The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1911)

50 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. PROGRESS OF THE DICTAPHONE. E. D. Easton, President of the Columbia Phonograph Co., Gen'!., Gives Some Interesting Facts Regarding the Development of That Successful Office Appliance — How the Dictaphone Has Facilitated the Work of the Official Reporters of the House of Representatives— The Great Saving That Has Resulted. In an informal chat witli E. D. Easton, president of the Columbia Phonograph Co., General, Tribune building, New York, a representative of The Talking Machine World learned many interesting facts regarding the progress of the Dictaphone as a money, time and labor-saving machine. "The graphophone," said Mr. Easton, "has been used constantly since 1889 for stenographic purposes and has become almost indispensable to those who make a business of reporting proceedings of courts, conventions, investigating commissions, legislative bodies and other public hearings of which a verbatim record is required. I am in a position to know just how valuable the graphophone is to the busy Senate reporter, for instance, having served as an amanuensis in the Senate in 1875-76 and as a sub-reporter in the House of Representatives at Washington in 1888. At that time I was the only one of the five reporters on duty to use the graphophone exclusively, and it saved me many hours' time while the other reporters were compelled to labor far in'o the night. "The present-day 'Dictaphone,' " continued Mr. Easton, "is the direct descendant of the machine I used in 1888. The fundamental principles being the same, with the addition of modern improvements and later-day inventions necessitated by increased service demanded of the machine. "A splendid illustration of the saving of time and money effected by the use of the Dictaphone may be had in the reports of the debates of the United States House of Representatives and Senate. In both of these bodies there is a corps of expert stenographers, one of whom is always on the floor of the chamber when in session. The work of reporting proceedings is divided among these corps in such a way that each reporter is engaged in taking notes of proceedings for a lim ited time only. He then retires and another reporter takes his place on the floor, while the first distates the notes he has taken. This alternation of reporters is kept up throughout the day's session, as it is essential that a printed report of proceedings shall be on the desk of every member or Senator at the beginning of the next day's session. Under the old system, the official reporters, on retiring from the chamber, would dictate their notes to a staff of stenographic amanuenses, passing from one amanuensis to another in order to distribute the work iSystema'ically and insure quick delivery of transcripts. In the House of Representatives each reporter employed his own steno graphic amanuensis, and each one of them had two or three such employes to maintain. In the Senate the amanuensis staff was general, six or eight such employes being engaged during each session. When the dictation machine was introduced the amanuensis force was immediately cut in half, as it was found that one typist working from a dictation machine could produce as much copy per hour as two stenographic amanuenses writing from shorthand notes. This meant an immense saving to the official reporters in salaries of amanuenses. But a feature which they appreciated almost, if not quite, as much as the pa}Toll economy, was that within oue hour after the adjournment of the chamber for the day, the transcript of the day's proceedings was complete, tints permitting the official reporters to close their day's work several hours earlier than they had been able to do under the ©Id system." WAS HEA CRANK ? A man who buys quite a lot of hardware for his country home, went into a retail store in New York and asked for a half-dozen steel hooks. The young woman at the silver counter whom he addressed, said : "If you will go back, someone will wait on you." . He "went back," and stopped and waited. A half-grown boy sat at a desk, looking over a slip of paper. He neither moved, nor looked up. A young man sat at another desk, talking earnestly with a caller. He made no move, nor did that other clerk who was doing up a bundle, nor did another who was studying a slip in his hand. The customer — or rather the man who wanted to be one — stood for two minutes and waited, says the Hardware Dealers' Magazine. Then he went back to the girl. "Mr. Blank don't seem to be in to-day," he ssid. in reference to the proprietor. "He's upstairs," said the girl. . "It looks so," said the man. The girl went on dusting one of her cases. "I 'went back,' " he said, "but no one seems in a trading mood to-day." "Yes?" said the girl. Then she called out: "Robert?" No answer. "Mr. Brown?" Dead silence in the store. "I don't know what is the matter with them," she said, with a sigh. "I do," said the man. And he left the store. Just plain punctuality is an asset which pays a heavy dividend in social favor and business advancement right from the start and raises the percentage of returns from year to year. The Wade Fibre Needle Cutter At Last!! The Simplest, Cheapest and most Perfect device for repointing Fibre Needles — The "WADE" "It's Fine." SIMPLEST to operate — the plyer motion. CHEAPEST in first cost and maintenance — $1.50. PERFECT new playing points — 8 or more to each needle. Your regular discount applies. Ours is a single profit. Yours is manifold. Every purchaser of a "Wade" Fibre Needle Cutter becomes a regular Fibre Needle Buyer, and every Fibre Needle user becomes a more enthusiastic Record Customer. Write for sample and additional information WADE & WADE '"'0^0^^^.'^"