The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1882-10-07
ART OF Lir-RElDlNG.
New Method Of TsseAing Deaf and Dumb.
New York Uerald.l

The training of deaf mutes has
long been an interesting study,
and in the past half century ii has
been systematized and brought to
a high degree of perfection. In.
stitutions exist here and abroad
where those whom nature has dc.
prived of speech or hearing can
acquire a knowledge of the arts,
the letters, the science of the
world, aud freely Interchange ideas
The language of signs has all along
been that which has been employ.
ed among them, and its capacity
to convey all the uttcranccs Of the
tongue has often been a source
of wonder to those in full posses
sion of their faculties. 1t has al
ways been source of regret that
deaf mutes in conversing are com.
PEELED to resort to pantomime,
which in public is certain to draw
attention to their iniirmity, and IL
is also deplored that they have
been unable to receive ideas from
the rest of the world unless com.
municated in writing or in the sign
language with which comparative.
ly few in the community are fami-
liar. A German gentleman who
has devoted many years to the
training Of deaf mutes in Vienna,
has introduced here a system that
is likely to enlarge the powers of
deaf mutes in this direction.
BY this system the deaf mute is
not addressed by signs, but by or.
dinary words clearly and forcibly
pronounced. BY the movements
of the lips in uttering them he in.
terprets their meaning, and com.
munieates his own thoughts in the
same fashion. The method Of lip
reading, at first deemed impracti.
cable, has Of late been carried to
great perfection, and its utility was
recently demonstrated in q public
manner at the reception of the In
stitution for the Improved Tnstruc.
ton of Deaf Mutes, which is loca.
ted at Lexington avenue and Sixty.
seventh street. The system of in.
struction is what is known az the
pure oral method. BY it deaf
mutes learn to speak orally and
audibly, and to understand what
is said to them by observing the
movements of the speakers lips.
The question naturally arises:
"How can q child that is born a
mute learn to speak ~ The an.
swer is simple. Deaf mutes do
not learn to speak in the ordinary
way, because they cannot hear.
Their vocal organs are in the same
normal condition as those of hear.
ing and speaking persons. Though
they cannot hear the sounds of
speech, they can feel the vibra-
tons caused in the throat and
chest during the act Of phonation,
and they can see the movements
ofthe mouth accompanying sound.
Thus the sense of vision and feel.
ing have to act for the sense of
hearing.
In teaching the deaf mute by the
new method the pupil places one
hand on the teachers throat and
the other on his own, and initiates
the elementary sounds and short
words. BY degrees the child Is
made to understand the meaning
Of words and their grammatical
formation into sentences; but oft
entimes in the beginning of their
studies the pupil makes comical
errors by placing words in wrong
places. 1t is surprising, though,
to see in how short time the
scholar advances. Unlike most
children at school, deaf and dumb
pupils are anxious to learn. The
studies have o fascination for them
and they take as readily and ca
eerly 70 the clnss.book rs they do
to the pIay ground. Besides lear
ming to sneak sII read Ii the Iips