_Class of '87._
In meeting you this evening, gentlemen of the Committee and friends,
we, the members of the Classes in Shorthand and Typewriting,
experience a double pleasure. First, is the satisfaction that we
have accomplished the task which we undertook last October, and the
consciousness that we are about to go forth carrying our diplomas as
proof that the Winter has been well spent, and that we are master of
a very fascinating and important art; and, secondly, we feel the
delightful sensation of being highly complimented at the kindly
interest taken in the Class displayed by those present this evening.
We sincerely hope that the exercises of the evening, and the gratitude
of the teachers and class, feebly expressed through this channel, will
be ample proof to you of our appreciation of the compliment conveyed
by your presence, and trust that we shall continue to receive your
good wishes for our success; that we shall go forth into the business
world making good use of our profession, and worthy of the interest in
our progress displayed by the Committee and friends of this Society,
and of the care and attention bestowed on us by our teachers.
To my classmates, cordial congratulations that we can meet to-night,
and, comparing notes, find that the report for the Winter is goodly
evidence of time well spent; that, in spite of what at first appeared
to be the insurmountable obstacle of the alphabet, we plodded bravely
on to the primer, and from the slowly and carefully drawn outlines of
familiar words, we entered at last into the spirit of our art, and
with pencils tipped, as it were, with electricity, learned to catch
the swiftly flowing words from the lips of the speaker, and to present
them in a tangible form, ready for future reference. So also with
typewriting. Though the unruly instrument at first persisted in
spelling "cat" t-a-c, and always put an interrogation point where a
period ought to be; still, with patient perseverance, cheered by the
inspiring words of our teacher: "I used to do the same thing," and
filled with envy at his display of skill, we took fresh hope, tried
again, and, as we were told we should,--succeeded. The pleasure of the
art of shorthand, more than any other, is not confined alone to the
artist. You all know the important offices in business life which
shorthand fills; of its importance to the press and all departments of
the literary world, it is not necessary to speak. From the eloquent
words of gifted speakers to the eagerly watched for words of the
President's Message; from the business letter in the merchant's office
to the words of the witness on the witness stand; our art fulfills its
important mission of giving to others the pleasure and satisfaction
which are experienced on hearing them.
This evening forty more are added to the list of American writers of
the Isaac Pitman Phonography. It is to be hoped that none of us shall
ever, in any way, be the means of bringing reproach on our art; but
rather that we shall work to make many improvements, that we shall
help to prove its value in the different departments of business into
which it enters, and ere another fifty years shall cause the trumpet
of Jubilee to sound throughout the land, this class of Isaac Pitman
phonographers shall have been the means of bringing to ripe perfection
the system of Phonography.