The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1870-12-01


energy of DR.. Howe and the munikeenf C6L.4
Thomas II. Perkins. Thenceiorward nearly
each year witnessed the establishment Of in !
Asylum for the blind.
PRISTING FOR THE BLIND-Hauy, soon !
after commencing the instruction OF his !
pupils, became convinced OF the necessity OF
deviing some mode Of printing BY which |
touch might supply the place of sight to the !
reader. Accident finally suggested the best |,
method. Sending his pupil, Lesneur, to his !
desk one day for some article, the young man !;
found there printed card Of Invitation
which had received an unusually strong im-
preston. Passing his fingers over the back
Of the paper he distinguished the letter y,
and brought the paper to Hauy to show
him that he could do 81. The philanthro-
pist saw At 4 glance that she principle OF
printing FOR the blind was discovered, and il
was only necessary to perfect the process
He experimental for long time upon the
kind of letter be-t adapted to the required
purpose, and his Developments and improve
ments, s,icceeded by those OF others. finally
demonstrated the superior a,lap.abiliiy nj
what Ia known As the - Philadelphia letter
in this country and Aistoris in Europe.
/: is the Remain capitals, with 4 light, sharp
face, and deprived of the script, or hair
lines, forming type analogous to that known
among type-iounders and printers as " sans
script" DIR. Fry is said 10 have been the
first to suggest its Use in England, and MIR.
Friedlander, the founder of the Philadelphia
School for the Blind, had, ut an earlier pc
riod, adopted it here DIR. Russ. founder of
the New York Institution, devised q phonetic
alphabet in 1893, but it never came into Use
to any great extent.
The letter now in general use in this coun-
try and Great Britain il the Boston letter,
and was invented BY DIR. 5. Il. Howe, of the
Perkins Institution. 1t is distinguished by It's
compactness and the sharpness and periec-
ton of the enclosing. The grea; cost for
printing books for the blind in consequence
| Of their bulk and the small editions required,
have rendered the supply very >canty. Aside
fromthe Scriptures and text books in use, in
| the different institutions there were, in 1886,
but forty-six miscellaneous books IN English,
| printed in relief 1t has always been prob
lem extremely difficult If solution, To teach
the blind, to communicate their ideas by
writing in such way that they themselves
could read what they had written. The
printing of music for the blind, which seems
a necessity, from the resources which II fur
nisheS for a livelihood To many OF them has
been a verv expensive and difficult matter
so much so that music Is, To a very great ex-
tent, committed to memory by the pupils oi
blind institutions" The proficiency 10 which
some blind persons attain in music Is most
wonderful Ii is not necessary Ia cite more
| than one instance in illustration. Thousands
| of people in this country have scarcely be-
iieved their senses while listening tn the per-
iormancts of Blind Tom, blind negro who
| is constantly travelling and giving concerts.
They can manufacture mattresses. mats,
| psper boxes, broOnIs, brushes, and labor III
the simpler departments of c,binet-making.
..But their capacity" say the best authori-
ties on the subject, las a class. To sustain
themselves by their own labor is one o. those
practical qrestious which hardly admit oi a
complete or satisfactory solution
The Kansas Institution for the blind, was
located here under the Act which bruugh;
into existence the various charitable instisn-
tons oi the State. The grounds upon which
the Asylum is situated lie in the western
portion of the city, and comprise = tricI ri
ten acres, originally intended Tor City
Park. These grounds were donated hy the
city rs an inducement for the location of the
Asylum here. They are entirely encIoseG
with Il substantial fence, and beginning te
assume more of q cultivated appearance.
The binding is a substantial brick, 42x6l
feel, and three stories in height, with base
ment The interior OF the building Is neatly
finished, and furnished rs well as the appro,
priation- received by the officials wou.d per
nit. On each side good cistern furnishes
plenty oi water.
The presen; Superintendent; is DIR. W. W
Updegraf The Trustees are Gen. VIM
I.lrimer, of Leayenworth; +. p. Baker, q
Topeka and DR. +. Speck, oi Wyandotte
There are three teachers: Nate CPdesraii
teacher OF the primary class; Mis- Neti,,
Warren, advanced class, anG Mrs. Lizz!'
houck. teacher ~: music, he:.d-work, Nc
Mrs. Updegraii is also ma'fon.
In company with the Superintendent, VI
visited every departments oi the institution
and will now notice the general disposition
q; liz affairs: In tiIe basement ind ;
bathing groom, stOre-ruonS, furnace '"r hen,
ing the building. and room for the manu-
lecture OF brDoms Oh the trsi floor arr. TN
pirior, Office, kitchen and dining room. /
IS intended to remove ti- kitchen and diu
ing room into The basement eventually.
On the second floor are he niatrnns room
sleeping rooms and spare room.
The binding Is heated from no, air fur
furnace, and Is very comfortable, though tn
ventilation needs improvement very much.
Belonging to the institution are two goo,
cows, 4 horse, and spring wagon, and, witt
what have been sold during tine year, fifty
five dollaes worth of hogs. There are also
stable and wagon shed, though they are not
by any means what they should he. Tn
grounds are becoming nicely set in 5ine sr,S
and clover, though not until the last vacation
were they cleared off, and, DIR. Cpdegraif III
forms me, that this job he had To perform
himself, Besides having the plastering 10 in
ish since he took possession in the spring
Quite 4 fine garden was cultivated the PAS
year, which yielded fair amount OF the veg
etaLle requisites of the table. 4 nice litti
orchard is being started; the principal fruit
being apples and peaches. Some grapevine
are also being cultivated. A little care oI
the part of the State, with efficient officers
such as are now IN charge, will sOOn deveioI
this institution and bring it up to 4 STANDARD
not excelled by any other in the country.
INSTRUCTION.
The method OF writing used in this insti
tuition is that invented by Louis Hrailie, ;
blind man of Paris, in 1879. IL is modi
ficatiOn OF Barb;er's system OF writing Will
points. 1t is now adopted in mos, of th'
continental schools, and in some of the in
situations of this country. The Signs arr
forty-three in number, embracing the entire
alphabet, and all the diphthongs and mark,
of punctuation. OF these, ten. called the
fundamental signs, are the basis of all the
rest. These signs, which represent tine hrs
ten letters of the alphabet, and the ten Ara
bic numerals, are follows:
ABCD EFGHIJ
|
I2si 56ss 50
BY placing one point under another tn
I.t, sd. nj each tIpd, mental sio,t the sacnD,