We are indebted for the foregoing information to the symposium "How Long?" already referred to. Scores of other examples might be given, but we think we have quoted enough to show that the legal office is the best training school for the official court reporter.
REPORTING SERMONS.
Nothing affords the ambitious stenographer a better opportunity for acquiring speed and confidence than reporting sermons. The "taking" of sermons generally entails hard work and plenty of practice and perseverance. The first point is to find a clergyman who does not speak too rapidly and who speaks extemporaneously. Take with you a good supply of pencils or a good fountain pen and a note-book with a stiff cover. You will have to do your reporting on your knee and generally in a poor light. Get as close to the rostrum or pulpit as you can, and if possible obtain a seat behind a pillar, away in a corner, or somewhere beyond the "speaker's eye."
The stenographer who expects to engage in sermon reporting should study the Bible and have portions of it dictated to him frequently, so as to become familiar with the texts or quotations which afford the basis for theological discourses. "In quoting texts," says Mr. Alfred Baker, in "Reporting Hints and Practice," "do not write a long string of words, for example, 'second epistles to the Corinthi-
