see wanton waste, and the destruction of sheet after sheet of paper for trivial errors which the proper use of an eraser would correct in a moment is willful and extravagant waste. Try to write without mistakes, but if you make them erase them and do not destroy the office stationery.
READING BACK YOUR NOTES.
The stenographer will be often called upon to read back his notes. The dictator may lose the thread of his dictation, or he may be interrupted by a telephone call or an interviewer. In such cases he will desire to know where he stopped and will call on the stenographer to read back the dictated matter. It is imperative, therefore, that the stenographer should have the utmost facility in reading his shorthand notes. Train yourself, then, by reading all the shorthand you write until you can read it as easily as print. If you have little practice in shorthand in business try to get someone to read to you in the evening to prevent your losing your speed. Whenever you get practice of this kind be sure to read back all you have written. At the time you read back place a circle around any outline or phrase that has given you trouble, and afterwards practice it until you are perfectly familiar with it. It is a good plan to pick out sentences here and there and read them without the context. Do everything to accustom yourself thoroughly to reading your short-
