“Freight claim clerks (trained in the handling of both overcharge and loss and damage freight claims).
“Waybill clerks (there has always been great difficulty in obtaining trained men to make waybills at stations).
“Telegraph operators.
“Expert railroad accountants.
“Clerks trained in valuation of railroads.
“In all of the above-mentioned lines, so far as my personal experience goes, there has always been a shortage and probably always will be.
“As to stenography, I consider it the very best medium through which any young man can make progress on a railroad, as it lifts him at once above the mass of clerks and gives him an individuality and a touch with executive officers which almost invariably leads to his promotion.
“In this connection I might add that the traffic manager of the New York Central Railroad, * * *, was at one time my stenographer when I was connected with the New York Central System, and rose from that position to be traffic manager of all their lines; the president of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, who died three or four years ago, started as a stenographer with the Michigan Central Railroad at Chicago.
“The general manager to-day of one of the New England railroads started as a stenographer with the same company, and I could give a great many more instances of what stenography has done for men who had the brains to back it up.”