The Portland daily press., 1871-09-14
Terms $500 per annuna, in adyance.

teachers enough to abundantly supply an in
stltutlon in OCr own State
do not propose to discuss in this paper the
comparative merits of the two methods of In
I,luclion-sign language and articulation
u. only 10 show what they are. Tle siPn-
tHu"Se, as commonly used in our !nsttu-
ond 10 comolned With the manua alphabet,
anu ,iaa as lar as 1t is used as means of educa.
'o iar IL IS not, in NV ouiDion In he
uue'y cast as'de until other means 1ava mean
baoa',. gu uperiof; but when the sigp-Ianguaae
DIIIies 'I.t . lne end, when it is raised 10 level
lrn ,,io "ltteh language and is used as the
regular means OF conversation Then II saam,
to me, its use is very questIonahsa ~. sf.1
language although lgeU understood .mono r.
pupbS, IS not sufhcenly clear TO he nnder-
stood by persons not educated in IL hsva
myself, seen many stories told in thu e., ~
language, and no one OF them was ever ahIe
to understand anything about, unless knew
before what it was to be, so decidedly unnat-
ardL are these "ndturuL Sims"
Articulation has received in this country
cold rejection % at best an unlrienuy uotice.
In tie Cf 1854 Mr.. Eneesman a Ger
man who had taught in the celebrated Vien-
ma school, began teaching mutes IN the Ger
man language in the city OF New Yoik Ear
~ IN 1867 society was organized and an ar
tculatlon school opened of which Mr.. Eng
elsnan was the Principal. he bad then ac-
qulred the English language and afterwards
taught English.
This school has continued until the pras.
ent time. Some two years since Mr.. Enrels.
man was succeeded by Mr. Rising an en- n,I,i-
aStc and accomplished teacher nom the New
York Institution who had assisted him the
previous year. hr. Rising had long seen the
imperlections of the sign language and was
therefore ready to embrace and anxious to
advance what he considered an improved
.,I T.. A.
creased to fifty pupils, several of whom (al-
though natural mutes or semi-mdtes who bad
lost their speechl can converse with strangers
with ease and accuracy.
In June 1866 smal private school was op-
ened in Chelmsford Mass where only articu-
lation and lip-readng were used and where
arbitrary signs and the manual alphab were
utterly discarded.
In July 1867 the corporation of the Clarke
Institution, at Northampton, Mass. was org
aniZed. The corporators were many oil them
men ShO had been interested indeal-mutes for
some time and we're well acquainted With the
different schools. Thinking the results OBJ
tanned at the Chelmsford school warranted a
further trial of the experiment, they are hay
ing the articulation system faithfully tiled
there.
The teachers of the Chelu.ford school were
engaged, together with others and everything
has been done to render the teaching OF mutes
by articulation a success in this country as
we'll as i'll Europe. Thus far think, all con-
Iected with the Institution ieei that it is a
great improvement on the old system.
They have at present nearly forty pupils
aud five teachers and these puui compare
tavorably in Intellectual development with
the pupils of the old Institutions; and in ad.
ditOn these are learning articulation and lip
reading. Many people suppose that teaching
children to talk is the sole aim of an articula-
ton school.
This is a mistake. these children receive
daily instrection III the ordinary studies pur-
sued in common schools.
The method by which these pupils are
taneht is nothing far-fetched or hard to un-
derstand; patient persevering labor being the
basis of it all. To illustrate it briefly, let US
imagine that child six years OF ace who ney-
er heard sound is brought to school, Such
child has no idea of regular breathing, hav-
ing breathed all his life without knowing 1t,
therefore the first thing TO be done Is to
teach the child TO fill his lungs, to open bis
mouth and expel the air at once or slowly,
hence the letter III, a simple breathing Is the
first one produced. The teacher, with bis up
per teeth gently pressing his under lip, by
simple expulsion Of air forms the letter f.
The pupil initiates this process and produces
the same letter. II is to be understood here
that the powers not the names OF the letters
are taught. As V is accompanied by sound,
| the distinction between + and V is easily
shown by placing finger upon the upper
| part of the throat. In giving NJ, the lips are
closed and vibration is lelt at the side of tie
| nose. The above will illustrate the purely ar
tifcial way by means of which the force of
each letter and the manner of its formation,
are taught the pupil. Together with the let
ters, words are given and at the end of one
years instruction bright child should be able
to give all the letters, to read from the lips,
write, spell and pronounce distinctly some
seventy or eighty words, and to make and use
properly numerous little sentsnces from these
words, as, How do you do?" VERY well l
thank you," &c.
When we reflect that many people 90
through life with vocabulary of / thousand
words ii do9 not seem hopeless task to ell
deavor TO educate mutes to quite a respeeta-
BILE degree.
have no doubt there are mutes who can
never be be taught to talk distinctly enough
to he understood by any except persons In
intimate relations with them, Just as some
hearing people eau never be taught music.
Such ones, after a fair trial by articulation
should be taught by the manual alphabet OF
the sign language
| Ii is not to be supposed that deaf mutes
can ever be educated TO the beautiful inhec-
tioDs which hearing people use or can ever
talk with that felicity with which we talk.
Much depends upon the age at which a
child begins his education.
| An experiment is now being tried In Yves.
tern New York with little fellow three
| years OF age. In six months he has learned
to print all the letters, to give the powers OF
| nearly all. He has asv learned to spell,
| print and pronounce about thiity words, OF
| which he understands the meaning.
Some OF these words he pronOunces with
remarkable accuracy and in a very swee
voice tor natural mute 1t is believed be L
the youngest mute who has ever been taught
articulation in this country and judging IRON
his success it hardly seems wise TO wait until
pupils are twelve years old before their in
struction is begun.
; But, whether mute education is begun al
| three years or twelve, whether his tones seen
I pleasant or harsh and disagreeabe TO a stran
, ger, they fall sweetiy upon his father anS
mother.
> In writing the above article, liberal quota
tions have been made from other authors, il
being the aim of the weiter to answer nu-
merous questions which have been asked
rather than to produce something new upor
a subject which has been already fully treat ID
in the reports OF Institutions and the "An
aais' the regular organ OF Deaf Mute Institu,
tors
l