Speed Records - Pitman vs. Gregg

The introductory chapter of the 1922 edition of Gregg Reporting Shortcuts is a long report on speed results of various systems - explaining how when Pitman was introduced for some 50-plus years the entrenhed reporters who used older systems claimed that Pitman lacked the speed possibilities for reporting usage. Then when the older systems fell out of use and Pitman became firmly entrenched, the anti-Gregg movvement is described in detail. The most interesting portion of this essay is the assembly of speed contest records ... now, I'm not anti-Pitman although I am a Gregg writer, but apparently the Pitman publishers falsified the records of their own speed contests for which they awarded certificates, as in public contests open to writers of all systems, the very same stenographers who had Pitman-issued awards could not approach those speeds - a holder of a Pitman 200 wpm certificate for example could only write 165 wpm in an open-to-the-public contest. Food for thought, no?

(by jrganniversary for everyone)

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