the oil, after leaving the machinery, runs into one shoot, and is collected in a distant part of the factory, where it is filtered and the waste metal and dirt taken out, and then it is started again at a higher level to go through the same operation until the oil is gradually used up." "Yes, there is a special department for experimental work in which several men are constantly employed. They have ideas fired at them from every part of the globe. Most of them are ancient and exploded, but our people always encourage the expression of ideas, no matter whether old or new. There are two or three stock ideas which are constantly turning up. One is, of course, the silent cylinder, because it is so badly wanted. But in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is to consist of a pneumatically blo vn cylinder, like the bicycle tyre. I believe myself it will be done some day, but I don't think it will be on that line. There are two fallacies about this idea. The first is that it is possible to make a perfect cylinder that is blown out, and the second is that you can get such a cylinder hard enough to give a good impression. Of course if you could get it hard enough it would be just as noisy as the regular thing is now! Still, a comparatively silent cylinder would be one of the most valuable things in the typewriter to get hold of. Remington Company have, however, had several ideas brought to them in this way from the outside which they have embodied in their machine, and have paid for them pretty well, too." The "And what is the actual output of the Remington factory?" 'They have been producing over 150 machines per day for the last eighteen months. The existing factory has a capacity for 100 machines per day and they have been working with night shifts. The extension now approaching completion will give a capacity for 200 machines per day, and this is expected to be in operation in time for the commencement of the next busy season in September and October next. In the meantime, we have been since last March in the chronic state of not being able to get machines fast enough." SOCIETY OF ARTS TYPEWRITING EXAMINATION, GRADE II. The papers given this year at the examination which took place on 1st of April were somewhat on the same lines as those set last year. Paper No. I. was a time test, and consisted in copying for 15 minutes from a printed passage, headed, "Notes on Telegraphy." The piece was rather difficult, as it contained more than an average number of long and technical words. First, Second and Third-class candidates were asked to work this test. No. II. was a Theory paper, which is dealt with below. The questions were marked A, B and C for First, Second and Third-class candidates respectively. No. III. consisted in typing the allotted letters in businesslike form, and composing appropriate replies embodying the draft particulars stated. In this paper Third-class candidates were asked to write a letter of application for a situation referred to in a given advertisement. The second question of this paper, which both First and Second-class candidates had to work, was as follows: AB (2) Sellers: J. Brodie & Sons, Heaton, Newcastle-on-Tyne. We have recently been entrusted with an important contract for a large supply of Army Blankets, and are inviting tenders for a supply of raw material from some of the leading houses in the wholesale wool trade. We send you herewith a list specifying the quantity required of each class of goods, and shall be much obliged by a quotation of your lowest price for the said goods delivered free at our works. We beg to draw your special attention to the conditions relating to the date of delivery, as this is a very essential point. Kindly send us two samples of each class quoted for. Awaiting the favour of an early reply. Answer. Have pleasure in handing estimate and samples for various classes gds mentioned. Doubtless aware Wool Market in unsettled state, therefore have to allow reasonable margin in view of possible disturbances in present rates: however, very low figure quoted: not slightest fear re del. at date specified. No. IV. was an affidavit in very readable manuscript, which had to be typed by those trying for First and Secondclass certificates. No. V. consisted of a page of fairly easy manuscript, containing some tabular matter, which offered no special difficulty to any candidate of ordinary ability. First and Second-class candidates were required to work this. No. VI., only to be worked by First-class candidates, was a manuscript containing several columns of figures, and would be easily done by any typist of ordinary ability, especially those who had tabular attachments on their machines No. VII., for Third-class candidates only, was a printed table, and was quite as difficult to type properly as any of the papers given for First-class candidates. Strange to say, this was the only paper which required ruling up in red ink, with the exception of the Account Sale No. 2 in the Theory paper. No. VIII. was a draft letter for Third-class candidates only, which contained misspellings and abbreviations. We give below the working of the more important parts of the Theory paper. No. II. THEORY PAPER. A (1) Punctuate, capitalize and paragraph the given passage: (description of George Stephenson and Chat Moss). (This paper offered no difficulty to the candidate with a fair education and an average knowledge of punctuation and paragraphing, such as is acquired from ordinary general reading.) A B (2) (This paper, although given under the head of Theory, was a practical paper. An Account Sale had to be typed in commercial form from printed matter. unnecessary for us to reproduce it here.) A B (3) Explain the meaning of the following: It is Marine Insurance Policy Mate's Receipt (for cargo) Wharf tons register to Bombay, Pretoria, Durban, Ottawa, and Auckland, NZ. To all other places abroad the postage is 24d. per halfounce, and the cost of letters weighing 1 oz. would be 5d. to each of the following places: Bordeaux, Bergen, Munich, Sydney (N.S. W.). Prague, Chicago, and Moscow) A B (6) If coin be enclosed in a letter, what should be done? What is the limit of compensation, if any, in the event of loss? (Letters containing coin should be handed over the counter at a post office to be registered, for which a charge of 2d. is made. If posted without registration, they are subject to compulsory registration, and are charged on delivery with a fee of 4d., in addition to the ordinary postage. The compensation given in respect of loss or damage of coin does not exceed the sum of £2, whatever be the amount of coin contained in the letter.) BC (7) Indicate the best division of the following words: conclusions officiating registration sufficient subsequent productions satisfaction questions ordinary objections respectively prorogation occasioned suspension transmission necessary recognizance schedule (This question should present no difficulty to candidates exercising care and judgment.) C (8) To what causes would you attribute failure to obtain perfect letterpress copies ? (If the operator fails to moisten the pages of the copying book exactly to the right degree, bad copies will result. Insufficient moisture will not produce readable copies, and too much moisture is usually responsible for bad copies, inasmuch as it smudges the writing.) C (9) Correct errors in spelling where necessary in the given words: sanguinary synonim contrarywise unbiased inconsistency supercede bankruptcy dilapidated fatiguing inditement accumulate prohibitary embarrasment regrettable proceedure (Candidates with a fairly good education should find no difficulty in correctly spelling these words) SHORTHAND AND SELF-CULTURE. BY ALEXANDER PATERSON, F.J I. The immense value of shorthand to literary aspirants is not yet sufficiently understood. By the term literary aspirants" we do not mean merely those who are looking forward to literary or even journalistic careers, but include all who are endeavouring to make up for the deficiencies of their early education, or who are bent upon the acquisition of knowledge for its own sake. A practical acquaintance with this art may not, it is true, be literature in the conventional sense of that term. It will not make a man a thinker if he has never thought before, neither will it develop ideas in a mind hitherto barren, but it will constitute an admirable mental discipline, and may, at the same time, prove the means of drawing out and developing powers that had hitherto remained dormant. Even those who have only a limited amount of spare time at their disposal may do a great deal in the way of study and reading, by working diligently according to a pre-arranged system, while every time-saving aid within their reach ought to be turned to practical account. And among the numerous aids to study that have been devised no one has been found to be more valuable than shorthand. Curiously enough, this art is but rarely recommended as a desirable branch of study by those mentors who, through the correspondence columns of newspapers, magazines, and other periodical publications, essay the task of giving gratuitous counsel to young literary aspirants. On the contrary, it is by many of them, to outward seeming at all events, studiously ignored, and when questions are asked respecting it they are answered in a perfunctory and half indifferent manner. Yet a practical acquaintance with this art is of infinitely more value to the young student than all the hints to mechanical verse makers and budding poetlings that were ever penned. Some months ago the writer took the liberty of writing to the editor of a widely circulated, well-known, and admirably conducted weekly serial, which makes its correspondence column a prominent feature, calling attention to this omission, and urging the importance of shorthand as a branch of study. Although he neither asked nor anticipated a reply, one appeared a week or two later, and it was to the following effect: "You must remember that, in advising our readers we confine ourselves to answering their questions. If they ask about shorthand we give them the best assistance in our power, but very few of them do ask about it. We quite agree with you as to its advantages." Now we have no right to criticise an editor outside his own publication unless permission to do so there has been refused, but we may take the liberty of saying this much, that though the question may not often be put directly, many of the answers have shown that it must often have been asked indirectly when correspondents have inquired in general terms how they might study to the greatest possible advantage. The same publication only the other week, in a biographical notice of one of the heads of an important London publishing firm, who had begun life as a railway porter, noted the fact that shorthand had proved the lever which lifted him out of his early humble rut; and that is only one among many illustrations of the value of shorthand to young men while carrying on the work of self instruction. Most of our periodical publications, however, fight shy of it, although they are profuse in their advice with respect to other subjects and the books which students ought to read, etc. This is good as far as it goes, but something needs to be told as to how they are to study and how to read to the best possible advantage; and such can only be done by one who knows shorthand, and is able to turn his knowledge to practical account. Those who enjoy the advantages of regular University training know how important it is to be able to take tolerably full notes of the lectures delivered to them by their professors in class. It is not many of them, unfortunately, who know anything of shorthand, but those who do enjoy exceptional advantages over their fellows. Cases are on record of students who could write shorthand with facility carrying off the bulk of the prizes solely or mainly in virtue of that accomplishment. Others might be naturally more brilliant, but their longhand notes were imperfect and, as a consequence, the results were less satisfactory. And if shorthand is so valuable to those who are prosecuting regular courses of study, of how much greater importance must it be to those young aspirants whom we may designate the irregular and undisciplined forces? Take the case of a young man who has to work at some mechanical calling, and has only his evenings which he can utilize for purposes of study and reading. He is, we shall say, learning a language, but cannot, like the regular student, commit his lesson to memory at a sitting. By means of shorthand, however, he may in few moments memorize it in a small note-book, or on a slip of paper, in such a form that he can next day, while engaged in his ordinary avocations, con the notes over so as to make them his own, and that without neglecting his duty or sacrificing any of the time which properly belongs to his employer. Time is thus saved which can be devoted to reading or the storing of his mind in other ways with useful knowledge. use. This brings us to the question of a commonplace book, which every one who aspires to becoming well informed ought to possess, and not merely possess but systematically When books are merely hurriedly perused and then cast aside without a single note being made, the reading is of very little use. Not merely should notes be made of passages worth preserving, or which one may be able at some future time to turn to account, but a brief summary of the book should be preserved for future reference, and as an aid to the memory. This is, of course, on the assumption that the volume is worth reading, for if not the hours devoted to its perusal constitute so much time wasted. One should always read with a pencil in his hand and a slip of paper by his side in order to indicate the passages that are worth preserving. Then, when the reading has been finished, those passages should be neatly copied in ink into the commonplace book, and the summary of the work written in another book specially kept for the purpose. If the entries have to be made in longhand the task speedily becomes a drudgery, and is often either shirked or done in an incomplete and perfunctory manner, but if in shorthand it is an agreeable and expeditious pastime. Then for purposes of ready reference the manuscript volume should be indexed when full, and this also, if shorthand is used, will be an agreeable and expeditious task. The commonplace book need not be reserved for the results of reading alone. Every one ought to cultivate the habit of going about with both eyes and ears open. Much knowledge can in this way be gleaned which, if stored up, may at some future time prove invaluable. A single item of information may not amount to much in itself, but in conjunction with other items, similarly gathered, they may together be worked up into a complete whole, and therefore it is important that they be made a note of." Of course, we must not be understood as recommending that one, when he is told something on the street should ostentatiously take out his pocket book and write it down, but he ought to keep it in his mind-memorize it so to speak-until he has the opportunity of jotting it down privately. So with the results of thought and observation. Floating ideas based upon thought and observation ought to be impounded at once, or the next moment they may have gone for ever. Those which are worth preserving should be entered in the commonplace book, when the rough pencil notes may be destroyed, permanency being thus secured. But though shorthand may not be literature, and a familiarity with it standing by itself will not contribute greatly to one's stock of ideas, its study and practice constitute an admirable mental discipline, while among those who take it up many soon begin to develop the latent literary instinct. This has become so obvious that in the columns of this Journal, at any rate, it is unnecessary to enlarge upon it. Had the late Sir Isaac Pitman's labours gone no further than stimulating young men to study as a result of their learning shorthand, he would still have been what he unquestionably is, one of the most successful educationists of the Nineteenth century. There are thousands to-day occupying important and responsible positions in connection with literature, science, and art, who would never have emerged from their early obscure surroundings but for the stimulus which they received as the indirect result of their becoming practical phonographers. The value of the art to the medical profession has already been abundantly tested, and when its importance as a branch of knowledge comes to be properly recognised, it will be one of the first subjects recommended to the favourable notice of the young literary aspirant. BOOK-KEEPING EXAMINATION PAPERS. No. 55. ELEMENTARY. realize 60% 55 16 negotiated, ex Bad, £49 O nil On the 31st March, 1903, Henry Walker opened his books with the following balances — L. Brand rent to Lady Day Find and credit his capital. On open accounts 2496 acceptances bankers for overdraft ΙΟ 375 O 70 O O pected to rank against the estate 105 O £4217 O Lease of premises o Office furniture Cash Surrender value of life policy, £720 Held as security . for loans £650 Surplus value 70 0 0 2210 18 £4217 O 54 IO 26 5 Reuniéronse1o ayer en la calle de San Simplicio, número 4, los obreros del arte de imprimir". Presídió el compañero Palau y actuaron12 del secretarios los compañeros Ferré y Falcé. En la reunión se14 trató de14 la situación administrativa y económica de la socledad y se expusieron los medios para mejorarla. Reanudóse1 otra vez15 ayer el Congreso de toneleros 16, Se aprobó una proposición encaminada á fusionar las secciones de Barcelona, Sans y San Martin. El Congreso acordó que con fondos de la Federación se18 socorrals á unos toneleros de Valencia que han estado en huelga1. Acordóse también que las sesiones del Congreso duren les mismas horas que se trabajase diariamente en el oficio. Así mismo acordóse apoyar á los toneleros de la sección de Torrente que están en huelga. Respecto de los recelos de algunos periódicos relativo al efecto que demuestran los obreros de La Línea y Gibraltar á los ingleses, esplicanlo aquellos diciendo que se trata solamente de una demostración de cariño á la nación amiga, el cual mantienen, sin amortiguar el amor á la patria.—Diario Mercantil. 10 re-united themselves, assembled, met; 11 printing; 12 recorded the proceedings; 13 (in the capacity) of, as; 14..14 were dealt with; 15..15 resumed its session; 16 coopers; 17 put upon the road, leading, tending; 18, 18 help should be given; 19 strike; 20 to favour; 21 apprehensions; 22 kindly feeling; 23 causing to die, weakening. FRENCH. 76. PRODUCTION DU TRUST DE L'ACIER. Au cours du dernier exercice', qui s'est2 clos2 le 31 mars, a Compagnie de l'Acier a extrait 13.326.705 t de minerai3 des exploitations qu'elle possède dans les conglomérats de Missabe (6,3 millions), de Menomenee (1,9), de Vermillion (1.87), de Gogebie (1,81), de Marquette (1,3), tous situés aux abords1 du lac Supérieur. L'extraction pour tous les Etats-Unis était des 27 millions 1/2 de tonnes. Le Syndicat de l'Acier extrait donc lui-même près de la moitié du minerai de fer produit. Il ne donne pas sa production houillère", mais il a fabriqué lui-même dans ses fours spéciaux 9079.142 t de coke. Rien n'est indiqué quant à la production des corpss fondants, mais c'est là un point assez secondaire. 13 Les hauts fourneaux chargés de ce minerai et de ce coke ont rendu, à1o la coulée1o, 7.152.121t de fonte, ce qui décèle11 une haute teneur1: le spiegel entre dans ce rendement15 pour 134.064 t et le ferro-manganèse pour 56.514 t. C'est à peu près 45 0/0 de la production totale de la fonte aux EtatsUnis qui est de 15 878.354 t. En France, nos hauts fourneaux ne donnent que 2 700.000 t de fonte, soit un tiers environ de la puissance du Syndicat américain. duction anglaise est de 8.959 700 t, et celle de l'Allemagne de 8.520.000 t. La pro Le trust n'est pas en mesure1o de se donner toute la fonte dont il a besoin; il reste encore tributaire19 du19 dehors. Témoin le chiffre de la production de ses billots d'acier qui atteint 9 034 580 t, soit les 2/3 de la production américaine qui est de 13 369.613 t. C'est six fois la production de la France (1.465 071), deux fois la production anglaise (4 850.000), une fois et demie la production allemande (6 394 222). L'acier Bessemer est toujours prédominant, dans la proportion du triple au simple (6.262 202); mais les aciers Martin gagnent du terrain, qu'il s'agisse du2 procédé acide ou du procédé basique 2.772.378 t).—Revue Industrielle. 1 financial year; 2, 2 terminated; 3 ore; 4 upper borders; 5 (one) of; 6 coal; 7 furnaces; 8, 8 castings; 9, 9 blast furnaces; 10..10 at the flowing, on tapping; 11 discloses, reveals, indicates; 12 tenor, continuance, rate of production; 13 speculum metal; 14 enters, figures; 15 output; 16 cast metal ; 17 control; 18 a position; 19, 19 under obligation to; 20 (the) witness (is); 21 blocks, ingots; 22..22 of three to one; 23, 23 ground; 24..24 whether it is a question of, whether we have regard to. ENGLISH VERSION OF LAST WEEK'S EXERCISE. GERMAN. During the past twelve months the expenditure of the Southern Pacific was not so favourable in proportion to the gross receipts as in the case of most of the other undertakings. There is also no obvious reason for the higher working expenses of the Southern Pacific, apart from the high price of coal and the necessity for improving the permanent way, etc. As for what concerns the material for firing, what is gained from the oil fields in Texas and also in California will, to all appearance, put the Company in a position to obtain the necessary supply of energy as cheaply as the other lines which lie nearer to the coalfields. But quite apart from the question of material for firing, this Company ought to work more economically than the other systems, as the traffic on their line is considerably greater than that on the other lines. As it is expected that the Company will in future appear on the list of dividend payers owing to the liberation of their profits as a consequence of raising further capital, the price of the shares has now risen to nearly 80 per 100 stock. This is indeed "discounting" the future to a considerable extent.-Berliner Finanz-und Handels-Zeitung. MARKING INK.-Mr George Vickers, Angel court, 172 Strand, London, W.C., the well-known ink manufacturer, sends us a specimen bottle of his new Vickers Marking Ink. This ink is sent out in bottles priced from 6d. upwards, with penholder and nib complete, and is a limpid fluid which is used exactly like ordinary ink. From a trial we find that it writes a jet black, is absolutely indelible, and is more satisfactory in use than many of the marking ink preparations on the market The hard, yellow substance that supplies us with the richest and most costly means of adornment, and by which people all over the world measure their wealth, easily holds its place as the first among metals. The precious mineral has given its name to much that is of the first merit in human affairs, and the time of the greatest glory in the life of every nation is known as its Golden Age. There are few who do not in some fashion or other worship the Golden Calf, but then has not Johnson well said that there is no occupation in which men are so innocently employed as in making money-provided, of course, that they observe the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would be done by." The metal which is of such great value has been extracted from the earth from the very earliest times of which we have any historical account, and is found in nuggets or dust in many regions of the I wor'd. At home it has been found in trifling quantities in Wales and Ireland, but gold mining is carried on with great success in Australia, South Africa, and of late years in the Yukon region of Canada. When gold is found at any village or town, the place grows as if by magic into a great and populous city. The Golden City of America, just at the time when the precious metal was found in 1848, consisted of twenty-six huts; but in a year's time the hollow on which the city is partly built was closely packed with countless houses, and the hills around were covered with the tents of the miners. On every side buildings of every kind were being put up, and goods of all sorts were piled high in the open air for want of a place in which to store them. (To be continued ) |