NOTICES. Each Notice should be written on one side only of a separate piece of paper. Every Notice under the head of Correspondence must give full name and address. Correspondents are requested to write their address clearly in ordinary longhand. If they wish to receive replies in Phonography, a star should be attached to the name; thus, John Smith.* Notices of all kinds must reach Bath at least eleven days before the date of the Journal for which they are intended. Every communication addressed to the Editor of this Journal must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer. Exercises Corrected Gratis (enclose stamped and addressed envelope)by Nunn T. Louis, c/o R. Lawson, esq., 273 Dewsbury rd., Leeds Correspondence, etc. 1d. per line of ten words. [12] Advertiser, aged 18, wishes to meet gentleman, about the same age, resident in South-East London, with whom he could arrange for conversation in German one or two evenings weekly. The object is to obtain a thorough knowledge of German. Write Charles Beaumont, 5 Arnott st., New Kent rd., London, S.E. Advertiser (gentleman), holding certificates in rudiments of music, harmony, and vocal music, would teach either of these subjects in exchange for lessons in shorthand or arithmetic one or two evenings a week. Gentleman living in Chiswick or neighbourhood preferred. E. A. Cousins, 43 Upham Park rd., Chiswick, London, W. Gentleman desires correspondence with phonographers in Great Britain and abroad, in shorthand or longhand, on any subject. Would correct students' exercises. Arthur G. Hall, West Dean, Chichester. [8] Shorthand-typist (lady) wishes to improve her knowledge of French. Mutual terms. Myra Barr, 64 Lansdowne rd., Holland Park, London, W. Pictorial post card correspondence desired (shorthand or longhand). Foreign or otherwise. J. S. Blundell, 13 Poulton rd., Southport, England. [6] Associations. Id. per line of ten words. Phonetic Shorthand Writers' Association (London District I.P.S.). The Arcadian Restaurant, 8 Queen st., Cheapside.-The principal Shorthand Association in the kingdom. Meetings held every Thursday evening from 7 to 10. Regular speed practice conducted at various rates by experienced phonographers. Lectures by well-known shorthand writers; discussions, etc. Speed examinations held periodically. Centre for Society of Arts shorthand examination and for Pitman's medal competitions. (Members sit at these examinations and at the I.P.S. Teacher's Exam. at reduced fees.) Shorthand library and other advantages. Fees, including speed practice, 10s 6d per annum or 3s per quarter. All phonographers (ladies or gentlemen) are eligible for membership. Prospectus, with full particulars, on application to Secretary, H. J. Cork, 2 Reedholm road, Stoke Newington, London, N. [14] Typists' Section, I.P.S. (the N.U. of Typists is incorporated with this Section). Examinations for teachers and typists, lectures, demonstrations, discussions, employment bureau, advice on typewriting matters, etc. Annual subscription, 5s; members of I.P.S., 3s 6d. Rules, Examination Syllabus, Forms of Application, etc., from the Hon. Sec., Geo. Colebourn, F.I.P.S., 50 Hillside rd., Stamford Hill, London, N. [17] Evercirculators and Libraries. id. per line of ten words. An evercirculator is a manuscript phonographic magazine, consisting of articles written by the individual members, one member acting as conductor. The book passes round, and each round members contribute an article and remarks, or take part in the discussion. A leaflet containing further particulars forwarded from the Phonetic Institute, Bath, on receipt of id stamp. Evercirculator paper in three varieties, of superior quality, five quires Is 6d; headings and title-pages, 3d per doz.; covers, cloth is, leather is 6d. Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd. [x] The Phonocyclophotographer.-A few vacancies have occurred in this evercirculator; those wishing to join please write immediately. No fees. Conductor, H. G. Carpenter,* 585 High rd., Chiswick, London, W. [6] Royal Evercirculator. Corresponding and Easy Reporting Styles. Members wanted to complete list. Particulars, stamp. H. Dawson, 4 Nunroyd, Heckmondwike. Avondale Evercirculator. A few members wanted. Entrance fee, Is; no subscription. Apply, T. Davies, 18 Vittoria st., Llanelly, Carm. [6] Members wanted for the Gaelic Evercirculator, just commencing. Particulars, stamp. Charles Bannon, Monaincha, Roscrea, co. Tipperary. The Rambler Evercirculating Library. Circulates all shorthand magazines. Particulars from Herald Shorthand School, 20 Herald Chambers, Martineau st., Birmingham. [6] The best Library is the Telegraph, established ten years, circulating all the magazines, including Australian magazine; quarterly subscription, Is 3d; always vacancies, particulars stamp. Conductor, J. H. Simmons, 2 Rokeby rd., Brockley, London. [9] The 20th Century Commercial Library, over 160 books available for the use of members. Shorthand, typewriting, French, German, Spanish, and commercial books, together with copies of all English and foreign shorthand magazines. Subscription one penny per week. Splendid opportunity of studying large selections of works at a small cost. Full particulars for stamp. J. H. Simmons, 2 Rokeby rd., Brockley, London, S.E. [9] Second-hand Books, Shorthand or Phonetic, for Sale, or Exchange, or Wanted, id. per line of ten words; Miscellaneous Books, 3d. per line. For sale, Pitman's Commercial Correspondence; Ditto in shorthand; in French; in German, Is 3d each; Hall and Knight's Elementary Algebra, is 9d; Sarll's Book-keeping, 6d. Post free. All quite new. Only half cost price. F. Wickett, Ellacombe, Torquay. All as good as new, vol. 60, Phonetic Journal, complete, 2s 3d, 32 consecutive nos. of vol. 61, Is 6d, 50 odd nos. of Phonetic Journal and Weekly, 9d, or 4s the lot. Richards, shorthand teacher, Crockham hill, Edenbridge, Kent. Pitman's Manual of Phonography, post-free is 2d. James Harper, Sniperley, Durham. For sale, unbound volumes.-McEwan's Phonographic Magazine, vols. 1 and 2; Phonographer and Typist, vol. 2; Reporters' Magazine, vols. 12 and 13; National Phonographer, vol. 1; Shorthand Weekly, vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. All perfectly clean and in good condition, many uncut. What offers? F. T. Wilson, 68 Bank rd., Gt. Marton, Blackpool. For sale, Pitman's Manual, with Key, Is; Pitman's Reporter, with Key, Is 6d; Shorthand Speed Tests, 2d; High Speed in Shorthand, 4d; Phonetic Journal, vols. 60 and 61, 2s each vol.; Shorthand Weekly, vols. 20, 21, and 22, IS 4d each vol.; or what offers for any of the above? Vincent Smith, Fern Bank, Disley, nr. Stockport. Wanted to exchange Longmans' Elementary Mathematics, 2s 6d, unused, for Pitman's Pocket Dictionary, 2s. Sam Hare, Rodger's pl., The Lanes, Pudsey. For sale, the whole bound and in good condition, Uncle Tom's Cabin (Nankivell's shorthand); Reporters' Magazine, 1888 91; Pickwick Papers, vol. I (Butterworth); Pitman's Dictionary; Key to Instructor; 3 Teachers (new). Offers invited. R. J. Simpson, 1 Woodbine terrace, Hexham, Northumberland. For sale, I honetic Journals, the whole of vol. 61, almost unsoiled, and quite ready for binding. What offers? G. S. Cope, Surrey Lodge, Queen's rd., S. Norwood, London, S.E. [6] 4 Reporter's Companions, 7d each; 4 Manuals, 5d each; lot miscellaneous text-books, etc., quarter price; Harding's Edition Stenography, rare, 9d; Gurney's Stenography, cloth, splendid copy, Is 6d; several new fountain pens, Swan, Waterman, Pelican, Caw, etc., all best makes; halfprice. Repl es in Phonography preferred. G. T., 3 Warwick rd., Tyseley, Birmingham. For sale, thirteen bound volumes of Phonetic Journal, 1875-1887. What offers? F. J. Southgate, 26 Belvoir rd., St Andrew's, Bristol. For sale, third edition Pitman's Typewriter Manual, new, cost 3s. Phonetic Journals, vol. 60 complete, 61, three nos. missing; 5s 6d worth of Reporters' Magazines, good condition; what offers for all or part, carriage extra? Nusty, 10 Belle Vue, Stroud, Glos. [7] What offers? Phonetic Journal, 1902, and 1901 (3rd August to 28th Dec.), also Shorthand Weeklies 1901 and 1902. All complete and in excellent condition. Pearson, 48 St James st., Leeds. For sale. What offers? Phonetic Journals from no. 43, vol. 60, to no. 2, vol. 62; complete, clean, and perfect, unbound. C. C. Smith, 26 Burlington rd., Withington, Manchester. Wanted, Swan fountain pen, broad nib. P. Legge, S. German's, Lynn. For sale, Reporters' Journal, vols. 17 to 27, bound, and vol. 28 unbound; Phonographer, first 8 vols. bound, and vol. 9 unbound; Leaves from T. A. Reed's Note-Book, 2 vols.; Warren Hastings; Around the World in Eighty Days; Haunted Man; Sign of Four; Reed's Two Trips to India; Bible; all Easy Reporting Style. Also, Pitman's Typewriter Manual; Reed's Shorthand Writer; Tolmie's Book-keeping. Every book in excellent condition. What offers? Silence a negative. R. W. Bainbridge, 13 Larkhall sq., Stockton-on-Tees. Books! Books! Books! All in good condition, all post-free. Book Common Prayer, cloth, is; bound morocco, gilt edges, 4s 6d; Phonographic Quarterly Review, vols. 1 and 2, 2s 6d each; complete set, 4s 6d; Shorthand Magazine, by Butterworth, bound vols. Is 6d each; Pilgrim's Progress, 7d; Proverbs, 5d; Little Things of Nature, 6d; Phonographic Lecturer, 4s 6d per vol.; Phonographic Magazine, McEwan's, vol. 2, 5s; Verbatim Reporting, Oliver McEwan, is id; Tom Brown's School Days, Is; handsomely bound in red cloth, is 9d; Shorthand Punch, set of three vols., 4s 6d the set; Press Career, is 6d; Pitman's Reporters' Reading book, with longhand Key, marked for speed practice, Is; in cloth, is 6d; Reed's Reporter's Guide, Is 2d; Reed's Reporter's Vade Mecum, is 3d; Phonography adapted to French, paper, 9d; in cloth, is; Book Psalms, 6d; Pitman's Spanish Weekly, uncut, in weekly parts, 5s; also number of bound and unbound vols. of the following: Australian, Scottish Phonographer; Reporters' Magazine; Reporters' Journal; Shorthand Weekly; Shorthand Writer; Phono Typist; American World; Stenographer, and many others. Apply for full list with stamp; large number of each in stock. These books sent abroad to any part for the prices named, plus 3d extra for foreign postage. J. H. Simmons, 2 Rokeby rd., Brockley, London, S.E. [71] Educational Books, half price. List free. Holland, Holland House, Birmingham. [6] Reading practice for the forthcoming examinations, etc., 6s worth shorthand magazines, all different, post-free for Is 6d, sent abroad to any part of the world for 2s money order. J. H. Simmons, 2 Rokeby rd., Brockley, London, S.E. [13] Wanted for cash, current British postage stamps overprinted. I.R. Official, O.W. Official, R.H. Official, Board of Education, and Govt. Parcels. Used copies only are required, and for the scarcer varieties high prices will be paid. Send particulars to Robert Kerr, 81 Comely Bank av., Edinburgh. [6] For sale. Phonetic Journals for 1902, complete, unbound and in good condition. What offers? E. Robson, Redgate, Wolsingham, Durham. For sale, Phonetic Journals, 1902, Is 7d; Office Work in Shorthand, is 4d; Psalms, 8d; Reporting Hints, iod. F. Hawkins, Priory st., Dudley. SUBSCRIPTION RATES.-This Journal may be ordered through any Bookseller, Newsagen., or Railway Bookstall, or by post direct from the Publishers. The terms to all parts of the world are Is. 8d. per quarter; 3s. 3d. per half year; or 6s. 6d. per year, payable in advance. Subscriptions may commence with any number. Monthly part, 5d., post-free 7d.; terms of subscription same as above. DIARIES AND DIARISTS. T. P.'s Weekly contained the other day a page of suggestive comments and quotations on the subject of keeping diaries. The topic crops up with unfailing regularity in the early months of the year, for one of the tasks which many people set themselves on the first day of each successive January, and which a large proportion of them relinquish before the close of that month, is that of keeping a journal. Bacon's quaint remark, "In sea voyages, where there is nothing to be seen but sky and sea, men make diaries; but in land travel, wherein there is so much to be observed, they omit it," was probably truer of his time than it would be of our own. In these days there are so many facilities on board an average passenger vessel for occupying one's time that diaries are, we suspect, very seldom kept by the modern sea-voyager. Mark Twain's wellknown description in "Innocents Abroad," of some twenty or thirty gentlemen and ladies" sitting down in the evening under the swaying lamps of the dining saloon, and writing "for two or three hours diligently in their journals," could hardly be repeated concerning the travellers of our more recent ocean steamships. What with wireless telegrams, and newspapers published in mid-Atlantic, the journeyer by water is hardly more free from distractions than the business man in his office. But even Mark Twain had to write, "I doubt if there is a single pilgrim of all that host but can show a hundred fair pages of journal concerning the first twenty days' voyaging"; and he was constrained to add 66 that he was morally certain that not ten of the party could show "twenty pages of journal for the succeeding twenty thousand miles of voyaging!" The American humorist came to the conclusion that only those rare natures that are made of pluck, endurance, devotion to duty for duty's sake, and invincible determination, may hope to venture upon "so tremendous an enterprise as the keeping of a journal, and not sustain a shameful defeat." The writer in our contemporary thinks that the reason why so many young diarists fail to persevere in keeping the diaries that they commence, is that they come to feel that they have nothing to say. We believe this notion to be erroneous. At all events, the usual explanation given to account for the discontinuance of an interesting diurnal record is, that one has no time to make the entries. Unless one's life is of a stagnant type, or one's faculties for observation are extremely dull, every single day's experiences yield abundant. material for a tolerably lengthy addition to the written journal. A diary that is made up irregularly is soon discontinued: but, at the close of a busy day, there is often a short period only available for the task. Dr Johnson gave Boswell some excellent advice on the subject. “You should write down everything that you remember," he said, "for you cannot judge at first what is good or bad; and write immediately while the impression is fresh, for it will not be the same a week afterwards." To carry out this advice in its complete. ness-especially amid modern conditions of life-it is absolutely necessary to use shorthand. Hastily penned at the close of the day, the diary can then be fuller, abounding more with details, and it will better recall the past when, in later years, the eye of the writer scans the old pages anew. How many vivid and picturesque glimpses we get of the time in which Pepys lived from a perusal of his diary kept carefully in shorthand! His stenographic skill enabled him to write regularly while his impressions were fresh, and the world has been the gainer. John Byrom's diaries, kept also in shorthand, have thrown many interesting side-lights on the history of his age. It is not necessary that every man should keep a diary. There are not many diaries that merit publication. But a diary is not primarily meant for publication. Its advantages exist chiefly for the benefit of the writer, often for the writer alone. The only safe and certain way to secure those advantages is to write the diary in shorthand. We observe that advertisements occupying much space and containing many extraordinary assertions are appearing in the Australian newspapers relative to "the new shorthand." A discreet silence is observed about the authorship, but the system is that which is not altogether "new in this country, where it has long been known as "Swiftograph.' Any Australian phonographers, who wish to learn more about the new comer, should write to Bath for a copy of our review. The English Dialect Dictionary, edited by Dr Joseph Wright, Professor of Comparative Philology in the University of Oxford, will be completed, it is expected, before the end of 1905. The Dictionary will consist of about 4,600 pages, and will be contained in six volumes, four of which are completed. Mr H. E. Parkinson, who has been chairman of the Midland District of the Incorporated Society of Shorthand Teachers, and chairman of the Midland District of the National Federation of S.W.A's., has left Derby for London to take up a new position. Mr T. Gill, F.I.P.S., Lancaster, has just resigned the chairmanship of the Infirmary Workpeople's Committee, with which he has been connected for thirteen years. During the first four he acted as secretary, and did much to organize the work and put it on a satisfactory footing, while under his chairmanship there were large and progressive annual increases in the income as the result of his efforts. Mr Gill has been appointed vice-chairman. From the contract lately granted by the Government to Messrs Wyman and Sons, Ltd., for printing and publishing the reports of debates and proceedings in Parliament for the next session, it appears that the contractor may now exercise his own discretion as to the fulness of the reports given of a speech, provided that not less than one-third of its length as delivered is printed. The custom hitherto has been to report Ministers and ex-Ministers verbatim, and all other members two-thirds of their delivered addresses. Some remarks made by Judge Emden on the hearing of a case before him at the Lambeth County Court the other day, would have been quite unnecessary if business men would generally adopt the practice of taking down in shorthand the messages, or, at all events, the substance of the messages received through the telephone. "Nowadays," said His Honour, "we have three classes of evidence, verbal evidence, documentary evidence, and, much the worst of all, telephone evidence. I am strongly impressed with the fact that the telephone is a standing danger to the mercantile community.' On this pronouncement it is to be said that the one thing certain is that in view of the enormous advantages of telephonic communication, the mercantile community will not give it up. Judge Emden pointed out truly enough that it would save much litigation and annoyance if business men on receiving orders or other communications over the telephone, would at once write to their correspondents detailing what had taken place on the telephone, That course is undoubtedly desirable, and it would be materially facilitated if the shorthand record made by the man at the instrument were taken of the message before any time had elapsed to permit of uncertainty arising in the mind as to what precisely were the details of the message. TYPEWRITING NOTES. The attention of teachers and students of typewriting is specially called to the particulars of the first of a series of three competitions, open to all learners, which is given on page xi, of the wrapper of this week's Journal. The calendar issued by the Oliver Typewriter Company is of original design. The groundwork consists chiefly of mosaic, with a cleverly drawn picture of a woman holding a quill pen and evidently longing for an easier style of writing. The picture, as a whole, conveys an impression that the Oliver typewriter has brought ease to a world which is tired of the laborious work of writing with a pen. We learn from the British Trade Journal correspondent at Buenos Ayres, that "typewriting machines of all sorts and makes find readier sale than ever now that the general public has come to understand their great usefulness in the way of saving time and giving greater legibility. It is a matter of surprise, however, to find that the greater Companies are leaving the field open to be managed by agents rather than by branches of their own establishments, and this in the face of the fact that but a tithe of what is to be attained has yet been effected." This is a matter which will remedy itself in good time. There was an interesting letter in the Manchester Guardian of 20th Jan. on the subject of American business methods. We learn: " Americans are in a hurry: they will not walk when they can ride they will not write when they can have letters written by typewriters. Telephones are in office, in factory, in mansion and flat-nay, in farm and workshop; they are a necessity." It is not entirely difficult for us to understand the astonishing way in which America has come to the front in the commercial world during the past ten years, when one reads how eager the American is to take advantage of every possible means of saving time and doing work more efficiently. Mr W. J. Richardson, chairman and managing director of the Royal Bar-Lock Typewriter Co., writes: "Under Typewriting Notes,' 24th Jan., I notice that you draw attention to the remarks on typewriting in Letters on Life' by Claudius Clear. It may interest you to know that the gentleman writing under this nom de plume is Dr Robertson Nicoll. I would take the opportunity of recommending every reader of your paper to obtain a copy of the book in question, not only because there is a reference to the value of typewriting, but several other of the articles, notably that on Firing out Fools' should be read by every young man in the country." We hear that the improvements in the New Model Yost No. 10, are much appreciated, and have received the approbation of some of the highest officials in the Government service. Captain Percy Scott, of H.M.S. Terrible and Ladysmith fame, lately visited the Yost headquarters in London to see the Light Running Yost, and purchased one for his private use. He had been a user of the No. for some years. THE PEPYS BICENTENARY. PEPYS'S SHORTHAND METHODS. It was remarked in a recent issue of this Journal, that Pepys's shorthand notes are found in a good many documents, in addition to the famous "Diary," and that there are still a number of them not yet deciphered. What may be the precise literary value of these "untranslated " manuscripts I am not in a position to determine, but, in any case, their antiquarian interest can hardly fail of being considerable, and possibly their owners or custodians may ultimately see their way to giving selections from them to the public. The present would not be an altogether inappropriate time for doing so, seeing that the bicentenary of Pepys's death falls in May next. By request of Professor J. Knox Laughton, M.A., of King's College, London, secretary to the Navy Records Society, I have recently had the privilege of deciphering the shorthand draft of a letter dated May, 1674, and addressed by Pepys to a gentleman at Bristol on business connected with his department as Secretary to the Admiralty. The task though a congenial, was a troublesome one, and I undertook it with considerable hesitation, but am happy to say that I was ultimately successful, there being only some half-a-dozen characters at the precise meanings of which I could only guess. The methods which I adopted while engaged in the work of deciphering I shall explain in due course; meanwhile a few words respecting Pepys and his shorthand methods and practice may not be entirely devoid of interest. From the publication of Lord Braybrooke's edition of Pepys's Diary" in 1825 down to 1876, a period of over fifty years, it was believed that the shorthand system employed was that of Jeremiah Rich, now generally known as the Cartwright-Rich method. This assumption was based upon an unverified statement made by the editor to the effect that the cipher "greatly resembled that known by the name of Rich's system." He did not state in so many words that the system was Rich's, but left such to be inferred, and the assumption remained unquestioned during the period above indicated. It is to the late Mr John Eglington Bailey, F.S.A., of Stretford, near Manchester, that we are indebted for the discovery that the system was Thomas Shelton's, not Rich's. This he stated in a paper entitled "The Cipher of Pepys's Diary," read before the members of Manchester Literary Club, 14th Dec., 1876, and included among the printed "Transactions" of that body. It had, he said, often been a puzzle to him to reconcile the fragmentary facsimile of stenography engraved in Lord Braybrooke's edition of the Diary, with the statement of the editor that the cipher in which it was written greatly FULL-SIZE FACSIMILE OF TITLE-PAGE OF THOMAS SHELTON'S "SHORT WRITING," SECOND EDITION, 1630. resembled that known by the name of Rich's system. "This careless statement," he went on to say, "had probably been partly due to the fact that in the list of subscribers to Rich's New Testament in shorthand there appear the names of the secretary to Henry Earl of Manchester, and of Henry, the Earl's son." Though Pepys was connected with this Montagu family, Mr Bailey showed that it was not Rich's system, but the older one of Shelton with which Pepys was familiar. Some of Pepys's letters having come in his way, Mr Bailey worked out from them the key and identified it with copies of Shelton's Tachygraphy in his own collection of shorthand works. Mr Bailey's researches, with those of others of more recent date, have placed the matter beyond dispute. The system is that of Shelton, though here and there Pepys took the liberty of improving upon, or at any rate deviating from the rules laid down by his original. Shelton was the earliest shorthand author of any standing after the two Willis. His system I described in these columns some seventeen years ago, but I had not then studied it practically; besides, the edition which I then had before me was of a more recent date than the one I have recently had the privilege of inspecting, and I may be pardoned a second brief description. Respecting Shelton personally, little or nothing is known, beyond the fact that he was a teacher or "professor" of the stenographic art. He had probably been a disciple of Edmund Willis, whose methods he copied very closely, and came before the public as an author on his own account in or about the year 1620. Of his first work no copy is known to be in existence. There was a second edition enlarged in 1630, subsequent issues appearing in 1641, 1645, 1647, etc.; also other treatises illustrative of the system. In 1650, he published a new system, with an almost totally different alphabet, to which he gave the title of Zeiglographia, but with it we have no immediate concern. While executing my recent commission, I had, by favour of Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., the opportunity of consulting a copy of Shelton's 1630 edition recently added to the Library of the Phonetic Institute at Bath. It has long been an extremely scarce little work, and I examined it with no slight interest. There is a copy in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, but I am not aware that there is one in the British Museum Catalogue. It is not comprised in the Bailey Collection at Manchester, although the latter contains several of Shelton's later editions; was not shown in any of the shorthand collections in London in 1887; and would seem to be well nigh as rare as are copies of Bright's "Characterie" of 1588, and John Willis's "Spelling Characterie" of 1602. The copy in the Phonetic Institute Library is the only one at present known to be in existence outside the Bodleian Library, and, as may be assumed, I bestowed upon it a good deal of attention. It is a quaint looking little volume, strongly bound in leather, and comprises a tolerably long Dedication to "the worshipful his very worthy friend, Richard Knightley, Esq."; an address" to the Christian reader "; ten short chapters, embodying rules, directions, etc.; and several tiny pages of illustrative plates, etc. These contain the alphabet, list of double letters, marks for the beginnings and endings of words, list of contractions, arbitraries, etc., with the Lord's Prayer, Apostles' Creed, and Ten Commandments in the shorthand character. The illustrative specimens interspersed through the text had been filled in with the pen, and in several cases have become very faint. There is a quaint looking but very artistic title page, which is reproduced in facsimile on this page. The volume is, as a whole, in excellent preservation, but one or two of the plates bear evidences of wear and tear, while, being produced on thin paper, they need to be handled with the utmost care. (To be continued.) POST CARD WARNING.-The Postmaster-General desires to call attention to the fact that while in the inland service it is not forbidden to write a communication on the front of a post card, so long as the right hand half is entirely reserved for the address, this concession does not apply to post cards for any place abroad. Any communication written upon the address side of a post card for or from a place abroad will render it liable, under the regulations of the International Postal Union, to a charge on delivery equal to double the deficient postage at the letter rate. * Vide Phonetic Journal, 27th February, 1886. THE REMINGTON AT HOME. A CHAT WITH MR R. T. NICHOLSON. A memorable gathering took place in the autumn of last year of representatives of the Remington Typewriter Company, when about sixty managers from important centres in various parts of the world assembled first at New York, where an invitation was awaiting them to a delightful change of venue to Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Here they were received by Mr Clarence W. Seamans, one of the famous trio of Wyckoff, Seamans and Benedict, founders of the Remington Company. This remarkable gathering of the men of energy and business enterprise who are engaged in carrying on the great business, begun in a small way twenty years ago, met at the Mount Washington Hotel, and the occasion was to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Remington Typewriter Company. At that time, while the Conference was being held, and up to the present, a remarkable development has been in progress at the seat of the Company's works at Ilion in the State of New York, a development which is now approaching completion. It was to learn something of the present position of the Remington at home, where 1,200 employees keep the factory booming to get the world's writing done, and also something of his impressions, as one of the representatives at the Conference referred to, that we recently sought the opportunity of a chat with Mr R. T. Nicholson, the Manager for Great Britain, at the Company's headquarters, in the busy centre at 100 Gracechurch street. In the midst of the many calls which converge from all parts of the business world at this busy corner, where the Remington holds out its sign, like the old City firms of long ago, we found Mr Nicholson ready to answer the frequent calls of the telephone and at the same time ready with a cordial greeting "What can I tell you? " Something about the Remington at home, and what is being done there to meet the demand for the machine abroad," we suggested. 'Well, our trouble over here during the past year has been that we want machines; for, although we had our regular supplies, we have done a pretty large business, and it has been with the greatest difficulty that we could get anything beyond the ordinary from the factory in the States. They have, however, now been for some time working putting up additional buildings, so as to enable them to double the output. This work of extension will be finished, and the new factory completed in about six weeks' time-about the end of February. They will then be ready with a working capacity for producing 200 machines a day. They have been almost doing this for some time past, but only by means of working on day and night shifts, or rather three shifts overlapping, and the factory has never been closed for the last nine months, excepting on Sundays." "And this is an extension of the old buildings at the same spot?" Yes. The Company now owns nearly the whole of Ilion. The place has always had some celebrity in the commercial world. The old Remington gun works were there, and there are now only two manufacturing firms at Ilion, one is the Remington Typewriter Company, and the other is the successor to the old Remington gun factory, but that is a small employer of labour now, compared with the Remington Typewriter Company. Yes, industrially the Remington is everything to the place-they live on the Remington, and Ilion is to such an extent bound up with the Remington Typewriter Factory, that the majority of the boys and some of the girls, no doubt, look forward to a life-long work there. Ilion is thus in itself an interesting little industrial community, and one curious point about it is, there is only one place there that has any kind of pretension to the type of hotel. It is rather what we should call a small country inn. You see, there is no traffic with the outside world in the ordinary way apart from the factories and the needs of the community employed there. And yet, notwithstanding that fact, this inn has all the up-to-date things-its cash register, Remington typewriter, and a telegraph office is also there. With regard to the typewriter in such places, America, you know, absorbs the typewriter very much more rapidly than we do here. There, the typewriter has got much lower down to the smallest tradesman-even to the sweet shops, fish shops, and butchers. That kind of thing is coming, over here, to some extent, for we are selling typewriters now to very much smaller concerns than we did two years ago, but in the States this kind of thing has gone very much further than with us. Generally over there an Englishman is impressed by the quickness of life. People go about much more rapidly, and there is almost perpetual motion. You see it in their manner of entering street cars, and this is a characteristic of Americans in other ways." And what about the sales department in the typewriter world and the headquarters in New York?" "Well, they have very fine offices. Whole suites of floors one above another such as we cannot get in London. I have never seen such floors in any shops here as they have over there. At the headquarters of the Remington, at 327 Broadway, I suppose about thirty of our shops here would go into their first floor. It is the chief office of the Remington for the world, of course, and the sales department for New York City, and here are located on its floors the offices, executive department, sales department, supplies department, mechanical department, and the Employment Bureau, which has a very large business, for they have enormous numbers of openings. This Employment Department they work on the same lines as we do here, free of charge, though it costs the Company a pretty round sum." Our attention was then called to the following remarkable figures respecting the work of the Remington Employment Bureau in finding places for typists in the two great centres of New York and Chicago, for a period of five and a half years ending June, 1902. The records of the Remington Employment Bureau for these two centres show the following amazing figures. New York City Branch, positions found .. " 25,264 23,386 'With regard to numbers of operators, I am reminded that I saw a sight over there which, I think, you could never see in any other place. In one large room of the Western Union Telegraph Company, on one of these big floors, there were between 300 and 400 operators all working typewriters and taking down messages from the sounders. The typewriter in New York is regarded as a thing which everybody must have; here it has been regarded as a thing which may in some businesses be useful. Over there the uses of the typewriter are being extended in a remarkable manner. You will find there many big firms who started with the idea of using the typewriter for correspondence and straightforward writing matter as we do here, and they have in some cases gradually and by their own experiments convinced themselves that there was a lot of room for the typewriter in other work for which the pen has been used in the past. The loose card system and the loose leaf system are very much more in vogue there than here, where the bound book is looked upon with the utmost reverence as a thing you cannot get beyond. Although there are, of course, book machines, yet over there they would rather cut their paper according to their typewriter, and there are now a number of loose leaf systems in use, some of which we have taken up in this establishment." We were then shown an example of how at the Remington head offices the sales book is made up of typed sheets, and when the dummy file book is full, they are then taken out |
