The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-01-21


that of her teacher, who spelled it with
her fingers. Then she learned to spell
words herself, and was delighted with
the finger alphabet, as being much easier
and more rapid in application than the
old methods with types. After she had
learned about hundred common nouns,
she was taught the use of verbs, then of
adjectives, and the names of individuals.
A year passed before lessons in writing
were given her, her right hand holding a
pencil, being guided so as to form a let
ter, which was pricked in stiff paper over
pasteboard with grooved lines such as
the blind use, and the forefnger of her
left hand followed the point of the pencil,
and kept the space between letters. She
was slower in learning to write we'll than
many Of the blind children. She liked
to have some one sit beside her and walk
with her, and taught the finger alphabet
to her little sightless friends. On one
occasion her teacher saw her acting as If
she were about to appropriate pieces Of
ribbons and laces belonging to the mat
rons, but she ended by knocking her ell
bow which was the sign of wrong doing
and replaced them. When the teacher
took hold OF her hand, as if wishing to
speak to her, her face had guilty ex-
preston, but on being told by signs that
she must not NEEDLE with what did not
belong to her, she said: "Iaura wrong, no;
Laura right" patting her own head, and
showing the teacher that she had not
taken anything, and it was evident that
she had triumphed over great tempta-
ton. After she had been sixteen months
under instruction, DR.. Howe in an Off
cial report wrote as follows:
Laura had become very expert in talk
ing with her fingers, and only persons
accustomed to this language could fol-
low their rapid motions with the eye. She
had attained even more remarkable fec
ility in understanding the finger mo-
tions Of others, whose hands she grasped
in animated conversation. In walking
through passage way with her hands
spread before her, she knew everyone
she met and gave them passing sign of
recognition, but she embraced affection
ately her fsvorites and expressed the
varied language of the emotions by the
lips as we'll as by the fingers. When her
mother came to visit her six months after
she had left home, Laura at first did not
recognize her, and repealed her caresses,
much to her sorrow, but after being
given several articles from home, she
again felt her mothers hand, and on re-
ceiving fond caress, she seemed sud
denly to realizs the relationship and
chung fondly to her. The parting of
mother and child was full of tenderness
on both sides. After she had been
twenty eight months under instruction
she had made great progress in express
ing her ideas, the use of adjectives, verbs,
propositions and conjunctions and certain
expressions of relation to place being
mastered; she had learned how to write
letters. The processes of addition and
satisfaction in small mum bers had also
become familiar to her, and she could
count and conceive obj scts up to one
hundred in number. She knew the days
/ of the week, and divided the day by
the beginning and end of school, by the
recesses, and by the arrival of meal times.
Her accuracy in measuring time was such
that she could distinguish between a
half and whole note in music, strik-
ing notes in single measure on the
pianoforte quite correctly.
e arly in 1841 Laura became greatly
interested in a deaf, dumb and blind
girl, named Lucy Reed, who was brought
to the institution from Derby, vt. When
told, while in the kitchen one day, that
the turkey upon which she put her
hand and wished to know what it was
was dead bird, the impression on her
mind seemed to be unpleasant, and when
told some time afterward, in reply to her
question, that the meat she was then eat.
ing was that of COW, she refused to eat
any meat for number of weeks. As this
was thought to be necessary article OF
diet to give her strength, her teachers
tried to persuade her to change her mind
and at last she did so.
On Jan. 90, 1912, Laura was visited by
Charles Dickens, who was 80 much inter.
ested in her that he remained several
hours. His visit is described in his
"Notes on America" In order to pre-
vent her from being made proud and
selfish by undue attention she was never
told that people came to see her particu.
larly, and she always understood that
their interest was in the blind children
generally. Though told not to displace
things in the psrlor she always had the
figure of a monk and little dog belong
ing to her turned round and facing the
wall. Being asked why she made the
change she said: "To have them see the
pictures on the wall"
A remarkable faculty of Lsura Bridg.
man is her ability to read character, and
this she does literally at her finger ends
and likes to aid the poor. At the time Of
the famine in Ireland she bought, with
money which she had earned by her work
barrel of -four, which was sent to the
sufferers. In the summer of 1852, when