indefatigable in their efforts to secure the enjoyment of those present. They were ably assisted by the following gentlemen who acted as stewards: Messrs. J. W. Elliott, J. Halliday, J. Henderson, L. Nixon, J. Stewardson, and W. A. Storr. The music was under the direction of Mr Robert Christie, and the refreshments were supplied by Mr John Wilson of the City Family Temperance Hotel, Clayton street, east.

OPENSHAW, GORTON AND BRADFORD MECHANICS' INSTITUTION. From Mr A. E. Townend Hinchcliffe.-I am very pleased to say that the shorthand classes which are conducted by me at the above institution, and which re-commenced for the winter session in September last, have, during the quarter ending December 19th, been attended exceedingly well. There are now 100 pupils on the books for these classes, and an average attendance of eighty-five, as compared with about fifty last year. Several of the scholars have succeeded in obtaining the certificate of proficiency. This is very gratifying, when the fact that the successful pupils are in nearly every case of the artizan class is taken into consideration. It is a source of pleasure to me to look back on the progress which Phonography has made in this district. Two years ago shorthand classes were comparatively unknown. In fact, previous to my commencing the classes at this institution in September, 1886, no classes had been conducted in this neighborhood. The directors of the institution, in their report for last session, in referring to the then newlyformed shorthand classes, stated they were the most successful classes held at that institute, and since then the attendance has nearly doubled. This augurs well for Phonography in the future, and shows that parents and scholars are not slow in finding out the many advantages which are to be derived from a knowledge of Phonography. It is also pleasing to note that those pupils who were trudging along in the "Teacher" at the commencement of last session are now in the more advanced classes, and preparing for the various examinations which are to be held in this neighborhood. Every inducement is tendered to the scholars to prosecute their labors, prizes being given for good attendance and also for competition in the various classes. The school examinations will be held in March, and a report will appear in the Phonetic Journal in due course. At the distribution of prizes to the successful students in September last, Mr Ryder, one of the directors of the institution, whilst speaking on education generally, advised all to learn shorthand, and pointed out the value of it to all who were desirous of getting on in the world. In this he was supported by other gentlemen on the platform. During the quarter just ended the following classes have been held :-Beginners, Manual," Easy and Advanced Reporting. The classes are open to all, the fee being 2s. 6d. for the whole session. Further information may be had on applying at the institute, Pottery lane, Openshaw; or, on receipt of post-card addressed to me at Openshaw, I shall be glad to give intending pupils any other particulars required.

"

ROCHDALE. From Mr Howarth, 52 Milkstone road.-At the beginning of May last I commenced a shorthand class in connection with the improvement class belonging to the Hallfold Sunday school, Whitworth, a village some three miles from Rochdale. Twenty-four pupils entered. The class has been held during the summer months, and finished in the early part of November. At the last lesson there were sixteen pupils.

On the 5th of December an examination was held, at which fourteen pupils were examined. The examiner was Mr Edward Fitton, of Rochdale, certified teacher of the art. On Monday night, 19th Dec., the pupils again met for the purpose of hearing the report, and also of receiving the prizes. The first prize was a New Testament in Phonography, and the second the " Reporters' Companiou," This is the first public class that has been held in Whitworth, and, considering the size of the village, the result is gratifying. I have had public classes in Rochdale for the last three years.

SHEFFIELD SCHOOL BOARD. From Mr A. Davis, 18 Bedford street, Sheffield. -My shorthand classes in connection with the Central Higher School evening classes have just completed a most successful term. The autumn term commenced on September 12th, and opened with 84 students, which were classified as follows:Elementary class, 51; intermediate and advanced class, 33. In the elementary class the average attendance as compared with number on register has been 83, and in the intermediate and advanced class 86. The advanced class is composed largely of students who have attended during previous sessions, and who will, no doubt, make very successful shorthand writers. On Monday evening, Dec. 19th, the students and their friends met for tea in The Friends' Schools, Heartshead, which was followed by an entertainment. Mr J. E. Taylor, M.B., Principal of the Central Higher School, presided. In the report, which was read by the teacher, it was shown that the classes were in a flourishing condition. Since their commencement, in September, 1883, 15 students had been successful in obtain

ing the Phonetic Society's certificate of proficiency; upwards of 40 had joined private classes, of which 16 had taken certificates, and 11 others were waiting an examination early in the new year. Mr Taylor then presented the prizes, kindly offered for competition by Mr J. F. Moss, to the following successful students :---F. Bray, H. France, J. W. Gill, and C. Woodhead. In doing so he gave them some words of council as a stimulus to future work. The entertainment was of a high-class character, and a most enjoyable evening was spent, which will, no doubt, tend to make the classes more widely known.

TORONTO, Canada.-A class consisting of nineteen members has been started in this city under the auspices of the Y.M.C.A., and meets twice a week in one of the class-rooms of the association's new building. The class is in charge of Mr Thomas McGillicuddy, Stenographer to the Ontario Bureau of Industries, and the Isaac Pitman system is taught in its purity. The new edition of the "Teacher" is found to be very useful as the text-book, and the instructor is hopeful to turn out some fair writers. It is worthy of notice that nearly all the shorthand classes in Toronto are instructed in the English system of Phonography.

WATERINGBURY, Kent. From Mr D. Kingston, The Schools. -Phonography is not yet taught in this school as a class subject, but a pupil teacher is learning it, and some of the older boys are working at it for themselves. I have a free class on Monday evenings; from 7.30 to 9.30, at the Wateringbury Working Men's Club and Institute, which is open to all the members of the club. There are about a dozen at present in the class, in various stages of the "Teacher" and the " Manual."

NEW MEMBERS OF THE PHONETIC SOCIETY. The members of this Society (except honorary members, marked* or *) correct the lessons of learners, through the post, gratuitously. A blank form for admission to the Society will be supplied on application to the Secretary, Eizak Pitman, Bath.

Ashley W. L., 35 Barford road, Dudley road, Birmingham
Axford Walter J., Cecil road, Clarendon park, near Leicester
Bennet John C., Swinton, Duns, Scotland
Bonavia Edgar L., G.P.O., Malta
Cann A. E., 20 Treville street, Plymouth
Elliott George, Ripley college, near Derby
Engerer H. W., Palazzo Parisio, Malta
Etchingham James, Blackwater, co. Wexford

Freeman A. Allyne, 14 Bennett street, Handsworth, Birmingham
Gibson Walter J., Red Rock, near Wigan

Graham T., 2 Adelaide place, Wynn street, Birmingham
Ilett Charles A., 4 Trafalgar road, South Shore, Blackpool
Jones Thomas, 19 Railway terrace, Resolven, near Neath, Glam.
Joynes Wm., 10 Bank street, Coleford, Glos.

Lloyd A. C., Clent house, Trafalgar road, Moseley, Birmingham
Magowan Richard, 15 Cranbury avenue, Southampton

Major George, Moorthorpe Station, South Kirkby, Pontefract
Marks M. J., 93 Balsall heath road, Birmingham

McErlean Robert, 6 Lower Wilton street, Belfast

Morgan T. Oliver, 2 Myrtle villas, Ashfield, near Ross, Herefordshire Ogdon Robert, St Mary's gate, Wirksworth

Rose Rimmington, Hoyland Common, near Barnsley

Rutherford James, care of Mr G. Rutherford, 4 Lovaine crescent, Newcastle-on-Tyne

Scott R., 45 Reform street, Beith, Ayrshire

Shepherd Thomas, care of Mr R. Johnson, joiner, Bishopthorpe, York
Smith Charles H., 90 High street, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent
Smith Henry Oram, 115 Broadway, New York City, U.S.A.
Tuckfield Frederick W., Cynon house, Hirwain, near Aberdare
Turville E. E., 122 Clifton road, Aston, Birmingham
Vahland Otto, 13 Barbican, Plymouth

The Phonetic Journal.

SATURDAY, 21st JANUARY, 1888.

CORRESPONDENCE IN SHORTHAND.

Most of our readers know by experience how useful Phonography has proved itself to be for the purposes of private correspondence. Letters of all kinds pass daily between phonographers in all parts of the country-indeed, in all parts of the world. Whether it be the every-day gossip of ordinary life, the serious reflections of the grave and sober-minded, the chatty narrative of a recent visit to the play, or the critical discussion of the latest notable literary work, that forms the subject of the letter, the phonographer knows full well that his "hieroglyphics" will be as legible and as intelligible to his phonographic correspondent as if the epistle were written in longhand. Having this art at his finger-ends, he is able to write more frequently and more fully, while his expenditure of time is vastly less. Thoughts and fancies sometimes succeed one another so quickly when one is writing, that the most sparkling of them are often lost before the ordinary penman can set them down on paper. The shorthand writer is able to seize these fugitive visitors as they pass; and thus his friendly correspondence with his fellow-phonographers represents faithfully his impressions at the moment of writing. With all these advantages flowing from the use of shorthand, the phonographer naturally feels irritated when some friend, ignorant of the mystic art, displays that anxiety which many people show, for long and frequent letters. The wisest course, and in the interest of the friend himself, the kindest course, to take, is for the phonographer, firmly and courteously to decline to send lengthy letters, except in Phonography. People who desire to get from friendly correspondence the greatest benefit that it can confer, will find it well worth their while to master the art, even though they may have no prospect of using it for any other purposes. As a fact they will find it useful in many other ways.

Apropos of correspondence in shorthand, we think the time is ripe for an extension of the practice to business life. There are, of course, very many business letters which could not be sent out of an office in shorthand. In many businesses a letter has to pass through several hands; and unless it was absolutely certain that everybody who had to read it could read shorthand, the fact of its being written in stenography would cause a waste instead of a saving of time. Letters of which duplicates are made by the ordinary copying process in use in mercantile offices, could not safely be written in Phonography, for obvious reasons. Yet there are many letters of a more or less formal character, letters that are not of the very greatest importance, but which occupy as much time in writing as the really important epistles. Why should not these be written in Phonography? The very universality of Phonography makes this practicable. prevalence of one system instead of a score, is desirable, if for no other reason, because it multiplies the use of shorthand-makes it available in a thousand ways that would be impossible if each man's shorthand were unintelligible to his fellow shorthand writer. What is possible in private correspondence is equally possible in business correspondence. All that is necessary is that business houses willing to encourage the plan, should have printed or lithographed on their note-paper, either in ordinary type or in phonographic characters, the intimation "correspondence received in Phonography." If the plan were adopted by a few leading firms, we are confident that it would spread rapidly. 3

The

The monthly meeting of the Shorthand Society was held on Jan. 4th at 55 Chancery lane, E.C.; Mr W. H. Gurney-Salter, the president, in the chair. The Hon. J. C. St. Clair was elected a Fellow. Mr A. J. Cook read a paper on "Shorthand Clerks," pointing out the advantages of employing shorthand in offices as a means of saving time. Mr Alfred M. Browne read the first part of a paper on "Shorthand for General Use," which contained nothing about shorthand for general use, but was simply an attack on Phonography. At the next meeting, Mr H. Richter will read a paper on the Gabelsberger system, as used in Germany.

We have prepared a new and enlarged edition of the "Persuasive to the Study and Practice of Phonography." It contains 32 pages, in an attractive tinted cover, printed in red and green. This little book will be found very useful to teachers for distribution, and there is a blank space at the back of the cover in which terms, etc., can be printed. Seventeen pages are occupied with a description of the system and its uses, and fifteen pages are filled with "Press Opinions" on Phonography, and a list of over 500 schools and public institutions where it is taught.

A young man, 20 years of age, writes, in beautiful and accurate Phonography, from Brighton:-"Reading in the Phonetic Journal of this week that a new edition of the 'Manual' is in type and that you have been sending copies of the same to teachers and secretaries of shorthand associations, I, though not a paid teacher, have been as industrious a worker in the cause as my spare time will permit. I have conducted examinations of Phonography at the Connaught Institute Night School for working men in this town, and therefore have an interest in the book, to see the new features which I presume it will contain. I am myself getting "old phonographic hand," having taught myself with your books, without the aid of personal instruction, and was fortunate enough to gain your certificate when I was seventeen years of age, three years ago. My shorthand has been the means of raising me from an ordinary clerk to secretary to a well-known London journalist. These are facts which I know will be as gratifying to you as they are to me; though of course I do not desire they should appear in print over my name and address."

an

The Shorthand Weekly News has been greatly improved by a change in size. It is now demy quarto, a far more convenient size for reading and binding. It may be supposed that the quantity of reading matter is reduced, but this is not the case, for the number of pages being doubled the amount of matter remains the same. Its eight pages are filled with interesting matter from all sources, and the reader is sure to find something to interest him in its numerous and varied columns. This periodical is a credit to phonographic journalism, and we heartily wish it long life and success.

The editor of Cassell's Family Magazine has started in connection with that magazine what he calls an "Amateur Free University," a full account of which will be found in the December number of the magazine. The Literary Course is divided into three sections, English composition, foreign languages, and special subjects, one of which is Shorthand Reporting. A course of work is laid down for each month, and in the January number shorthand forms one of the special subjects. A prize of one guinea is offered for the best work in each section, while certificates of merit will be awarded to all whose work is of the requisite standard. The conditions of the shorthand portion are as follows:-"Report a speech or sermon (verbatim) by any preacher or speaker in your locality; state the time occupied in delivering (which should not exceed forty minutes); and secure the certificate of the speaker as to accuracy of the report as transcribed from your shorthand MS."

We are sorry to find that a mis-quotation from the Standard has crept into some phonographic tracts and circulars. The words are that Phonography is "rapidly superseding all other systems." The extract should read thus: The system "has so many clients that a sort of impression prevails among laymen that it has superseded all others." The mistake was made by the clerk who drew up the extracts.

ECHOES OF THE CONGRESS.
By T. A. REED.

The opening meeting of the Congress over, everything having passed off satisfactorily, I had little doubt as to the future gatherings, but I confess that I hardly expected to find that the Conferences from day to day would be as well attended as they were. I have seen many Congresses opened with a good deal of spirit, and continued with languor and diminished interest. I did not anticipate such a result in our own case, but it would not have been surprising, considering the manifold attractions of the metropolis, if many of the members had absented themselves from some of the Conferences. We had, however, the pleasure of seeing nearly all the meetings well attended, and the interest well sustained.

It was a great satisfaction to us on Tuesday morning to find that the papers were full of our Monday night's proceedings. Lord Rosebery's speech was given in full in the Times (two reporters having attended to report it), and the other speeches were also given at reasonable length, the entire report occupying three or four columns. The reports in the other papers were not so full, but they were well and satisfactorily done. The Scotch papers also had long and special reports of Lord Rosebery's speech; and most of the principal country journals were supplied with reports through the news agencies. I may add, as a detail of some interest, that the Times reporter, Mr Bannerman, who attended throughout the meetings, and gave such admirable reports, is an excellent phonographer, and was himself a member of the Congress and a subscriber to its funds: he was, therefore, able to throw something more than a professional interest into his work. The reporters for the other papers were, I think, nearly all phonographers, but not members of the Congress. One of these gentlemen was quite at a loss to imagine what there could be to discuss at a Shorthand Congress, but before it was ended he frankly confessed that he found himself fairly drawn into the stream with the rest, and taking a lively interest in the proceedings. All the reporters were, at an early period of the meetings, invited to consider themselves visitors to the Congress, and to take part in the discussions on the various papers read-an invitation which one or two of them accepted. While speaking of the reporting, I may as well mention that the official notes for the Transactions were taken by the writers of three systems-Pitman, Gurney, and Taylor. This was arranged designedly. It was thought inexpedient that any one system should be used exclusively, the gathering being a cosmopolitan one, to which the writers of all systems were invited. phonographers engaged were members of my own staff; the Gurney writer being attached to the staff of Mr Gurney-Salter ; and the Taylor writer to the staff of Mr H. H. Tolcher, one of the very active members of the committee. Their note-taking was, as might be expected, watched with great interest by the foreign members, who had perhaps never before had an opportunity of seeing a practical application of the English "geometrical methods.'

The

The chair was taken on Tuesday, according to arrangement, by Mr Gurney-Salter. No fitter chairman could have been chosen for a Conference on "Parliamentary Reporting in all Countries" than the shorthand writer to the English Houses of Parliament. In his brief opening remarks, he disclaimed any special knowledge of Parliamentary newspaper reporting, and explained that he was simply responsible for the reporting in Parliamentary Committees, where, as is well known, a great deal of evidence is taken in shorthand, and transcribed and printed from day to day for the use of the parties concerned, and of the members of the committees. The first paper read was one on the subject of "Hansard's Debates," by Mr G. M. Bussy. It was interesting as far as it went, but was incomplete and disappointing as a history of Hansard. I had hoped that we should have a full account of the publication itself, and some details as to the arrangements made for reporting the speeches for this celebrated official Parliamentary record. It seems to have been established by the father of the present proprietor in 1803. It had for many years a very limited circulation, chiefly among members of Parliament, the subscription for each Session being eight, nine, or ten guineas. It had, I believe, no staff of its own (Mr Bussy is silent on this point), being compiled partly

from the reports in the newspapers, and partly from manuscript speeches supplied by the members themselves. The most important speeches were given very fully; but great complaints were made, especially in later days, of the incompleteness of the reports of proceedings when the House was "in committee," and also of speeches delivered after twelve or one o'clock in the morning; the cause of this obviously being that only very brief reports of these speeches appeared in the newspapers, from which the publication was compiled. There was, some years ago, a Parliamentary inquiry on the subject, when the question was seriously discussed whether there ought not to be a verbatim official report of the Parliamentary debates, as in France and other countries. It was ultimately decided that this was not desirable, and that the best plan to adopt would be to subsidize "Hansard," so as to enable it not only to continue its ordinary reports taken from the papers, but to engage a special corps of reporters to take the proceedings in committee, and report all speeches delivered at too late an hour to get reported in the usual channels. Mr Hansard now receives from the Treasury a subsidy of £500 for each of his volumes, eight or ten of which appear every year-last year, owing to the length of the Session, the number being twelve. Mr Bussy makes arrangements with some of the Parliamentary reporters engaged on the newspapers to assist him at the times when special notes have to be taken, and he also has a small permanent staff of his own. But a great deal of "Hansard" is still compiled in the old way. An unrevised edition, Mr Bussy tells us, is now prepared, and is in the hands of the members within a few days after the debate which it records. No special report, it appears, is taken of the debates in the House of Lords.

"Shorthand in the Imperial Parliament" formed the title of the next paper read at the Congress, the authors being Mr J. Hecksher and Mr Thompson Cooper. Every shorthand writer is interested in the "Gallery," which, to the imagination of the youthful reporter, is surrounded by a mystic halo, and is, as I think I have said before, the euthanasia of his professional ambition. Its traditions are almost sacred, and I am half afraid to say that I am sceptical as to the historical accuracy of not a few of them. The next generation will have better data than any that can now be found in the "Gallery" archives. Some seven years ago, the authors tell us, the "Gallery" began to keep careful minutes of their proceedings. Former committees, it seems, left no record of their work, and from this fact the authors draw the conclusion, surely hardly justified, that “ apart from the facts in the recollection of gentlemen still occupied in reporting Parliamentary debates, there is no material for compiling a complete history of the growth of reporting in the Parliament of this realm.' Mr Thompson Cooper is, I believe, an habitué of the British Museum, where the material in question, if not adequate, is abundant. The paper contains little as to the long struggle made to secure the privilege of reporting Parliamentary debates, but this has often been recorded, and the authors took it for granted that most of the members of the Congress were familiar with it. They content themselves with reminding us that, down to 1871, any member of the House could, at his mere will and pleasure, cause the reporters to be ejected, by simply informing the Speaker that he "espied strangers.' The reporters bore their expulsion with great equanimity, and, we are told, spent many a pleasant evening on such occasions at a hostelry now no longer existing in the New Palace yard.

The House itself probably resented this treatment of the Press more keenly than the reporters themselves. It often prevented the publication of fervid eloquence seeking a channel of distribution through the "Gallery ;" and it was consequently resolved in 1871 that for the future "strangers" should only be excluded after a motion put from the chair, without debate, and carried by a majority. Note-taking is still strictly prohibited out of the "Reporters' Gallery." I remember, however, many years ago being permitted, together with my old partner, Mr Woodward, as a special favor, to have a small writing table in the passage immediately at the back of the Strangers' Gallery, where a good speaker could be heard without much difficulty. It was on the occasion of the introduction of a Budget, and we had undertaken to report the speech of the

Chancellor of the Exchequer for a country newspaper. All the seats in the Reporters' Gallery were occupied, but by an appeal to high quarters we had this unusual permission granted to us. Physically, but perhaps not technically, we were in the Strangers' Gallery itself. The attendants, I believe, were instructed not to see us at any rate we accomplished our task to our own satisfaction. It was certainly a contravention of established usages, and what the result would have been if a Parliamentary Committee had been appointed to inquire into the occurrence, I cannot even conjecture. The Reporters' Gallery, although it has been enlarged, is now greatly over-crowded, owing chiefly to the fact that many of the principal provincial newspapers have succeeded in obtaining permission for their own staff of reporters. The authors of the paper lament the accession of what they call "encroaching reporters," such as writers of descriptive London letters and leader writers, whose presence tends to "exclude those reporters who are waiting to relieve their colleagues in front, and who are left to shift for themselves as well as they can." Even Reuter's agency, it appears, has "to take a back seat.' The number of tickets of admission issued is 230, and 73 newspapers and news agencies are represented. The Times has 18; the Standard 12; the Morning Advertiser 14; the Morning Post 11; the Daily Telegraph 13; the Daily News II. Most of the tickets are non-transferable, 19 only being transferable. It is interesting to know that a Gallery Library was formed about five years ago, its nucleus being supplied by a gift of 400 volumes from Mr Macintyre, of the Daily Telegraph. It is increased every year by means of donations and a Gallery Fund, to which the members of the "Gallery" subscribe half-acrown every Session, Hansard's Debates and the Blue Books being furnished gratis. A good deal of interesting information is given in the paper with regard to the "turns" of the reporters and the arrangements for transcribing. These have often been described in the pages of the Journal, and need not be repeated. The principal new item is, perhaps, the statement that one of the ante-rooms is now appropriated to The Times telephones, of which six are in use. (To be continued.)

[First Staje ov the Spelling Reform.] JURNALISTIK NOTES.

Mr Thomas Latimer, who died at Exeter on the 5th ov Januari at the ripe aje ov 84, woz probabli the oldest and sertenli one of the most famus ov provinshial jurnalists. Praktikalli speaking, the founder ov the Western Times publisht at Exeter, komménst hiz kareer on the pres there at the beginning ov 1827, and from that time til about a munth before hiz deth-a period ov almost sixti-one yearz-he pursued hiz jurnalistik laborz, a probabli unparalleld rekord ov newzpaper wurk. Hiz trenchant style ov writing obtaind for him the designashon ov "the Cobbet ov the West," and the Liberal kauz haz had no more konsistent and powerful champion from the long period anterior to the Reform Bil ov 1832 down to the elekshon ov 1886. Hiz kareer may be truli termd an eventful one, and had he left eni autobiografi, it wud hav been a vivashus histori ov the politikal and soshial progres ov the past two jenerashonz by a most konspikuous worker. Mr Latimer pozést a remarkabel memori, and woz wel acquainted with French and Jerman literature.

A few detailz about Mr Latimer'z jurnalistik wurk wil hay an espeshial interest for readerz ov theze "Notes." Born in Bristol, and apprentist in erli life to a London printer, he in 1827 bekame reporter to the Devonshire Chronicle publisht at Exeter. After filling uther appointments on the pres in that siti and in Plymouth, he bekame in 1831 sub-editor ov the Western Times, and from having the manajement bekame the proprietor. In this exsiting politikal period he put forth hiz powerz az a reporter, and being the onli shorthand writer in the kounti woz abel to produse reports far superior to thoze ov kontemporari jurnalists. Mrs Latimer lernd hiz sistem ov shorthand, and being a quick transkriber, he divided hiz notes ov a speech with her, and they wer konsequentli abel to turn out " kopi" with much despatch. In 1835 Mr Latimer reported Lord John Russell at the Devonshire hustingz. Charles Dickens had kum down for the Morning Chronicle, and stood alongside ov him. Az Lord John woz so

klear a speaker, Mrs Latimer transkribed her huzband'z note ov the speech, and the joint report woz skand by the report ov Charles Dickens, and stood the test. Mr Latimer made the Western Times a daili paper in 1866, and the last artikel he diktated for it woz publisht on the 9th ov Desember last.

Both kongratulashon and depreshiashon hav, az woz to be expekted, markt the sentenari ov The Times, the New Year'z Day number ov which bore interesting testimoni to the event. An entertaining artikel woz kompiled, founded on extrakts from the first issue ov The Times, while the semi-humorus prospektus ov the first John Walter woz re-publisht. From this dokument it appearz that the "hedz or, which the kondukter undertook to enlighten hiz readerz wer the following:-Literari, politikal, kommershial, filosofikal, kritikal, theatrikal, fashonabel, humorus, witti. Each ov theze departments woz to be "supplied with a kompetent share ov intellekts for the pursuit ov their several funkshonz." But neither The Times nor eni uther daily newzpaper ov the prezent day kuverz this wide field. Where ar the literari, filosofikal, and the humorus kontribushonz to be found in our morning newzpaperz ? Literari kontribushonz, pure and simpel, ar ov rare okurrens in the kolumz ov the pres, and humorus kontribushonz stil more rare. But there iz an exsepshon to this statement, for not veri long sins several essayz appeard in The Times which wer both humorus and literari, and ar said to hav been from the pen ov Mr James Payn.

In one department ov jurnalistik effort The Times haz from the first displayd konspikuous enterprize, in which rival jurnalz hav not yet been abel to approach it, nameli, in the exsellens, fulnes, and latenes ov its Parliamentari and uther reports. The reader ov The Times haz onli to watch its reports ov the debates during the Parliamentari seshon to bekum acquainted with the fakt that the reports konklude with the time at which the sittingz ended. This in meni instansez iz so klose upon the hour at which the paper must be printed, that the promptitude with which the wurk iz dun iz pozitivli wunderful. A senturi ago, however, when fasilitiz for rapid printing wer komparativli unknown, The Times woz abel to kall attenshon, with justifiabel pride, to the superioriti ov its parliamentari reports over thoze ov its kontemporariz. Without shorthand reporterz and without steam mashineri, it woz then abel to publish five kolumz by six o'klok in the morning, tho the Hous did not break up til past two o'klok. The following hav been the editorz ov The Times for the last seventi yearz:-Thomas Barnes, 1817; John Thaddeus Delane, 1841; Thomas Chenery, 1877; George Earle Buckle, 1884.

The Newcastle morning daili paperz kan now be obtaind in London at 8.15 a.m., being six hourz sooner than uzhual.

LONGHAND CONTRACTIONS.

One of the results of the late Shorthand Congress was the appointment of a Committee to draw up a list of contractions to be used in writing for the Press. The following reasons given by the Committee show the need of such a list :

"A large proportion of ordinary composition consists, as is well known, of the same words occurring over and over again. For these words reporters habitually use contractions of which literary men have not as yet had the advantage. From comparisons between the quantities of manuscript which can be produced by fast writers with and without reporters' contractions, it would appear that the saving in time thus attainable amounts to from 20 to 30 per cent.

"It appears that much inconvenience is caused by the varying and inconsistent contractions of different writers for the Press. One writer, for example, uses a contraction for "the" (t) which another uses for "that;" "fr," which some writers use for "from," is often read and printed as "for;" the "sh," which some use for "shall," is often mistaken for "should;" and longer words, such as "different and "difficult" (dift), are occasionally confused in the same way. These errors give trouble to authors and printers, and sometimes escape detection altogether until after publication.

"Having obtained lists of the contractions in general use in