Knapp was likewise responsible for Edward Bok's
first adventure as an editor. It was commercial, if you will, but it was
a commercial editing that had a distinct educational value to a large
public.
The important point is that Edward Bok was being led more and more to
writing and to editorship.
IV. A Presidential Friend and a Boston Pilgrimage
Edward Bok had not been office boy long before he realized that if he
learned shorthand he would stand a better chance for advancement. So he
joined the Young Men's Christian Association in Brooklyn, and entered
the class in stenography. But as this class met only twice a week,
Edward, impatient to learn the art of "pothooks" as quickly as possible,
supplemented this instruction by a course given on two other evenings at
moderate cost by a Brooklyn business college. As the system taught in
both classes was the same, more rapid progress was possible, and the two
teachers were constantly surprised that he acquired the art so much more
quickly than the other students.
Before many weeks Edward could "stenograph" fairly well, and as the
typewriter had not then come into its own, he was ready to put his
knowledge to practical use.
An opportunity offered itself when the city editor of the Brooklyn Eagle
asked him to report two speeches at a New England Society dinner. The
speakers were to be the President of the United States, General Grant,
General Sherman, Mr.
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