Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 252, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 November 1917 — Stenographer on Limited Trains Has Difficult Job [ARTICLE]

Stenographer on Limited Trains Has Difficult Job

One of the most difficult stenographic jobs in the world is- said to be that of stenographer on the limited trains between New York and Chicago. A recent writer says of the work: “You have to take dictation In any old way—on your sleeve, sitting down, standing up, bending over to hear the words distinctly; in any position and on any kind of paper and at any and all times. The stuff you take down covers about every range of human endeavor and human thought. I’ve taken dictation from men in pretty nearly every profession I ever heard of —from surgeons to shoemakers. I’ve written wills for lawyers, taken down confessions from criminals handcuffed to detectives, shorthanded editorials for big New York newspaper editors, taken medical opinions for doctors, handled the correspondence of dozens of bank presidents and big financiers, written letters for men who have killed themselves twenty-four hours later, drafted, telegrams for elopers begging forgiveness—if there is any kind of stenographic work that I haven’t had a hand in since I’ve been a train stenographer, I can’t imagine what it could be.”