Ostensibly exploring the practice of law before the internet. Heck, before good highways for that matter.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Heating
I don't know how the winter has been elsewhere, but here it's been a really cold winter. We've been down below OF repeatedly, including today.
Our house has electric heat. I actually like it quite a bit, but it's been having trouble keeping up in the really cold weather. Most houses around here have gas heat.
Most office buildings, if they're big ones like the one I work in, have a boiler. Ours has a boiler, but for some reason it's having trouble today.
This building was built in about 1917 or so. Not much insulation in it. When the heat isn't working, it's real darned cold in it.
For that matter, it was probably pretty cool in it back in the day during the winter, which is likely why men wore so much wool for office work in those days.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Office machinery and the written word.

which then processes the spoken word immediately into print. This is the second time I've experimented with. The first time, I grew frustrated with it and, after the system collapsed, I abandoned using it and simply typed things out on my computer. I'm a pretty fast typist, so this was working well, but any way you look at it, it's slower than speaking. This time around, the Dragon system seems to be working very well, so I've very happy with my resumed use of it.
Anyhow, what a revolution in the process of generating pleadings and letters this is. When I first started practicing law, some 21 years ago, we were using Dictaphones. Now those are practically a thing of the past. For those not familiar with them, a Dictaphone is a specialized tape recorder that allows the speaker to dictate the document. This ended up, at that time, in an audiotape which was handed over to the secretary, who then listened to it and typed out the document. The secretary handed that back to you, and then you manually red lined it for changes. This process could take some time.
This, of course, was an improved process of dictation as compared to the original one, which entailed calling a secretary in to your office and dictating the document to her. She took it down in shorthand. My mother, who had worked as a secretary in the 40s, 50s and 60s, could take excellent shorthand as a result of this process. Now, shorthand is nearly as dead of written language as Sanskrit.
Even earlier than that, legal documents were processed through a scrivener, a person whose job was simply to write legibly. That person wasn't normally the lawyer.
I'm not sure if this entire process is really quicker than the older methods, but it is certainly different. My secretary only rarely sees a rough draft of anything. That rough draft goes on my computer, and I edit it from there. About 80% of the time, by the time I have a secretary proof read a document, it is actually ready to go. Those entering the secretarial field, for that matter, generally no longer know how to take shorthand or even how to work the Dictaphone machine. They're excellent, however, on working the word process features of a computer.

All this also means, fwiw, that the practice of law, at least, is a much more solitary profession than it once was, at least while in the office. Generating a pleading, in a prior era, was more of a community effort in a way. The lawyer heard the pleading for the first time, in many instances, as the same time his secretary did. Over time, most secretaries were trusted to make comments on the pleadings. In the case of letters, they were often simply expected to be able to write one upon being asked to do so, something that still occurs to some degree today. But for pleadings, today, a lawyer tends to wall himself off by himself while drafting them, and any outside input tends to start after a relatively complete document has been drafted. Of course, with computers, it's much easier to circulate drafts and to change documents as needed.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
What one building says about the march of history.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
365 Days With A Model A.
The author notes that this is because he doesn't feel that everything should have a computerized element to it. I couldn't agree more.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Building trends and economic eras
That's certainly the case in this town. I've long known that the building I work in, the Con Roy building, was built in 1917 as part of a building boom associated with World War One oil production. But up until very recently I hadn't noticed how far that building trend must have carried. In putting up some photos for my blog on churches, it really became apparent to me. Most of the downtown churches here, fine old structures, were built right after World War One. I know that all those congregations had existing smaller churches, so they were replacing old ones with new much larger ones. Probably the size of the congregations had dramatically increased as well.
Same thing with some large old buildings here, except their earlier. Say 1900 to 1914. All associated with sheepmen, who must have been doing very well in a way that no rancher could today.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Railroad Roundhouse
Surgarmill
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
When horses were a major economic factor.

When horse were a major economic factor.
Not all that long ago, really. Wyoming had a horse boom as late as 1914-1918. We had a remount station up until World War Two, and the Remount program was operating in the state as late as the Second World War.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Some things don't change that much.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 28, 1910. The Wireless Ship Act
Congress passed the Wireless Ship Act (PL 262, 61st Congress) requiring ships carrying more than 60 people to be equipped with a radio and radio operator.
Last edition:
Sunday, June 26, 1910. The ballots that would lead to bullets. Election in Mexico.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Sunday, June 26, 1910. The ballots that would lead to bullets. Election in Mexico.
Liberal Mexican general and long time President Porfirio Diaz was re-elected President of Mexico for the eighth time, defeating the jailed liberal politician Francisco I. Madero.
It is true there is no opposition party. I have so many friends in the republic that my enemies seem unwilling to identify themselves with so small a minority. I appreciate the kindness of my friends and the confidence of my country; but such absolute confidence imposes responsibilities and duties that tire me more and more. No matter what my friends and supporters say, I retire when my present term of office ends, and I shall not serve again. I shall be eighty years old then. My country has relied on me and it has been kind to me. My friends have praised my merits and overlooked my faults. But they may not be willing to deal so generously with my successor and he may need my advice and support; therefore I desire to be alive when he assumes office so that I may help him. I welcome an opposition party in the Mexican Republic. If it appears, I will regard it as a blessing, not as an evil. And if it can develop power, not to exploit but to govern, I will stand by it, support it, advise it and forget myself in the successful inauguration of complete democratic government in the country. It is enough for me that I have seen Mexico rise among the peaceful and useful nations. I have no desire to continue in the Presidency. This nation is ready for her ultimate life of freedom. At the age of seventy-seven years, I am satisfied with robust health. That is one thing which neither law nor force can create. I would not exchange it for all the millions of your American oil king.
Last edition:
Saturday, June 25, 1910. The Mann Act.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Saturday, June 25, 1910. The Mann Act.
The Mann Act, sometimes called the White Slave Traffic Act, was passed banning the transportation of a woman across state lines for "immoral purposes".
The Pickett Act became law, giving the President authority to withdraw land from public use, as necessary, for government projects.
It was Saturday, so the weeklys were out.
Last edition:
Monday, June 20, 1910. Enabling Act of 1910
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Monday, June 20, 1910. Enabling Act of 1910
President Taft signed the Enabling Act of 1910, granting the conditions for the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona to be admitted as states.
Last edition:
Sunday, June 19, 1910. The first Father's Day.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Sunday, June 19, 1910. The first Father's Day.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Saturday, June 18, 1910. Welcoming home TR.
Theodore Roosevelt was given a tape parade as a welcome back from his post Presidential trip to Africa and Europe.
Last edition:
Friday, June 17, 1910. Creation of the U.S. Lighthouse Service.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Friday, June 17, 1910. Creation of the U.S. Lighthouse Service.
The United States Lighthouse Service was created The office of the Commissioner was transferred to the United States Coast Guard in 1935.
Last edition:
Tuesday, June 7, 1910. Suppressing a rebellion, incorporating a town, birth of a famous photographer.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Tuesday, June 7, 1910. Suppressing a rebellion, incorporating a town, birth of a famous photographer.
Mexican troops were dispatched to suppress an uprising by the Maya Indians in Yucatán.
Byron Wyoming was incorporated.
Farm Security Administration Marion Post Wolcott was born in New Jersey.
Last edition:
Sunday, June 5, 1910. Death of O. Henry.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Sunday, June 5, 1910. Death of O. Henry.
William Sidney Porter, known to the public as "O. Henry", one of the greatest American short story authors, died at the age of 47 from cirrhosis of the liver and diabetes.
Last edition:
Saturday, June 4, 1910. An attack during the Caste War of Yucatán.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Saturday, June 4, 1910. An attack during the Caste War of Yucatán.
Mayan rebels attacked the town of Valladolid, Mexico. They killed 40 people, including local police resulting in the dispatch of the gunboat Morelos with 600 troops.
Last edition:
Wednesday, June 1, 1910. The first European American settlements on the banks of the Iditarod.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Wednesday, June 1, 1910. The first European American settlements on the banks of the Iditarod.
The British Antarctic Expedition departed from London with a goal of reaching the South Pole in December..
The first European American settlements on the banks of the Iditarod were made when a steamer brought gold prospectors to within eight miles of a gold strike.
Last edition: