. Q. He came and went away again? A. Yes. Q. Was there any dickering about the price between you? A. I wanted | $210 for the car of melons. Q. What was the price finally fixed at? A. $200. Q. What did you do after you gave him the transfer slip? A. It was the last car of melons that I had for sale. I went from there down to Market \\ 2 Street. Q. What is that? A. That is our store. . Q. When was the next you heard of this car of melons? A. The next morning about half past eight or eight o'clock, probably. The first that I knew about it was a lot of other men came to me and wanted \ to know what I was going to do with the car of melons that Mr. Roberts had turned down. That was the first I knew of it. Then I called my brother on the telephone. Q. In consequence of that what did you do with the car of melons that morning? A. I [ sold it after I got word from my brother 1911 CONTEST 117 Q. You sold the same car a second time? A. Yes. Q. What did you get for it the -second time? A. $150. Q. Was that the largest price you could get for it? A. That was the largest price \ I could get for it that day. Q. Had there been any change in the melon market on that day from the day before? A. Yes, and a change particularly in the car. There had been a load of melons taken out of it and thrown back into the car, and that would |j 3 make it look worse than what it really was, and it wouldn't bring as much money as a fresh car of melons. Q. How was it sold? Was it by auction sale? A. No, sir, private sale. Those melons are all sold by private sale. Q. Had there been any change in \ the market value of melons over night? A. Yes, sir, I should say a little, but not very much. If this car of melons had been in the same condition, I think it would have brought just the same amount of money. Q. Did you make any effort to get a good price [ for the melons? A. I tried to get more money. Q. You got the best price you could get for them, did you? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you see Mr. Roberts with reference to the car? A. I did not. My brother did. Q. Have you ever seen him at all j with reference to it? A. I have not, no, sir. Q. You say Mr. Roberts examined that car thor- oughly? A. Yes, sir. Q. What do you mean by thoroughly? How many of the melons did he examine? A. Well, I mean if he did not he was foolish, because he was in the [I 4 car 118 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS two or three times, and when I went to see the car he had dug three or four holes in the car and the melons were to be seen, I suppose, down very near to the bot- tom of the car. Q. You didn't see him examine it thoroughly, did you? You I presume he examined it? A. I assume that, yes, sir. Q. Isn't it a fact that after Mr. Roberts had exam- ined the top melons, you told him and expressly war- ranted that the rest of the melons were of the same quality as the top? A. No, sir, I did not, because we do I not grow the melons and we do not put them in the cars. They are put in the cars at the place they are grown and shipped here for us to sell. Q. This happened to be the last carload you had that morning, wasn't it? A. Yes, sir. Q. You were [ in a hurry to get away, weren't you? A. No, sir, I was not. Q. Do you remember the top row of these melons? Do you remember the size of them? A. Well, I should say that the top row of melons in the car probably was 25 pound melons. Q. How |[ 5 many 25 pound melons to a car, usually? (1050 words) 1911 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Buffalo) 240 Words a Minute Championship JURY CHARGE Syllable Intensity, 1.46 The court instructs you that the mere fact that the plaintiff received a fatal injury while working for the defendant does not entitle the plaintiff to recover a verdict in this case. The plaintiff is not entitled to recover a verdict unless she proves by a preponderance of the evidence, and by that is meant a greater weight of the | evidence, the following propositions : First: The plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she was at the time and immedi- ately before she received the injury, in the exercise of reasonable and ordinary care for her own safety, and that she could not have prevented the injury to herself by the exercise of such reasonable and ordinary care. [ If she could have prevented said injury, then she was bound to do so; and if you find from the evidence that she failed to do so, and such failure contributed in any way to the happenings of the injury, the plain- tiff is not entitled to recover in this suit. Second: The plaintiff must also prove by the greater weight j of the evidence that the top of the machine in question was in a dangerous and unsafe condition 119 120 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS as charged in some one count of the declaration, and that the injury was caused by such dangerous and unsafe condition, and was not caused by any want of ordinary care on the part of the plaintiff. Third: The plaintiff must also \\ l prove by the greater weight of the evidence that Jones did not him- self know of such unsafe and dangerous condition, and that he could not have known of it by the exercise of reasonable care. If you find from the evidence in this case that the plaintiff has failed to prove by the greater weight of the evidence all or [ any of the fore- going propositions contained in this instruction, which you have been instructed she is required to prove by the preponderance of the evidence, then you are instructed that she is not entitled to recover in this suit and your verdict must be for the defendant. You are instructed that there is no duty upon an employer to warn | and instruct an employee as to dangers which are open, obvious and patent to persons of ordinary intelligence, and one who attempts to do work which exposes him to obvious and known dangers, assumes the risk of such dangers. If you believe from the evidence that the condition of the machine in ques- tion was open and obvious to the plaintiff j then you are instructed that it was not the duty of the defendant to instruct him that such condition was dangerous; and if you further believe that the plaintiff was injured as the result of such open and obvious condition, then the plaintiff cannot recover and your verdict must be for the defendant. You are instructed that the plaintiff has I| 2 alleged in this case that Jones sustained fatal injuries by reason of the fact that the defendant negligently allowed a certain machine to remain open and uncovered, and 1911 CONTEST 121 allowed the planks and surroundings to be greasy, slippery and not sufficiently lighted. You are instructed that before the plaintiff can recover, he must prove by the greater weight of the evidence: j First: That, at the time of the accident, the place in question was not a reasonably safe place to do the work being performed by the plaintiff; Second : That Jones did not know that the conditions were dangerous and unsafe; Third: That Jones did not have equal means with the defendant to know of the facts concerning the con- dition of [ the top of the machine and the light sur- rounding it, and of the dangers arising from such con- ditions ; Fourth: That the injury to Jones was sustained by reason of such dangerous conditions. If you believe from the evidence that the plaintiff has failed to prove any of these four propositions by the greater weight of the evidence, or if you \ find that his injury was sustained by any other fact than that the top of the machine was not a reasonably safe place upon which to work, then you are instructed that the plaintiff cannot recover and your verdict must be for the defendant. You are instructed that the mere fact that Jones was employed by the defendant company, and jj 3 that he was injured while in its employment does not in law raise any presumption in favor of the plaintiff's right to recover in this case. Neither does the fact that the plaintiff has brought the suit, which has been tried before, indicate that the plaintiff has any right to recover. The law is that there can be no recovery j against the defendant unless plaintiff proves by the greater weight of the evidence that the defendant was guilty of negligence as charged in some one count of the declaration, which caused the injury to Jones. If you believe from the evidence that the defendant was not guilty of such negligence, which caused said injury, then it is not liable, and J the plaintiff cannot recover against it; or if, after you have considered all the evidence, you are in doubt and are unable to say whether or not the defendant was guilty of the negli- gence which caused the injury, then in such case you are instructed that the plaintiff cannot recover, and your verdict must be for the defendant. You are \ instructed that you are not to allow any sympathy which you may feel as men for the plaintiff to influence you in the slightest degree as jurymen. You are to determine this case upon the law and evi- dence, and the mere fact that the plaintiff was injured can have no bearing whatsoever upon the question as to whether or not H 4 the defendant is liable. It is your duty to decide this case precisely the same as if it were a suit between two individuals, and the fact that the plaintiff is an individual and the defendant is a cor- poration should make no difference to you. In consid- ering and deciding the case you should look solely to the evidence for the ] facts and to the instructions of the court for the law of the case, and find your verdict accordingly, without any reference as to who is the plaintiff and who is the defendant, or to any considera- tion whatever, other than the law and the evidence; and it is your duty to take the law from the court, and to follow ] the same whether you think the same is right or not. You are instructed, as a matter of law, that if you 1911 CONTEST 123 believe from the evidence in this case that the injury to the plaintiff, to recover for which this suit was brought, was the result of an accident so far as the defendant was concerned, and was no more { the fault of the said defendant than it was of Jones, then the plaintiff cannot recover and your verdict must be for the defendant. You are instructed that the law does not make an employer liable for every injury which may happen to an employee while engaged in his work, and if in this case you believe that Jones was \\ 5 injured. . . . (1200 words) 1911 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Buffalo) 280 Words a Minute Championship TESTIMONY Syllable Intensity: With Q's and A's 1.29 Without Q's and A's 1.22 Number of Q's and A's 128 Q. You never talked with him about that at all? A. No, sir. Q. You never told him about it? A. No, sir. Q. You never told anybody connected with this case anything about it? A. No, sir. Q. You never told anybody then before you came into court here today that you would swear to it you would swear to if you were asked all these questions that he | has written out? A. Certainly not. Q. Not a soul? A. No, sir; nothing but the truth. Q. You never told anybody, either Mr. Duncan or the other lawyer who was in this case, or anybody con- nected with this case, or with their office, what you would say in response to these different questions? A. Certainly not. Q. Before you came to court? A. No, sir. Q. You never saw [ that little slip of paper that Mr. Duncan had in his hand? A. I cannot say I have; no, sir. Q. You never went over with him or anybody else 124 1911 CONTEST 125 and marked on this map all the places where you would say that you were and where the boy was? A. Never marked it before I came into court today. Q. And never went over it and said that you [ would say where all these things were? A. No, sir; I would not till I came into court; I have to testify to the truth. Q. You absolutely refused to give him any informa- tion till you got here on the witness stand? A. Unless it was the truth; yes, sir. Q. Did you mark on this map where you stood? A. I believe I did. Q. You marked that letter jj 1 on the map? A. I believe so; yes, sir. Q. After you had marked that letter you erased it, moved it down 20 feet, and made another one, did you not? A. Yes, sir. Q. You moved yourself down here about 20 feet? A. Yes, sir. Q. You noticed so accurately, at the time this acci- dent so suddenly happened, that you were able to state within a distance of 20 [ feet exactly where you were? A. I did not say exactly; I said near. Q. You did say it when you erased the first letter you made and moved it down about twenty feet, did you not? A. I believe I was asked where I was. Q. And you first marked one place, then erased it and moved it down a distance of about 20 feet, did you not? A. | Yes, sir. Q. You were going, you say, up the same way that the car was going? A. The same way that the car was going up on the left-hand side. Q. The car was coming from behind you? A. From behind me; that is right. 126 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. You were on the left-hand side of Fulton Street? A. Yes, sir. Q. As the car was going and as you ] were going? A. That is right. Q. So that the car was on your right-hand side? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you were on the left-hand ^ide of the car? A. That is right. Q. These boys that you saw w r ere in the vacant lot, crossing from the opposite side of Fulton Street from where you stood? A. I said so. Q. They were on the opposite side [j 2 of the street, were they not? A. I said that two boys were being chased by a woman out of a lot. Q. One moment; these two boys were on the oppo- site side of the street from where you were? A. Yes, sir. Q. How far back in the vacant lot? A. I should judge about twenty feet. Q. And you noticed exactly what happened? A. A woman chasing them. | Q. You noticed exactly what part of the vacant lot they were in? A. No, I could not say that. Q. Well, did you notice what part of the vacant lot they were in; you said that they were 20 feet back from the sidewalk? A. I said about 20 feet back in the lot; yes, sir. Q. Then you did notice just where they were? A. Why, certainly. Q. [ I suppose you refused to tell Mr. Duncan that before you went on the witness stand? A. I did not tell him anything. Q. You did not tell him anything? A. No, sir. Q. This boy, as he stood on the edge of the side- 1911 CONTEST 127 walk, was about, a foot from a pole,that was erected there? A. Yes; not a pole, an elevated post. Q. An elevated pillar? A. Yes, [ sir. Q. The car was down here at that time on the track where you say you have marked the letter? A. Yes, sir. Q. And the pole was about here, where you have marked? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you were over here where you have marked this letter? A. Yes, sir. Q. That brought this elevated pole right square between the motorman of this car and this boy, jj 3 as he stood there, did it not? A. No, because the boy had started to run. Q. Before the boy had started to run, the elevated railroad pillar was squarely between him and the motorman, was it not? A. No, sir. Q. As you have marked it here? A. I said where the boy was at that time. Q. Before he started to run, the elevated railroad pillar was between [ him and this approaching car was it not? A. That is right. Q. Which did you see first, the boy or the car? A. I saw the boy first. Q. He was standing still there? A. Standing still; yes, sir. Q. What was the next thing that attracted your attention? A. The next thing that attracted my atten- tion was that the boy was under the car. Q. That was the J next thing that attracted your attention? A. The boy started to run across the street. Q. You say the next thing that attracted your atten- tion was that the boy was under the car, and that is all you really saw of this accident, was it not? A. No. 128 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Why did you say, when I asked you what was the next thing you saw, that the boy was under the ] car, if that was not the first thing you saw? A. That was an error, if I said it. Q. You say that before this boy started to run, you heard a shout? A. I heard a shout from the boys to look out. Q. What was there to look out for? A. I suppose to look out for the woman that was chasing them. Q. What did she havej] 4 in her hand? A. I could not tell you what it was; I suppose she had some- thing. Q. Was it a broom-stick, or a switch? A. I could not tell you. Q. From the tone of voice of these boys you^ judged that they wanted to look out pretty sharp for her, did you not? A. Yes, sir; I don't know what the trouble was; they ran as though J there was trouble behind them. This little boy was standing on the sidewalk behind the elevated railroad pillar, evidently not taking part in it, but when there was trouble he ran, too. Q. Standing still? A. Yes, sir. Q. When he heard the shout he ran, too? A. Yes, sir. Q. Fast? A. Very fast. Q. When a small boy aged nine years sees a large colored woman with a \ switch, and hears a shout and knows that there is trouble behind him, for a short distance that small boy could run as fast as a trolley car, could he not? A. Yes, sir. Q. You have marked on here a point with the letter where the boy and car came together? A. Yes, sir. Q. On the track? A. Yes. Q. And that shows that the small boy ran ] just 1911 CONTEST 129 about 20 feet diagonally toward this car, does it not? A. Towards the street. Q. Towards the car, did he not? A. He did not run towards the car; he wanted to get away from the car. Q. You had marked here with a letter where he stood before he started to run? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you have marked with a letter where the car was? A. \\' Yes, sir. (1400 words) 1912 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (New York) 150 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.65 Broadly speaking, all life insurance is constructive. The great network of its beneficent system stretches out so endlessly that to chronicle all that it accomplishes would be a difficult task. With less than a century behind { it, legal reserve American life insurance has builded well and laid foun- dations which must endure. Its correlative interests form a steady bulwark both in times of family want and of financial stress. Inventive genius and the keen edge I of competition, combined with the requirements of legislation, have resulted in many and diverse forms of life insurance indemnity, and yet we are not at the end of our effort or of attainment; we are just on \ the threshold, ready to step forth and use this great force for the benefit of humanity in ways more varied and effective than were ever dreamed of. The eminent architect who rears great piles of stone and mortar, \\ l and the masters who come nearest portraying human emotions on canvas, are greeted with loud acclaim, yet their inanimate productions suffer in comparison with life insurance, which makes character, warms the soul and molds the heart to [ its fullness and makes real men. 130 1912 CONTEST 131 Human nature is an infinitely improvable substance. A marble bowlder may be shaped into exquisite statu- ary, and common sand into stained glass windows, but is there any limit to manbuilding? Not when { there is a great motive that connects the individual with humanity's interests. A great motive makes a man shine like a lamp within a porcelain vase. Likewise, constructive life insurance becomes a great cause by which we j can make much of ourselves. The truth of life insurance on the part of those engaged in it is: An honorable, uplifting, absorbing lifework, rather than a struggle for existence; a busi- ness demanding optimism in large chunks; a U 2 belief in the future; the power to stir the buying impulse in the individual, adding atoms to the co-operative melting pot and acting as a modern doctor to prevent poverty from infecting the masses. Eminent thinkers today I look forward to the time when medicine will become solely preventive instead of curative. Life insurance is essentially a preventive force. It takes courage and spirit to overcome the easy neglect of a vital duty. When a policy { is purchased, moralizing gives way to real action. Thus life insurance is not passive, but active in helping to maintain those standards of life on which, after all, the whole fabric of society rests. Science protests, trumpet- j tongued, against every form of waste, and in contradistinction to the thrift of the French peasant the American dollar waste, the American food waste, and American life waste are astounding. The movement here for the conserva- tion of our || 3 natural and national resources is but of recent origin, and before this movement can reach efficiency the American conscience must be awakened to the fullest sense of its responsibilities. 132 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS We are, however, gradually forming a new national [ character, and municipalities are realizing that good citizens are the best assets; more important than increasing bank clearings. In one city systematic co-operation is being exerted to, first of all, give chil- dren a chance to be born right, | through the precarious years of infancy, that they may start right in the game of life. This intelligent movement by various life companies and associations toward lessening life waste, shows that shortened lives are no longer to j be accepted as a matter of course, but are recognized as results of tendencies which are subject to improvement, if not control. Constructive life insurance is a most potent force in attaining these desirable ends, because it is [[ 4 cumu- lative and constant in its influence. It focuses and makes a tangible thing out of good intentions. It unconsciously makes one less susceptible to the insid- ious temptations of luxury. It is a capitalization of thrift. It preserves \ in cashable shape man's earning power. It means sowing seeds of sacrifice which grow to fruition in happy self-satisfaction. The wheels of industrial progress and the arteries of commerce are recipients of its power. It is a \ balance-wheel which lessens life waste and encourages mental poise through contentment and systematic saving. Beyond all pecuniary aspects, it has a greater civilizing and uplift- ing effect on the race than any other single force. Some of | our richest men are seeking permissive legislation for the purpose of distributing millions of dollars to elevate mankind. How fortunate we are to possess sound life insurance as a vehicle, not only for this but for other things. J] 5 (750 words) 1912 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (New York) 175 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.47 Mr. Chairman, His Honor, Ladies and Gentlemen, and especially the members of the National Associa- tion of Stationary Engineers of the great commonwealth of the State of Ohio : We have listened to the remarks of the representative of this city and of the Progressive [ Association of this delightful city. This organization itself comes from a spirit of progression, and its symbol, if you please, is before us, which is " Liberty, Fraternity, Equality, and Progress." And with those sentiments we are strong. We have demonstrated, through the periods of [ the last thirty years, the truthfulness of those remarks. Thirty years ago when this organization was born I well remember, and as is the case with many of those whose hairs are now turning gray with the snows of many winters, that the engineer \ was not the most progressive man in this country. He had not given the thought to the science of steam engineering and that artful progress which has since been given it, due to the animation and the inspiration, if you please, that has been j} 1 born into them by the lessons taught and the objects that have been instilled into their 133 134 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS minds during the period that has been passing. I remember well in those days that the instrument known as a steam-engine indicator, one of the tell j -tales of the internal workings of the steam engine, was known to but very few and the profession of steam engineering was dark indeed upon its actual uses and its actual worth. There was a time in those days when a man who could I not use that instrument, which tells the story of what is being done within and without the steam boiler, was looked upon as an expert, wise indeed in the estimation of his fellows. But the lamp that has been lighted up through the progress j of this body and the inspiration born of its work and its service in the welfare of the engineering craft, has made it today an instrument so familiar, so useful that no engineer feels well equipped or feels that he is what he claims jj 2 to be unless he <;an read the writing, as it is impressed upon the indicator, which will tell the story of the economical or the uneconomical working of his steam engine. My friends, during those twenty-five or thirty years that have passed [ there have been wonders unfolded to the craft which in those days we did not even dream of. But the light of progress has been shining upon us and upon the world from every side and from every angle until now we are compelled [ to drink in more and more the science and art of steam engineering, which makes us strong and makes us join, if you please, the rank of the professional man. It is a fact today, my friends, that the mechanical engineer and I trust j our friend, the professor from some school near here which is, I understand, of a technical character, will not take umbrage because I say this it is a fact that the stationary engineer today 1912 CONTEST 135 is a man of power. He becomes the ally of |{ 3 the mechanical engineer in a sense far different than was the case twenty-five years ago when, as our friend and brother has stated, he was a creature of drudgery. Today he is a creature of power and is becoming more and more { so day by day; and it only rests within his hands and within himself and with this body as a unit as to whether he shall become stronger and stronger and more influential in every line and department of industry. And what I intended | to say was this, in addition, that the engineer in the steam plant becomes a powerful ally of the mechanical engineer; and what I did not wish to have the professor take umbrage or offense at because of my remarks, was this : the mechan- ical I engineer, the one within the portals of the mechan- ical school, probably leaves the high school of our state and enters the walls of the mechanical school or technical school; he is drinking in the theory of the art and science of steam engineering; and I| 4 he well knows, and so do we, as an educational and progressive institution, that theory is a mighty engine for good and that theory will go hand and hand with practice; and when theory diverts from practice, then the mechanical engineer is in \ the brush and he is glad to appeal to the man whose years of life have been spent up against hard knocks, drinking in the facts from rough experience; and so, the mechanical engineer, I say, has found an ally in the up-to-j date steam engineer for the steam engineer knows from experience, the mechanical engineer knows only from theory. And while, as I said, theory is a mighty engineer, theory jean do nothing except when practice puts its hand out and joins theory in its work J and onward progress. And so today the wise mechanical engineer, when 136 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS employed to consult or to execute certain new work in the way of steam engineering, whether it be elec- trical, refrigeration, or otherwise, is wise enough not to make any very strenuous breaks without |J 5 he first . . . (875 words) 1912 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (New York) 200 Words a Minute Championship LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.41 Let me begin, then, with the idea that all mankind are naturally lazy. There are probably some men in this world who really love to work for work's sake, as there are also some men in the world who have a fond- ness for tobacco or pickled olives, having acquired a [ taste for those articles, but, as a rule, men work because they are obliged to do so to obtain the necessaries of life or because they desire to obtain wealth or for some other desirable good. I do not suppose that any con- siderable amount of stone fence was ever laid [ for the mere fun of it, or that the boy lives who prefers raking after a cart in haying time to flying a kite. The major- ity of men labor because they find it a lesser evil than that from which it relieves them. And what is labor? It is the \ price we pay for everything that is not free and common to all men. We pay no price for the air we breathe, for it is with us and about us everywhere. We pay nothing, likewise, for the water that bathes our faces and slakes our thirst; we have but {{ l to go where it is, and it is every- where, and it is ours we find it bursting from the ground in springs, leaping down cataracts and murmur- 137 138 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Ing to us in the brooks, or spreading itself out in broad lakes, rivers and oceans; it comes to us from the sky and ( we may catch it in our hands if we will. There are, of course, special dispositions of both air and water which cost labor, but both are intended to be without price and are made free because they are absolutely essential to the preservation of life. It will also be [ found that all articles of food which are essential to our existence are cheap; there are a few nuts to be had for the gathering, a few roots to be obtained for the digging, a few sheep or goats which will take care of themselves and from which we may j obtain milk, meat and skins. All these things cost little or no labor, but the moment we pass beyond the simplest essentials for the preserva- tion of life we must pay the full price in labor for every article we obtain; that is, somebody must pay. A bushel of wheat represents jj 2 a certain amount of labor in the preparation of the soil for the seed, the sowing and the reaping and the transportation. Every bushel of wheat and every barrel of flour represents certain processes of labor without which it could never have been produced. Every ton of iron costs somebody ] a certain price in labor, and an ounce of gold, if it will pay for that ton of iron, costs somebody just as much labor as that ton of iron cost. All values are based upon labor, the labor they originally cost or the labor it would require to duplicate j them or to reproduce them. A necklace of diamonds may cost ten thousand dollars simply because it would cost ten thousand dol- lars, roughly speaking, to duplicate the gems and the .setting, drawing them from the original stock of nature. There are exceptions to this rule in the lucky strikes that I are made upon extraordinary deposits of the precious stones and metals, but in a general way every- 1912 CONTEST 139 thing costs its value in labor. California makes no more money in digging gold than Illinois makes in growing wheat; Georgia gets no richer in producing cotton than Massachusetts gets in spinning it. Nature { j 3 has so nicely adjusted this basis of values that intelli- gent labor thrives as well on the water as on the land, gets just as much for its pains in a quarry of granite as in a gold bearing piece of quartz, and finds equal profit in working a coal mine \ and washing for diamonds. As I look over my audience I see silks from China, ribbons from France, cloth from England and gloves from the foot of the Alps, the work of thousands of weavers and spinners and dyers. All these represent labor, the labor of somebody, and the money I which bought them cost the labor of somebody else. The purchase money may not have cost you anything, but it cost someone its value in labor. There are some of you, possibly, who have never been obliged to labor, and who have earned nothing that you possess, but someone has [ earned it. That wealth of yours was dug out of the ground, or drawn from the sea, and perhaps it required ten thousand somebodies to produce it; it all came through the muscles of labor. The fact that some, persons are richer than others proves that the labor of the H 4 world is more than sufficient for the wants of the world. That everybody lives, and that some have wealth who produce nothing, shows that there are various ways of securing the results of productive labor without engaging in that labor. There is a certain number of men and women in { this world who live upon the labor of others, a large number, indeed, aside from those who are naturally or necessarily dependent. Many secure a share of this surplus by perfectly legitimate means, they simply 140 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS take a just contribution from it as it passes through their hands in various commercial \ transactions, or they may fill some office or perform some service for the producers and secure a proper payment for their work, but the great strife of the world is to see how much of this labor of production can be shirked and how great an amount of its results I can be secured without paying the legitimate price. Every employ- ment that gives heavy price for light work, every scheme of gain that promises large rewards for little labor, every profession, trade or calling that secures the results of productive toil without paying the full price for them is filled to jj 5 overflowing in every com- munity. (1000 words) 1912 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (New York) 240 Words a Minute Championship JURY CHARGE Syllable Intensity, 1.40 Gentlemen of the Jury: I will say to you on the subject of the evidence before going into the law in the case, that it is for you to believe or disbelieve the various witnesses as to the facts. You must look at the witnesses, you must look at their opportunities for judging, you must look at the way in [ which they told their story, and you must consider whether they were really recollecting what occurred at the time or not, and you must likewise consider their interest. The plaintiff has a very mate- rial interest in this case. If he gets a verdict it means so much money in his pocket, and interest very often colors our views when we { come to give testimony. On the other side, you will likewise consider the interest of the driver of the cab, as he has been blamed for doing something, and it is for you to say whether it would be to his interest to shift the blame. As to numbers, as I have said to you in other cases, where you { have a larger number of witnesses against a smaller number of witnesses, you have the power, if you see fit, to believe the smaller number and dismiss the testimony of the larger number, but before doing 141 142 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS that you should give the matter careful consideration and not do so until you have found a satisfactory reason for dismissing the testimony of jj 1 the larger number and accepting that of the smaller number. In other words, you must make up your mind in the case and see on which side the scales fall, not necessarily saying the truth lies on the side of the larger number. As I said, if you feel that the story of the smaller number is the true one, \ you have the power to dismiss that of the larger number. However, I leave that entirely to you. As to the medical testimony, it is of a different quality entirely. It is what is known as opinion testi- mony. Very often medical testimony is of great aid in a case; very often it is of no assistance whatever. Where you have [ two sides in a case you have doctors on both sides. If you have seven sides to a case, you would probably find doctors on all sides, and you would probably have different views from the doctors on each side. However, doctors are supposed to be men who are better able to judge of such matters than we are. You [ will have to give their testimony full considera- tion and make up your mind whether it will be of any assistance to you. If it will be of any assistance, you are to take the opinion of the doctors. You are not bound by the opinion of any doctor in the case. You are to consider their opinions for what you }j 2 think they are worth, and say which one is worth the most to you and which one the least, and say how they impressed you on the stand, and make up your mind as to the weight you will give their testimony. As I have already mentioned, you have had a couple of doctors on one side and three doctors j on the other. In some particulars they agreed and in others they 1912 CONTEST 143 disagreed. You will consider their testimony and make up your mind as to where the truth lies as to the extent of the plaintiff's injuries. In considering the question of his injuries you have a right to bring your knowledge of human nature into play your common sense. \ You are not necessarily to be dazzled by large figures and the plaintiff's own story of the injury and the effect of the injury. It may strike you that it would be in accordance with human nature for a person claiming damages to put his side of the story of the injury as strongly as possible. Perhaps that is not j a blamable thing because it is a natural thing to do. It may strike you that it is natural to do that. If you think that such a natural human instinct has played a part in this case and that Mr. Smith imagines he is very much worse hurt than he really is, or if you think there is any jj a exaggeration of his injuries, you have the right to dis- count the extent of the exaggeration or imagination as you may, in the use of your good sense, think proper. However, it may be that it impresses you the other way and you believe that the injuries are just as he detailed them. I leave that entirely to you. As to I the accident, it is a clear question of fact. Did it occur as the plaintiff says it occurred and as his numerous witnesses say it occurred, or did it occur as the drivers say it occurred? You must make up your mind as to that. If you believe it occurred as the plaintiff says it occurred, then you must make I up your mind as to the extent of the damages. If you decide to give the plaintiff a verdict, if you think there was negligence on the part of the defendant's driver and that there was no negligence on the part of the plaintiff, it will be for you to say how much your ver- 144 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS diet will be. In such an ] event, he is entitled to recover for his pain and suffering, to start with. I cannot give you any exact standard as to that, except to say that reasonable compensation is the standard you are to take, based on the real facts as proven to exist. You have heard the plaintiffs description of his pain and suffering and you have [J 4 heard the doctor's testimony on each side, and, if you find for the plaintiff, you are to make up your mind as to what the pain and suffer- ing and injuries were and give him a verdict that you believe will be reasonable compensation. In addition to that, he would be entitled to recover for the actual expenses that he has \ been put to and which you think he will be put to due to the accident medical expenses and otherwise directly attributable to the accident. He would also be entitled to recover any losses that he has been obliged to suffer in the way of extra help that he has been compelled to employ in his business, and the loss I of commissions, if you believe that he was earning such an amount as he says in the commission business, and that he was deprived entirely of those earnings through the accident, and that his ability to go on with that business was taken away from him entirely. You would have the right to allow whatever you think that sum may [ be, as well as the wages that he has paid out. But before you do that, you are not necessarily bound to say, even if you give him a verdict, "He says this and therefore this must be the figure." Not at all. The same element of human nature enters into that testimony as into any other testimony. I do || 5 not say that it has influenced this particular testimony, but it may have. (1200 words) 1912 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (New York) 280 Words a Minute Championship TESTIMONY Syllable Intensity: With Q's and A's 1.26 Without Q's and A's 1.12 Number of Q's and A's 114 Q. Do you remember the 18th of July, 1906? A. Yes, sir. Q. Where were you working, if you were working on that day? A. In the shop. Q. Whom were you working for? A. I was working for the American Bridge Company. Q. What happened to you on that day? A. A big piece of iron, a column of iron, fell on my foot and mashed it. 1 Q. Which foot was it? A. The right foot. Q. WTiere were you when this iron fell on you? A. I was in a car. Q. Where was the car? A. The car was on the track near the wall. Q. Was the car outside or inside of the building? A. Inside. Q. Do you know what building that was that the car was in? A. It belonged to their j shop. Q. Do you know what the name of the shop was? A. The West Branch shop. 145 146 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. The shop was located at West Branch; but do you know what the shop was called? A. I do not know what the name of the shop was, but I know the car was on the track near the wall. Q. What company used the shop? A. The American Bridge Company. Q. I What were you doing on the car at the time this iron fell on you? A. I was on my knee stooped down, and was painting a piece of iron that was on the car. Q. What knee were you resting your body on? A. On the left knee. Q. You were stooping down, resting your body on your left knee? A. Yes, sir; and then I was painting with II 1 my right hand. Q. How were you facing when you were painting that column on the car? A. I was looking towards the wall. Q. Was the column you were painting nearest towards the wall or farthest from the wall on the car? A. It was nearer the wall. Q. Who was it, if you know, that directed you to get on that car to paint? A. I do not ] know, but they called him "Big Boss" out there. Q. Was it Mr. Brown, the man who is standing out there? A. That is the man. Q. When you say "big boss," you do not mean the size of the man, do you? A. No, sir; I meant because he had the gang under him. Q. In what way did he order you to get on that car? I A. He [ got hold of my arm and took me on the car. Q. He led you on the car himself? A. He got hold of me by the arm and told me to go on the car, and then he showed me how to paint. Q. Did you understand anything that he said to 1912 CONTEST 147 you? A. No, sir; I did not understand what he said, but I knew what I had ] to do by the way he made the motions. Q. You understood the motions he made? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did he get on the car with you, or did he stop and point for you to go on? A. No, sir; he told me. He said go and paint that, because this big piece of iron was painted already, but there was a couple of pieces there that was jj* not painted, and he told me to do that. Q. Did he tell you that in words or did he tell you that in signs? A. No, sir; he made motions with his hands. Q. Had you ever done work of that kind before in your life? A. No, sir. Q. Before you went to the Bridge Company, had you ever worked at painting on columns or painting on cars? I A. No, sir. Q. What kind of work, if you know, did you do? A. I worked with pick and shovel, digging ditches and cellars and things like that. Q. When you first went with the Bridge Company at West Branch, what kind of work was given to you to do, and who was the foreman over you? A. When I first went there my boss was Mr. Baker. Q. j Do you mean this man? A. Yes, sir. Q. Were you digging ditches for him? A. Yes, sir. Q. How long before this accident happened to you were you taken away from digging ditches and ordered to do something else? A. I do not remember exactly. Q. You do not know how many days it was before you were hurt that you were taken from ditch digging and put on j painting? A. Three or four days. 148 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Who first put you to work painting? A. Mr. Baker. Q. Where did you do this painting? A. In the yard. I was painting on small pieces of iron then. Q. How many days, if you remember, were you working in the yard before the accident? A. I cannot say, because we sometimes worked outside, and then sometimes we would go inside. Q. II 3 If you know, who took you from the painting work in the yard into the shop? A. It was an Ameri- can fellow there; I do not know his name. He used to be a second boss. He got hold of me by the arm and took me inside. Q. Do you recollect if either of these two men standing here is the one who took you into the shop? A. [ No, sir; I do not. Q. But it was some foreman or boss that took you from the yard where you were painting into the shop the first time? A. Yes, sir. Q. What kind of work did he make you do in there? A. The same work, painting small pieces. Q. Did you stay in the shop all the time, or part of the time in the shop and part [ of the time in the yard, before the accident? A. I was in and out. Q. On the morning of the accident you were in the shop, were you, before being ordered to go on the car? A. I was working inside. Q. And you had been taken in there by a boss or foreman? A. He was an old man; he was mixing a big stock of paint in [ the shanty. Q. He was the one who directed you to go in? A. Yes, sir; he got me by the arm and took me inside. Q. How long was it, if you remember, after you got in the shop that morning before you were ordered to 1912 CONTEST 149 go on the car? A. I do not know; I do not remember. But he said to me to go after some paint JJ 4 in the shanty, and when I came back with a can full of paint, then he told me to go on this car and paint. Q. Who told you? A. The big boss. Q. Brown? A. Yes; Brown. Q. Before you went on that car, what instructions, if any, outside of what you have already told us, were given to you about what do do? A. No instructions at all. I Q. Before you went on that car that morning, what warning, if any, did you receive in regard to danger connected with the work? A. Not any. Q. You received no warning? A. No warning. Q. What knowledge had you, if any, that the car was to be loaded while you were painting the column? A. I did not have any. Q. You say you did not have any knowledge? j A. No knowledge at all. Q. What, if anything, was there on the car while you were painting the column, to indicate any risk or danger? A. There was nothing there to show any danger. Q. When did you first know that there was any danger? A. I knew the danger after the piece of iron fell on my foot. Q. While you were painting the first column, from what I directions, if you remember, did the second column come from the car? A. I cannot say. I do not know which way it came, because I was painting looking towards the wall, and I got my foot caught and had a whole lot of pain, and I do not know anything at all about it after that. Q. When did you first see the second column? A. I saw it j{ 5 when it was on my foot. (1400 words) 1913 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Chicago) 150 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.49 "Commissions and boards, boards and commissions till you can't rest," said a taxpayer of the state the other day as he came into the capitol building and noticed that the revenue and taxation commission created by the | late legislature had just organized for business. " Where will it all end? Seems as if the law- makers create a new office or two every session, whether there is any demand or not. That's where the money goes," he ] added with a shake of his head. But for the first time in the history of the state the new department has been given a two years' lease on life in order that it may come into ] almost direct contact with the pocketbooks of a large percentage of the people. Hence it is an exceedingly important ques- tion to the owners of the pocketbooks whether the tax commission, after all its investigation and research, recommends enactment jj 1 of laws that will require deeper and more frequent delving into the leather pouches or whether it suggests for passage methods whereby the citizens' donations to the operating expenses of the various subdivisions will be less fre- quent [ and greatly reduced in amount. 150 1913 CONTEST 151 At first sweep of the field, it is obvious that there is scarcely any limit to the things that could be under- taken. The present laws governing revenues and tax- ation matters are defective and I could be changed in a multitude of ways. But the commission must take into consideration the effects of the likely whole- sale slaughter of the old enactments and the disastrous result that might follow the sudden change to j radi- cally different ways of gathering shekels into the public treasury. First complaint from those over the state who have had to do with the present taxation methods is that the machinery is sadly defective and that the greatest U 2 trouble comes from the men who are chosen in the various precincts and counties to carry out the lawas they read it in the big books. From one corner of the state comes the complaint that \ the assessors are too arbi- trary in making their valuations and that they favor someone here or there who is a particular friend or who has assisted them in procuring the office. From another section comes the objection that | they do not make energetic efforts to unearth all the property possessed by the more opulent taxpayers. Still another objection is raised that they do not have any fixed method by which they do their work and j that after all the figures turned in by them are as much guesswork as anything else. That about hits the nail on the head. Assessors have been produced undoubtedly over the state who did their full duty, but H 3 the fact that they did so was responsible likely for their retirement to the fold of the has-beens. There is the cry coming from the richer farming counties of the state that retired farmers who are 1 152 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS moving to towns to spend their declining days are not keeping their places as well improved as they did when they themselves worked them. That is true. Land wholly void of improvements is renting over the state for ] practically the same as land adorned with the modern house, enormous barns and capacious granaries. Hence the state imposes a tax on thrift and industry of the farmers in keeping up their places. It is easier not [ to keep things up than it is to pay the increased tax and it follows then that the deterioration has become so marked in the past five years as to be a common talking point out in the [[ 4 state. Some suggest abolish- ment of the tax on farm improvements as a remedy for this condition. Others suggest assessment upon a lower basis. The remedy to be offered to the lawmakers of the next session will be \ recommended by the tax commission after every side of the proposition has been heard and after every point has been weighed carefully by the members. For years past, the inequality of real estate assess- ment has been the subject j of street banter, and court house jest. There appeared to be no uniformity in the methods employed by the assessors, no agreement between them even upon the same property that they might choose to practice upon. Some j assessors used the sale price for determining the cost of land, others set down an arbitrary figure, and others looked wisely at the ground and then put down an estimate that could have been graced with the appellation [j 5 "guess." (750 words) 1913 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Chicago) 175 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.30 His name was Riley, and although his parents had called him Thomas, to the boys he had always been "Dennis," and by the time he had reached his senior year in college he was quite ready to admit that his "name was Dennis" [ with all that slang implied. He had tried for several things, athletics particularly, and been substitute on the ball nine, one of the immor- tal second eleven backs of the football squad, and at one time had been looked upon as promising material for a I mile runner on the track team. But it was always his luck not quite to make any- thing. He could not bat up to varsity standard, he was not quite heavy enough for a varsity back, and in the mile run he always came in [ fresh enough but could not seem to get his speed up so as to run himself out, and the result was that although he finished strong and with lots of running in him, the other fellows always reached the tape first, even though just j] 1 barely getting over and thoroughly exhausted. Now "Dennis" had made up his mind at Christmas time that he actually would have one more trial on the track, and that his family, consisting of his mother and a younger brother, both of them great j believers in 153 154 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS and very proud of Thomas, should yet see him possessed of a long-coveted "Y." So he went out with the first candidates in the spring, and the addition of the two-mile event to the pro- gram of track contests gave him j a distance better suited to his endurance. There were a half-dozen other men running in his squad, and Dennis, from his former failures, was not looked upon with much favor, or as a very likely man. But he kept at it. When the ] first reduction of the squad was made, someone said, ''Denny's kept on just to pound the track." With the middle of March came some class games, and Dennis was among the "also rans," getting no better than fourth place in the two-mile. The j{ 2 worst of it was that he knew he could have run it faster, for he felt strong at the finish, but had no burst of speed when the others went up on the last lap. But in April he did better, and it { soon developed that he was improving. The week before the Yale-Harvard games he was noti- fied that he was to run in the two-mile as pacemaker to Lang and Early, the two best distance men on the squad. Nobody believed that Yale would [ win this event, although it was understood that Lang stood a fair chance if Dennis and Early could carry the Harvard crack, Richards, along at a fast gait for the first mile. So it was all arranged that Early should set the pace for [ the first half mile, and Dennis should then go up and carry the field along for a fast second half. Then, after the first mile was over, Early and Dennis should go out as fast as they could, and stay as long as they [[ 3 could in the attempt to force the Harvard man and exhaust him so that Lang could come up, and, having run the race more to his liking, be strong enough to finish first. 1913 CONTEST 155 The day of the games came, and with it a I drenching rain, making the track heavy and everybody uncom- fortable. But as the intercollegiates were the next week, it was almost impossible to postpone the games, and consequently, it was decided to run them off. As the contest progressed, it developed that the issue would j hang on the two-mile event, and interest grew intense. When the call for starters came, Dennis felt the usual trepidation of a man who is before the public for the first time in a really important position. But the feeling did not last | long, and by the time he went to his mark he had made up his mind that that Harvard runner should go the mile and a half fast at any rate, or else be a long way behind. At the crack of the pistol jj 4 the six men went off, and, according to orders, during the first mile Early and Dennis set the pace well up; Richards, the Har- vard man, let them open up a gap on him in the first half-mile, and, being more or less { bothered by the conditions of the wet track, he seemed uncertain whether the Yale runners were setting the pace too high or not, and in the second half commenced to move up. In doing this his team mates gradually fell back until they were | out of it, and the order was Dennis, Early, Richards, and Lang. At the beginning of the second mile, Early, whose duty it was to have gone up and helped Dennis make the pace at the third half- mile, had manifestly had enough of j it, and, after two or three desperate struggles to keep up, was passed by Richards. When, therefore, they came to the mile and a half, Dennis was leading Richards by some fifteen yards, and those who knew the game expected to see the Harvard [| 5 man try to overtake Dennis. (875 words) 1913 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Chicago) 200 Words a Minute Championship LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.45 Yesterday, all over this land, a few feeble old men gathered, and with a band of music, paraded the streets of the various cities and towns of this country. Those old men were once young, full of the vigor of youthful manhood; and when they were in the prime of \ their young manhood, they stood as a wall of fire before this country in the day of its peril, and saved it from the most terrible disaster that it is possible for us to con- ceive of. To all thoughtful patriots, that was a sub- limely pathetic spectacle that we witnessed yesterday. | Those old men are marching now, not to face the enemy of their country, but the great enemy, Death. No recruiting station will ever fill their ranks. Tomorrow and the next day and the next day those ranks will grow thinner and thinner, and the time will come when, throughout ] all this country, all that will be living will be about one hundred men. Within a short time after that there will be only ten of them living; and then there will be only one, and soon there will be no Grand Army of the Republic. All honor, brethren, to J { l the sublime heroism of the men who laid down their lives for their country, and of those who survived the perils of that great war and live 156 1913 CONTEST 157 still to hear the plaudits of their fellow-countrymen, who can never forget the fidelity of those men in the hour of their J country's peril. But Memorial Day is not simply a day to commemo- rate the past. I am here to speak for the present and the future, not for the past. Memorial Day emphasizes to me, who am also an old soldier, not the battles of that day and the trials of \ that hour of our country, but the present perils. To me, Memorial Day always casts a somber shadow over the events of today; for a living nation is always a nation that is in danger, and that requires the same courage and fidelity that is demanded in a time of \ war. This country needs you today as much as it needed any soldier in '61 and on to '65. A dead organism decays and becomes the prey of the worm, but a living organism invites the predatory onslaughts of other living organisms. Disease in a living organism is \\ 2 only a conflict between vitalities. So a living, prosperous nation is always engaged in a struggle. It may appear extremely prosperous, but it is in peril in spite of the prosperity, for prosperity is only functional health warring with the bacterial dis- ease that is in the body. The problems which J are supreme today how shall the nation survive them? How can it survive the grow- ing peril of sordid selfishness, the greediness that fills the land today, that which is the greatest peril that ever comes to a people? The Apostle exhorts the Corinthian church here "that there should be no \ schism" among them; that one member should not think that he could do without another member. This is a message, therefore, to the Church of God as well as for the life of the nation. The question of how we are to be related to each other is fundamental. 158 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS The I Apostle directs us to beware of these schisms in church and in state. Among the problems peculiar to our age is the necessity to distinguish between those questions that are vital and those that are mere matters of policy. The secession of the Southern states was a question that was jj 3 vital to this nation. It was not a mere question of policy, as the Southern people now agree. Never again can there be a schism in that direc- tion. But are there schisms that threaten the life of this nation today schisms like that one of secession, vital questions? If there j are, what are they? Let me call your attention to a few of them. I speak first of the emphasis that we are all, in church and in state, disposed to place upon our differences of opinion. We have grown to be a nation of vast extent of terri- tory, including j a multiplicity of nationalities. It is natural, therefore, that there should be some conflict of .opinions. The founders of this nation were not all cast in the same mental mold. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton were men of strong individu- ality of opinion. Party strife ran as high in revolu- tionary days I as now, and when those men whose names are always mentioned with reverence were in the councils of the nation, they contended; they were divided by parties as men are now. But when they met, those men met as patriots, and every one of them recognized every other man as [[ 4 a patriot, having the good of the country at heart. They regarded each other as men who were all working for a single object. When General Jackson was attending the birthday banquet of Thomas Jefferson, in 1830, at the time that great question of nullification was before the country, [ and every man felt that the country was in danger, he rose, knowing that the room was full of milliners (for, 1913 CONTEST 159 indeed, the banquet was given by nullifiers) and offered this toast: " Our federal union; it must be preserved." General Jackson struck the keynote of the vitality of this country \ when he said that, and if he had never uttered another sentence worthy of record, that would have placed him high on the pedestal of fame, in the estimation of his fellow-countrymen. That old legend, "United we stand, divided we fall," is the essential idea of this country. Longfellow \ expressed the same idea in his apostrophe to the Union : "Humanity with all its fears, With all its hope of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate." Destroy this nation, and what will become of the world itself? Every patriot ought to say with Rufus Choate: "We join ourselves. ... [I 5 (1000 words) 1913 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Chicago) 240 Words a Minute Championship JURY CHARGE Syllable Intensity, 1.53 Gentlemen of the Jury: The plaintiff in this action seeks to recover from the defendant company damages for personal injuries which are alleged to have been sustained on account of the negligence of said company. The plaintiff claims that about eleven o'clock on the night of August 14, 1911, he was motoring a car of the defendant, and that ] because of defective brakes on the car, which would not take hold of the wheels, he was unable to stop or hold the car when descending a certain grade, and in consequence thereof his car collided with another car and he was injured. The plaintiff's declaration consists of two counts, one of which avers that the said defendant negligently and I carelessly suffered and permitted the said plain- tiff to use and operate a certain car with an improper, unsuitable and dangerous brake-shoe, all of which was well known to the said defendant but unknown to the said plaintiff, and by reason of the said negligence of the said defendant in permitting the use of said car with the defective brake | -shoe as aforesaid at the time and place aforesaid, the said car on which the said 160 1913 CONTEST 161 plaintiff was a motorman as aforesaid ran into and collided with another car operated and controlled by the said defendant, whereby the said plaintiff was greatly bruised, cut, mangled, broken, injured and distressed. The second count is similar to the first, except that the [I 1 word "brakes" is used in the second count instead of "brake-shoe" in the first count. So that the negligence averred, and relied upon, by the plaintiff is, that the defendant suffered and per- mitted the plaintiff to use and operate the car with a defective, unsafe and dangerous brake-shoe, or brakes. The gist of this action is negligence, which \ is the want of ordinary care, and the burden of proving the negligence of the defendant rests upon the plaintiff. If there was no negligence on the part of the company, your verdict should be for the defendant. Even if there was negligence on the part of the defendant, yet if the negligence of the plaintiff contributed proxi- mately to the I accident at the time thereof, the plain- tiff cannot recover. In such case the plaintiff would himself be guilty of contributory negligence, and where there is such negligence the law will not attempt to measure the proportion of blame or negligence to be attributed to each party. Contributory negligence has been defined to be the negligence of the plaintiff, or of [ the person on account of whose injury the action is brought, amounting to a want of ordinary care, and approximately contributing to the injury. The relation existing between the defendant and the plaintiff at the time of the accident was that of master and servant, and the primary duty imposed upon the defendant towards the plaintiff in the course of j! 2 162 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS his employment by reason of this relation was to fur- nish him reasonably safe tools, machinery and appli- ances with which to work. The tools or machinery used need not be of the safest, best, nor of the most improved kind. It is sufficient if they are reasonably safe, and adapted to the purpose of the employment. If the master fails to ] observe this rule of law, and injury results to his servant from such failure, he becomes liable therefor on the ground of negligence. In the performance of this duty the master must use all reasonable care and prudence for the safety of the servant, having regard to the character of the work to be performed. Such care must be in \ proportion to the danger of the employment. The servant has the right to rely on the master for the performance of this duty without inquiry on his part. The servant assumes no risk whatever as to such primary duty at the time he enters upon his employment; but he does assume all the ordinary risks incident to the employment; such j as are patent, seen and known, or which may be seen and known by the ordinary use of his senses. And he is required to exercise due care and caution in the course of his employment to avoid dangers and injuries; for the master, having performed the primary duties required of him, is not an insurer of the safety of II 3 his servants. It is the duty of the master also to maintain said tools and machinery in a reasonably safe condition so long as they are continued in use. If the master knows, or by the use of due diligence might know that the tools and machinery in use in his business are not reasonably safe, it is negligence on ] his part to fail to remedy and correct the defects of which he has knowl- edge, or by the exercise of due diligence he might dis- 1913 CONTEST 163 cover. Notice to the foreman or person in general charge of the business, or having charge and control of the men and the cars, that the machinery is unsafe and dangerous, is, in law, notice to \ the master; and after the receipt of such notice it would be negligence on the part of the master to fail to make such machinery reasonably safe for the servant in his employment. But in such case the master would not be liable if the servant having knowledge of such defect continued to use such machinery. The servant must always [ exercise such care and caution to avoid danger as the circumstances reasonably require, and the greater the danger the greater the care, diligence and caution required. But even though machinery is defective in the knowl- edge of the employee, yet if the master has knowledge of such defect and promises to remedy the defect, and the employee, relying on that promise j| 4 continues by direction of the master, to use it for a reasonable time, he does so at the master's risk, inasmuch as he has a right to rely on such promise. If you should believe from the evidence that the defendant exercised reasonable care in the inspection of the trolley car which the plaintiff was operating at the time of j the accident, and that the brakes of said car, or other appliances complained of, when last inspected before the accident, were in reasonably good working condition and that any defect or disorder, if there w r as any, in any of said appliances was not dis- covered sufficiently long before the accident so as to reasonably permit the repair thereof or the discon- tinuance I of the operation of such car, in such event the existence of such defect or disorder would not constitute negligence on the part of the defendant. 164 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS If you should believe from the evidence that the defendant exercised reasonable care in the inspection of the car in question and of the brakes and other appliances thereon, and that the same were { found in reasonably good working condition when the car was turned over to the plaintiff to operate as a motorman, shortly before the accident, and that any defect or disorder, if there was any, in said appliances, occurred during the operation of the car by the plaintiff, and that there was no opportunity to repair the same or discontinue the [| 5 use of the car before the accident. . . . (1200 words) 1913 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Chicago) 280 Words a Minute Championship TESTIMONY Syllable Intensity: With Q's and A's 1.28 Without Q's and A's 1.19 Number of Q's and A's 151 Q. Mr. Long, your plant was out northwest of the city here, along side of the tracks of the Ohio Electric 1 believe? A. Yes, sir. Q. How long had you been operating out there prior to the date of the accident? A. About eight years. Q. And cars had been operated along there during that time I suppose? A. Yes, sir. Q. All of that time? A. Yes. Q. ] You rode on them frequently, did you? A. Yes. Q. Did they operate past your place and past Stops 2 and 3 at high speed when they were not making stops? A. Not real high, but coming in they would come in at a pretty good speed. In going out they went at a pretty high speed. Q. Ran about the same there as they did anywhere else? A. Yes. [ Q. Between here and the second town west? A. Yes, I suppose they did. Q. This track, from Stop 3 until some little distance 165 166 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS east of Stop 2, is a straight level track, is it not? A. Yes, sir. Q. And how far east of Stop 3 is Stop 2? A. Well, of course I never measured that accurately, but I judge about six hundred feet. Q. You went to [ Toledo during the 25th of January? A. Yes, sir. Q. It had not snowed that day nor the day before had it? A. Well, I think it was snowing that afternoon. Q. You think it was? A. Yes. Q. Well, will you say that it was? A. I think it was. It came up cloudy and I think it was snowing that day some. Q. What time? A. Along jj 1 in the afternoon. Q. In the afternoon before or after you left Toledo? A. After I left there. Q. After you left Toledo and before you arrived at Stop 2? A. Yes, sir. Q. You got on this car at Toledo about three o'clock? A. Yes, sir. Q. Was it a local car? A. Yes, sir. Q. It picked up some passengers between Toledo and Stop 2? A. I suppose \ it did; they stopped several times. I did not look to see whether they picked up any one or not. Q. You were occupying a seat about the middle of the car? A. Yes, sir. Q. When you got on the car you observed the plat- form? A. Not very much. There were quite a number of people got on there and I did not pay much attention to the platform. [ Q. Just answer the question: did you observe the platform? A. I think not. Q. Did you not look at the platform and see whether 1913 CONTEST 167 there was ice on it or not? A. I did not have time to look. Q. Well, did you or did you not? A. I say I did not have the time to. Q. You did not. Was there ice on the platform at the | time you got on? A. I do not know. Q. Did you see any ice there? A. I could not see, no. I did not see any ice. Q. You could, not see? A. I did not look at it. Q. You did not see any ice on it? A. I could not, I say, at the time. Q. I am not asking you what you could or could not II 2 see: did you or did you not? A. No, sir. Q. Did not see any ice on that platform? A. No. Q. You are positive of that? A. I told you I did not. Q. You went up from the right-hand or south side of the rear steps? A. Yes, sir. Q. Onto the platform? A. Yes, sir. Q. And into the car? A. Yes, sir. Q. At Toledo? [ A. Yes, sir. Q. And you did not see any ice or snow on the plat- form? A. No, sir. Q. Nor on the steps? A. I said no, sir. Q. Was this car heated and warm? A. Warm inside, yes, sir. Q. Did you take a seat with any one or were you alone? A. I was alone. Q. No one was seated with you from Toledo to Stop 2? I A. I do not remember as there was. Q. Were you carrying any parcels with you? A. No, sir. Q. A valise or anything of that kind? A. No, sir. Q. Did you take any snow onto the steps as you went in? A. No, sir. 168 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Did you see anybody else take any snow onto the steps? A. No, I did not see anybody. Q. You say that when \ you arrived at about Stop 2, or soon after leaving Stop 3, you could not attract the attention of the conductor who was standing near the rear door and you got up from your seat and went back to him and tapped him on the shoulder and stated to him you wanted to get off at Stop 2? A. Yes, sir. . Q. Then you stepped out onto the platform after IJ 3 he had rung the bell? A. Yes, sir. Q. You did not observe any ice or snow on the plat- form? A. Not in front where I stepped on. Q. How? A. There was none where I stepped down on the platform. Q. Was there any there anywhere? A. Yes, sir. Q. Where? A. There was ice along on the platform next to the steps, on the outer edge of the [ platform. Q. Over to the north side of the platform? A. Yes, sir. Q. How much ice or snow was there? A. I could not tell that much, but there was considerable there. Q. About how wide was it? A. I could not tell the exact width, you know, I did not measure it. Q. How long was it? A. It was along the front of the steps along on I the platform and on the end part of the platform next towards the car, where I saw this ice. Q. You saw that when you stepped out onto the platform? A. No, I did not see any there when I stepped on the platform. Q. When did you observe this ice? A. When I stepped on it. Q. Not before? A. No, sir. 1913 CONTEST 169 Q. You are positive of that, are [ you? A. Yes, sir. Q. And then how far did it extend to the south from the top of the step? A. I could not tell how far it extended. Q. Where did you stand when you went on the plat- form? A. I stood right out in front of the door. Q. In the middle of the platform? A. Yes, sir. Q. And how far west of the door? A. [j 4 A little past the center towards the west side. Q. Then you were in the middle of this platform, both east and west and north and south? A. Pretty close to the middle, yes. Q. And that is where you stood until the brakes caused the car to slacken and made you slip: is that the way you want the jury to understand it? A. When the brakes were put | on, why, my body swayed and I would have fallen over against the side, but I went to step out, you know, and stepped on this ice and my foot slipped. Q. Did you have hold of anything while you were standing in the middle of the platform? A. No, sir. Q. Did not? A. No, sir. Q. Was the car running at a pretty good speed? A. It was, | yes, sir. Q. While you were standing there? A. When I first went out, it was, I suppose. Q. Now at what place did the motorman first apply the brakes; how far from the road crossing? A. I do not know. Q. Do you know when he applied the brakes? A. I know when I slipped is all. Q. You do not know that he applied the brakes before that? [ A. No, I do not. Q. You knew he would have to apply the brakes at 170 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS to stop at Stop 2, did you not? A. I suppose he had to, to stop, of course; yes, a man would have to apply the brakes. Q. You have ridden on the cars before? A. Yes. Q. You know they apply the brakes? A. Sure. Q. And in applying the brakes you are \\ 5 aware that the car must be slowed down? (1400 words) 1914 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Atlantic City) 150 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.45 I believe that in the next half century, the South will have a greater development than any other part of the country. And I believe that you are facing that development in exactly the right spirit, with [ the determination to learn by what has occurred elsewhere in the country; to have none of the dreadful false pride which forbids your copying what is good, and none of the even less desirable spirit which makes you j slavishly copy something whether it is good or not. I hope to see you surpass any other section of the country in the keenness of your business spirit, in the way in which you work for the \ industrial upbuilding of the commonwealth here. But I most earnestly hope that you will not repeat the mistake that has been so often committed in the great northern communities of getting so absorbed in a quick, immediate, and jj 1 intense industrial development as to forget the fact that it does not pay to have an industrial development too quickly if you purchase that development with ethical losses. As I have said before today, it is absolutely \ neces- sary to have the material success. In speaking to you 171 172 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS collectively as members of a community, I would speak exactly as I would if I were speaking to you individu- ally. Now and then I have been asked to ] address Sunday schools, and I have always felt a certain shock of horror at one type of Sunday-school speaker, the speaker who deems it necessary to live up to his char- acter of the moment by saying ] that you must not think for a moment of any kind of success, except the success of your own souls, of anything except mere altruism; that you are not to consider in after life merely getting ahead etc.; [[ 2 that you are to consider only doing good. The man who preaches that too much is usually the man who does not practice it at all. The thing to be taught to every Sunday-school scholar and [ every grown-up in the land is that he has got to think of himself; that he has got to make a success of life for himself in material ways; that he cannot be a decent citizen unless { he is first able to take care of his own wife and his own family and him- self, that no man of lofty devotion to abstract ideals compensates for the fact that he is a burden on some- one I else in material things ; that he cannot be a good citizen until he has pulled his own weight. He must not be a passenger; he must pull his own weight. Dwell on that fact, and then dwell on I] 3 the further fact that while he cannot be a success unless he is a success in a material way, yet to be a success only in a material way may make him merely a curse to his ] fellows. What is true of us individually is true of us collec- tively. There can be no fine or high American life unless there is a real and solid foundation of material prosperity. When you find a community that ] is going backwards, you need not look for too lofty 1914 CONTEST 173 emotions in it; you will not find any. When a man does not know quite where he is going to get his next meal, you cannot count \ on making a profound ethical appeal to him. You have got to have the foundation of material prosperity, and the man is a poor ethical adviser who tells you anything else. You must have that as a basis H 4 upon which to complete the proper superstructure of life. Only be sure that you have the right kind of business, and be sure that it is only the foundation. If America is to stand for nothing in \ the future except an enormously prosperous community of dollar gatherers, then the mark of America upon the history of the world will be small. There must be mixed with the dollar getting a good, substantial amount of ideals J or the dollar getting by itself will not really help put us any farther ahead. In other words, business success, material success, is only to a very limited degree an end in itself. It is an indispensable \ means; but it is only a means to an end. There, again, it is just as it is in private life. I have not the slightest use for the young fellow who does not want to stand on j} 5 his own feet and go out and work and achieve success for himself. (750 words) 1914 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Atlantic City) 175 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.43 I confess that I have a soft place in my heart for that rare character in our New England life who is content with the world as he finds it; and who does not attempt to appropriate any more of it to himself j than he absolutely needs from day to day. He knows from the beginning that the world could not get on without him, and he has never had any anxiety to leave any result behind him any legacy for the world to quarrel over. He | is really an exotic in our New England climate and society; and his life is perpetually misunderstood by his neighbors, because he shares none of their anxiety about "getting on in life." He is even called "lazy," "good-for-nothing" and "shift- less" the final I stigma that we put upon a person who has learned to wait without the exhausting process of laboring. I made his acquaintance last summer in the country; and I have not for a long time been so well pleased with any of our species. I] 1 He had always been from boyhood of a contented and placid mind; slow in his movements, slow in his speech. I think he never cher- ished a hard feeling toward anybody, nor envied any- 174 1914 CONTEST 175 one least of all the rich and prosperous, about whom he I liked to talk. Indeed, his talk was a good deal about wealth, especially about his cousin who had been down South, and "got very prosperous" within a few years. But he had no envy in him, and he evinced no desire to imitate him. [ I inferred from all his conver- sation about "piling it up" of which he spoke with a gleam of enthusiasm in his eye that there were moments when he would like to be rich himself; but it was evident that he would never make the \ least effort to be so; and I doubt if he could even overcome that delicious inertia of mind and body called laziness, sufficiently to inherit. Wealth seemed to have a far and peculiar fascination for him; and I suspect he was a visionary in U 2 the midst of his poverty. Yet I suppose he had hardly the personal property which the law exempts from exe- cution. He had lived in a great many towns, moving from one to another with his growing family by easy stages, and was always j the poorest man in the town, and lived on the most niggardly of its rocky and bram- ble-grown farms, the productiveness of which he reduced to zero in a couple of years by his careful neglect of culture. The fences of his hired domain [ always fell into ruins under him, perhaps because he sat upon them so much, and the hovels he occupied rotted down during his placid residence in them. He moved from desolation to desolation; but carried always with him the equal mind of a philosopher. | Not even the occasional tart remarks of his wife about their nomadic life, and his serenity in the midst of discomfort could ruffle his smooth spirit. He was in every respect a most worthy man ; truth- ful, honest, temperate, and, I need not say, frugal. ][ 3 176 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS He had no bad habits; perhaps he never had energy enough to acquire any. Nor did he lack the knack of the Yankee race. He could make a shoe, or build a house, or doctor a cow; but it never seemed to him, J in his brief existence, worth the while to do any of these things. He was an excellent angler, but he rarely fished; partly because of the shortness of the days, partly on account of the uncertainty of bites, but prin- cipally because the trout-brooks j were all arranged lengthwise, and ran over so much ground. But no man liked to look at a string of trout better than he did; and he was willing to sit down in a sunny place and talk about trout-fishing half a day j at a time; and he would talk pleasantly and well, too, though his wife might be continually interrupting him by call for firewood. I should not do justice to his own idea of himself if I did not add that he was most respectably jj 4 con- nected, and that he had a justifiable though feeble pride in his family. It helped his self-respect, which no ignoble circumstance could destroy. He was, as must appear by this time, a most intelligent man, and he was a well-informed man. j That is to say, he read the weekly newspapers when he could get them; and he had the average country information about Beecher, and Greeley, and the Prussian war, and the general prospect of the election campaigns. Indeed, he was warmly or, rather, lukewarmly ! interested in poli- tics. He liked to talk about the "inflated currency"; and it seemed plain to him that his condition would somehow be improved if we could get a more elastic currency. He was, in fact, a little troubled about the National Debt; it } seemed to press on him somehow, while his own never did. He exhibited more anima- 1914 CONTEST 177 tion over the affairs of the government than he did over his own an evidence at once of his disinterested- ness and his patriotism. He had been an old Abolitionist, and J] 5 was strong on the rights of "free labor." (875 words) 1914 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Atlantic City) 200 Words a Minute Championship LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.53 Mr. President: It is a very melancholy duty which we perform today, in memory of one of our number who at the very begin- ning of his career in the Senate was summoned to the larger activities which lie beyond the life which we live in this world. I had an [ opportunity for a great many years to be associated with our departed friend and to know him with some degree of intimacy. He was not born in Iowa, but his people were among the early settlers of that state. They came from Wisconsin when Senator Johnson was only a youth, \ so that his whole life and education was among my constituents. From his boyhood he was a student and a man of ambition and enthusiasm in all the work which he undertook. He had the struggles which nearly every- body has had with the narrow surroundings of life in a new I country. But these did not prevent him from securing a broad and liberal education. He began his studies in one of our little Iowa colleges near his home, and in 1873, with a very remarkable record for diligence as a student, he graduated from our state university. 178 1914 CONTEST 179 From JI 1 his early manhood he was a power in the community in which he lived, both by reason of his character and also by reason of his unusual equipment for the labors and responsibilities of public life. He served with distinction as a member of the Senate in the General Assembly \ of Iowa when he was a young man. He was a partisan, I reckon as well settled in his convictions, and even in his prejudices, as any man whom I have ever known; but that did not prevent him from being popular with all parties in every better sense of \ that word. He was more than once the chosen representative of his party, while he remained in Iowa, in the conventions, local and national, which determined its policy and presented its candidates; and his departure from our state to a new and, as he thought, a larger field left behind [ him a multitude of friends whom no man could number. He was one of the advance guard that went from Iowa into the Northwest. In this country we are a strangely nomadic people. I think the most startling peculiarity of our population is the fact that hardly anybody has felt]] 2 bound to live permanently where he first located. The old sense of the homestead which once dominated life in .states like Virginia and Massachusetts, one of the traits of our inheritance, has practically disap- peared, and there are states which have poured out the wealth of their citizenship, their young men, [ and their able men, to lay the foundations of society in unsettled communities afar off, which present the glamour of opportunity to the imaginations of the strong. The State of Iowa in the last twenty years has con- tributed probably more than any one settled community in the United States to ] the growth of the newer states lying toward the West and toward the North- west. He was a pioneer of that peculiarly American movement, because while Senator Johnson was of Scandinavian ancestry he was American, as his people were in every true sense of that word. He was a pioneer in j the emigration which took so many to the prairies of North Dakota when that section of the United States was practically a wilderness not a wilderness in the old sense of the word, for there lay that boundless meadow waiting only for the industry and skill of vigorous men and Jj 3 women to develop resources practically without limit. He became a farmer in the actual sense of that word. We have had a good many members of Congress who have commended themselves to our favorable attention as farmers. Only a very few of them, however, have lived on their land within j recent years. Senator Johnson was a man whose home was his North Dakota farm and whose life work outside of his public service was that most ancient and most honorable occupation of man. I remember a few years ago when I was traveling across the State of North Dakota 1 1 think it was in the presidential campaign of 1904 with a very dis- tinguished party, including the former Vice-President of the United States, then a candidate for that office, the train passed the homestead of Martin N. Johnson, and we enjoyed the sight, at 60 miles an hour, of [ seeing our old friend out in front of his barn, waving an implement of husbandry, as a sort of passing wel- come, to the travelers through his domain. Notwithstanding the fact that his labors were engrossed with the cultivation of this North Dakota 1914 CONTEST 181 farm, he never altogether lost his taste for j[ 4 the public service. My first acquaintance with him was when we came, near the same tune, to Congress; and I will say, in passing, that men who served together their first terms in Congress, when this familiar machinery of government seemed new and strange, have had an experience which, whatever J may be the vicissitudes of life, is never likely to be reproduced in any exigency of their service. Young men who came for the first time to the Capi- tol as Representatives and fell into the storms which used to rage in the Hall of the House of Representatives week after { week received impressions which made fast friends of those who enjoyed the experience together. I remember that I came here with very definite ideals and a very high notion of the dignity and of the solem- nity of Congress. I recall that once while the storm of insurrection against the newly ] elected Speaker, Mr. Reed, was at its height, I lost faith in free institutions. I said to myself, this howling multitude can not be the Government of the United States. I came over to the Senate as a sort of relief to excited feelings. I came in here timidly, having [j 5 just learned of my privilege on this floor. (1000 words) 1914 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Atlantic City) 220 Words a Minute Championship LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.46 In the Constitution of the United States the Senate and House of Representatives together are called "The Congress." Hence, in strictness, Senators and Repre- sentatives are alike Members of Congress; but in everyday language the name is given to Representatives only, and they alone write M. C. after their names. It is the life of the [ Representatives only which I shall try to sketch, and of that life I can hope to give but the merest outline. It is a fact of almost universal application that we see the bright side of every other man's occupation, and seldom the dark side. The dark side of our own lives we clearly know, \ and we are quite as apt to exaggerate its blackness as we are to magnify the good another enjoys. Probably a great many young people think that the life of a Member of Congress, with five thousand dol- lars a year, is a life of pleasure, comfort, and luxury, full of power and dignity. If they ] do not, they have changed very much from the young people of my day. Of course they have changed in other ways, and much for the better, but probably not in this estimate of things. 182 1914 CONTENT 183 Of course the young people are right in a measure. It is an honorable duty to perform that of represent- ing j] 1 a hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand people in their relations with the seventy millions of other people of a great nation, the prosperity of which may be affected by the Representative's wisdom, either in giving good advice or following good advice given by others, either in acting or refusing to act. But the [ picture has some shadows as well as lights. A Congressman has labors to perform as well as position to enjoy, and as a man gets older he sets less and less value on place and position. The duties he has to perform are not by any means uniform. They depend upon the wants and needs, ] real or imagined, of his district. All districts are not equally interested in things at Washington. Some dis- tricts, especially those in the East and on the Atlantic coast outside of the great cities, have very little to do with the bureaus at Washington. In the West, and especially in the newly settled states, the relations j with the Interior Department, and particularly with the Land Office, are very close and very important to the individual constituent. To have a hundred letters a day, all relating to business before the departments, is not an uncommon experi- ence for a member from Kansas or Nebraska, for in those states all land titles come, or j| 2 are to come, from the Government; and many of them have to be finally adjudicated at Washington in case of dispute. All the members have much to do with pensions. They bring special cases to the notice of the bureau, and hasten decisions. Here, again, the Western mem- ber is much more harassed than we of \ the East, because so many of our soldiers, broadened by contact 184 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS with brother soldiers from all over the United States, were tempted to try their fortunes in the frontier communities. So also the distribution of revenue raised by taxes among the rivers and harbors, the Indians, the navy, agriculture, public buildings, and all other items \ of government expenditure make much correspondence and business for members. In addition to these labors, it may be mentioned that any one of the one hundred and fifty thousand con- stituents is at perfect liberty to write his views on religion or finance to his member, and expects at least an acknowledgment. Luckily, nowadays, thanks to | reform in the civil service, considerable time is saved which used to go to the service of those who wished to assist their country by holding its offices. The official duties may be more or less, according to the prominence of the member. Every new member, like a young lawyer or merchant newly come to jj 3 town, has to show what there is in him and win his own way. Distinction won in other fields of endeavor will gain a man a hearing for the first time, but not after- ward. If he wishes to talk and be listened to, he had better have something to say and know how to say [ it. Most men are not listened to. Most of the long speeches sent to constituents have no effect on the House, and might as well have been delivered in an attic or poured out into the open air. That they are delivered at all is largely owing to the strange mistake which our country has j not got over that a good member must be an orator. Now every man wants to be thought a good member; hence he speechifies in the Congressional Record. In early days, when there was little to do and mem- 1914 CONTEST 185 bers were few, no doubt the country owed much of its education to such speeches, but in [ these days, debate that sort of speaking in which a man says only what he knows so well that he does not need to put it on paper would seem to be a far more advan- tageous consumption of time. General education, such as it is and I do not undervalue it comes from newspapers and [| 4 other sources. The early impression a new member gets when he listens for the first few weeks, is that there are in the House an astonishing number of men who know how to talk well; but after a while he sees the limitations of each man. Another thing which rather surprises the new mem- ber is I that the vote does not seem to follow the argu- ment. He does not comprehend that people who do not talk may think, and may not think to the same conclusion as those who talk. Nor does he compre- hend the tremendous diversity of interests in the House. He knows vaguely that this is a great country; I indeed, he has frequently heard persons say so, and has said so himself; but he does not understand that a thousand miles of distance is a tremendous change of the point of view. If we could only make the intelligent men all over the country realize the sectional differences of opinion which our greatness occasions, I the whole people would look with more reasonableness upon those whom only the whole earth in the way of legislation will content. The new member in his first term, and often long afterward, finds the rules a perpetual stumbling-stone and rock of offense. He wants to talk and to get his measures before the U 5 House, and somehow he never can. (1100 words) 1914 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Atlantic City) 280 Words a Minute Championship TESTIMONY Syllable Intensity: With Q's and A's 1.37 Without Q's and A's 1.28 Number of Q's and A's 162 Q. When did you first become acquainted with Brown? A. About fourteen years ago, more or less. Q. How much more or less? A. May be a year. Q. Which was it? A. It is hard to say exactly what year, for I joined the society Q. Never mind the society, when did you first meet him? A. Say in 1885. Q. That would be about fourteen years \ ago? A. Thirteen years ago. Q. Where did you meet him? A. At the society meeting. Q. What society meeting? A. The Church of the Most Holy Redeemer. Q. What was the nature of that society? A. A beneficial society. Q. A sort of charitable arrangement? A. Yes, sir. Q. How many members did you have? A. Ninety members. Q. Do you remember the circumstances under which 186 1914 CONTEST 187 you first met | him? A. I could not say exactly where I first met him; I may have met him before I joined the society. Q. Do you remember when and where you first became acquainted with him? A. At the church. Q. What was going on at that time, if you remember? A. Nothing exactly. Q. You met him as you would anybody else in the society? A. Yes, sir. <* ,, Q. How J often did you meet him at that society in those days? A. Once a month. Q. How long did that continue from the time you first met him? A. Until he left the society. Q. When was that? A. I could not tell you when; after he got married. Q. How many years did you continue to meet him once a month? A. Say two years. Q. So that would U 1 bring it from eighteen eighty- five to eighteen eighty-seven? A. About. Q. Then you lost track of him? A. Yes, sir. Q. You did not see him again until about three years ago? A. About that. Q. Was he a married man when you first met him in the society? A. No, sir. Q. He was like the rest of the boys going around and having a pretty good [ time? A. Socially, yes. Q. What was he doing at that time? A. I think he was a cigar maker, then. Q. Was he working? A. Yes, sir. Q. When he was working he was happy and pleasant and attended to church meetings? A. Yes, sir. Q. And he was single? A. Yes, sir. Q. You lost track of him until three years ago? A. Yes, sir. 188 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Where did ] you then find him? A. Up at the church where I resided up town ; the church at eighty- seventh street. Q. He went to the church? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you remember whether it was morning or evening? A. It was morning. Q. You say he looked in poor health at that time? A. Yes, sir. Q. Features seemed care-worn? A. Yes, sir. Q. He did not seem \ to be as youthful as he had been ten years before that? A. No, there was a big change in the man. Q. A big change in those ten years? A. Yes, sir. Q. And he was out of work? A. I asked him and he told me that; I do not know whether he was or not. Q. You had no reason to disbelieve him? A. No. Q. Did II 2 it impress you as strange that he should not be as youthful as he was ten years previously? A. No, he should not be as youthful. Q. You were not surprised then? A. I was surprised very much. Q. You were surprised not to find him as youthful? A. Yes. Q. You think he should have grown older? A. He might have grown older, but he could have had good | spirits. Q. The fact that he was out of work, whereas he had been previously working that you would not consider at all? A. No. Q. You did not consider that, as affecting a man's disposition at all? A. It might have something to do with it. Q. Did you consider it? A. I did in one way. Q. Did you expect to see him as hopeful and cheer- 1914 CONTEST 189 ful when I he was out of work and ten years older? A. He could have had some spirits certainly. Q. Even if he was out of work? A. That would not make a man downcast. Q. I have not asked you that. He was married at this time? A. Yes, sir. Q. He had got a family of children? A. I think so. Q. Five children? A. Four or five. Q. And [ his wife living? A. Yes, sir. Q. In other words, do you think you would be as cheerful out of work with four or five children on your hands to support, and a wife, and ten years older, as you would have been ten years ago without any respon- sibility and plenty of work? A. Yes, sir. Q. You would be just as cheerful? A. Try to be. Q. And with H 3 the responsibility of the support of a wife and five children upon your hands, as you would be if you had a pocket full of money? A. I think I would be more cheerful. Q. Out of work and A. No, I would be more cheerful if I had a pocket full of money. Q. Then you were surprised to see him less cheerful, when you knew he had five I children and this respon- sibility upon him and had grown ten years older and was out of work, were you surprised to see him less cheerful than he was formerly? A. I was very much surprised. Q. Why? A. Because his actions were altogether changed. Q. In what were they changed? A. In his social conduct and everything. Q. He was not as lively as he had been? A. No, sir. [ Q. Was there any other change? A. He talked excitedly when he had a conversation. 190 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. What conversation did you have with him? A. On different things. Q. Tell me one thing you conversed about. A. I asked him and he told me about his work and his family. Q. What was the subject of your conversation? A. I asked him if he was working and he said no and \ he told me he had a big family and he could not get any work. Q. Then he got excited? A. No, but he talked excited. Q. Because he had a large family and no work? A. I do not know. Q. Do you mean that he talked excitedly when he talked about that? A. Yes, sir. Q. Was not that the only reason; do you know of any other jj 4 reason why he talked excitedly at that time except that he was out of work? A. I did not think he was in his right mind. Q. Do you know of any other reason why he talked excitedly except that he was out of work? A. No. Q. When you shake your head what do you mean? A. I did not shake my head to you. Q. Do you not \ shake your head every time you speak? A. Yes. Q. Then you did shake your head. Did you visit him or did he visit you or how did you happen to meet him at the church? A. He came to church every Sunday morning. Q. You met him at the church? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you visit him as a committee of the society at all? A. No, sir. [ Q. Did he ever visit your society during the last three years that you knew him? A. Yes, sir. 1914 CONTEST 191 Q. Where was that? A. St. Joseph's Church. Q. How frequently did he go there? A. Once or twice I met him. Q. You took his money did he contribute any money? A. There was nothing to pay. Q. It was self-sustaining? A. Yes, sir. I met him at a I meeting of the society making an arrangement for an excursion and he attended two or three meetings. Q. Was he one of the committee on the excursion? A. Yes, sir. Q. He was one of the committee? A. Of the church; not of the excursion. Q. Was he one of the committee of the church? A. Yes, sir. Q. And he held that position during the three years? A. No, ][ 5 he only held that the same as any other member of the church for the time being; all the mem- bers of the church were on the committee. (1400 words) 1919 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Detroit) 150 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.63 Prior to the meeting of July 31, 1917, the members of the board residing in the City of New York had held a number of informal conferences with reference to the work to be done, \ and considerable correspondence has been carried on through the year with the idea of formu- lating a definite program as to what should be done for the proper care of the Beale collection, to provide for the exchange of { duplicate books and pamphlets con- tained therein for other manuscripts, books or pam- phlets which it is desirable to acquire, and concerning the rules and regulations under which such exchanges should be conducted, and also under which the collec- tion [ should be made of the largest possible avail- ability to the members of the Association. At the meeting in New York, however, after a very full discussion, the Board, by unanimous vote, decided that it would be unwise at [J 1 this particular time to adopt rules and regulations, or to make different arrangements for the exchange of duplicates contained within the collection, or to take any steps toward the placing of valuations upon such manuscripts, books, and I pamphlets, as are available for exchange pur- 192 1919 CONTEST 193 poses, for the reason that the board found, before action on these matters is taken, the matter of vesting the title to the Beale collection in the New York Public Library should ] be again brought before the National Association. It is apparent that if, after full considera- tion of the matter, the Association should deem it wise to vest the title to the collection in the New York Public Library, [ or in some other similar institution, then, in that event, the method or basis for conducting exchanges and the rules and regulations under which the right of the members of our Association to have full access to the [] 2 collection for purposes of examina- tion and otherwise, would be of no value, and the necessary work and labor involved in the preparation of the same would go for naught. The correspondence which the members of the Board | have carried on between themselves during the past year, and the sentiment of the present collectors in the United States as it has been ascertained, clearly show that we cannot expect greatly to increase the Beale collection with \ books, manuscripts and specimens, which it is highly desirable to obtain, unless the ques- tion of the permanency of the collection is placed beyond doubt. At the present time that is not the case. If anything should happen [ to the Association whereby it should cease to exist, the Beale collection would of necessity be dissipated. If for any reason, or on any account, the National Association should be unwisely managed and plunged into debt, this very || 3 valuable collection, being one of the present assets which the Association has, would be in danger of attach- ment and of being sold for the purpose of satisfying the liabilities of the Association. As long as this danger I exists and the condition remains as it is at present, 194 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS it is not possible for the Board of Trustees to secure from prominent collectors of shorthand books any of the many valuable specimens which exist outside of those I now included in the collection itself. The moment, however, that the title of the collection is vested in a legal manner in an institution of the solidity and permanency of the New York Public Library, or of | some similar institution of equal solidity and finan- cial strength, your trustees will be able to assure our members that there will be, within a very short time, deposited with and made a part of the Beale Collection, quite U 4 a number of very rare and valuable works which are not at the present time included in the col- lection. The Board of Trustees is clearly of the opinion that it is highly desirable to make the Beale \ Collec- tion the nucleus for the largest and most valuable shorthand library on the American continent. Such a result, however, cannot be obtained as long as the pos- sibility remains of the collection being broken up and its constituent parts \ passing again into the hands of private owners. While this matter of vesting the title was discussed to some extent at the Philadelphia convention, it does not appear from the minutes that when the resolution providing for j the appointment of the present Board of Trustees was reported that the matter received any attention or was in any way discussed by the members of the Association. Whatever discussion of the ques- tion took place, so far as [ | 5 the records show (750 words) 1919 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST - (Detroit) 175 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.64 I am in receipt of your letter of July 18th, and it gives me pleasure to comply with your request for my opinion with respect to the validity and advisability of reservations on the part of the United States in entering the proposed \ League of Nations. Permit me to state at the outset the point of view from which I think the questions should be approached. There is plain need for a league of nations in order to provide for the adequate development of international law, for [ creating and maintaining organs of inter- national justice and the machinery of conciliation and conference, and for giving effect to measures of inter- national co-operation which from time to time may be agreed upon. There is also the immediate exigency to be considered. It is manifest ] that every reasonable effort should be made to establish peace as promptly as possible and to bring about a condition in which Europe can resume its normal industrial activity. I perceive no reason why these objects cannot be attained without sacrificing the essential interests \\ l of the United States. There is a middle ground between aloofness and injurious commitments. 195 196 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS I share the regrets that suitable steps have not been taken for the formation of international legal prin- ciples and to secure judicial determination of inter- national disputes by impartial tribunals, ] and that the hope of the world in the determination of disputes has been made to rest so largely upon the decision of bodies likely to be controlled by considerations of expediency. There is merit enough in the proposed plan to make it desirable | to secure it, if proper safeguards can be obtained, but it is just as futile to exaggerate its value as it is to see nothing but its defects. One must take a light-hearted view of conditions in the world to assume that the I proposed plan will guarantee peace, or bring about a cessation of intrigue and of the rivalries of interests, or prevent nations which cannot protect themselves from being compelled to yield to unjust demands where for any reason great powers deem resistance inexpedient. Rather, the [ \ 2 proposed cove- nant should be viewed as a mere beginning, and while it's important that we should have a beginning, it is equally important that we should not make a false start. I think that the prudent course is to enter the pro- posed League \ with reservations of a reasonable char- acter, adequate to our security, which should meet ready assent, and thus to establish a condition of amity at the earliest possible moment. As to the validity of reservations: This question has two aspects; first, with respect to the \ action on our part which is essential to the making of reserva- tions; and second, as to the effect of reservations upon other parties to the Treaty. As to the first question, it is manifest that attempted reservations will be ineffectual unless they qualify the [ 1919 CONTEST 197 act of ratification. The adoption of resolutions by the Senate setting forth its views will not affect the obli- gations of the covenant, if it is in fact ratified without reservations which constitute part of the instrument of ratification. If the Senate should adopt reservations [[ 3 by a majority vote, I assume that these will be made a part of the proposed resolution of assent to the Treaty, and the question will then be whether the Senate will give its assent, with these reservations, by the requisite two-thirds \ vote. If the proposed reservations are reasonable, the responsibility for the defeat of the Treaty, if it is defeated, will lie with those who refuse the vote essential to assent. If the Senate gives its assent to the Treaty, with reservations, the concurrence of I the President will still be necessary, as ratification will not be complete without his action, and the respon- sibility for a refusal to give the ratification with the reservations as adopted by the Senate as a part of the instrument of ratification would thus lie I with the President. Assuming that the reservations are made as a part of the instrument of ratification, the other parties to the Treaty will be notified accordingly. As a contract, the Treaty, of course, will bind only those who consent to it. The nation JJ 4 making reservations as a part of the instrument of ratification is not bound further than it agrees to be bound. And if a reservation, as a part of the ratification, makes a material addition to, or a substantial change in the proposed Treaty, [ other parties will not be bound unless they assent. It should be added that where a treaty is made on the part of a number of nations, they may acquiesce in a partial ratification on the part of one or more. 198 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS But where there [ is simply a statement of the inter- pretation placed upon clauses in the Treaty, whether or not the statement is called a reservation, the case is really not one of amendment, and acquiescence of the other parties to the Treaty may be readily inferred, unless I express objection is made after notice has been received of the ratification with the interpretative statement forming a part of it. Statements, to safeguard our interests, which clarify ambiguous clauses in the covenant by setting forth our interpretation of them, can meet with no jj 5 rea- sonable objection. (875 words) 1919 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Detroit) 200 Words a Minute Championship LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.42 Ladies: I believe this is the first political campaign in which a presidential candidate has addressed his remarks to an audience composed entirely of ladies and discussed an economic question before those who do not vote upon it, and yet I offer no apology. On the contrary, I deem it ] not only a great privilege but a great honor. My experience teaches me that the mother and the wife are important members of the family. In fact, if I could only have one I would rather have the wife on my side in the beginning of the campaign than the j husband. I will tell you why: If I have the wife I am almost sure to have the husband before the campaign is over, and if I only have the husband I am never sure of keeping him. Another thing: Some of the best arguments which have been advanced on \ this subject have been advanced by the women. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention, and it is certainly true that the best arguments arise from our own experiences. The women have been learning from experience what the gold standard means. A lady who was canvassing in H 1 Nebraska gave utterance the other day to one of 199 200 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS the best things which this campaign has thus far pro- duced. She called at our house to secure some literature on the silver question to circulate as she went from place to place, and while there remarked that she had a brother [ who was a gold man without any gold. She said that she could understand how a man could be a gold man if he had the gold, but that she could only pity a gold man without any gold. And yet, this is the condition in which a large major- ity I of gold men find themselves they are gold men without any gold. When you find a gold man without the gold you find one whom you can convert. He has simply been misled. While the gold standard is a good thing for a few, it is a bad thing for \ the great majority of the American people. Our cause grows from day to day, and the reason for the growth is found in the fact that the arguments we advance appeal to the heads of those who think and to the hearts of those who feel, while the gold standard \\ z appeals only to the heartless. The wives and mothers are taking a deeper interest than usual in this campaign because they are becoming acquainted with the effects of the gold standard. They know that instead of being a just measure of deferred payments, the gold standard has become a measure I of deferred hope and hope deferred maketh the heart sick. The money question is not too deep to be understood by the American people. The great questions of state are, after all, simple in their last analysis. Every great political question is first a great economic ques- tion, and every great \ economic question is in reality a great moral question. Questions are not settled until the right and wrong of the questions are determined. Questions are not settled by a discussion of the details; 1919 CONTEST 201 they are not settled until the people grasp the funda- mental principles, and when these principles are fully | comprehended, then the people settle the question and they settle it for a generation. The people are studying the money question, studying it as they have not studied it before; aye, studying it as they have been studying no economic question before in your lifetime or mine; and studying [I 3 means understanding. To study we must commence at the foundation and reason upward. I remember hearing a sermon preached once, in the course of which the preacher illustrated the difficulty which people sometimes encounter in the study of a great question. He said that if one attempted to draw a I tree through a narrow gate by taking hold of one of the branches, he would find that the other branches would spread out so that he could not get the tree through the gate; but that if he would take the stem or trunk of the tree and pull that [ through first, then he would have no difficulty. I often think of that illustration. A study of the details without a knowledge of the principles involved is only confusing, but a study of principles makes the details plain. I was out in the West about a year ago, and I [ noticed their great systems of irrigation, and as I watched those canals wending their way through the valleys, this thought came to me : Upon what principle is irrigation based? And then it occurred to me that the principle was a very simple one, namely, that water runs down hill. Now [I 4 the person who does not understand that water runs down hill can never make a success of irri- gation; but when a person understands that water runs down hill, then all he has to do is to dig a ditch with a slight fall and he can carry water anywhere. 202 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS So [ in the study of the money question. If you fail to understand the fundamental principles, you study in vain. Now what is the first great principle? It is that the value of the dollar depends upon the number of dol- lars. Dollars can be made dear or cheap by changing the I quantity of them. This is a simple proposition, it is fundamental, and when you understand it you understand the most important thing about the money question. When you understand the value of a dollar depends upon the number of dollars, then you not only understand what a change in the I volume of money means, but you understand who is benefited by it, and why those who are benefited by it desire it. Let me illustrate the principle. Let us suppose ourselves walled in here with just enough wheat within the enclosure to last us a year; and let us suppose U 5 that, taking the supply and demand into consideration, wheat is worth a dollar a bushel. (1000 words) 1919 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Detroit) 215 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.54 The advantages gained by these rather innocent methods of graft, however, were infinitely small, if compared with those of which the wives of officers could boast whose husbands were serving in the occu- pied territories. These officers deserve to be called excellent providers. They procured from the inhabi- tants of Belgium, France, and Poland hundredweights j of provisions, and sent them home in mail packages or by soldiers returning on furlough. One, being in com- mand of a conquered village, received them from the peasants probably as a tribute of gratitude for the mildness with which he had treated them. Another, in charge of a military hospital thought perhaps that what [ he sent home could easily be spared from the abundant supplies requisitioned for the use of his institution. Still another, an interpreter in a prison camp, had many hams and bacon sides thrust upon him by relatives of enemy prisoners whom he helped to escape German justice in the military court by revising the I testimony. The gradual exhaustion of the German stock of articles of clothing and household articles kept step 203 with that of the food supply. The conditions that caused it and the reason why it became so great a calam- ity, especially for the middle classes, were the same in both cases. There was hoarding, confiscation and \\ l distribution by the authorities, and, as an unavoidable consequence, grafting by the rich and the war profiteers. There was an attempt to find substitutes for the materi- als barred out by the blockade. There was the mess that did not nourish, and the trash that did not clothe, as, for instance, the articles of I apparel made of paper and fiber, which were not only ugly and unpractical, but also very expensive. There was loss of physical and mental power owing to malnutrition, and loss of self-respect owing to seediness in dress. As the months passed permits were required for the purchase of more and more varieties of [ materials for clothing and personal and household use, and of articles made of these materials, until, with the exception of a few articles of luxury, nothing in that line could be bought freely. Men received a permit to buy a new suit only if they handed to the municipal authorities a written declaration to | the effect that they possessed no other suit in a wearable condition. This declaration the authorities were entitled to verify by means of an examination of the applicant's wardrobe. He, however, who voluntarily delivered to the authorities an old suit received a permit to buy a new one without being required to reveal the \\ 2 extent of his present wardrobe, and he was paid for the suit he had given up according to its appraised value. Similar restrictions were placed upon the purchase of other articles; permits to buy them were only obtained with great difficulty once each year and limited to small quantities. A woman who still I had towels, but needed napkins, was not 1919 CONTEST 205 permitted to purchase the latter, but told to use her towels as napkins. The use of table-cloths in restau- rants was forbidden; housewives were obliged to use their table-cloths as bed-sheets after their supply of the latter had been exhausted. As a separate permit was [ required for each article and had to be taken to the municipal office personally or by messenger, many people chose to be ragged and untidy rather than to answer humiliating questions concerning the quantity and condition of their wearing apparel and to sacrifice the time and strength necessary to obtain a permit. As a [ consequence, many articles with which the stores were still well stocked failed to get into the hands of people who were greatly in want of them. Sole leather became unobtainable, so that only those could wear shoes with leather soles who, at the beginning of the war, had provided themselves with footwear for several [] 3 years to come. All others had to use wooden soles, or have the soles of their old shoes patched with small pieces of leather fastened over the torn places. But more painfully felt even than the lack of shoes was that of soap, for, as a last resort, a man could walk in | a pair of jointed wooden sandals, but he could not possibly keep clean using the piece of horribly scented clay which the Government permitted him to buy. Since my return to America I have frequently heard the statements that the German civil population felt sure until the end that its armies would win a I con- clusive victory. I do not share this opinion. It must be taken into consideration that presentations of an opposite tendency, had naturally, not the slightest chance to attain publicity. Only by personal contact with people of different classes and by conversation 206 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS with them was it possible, therefore, to ascertain what they thought at any { time of the war concerning their chances to win. As long as they had only to suffer personal privations, however hard, the Germans in Berlin with whom I spoke trusted that, if they could only bear them long enough, their armed forces, amply supplied as they thought with all the necessities of war, would [I 4 prevail in the end. But when the Government was compelled to seize church bells to use for ammunition and when it entered the private households to confiscate for the same pur- pose the objects of daily use made of copper, brass, and aluminum, down to the smallest serving platter^ I heard many, who were [ honest enough to express their true opinion, say that they feared the lack of raw materials might cause Germany to lose the war, and those that did not express that fear openly, must have shared it secretly when even the doors of their cooking and tile heating stoves, their door knobs and window fastenings | had to be delivered up for ammunition purposes. He must have been a very foolish man, even for a German patriot, who with this evidence to the contrary in his own household, could still believe that all was well at the front. As in the winter, there were not enough street- cleaners to be I found to clear the snow from the streets, the municipalities of Greater Berlin ordered the citi- zens to do this work. Tenants of houses had to do their share under the direction of the janitors, who were held responsible by the police for the performance of the work in a satisfactory manner. How did you H 5 like it when your janitor (1075 words) 1919 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Detroit) 230 Words a Minute Certificate (Dictated at 203 words a minute) LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.55 It would be idle for me to take the time of you gentle- men in any attempt to elaborate upon the advantages to be derived from concerted action on the part of those connected with the shorthand profession in the United States. In this day to urge upon any body of | workers the advantages of organization, is, to say the least, not in keeping with the spirit of the times. We cannot look about us in any direction without having our attention drawn to the remarkable things which have been brought about by organization of one kind or another ; from the gigantic { combinations with their millions of capital, and the consolidation under single managements of our largest industrial enterprises, to the organization of various professions, each seeking by united effort the advancement, not only of the interests of the individual members, but the better- ment of the calling represented. It is, indeed, a day [ of organization and specialization from one end of God's footstool to the other. What should particularly interest us, as members of the National Association of Shorthand Reporters, is 207 208 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS what can we do at this time, as individuals and in our collective capacity as an organization, to further our mutual interests? The U 1 constitution under which we operate tells us at its very outset that: "The objects of this organization shall be to secure the benefits resulting from organized effort; the recog- nition and promotion of professional ethics; to foster a scientific spirit in the profession ; to secure the main- tenance of a proper standard \ of efficiency and com- pensation; the enlightenment of the public as to the possibilities and limitations of shorthand; the pro- motion and maintenance of proper stenographic laws; and in general the advancement of the interests of the profession." What a grand program of achievement this is to contemplate! What a happy condition would ] be brought about could we induce each member to keep this simple text where he could read it daily and resolve that he would let no day pass without even in some small way contributing something toward the carry- ing out of the splendid thought contained in the declared object of the | existence of this organization! From a material or practical point of view, unless as individuals we are each prepared to do what we can in this direction, then our organization can never hope to attain any great degree of success. That during the few years which have elapsed since the first jj 2 meeting of this organization much has been accomplished, no one will question, and when we consider the conditions under which the work has been done we can have noth- ing but commendation for the magnificent results brought about by the few able workers who have thus far carried the burden on J their shoulders. What has been accomplished amidst these adverse conditions is 1919 CONTEST 209 the best proof of what can be done if the enthusiasm of a reasonable proportion of the reporters throughout the country can be aroused. There may be some who, from a casual observation of what has been accomplished, feel that ] we have not sufficient to show in the way of results for the period during which we have been organized, and from such superficial investigation tell us that the gain has not been worth the powder. While we do not claim to have thus far blazed a path through the forest [ of our difficulties, nor by any means leveled all the hills nor made straight all the paths of our troubles, yet I believe we can satisfy any reasonable mind that, considering the conditions sur- rounding the work, much real progress has been made. Medical science, for instance, during the past decade has II 3 worked wonders, but even it has not found a remedy for all the ills man is heir to. Nevertheless medical science is constantly making some progress; each month and each year is productive of some definite tangible result, and for this reason we are encouraged to feel that progress in \ that field is surely and certainly being made. So it is in the case of almost every other art and science. So it should be in our case. The question for us to determine is have we collectively made that degree of progress which we should reason- ably expect, and if not, [ why not? That is a good time to look back and ascertain to what extent have we as an organization gone forward in our march toward the goal of perfection which we should have constantly before us. As we review our work, as we should each year, what definite progress can | we see as the result of our efforts during the past year? If we cannot conscientiously feel that reasonable progress has been 210 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS made, then we must surely chide ourselves for per- mitting these twelve golden months to have come and gone with no positive improvement to show. We owe it to ourselves H 4 as individuals living in these practical, progressive times to be able to show each year some advancement; we become in that period a year older, with one year less in which to accomplish the work we have undertaken to carry out. If we have not during that period stored up I for future use our share of the material things in life, and as an organization accom- plished something definite that will tend toward the betterment of the calling we represent, then we cannot look back with that degree of satisfaction that should be ours and say to old Father Time that while J he was occupied we were not idle. Among organizations and among individuals too many are inclined to take a pessimistic view of the affairs of everyday life. To "let well enough alone" brings contentment to such for the time being, and, perhaps, temporarily, more peace of mind than the old saying \ "Be up and doing." Such people fail to recall the old saying that "labor is the price which nature's law has set upon everything worth having." If there are among us any who take the pessimistic view of the work this association stands for, we should lose no time in arousing jj 5 them. (1015 words) 1919 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Detroit) 240 Words a Minute Championship JURY CHARGE Syllable Intensity, 1.43 Gentlemen of the jury, the plaintiff is the owner of a Packard limousine which was used for renting purposes, and on the morning of November llth of last year, at 3:10 A. M., he came up Seventh Avenue, reached 124th Street, turned west in between the two grass plots in the center of Seventh Avenue, \ and said that he was cross- ing the south roadway to go to the garage, which was on 124th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, when the Packard car was struck in the rear by a car owned by the defendant, the Black and White Company, and he brings this action against the Black and White Company j upon his claim that the injury that his car sustained at that time by reason of that collision was due solely to the negligence of the driver of that taxi, while he in driving his car was not guilty of any con- tributory negligence. Now, the question is presented to you upon the facts for you to say just what were \ the details of that happening, and after you have fixed the details of the happening, whether or not you find that the plaintiff has sustained the burden of proving by a fair pre- ponderance of the evidence that the injury sustained by the plaintiff's Packard car was due to the careless 211 212 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS driving of the chauffeur of the taxi, while the plaintiff I| l in driving his Packard limousine was not guilty of any negligence and was taking proper and reasonable care of the safety of the property under his control in other words, his limousine. In driving automobiles chauffeurs are called upon to use the care and caution that reasonably prudent and cautious chauffeurs are expected to use under the circumstances as you \ find they existed at that time and place. It was about three o'clock on Monday morning. Plaintiff's car was going west and the defendant's car was going south. Plaintiff says that as he was crossing between two grass plots, the one running from 124th to 125th Streets, and the other from ] 124th to 123d Streets, he saw this taxicab at a certain distance, as was testified to, and he would have you find from that that in the exercise of ordinary care he had ample time in which to make the crossing from the grass plots into 124th Street west ] of Seventh Avenue; and he would have you believe that the defendant's taxicab was such a distance away that in order to hit him, as he claims it did, it must have come at a high rate of speed, and that the chauffeur in handling that taxicab was not using the care and caution which a reasonably skillful and careful J| 2 taxicab chauffeur would be expected to use, having in mind that the plaintiff was crossing that street and crossing it at the distance that the plaintiff claims he was away at that time. Now, the defendant, on the other hand, contends that not only was the taxicab chauffeur not guilty of any negligence, but that, according to their view and \ their version of the circumstances as they existed there, the injuries sustained by the plaintiff's car were due entirely to his own careless driving in attempting to 1919 CONTEST 213 cross the street, as they say, at a high rate of speed and under circumstances which a reasonably prudent man would know could not be done in safety. It is presented for you [ to say, after you have made your analysis of these witnesses that have been called before you and after you have put the light of your common sense upon their testimony and upon them, just what were the circumstances at the time that the parties were driving, and what they did and all that, and then it is for you [ to say whether or not the plain- tiff has proven to you that the accident was occasioned because the taxicab driver was negligent, and that he himself in driving his Packard car was not negligent. If you find that both parties were negligent, why your verdict must be for the defendant. Before the plain- tiff is entitled to recover, you must find Jj 3 it to be the fact that the taxicab driver was negligent, and that the plaintiff himself in driving his Packard limousine was not negligent. Now, we have heard mention of the rules of the road. The rules of the road are that if the conditions are equal and the parties equally distant from the cross- ing, the north and south vehicle \ has the right of way over the east and west vehicle, and if there is a violation of the rules of the road by either party, and the damage was occasioned by the violation of that rule of the road, the party violating it would be guilty of such negligence as would be chargeable against him, in your determina- tion as I to whether or not the plaintiff has sustained the burden of proving that the injuries were occasioned by the sole negligence of the defendant. You gentlemen understand from the other cases that you have had with me that by a fair preponderance of the evidence is not necessarily meant the number of 214 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS witnesses. It is the quality of the testimony. | If you find, after you have determined what you consider to be the believable testimony supporting the plaintiff's contention and the defendant's contention, that there is an even balance of what you determine to be the credible testimony, why then the party upon whom the law has cast the burden of proof in this case has not sustained his case [J 4 by a fair preponderance of the evidence, and your verdict would then have to be against him for not sufficiently strong proof. Now, gentlemen, there is the case so far as that is concerned, and if you find that the plaintiff has sustained the burden of proving that the injuries to his car were due to the careless driving of I the defendant chauffeur, while he in driving his own car was taking proper and reasonable care of the property under his control, he is entitled to a verdict. Unless he has, j^our verdict must be against him and for the defendant, and if he is entitled to a verdict, he is entitled to be compensated for what you gentlemen determine ] was the damage sustained to his car. Now, there has been testimony offered here of what was claimed to be the damages to the car and the reasonable cost of making repairs and placing the car in the condition in which it was prior to the accident, which came to about $97. In addition to that, the plaintiff [ contends that the car was laid up for ten days, and that the reasonable charge for the hiring of a similar kind of car to conduct his business is &12 per day. If you find that he is entitled to a verdict, it is for you to say how badly you believe his car was injured and what would [[ 5 be a reasonable cost to put the car in the condition in which it was before the accident. (1200 words) 1919 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Detroit) 280 Words a Minute Championship TESTIMONY Syllable Intensity: With Q's and A's 1.28 Without Q's and A's 1.20 Number of Q's and A's 155 Q. When did you first see the laundry wagon on the track ahead of you? A. Well, about ninety feet back. Q. From where? A. From where the accident hap- pened. Q. Is that the first time you saw the laundry wagon on the track? A. Yes, sir. Q. Where had it come from? A. I did not take notice to it before that. Q. Then you just saw the laundry [ wagon about ninety feet from the point of the accident? A. Yes. Q. And the laundry wagon was on the street car track going in the same direction you were? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you had not seen it before that? A. No, sir. Q. And you do not know where it came from? A. No. Q. When you first saw the laundry wagon, how far was it ahead J of your car? A. Well, ninety feet about ninety feet; that is, when I first saw it. 215 216 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. The laundry wagon was ninety feet ahead of your car? A. Yes, about that. Q. And how far was your car back from where these automobiles w r ere standing? A. Just the same distance; he was opposite the machines when I saw him. Q. He was directly opposite the machine? A. Yes. Q. [ And you were ninety feet from the automobiles? A. Yes. Q. And did the laundry wagon get off the track? A. Yes; he got off when he passed the machines. Q. And which way did he turn? A. He turned to the right in the clear. Q. And he pulled in next to the sidewalk at Bates Street, did he? A. Yes, and stopped at Bates. Q. And he stopped Jj 1 at the west side of Bates Street? A. Yes, sir. Q. And went into a house, did he? A. I did not take notice. Q. Don't you know that he went into a house for laundry? A. I do not know; I did not take any notice to that. Q. Didn't you hear him say so the other day at a little conference you had with him? A. I believe { I did hear him say that. Q. You heard him say at a little conference you had the other day that he went into the house for laundry, did you? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you were running at a very slow rate of speed? A. Yes, sir. Q. And at the time this laundry wagon was opposite these automobiles, was this Ford car in motion? A. You mean the I wagon? Q. When the laundry wagon was opposite the auto- 1919 CONTEST 217 mobiles, was the Ford car in motion? A. No; it seemed to be standing still. Q. And you were running at about ten miles an hour? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you were ninety feet away from it? A. About ninety feet, yes. Q. What sort of a car was this one of yours? A. It was a small box car. { Q. Give us the number while you are at it. A. 456 was the number. Q. What steps did it have on the righthand side of the car? A. There were two steps. Q. Was there a step at your cab on the righthand side? A. No; not on the righthand side. Q. Was there a step in the rear at the righthand side? A. Yes, \\ 2 sir. Q. Where was the step that you used in getting out of your cab? A. It was to the left. Q. That was on the lef thand side of the car? A. Yes. Q. You say that the cab of your car was past before the Ford car ran into you is that right? A. Yes; the front cab was past. Q. And then what did the driver of the J Ford car do? A. I do not know; I did not see. I just under- stood Q. No; not what you understood. What did he do, if you know? A. I do not know. Q. What did you hear? A. I did not hear them say anything; I just stopped at Bates Street and came back. Q. How far did you run after you heard this noise? A. Well, about [ 100 feet. Q. Well, you stopped before you got quite to Bates Street, did you? A. No. 218 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. When did you stop? A. I stopped at Bates. Q. On which side of Bates? A. On the west side. Q. Which side of Bates looking toward Pittsburgh? A. On the Pittsburgh side. Q. You stopped on that side of Bates? A. Yes. Q. How long was your car? A. About 30 [ feet. Q. When you stopped, did you get out? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you went back to see the automobile? A. Yes, sir. Q. Where was the Ford car? A. It was about seven feet behind the other. Q. When you went back? A. Well, no; it was shoved right into the rear of the other machine. Q. In what way was it shoved in? A. It seemed as II 3 if the right front wheel of the Ford machine was sticking in under the rear left of the other machine. Q. What part of the rear left of the other machine? A. I just do not remember very well. Q. But the right wheel of the Ford was in under some part of the other car? A. Yes. Q. Why did you get out of your car and come back? [ A. Well, I heard the noise and I went back to see. Q. You knew something had happened, did you? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you see anybody when you went back to the machine? A. Yes; I saw the driver, and I think I remember seeing the lady that was in the machine too. Q. Did you see anyone else? A. No. Q. Was there anyone else there? A. j Yes; there were several people gathered around there, but I did not take notice. Q. Did you see the driver of the first machine, the Packard machine? A. I did not take notice to him. 1919 CONTEST 219 Q. Did you see him at all? A. I may have seen him, but I did not know him, you know. Q. Was there any room for the Ford car to go between your streetcar [ and the other automobile? A. No; I do not think so. Q. You are positive that the front cab of this street- car was past the Ford automobile before the two came in contact? A. Yes, sir. Q. You are sure of that, are you? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you are equally sure that you did not say in the presence of Peter Blake, when you came back, "My God, [I 4 I never seen it"? You are positive of that, you are? A. Yes, sir. Q. Sure of that? A. Yes, sir. Q. Have you ever undertaken to figure out how far your car would travel in going at the rate of ten miles an hour that is, how many feet? A. No, sir. Q. When you first saw the two automobiles, do I understand you that the Ford car was \ not in motion? A. When I first saw them, they were standing still, so far as I could see. Q. Did you see the Ford car back? A. No, sir. Q. How fast was the laundry wagon going? A. It did not seem to be going very fast. Q. Then he did not get off the track until he got to the point where he wanted to stop? A. Yes; | I think so. Q. Did you see any people in the Ford automobile before the accident? A. Yes; I saw the driver. Q. Any one else? A. No. Q. How many people were in it? A. I could not say. Q. How far were you behind the laundry wagon when it pulled off the track? A. I do not know that. 220 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Can you give us some estimate? A. It \ might have been something like thirty feet. Q. Was it as much as that? A. It was about that much. Q. That is your best judgment? A. That is my judgment. Q. Then I understand that you did not see the Ford car move at any time? A. Yes; he was moving slowly in the clear when the fender passed. Q. Oh, you did see him in motion? A. Yes, ][ 5 sir; slowly. Q. Which way was he moving? (1400 words) 1920 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Denver) 150 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.32 It was not so long ago that a vacation with pay was unknown in the great cities of this country, but vaca- tions with pay are now generally given and most of the people have formed the habit \ of taking at least a few weeks off from work every year. Is it not interesting to see men and women planning for their vacations from the regular routine? As far as I can see there is no I system used so that from year to year the things are done that ought to be done, for it may be said, generally speaking, that what you ought to do on a vacation and what you really [ do are two different things. For some, the memory of a fishing trip during a previous vacation lives through the entire year, and they go back to the same lake or streams to take up the same fishing jj 1 rod as though but a night had come and gone. Other people look forward from season to season to a trip in an automobile to some part of the country they have never seen, to see the \ green grass, the leafy trees, and the beautiful flowers. Others long for the time of the year to come again when they can take a trip to a large city, where there is plenty of noise, 221 222 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS great masses ] of people and the hurry and rush of a great city. All seek a change in scenery, thought, and action. I remember a vacation I took four or five years ago by the side of the sea. [ The breeze from the sea seemed to renew my vigor in a way that nothing else had ever done. In those hot days in August I found a swim in the pleasant waters of the sea and a \\ 2 leisure hour on the sands of the beach a complete change from my usual line of work. My hours were from late in the morning till early at night instead of early in the morning till late \ at night. My Big Ben did not call me from the good sleep of the early morning as it had been doing for fifty weeks in the year. Then it was not far from the mountains where I \ used to go fre- quently for the wonderful view that one gets from the mountain top. Since that experience it has seemed to me easier to get a vision of my work. When you are on top of | the mountains you are so far above the little elevations and depressions that you can see just the great mountain ridges which go to make up the mountain range. You feel that every mountain repre- sents one of the H 3 important parts of the whole and that all the things which go to make up that mountain have had a part in the completed work. As I came down the mountain I got a close view of \ the little things and in the same proportion I lost the physical perspective. There were other experiences on this vacation that received my attention. I noticed the difference between the flowers and trees in my environment and those \ at home with which I had become so familiar. Every- thing I saw on this occasion tended to make my sense of observation keen and when I returned to my work 1920 CONTEST 223 I found I carried into it a [ keener attention to all the duties I had to perform. Not all of my vacations have been so successful. You know and I know there are many things done on a vacation which only result in expending one's \\ 4 energy at a greater rate during vacation time than it is spent during normal working time. You know and I know that we do not do the things we ought to do for our own good. We do ] not carry out the idea of a vacation but rather seek to do something which per- haps we have always had a longing to do and which we can only do when we are permitted to take a little I time away from our daily tasks without losing any pay. To spend a vacation outside the shadow of one's accustomed surroundings is usually more satisfactory than to stay at home among familiar scenes. One of the fundamental [ principles in taking vacations, as in everything else in life, is change. Without change we die. The change should be in work, in thought, and in action. There are a great many fine games one can [[ 5 play. (750 words) 1920 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Denver) 175 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.40 It is a great pleasure to me to be with you this morning. At the same time I regret exceedingly that the Governor of this state whom many of you know personally and whom everybody loves was not able to be here at { this time and bid you welcome, say to you that you are welcome in the State of Illinois and you are welcome in the City of Chicago. He is glad you have started this movement and he is proud of the organization you are [ now beginning to found. I thank you for the welcome you gave me. I am glad of an opportunity to talk to professional men, to talk to men who are not only practical but who are dream- ers. I have always thought that the greatest \ man that God ever gave to this world was that fellow who could dream and at the same time could be practical. There is no profession, not even the profession of the law, of which I am a humble member and of which I U 1 am proud, that so combines the qualities of the dreamer, the man who gets up above the earth and dreams of things, and at the same time the practical qualities that enable one to execute and to make things that make men happy, | as the profession of the archi- tect. There is no profession, I say, that so combines 224 1920 CONTEST 225 those two qualities, as your profession. We lawyers, you know, think we have a great profession, and yet we know when we analyze it that we live on the [ mis- fortunes of others and the doctors who have been organized ever since Adam and Eve were in the Garden, also live on the misfortunes and weaknesses and illnesses of others, but it is a proud thing to be a member of a profession whose [ work stands like a monument for people to look at as the years go by. I am glad to welcome you. I marvel that a profession such as yours has not had an organization from the earliest time, an organization that would enable you H* to benefit one another and an organization that would enable you to protect yourselves against men who are unworthy to practice the noble profession which you practice. I marvel that the men who could dream of Solomon's Temple, the men who could dream \ the stadiums and palaces that we see rearing their heads back in the shadow of antiquity, the men who linked together like pearls upon a necklace the magnificent buildings that stand like monuments through all time to the genius of the creator of buildings, \ men who could do that through all the countless ages come before us have not thought enough of one another to get together and organize to protect themselves from that cheap fellow who does not treat them right and from the fellow that fools [ the public. I am proud of Illinois and especially proud of you. I am proud of you gentlemen that you are the first to organize an associa- tion in your profession that will have for its object the benefit of its members who belong to \\ 3 it, the enact- ment of laws in this state and in other states that will be uniform for the protection of the public, for making more safe the buildings that are erected for the present 226 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS generation and for the future and for the protection f of the men who have the ability to conceive the building and the power and analysis of mind to execute the plan they have dreamed of. Gentlemen, I want to assure you that out here in Illinois where men are not afraid to be 1 the first to sail upon unknown seas, where men are willing to be pioneers and where we do not have to follow precedents, where we are close to nature, God meant that such men and such women as we should be pioneers. I am I proud of the organization that you are founding today. I am proud of .the profession to which you belong. I believe, gentlemen, that the Governor of this splendid state is in harmony and in sympathy with your hopes and purposes. I believe that a ] [ 4 law that will benefit the people, that will benefit you, will be enacted under this present administration for your benefit and the benefit of all concerned. I want to assure you gentlemen that if you were to judge your profession by other professions j that have written their names upon the scroll of fame there would not be much comparison. We fellows in the legal pro- fession have told the world how we have written the statutes upon the books of the countries that have risen and have fallen | in the past; the physicians tell how they treated this, that, and the other. The truth about it is we lawyers never did anything that amounted to much. We have made a lot of noise at times. We have been able to aid innocent | persons who were being persecuted and perhaps have been able to send some people to the penitentiary who should have gone there, but you gentlemen are constructing something. You gentlemen from the time man first started out in the race of life . . . [[ 5 (2 words short 873 words) 1920 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Denver) 200 Words a Minute Championship LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.54 Mr. Chairman, I confess that I have not heretofore given this question the attention that it merits. Mem- bers of Congress are too busy with public matters to specialize in all subjects. I do not enjoy the privilege of being a member of the committee that has been giving this bill \ close study. The question of retiring government employees has been discussed at intervals for many years. It has been taken up and discussed more or less informally on numerous occasions since I have been a member of Congress. I am sure that people generally throughout the country do not fully \ appreciate the necessity for legislation along the lines of this bill. Our citizens are far removed from governmental activities and do not come into contact with the work of the various depart- ments. Therefore they do not have an opportunity to see these employees and judge of their efficiency. I have I had some prejudice against their retirement and have felt that it would entail an extra drain upon the United States Treasury at a time when every effort should be made to economize. After a more careful study of the principle involved 227 228 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS in the bill and the report on it by jj 1 the committee I am thoroughly convinced that a vote for this bill can be justified on the three grounds of efficiency, economy, and humanity. One of the reasons why there is so much complaint against delays in the government service is because there are so many old, infirm, and inactive I employees. Everybody knows that private offices transact business very much more promptly than government offices. Of course, government employees can not afford to make mistakes. They must guard against criticism and must be exceptionally careful. With alert, active, and young employees, there is no question but that the efficiency of j the service would be greatly increased. One inefficient employee delays many others, as every- one knows. It would also be more economical for the Government to retire these employees at the pay indi- cated for the various classes in this bill or even at full pay rather than to keep them on \ the pay roll. Our experience in private life is that inefficient clerical help is never economical. I believe it would effect a large saving of money for the Government if only the very best clerical help that could be obtained were employed. All the leading corporations are adopting a retirement {j 2 system, and this same policy is recommended for governmental employees. There is no economy in slow help or ineffi- cient service. Everyone is demanding quick action. Again, this bill can be justified from a purely humani- tarian standpoint. You may say what you will, but no head of a bureau is going [ to take the responsibility of retiring old and infirm clerks. Members of Congress think that they would do so if they were the heads of bureaus and the responsibility were placed upon them. 1920 CONTEST 229 However, the fact remains that no head of a depart- ment has done so in the past, which ] is sufficient to convince me that no head of a department will take the responsibility in the future of turning these old employees out. I think, therefore, that it would add to the efficiency of the service to pass this retirement bill. It would be more economical for the Government I and would be humane. I do not think we should deceive ourselves. I believe that the amounts allowed the various clerks under section 2 of this bill will be increased in time. Old and infirm retired employees can not live upon the amounts provided, and amendments will be asked of [| 3 Congress to increase them. I do not doubt that Con- gress, responding to the public sentiment, will feel justified in granting the increases. I do not know that I fully agree with all the details of the bill. With the .little study that I have been able to give it, I \ am inclined to think that there should be automatic retirement at a certain age. I believe that the provision in the bill allowing employees to make application to remain longer will be abused. I believe that the head of every department or bureau who has aged clerks will yield to | their demands and permit them to remain in the service as long as the law will allow them. When an exception is made for one employee it is very difficult not to make an exception for another. I do not believe that any elasticity should be given in the act. [ Government employees will then know that there is not a chance of their remaining upon the pay roll any longer, and that they arer to be retired at a certain definite specified time. They will begin to make provision against that time, and there will be no uncertainty about it. JJ 4 230 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS It has been stated on the floor in this debate that the heads of the various departments can now dismiss inefficient clerks. However, this authority has never been exercised. My fear is that under the elastic pro- vision of section 6 of this bill, inefficient employees will be retained after the [ age limit has been reached. I want to utter a word of warning against this provision. It will be abused and will permit discrimination. I would much prefer to have a definite age fixed. I grant you there are men and women over the age limit who could serve the | Government efficiently and well after they become 65, but an arbitrary limit ought to be fixed. If 65 years is not the correct one, then the experience of other countries and business establish- ments should be drawn upon and the proper age limit should be fixed. I am arguing j for a definite limit, so that employees will know years in advance when they are to be retired. They will then begin to make preparations for it. They would know that there is absolutely no uncertainty about it and that there is no chance to remain in the government service. j[ 5 (1000 words) 1920 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Denver) 215 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.44 The highest compliment ever paid to any class of people was paid to those who are called the common people. When we use that term there are some who say that we are appealing to the passions of the masses; there are some who apply the name demagogue to anybody who speaks of [ the common people. When the meek and lowly Nazarene came to preach "peace on earth, good will toward men," he was not welcomed by those who "devour widow's houses and for a pre- tense make long prayers." By whom was he welcomed? The Scriptures tell us that when he gave that great commandment, "Thou shalt | love thy neighbor as thyself," the common people heard him gladly. This, I repeat, is the highest compliment that has ever been paid to any class of people, and the common people are the only people who have ever received gladly the doctrines of humanity and equality. I do not mean to say \ that there have been no excep- tions to the general rule. There have always been found among the richer classes those who were filled with the spirit of philanthropy, those who were willing to spend their lives in the uplifting of their fellows. 231 232 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS But I am now speaking of general rules, not of excep- tions. Nor H 1 do I mean that there have never been found among the common people those who would betray their fellows. Everywhere, at all times and in all classes of society, the character of Judas has been found. On the dark page of all history appears the name of the man who betrays his brother. [ Yet in spite of these exceptions, the common people have been the great and controlling force which has lifted civilization to higher ground. There have been three important forms of govern- ment. First, the monarchy, in which the king rules by right divine; second, the aristocracy, in which the few govern ; and, third, the democracy [ in which the people rule. Why is it that the strength of democracy I do not use the word in a party sense, but in its broader meaning why is it that the strength of democracy has always been found among the common people? The reason is simple enough. If a man has high \ position, great ability, or great wealth he may be able to keep on the good side of the king. If he possesses great influence he may secure a place as one of the ruling class in an aristocracy. But there is no form of govern- ment which the masses dare leave to their children except IJ '* a democracy in which each citizen is protected in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The great common people believe in a democratic form of government because it is only under a democratic form of government that they are able to fully protect their rights and defend their interests. \ Let me call your attention for a moment to the objects of government. Our Government derives its powers from the consent of the governed. What kind of government will people consent to? Only that kind 1920 CONTEST 233 which protects all and knows no favoritism. The people desire a government in which all citizens stand upon the | same plane without regard to wealth or position in society. A government which guarantees equal rights to all and confers special privileges upon none is the government which appeals to the affections of the common people. There are two things to be especially considered in government. The first is that in the enactment of [ all legislation no advantage should be given to one person over another if that advantage can be avoided. It is the duty of government to protect all from injus- tice and to do so without showing partiality for any one or any class. Again, government must restrain men from injuring one another. Jefferson declared this II 3 to be one of the important duties of government, and the government which does not restrain the strong- est citizen from injuring the weakest citizen fails to do its whole duty. An idea is the most important thing that a person can get into his head, and we gather our ideas from every source. { I was passing through Iowa some months ago and got an idea from some hogs. I noticed a number of hogs rooting in a field and tearing up the ground. The first thought that came to me was that they were destroying property, and that carried me back to the time when I lived [ on a farm, and I remembered that we put rings in the noses of our hogs. And why? Not to keep the hogs from getting fat, for we were more interested in their getting fat than they were ; the sooner they became fat, the sooner we killed them; the longer they were in getting [ fat, the longer they lived. But we put rings in the noses of the hogs so that while they were getting fat they would not destroy more property than they were worth. And 234 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS then it occurred to me that one of the most important duties of government is to put rings in the noses Ij 4 of hogs. Now, my friends, do not consider this a reflection upon your neighbor. We are all hoggish to a certain extent and need restraining. We are all selfish and need to have that selfishness curbed. The Creator did not make any class of people who are entirely unselfish. I can prove by [ you that your neighbors are selfish, and I can prove by your neighbors that you are selfish, but I have faith in our form of government because the people in their better moments are willing to enact laws which will restrain them in the hours of temptation. We submit to restraint upon ourselves in | order that others may be restrained from injuring us. When I say that one of the duties of government is to put rings in the noses of hogs, I simply mean that, while society is interested in having every citizen become independent and self-supporting, that while society is interested in having every citizen j secure enough of this world's goods to supply his own wants, educate his children, and leave him something for his declining days, yet society is also interested in having laws which will prevent any citizen from destroying more than he is worth while he is securing his own independence. Ours is the best form H 5 of government known among men because it can be made to reflect the best intelli- gence. (1075 words) 1920 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Denver) 240 Words a Minute Championship JURY CHARGE Syllable Intensity, 1.46 Gentlemen of the jury, you understand that it becomes the duty of the Court to instruct you on the law applicable to the facts in the case. That is the manner in which all cases are disposed of where a trial is had before a court and a jury. The object of select- ing you gentlemen as jurors is to have [ you pass upon the facts, the facts consisting of the testimony of the witnesses who have been sworn and examined in your presence, together, of course, with any documentary proof that may have been offered, such as was offered in this case, the lease and letters and other exhibits; but in passing upon these facts you must be guided by [ the instructions that you receive from the Court on the law. Now, I mention that to you particularly because of what transpired during this trial. The trial is really divided into two parts. There is what we call the plain- tiffs' side of the case and the defendants' side. Now, at the close of the plaintiffs' side of the case the I attorney for the defendants moved to dismiss the com- plaint. That motion being granted would mean that the action would then and there terminate. That motion was made, predicated upon the theory advanced by the defendants' attorney that the plaintiffs had 235 236 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS failed to establish a cause of action. Now, you recall that when that motion was made prior to recess, quite H 1 a discussion was had between the Court and counsel at that time, and that, I may say, was due to what the Court considered was a difficult and intricate question of law which presented itself. I want to say to you this, that you should not be influenced in your consideration of the facts by any conversation that took place [ at that time. If the Court during that discussion gave an expression of opinion concerning any of the facts in this case, and you allowed that to impress itself upon you, you would be doing the parties to this controversy an injustice, because you can readily see how applicable that is when you bear in mind what I said to { you at the out- set, that you had to pass upon the facts, but take your law from the Court. At that time the Court denied counsel's motion and refused to dismiss the complaint. That does not mean that the Court is of the opinion that the plaintiffs are entitled to recover. That simply means that the Court is of the | opinion that sufficient facts have been pro- duced to warrant the submission of the case to the jury. It is not any indication that the plaintiffs are entitled to recover, and it should not be so construed by you. This action was commenced by a summons, and the amount demanded in the summons was $1,000. You see, if a j| 2 party commences an action in our Court, he has a right to commence the action by the service of a summons, or he can commence the action by the service of a summons and complaint. In this case the action was commenced by the service of the summons, which contained a brief statement of the plaintiffs' cause of action; and [ then the issue is finally reached 1920 CONTEST 237 for trial by the defendants' interposing an answer, and in that manner the case is brought on to trial. But previous to the action being reached for trial, the plain- tiffs were obliged to file what we call a bill of particulars. That is required of the plaintiffs in order that the defendants may be [ advised in detail of the plaintiffs' alleged claim. In the bill of particulars filed in this case among other things the plaintiffs claimed the sum of $500, that being the amount of the January rent, the January rental being one-tenth of $5,000. The plaintiffs claim in addition to that that they are entitled to be I compensated for the moving of what they call this debris or rubbish, and that they are entitled to cer- tain sums of money which they caused to be expended in making repairs to the premises, and to the value of a fuse box which the plaintiffs claim the defendants re- moved from the premises when they vacated them. Now, as some one H 3 of the counsel stated to you in his summation of the facts, it is true the defendants were obliged under the terms of their lease to surrender possession of those premises on the 31st day of January. That is an obligation that the defendants entered into. It is not your duty nor the duty of the Court to enter | into an agreement between parties. Parties who are of full age and sound mind are presumed to be capable of entering into their own obligations, and that is what the defendants did in this case. The defendants entered into an obligation to vacate those premises on the 31st day of January. Primarily, they were let into posses- sion of the I premises under a lease which commenced February 1st, 1919, in consideration of the payment of a certain sum of money per month as rent, and they were obliged to surrender up possession of the premises. It is not claimed that they did not. That element, 238 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS however, has been interjected into this case, and the evidence with reference [ to their alleged holding over or not surrendering the premises on the 31st was only permitted because of the claim that, instead of material that Mr. Roberts removed consisting of rub- bish, as contended by the plaintiffs, on the contrary it was valuable personal property. Now, is that a fact? The plaintiffs claim that it was an encumbrance, that it [I 4 was debris, that it was rubbish, and that it was of absolutely no value, and instead of having any intrinsic value of some character, they said on the contrary it was something which they were obliged to remove at a very great expense. The defendants claim, on the contrary, that what was left there was valuable personal property. No evidence \ has been produced as to its value, because the fact of its having been removed has not been interposed as a counterclaim. The claim has not been offered in order to offset the plaintiffs' claim, and properly so, because it would not be a proper sub- ject of a counterclaim. The proof with respect to its value, the character of the I material, has only been offered to offset plaintiffs' claim that it was rubbish. Now, then, when you reflect upon that proposition and you take into consideration the plaintiffs' theory and the defendants' theory, you can readily see that you have a sharp question of fact which you gentlemen must determine. Bear in mind what we call the burden of proof I and what the probabilities are and what weight you should give to the consideration of the testimony of the parties to this action. I assume that this is not the first time that you have served as jurors; but I would just like to say to you, in conclusion, that the plaintiffs on the issues as presented have the burden. II 5 (1200 words) 1920 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Denver) 280 Words a Minute Championship TESTIMONY Syllable Intensity: With Q's and A's 1.35 Without Q's and A's 1.30 Number of Q's and A's 130 Q. What is your name? A. John Carter. Q. Where do you live? A. Brooklyn, New York. Q. You are the plaintiff in this action? A. Yes, sir. Q. I show you a contract dated October 20th, 1919, and ask you if this is the contract that was executed by you and the defendant? A. Yes sir, that is the con- tract that we executed at that time. Q. On | or about October 1st, 1919, did you rent a store for the purpose of conducting an agency for Metz cars? A. I rented an office on 39th Street. Q. And thereafter did you rent a store on Broadway? A. Yes, sir, I did. Q. Where was that store? A. It was on 54th Street, near Broadway. Q. How large a store was it? A. It was about ] 25 by 100 feet, practically 2,500 square feet. Q. What was the rental provided in your lease? A. It was $5,000 a year. Q. Did you have signs prepared and put up in the windows and above your store front? A. Yes, sir, I did. 239 240 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Displaying the fact that Metz cars were sold there? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now, were any Metz cars [ sent to you f. o. b. Boston with bill of lading attached? A. No, sir, there were not. Q. With whom did you deal in connection with the execution of this contract, Plaintiff's Exhibit 1? A. Mr. Smith and Mr. Brown. Q. These two gentlemen who signed the contract as the President and Vice-President respectively? A. Yes, sir, those were the men. Q. Did you go to see and \\ l did you see either of these gentlemen in reference to the delivery to you of the cars? A. I did. Q. How soon after the execution of this contract did you see either Mr. Smith or Mr. Brown in reference to the delivery to you of the cars? A. It was in the first two weeks. Q. Did you then make a demand upon them for the delivery of cars? ] A. Yes, sir, I did. Q. What did they say to you? A. They promised me delivery of certain models the first week in Decem- ber, and on up to the end of the year. Q. Up to the end of the year 1919? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now, when you say certain kind of cars, what kind do you mean? A. The delivery of the models which they had \ specified on their contract. Q. Did they promise to deliver to you any Sedan roadsters and coupes? A. Yes, sir, they did. Q. Now, have you told us all concerning the demand that you made upon Messrs. Smith & Brown in con- nection with their not delivering cars to you? A. No, sir. Q. Well, was anything further said by them to you 1920 CONTEST 241 in respect to what you would have to [ do in order to get the cars? A. They told me that I would have to go up to the factory to get the cars. Q. Did you go up to the factory yourself in reference to getting these cars? A. Yes, sir, I did. Q. When did you go up? A. I went up there the first time about the end of October, a week after the signing of [[* the contract. Q. Where is the factory? A. At Boston, Massa- chusetts. Q. And did you pay for any cars before you got them? A. I paid for these cars at the factory at the time we took them away. Q. Then how did you get them down here to New York? A. We drove them over the road. Q. Those were three touring cars? A. Yes, sir. Q. While you J were at the factory did you talk to anybody in the factory about the cars that you wanted and needed? A. Yes, sir, I spoke to Mr. Fisher. Q. Do you know who Mr. Fisher is; that is, what was his connection with the company? A. Mr. Fisher is the President of the Metz Sales Corporation. Q. And you had been referred to him by Mr. Smith, had you not? [ A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you tell him that you wanted a Sedan? A. Yes, sir. Q. Who referred you to this man? A. Mr. Smith referred me to him. Q. What did Mr. Smith say when he referred you to him? A. He told me that all the information he could give me he had received from Mr. Fisher, and that if I went to the factory Mr. Fisher \ could tell me more. 242 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Did you then and there tell Mr. Fisher that you wanted a Sedan car? A. I did. Q. Did you ask for Sedan cars to be delivered to you? A. Yes, sir; I asked for Sedan cars to be delivered according to the contract. Q. What did he say? A. Well, he told me that I had to do my business with Mr. Smith. Q. II 3 Well, subsequently did you get any more cars other than the three cars that you have just told us about? A. Yes, sir. Q. How many more did you get? A. We got four more on two different occasions, making seven hi all. Q. And on each of these occasions did you pay for the cars before they were given into your possession? A. Yes, sir. Q. And on each \ of these occasions when you wanted these cars were you compelled to go up to Boston and get the cars and drive them down here? A. Yes, sir; that is what we had to do. Q. And there were not any cars tendered to you at all? A. No, sir. Q. Now, did you make a demand upon Mr. Smith, the president of the defendant, for the delivery of cars I to you? A. I did. Q. And at his continual failure to deliver what did you say to him? A. Well, I told him that it had greatly hurt our business. Q. Now, was there any advertising literature given to you by the defendant? A. Just the hand circulars of the Metz cars. Q. Did you ever have sent to you or offered to you a single Sedan? A. Never. [ Q. What were they? Touring cars? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now, is the motor car business to a certain extent 1920 CONTEST 243 a seasonable business in respect to the type of car? A. It certainly is. Q. Is there during the months of October, Novem- ber, and December a far greater demand for one type of car over any other type? A. There is, yes, sir. A. And for what type of car [[ 4 is there a greater demand existing during the months of October, Novem- ber, and December? A. For closed cars. Q. How long have you been in the automobile business? A. Why, I have never been in the auto- mobile business up to this time, but I have been han- dling automobiles for a number of years. Q. You have never been hi the automobile business yourself? A. I have been around dealers and \ working for dealers. Q. Now, did you endeavor to sell Sedan cars and coupes from the catalogue? A. Yes, sir. Q. You endeavored to do that very often, did you? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you know of any place in the city of New York where you could exhibit to a prospective cus- tomer a sample of such car? A. No, sir. Q. Did you succeed in closing a deal \ for some of these Sedans? A. We had several people that wanted them. Q. You have a number of such deals in mind, have you? A. A number of them. Q. Well, did you make a sale of any Sedan cars from the catalogue? A. No, sir; we could not make any sale because we could not show the car. Q. Did you have inquiries for them? A. We cer- tainly | did. Q. Were you offered any more touring cars? A. We were offered six. 244 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Were they delivered to you? A. No, sir. Q. Did you go after them? A. That is the only way we could get them. Q. Did you drive them over the road? A. Yes, sir. Q. Your transaction at that time was also with Mr. Fisher, was it? A. Yes, sir, it was with Mr. |] 5 Fisher in the morning. (1400 words) 1921 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Niagara Falls) 150 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.38 It is not often that the question of good roads comes to the attention of a body of city gentlemen such as you, and since I have been called upon to speak on the subject, it will [ be my pleasure and privilege to review the good-roads movement in this country. I want to say in the first place, in the early times one of the difficulties of marketing agricultural prod- ucts was the inability of [ the farmers to get their goods to market. Out in Nebraska where I live I can remember when I was a boy my father took a load of corn to town, a distance of eighteen miles, and \ received for it the enormous sum of five dollars. He started out in the morning just at the break of day and did not get home until late at night. There were several children in the family and JJ 1 the reason I remember the occasion so well is that each of father's five chil- dren got a stick of candy out of it. In those days it was such a treat for us to get candy that | it lasted us for a week or two. On account of the very bad road conditions at that time, the farmers were discouraged in their effort to market their products and to a large extent they made no I effort to do so. 245 246 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS However, with the introduction of good roads there has come about a desire on the part of the farmers to deal with the products of the farm as a merchant deals with his | stock of goods. The farmers now have something to sell and a way of selling it at a profit. They enter into the sale of their goods in the same way that a business man does, and one H 2 of the factors in the prosperity of the farming communities all over this country, is the good roads that have been built in the last eighteen or twenty years. Good roads are not only an advantage to \ the farmers, but they are in these days an advantage to the city people. They give the city people an opportunity to go out into the country and come in contact with the farmers. They give the city \ people an oppor- tunity to understand the farmers better and to under- stand farming problems better than they have had the opportunity to do in the past. On the other hand, the farmers have the opportunity to get to I town with greater ease and they do take advantage of this opportunity. They not only can market their goods, but they can go to the little cities and villages in their community and enjoy the pleasures of the II 3 city life. This contact of the farmers with the city people gives the farmers the opportunity to under- stand the city people, and it has resulted in a better understanding between those two classes of people in our [ country. This matter of understanding among the peoples of this country is of very great importance. I was glad to note the statement which was made when the Dixie Highway was opened a short time ago. On the I day it was opened it was stated that if there had been a Dixie Highway at the time of the Civil War there would have been no Civil War. The total cost 1921 CONTEST 247 of the Civil War would [ have built enough good roads to have given America in this respect first place of all the countries of the world, and the better feeling among our own people would have been the greatest dividend of the many Jj 4 the people of America have received from this great country in which we live. In the second place, since we have the automobile, good roads are more important than ever. You can- not enjoy a ride through the | country if the roads are not in such a good state of repair that you can ride along at a fair rate of speed, if not a high rate of speed, and get pleasure out of the riding. ] In the matter of the expense of running an automobile the people of this country are saved thousands of dollars a year by having good roads. A rough road wears out your automobile and discourages you from 1 making trips into the country that you would otherwise make. Since the automobile provides an opportunity to dis- tribute a certain amount of wealth, the farming com- munities having good roads enjoy the pleasure of a visit from the people H 5 in the cities and enjoy the good will which results from such a visit. (750 words) 1921 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Niagara Falls) 175 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.37 I want to say a few words to you this morning on the subject of zoning. It is not one of the subjects on the program but your Chairman has been kind enough to give me a few minutes of your time on \ this occasion to express to you a few thoughts on this subject which I consider of very great importance. So that you may understand some of the things I may say I want to tell you, in the first place, that the cities in [ this country have not been built according to any plan. When an individual has purchased a piece of ground he has built on it or not as he liked. If he built he con- sidered it his right to put up a residence, a public | garage or whatever building suited his convenience. Practically no thought has been given to the orderly development of the cities. As a result we have what might be called groups of houses and stores which represent centers of population rather than cities which have U 1 been carefully planned. It has been only in the last three or four years that special attention has been given to zoning. My desire this morning is to call your attention to the value of zoning and to point out to you, if I I can, its relation to the security of your investment in real estate. 248 1921 CONTEST 249 Let me illustrate as well as I can in this brief time the effect of zoning on real estate values, or perhaps you will say the effect of a lack of | zoning on real estate values. Suppose you buy a piece of property in the part of the city where you want to live. At the time you buy your house and lot there are many vacant lots in the block, but so far as [ you can see there is every indication that those lots some day will have homes on them. You live in the house you buy for a year or two and become quite attached to it and its surroundings. You feel that you are a [| 2 part of the neighborhood or the community and that in addition to other pleasures you get out of living in your own home, you have the pleasure of knowing your neighbors and taking part in the life of the community. In the meantime [ there has been more or less building going on in your particular part of the town. There are not so many vacant lots and there are more small shops serving the immediate needs of the community. One day you learn that someone has purchased | the vacant lot just next to your home. You immediately con- template the pleasure you will derive from the addition of a family to the people in your block and the improve- ment in the appearance of the street that will result from the addition of \ the home, but instead of that you find the purchaser of the lot is going to build a public garage. You consult your lawyer and he tells you there is not a thing you can do to prevent the garage being built. The garage [| 3 is to occupy the full extent of the lot and to be two stories high. This means that the value of your property will immediately drop fifty per cent. It will be scarcely salable, and there is noth- ing for you to do except [ to live next door to a public, garage or to take a loss on your property investment. 250 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Now, if you do not want this situation to arise you must take an interest in zoning, which is merely a means of expressing the will of \ the community in protecting the combined investment of the home owners as against the expression of the will of some individual who for private gain is willing to destroy the value of the properties adjoining him, even though he may do nothing to enhance \ the value of his own property. Under the zoning systems now in effect in this country certain streets are set apart for the erection of dwellings for one family, certain other streets for dwellings for two families, and certain other places for business houses, [I 4 public garages, supply stations, and so forth. In this way your investment in real estate is made secure and the value of your property is not allowed to suffer a loss which can be avoided by arranging to carry out the will of \ the community. The pride one feels in a city finds its source in the home. If you feel proud of your home, and if your neighbors feel proud of their homes, then you will all feel proud of your city. As you can see \ from what I have said thus far proper zoning in a city is merely co-operation among the people so that the greatest good for the greatest number will be the rule. If our zoning system is carefully and wisely thought out, there will come I stability in home owning in your community and in my community which we have never had before. There is no question that many persons in the large cities have put off buying their homes because it is too much of a gamble. The idea H 5 of zoning is so to protect home sites that where homes are supposed to be built nothing but homes will be built. (875 words) 1921 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Niagara Falls) 200 Words a Minute Championship LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.58 I take pleasure in having the opportunity to talk to you a little while upon a Subject in which you are, or should be, most deeply interested. Every man in a democracy is interested more in the education of the people than in any other one thing; because on the | education of the people in a democracy await and depend all other things of importance, such as the public health, the material prosperity and wealth, civic righteousness, social purity, political wisdom always more and more difficult as the country grows and its relations become more intricate and finally the strength \ and safety of the nation and the develop- ment of the individual, for which material wealth and the order of the state exist. The reason why a democracy is established is that the individuals living under it may have the best pos- sible opportunity to reach the full measure of manhood and I of womanhood. If you are interested in a democ- racy at all you are interested in this one thing, without which democracy is impossible, without which the development of material wealth is impossible. The public school system is the agency that we have 251 252 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS established in this country for the education of U 1 the people. It is our greatest co-operative enterprise. Through it all the people pay, in theory at least, in proportion to their ability, regardless of their wealth, in order that all of the children of the people may have, regardless of their poverty and all other con- ditions, as nearly as [ possible, equal and full oppor- tunity for the education that makes for individual development, for industrial and economic efficiency, and for good citizenship. It is our most characteristic institution. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. We believe in it in this country ; we believe in it more j and more. Within the last fifty years we have increased our appropriations for the support of elementary and sec- ondary schools from sixty-three millions of dollars to two billion one hundred millions a year, and we have increased our appropriations for the preparation of teachers from two hundred thousand dollars \ to twenty-seven millions of dollars a year. Within these years we have extended our public school system from the elementary school up through the high school, and in most states of the Union, through college and uni- versity. We spend now nearly fifty million dollars a year for higher education, \\ 2 whereas we spent only five millions of dollars for higher educational insti- tutions of all kinds fifty years ago. This shows our increasing faith in education and our growing interest in giving to every child, as nearly as possible, the full opportunity, regardless of all conditions, and the equal opportunity for \ that development that comes from education. We have learned the fact that if, in any community or in any state anywhere in the United States, there 1921 CONTEST 253 are men and women who are not as efficient as they should be in industrial life, who have not reached as full a degree [ of wisdom and virtue as they might, then the average of our society in these respects is lower than would otherwise be the case. We are learn- ing that we are all bound up together in the affairs of life, and that in a democracy like ours there is no safety I except in universal education. We are learning in these years to obey the divine behest of gathering up everywhere the fragments, that nothing may be lost; and that the public school system, therefore, has duties and responsibilities resting upon it that it did not have in the days when we Jj 3 had not thought quite so thor- oughly and accurately in regard to these things. Mr. Miller said a few moments ago that the public school system is not perfect. Of course it is not perfect here in Wilmington or anywhere else. If you could have in Wilmington today an absolutely perfect \ system, adapted in every respect to your needs, by that same token it would be out of date and imperfect tomorrow, because this is the twentieth century and the world is moving and progress is being made. Edu- cation is constant adjustment and readjustment, and the schools must constantly adjust and [ readjust themselves to the changing conditions and needs. It is for this reason that your school system, which was once more nearly perfect than it is now, when the demands were not so great, is now somewhat out of date. A few things must be considered as fundamental in a I public school system, in any system or anywhere. One is proper administration. In this country, almost universally, we have come to the policy of having a board of education. I believe there are few cities in 254 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS which there is not a board of education, either appointed or elected by the [] 4 people for the purpose of repre- senting the people in determining what things the people want to get from their schools and to what extent they are willing to support them. These boards, where they attend to their business and do it most perfectly, are not administrative or executive; they are [ legis- lative and, like all other boards, they do not attempt to attend to the details. Formerly our schools, even in the cities, were practically district schools, and each little school had its little school board, and in some kind of way they came together in a larger board, when the [ schools of a city became the interest of the city as a whole. Following that, most cities had boards elected or appointed from the districts. In this city I believe you have thirteen members on your board usually an unlucky number twelve of them are elected from the twelve wards \ of the city, and they therefore feel under special obligation to the people of the wards from which they come, and bound in some kind of way to look particularly after the interests of the people of those wards. It may be that the people in the wards understand that J| 5 they are from that ward and therefore they can come to them, and there is danger that they shall want to get some .special advantage. (1000 words) 1921 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Niagara Falls) 215 Words a Minute Certificate LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.35 I am very glad to have you ask questions in reference to this matter, because I think I am rather familiar with business practices along these lines. This has been my business for thirty-five years. We sell goods in practically every state in the Union. The methods have been along the same [ lines followed by others, for all manufacturers have to adopt practically the same methods. If some man in Maine, packing the same line of goods that I do, makes a price, naturally I have got to be within reasonable reach of that price. I may, by having advertised my brands and goods, and having | a reputation for packing fine articles, be able in some instances to get a little more than some other man ; and in some particular line which he packs he may get more than I do; but first of all let me say that this business is a business where a man either succeeds or [ makes a failure, and usually very quickly. It is one of the simplest problems in the world, that every one of you can readily understand. There is nothing that appeals to a man so much as the food that he takes into his stomach. Three times a day a man goes to the table, \\ l and if there is an article on 255 256 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS the table which his wife sets before him, something that is particularly fine, no matter what it is, he asks, "Who packed these goods?" She has already looked at the label and knows who is the packer. If it is good, the husband says, "This is \ very fine; whenever you get anything more in this line of goods, get the goods that are packed by this packer, because this is the best thing of its kind I have ever eaten." That makes the demand for that particular line of goods. If it is very poor, the husband says, "Do not, \ for heaven's sake, get any more of that brand of goods"; and the manu- facturer of that brand of goods goes out of business very shortly. However, after long years of experience, the housewives of this country have become familiar with the names of the packers of various commodities; the name of the packer is \ on every single can and those cans run into the millions and millions, and go into the millions of homes in this country and so the names of the packers have become by-words; they have become familiar. The housewives of the country know the names of the packers as well as I know j[ 2 my near neighbors' names, because they constantly read their names on the cans. As I have said, if the packer is a reliable, honest, expert packer, and produces goods of excellent quality and sells them at a fair price, his goods become gen- erally known and generally wanted, and he builds up a big I business. He may have started in a small way; but he requires more goods; he gradually expands; he builds more canneries, and by and by gets to be one of the big packers. That is how the business of the meat packers has become so tremendously large. Within my time, and within the memory { of many of you here, the fathers of some of the men whose names 1921 CONTEST 257 appear as the Big Five packers were selling sausages from a basket on the streets, but they packed good sausages; they made sausages that the people wanted; and they could get a good price for them. The packer who began [ in that small way developed his business until today, perhaps, his name represents one of the Big Five packers of the country. It is a business that lends itself to advertising, per- haps, more than any other business. I refer now to the packing of canned goods. Further, it leads either into a big business [[ 3 or, as I have said, the man goes out of business very shortly. That applies to every single element of the business. I remember in the early days when all of the tin cans in the country were made by hand. We had to employ men to make cans by hand with a ] tinker's iron. I remember those days. That custom was in vogue when I started in business. We had to make our cans by hand; men worked all winter making cans by hand. Then, in 1888, some ingenious mechanic invented a machine that would manufacture cans, and cans that were perfect. In the [ old days it was impossible to make perfect cans. A man who made cans by hand would become careless, and five or six or, perhaps, ten or twelve cans out of every hundred would be poor. If the can was poor the contents of the can spoiled and became worthless. However, an ingenious mechanic \ invented a device that would make cans by machinery, and instead of making seven hundred or eight hundred cans a day, as a man and a boy would do, that machine would make cans as fast as one could feed the plate into the machine. So cans were made by the hundreds of thousands, I[ 4 and they were perfect cans. The manu- facturers of the cans guaranteed that there would be 258 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS no more than two poor cans in a hundred, and they gave us, as packers, the guaranty that if we would buy the cans that they manufactured, and at the end of the season more than two per | cent proved to be imperfect, they would not only pay for the cans but they would pay for the contents of the cans. That machine, of course, was bought up by men who had money. The man who invented the machine, like most inventors, was a poor man, and men who had money to \ develop and build the machine took hold with him as partners, and they established great plants in the country for the manufacture of cans. Those plants grew to be very large. Let me say that in 1888 the price of two-pound tin cans was $22 per thousand, but when \ the plants for the manufacture of cans became established and they were able to make cans by the hundreds of thou- sands instead of six or seven hundred cans a day, the price kept dropping and dropping until it had dropped from $22 to $11 per thousand. I remember very well talking \\ 5 with the president of a great can manu- facturing plant and saying to him that I hoped the day would come when we might buy a two-pound can for a cent. (1075 words) 1921 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Niagara Falls) t 240 Words a Minute Championship JURY CHARGE Syllable Intensity, 1.40 Gentlemen of the Jury: James Smith, the plaintiff in this case, brought this action of trespass against George Brown for the purpose of recovering damages which he alleges he sustained on May 31, 1915, by reason of a collision with the car of the defendant, due to the defendant's negligence. You have heard the counsel speak frequently of | the negligence of the defendant. The burden is upon the plaintiff in this case, as in all cases of this character, to satisfy you by the weight of the testimony, or the preponderance of the evidence, of the negligence of the defendant that caused the injury; otherwise the plain- tiff cannot recover. The mere fact that there was an accident and [ that the plaintiff was injured, does not entitle the plaintiff to a recovery, unless he satisfies you that the injury was the result of the defendant's negligence. Negligence is the want of care, according to the circumstances of the case. This is probably as com- prehensive a definition of negligence as can be given, because it applies to all cases; and | the question of negligence in any given case depends upon the circum- 259 260 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS stances existing at the time the place where the acci- dent happened, and everything that may be taken into consideration, in determining the question of negligence. There is another well-established rule in cases of this kind, and that is that the plaintiff cannot recover if he ^ guilty of [I 1 negligence that contributed to the acci- dent, even if the defendant is also guilty of negligence. It is claimed on the part of the plaintiff in this case that the injuries that he sustained were due to the negligence of the defendant in the operating of his car on the evening of the 31st day of May, 1915. This [ case is so clearly a question of fact that there is little that the Court can do, except to submit the facts to the jury and have them determine what those facts actually establish. It is not the duty of the Court to take up the testimony of each and every witness and undertake to say to a jury what j that witness has testified to, and to undertake to convey to the jury any idea of what the testimony, as a whole, actually establishes in the case, because it is not the province of the Court to do that; it is the province of the jury to determine complicated and conflicting questions of fact, and it is the duty of [ the Court to give the jury the law of the case. Therefore, if I allude in any way to the facts of the case, what I say is not in any way to control you as to what the evidence actually is, because it is your duty to remember everything that every witness said in the case and to j{ 2 determine the case according to the testimony as a whole. Generally speaking, the plaintiff in this case, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Field and their respective wives arrived in the city of Pittsburgh that evening, between five and six o'clock. Stopping for a short time at the Pitts- burgh Club on Eighth Street, they left that club in the 1921 CONTEST 261 neighborhood of half [ past six o'clock in the evening. Mr. Field was the driver of the car and on the left of Mr. Field was Mrs. Smith. Directly behind Mr. Field and on the right side of the car sat the plaintiff in this case, Mr. Smith, and on the left sat Mrs. Field, the wife of the man who was driving the [ car. The top of the car was down at the time of the accident. It is claimed on the part of the plaintiff that their car, just as they entered it, was standing something like 200 feet below the Boulevard and on the right side of Eighth Street as you come up toward the Boulevard, at a distance of [ probably 250 or 300 feet north of Fifth Avenue, and that street is something like 30 feet wide in the roadway. It is admitted that the grade of Eighth Street, before you. reach the Boule- vard, is three feet to the hundred, and after crossing the Boulevard the grade of Eighth Street as it continues north, is I} 3 seven feet to the hundred. I believe the grade of the Boulevard to the right, or east, of Eighth Street is something like six inches to the hundred feet. It is claimed on the part of the plaintiff in this case and his witness, that when they entered the car where it was parked, and started on their way, they | were traveling slowly from there up to the point where the accident happened, and I believe the plaintiff in this case and Mr. Field placed the speed at something like ten or twelve miles an hour. They likewise claim that when they were traveling north on Eighth Street, they were on the right side of Eighth Street, four, or five I feet, whatever it was, from the curb, and that they maintained that distance from what would be the curb of Eighth Street if it were extended across the Boule- vard, up until the time when their car was struck by the Brown car. 262 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS You have heard the testimony of the plaintiff and Mr. Field upon that question; you have heard the j testimony of a number of witnesses called by the plaintiff in support of the theory or claim of the plain- tiff that at the time the car in which the plaintiff was riding reached the point of the accident, the driver of that car was exercising reasonable and ordinary care in crossing that street, which it was his duty, of course, JJ 4 to do. It was the duty of and the obligation rested upon, the plaintiff in this case when he ap- proached that crossing, to observe reasonable and ordinary care to avoid an accident on that street, and if he did not, and he was guilty of negligence that con- tributed to the accident, he cannot recover a verdict, even if the defendant \ was also guilty of negligence. The claim on the part of the defendant is just the reverse of that claimed by the plaintiff in this case: that is, that the accident was caused, not by the neg- ligence of the defendant, but by the carelessness and negligence of the plaintiff in this case, and his host, Mr. Field; and you have \ heard the testimony of Mr. Brown and his witnesses with reference to how he approached that street, before the accident occurred, where he came from, and all the circumstances existing down to the time that the collision took place. It is claimed on the part of the defendant that he was not driving at an excessive rate of speed, as { claimed by the plaintiff; that he was driving at a moderate rate of speed, and that when he came to this cross street called Eighth Street, he was then driving at a moderate rate of speed, and that the accident was caused by the plaintiff, or the driver of this car, driving too close to the center of Eighth Street, [j 5 (1200 words) 1921 N. S. R. A. SPEED CONTEST (Niagara Falls) 280 Words a Minute Championship TESTIMONY Syllable Intensity: With Q's and A's 1.39 Without Q's and A's 1.30 Number of Q's and A's 180 Q. What is your name? A. James Brown. Q. Now, Mr. Brown, you live in Brooklyn? A. Yes, sir. Q. What part of Brooklyn? A. 34 South 9th Street. Q. What sort of a building do you live in? A. An elevator building. Q. An elevator apartment? A. Yes, sir. Q. On what floor? A. On the third floor. Q. How many rooms do you occupy there? A. Five I rooms. Q. Is there elevator service? A. Yes, sir. Q. That takes you up and down? A. Day and night. Q. Day and night? A. Yes, day and night. Q. Now, when did you purchase these premises? A. On March 25th. Q. On March 25th, 1920? A. Last year. Q. Before you bought these premises, did you go to see the tenant, Mr. King? A. No. Q. [ And have a conversation with him? A. No, sir. 263 264 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. You did not? A. No, sir. Q. You did not find out from Mr. King whether or not you were to get possession of that apartment, is that correct? A. Yes. Q. Who owns this building besides yourself? A. Me and my wife. Q. In whose name is the deed to these premises? A, The party that I bought the I house from, Mr. Johnson. Q. Have you the deed in your possession? A. I have the deed in my possession, but I have not got it with me. Q. In whose name did you buy the house? A. In whose name? Q. Is it in your name? A. My name and my wife's name, both. Q. Didn't you take these premises in the name of yourself and some other partner? \\ l A. No other partner at all. Q. Didn't you buy this house with your partner? A. No partner. Q. You bought it all yourself? A. All myself. This is my partner right here, my wife. Q. What sort of a house is this? A. It is a ten-family house. Q. Consisting of two apartments on each floor? A. On each floor, yes. Q. And Mr. King occupies the ground J floor? A. Yes. Q. And then you have another tenant on the other side? A. Yes. Q. Now, why do you want Mr. King's apartment instead of the other apartment? A. Because Mr. King's lease expired in July. Q. His lease expired in July? A. In July, and the 1921 CONTEST 265 other apartment has a lease from the other tenant for a longer period. Q. From the other landlord? A. From the [ other landlord, yes. Q. When did that lease expire? A. I do not remem- ber exactly. Some time in October, I think. Q. October of last year? A. I think so. Q. And you renewed that lease, didn't you? A. No; I think it expired in February. Q. February of last year? A. On last February, yes. Q. Well, are you not sure about it? See if you can- not remember exactly. \ A. I do not remember. Q. Don't you take charge of the building? A. Well, I do take charge of the building, but I know it was renewed on February first. Q. It was renewed on February first? A. Yes, on February first. Q. For how many years? A. For one year. Q. For one year? A. Yes. Q. And that expired February first of this year? A. Yes. Q. I] 2 And on February first of this year you renewed it again, didn't you? A. Yes, I renewed it for one year. Q. At an increased rental? A. Yes, $10 increase. Q. Why didn't you try to get possession of that apartment on February first, when that lease expired? Why didn't you commence proceedings then? A. I started proceedings against this man, and I expected him to get out in \ July. Q. But in November the other tenant, King, did not get out? A. He did not get out, no. Q. And in February the other tenant's lease expired? A. My lawyer told me to wait until the Court gave a decision in reference to landlords and tenants. 266 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. But there have been some vacancies in that house since you started proceedings against King? A. There was a vacancy on ] October first; so I have rented the apartment to the other tenant. Q. To the other tenant? A. Yes. Q. So there was an apartment vacant? A. Yes, there was. Q. In that building? A. Yes. Q. And then there was another one, wasn't there? A. There was another one this month. Q. This month? A. This month. Q. What is your business? A. My business is men's furnishing business. \ Q. Where is that business located? A. On 14th Street. Q. And these premises are situated on Seventh Avenue and llth Street? A. Near llth Street. Q. How far is it from your place of business to the house where you live now? A. That makes no differ- ence. Q. That makes no difference? A. No; I am not taking care of the store now. Q. Your brother takes care H 3 of the store? A. Yes, my brother takes care of the store. Q. Well, the house in Brooklyn where you live, do you own that building? A. No, I do not own that building. Q. Have you a lease on your apartment there? A. No, sir. Q. You are there as a monthly tenant? A. A monthly tenant, yes. Q. How many rooms do you occupy there? A. Five rooms. | Q. Five rooms? A. Yes. 1921 CONTEST 267 Q. How many rooms does the tenant King occupy? A. Seven. Q. You say you have four children? A. Yes, sir. Q. What are the ages of your children? A. One is fourteen, one is twelve, one is about eight, and one is six. Q. Which of the two children you mentioned is suffering from rheumatism? A. Next to the youngest. Q. What is the [ age of that child? A. Eight. Q. You say you now live in an elevator apartment house? A. Yes. Q. And the apartment you desire to get from this tenant is a walk-up? A. Yes, sir. Q. This apartment that you want to get is on the ground floor of the building? A. On the ground floor, yes, sir. Q. You have been asked about the other vacancy in [ that house. On what floor was the other vacancy? A. On the same floor. Q. What floor is that? A. The fourth floor. Q. That is on the fourth? A. Yes, that is on the fourth. Q. And the reason you want this apartment is because it is on the ground floor? A. Yes. Q. And neither yourself nor your children can walk up? A. No, sir. Q. Did you [| 4 have a talk with King at that time? A. No. Q. Why didn't you do that? You are a good business man. A. Yes, but Q. You had a vacancy then? A. I had a vacancy then and I sent him a letter, but he never answered it. Q. Could you get more rent for that apartment? A. Yes. 268 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. And you offered to give it to him for the J same rent? A. For the same rent as the last tenant. Q. Don't you know that the ground floor in an apartment house is worse for rheumatism than an apartment upstairs? A. Well, I do not know anything about that. Q. Don't you know that the ground floor is generally damp? A. This is not a ground floor. Q. On what floor do you live in Brooklyn? A. I live I on the third floor. Q. Why did you buy a house on Seventh Avenue instead of uptown? A. Because where I lived then is right near the river, and the doctor ordered me to move out. Q. Did you tell him why you wanted this apartment for yourself and for your own family? A. Well Q. Say yes or no. Did you tell him that? A. No, I did I not tell him that. I merely said I wanted the apartment for myself, you understand. Q. What did he say about that? A. I do not under- stand. Q. What did he say when you told him you wanted the apartment for yourself? A. I really do not remem- ber what he said. Q. He did not say he would give it to you, did he? A. No, he did not say [| 5 that. (1400 words) 1908 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP (Olympia, London) 180 Words a Minute LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.41 Sir, Throughout my political life I have been a strong Navy man, and such I remain; but I confess my sympathy with and my inclination to support Mr. Murray Macdonald's resolution. I should not obtrude my personal view in your columns did I not know I that my attitude is typical of, and in fact, identical with, that of a large number of Liberal members of the House of Naval Estimates which a responsible Govern- ment any responsible Government has declared to be I necessary for the safety of the country and the maintenance of our command of the sea. I, and those who think with me, resent the emergence into publicity and the political arena of the professional and the ex- pert. We know the high value of this \ expert opinion; we know also the limitation of the expert's views. He considers, and we expect him to consider, the Army and the Navy as existing for their own sake, and the nation as existing for the sake of the Army or the Navy, as [[ the case may be, with two sole functions and duties to furnish recruits and provide cash. But no expert even ventures to say that our naval power is not in a satisfactory position today; if it errs it errs by excess. 269 270 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Never before in my ] lifetime has the expert admitted so much of either Army or Navy. It is the future he fears, but what future? 1914 or 1920? I cannot bring myself to feel alarmed today about what may happen in j 1914 or 1920, not because I do not care, but be- cause I know the England and the English House of Commons of 1914 and 1920 will know how to take care of the interest of [ the country then as well as we do now. One thing I may prophesy safely, and that is that any naval program extending for so many years in advance will not be carried out as planned by any nation. It may exceed it or it I \ may fall short of it; but it is safe to say the program will be revised and modified from time to time to suit changing circumstances. The German program of 1900 has been cut to pieces, not for the first time, by the present \ plan; and it is certain that the strongest influence in effecting any modification in either direction in Germany will be the course of action of the Government and the House of Commons of this country. I am content, for the purpose of the Estimates for this { year, to look as far as 1910. In that year we shall have seven " Dreadnoughts " in commis- sion, and Germany one or perhaps two, and no other European Power any. Now, is it not folly and waste, at this particular moment, to urge j on the building of battleships? It is simply to trump your own trick. It is neither whist nor business to do anything of the kind. When the "Dreadnought" appeared, battleship build- ing in foreign yards paused, other naval Powers had to consider how to meet the [\ new situation. It is their turn to show their hand now, and it will be ours to take the next trick when their cards are on the table, as we have taken the present trick. We have heard that across the Atlantic the " Dreadnought " is | to be made "look 1908 TESTS 271 silly "to adopt the phrase of the yellow journal in which I read the news, by a new "Skeered-at-nothing" class of battleship. It is clear we cannot build anything to "skeer" a "Skeered-at-nothing" until we see ] what she is to be like. It appears to me it must be our policy to husband our resources to meet new developments by new developments, seeing that it is always in our power to catch up and overtake any other nation in shipbuilding. Naval { technical authorities tell us the Germans can, if they will, build a battleship as quickly as we built the "Dreadnought." It may be true that they can build one ship, but they cannot build three at this pace; we can, and more. I am aware \\ in the departent of construction, as in other departments, some continuity must be observed. Our great establishments must be kept going, at high pres- sure or at low pressure; the private yards cannot be abandoned and taken up again capriciously. I admit this. But although we j cannot stop we can "go slow." I have confined my remarks to Vote 8 of the Navy Estimates, and to this year. But I believe the moral effect of the course I recommend would go beyond Vote 8 and this year. It would be evidence j of our unwillingness to enter into another mad inter- national race of naval expansion; but it would be no evidence that we should decline the challenge if it is persistently forced upon us. It would give time for others as well as ourselves to reflect upon [ the cost and consequences of their action. And it would add to our naval strength to husband our resources instead of ex- pending them exactly at the time and exactly upon the material in which we have now an unchallengeable supremacy I am, Sir, yours, etc. [\ 1908 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP (Olympia, London) 200 Words a Minute LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.49 And now, gentlemen, for a short time, if you have patience with me, I wish to turn to the subjects which interest me nearer home, and especially to those ques- tions of social reform and national development which are occupying our attention in the House of Commons at the present moment, j I have only time for a few words. To my thinking the amendment of the land and rating system comes within both these categories of social re- form and national development; and, as I think my right honorable friend near me said the other day, it happens also to be a \ question which a free trade Gov- ernment can hardly leave alone because it is a free trade Government. We have been fiercely attacked almost before we have begun. A kind of frenzy seizes the Unionist party whenever it is proposed to touch the land, and the leader of the Opposition has j already badly fallen a victim to this frenzy, and we must expect to see this painful form of seizure. Make up your minds to that. I do not care whether it is in extending the facilities for the laborer to cul- tivate the land, or in acquiring land for cottages, or j| in increasing the security of tenure for the farmer, or in 272 1908 TESTS 273 readjusting the incidence of local taxation in such a \vay as to secure for the community the future increment of its own improvements I do not care in which of these par- ticular directions we may move, we shall be [ denounced as the enemies and unsettlers of property. And whether or not our methods be modest or bold it does not seem to matter which we shall, I am afraid, be held up to contumely as a set of low bred fellows, fit company for poachers. I have my own I views as to which party deserves these hard epigrams, the party which sets its face like flint against any adaptation to the changing con- ditions and needs of the nation of the conditions under which property is held, or the party which perceives that on such a basis as that property [ itself is imperilled. If a man dumps his goods down in the middle of the road and causes an obstruction, his property, being in that spot and under those conditions, is not secure, and it will be removed. The streaming traffic will flow on again notwithstanding the man's protests and \\ assertions that the sanctity of property has been violated. In the same way, if the ownership of a particular form of property is held on a tenure so absolute that it enables men quite unconsciously perhaps, very often to ob- struct, to divert, to dry up the sources of wealth and ] well-being on which the nation depends, then I am dis- posed to think that the friends of property are certainly not to be found amongst those who on every proposal for reform, on every effort at improvement, no matter how fair and generous, have nothing better to offer than the cry j of "Hands off." I wish to guard studi- ously against any provocative word or suggestion; I have in my mind, not individuals, but a system. Nothing would please me more than to find that the individuals who appertain to that system were willing 274 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS to co-operate in making it subserve public purposes. j I am convinced we could arrange just terms which would enable them, with the assistance of the State, to liberate land where it is needed, whether for cultivation or for building, and to reform our system, but terms cannot be made if our proposals are met by irreconcilable opposition or I| unconscion- able demands, if our efforts to keep the people on the land and to increase the utility of the soil are persistently to be treated as attacks on property and on classes. But we point out another thing, that the Unionist party is not in a position to maintain that j there is no need of some change. It has been clamorous in assert- ing and in deploring the deserted villages and the ruined agriculture, as they call it. Before the general election wherever two or three landowners and tariff reformers were gathered together, what was it that took place? You heard, j to begin with, of the deplorable con- dition of agriculture; you heard of rural depopu- lation and urban deterioration and congestion. Yes, you heard bubbling up from the same source specious ideas about the Empire, and practical, highly practical, suggestions about its utility as a handle for the imposition of corn taxes I and similar fertilizing agencies. They admitted nay, they insisted that regeneration was required, and they were right about that ; but where they were wrong was about the remedy. I suggest to advocates of this existing system that they should search their hearts and ask themselves whether their position is so j { strong and so well founded that they can rely upon such a weapon in its defence as con- temptuous and angry words. But the allegation is made, and I must refer to it, that the measures which the Government will introduce are due not to any concern 1908 TESTS 275 on our part for j the condition of the country no Liberal Government in my memory has ever been cred- ited by its opponents with sincerity, unless that sug- gestion was coupled with a broad and kindly suggestion of insanity but to our desire to find a stick with which to beat the House of Lords. \ If the Lords object to our proposals, if they mangle and attenuate them, it is arguable, perhaps, that in that case the action of the Lords will be profoundly ill-advised. But if there were no House of Lords we should still be here to tell you, and you would I still be there to tell us if we failed to tell you that the land question must be dealt with. Well, I have only one more word. To speak of the things we have taken in hand, are we to succeed in them or to fail? I think we will succeed. | [ 1908 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP (Olympia, London) 220 Words a Minute LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.45 It is perfectly clear to me that when we consider what are the real needs of the Empire it will be seen that we cannot indefinitely continue a system which exposes us to the least uncertainty in regard to the organization of our Army; because, be it remarked, the question of uncertainty is a much \ more important factor than the actual question of numbers. I have little doubt that a great number of these men will extend; and I am positive of this, that neither I, nor any successor, if I may venture perhaps I ought not to speak in the name of any successor, will ever consent to give j way to that policy of bribes and doles which my honorable friend has suggested as a remedy for the difficulty in which we find ourselves. The remedy is a different one. The remedy for the moment is to find the drafts as best we can and to relieve our- selves from the difficulty as well as } the circumstances allow. The difficulty has not become acute; but those who are responsible for the administration of the Army have to look ahead and anticipate the day when it will become acute. But it certainly does not enter into the scheme of the War Office to hold out any prospect 276 1908 TESTS 277 of bribes or doles ]j to the men who serve. We believe that there is another remedy, and that consists in altering this system and substituting for it one more in harmony with the conditions of our Empire. I may point out in passing that this introduction of the three years' system has had a very peculiar effect on the [ drafts for India. It will be seen on reflection that if you do not allow a man to make his election until he has been two years in the service, the period of his departure for India is considerably postponed. A great many men who were the requisite age for India, namely 20 years of [ age, used to go out long before they had completed two years' service. Now a man has the option of waiting for two years of his service before he extends; and the result is that, if the trooping season does not coincide and very often it does not with the date of the termination of [ his two years' service, his departure is postponed until something like 23^ years after the date of his enlistment. The result of that is that the period of his service in India and the Colonies is decreased, the period in this country is increased, and the number requisite to furnish the drafts }I is increased in proportion. I think I have met the honorable member's question fairly and openly. My reply is that I am as concerned as he can be as to the possible consequences of the continuance of this system, and I am as convinced as he can be that it is our duty not to [ attempt to tinker with the system, but to alter it so that we may be free from the uncer- tainty in advance as to the prolongation of the period of service. My honorable friend spoke of the desirabil- ity of the Government's making some pronouncement with regard to their intentions in respect to the Army at large. [ He suggested that it is my duty to propound 278 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS a remedy for the evils which I in common with himself believe exist in the organization of the Army. I admit the soundness of that proposition, and I agree with his conclusions. I should like to make it quite clear to honorable members that there is { no question at all, whatever they may think about the times and seasons of my statement on the subject, there is no question at all about the indefinite prolongation of the present system. We feel that there are difficulties connected with the present system which can only be met by an alteration. Therefore I beg !j honorable members to dismiss from their minds the belief that there is any con- flict of opinion or can be any conflict of opinion upon this question at all. What we are face to face with is not having to make up our minds as to whether a change is necessary or desirable. Many things have \ happened among other things, the report of the Com- mission on the War, which my honorable friend most justly said was a pronouncement which was bound to have weight with any responsible Government many things have happened which have confirmed some of us in the belief, and created the belief in others, that a change in I the organization and administration of our Army is absolutely essential. I think the problem is clear. We have got to get an Army suited to the needs of the country and the Empire. We have got to have an efficient Army in the first place. The second thing is to make very large reductions in I our Army expendi- ture. I believe, when I say that, I am representing the opinions of nine-tenths of the Army members of this House. I believe there is almost absolute unanimity in this House, and a very large consensus of opinion out of the House, that we must have large reductions in our Army expenditure, jl There is a third problem, 1908 TESTS 279 which I do not say rises superior to but to a certain extent dominates the other two. To reduce the cost of the Army you must reduce the strength of the Army; and I have to propose such reductions as will commend themselves to the general feeling and general accept- ance | of this House, will make our Army efficient, and at the same time will be consistent with sound economy. I do not despair at all. I believe with my honorable friend that the problem is soluble. I am sanguine enough to believe that I can suggest a remedy which shall be fully acceptable to the j House and the country. If I do not believe that I should certainly not trespass further on the good will of my honorable' friend. But I will ask him, if he will give me that indulgence, not to press me unduly, but at any rate to remember that the problem is complex, and if he { finds me fail, to remem- ber that I shall be as conscious of the failure as he can be. I shall, at any rate, not ask him to accept any- thing which I do not believe to be in the true interests of the Army and which does not conform in every respect to its best administration. \[ 1909 BRITISH .CHAMPIONSHIP (Olympia, London) 180 Words a Minute LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.40 I propose then to speak about the House of Lords tonight. But if I do not do so with all the passion, and with all the fervor, and with all the power of invec- tive which orators in a less responsible situation might be able to \ indulge in to your unbounded delight and their own you must put it down not so much to my want of zeal in the cause as to the fact that I should be wanting in my duty as a Minister if I ap- proach the greatest \ constitutional question that has arisen in England for two centuries or more without a solemn sense of the responsibility of my words. Now, gentlemen, this question of the House of Lords is not a new question. It is over a hundred years since Mr. Pitt [ declared that that was part of the Constitution which would first give way. It is just under a hundred years since Mr. Burke said: "There is an end of that part of the Constitution." But for ninety-nine years the House of Lords has continued \\ l to exist, and, if you will pardon me one word of egotism, I will say all through my political life it is the question to which I have attached the most importance. On two occasions I have brought it before the notice of the House I of Lords themselves, and on neither occasion have I 280 1909 CONTEST 281 spared or minced my language. And some five years ago, when at a great Liberal conference in Scotland, they spread out their plan of operations, and the number of objects with which they proposed to deal, [ I told them that their program was a foolish program, for it omitted the one question which took the first place in the realization of all their projects, and that was a drastic dealing with the House of Lords. Well, when I have said these | things, all my sagacious friends have said, ''Why do you tilt at this windmill? Why don't you take up practical subjects? That question will settle itself." But that question will not settle itself. It cannot settle itself, and, if you do not take care, it U 2 will wreck many Liberal measures and many Liberal governments before you have done with it. I will tell you why. When 'Liberal governments come back to the country to give an account of their steward- ship, they do so too often with many promises unful- filled owing I to the action of the House of Lords. But the country does not nicely scrutinize the reason for that emptiness. They blame the Liberal Ministry and the Liberal majority. But, gentlemen, I shall be asked the question that Lord Melbourne asked about every political problem. 1 "Why not leave it alone?" After all, it may be said, we have got on with it for many centuries. We have prospered in spite of it. There are worse things than it, such as our climate and if we can bear with our climate, [ is it worth while working ourselves up in a rage against the House of Lords? Well, that might have been very well if things had remained as they were. But while the House of Lords has remained as it was, the circumstances have changed all [I 3 around it. If you pull down a street and rebuild it all with the exception of one house, you will probably 282 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS find in the course of a year that the house will be con- demned as a dangerous structure. On three separate occasions you have in J the last sixty years, popularized the House of Commons. In 1832 you passed the first great Reform Bill. The House of Lords resisted it to the point of death. Had it resisted a little more, you would have had no question of the \ House of Lords to deal with now. Well, that changed the balance of the Constitution, because not merely did it make the House of Commons in itself infinitely more powerful and infinitely more representative, but it diminished the influence of the House of Lords. In ] 1867 you had another great democratic Reform Bill, which the House of Lords allowed to become law at once, because it was introduced by a Tory government. And in 1884 you had another Reform Bill introduced by a Liberal government, and jj 4 fiercely resisted by the House of Lords, which opposition produced another great outburst of popular feeling, but again ended by strengthening enormously the power of the House of Commons itself. And in 1886 another event took place, which still further weakened the House J of Lords. Even up to the time of the last Reform Bill of 1884, there was some sort of balance between the two parties in the House of Lords. I even recollect, I believe, once in my life being in a majority. But { in 1886 the House of Lords changed its character for good or for evil. In 1886 the proposal of the Irish Home Rule Bill alienated the great remaining mass of the Whig or Liberal Peers, and from that time to this ] the House of Lords has represented no balance of par- ties whatever, but an overwhelming mass of Tories and so-called Liberal Unionists, with a handful of Liberals thrown in. . . .[J 5 (16 words short 884 words) 1909 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP (Olympia, London) 200 Words a Minute LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.44 And so, gentlemen, we come to the present state of things. What is that state of things? It is on the one side, a House elected on almost the most popular possible basis, representing with freedom and direct- ness the wishes of an aspiring and educated people and on the other { side a House almost entirely com- posed of hereditary peers and of hereditary peers opposed to popular aspirations. That House so com- posed claims a right to control and to veto in all re- spects, except finance, the proposals of the House of Commons. See how it stands according to figures. The House [ of Commons consists of 670 members, of whom 350 or thereabouts support the Government the Government of the day. The House of Lords consists of some 570 members, of whom about thirty support the Government of the day. Nor can there [ be any possible change in these conditions. No Liberal Government, however liberal or however little liberal it may be, can ever hope to possess much more than five per cent of the whole House of Lords in its support, and any Tory Government would be disgraced if it possessed much [I 1 less than the remaining ninety-five 283 284 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS per cent. And you must remember that this House, which contains five per cent of Liberals and ninety- five per cent of another party, which I will not now define, rules Scotland, which sympathizes with the five per cent; rules Wales, which sympathizes with \ the five per cent; rules Ireland, which sympathizes with the five per cent and rules England, which, except on the question of Home Rule, does, I believe, in fact and in general practice, sympathize with the five per cent also. Now, gentlemen, suppose at the next election you were to [ send back only 100 Liberals to the House of Commons. There would be thirty Liberal Peers. Suppose you were to send 200 Liberals back to the House of Commons, there would be thirty Liberal Peers. Suppose you were to send back 300 Liberals to the House of \ Commons. There would be thirty Liberal Peers. Suppose you were to send 500 Liberals back to the House of Commons. There would be thirty Liberal Peers. Suppose you sent 600 Liberals back, there would be only thirty Liberal Peers. Gen- tlemen, what a mockery is this! We boast of j 2 our free institutions. We swell as we walk abroad and see other countries, we make broad the phylacteries of freedom on our foreheads. We thank God that we are not as other less favored men; and all the time we endure this mockery of freedom. You are bound hand and \ foot. You may vote and vote until you are black in the face. It will not change the face of matters at all. The House of Lords still will control at its will the measures of your representatives. You will have to go hat in hand to the House of j Lords, and ask them to pass your measures in however muti- lated a shape. It has practically come to this. We know the House of Lords is a party body of one com- 1909 CONTEST 285 plexion. We cannot any longer introduce the bills we think fit unless we want to waste the time of 1 the House of Commons in an absolutely bootless and fruitless process, or else we can only introduce bills which we may think will have some possible chance of passing the Tory party in the House of Lords. Now, of course, you may think that it is some pique, and blighted !I 3 and mortified ambition at not leading a majority in the House of Lords, that induces me to take so gloomy a view of that body. But I think I could show you by a very simple illustration that it is a grave con- stitutional question, which does not depend merely on I the party to which you belong. Suppose we were to reverse the case, and suppose the House of Lords were to consist permanently of 520 Liberals, and some thirty or forty Conservatives. Don't you think, then, that the Conservatives would find that there was a great constitutional \ question involved? How long do you think the Conservative party would stand up for the House of Lords as an essential part of the Constitution, if it found out that it only carried its measures through Parliament on the sufferance of a permanent Liberal majority against them? I confess quite \ freely that I am a Second Chamber man in principle. I am all for a Second Chamber. I am not for the uncontrolled government of a Single Chamber any more than I am for the uncontrolled government of a single man. The temptation of absolute power is too great for | any man or any body of men, and I believe though I am speaking from recollection that so keen and ardent a Radical as John Stuart Mill held that opinion too. I am also strongly of opinion that all experience points to having a Second Chamber of some sort. That, | however, does not imply an admiration for the House 286 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS of Lords. The fact is that to my mind it is an absolute danger, an invitation to revolution, that there should be an assembly of this kind in this position; and there- fore it is as a lover of the Constitution, as \ well as a lover of freedom, that I implore you to take this question into your immediate consideration. If I hesitate to choose between no Second Chamber and the House of Lords as it is it is for this reason, that, in my judgment the House of Lords is not \ a Second Chamber at all. I will not say it is a Tory caucus, because that might be considered an offensive expres- sion, and moreover, a caucus is a temporary body. But I will say this, that it is a permanent party organi- zation, controlled for party purposes and by party managers. JJ 5 (1000 words) 1909 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP (Olympia, London) 220 Words a Minute LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.42 Now, then, gentlemen, I say this: I will not go further into the different attributes of the House of Lords you know them well enough, and I cannot go into them at great length tonight I say that this is a great national question, and a great national danger. If the other party, which professes \ to have a monopoly of statesmanship had had any statesmanship at all, they would have settled it long ago by bringing the House of Lords into some sort of relation to the feelings of the people. But they have preferred to keep it, like a sort of Tory Old Guard, to bring up when the [ neces- sities of the case required. But an Old Guard is a dan- gerous weapon, because when you have brought up your last reserve all goes with it. Napoleon had an Old Guard, and he brought it up at Waterloo, and when the Old Guard was done with, not merely the battle was done with, but Napoleon [ and all concerned with him. But we are told the Peers never definitely resist the will of the people. I want to know how the wishes of the people can be better expressed than through the representatives of the people. Who gave the Peers the right or the instinct to decide as to what 287 288 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS are, \\ l or are not, the wishes of the people when these wishes are expressed through their elected represen- tatives? I suppose that this contention implies that the Peers give their assent to any reform which is passed, as the Reform Bill of 1832 was passed, under the threat of an immediate revolution when Birming- ham was I arming, and Glasgow was arming, and Bristol was in flames. Are we always to wait for demonstra- tions of popular feeling of that kind? To assert this, gentlemen, is to go far. It is laying down the proposi- tion that Liberal legislation is always to be carried by the menace of revolution. Tory legislation is to descend \ like the blessed rain from heaven. Ours is only to come in wind, and rain, and snow, and vapor. Theirs is to be the fertilizing overflow of the Nile. Ours is to come as a tornado or a hurricane. Theirs is to be the benign effect, ours the catastrophe and convulsion of Nature. So the \ result must be that if we are never to be allowed to carry any measure without threat of thunder and lightning, or evoking the fell spirits of the storm to convince the Lords that the nation is in earnest, then our legislation will always be troublous and unpeaceful, and the only way to get legislation \\~ quietly passed is to confide it to the Tory and Unionist party. I only allude to this to show what the real danger is of the House of Lords from a constitutional point of view. It invites unrest; it invites agitation; and in certain cases the cup may boil over; and it might invite revolution. | And I repeat this is a great national question, and it is a great national danger. It is a great question, not merely from its enormous impor- tance, but from the difficulty of dealing with it. The misfortune of this grievance and this issue is that the remedy is not obvious within the limits of the \ Con- 1909 CONTEST 289 stitution. You can only deal with the House of Lords, with the powers of the House of Lords, by a bill passed through both Houses. Anything but that is, consti- tutionally speaking, a revolution. That seems to be a discouraging result to arrive at. But I would not have you lose heart so quickly. It will [ not come to a revo- lution in the case of the House of Lords. There are means of making the will of the country felt without any violence or unconstitutional methods such as I have described. In this country, whatever the diffi- culty may be, the good sense of the constituent body is such that we usually ]] 3 arrive at an agreement without any of the cataclysms that rend other countries. We think then that the time has come, or has nearly come for a free popular reference, to ask the people of Great Britain and Ireland to settle this question of the Constitution of this country once for all not in reference \ merely to tradition, but in reference also to accomplished facts. And then will come your part. The Government will have done its part, and it will be then your turn. If you have come to the conviction that the House of Lords understands your wishes better than do your own representatives, you will give effect I by your verdict to that impression. You will annihilate your own representation and abide content- edly by the unbiased, mellow wisdom of the House of Lords. You will thank them for having done you the favor of having been born. It will be unnecessary any further to go through the musty and superfluous process of popular ]. election; for you will have beside you a self-constituted body that will save you any trouble of that kind. But if, gentlemen, you take a different view if for years you have been champing and chafing under the bit of the House of Lords if 290 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS for years you have been wondering at this strange \] 4 survival of a bygone age if for years you have been instructing your representatives to do all that in them lies to maintain your rights against their interference why, then you will give your verdict in accordance with the facts, and you will make ready for the fight. You will remember, as I have told | you before that in this great contest there are behind you, to inspire you, all the great reforms, all the great aspirations and all the great measures on which you have set your hearts. Before you are encamped all the forces of prejudice and privilege. Before you frown the sullen ramparts, behind which are concealed \ the enemies you long to fight, and so long have fought. And I would ask you, if you are prepared to go into this fight, to fight it as your old Puritan forefathers fought fight with their indomitable will fight as those old Ironsides fought hi Yorkshire, never knowing when they were beaten and determined \ not to be beaten. Fight, as they would have said themselves, not with the arm of the flesh but with the arm of the spirit. Fight by educating your fellow-men not as to the object, for in that you are clear already, but as to the proper means of attaining that object. . . . U 5 (2 words short 1098 words) 1910 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP (Olympia, London) 200 Words a Minute LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.44 You have not informed me, Mr. President, what precise significance is attached to the word "author" to bring him within the scope of the Authors' Club. Clearly he must write. Clearly he must write some- thing which has every appearance of not having been written before; clearly that something must be J pub- lished in a book; and, most clearly of all, he must be paid for what he has written. "No one but a block- head," as Dr. Johnson has very properly observed, "ever wrote except for money." So if I define an author as a person who makes his living by publishing [ in book form original composition, so-called if we can agree upon that, I will proceed further to say I think the persons who comprise that category are, upon the whole, a very fortunate class. The great mass of man- kind pass their days in work, and it is only after \ their work in the field, or the mill, or the office, has been done, that they find time to play. So many hours from every day of their lives have to be sacrificed to a tyrant thing called work unwelcome, monotonous, and unremitting work. Not till that is satisfied is H 1 there room for recreation or for pleasure. That is the 291 292 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS lot of the common run of humanity. The fortunate people in the world the only really fortunate people are those whose work is also their pleasure. The class is not a large one, not nearly so large as it is \ often represented to be; and authors are perhaps one of the most important elements in its composition. They enjoy in this respect at least a real harmony of life. To my mind, to be able to make your work your pleasure is the one class distinction in the world worth | striving for; and I do not wonder that others are in- clined to envy those happy human beings who find their livelihood in the gay effusions of their fancy, to whom every hour of labor is an hour of enjoyment, to whom repose, however necessary, is a tiresome interlude, and even | a holiday almost a deprivation. Whether a man writes well or ill, has much to say or little, if he cares about writing at all, he will appreciate the pleas- ures of composition. To sit at one's table on a sunny morning, with four clear hours of uninterruptible security, plenty of \\ z nice white paper, and a Squeezer pen, that is true happiness. The complete absorption of the mind upon an agreeable occupation what more is there than that to desire? What does it matter what happens outside? The House of Commons may do what it likes, and so may the House [ of Lords. The heathen may rage furiously in every part of the globe. The bottom may be knocked clean out of the American market. Consols may fall, the Suffragettes may rise. Never mind, for four hours, at any rate, we will with- draw ourselves from a common, ill-governed, and dis- orderly | world, and with the key of fancy unlock that cupboard where all the good things of the infinite are put away. And speaking of freedom, is not the author free, as 1910 CONTEST 293 few men are free? Is he not secure, as few men are secure? The tools of his industry are ] so common and so cheap that they have almost ceased to have commercial value. He needs no bulky pile of raw material, no elaborate apparatus, no service of men or animals. He is dependent for his occupation upon no one but himself, and nothing outside him matters. He is the \\ 3 sovereign of an empire, self-supporting, self-contained. No one can sequestrate his estates. No one can deprive him of his stock-in-trade, no one can force him to exercise his faculty against his will; no one can prevent him exercising it as he chooses. The pen is the \ great liberator of men and nations. No chains can bind, no poverty can choke, no tariff can restrict the free play of his mind, and even the "Times" Book club can only exert a moderately depressing influence upon his rewards. Whether his work is good or bad, so long as | he does his best he is happy. I often fortify myself amid the uncertainties and vexations of political life by believing that I possess a line of retreat into a peaceful and fertile country where no rascal can pursue and where no one need be dull or idle or even \ wholly without power. It is then, indeed, that I feel devoutly thankful to have been born fond of writing. It is then, indeed, that I feel grateful to all the brave and generous spirits, w.ho, in every age, and in every land, have fought to establish the now unquestioned freedom U 4 of the pen. Then remember that the author can always do his best. There is no excuse for him. The great cricketer may be out of form. The general may on the day of decisive battle have a bad toothache or a bad army. The admiral may be seasick as [ a sufferer I reflect with satisfaction upon that contingency. As for an 294 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS orator, it is not enough for him to be able to think well and truly. He must think quickly. Speed is vital to him. Spontaneity is more than ever the hall-mark of good speaking. All these varied \ forces of activity require from the performer the command of the best that is in him at a particular moment which may be fixed by circumstances utterly beyond his control. It is not so with the author. He need never appear in public till he is ready. . . . H 5 (53 words short 947 words) 1912 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP (Olympia, London) 200 Words a Minute LITERARY MATTER Syllable Intensity, 1.44 I do not feel before an audience like this as I do when I go out to preach to the heathen; nevertheless, I have been told that it is always well to make at least a brief explanation of our principles, as there are certain to be some present who [ do not understand them. Let me, then, begin with a confession of what I may call the single tax faith. We believe, in the first place, in the equality of men not meaning by that, that all men are of the same height, that all men are of the same \ weight, that all men do precisely the same things in the same way. We recognize differences in individual men. When we say that all men are equal, we mean that all men are entitled to an equal chance. We believe aye, I think I can say all of us, for \ I doubt if there be an atheist among us we believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and we believe that He made the earth for the dwelling place of all the human creatures whom He should call into it. We believe that He made it H 1 for all of them, and not for some of them, and we believe that they, all of them, are entitled to the use of His bounty. We believe, therefore, that 295 296 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS every human being has an equal right to the land of his native country. We do not believe that the [ land of each country should be divided up in equal pieces between all its people. We do not believe that that would be possible, or even if it were possible for the moment, that permanent equality can be secured in that way. What we aim at is not merely an | equality of the present generation with regard to natural oppor- tunities and the equality of those who will follow us. We do not propose to divide up land let me repeat it again, because there may be those here who have formed their opinion of us from hostile newspapers. We do I not propose to give to every citizen an equal piece of land. What we propose to do is to make them all equal sharers in whatever benefits result from the ownership of land. We recognize that land cannot be divided up equally. We know that land is not of the U 2 same value, and that land values are constantly chang- ing. We know that some people require the use of more land than other people, and that some require that use more directly than others. What we aim at is, that while one man may have ten thousand acres of great value, \ and another a less valuable piece, and another a piece of no value, and a fourth holds none directly, they shall all be put on the same plane. We propose to secure that by simply having land con- tribute according to its value to the revenues of the community that is \ to say, to the whole people. We propose simply to put upon land values a tax commencing, as we will have to do, slowly, and increas- ing it as quickly as we can a tax that, as soon as may be, shall take for public uses the annual value of land \ that is to say, that premium which the advantages attaching to any particular piece of land gives to its 1912 CONTEST 297 holder. The advantages which enable him by the same labor or the same expenditure to enjoy a larger return or a more valuable use. And in doing that we propose to [I 3 abolish all taxation that bears upon labor, that restricts production or accumulation, or tends in any way to lessen the amount of wealth in the community. We are, if I may recur to an American phrase, the abolitionists of the present day. We differ from the socialists in this important | particular, we do not believe that it is necessary to construct any complex scheme to right the wrongs of society. We do not think it is necessary to create any great machine. What we believe is alone neces- sary, is to abolish restriction to give free play to the natural harmonies. [ What has won so many of us from the blank despair of atheism is that we believe, aye, we see, that there is an order and a harmony and a beneficence in social laws, that we see that the intel- ligence that created this world has not been either a niggard [ or a blunderer; that we see that what is needed to abolish poverty is not charity, but justice. What we aim to give is freedom. That labor, the creator of all wealth, should be a drug in the market that all over the world the labor- ing class should be the j] 4 poor class what does it result from? Simply from want of freedom. All that labor needs is fair play all that working men want is justice; not charity, not condescension, not complex schemes of doing something for them. To solve the labor question all that we hold to be necessary [ is to recognize the principle that all men are equally chil- dren of the Creator, equally entitled to the use of His bounty, equally entitled to enjoy its fruits. We have no quack remedy for social evils. Our remedy is 298 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS justice to restore to men those equal rights which cannot be [ justly taken from them by the edict of any king or the enactment of any Parliament. We differ from the socialists of all grades by attach- ing far less importance than they do to capital. We recognize the fact that the two primary factors of production are land and labor. We [ deny as utterly absurd the declaration made by a certain school of political economists, whom the socialists have copied, that labor cannot be employed until capital is accumu- lated. We say that it is labor that produces capital. ... I] 5 (13 words short 987 words) HANDICAP CONTEST, 1920 JURY CHARGE DICTATED AT 240 Syllable Intensity, 1.43 Gentlemen of the Jury: At the close of plaintiff's case, and again at the close of the entire case, counsel for the defendant move to dismiss the complaint. Both those motions you will remember were denied by me. From the denial of those motions you are not to infer that the Court is of the opinion that the plaintiff should I succeed. Those are simply rulings on questions of law, to the effect that if there is a question of fact involved in any case, it is the Court's duty to submit that ques- tion of fact to you for your determination. The law affecting a case of this kind is that, before the plaintiff can recover, he must establish to your \ satisfaction four elements : He must prove to you that representations were made which were contrary to the facts. In other words, he has got to prove that this defendant, either through himself or through some agent authorized by him to make, the statement, repre- sented certain facts to be true. Second, he has got to prove that the defendant, or the [ party making the representations that is, if such party made them on behalf of the defendant, with his knowledge and consent knew that said representations were false and were not the fact. Third, he has got to prove the further fact that, as a result of these 299 representations they entered into an agreement; in other words, that such representations gave [[ rise to the agreement that was entered into. And fourth, which is perhaps the most important element in the case, that the plaintiff relied upon the represen- tations, and that, relying thereon, he was induced to enter into the agreement and suffered damage thereby. It is not for you gentlemen in this case to say whether this plaintiff made a good ] bargain with the defendant or a poor one, when he entered into the agreement to purchase these premises. What you have got to de- termine, before you can find in the plaintiff's favor, is that these representations were made; that the defendant or his agent made these representations know- ing them to be false, and that the plaintiff, Berlin, bought these premises { because of said representa- tions. In other words, that what induced him to enter into the contract for the purchase of this property was the fact that it was owned by a rich uncle of this defendant, who had bought it many years before for $27,000, and that he had given it to this defendant. If you find all of [ those facts in favor of the plaintiff, then your verdict should be for the plaintiff. If you find any one of them lacking, your verdict should be for the defendant. You have heard what the plaintiff had to say. He tells you that this man, Levine, called to see him several times and told him that he had a bargain, I J and that this house belonged to a rich uncle of the de- fendant. That there was some talk about wanting $25,000 for the property, which was reduced to $22,500 and that then the price was finally reduced to $21,750. 1920 CONTEST 301 He tells you that there was a mortgage [ of some $15,000 on the property, and that there was to be a second mortgage given, which was to be a purchase money mortgage. His wife was called, and she testified substantially the same as the plaintiff. Mr. Marks was called as a witness and told you what he knows of this transaction. Mr. Marks is a reputable I attorney, a member of our Bar. He tells you that he had a conversation with Mr. Berlin prior to entering into the contract, and he told him not to enter into this contract, without stating any reasons. He tells you, further, that after some delay the contract was entered into, and that this plaintiff called to see him shortly after 1 the contract was signed, and told him at that time that he did not want to take title, mentioning several reasons, but not the fact that he had been told that this property belonged to a rich uncle of the defendant. That testimony is to be considered by you, in determining whether or not the plain- tiff has given you the ([ correct version as to what happened. The defendant tells you that he made no such rep- resentations, and he called the janitor, Mr. Handels- man, who tells you that the plaintiff called there some two or three times; that he remembers him once in particular being there between Christmas of 1918 and New Year's of 1919, and that he showed ] the plaintiff through the building at that time, from the basement to the top floor, and that he saw him there on one or two other occasions. That testimony is also important and should be considered by you; because even if representations are made, and the party to whom the representations are made has an opportunity to see for himself j whether or not the facts are as stated, it will 302 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS help you in determining as to whether or not he relied upon the representations which he claims were made to him. If you believe the plaintiff's version, and find that he has sustained those four elements which I have in- dicated, then your verdict should be for the plaintiff for the I sum of $500. On the other hand, if you believe the defendant's version, your verdict should be for the defendant. If I have misquoted any portions of the testimony, you must disregard my version as to what the evidence in this case is, and follow your own recollection as to what the evidence is. The plaintiff has the \\ burden of proof. By that it is meant that he must establish his case substantially as alleged by a fair preponderance of the evidence. By a fair preponderance of the evidence, however, is not meant the number of witnesses. It has reference to quality of testimony. The requirement, however, is a substantial one, and it must j be met by the one that has the burden, which is the plaintiff in this case; and while weighing the testimony, if you find that it is evenly divided on the questions of fact involved, you must find against the plaintiff, and in favor, of the defendant; because in that event the plaintiff has failed to sustain the burden which j the law casts upon him; and of course in doing that keep in mind that it is quality, rather than quantity, of testimony which is to govern you. In deciding the case take into consideration the in- terest that any witness may have in the result of the trial, the probability of their testimony, and then to their testimony give it \ the weight and credit that you find and feel that it is entitled to. 1920 CONTEST 303 If you believe that any witness has wilfully sworn falsely to any material statement of fact, you must disregard that statement of fact, and you may, if you like, disregard the entire testimony of that particular witness. The plaintiff in this case is naturally an interested witness. [[ HANDICAP CONTEST, 1920 Testimony Read at 247 words a minute (Called "280 words a minute" but actually read at 247) Syllable Intensity, 1.25 (The questions and answers were not read, but were counted. Number of questions and answers 165. Gross speed, 247 words a minute.) Cross-examination by Mr. Solomon: Q. Did you ever live near 24 Grand Street. A. No, sir. Q. Did you ever live on the East Side? A. Yes, sir; on Henry Street. Q. How many blocks is Henry Street from Grand Street? A. Four or five; I don't know. Q. How many years did you live on Henry Street? A. Two or three years. Q. And how many years had you lived on | the East Side altogether? A. That is all. Q. Two or three years? A. Yes, sir. Q. Where was your place of business before you moved to Brooklyn? A. In New York, 350 Canal. Q. 350 Canal Street? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you are in business for yourself? A. Yes. Q. And how many years have you been in business? A. Not long. 1 1 used to be in the contracting business. 304 1920 CONTEST 305 Q. You were in the contracting business for your- self, were you not? You used to take work from manufacturers and make up suspender trimmings for them? A. Yes, sir. Q. They gave you the merchandise and you made up the trimmings, is that right? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you were hi business for yourself under the name of Samuel Berlin, is that I right? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now, how many years have you been in business altogether? A. Five years or six years. Q. Five or six years? A. Yes, sir. Q. Altogether? A. Yes, sir. Q. And have you a check account? A. Yes, sir. Q. In how many banks? A. One bank. Q. In what bank? A. In the North Side Bank in Brooklyn. Q. You also had an account j] in the Greenwich Bank, had you not? A. Yes, sir. Q. Besides the North Side Bank? A. No, sir; at that time I did. Q. Well, at that time you had an account in the Greenwich Bank? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you have any account in a savings bank? A. No, sir. Q. Did you ever buy property before? A. I had one Q. Yes or no. A. Yes, [ I did. Q. You bought a tenement house before, did you not? A. Yes, sir. Q. How many years ago? A. About twelve years ago. Q. And who was your attorney at the time you bought that tenement house? A. Attorney Marks. Q. Marks & Marks? A. Yes, sir. 306 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. The same attorneys who drew this contract, is that right? A. Yes. Q. And you have known Marks & Marks [ a great many years? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you have had considerable legal business which you turned over to them to take care of for you? A. I didn't have no business since then. Q. Since then you had no legal business? A. No, sir; I am a small man and ain't got much like that. Q. And you had no use for lawyers since then? A. { No, sir; I did not have anything. I am a small man and I have not got much matters. Q. Did I ask you whether you are a small man? A. No, sir. Q. Now, you said, in answer to questions by Mr. Manheim, on about four different occasions, "With the little capital I have, I told them I could not buy the house." You said that, did you not? [[ A. Yes, sir. Q. And by saying that didn't you want to impress the jury that you were a poor man? Mr. Manheim: I object to that as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. He merely stated what took place. The Court: Objection overruled. A. I don't ask no charity. Q. Four different times you repeated that you said to Mr. Salanter, "I cannot afford to buy this house with the ] little capital I have." Didn't you say that? A. Yes, sir. Q. And when you said it, didn't you have in mind that you wanted to impress the jury that you were a poor man ? A. No, sir. Q. You did not have that in mind? A. No, sir. 1920 CONTEST 307 Q. Is that the way you dress all the time, Mr. Berlin? A. Yes, sir; all the time. Q. I With a soft shirt? A. Yes, sir. Q. And unshaved? A. I cannot shave now. I got something on my face. Q. Didn't you come into court to-day to impress this jury, with your soft shirt and your unshaven face, that you are a poor man? A. No, sir; I did not. Q. Did anybody tell you to dress this way? A. No, sir. Q. How much money did [ you have in the Green- wich Bank when you drew this check for $500? A. From $1,500 to $2,000. Q. About $1,500 or $2,000? A. Yes, sir. Q. Are you rated in Dun's or Bradstreet's? A. No, sir. Q. You do not buy and sell goods, do you? A. No, sir. Q. And you do not [[ manufacture goods, do you? A. No, sir. Q. You obtain goods from manufacturers, and you make them up for the manufacturers? A. Yes, sir. Q. And where is your place of business now? A. 258 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn. Q. And how big is your loft? A. About twenty by fifty feet. Q. About twenty by fifty? A. Yes, sir. Q. And how many people do you employ? A. I Four or five. Q. And so you work yourself? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now, how long have you known Levine? A. For the last fifteen years. Q. Was Levine the broker through whom you bought the first house that you bought? A. Yes, sir. 308 SHORTHAND CHAMPIONSHIP TESTS Q. Levine and you are friends, are you not? A. Well, I just bought the property at that time from him. He was the broker. Q. [ When he came to your house about this piece of property, you invited him to lunch? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you had him sit at your table with you and your wife? A. Yes, sir. Q. And when Levine sold you the first piece of property, you had known him for a great many years, had you not? A. No, sir. Q. [ But this was the first time you had ever met Mr. Salanter? A. Yes, sir; the first time. Q. Did you attend at the office of Marks & Marks on January 20, 1919? A. When the contract was made? Q. When the title was set for closing. A. No, sir. Q. You did not go to the office of Marks & Marks on that day? A. No, sir. Q. ][ You had been at Mr. Salanter's house before that, were you not? A. I was once at his house. Q. You were at Salanter's house once? A. Yes, sir. Q. And how many times was he at your house? A. Twice. Q. How many times was Levine at your house? A. Three or four times. Q. Had you inspected the house before you entered into this contract? A. No. Q. i Not at all? A. No, sir; not at all. Q. Are you sure about it? A. Sure. Q. You testified, when Mr. Manheim asked you, that you had gone over to look at the house, did you not? A. After the contract. Q. After the contract? A. Yes, sir. Q. But you had not seen the house at all before you made the contract? A. No. 1920 CONTEST 309 Q. You did not? [ A. Levine brought me over at night. Q. Oh, Levine brought you over there at night? ] A. Yes, sir; as I told you before. On a Sunday he was in my house, and he brought me and my wife over on that Sunday night. Q. Well, didn't you go through the house at all at that time? A. No, sir; I did not. Q. And you did not go I through the house to find out how much the rent was? A. No, sir. Q. You knew it was important to find that out be- fore you signed the contract, how much the income of the house was? A. They told me. Q. They told you? A. Yes, sir, and I believed them. Q. Never mind what you believe. Now, the first house that you bought, was that a tenement house? J| A. Yes, sir. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. W74 Form L9-10m-3,'48(A7920)444 UNIVERSITY oi AT LOS ANGELES T TTJD A DV UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL I inn win tmm wmm Ml WW A 000583614 3