Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-10-24
SPEECH OF THE DUMB.
AM HOUR IN A QUEER SCHOOL run
DEAF MUTES.

u n Little Fellow Learned
..,- Prseticed Lip Reading
ps.f Child Undsrgoes In
Learning to speak.
Up in Fiftieth street, not iar IT, fronts
a,,snue in one Of those brown s'oh' -,
that looks like the twin of every o',lei >, on
stone front on the block, queer 'l'io ~. ars
nils meets every day. Some OF the PuP 40,
only ! wears old and some are ~ q,
one ever makes any noise, ana III PgIt,,Iy
ruietness the class is model Oiie' "I.;rI
ever hears schoOlbOy laughter Oh -
iollity ring out from that schooii oDiH' -
the yery house itself has not even t.'' -,
veutionaI door bell You can count t,,ir
tick of the little clock with the ciasS "
session while you stand waiting III III"
way. ara .sught
/ In this silent house deaf mutes are 'au t.a,,
to sreak Two private classes, WIZ -
nnniIs in each, meet there day after day. ai,I
pr, IN ~, norning until late in the after
noon struggle with those simple SouIius 'n"'
,,,ost ~ ne learn uuconsciOusly in our bapS-
ri Mis- Sadie W. Keeler is the teacnef:
For eleven wears she has worked among ueal
,prtes and given to voiceless tongues 'no
,,,,.il of our speech. In this country ana II
Errora she has learned all that the Oe''
schools can offer.
LEARNING TO SAY ~AH
Rut whatever methods different teacners
NAV have. to the OnlOOker who spenns al
interested hour or two in her classroom ~
saarns that the only successful method mus"
ba uine-tenths patience. One must nave '"0
oriat natieuce of a marble statue and per
sistance As the flowing Of river to perform
this modern miracle of making the dunio
tall To make a sound over and over asaih
and then to begin at the beginning aIld re
! rast and reiterate and explain and reclte lho
: same thing 1000 times is somewhat sues"
, ton of the work of teachers life
, Two boys about :, another Of 10, pretty
rirI ~ NJ and two smaller girls about IL
, wears old were sitting quietly around nt'i'
tobla There was a blackboard and a FITS
p.oder- in the room Miss keeler was teach
, inc the smallest boy to say ~Ah" she put
one nf his hands OIL her chest, so that he coulu
{ faaI the vibrating Of the vocal chords, anu
held the other close to her mouth, so that ne
| could feel the expulsion of her breath. Inenl
/ she said -Ah!r and he tried TO say II aiIer
{ her. Then her lips formed the word papa
z and the little fellow, by closely watching,
i essayed TO initiate her, but the only reSul'
!, was something that sounded IKE uiliii-
Q MUM" The teacher held the lad 5 nahds "
|, her liIs, so that he could feel her breath a.
e sbe expeIlesf it in making the p" in papa
o The IN sound did not bring any breath on
;. his hand. so he tried again, and, holding his
q hand to his own mouth, changed ~rnnrn-ii
into a cultural sort Of papa"
Il The little pupil had hard work getting ths
~ letter -e.r The only way he could feel thr
1t sound was by placing his hands on each sidt
Ir of the Jaw of the teacher The sound OF m
@ and w" he got by placing the fingers OF on'
is hand on the teachers nose and the fingers
is his other hand in precisely the same way OF
u his own nose Then he copied the movement
h of her lips and tongue exactly, and anothe
e. letter WAS won The vowels are taught first
:. then letters are put together, and the lad a
If last learns to say boy" Then he writes
in on a slate, and is told that the three letter
as mean himself or any other boy.
FROM LIPS AND TONGUE
One pretty little maiden named Minnie si'
inst across the round table. She began learn
ing early. and speaks very nicely. Of eourst
G. that voice which she herself has never hear
lacks the modulation that we unconsciou
learn to look for Il love yOu,' from tnos mo-
nj pretty lips has the same measure OF ans,.a
- expressed and the same placid intonation a
IN Il hate YOU" has She is good example Q
Id the double system of teaching that goes On =
ad this queer schoolroom- She has learned Ii
n | reading Speak slowly to her and she ca
bs tell from the changes in your lips and tougu
- what you say. Make the mere motion wit
or your mouth, as if whispering softly, bus d
a not make the least sound, and she can tel
Iv what your words would be.
no Just about a century ago the ploddne
he painstaking Germans began to try to teac
deaf mutes to talk. They learned it fDr
al Spain, and have been improving ever since
ar Now nearly all the big cities Of the civilre'
nv world have deaf mute schools. A child shdll
to begin at ) 5yor years to learn, and in e
in years ought TO be able to talk fairly wtl
ITS Most teachers limit their classes to seven, a
at it is difficult to give the desired attentions
z. each member Of larger class. The pupil
ne are glad to learn, and are sngularly perss'
Id ent in trying. But, after all, there is soIs
in thing pathetic in their struggles to talk
to language that has no meaning for ths
ears-New York World.