THE REPORTER IN A DIFFICULTY.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10333, 29 April 1899, Page 3

THE REPORTER IN A DIFFICULTY.

A shorthand reporter told a queer story about the destruction of a court record. "I "used to do a good deal of legal work," he said, "as assistant to the regular corps, 'and a couple of years ago I was engaged to take te testimony in a case involving some big timber interests. The evidence was very important, and full of minute technical details. There was not a great deal of it, however, and the notes occupied only one book." "When the hearing was over,',*, continued the reporter, "a proposition to compromise was made, and I was - notified* not to translate my work until further orders. So I laid the notebook on the table in.my room, ■ and thought no more aboub it until one day it fell on the floor,. and the stupid servant threw it in the fire. I entered the ream just, in time to see it blazing, and when, I got it out the bottom half was reduced to cinder. The paper was, luckily, pretty thick, and the mass was unbroken. It w,as simply a bunch of blackt crumpled sheets, looking ■like iron and a hundred times more brittle than glass. . I was horrified, for I'knew that the lose of the record might mean a rehearing, costing thousands of dollars; and sure enough the very next day I got an order for the transcribing. The compromise had fallen through." "My notes had been taken in pencil, and seen at a certain angle the marks shone out from the charred pages with a metallic lustre. I-laid the book on a table and trau-. scribed the top leaf. Then with a thin knife, taking infinite pains, I gently detached and raised the sheet It was laid carefully on a tray, because I had to go back and copy the other side, and while the work was in progress I kept a handkerchief tied loosely over my mouth to prevent my breath from scattering the cinders. The doors and windows were shut tight as wax."

•, "Well, I finally finished the transcription. I believe it was the toughest job a reporter ever tackled, bub I didn t miss a word, and turned in the record in ample time. I said nothing about the particulars until nearly a year later, when the case was definitely settled, fearing that some point would be raised as to the accuracy of the notes. In fact, one of the counsel has since told mc that had he known the story he would have secured a rehearing on it"