Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1882-07-26
U DEAF MUTES.
Interesting Notes of their Condi
ton In the Berkeley Institute.

Ed. SENTINEL: Your readers are doubt
less aware of the provision made by oul
State for the care and training of her un'
fortunate wards at the California Institu'
ton for the Education of the Deaf and
Dumb and the Blind, situated at Berkeley
near the line of the G. P. r. r. Arrived
at a point commanding a first glimpse Of
the open sea through the Golden Gate, 8
passenger on Stanford's West-bound over.
land has a good view of the four massive
brick structures of the aforesaid institu.
ton by turning his eyes to the east, where
the Berkeley hills stretch away like the
green pillows of that ocean he has just
seen rolling in through the " heads"
A recent visit to this school stored up sc
many incidents in the writer's memory
that he would recall them in a narration
which may prove interesting to those OF
your readers who have never had a SINH.
lar experience.
From the windows of the Principals
Office a clear day affords a dim discovery
Of the Faralone Islands, many leagues
away in the Pacific, while north and south
the city front of San Francisco shows a
forest of masts and spars, out of which the
tugboats, followed by their huge burdens,
dart like ants dragging their prey from the
field.
Could the blind students eyes be sud
denly opened to q sight of the sun sinking
into the western water, meanwhile light
ing n path of gold into the harbor and
making the populous hills across the Bay
loom up like castle nights Of some fairy
land. "Why !" the exclamation would
be, this must be the heaven you tell us
IT," The deaf mutes being powerless to
give voice to their ecstacy it remains
for me to echo those expressions Of en-
thusiam inspired by such a vista from the
Berkeley nights as words can but i'll por-
tray.
To resume my subject, Lucretius' lines
give the opinion Of the ancients that
ITO instruct the deaf no art could ever rea h.
No cars improve them, and no wisdom teach =
whose belief was shared by their descend
nnts down to the sixteenth century, when
a Spanish monk demonstrated the con-
trary in such q practical manner as to en-
courage others to improve upon while en-
ulating his work, until now we find deaf
mutes educated in nearly all branches of
learning. Their principal language of
signs is being substituted by the more
novel system Of lip reading and a%rticula-
ton. Their keen eyes anticipate the words
ere they fall from the tongue of the in
Structor, by noting the movements of the
lips. They are also taught to make
sounds, and later, form words which strike
the listeners ear as strangely weird and
d~iscordant. They are taught articulation
very slowly, and when able to converse,
rarely speak rashly, though they literally
Sshonl NOT yphot tl,,- ,orr - tln. 49,, nF,,-
to modulate the voice which it cannot
hear. Deprived of two senses, the remain
ing one Of vision seems to be unusually
bright as their accurate reading Of the
rapidly formed finger alphabet (still in
vogue) enables them to carry on a lively
conversation as rapidly as and less noisily
than could the gossips Of a tea party
while discussing the authorship of "Dem-
o~crat's" letters to the Silver State.
While observing these 40 deaf, dumb
and blind pupils at their luncheon in the
large dining hall, l was impressed by a
pathetic incident in the behavior of a
blind girl who seemed unable to find her
place at the table. Cropping about for
something to determine her locality, the
dishes all felt alike. Puzzled, she felt her
way along the wall, with face upturned
and slowly inclined to right and left.
Presently a steadier ray of sunlight falling
through the window top flooded her eye.
lids, seeming to shed some light on the
blind pupils beneath, for sho smilingly
paused, confidently turned to the nearest
chair, which was directly back of her, and
took her regular place at the table already
nearly surrounded by her companions.
Experience had evidently taught her that
the midday sun would shine through the
onl,tI, xyipiauy fln-aa4b rul,ab, I.r nbatr
stood at that season directly on her plate.
She seemed not to attempt to reach the
sill, and thuG assure herself OF the win
doW's location, depending rather upon
"light from heaven"
The term asylum" is enormously ap-
piled to this educational Institution, the
faces Of whose inmates all refute the title,
being lit up with intelligence any c~ontent-
ment,
Unabls to see outward objects, the blind
still have introspection. which gives them
q acknowledge. in which most Of Us are
sadly deficient. The deaf mutes pity the
blind in their affection, and in their turn
receive the sympathy of the latter for their
sad lot, each class considering its lot less
miserable than the other, or striving to
philosophise thus. Such mutual sympathy
points a moral We all may apply to the
R"oNtruulent Oh our lives. LOOkll5 lulp
the world we can ever find some one whose
condition is less comfortable than our own.
chafe and gall though the harness may.
In no sickly, sentimental manner, but in
the practical way of the world, men should
help each other, finding ''happiness to
spring from their own works" and Phe-
nix-like soar from the ashes of seltishness
burned within US. Blind, dumb, fortune
favored, strong and weak, all alike can
feel the hearts pulsations proclaiming a
a universal humanity, and causing US to
say with Wadsworth-
Thanks to the human heart by which we
live,
Thanks to its tenderness. its hopes and fears;
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for
tears"
Begging pardon for wandering from my
subject in vague moralizings, my excuse
must be the influence of the scene as re-
membered in its nights and shadows.
Yours truly, M. D. NoTEwARE.