Omaha daily bee., 1883-04-02

satisfaction Of having the hearing of
the class 80 developed that they can
read aloud, understand upwards
of 800 words and all phrases
formed therefrom, make replies to
questions given from the Same vocabu-
larry, and their hearing, which was
practically extinct in September last
Is now being rapidly developed and
With 1t speech. What will be the re.
suit at the end Of seven years, which
Is the length Of tuition, given In this
institute, can be imagined2 Should
these children be allowed TO remsin
during hat time there Ia no doubt but
that they will go into the world; not as
deaf mutes but as persons whose hear
Ing has been to a certain extent
blunted. OF course no Bigns are
taught this class o any visible Ian.
guage. 1t Is the intention Of Prof.
Gillespie to tnke ell children, who
have the least spark of hearing and
who have not been too far advanced
In the old systems OF deaf mute in.
struction, aud teach them to hear. IL
Is his firm opinion that children under
eight years, q. the least, can BIS taught
by his Bystem to hear and of course to
speak. The work is very trying on
the teachers, for the child that never
knew what a sound was from birth, has
to be taken back to frat principles
and Its hearing trained from the
very beginning. In company
with Mr.. Collins, who under
the old regime was one of the board
OF directors of the institute, The BEE
reporter had the pleasure of per-
sonslly witnessing the success OF Miss
McCowen's class yesterday. They were
put through all manner of exercises
to test their hearing. Questions were
asked as In the ordinary tchool room
Of the primary classes and answered
as correctly as If the senses Of speech
and hearing had never been afflicted.
The children were compelled to keep
THEIR EYES CLOSED
when examined, 80 that there could
be no possibility of their catching the
Instructors langusgesfrom the move.
ment Of the lips. They told of
objects, obeyed orders as to doing lit
tie erfands around the room, read
their primmers together, and In turn,
selected the proper pages and an.
swered questions within the range oil
their knowledge, ~propounded by those
present. One test that shows beyond
the shadow of a doubt that the hear
Ing wss being rapidly developed was
eSemplifed by placing the children ct
the blsckboards, having the teacher
giving questions while standing be-
hind them and requiring the came to
be written ON the boards. There was
no possibility Of their discovering by
any other means, save that Of hear
ing, what the questions were
This was most successfully
tried by Miss McCowen in
q number Of instances, to the az.
constituent of all present. To our
mind there was one thing which more
than all others showed that the hear
ipg wa rapidly approaching it's normal
condition and that WAS, when these
children were asked q question or
given a phrase to repeat, they an
swered In the same tone and style Of
voice of the n who addressed them.
We're the indisputable evidence not
before US, we should never believe
that these talking and hearing children
OF to-day came to the institute last
Septemb ar as deaf-mutes who were al
ignorant OF sound rs the pencil thai
traces these lines. Prof. Gillespie and
Mis- McCowen, the instructor of the
class, have reached q Q era In the
science of deaf.mute instruction. Il
Ia bound to do away with the sign
language, and visible speech ifs the
great majority of cases, and work ben
efits to humanity of untold value,
Already this remarkable system hal
been noised abroad among instructors
elsewhere, who can hardly credit the
success already attained, and Prof
Gillespie Is receiving letters every day
enquirlng about 1t. He received one
a short time ago from a merchant II
the West Indies, who desired to have
q deaf son can obtain the benefits o.
this system. We understand that or
rspgements have been made 30 thai
children from other states and coun
tries will be taken Into this class, upor
payment of the necessary amour. t.
reimburse the state for their ins.ruc,
tion and maintenance. This Is the
only class of the kind In the world
and Nebraska should feel . little bi'
proud. No doubt the coming conven
ton Of instructors Of deaf mutes viii
give the new departure great atten
ton, which 1t certainly deserves.
The next class of interest and I'm
portsnce Ia that of Articulation, con
Quoted by Miss Mary I. Fsrrant,
most skillful instructor, lately O
Salem, Mass. She teaches the Bel
system OF Visible speech, and her sue
cehs has been most remarkable. Tn
plan Ia to select the brightest pupils
, FROM II @ LANGUAGE
classes and give them instructions 70
o half hour during the day In visibl
-. language. Thus Miss Farrant has t.
4 perform the arduous duties of teach
Ing about forty pupils at differen
/. times each day In speaking simply b
=. observing the movements of the lips
Yesterday we had the pleasure of al
a tending Miss FArrsnt's class and O
q observing the success of her work
The pupils answered questions col
rectly and in~telligently solely by OF
---I-- H. -ll-I ~ A.
9 t%erlocutor spoke. A number of exel
Q cises were gone through with, and a
were eminently satisfactory. Their
n IL not doubt but before the full oouru
of instruction which these children al
supposed to take Is finished that the
win be able to hold conversations on al
subject, and with any persons, beside
"a understanding lecturers and speaker
from the mere movements of the
IL All xlnl~no &, Az lnal:k.l