A large audience assembled at the Corn Exchange on Thursday evening to hear Professor Frederick Abbott lecture on his “Swiftograph”.

This is a simple system of shorthand, which the lecturer undertakes to teach in an hour. Though the system has only been out about five years, it has already been adopted in over 500 schools and colleges.  

[From the Watford Observer of March 5, 1898]

For more stories from the Watford Observer's archive, go to our Nostalgia section by clicking HERE