Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/153

* SHORTHAND. 119 SHORTHOUSE. prophet." With the benevolent intention of re- storing hurniony, he simply adds another varia- tion. And so the Pitmanic systems kept on inul- tipl.yiug, until now they number anywhere Iroiu 30 to 50, all of which, however, niaj- be under- stood by a Pitman writer with a few hours' study. The confusion was increased by the in- troduction of new systems: Lindsley's Tachy- graphy; the Gabelsberger and the Duployan (modified and renamed the Pernin), imported from Germany and France respect Iveh' ; J. G. Cross's Eclectic; G. E. JIcKee's New Rapid and Kew Standard; J. R. Gregg's Light-Line; and others less known. Of the Pitmanic systems, the Benn Pitman has a monthly for its exponent, T)ie I'hoiui- graphic Maiiuzinc, which is partly in common print and partly in sliorthand; the Graham has The students' Juiininl^ a monthly. aUo jiartly in shorthand. Beyund these and the text-books, with a few booklets for reading exercise, the American Pitman sj-stems have no literature. Of the non-Pitmanic, The Monthly Stcnog)-apher represents the Pernin, and The Gregg Writer (monthly) the Gregg system; both of these are partly in the shorthand character of their respec- tive systems, besides which thej' have publislied only their text-books. The Ti/pewriter and Phonographic World of New York, and The Stenographer of Philadelpliia. both monthlies, are cosmopolitan in their shorthand character, and are mostly in common print. The English Isaac Pitman had no propaganda in America until the branch publishing houses were 0])ened at Xew York and Toronto in 1890. The official organ of this system in the United States is Pitman's Journal, issued monthly. Shorthand iiritain. notwithstanding the vigor with which it started under Andrews. Boyle. Webster, etc. The systems that are not Pitmanic difl'er from each other as much as the}' do from the Pitmanic. The letters of the Cross Eclectic alphabet are constructed upon what the author calls the form of the 'Chirographic Ellipse.' or any ellipse in five different directions lacking the perpendicu- lar. (See Table IV. for the form of the let- ters.) His vowel scale is but partially phonetic, and he uses five positions with respect to the line of writing, both for vowels and for consonants; the vowels, being strokes, are. of coitrse. joined to the consonants. The Pernin consonants are geo- metrical and light-line, the paired letters being single and double length instead of being light and heavy, and the vowels are mostlj- connected and phonetically arranged, but the diphthongs are scantily represented. The special character- istics of the Gregg system are thus presented: "(1) Xo comptilsory tbickening. (2) Written on the slope of longhand. (.3) Position writing abolished. (4) Vowels and consonants conjoined. (5) Angles are rare." Like the Pernin. and other light-line systems, the hea'y sounds of related letters are double length. The vowels are phonetic, and four of them fully connected with the consonants ; but the remaining eight, when distinguished from the others, have dots and dashes disconnected. The alphabet shows but four diphthongs; ingenious but somewhat com- plicated expedients provide, however, for one or two more. The system is new comparatively, originating in England in 1880. whence it was transferred to America about two vears later, where it has made considerable headway since, especially in the West. The New Standard, as will be observed by the tables, is shaded like the Pitman; its vowel system is mostly phonetic, and composed of three circles of dilVerent .sizes and two ellipses, which arc also shaded and some of them accompanied by di-stinguishing dots. The words are all written on the line. This system is also comparatively new in the tield. This is necessarily but a meagre description of what may be called the 'living' systems of America at tlic present ilate (1903). New ones are constantly coming and going. In 1890 .Tulius Ensign Rockwell, with remarkable care and labor, collected shorthand statistics for the Bureau of Education at Washington ; and he found 44 dif- ferent systems taught in 1310 institutions of learning. Some extend the nunil)er of systems in actual use in America to 200: but those repre- sented in Table IV. are almost the only ones to be found doing the wcirk at the present time of our press, our courts, and our legislatures. As to the adaptation of shorthand to different languages, while all admit the truth of Gabels- berger's remark that "the honor of reducing shorthand to a system belongs especially to the English nation," yet we find a French inventor as early as U).)l — .Jaci|ues Cossard — and others a little later in other parts of Europe; but in mod- ern times the names of Duploye in France and of (Tabelsberger in Germany are watchwords in the shorthand circles of these countries. The Isaac Pitman firm has. however, adapted its system to the Spanish. French. German. Italian. Dutch, Welsh. .Japanese, Chinese, Hindustanee, and eleven other languages. The speed with which shorthand can be written is a much discussed subject. It has been made abundantly clear that shorthand can be written so as to keep pace with ordinary ptiblic speakers at a rate of from 130 to 180 words per minute. At higher rates, or in lengthened reports, it is customary for reporters to work by relays, thus relieving each other every ten or fifteen minutes; this is not only for the sake of greater accuracj', but that the press may be supplied with copy the sooner. In England, by very strict official tests of ten minutes' dictation, and requiring perfect transcripts of the 'take,' many records of from 200 to 2.i0 words a minute have been made; and it is claimed both in England and in America that these rates have been considerably surpassed, but the tests have not been equally reliable and are generally for only one minute's writing: and ex- perience has shown that statements on this sub- ject need to be taken e.um grano salis. The writer of this article acknowledges indebt- edness to Dr. J. Westby-Gibson's Bihiiograijli;/ of Shorthand (London, 1887). .Julius Ensign Rock- well's Teaching. Practice, and Literature of' Short- hand (Watihington. 1893). Isaac Pitman's History of Shorthand (London, 1884). and to the several treatises of authors referred to in the article. SHOKT'HOUSE, .To.seph Henry (18.34-1903). An English novelist, born at Birmingham. He was educated at private schools. He passed his life as a chemical manufacturer in his native city. In 1881 he became widely known for his romance. John Inglrsant (previously issued for private circulation, new ed.. New York. 190."?), which at once took a high rank among English historical novels for the l)oauty of its style and
 * ml)lisliing in America is very far behind that of