These people were satisfied to plod along in the good old way which their fathers had trod before them; content because they knew no better, and the times demanded no better.
But, think you, would the simple appliances used then, meet the demands of to-day?
No! decidedly, no! I hear you say. Why, may I ask? Simply because the necessity makes the demand, and the necessity is the ever-advancing spirit of to-day, which urges all to attain something that will not only benefit themselves, and be an incentive to others, but will enlighten and ennoble the coming generation as well.
But the world has made rapid progress and if we would keep pace with it, we must call to our aid every known means of saving time and labor.
And not the least among the many methods and inventions for this purpose is Phonography or shorthand, which is finding a place in almost every branch of business.
Man’s thoughts fly faster than his fingers, and it is only by the “wingéd words” of Phonography that the hand is enabled to keep pace with the mind. Almost inseparably connected with shorthand, is the typewriter.
These two go hand in hand. What a boon they have proved to the busy merchant, the lawyer and the literary man!
To this end, the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, recognizing the growing demands for the use of Phonography and typewriting, added to their already large benevolence a class for the study of these branches.
And it is to this Society we owe a debt of gratitude which words are inadequate to express.