Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1890-02-28
TALKS WITH HER ARM.
Where Deaf and Dumb Girl Carries tho
Alphabet and How She Uses 1t.

Where Deaf and Dumb Girl Carries the
Alphabet and How She Uses 1t.
"James V. Dorpman and daughter,
Lodge Pole, Nebraska" is written in a
bold hand on the register at the Ridg-
way house. Mr.. Dorpman is a tall, we'll
built man of 60 years, with long beard
strongly tinged with gray. His daugh-
ter is about 19 years old. She has an in
telligent, pretty face and the brightest
and bluest kind Of bright blue eyes.
When Mr.. Dorpman and his daughter
first came to the Ridgway house they at.
tracted the attention and curiosity of the
guests by their strange behavior. Wheth-
er in the parlor or in the dining room,
Mr.. Dorpman always sat on the left hand
side of his daughter and tapped her left
arm constantly with the fingers of his
right hand, as though playing on a type
writer. His fingers skipped nimbly at
random from the girls wrist almost to
her shoulder and back again. At inter-
walls he paused and the girl smiled, nod
ded her head or else tapped her left arm
in the same manner with the fingers of
her right arm, the old man closely watch
ing their movements.
The strange actions of the couple were
subjects of continual comment and spec
ulation among the guests. Finally some
one noticed that the father and daughter
were never heard TO exchange word.
They always sat quietly when in each
others presence, and were always drum
ming on the girls arm as if it were a
pianoforte. The girl kept away from
the other guests of her sex, and was
never seen in conversation with any one.
AT the dining table Mr.. Dorpman gave
the orders to the walters both for him
self and his daughter. When Proprietor
Butterworth met the young woman on
the stairs and said affably, Good morn
ing" she never answered.
The strange actions of the couple oc-
casioned such widespread comment and
curiosity among the guests that finally
Proprietor Butterworth approached Mr..
Dorpman while he was standing at the
cigar counter one day, and after q few
minutes of general conversation asked
him to explain the cause of his constant
tapping ON his daughters arm.
$50 you've noticed that, eh?" said Mr..
Dorpman with laugh. "Well, that is
how talk TO Hattie. She is deaf and
dumb
Mr.. Butterworth asked him how he
was able to converse with his daughter
by simply drumming on her arm.
you'll think it is easy after l tell
you," he answered. "You must remem-
Der that we came from an obscure part
of Nebraska, settled there with my wife
a quarter of a century ago. Eighteen
years ago, when Hattie was born, there
was not a house within q mile of us, nor
a city within sixty miles. AS the child
grew older we discovered that she was
deaf and dumb. We were at q loss how
to communicate with her. We were far
away from a civilized community, and
no one that we knew was familiar with
the sign manual for deaf mutes, so that
the baby grew to be a child before we
could devise a scheme to talk to her.
"Finally my wife hit upon novel
idea. She got clever young fellow
who worked for us to tattoo the alphabet
on Hattie's arm. The letter "A began
just above the wrist, and the letter u
ended just below the shoulder blade.
Hattie was then, 6 years old. In less
than year by this means my wife and
l had taught her the alphabet.
"Then we began to spell out words by
touching each letter very slowly with
our fingers. AS the child learned we
became faster, and when Hattie was IL
years old we were able to talk to her as
rapidly as a person can spell out words
on typewriter. Hattie, too, learned to
answer us by drumming on her tattooed
arm. OF course, for several wears at
first, when we wanted to talk to her, or
she to us, she had to roll up the sleeve of
her left arm. Gradually her sense of
touch became so fine that she knew
without looking just where each letter
was located, and her mother and |, by
practice, were enabled to strike
these letters with her sleeves rolled
down.
'Ihe tattoo was not very deep, and by
the time Hattie was 16 years of age it
had entirely disappeared, leaving her
arm as white and spotless as a woman's
arm could be. But she knows just
where each letter was, and so do l, for
I have been drumming on her arm ever
since she was knee high to a grass
hopper. Of course, am the only per-
son alive able to talk with her, as my
wife died about six months ago, but l
hope to arrange so that she may be able
to talk to others. While we are on east
| am going to get some one to instruct
her in the sign manual. She is bright
and quick and will soon learn. ."-Phila-
delphia Inquirer.