McGurrin, Frank Edward

I first started using the method in 1878 under the following circumstances. I worked as a clerk in the law office of D. E. Corbitt, in the city of Grand Rapids . He bought from hand a used Remington No. I typewriter, with tin front and back covers, above which was a carriage with drawn strings of letter levers under it, pressing a key set them in motion. My employer and I began to practice using this typewriter at the same time, for several months there was real competition between us, in the sense of who could type faster. These were my first competitions. Very soon, I could beat him so easily that he gave up the fight. One day he entered the office and told someone who was there that when he was in the office of Henry F. Welch, he dictated his notes to the girl who controlled the typewriter. The girl typed them on a typewriter, and at that time she looked out the window, all this time she typed very quickly. Subsequently, I found out that it was fiction, and it was said only in order to affect my vanity. Like all the boys, when I saw that the girl was able to do this, I decided that I could do the same, I went to work to learn how to work, not looking at the keyboard. I abandoned my previous method of two or three fingers and decided to use all my fingers. Even before the end of 1878, I could type at a speed of over 90 words per minute, on an unfamiliar text, despite the keyboard. I did not meet the girl in Mr. Welch’s office for two years after I learned to type, and then to my surprise I found out that she couldn’t type without looking at the keyboard, and never even tried. I don’t consider it a great honor to discover the possibility of typing without looking at the keyboard, it is a matter of common sense and the system of distributing fingers on the keyboard, all this is so simple that everyone could think of it. Mr. Welch still works as a forensic stenographer in Grand Rapids and can vouch for the fact that as early as 1878, I was typing blindly.

Original text

"I first began using the method in 1878 under the following circumstances. I was a clerk in the law office of DE Corbitt, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He bought a second-hand No. 1 (Remington) Typewriter, with the tin front and back, on which the carriage was pulled back by a string and a sledgehammer blow was required to depress the keys. My employer and I began practicing on it at the same time and there was quite a rivalry between us for some months as to who could write the faster. Those were my first typewriting contests. Before long I could beat him so easily that he give up the struggle. One day he came into the office and told some on else who was there that he had just been over to the office of Henry F. Welch, was dictating from his notes to a girl who was running the typewriter while looking out of the window. All this while she was writing from dictation at a very rapid rate. I afterwards learned that this was a fairy tale and only told in my presence to take the conceit out of me. However, boy like, I made up my mind that whatever a girl could do I could do, so I set to work to learn to operate without looking at the keyboard. I discarded my former method of two or three fingers and determined to use all of my fingers. Before the end of the year 1878 I could write upwards of 90 words a minute in new matter without looking at the keyboard. I did not meet the girl in Mr. Welch's office for two years after and then learned to my surprise that she did not operate the machine without looking at the keyboard and had never attempted to do so. I do not take any great credit for having thought of operating without looking at the keyboard for it is simply a matter of common sense, and the system of fingering is so simple that anybody could formulate it. "" Mr. Welch is still the court reporter at Grand Rapids and can vouch for the fact that as early as 1878, I was operating the machine by touch. ”

I would like to say that last week I was at the Welch and Ford office in Grand Rapids and the young man in their office, on a test, typed 97 words per minute on a typewriter, and read the original. He typed, despite the typewriter in general, his eyes vigilantly watching the original being copied. I am sure that he wrote 97 words in one minute, because I myself followed the clock.

Original text

I would say that in the past week I was in the office of Walsh & Ford, in Grand Rapids, and that a young man in their office, on a test, wrote ninety-seven words on the type-writer, and read the copy . He didn't look at the machine, at all, but kept his eye on the copy. I know he wrote ninety-seven words in a minute, because I held the watch.