SHORTHAND FROM AN EDUCATIONAL STANDPOINT.

A passage quoted in a recent number of this Journal from an important blue book lately issued by the Board of Education, is worthy of the attention of all who are interested in shorthand as an educational subject. After noting that at the commercial schools which have come into existence in connection with the Evening Continuation School movement, book-keeping and shorthand appear to be far more popular and successful than all the other subjects taught, and that a greater proportion of students in these two subjects attend the classes regularly than in most other subjects, the question is raised as to the proper place of shorthand and book-keeping in education. It is suggested that, being of a technical character, they are naturally more in place in an evening than in a day school. This is a somewhat crude way of putting it. As regards book. keeping, the matter is simple. A good grounding in arithmetic is unquestionably necessary as a preliminary to such a study. When that grounding has been secured, book-keeping may very well be taken up. It may be taken in the "advanced" day school, if it can be conveniently included without detriment to other subjects forming part of that sound general education which is indispensable for everybody. As regards most students, the evening class is the more convenient arrangement. The essential thing is that the learner should have a tolerably good grasp of figures before he attempts to master the modern art of recording the financial side of business transactions.

When we come to the subject of shorthand the question is rather more complicated. As is pointed

out in the blue book, some teachers urge the claims of this subject to a place in the ordinary school on the ground that it affords a training in phonetics, and leads to an increase of vocabulary. Both results are eminently desirable, and Phonography is peculiarly adapted to promote those results. If educationists and others would realize that the utilization of shorthand for the two purposes mentioned is quite a different thing from the task of producing "shorthand writers" able, on leaving the elementary school, to earn a living at once by means of shorthand, much of the difference of opinion that exists as to the advisability of introducing shorthand into the ordinary school curriculum would speedily disappear. So many other things beside shorthand go to the making of a successful shorthand writer, that if shorthand cannot be introduced without involving the sacrifice of any other branch of knowledge essential to a sound general education, it had better be delayed until fundamental subjects have been mastered. But it is not easy to see that any delay is absolutely necessary if only so much knowledge of shorthand is imparted as will give that assistance to the understanding of the language, and that intimate acquaintance with words, which a clear grasp of the phonetic basis of speech alone can supply. Such a training need not involve any very great demand upon the school time, or lead to the neglect of any ordinary and necessary subject of school instruction. The special training that will make a good shorthand writer will come fitly enough afterwards. The two objects of a training in shorthand must not be confounded or mistaken the one for the other.

Another point made in the report is that a student who wishes to become a successful shorthand writer is compelled to exert a great amount of concentrated effort. The subject is one upon which concentration of attention is indispensable, and its pursuit is, therefore, eminently calculated to develop a valuable habit of concentration. In this respect it is contrasted with some other subjects taught in the Evening Continuation Schools. Of Elementary Science, for instance, it is remarked that concentrated attention is scarcely demanded by students at all. Shorthand thoroughly studied is a useful instrument of mental discipline, and mental discipline is as important a part of education as the acquisition of various kinds of knowledge. Some day, possibly, educational experts will arrive at an agreement as to the order in which the many studies that the civilized man and woman is expected to master shall be taken up. It is safe to say that no satisfactory conclusion can be come to on the point by those who have not the knowledge or the insight to understand the two-fold functions of phonographic shorthand—that of affording a desirable kind of mental training, and that of furnishing a needed method of recording speech with rapidity.

Professor F. J. Candy writes to mention that the Rev. C. H. E. Wyche was a Cambridge student, and not an Oxford student, as stated in our notice of Mr J. G. Alger (page 764). Mr Wyche was at Cambridge with Professor Candy.

The directors of the Brierley Hill Technical School and Art Classes have issued an attractive syllabus for the session just commenced. Instruction in book-keeping and office routine is given by Mr Frank Dudley, who has arranged a very practical course of instruction.

The annual report of the Board of Education for 1902 shows that the evening schools inspected numbered 5,198. After the elementary subjects and needlework, comes shorthand, taught to 54,206 scholars, and lower down in the list of subjects, book-keeping to 32,283 scholars.

The principal of Botton's High School of Commerce, International Exchange, Edmund street, Birmingham, issues a prospectus on distinctly novel lines, with some pages of straight talk for the would-be student, thus: "Strike out for usefulness and prosperity; leave laziness and poverty to the drones!" and thus, "You are not crammed with useless, theoretical knowledge, but trained on a strictly practical basis."

Mr W. Hore (teacher's diploma) desires to notify that he has removed to 128 Braybrooke road, Hastings. Mr Hore conducts a class for elementary students at the above address on Monday evenings from 7.45 to 9, and on Tuesday evenings for advanced students at the same hour. He also receives and visits pupils for private tuition, and attends scholastic establishments. Mr Hore's teaching experience extends over sixteen years.

Commercial education in the City of London is developing under the auspices of the Council of the London Chamber of Commerce. Following up the desire to be abreast of the times, it is proposed to institute classes for the study of Chinese, Japanese, and Hausa. With the establishment of the Trans-Siberian Railway, China is a country full of possibilities for commerce. Hausa is the language of the Soudan, and we are now opening up Africa from the Cape to Cairo for business purposes.

Mr T. J. Schollick, Borough Coroner of Guildford, who has just resigned after having held the post for a quarter of a century, has the distinction of being the only coroner who regularly used Pitman's Shorthand for the purpose of taking the depositions at inquests. The length of inquiries was thus considerably shortened, and in the comparatively small proportion of cases in which longband depositions were required for prosecuting purposes, Mr Schollick made a neat typewritten copy of the testimony of the witnesses, which was signed by them in the usual way.

Prospectuses have reached us of the Gravesend, Northfleet, and Dartford Technical Schools, furnishing full information relative to the excellent facilities for advanced education which have been arranged by the local authorities of the places mentioned, acting under the regulations of the Board of Education. Mr. A. E. Bennett, Principal of the North Kent School of Shorthand, takes the typewriting and shorthand instruction at the first two places, and Mr H. M. Knight, accountant and auditor, is the book-keeping instructor at all three. The courses are excellently arranged to secure the most practical results, and local students would do well to avail themselves of the facilities afforded.

the writing machine has afforded him an unique opportunity of ascertaining the requirements of employers, has associated with him in the conduct of the school as chief assistant, Mr Thomas Nelson, F.Inc.S.T., and a thoroughly qualified staff. In addition to shorthand, typewriting, book-keeping, and business training, a legal course is provided, which is specially adapted for those students who are preparing for law offices. A full syllabus is given of the above subjects, from which it is obvious that thoroughly up-to-date methods are adopted in every department of the school's work. Full particulars of examination results are included, and they are of a character of which any school might be proud. No student sent up by the school failed, there were many high speed certificates gained, and the distinctions included two silver and one bronze medal.

TYPEWRITING NOTES.

All the important speeches of King Edward are typewritten beforehand. The typewritten sheets of His Majesty's addresses are exceedingly small—measuring only five inches by three and a half-so that they can be easily fingered while he is speaking. In order that there may be as few of them as possible, he has them typewritten on both sides of the paper.

We note from the monthly journal of the Liverpool Y.M C.A., Mount Pleasant, that the educational classes are now recognised by the Liverpool Education Authority. It will not be a very easy matter, however, for a prospective student to attach himself to the typewriting class. In connection with about a score of other subjects there are no restrictions similar to the following:

Students joining the Typewriting Class must have obtained a Certificate in Shorthand for 60 words a minute, and attended a Y.M.C.A. Class at the least, one session previously; also a Certificate for Commercial English; or in lieu of the latter must be attending the Commercial English class this season. They must also attend one other Commercial subject this season. Why should the would-be typist be expected to serve a sort of apprenticeship to the Y.M.C.A. before he is allowed to enter the typewriting class?

Tidings of a typewriting romance in real life come from Philadelphia. Mr William H. Gross, the well-known Massachusetts millionaire, has married Miss Katharina Tobey, a member of a New England family, which had recently met with reverses. Not wishing to be a burden to her relatives, Miss Tobey acquired great skill on the typewriter and then went to Paris, where she hit upon the idea of starting in business as a typist to rich Americans. She became private secretary to several American millionaires.

The Underwood, which has been often spoken of as a likely newcomer, is at last to justify these predictions by coming on the English market; the Monarch, the Secretary, and one or two other machines, are also promised by the Americans.

Advertising for September had an article on "Competition," in the course of which the following remarks are made:— "When the Remington typewriter was the only machine on the English market—it had a practical monopoly for some years, and has reaped, and reaps to-day, considerable advantages from the fact-the first form taken by competition was the invention of several cheap and light machines, designed to imitate, at a low price, some of the characteristics of the big twenty-guinea Remington machine. The Merritt typewriter, at three guineas, was one of the most successful. It wrote just as well as a Remington, and duplicated, if anything, better, as it had no ribbon. The only fault about it was that it was very much slower than the Remington machine. For many people it constituted an effective alternative. But neither this nor any other of the cheap typewriters ever did the business of the Remington Company any harm. On the contrary, they did good, because the British public

at that time knew very little about typewriters, and the cheap machines served as educators. People tried them, became accustomed to typewriter work, wanted something better, and eventually purchased Remingtons."

There is an idea abroad that the makers of the standard typewriters feel the competition of cheap machines. They do and they do not. The sale of a standard machine is often for the time prevented by the sale of a cheap machine, but only for the time. There is no better friend of the standard machines than a man who has been through the experience of using a cheap machine. In the long run, the cheap machines educate the public to the advantages of using a well made, up-to-date instrument.

Several London papers have recently been giving space to correspondence in regard to the fact that typewriters are charged for by the railway companies, whether carried by the passenger or not. This is apparently news to a good many people, but the charge has been in force for some years past. Mr A. H. Tyler was the first contributor to the correspondence in a letter written to the Daily Mail, and published in the issue for 21st Sept. :-"I was much surprised the other day on arriving at Liverpool Street Station with a typewriter in my hand to be asked for a ticket for it. Having none, I was asked to pay sixpence. I asked for explanation, and I was informed that the company were entitled to charge for any luggage that did not come under the description of wearing apparel.' A reference to the company's time-table confirmed this extraordinary rule."'

The charge is now regularly made by the railway companies, but we doubt if it is legal. We believe that the typewriter companies have never made a test case of the charge, and now that typewriters are so often carried by passengers, it is high time they did. For ourselves, we see no reason why, if typewriters bear a charge, fountain pens should not, or for that matter, note-books and pencils, since they are not wearing apparel. Will not some of the typewriter companies take the matter up? Obviously a private individual cannot do so, for the cost of carrying a test action through to the House of Lords-which is always a contingency to be reckoned with in dealing with the railway companies-would be prohibitive.

The charge made by railway companies for typewriters is evidently of public interest, for the press has taken the matter up warmly, references having been made to it by the Daily Mail, the Morning Leader, and the Manchester Guardian, among other newspapers.

The Oliver typewriter was shown at the recent Grocery, Provision, Oil and Italian Warehouse Trades' Exhibition (better known as the Groceries) at the Agricultural Hall, London.

CIVIL SERVICE NOTES.

BY A CIVIL SERVANT.

The Assistants of Excise examination on 5th November75 vacancies will be held in the following towns:- London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Flymouth, Portsmouth, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, and Londonderry. The examination fee is £1, and the limits of age 19-22.

The latest date for receiving applications to enter the examination (which must be on the form supplied by the Civil Service Commissioners, London, W.) is 22nd October, and the subjects and maximum marks are handwriting (400); English composition including orthography, essay and préciswriting (600); arithmetic, elementary (400); arithmetic, higher, including mensuration, square and cube root and logarithms (400); geography, general (400).

Any student who can obtain the nomination of a director will do well to turn his attention to the examination which will take place in January next for Clerkships in the Bank of Ireland. The age limits are 17-23 and the salary £60 to £250, with prospects of promotion. The annual increment is £8 to £100, and the prospects are good, all promotions to managers, etc., being very properly made from the ranks. The staff numbers about 550, and in the head office in Dublin there are 186 clerks to 16 "staff" appointments. The branch managers are better paid than Civil Service officials the manager at Cork draws £1,000, while Bandon, Clonmel, and Omagh are paid £400 per annum each. The subjects are handwriting, orthography, arithmetic, bookkeeping, English history and geography, and algebra to quadratics. This bank has the same status in Ireland as the Bank of England has on the other side of the Channel. INC. SOCIETY OF SHORTHAND TEACHERS.

MIDLAND DISTRICT.

The next meeting of the Midland district will be held in the Pitman Hotel, Corporation street, Birmingham, on Saturday, 17th Oct., when the chair will be taken at 4 p.m. by Mr J. Hart, F.Inc. S.T. (Atherstone), and a lecture on Phonographic Curiosities "will be given by Mr M. J. Marks, F.I.P.S. (Birmingham). After tea, a musical and social evening has been kindly arranged by Mr F. H. Elkington, A.Inc.S.T. (Birmingham). A hearty invitation is extended to the Midland District of the I.P.S. and to the Birmingham S.W.A. Copies of the program may be had from the Dist. Sec., Mr W. H. Lord, 59 Halkin st., Leicester. YORKSHIRE DISTRICT.

The quarterly meeting of the Yorkshire District was held on 19th Sept. at the Leeds Institute, Cookridge street.

A paper entitled "Text-books and Practice in Book-keeping and Business " was read by Mr A. Walker (Leeds). He complained that the majority of text-books did not deal with the many practical difficulties of actual work. In many cases too much attention was given to journalizing. He thought young students should be kept longer at elementary work, instead of being taken on to advanced work which they might never require in business. The exercises in the text-books should be more practical, and greater detail should be given in the transactions. A discussion on the paper was opened by Mr D. Webster (Morley), who stated that the ideal text-book on book-keeping was impossible; the subject was so comprehensive and varied in practice that it was impossible to go into every detail. Mr A. Fieldhouse (Huddersfield) pointed out that a text-book must fulfil two purposes: first, it should deal with the practical side of the subject as far as possible, and secondly, it must deal with the theoretical aspect and examinations, and until the syllabuses of the various examining bodies were reformed, the text-books could not be reformed.

Miss K. Pickard (Bradford) gave an instructive criticism lesson on the double-length principle of Phonography, and a discussion followed.

The Secretary announced that in accordance with a resolution passed at the last general meeting, a recommendation had been forwarded to the West Riding County Council suggesting a modification in the shorthand syllabus for evening classes, so that in the first stage pupils should only be taken to the double-length principle in the " Manual," and in the second stage they should get a thorough knowledge of the "Manual," the third stage being devoted to the acquisition of the Reporting Style and speed practice. Four new members had been admitted during the quarter. It was decided to hold the next meeting in Leeds.

READING NATIONS.-Recent statistics have shown that Germany heads the list as a reading nation, and Russia is falling to zero. In 1893, 23,607 books were published in Germany, as compared with 8,082 in Russia. În regard to newspapers, the inhabitants of the British Isles are catered for by somewhere like 5,000 journals, while Russia, with a population of 130,000,000, has only 800. The figures are easily accounted for by the censorship. In Germany the actual number of professional writers is estimated at 12,000, of which number 400 are poets. In behalf of France the assertion is made that she provides the international literature, inasmuch as half the copies of French novels printed are exported, while two-thirds of her historic and scientific works also cross the frontier.

PITMAN'S METROPOLITAN SCHOOL.

THE OPENING OF THE WINTER SEASON. On Tuesday, the 4th of August, after a vacation of three weeks, during which the entire premises were renovated and reorganized, the School resumed in all departments, most of the students taking their holidays during this break, as a consequence of which the attendance from the resumption has been notably high. Each day has seen an appreciable increase in the numbers. Two new instruction rooms have just been opened capable of accommodating 120 more students, giving a total capacity now of nearly 1,700. Frequently in the past months-particularly in April and May, when preparation for the various public examinations was in full swing-the simultaneous attendance has exceeded 1,200. Facilities are given for tuition in every branch of commercial knowledge, the curriculum being arranged on a system that meets the needs and suits the convenience of all. The thoroughness of the tuition afforded is indicated in two ways. By the success achieved in examinations and the excellent positions held by ex-students, of whom there must now be over 25,000 engaged in business in all parts of the world.

The staff now numbers 70, the majority of whom are in constant attendance day and evening. Thirty of these devote their attention exclusively to shorthand instruction, and the six speed rooms, which are continuously in session from 10 to 9 daily, are each provided with separate reader and expert shorthand instructor.

In May and June last Mr De Bear, the Principal, paid a second visit to the United States for the purpose of studying commercial education in America and of applying the best of the methods adopted there to Pitman's Metropolitan School. His journey in the States covered more than 4,000 miles, in the course of which he visited 20 of the principal cities, and was everywhere kindly received and afforded complete facilities for inspecting and studying the latest ideas in commercial training. Already the visit has borne fruit in the Metropolitan School in the adoption of several new ideas in connection with the most up-to-date time-saving appliances.

Remarkable results were once more achieved in connection with all the public examinations, the total number of awards -prizes, medals, and certificates-being far in excess of the previous best record of the School. Among the most notable successes may be mentioned the 7 medals gained in shorthand, typewriting, German, English, and précis-writing. Three of these prizes were in connection with the first place in the kingdom. A total of 91 first-class certificates were obtained at these examinations, and the pass lists showed over 97 per cent. of successes. At the London Chamber of Commerce and National Union of Teachers' Examinations similar results were achieved. A most noteworthy accomplishment was that which resulted in the winning of all three medals at the London Phonetic S.W.A's. examination, this being the sixth successive year that the School has carried off the whole of the prizes. It is intended to celebrate these gratifying results at a public reunion and concert in the autumn, most probably at the Queen's Hall, when no doubt the School will be once more honoured by the presence of distinguished public men. In past years among those figuring prominently in the proceedings were the Lord Mayor of London, the late Lord Herschell, the late Lord Chief Justice of England, the present Lord Chief Justice (Lord Alverstone), Lord Wolseley, Lord Reay, Sir Albert Rollit, Dr Macnamara, Sir W. J. Collins, etc.

Since the important step was taken in 1902 of making the employment department absolutely free of any charge to either employer or employed, the popularity of this section of the School has increased to a remarkable extent. Every year the School has at its disposal between 1,500 and 2,000 positions, and two of the most important banks in London have given an open invitation to the Principal of the School to send any qualified students whom he can recommend.

The City Press, in a recent article on the School's work, referred to " the important influence the School exercises in

the world of education, and the great services it renders to the country through those who owe to it their business qualifications."

In connection with the Shorthand Section, the customary special training in verbatim reporting practice has just commenced, in association with which a series of valuable awards in the shape of money prizes, medals, and certificates are offered. Full information relative to the course may be obtained from the Secretary, Pitman's Metropolitan School, Southampton row, London, W.C. The following is the list of lectures for the preliminary course:

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IV. MISCELLANEOUS TERMS (CONTInued). Corpus.-This Latin word is extensively in use by lawyers, and has in legal speech more meanings than one. It is employed in its literal sense of "body" in the familiar term Habeas Corpus, the name of a writ by which the physical presence or the body of the person named in it can be compelled to be brought before the court. But it is used every day in a metaphorical sense. Thus, in the administration of an estate, questions often arise which are referred to as questions whether a certain payment ought to be made out of corpus or out of income, or whether a certain liability should be borne by corpus or not. The beginner in the office will be puzzled by references dictated to him to the corpus of a fund, the corpus of an estate, and so on. In all these instances the word is employed in very much the sense in which an accountant uses the word capital. The body as it were, of an estate is the total property of all kinds of which that estate consists as distinguished from the income that it produces. The corpus or body of a fund is the fund itself apart from any interest, dividends, or other income yielded by the fund. When income is directed to be accumulated and added to the fund whence it arises, the additions, or "accretions" made in this way are described as additions to corpus.

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Del Credere Agent.-Agents are engaged on various terms, different forms of arrangement prevailing in different businesses as between the principals who manufacture or produce the goods sold and the agents who sell them. One method which exists in certain businesses is often referred to in legal correspondence and otherwise among lawyers as a del credere agency. An ordinary agent does not make himself responsible for the purchase money of the goods sold: he finds purchasers for them, sometimes sees that the goods are sent to the purchasers, though that need not be any part of his business as agent, and leaves the principal to bear any loss if a purchaser should fail or neglect to pay. A del credere agent, on the other hand, makes himself personally responsible for all the goods that he sells. If there is any loss through the bankruptcy of the purchaser or through his inability to pay, the loss falls not on the principal but on the agent.