Secretary’s Long Service As Stenotypist

Press, Volume C, Issue 29687, 4 December 1961, Page 2

Secretary’s Long Service As Stenotypist

Though stenotyping, the machine system of shorthand writing was believed to be almost unknown in the South Island, an article published recently on this page has reminded several older Christchurch women of the time soon after the First World War when a form of stenotyping was taught at a local business college. In a Christchurch office • woman secretary has been using this original method in Christchurch almost continuously since 1921. The stenotypist. Miss A. McLean, secretary to the branch managers of a city commercial organisation, yesterday showed a reporter ol •'The Press” the workings of her pioneer model machine. Although compared with its modern equivalent, the earlier model is smaller and lighter, the two machines arc worked on basically the same principles Symbols on the former however are dif ferent enough to make the reported copy almost unintelligible to one trained in the newer method. As mentioned in a previous report this pioneer form of stenotyping was taught for some years after the First World War at a local business college. There in company with a few other young women, Miss McLean took a short course in the method. 40 Years’ Work And so, on the strength of only six months’ tuition at the end of which she was able to achieve a speed of 130 words a minute Miss McLean has been able to carry out more than 40 years' work as a professional secretary in various Christchurch business firms Strangely enough, however, during this time she has rarely heard of any other such shorthand writer working in the city. 'That is apart from two giris who did carry out the method for a time here, one of whom I believe has still her machine hidden away in seme dusty old attic," she sa:d yesterday. Admitting that she was “probably about the only one left doing shorthand this way,” Miss McLean explained why she had found this comparatively little known method so valuable in her secretarial experience. Advantages “Well, first, there’s no doubt that this shorthand by machine is more accurate than the hand-written method," she said. “I’ve been able to prove this again and again over the years—particularly in the case of numbers and detailed financial statements

“Second, it is possible to reach higher speeds more rapidly. I quite well remember one girl reaching the 250 words a minute stage at the time she was .learning “Third, it is definitely easier to keep going for longer at a time without strain. Ordinary shorthand writers do naturally find taking continuous dictation more tiring.” Instances of such occasions had been when she had once been asked to report verbatim from 8.30 a.m. one day until 10 p.m. with “hardly any breaks.” On another occasion she had found herself taking down a continuous stream of rapid fire dictation for two hours “without a pause for so much as a breath,” said Miss McLean. However, the greatest advantage of stenotyping was undoubtedly its lack of intricate and involved study manuals and grammalogues. For too many young girls preparing for a commercial career this was the main stumbling block. Consequently many arrived to take up their first positions with an inadequate knowledge of shorthand. “So often I have felt it a pity that they had not been able to learn by machine as we did, instead of having to spend almost twice as long to reach a reasonable speed. Personally I do think the stenotyping. in spite of greater initial costs involved, is the only way to learn shorthand,” Miss McLean said.