Amanuensis work and court reporting, have been illustrated and explained to some extent by other authors; not, however, nearly so thoroughly as in this work, and convention reporting has never, to the best of the author's knowledge and belief, even been treated. Many shorthand students are ambitious to become newspaper and convention reporters - to know what to report at a meeting, what portions of it to incorporate in their printed reports, and what portions of the proceedings are best omitted. To give this information in a manner which may be understood by all interested in the subject, and to cover the entire ground, is the object of this present chapter.

Convention reports or reports of meetings, are of three kinds:

First, and least important, are the small paragraphs or incomplete descriptions which one often finds in the large dailies.

Second, the more elaborate and almost full report, which the trade newspapers, interested in the business represented at the convention, would think it advisable to publish.

Third, the absolutely verbatim report, which the association holding the convention or meeting has printed in pamphlet form for use of its members.

Below we give illustrations of how a daily newspaper frequently condenses such matters, unless of general interest.

For instance, one daily might simply notice it in this manner, among other small items:

The Paint. Oil and Varnish Club held its regu-iar monthly meeting last night at the Union League. There was a good attendance.

Another daily might mention it at greater length, thus:

Judge Gresham was the guest of the Paint, Oil and Varnish Club at its regular monthly dinner and meeting at the Union League last night. The Judge made a characteristic speech and was warmly applauded. Other speakers made brief addresses in reference to the business interests represented.

While another daily might condescend to give the item a heading as follows: meeting of Paint manufacturers.

The paint, oil and varnish interests of Chicago were well represented at the meeting of the local paint club at the rooms of the Union League last night. George H. Vrooman presided. D. Van Ness Person, secretary.

Resolutions were adopted requesting the white lead trust to consider the claims of the paint grinders by arranging for a more liberal rebate the coming year, and asking the linseed oil crushers to provide similarly for rebates on that product.

Judge Gresham was the guest of the evening, and spoke of the benefits of trade organizations.

And so on, ad infinitim, according to the pleasure of the editor or reporter, and the space at hand.

On pages 261 to 270 we present the report of the same meeting exactly as it was printed in the trade paper interested in the deliberations of the association holding the meeting; and on pages 234 to 259 we give the report, absolutely verbatim et seriatim, precisely as taken, and as written out for publication in pamphlet form by the association concerned.

By a comparison of the extended report for the trade newspaper with the verbatim report for the association, it will be noticed that the trade paper generally prints the important resolutions and speeches in full, also all important discussions - at least, such of them as will not divulge the secrets of the trade-contenting itself with a mere description of some of the unimportant resolutions and proceedings, instead of reporting them all verbatim. For instance, instead of printing the words which the president utters when he puts a motion and announces it as having been carried, the trade paper report would read simply "Carried," or where a member makes an elaborate excuse for something of no importance, the trade papers will simply state that Mr. So and So made remarks appropriate to the occasion, etc., etc.

In the report which is furnished to the association, for the use of its members, every word, important or unimportant, is given, furnishing an absolutely verbatim report, which may or may not be garbled afterward by the secretary or members before its association prints it; though, as a rule, it is printed exactly as transcribed. This latter report, as it goes in pamphlet form, should have a title page, which title page should contain the name of the convention, what annual or monthly meeting it is, if any, where held, and the date. This is for the cover page, and may be duplicated on the inside title page when printed, but need not figure twice in the reporter's transcription, as such pamphlets also contain, on other preceding pages, or on pages at the end of the book, according to the taste of the secretary, the names of the officers and committees, with often a list of the entire roster of members, but these matters are attended to by the secretary of the association. The stenographer, however, had better, for a convention of two or more sessions, furnish an index to the subject matter, such as the page on which the different sessions commence, the page on which each resolution is to be found, and the same respecting speeches or important discussions. This is, of course, unnecessary for a meeting of only one session. Illustrations of such title page and index are given on pages 231 and 232. Other than this preliminary information the report generally starts off as shown on page 230 or 233 of this book.

In reporting a convention, there is less to become familiar with than in a court trial, but there is also more skill required. In the heat of discussion, a business man who may have had no experience in public speaking is apt to talk much faster than any court witness does or any ordinary speaker could. In addition, he will make use of technical expressions peculiar to his business, which are as familiar to him as any common words of general conversation, but which may be Greek to any one outside his line of business, and, as sometimes the reporter will have to wait a second or two to catch a meaning of the speaker or hear what his mumbled words are, the convention reporter needs to have more speed to make up for those waits.

When engaged for a convention or at the time he enters the room where it is held, the reporter should get a copy of the printed call of that convention, which will give him all the necessary information respecting its proper title or heading, If he is acquainted with any of the members he is well prepared, but, if not, then he should sit next to the secretary, treasurer or president, or some officer who knows most of the members of the convention and can whisper their names to him when they speak. Having once heard the name of a speaker, he should attempt to fix it well in his memory, in case the speaker frequently takes part in the proceedings, and the reporter should always write each speaker's name in shorthand, immediately beginmngthe words uttered by such speaker, as memory will not always help the reporter to afterward place the proper names to the proper notes. It is not necessary to write the names in full. Simply the last name, as upon the different shorthand pages following. Of course, when the president, treasurer or secretary speaks, their names need not be written, but simply their titles. Commence every person's remarks indented about an inch from the left-hand side of the line in note-book, so as to be easily found.

If a resolution or speech is read, it is not necessary to take it in shorthand, if you can borrow the paper and make a. copy of it afterward. In fact, anything that is read need not be written, if you can borrow the paper containing it. Such reading is generally at too great a rate of speed to be easily taken, and you might just as well save yourself the effort. People can read much faster than they can talk impromptu. The minutes of preceding meeting are, of course, never taken and are generally given in one's notes as shown on page 235. Laughter, applause and other descriptive matter are treated similarly.

In reporting a convention of several days' length, if the report is needed promptly for a trade newspaper, the reporter has generally assistants, and one of them writes for perhaps a half-hour, is then relieved by another, and he in turn perhaps by a third, while the first is writing or dictating to a typewriter operator the notes he has taken, re-turning to relieve the last one. Four to six sometimes thus alternate, both in conventions and court trials, where daily transcription is required, such being also the practice in Congress and all large bodies, Congress being, by the way, but a big convention, and no more difficult to report than any trade meeting. At meetings of only one session, or where there is no immediate hurry for transcription, one reporter is, of course, sufficient.

In Congress and State Legislatures, each stenographer generally writes even less time at a sitting, each being relieved regularly (for a number do the work),and, as statesmen generally ask for, and obtain, the transcription containing their remarks before they go to the printer, the remarks are frequently so changed as to be far from being verbatim.

A convention of several days' length or a meeting of one hour are each alike subject to the same rules, the only difference being in their length, and the fact that the short one needs only one heading, while the long one has a heading for each session, but as remarks respecting one session are the same as to any number, the subject is fully illustrated in this book by the one hour's session of the monthly meeting of the Chicago Paint, Oil and Varnish. Club, reported verbatim in the pages opposite the shorthand of this portion of the book, just as would have been done in the case of a convention,where the work was arranged for pamphlet form.

The reason for the differences between the verbatim report on pages 234 to 259, and the report, nearly verbatim, made for a trade paper, pages 261 to 270, are fully explained by the side notes on the last named pages.

twenty-sixth annual convention of the American Institute Of Architects.

October 20th, 21st and 22d, 1892. At Chicago.