The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-12-23
TO THE FRIENDS OF THE EDU-
CATION OF THE DEAF AND
DUMB AND THE BLIND.

dred OF each of these CLASSES have received
instruction here, and rea ly been brought
from darkness into light, and to-day here
are many enjoying the benefit and happi-
ness of an education who would otherwise
have grown up in the most pitiable ignor-
ance, had it not been for the generous
hearted people of our beloved State. But
while so many have availed themselves of
such privileges, il is a sad fact that there
are SO many unhappy ones who have not
had these advantages, for there are far
more of them, especially among the deaf,
VINO have never received such training,
and many If these u~neducated ones have
not the slightest conception of their
Creator.
The IaciitieS in our Institution are not
sufic ent to accommodate one-half of
these children. In 1880 the deaf AMI
dumb aud the blind population in North
Carolina was more than three thousand,
with over five hundred deaf children alone
under twenty-Ore years of age. Yet we
have les than thirty per cent. of them in
school, and could not admi5 them If all
applied. Our institution is not an asylum
where these call rem may nave a place of
refuge, but is simply a boarding-school
for those who have been deprived of their
hearing or sight, and cannot attend school
with their more fortunate bro hers and
listers whom God has endowed with all
their senses.
The North Carolina Institution is one
Of only four or FIVE IN the United States
where the two classes are kept together.
There is no reason why they should be
kept III the same buildings, for there is no
hnDI &c cuDorotA- HoE--ooo Ill., MI
cannot communicate their thoughts, nor
ever the T simplest wants to each other.
We have refrained from pressing our
clai as and needs upon the people and the
Legisla ure, believing that the State had
done for these classes as we'll as our peo-
pie were able to do. But our wants have
be come an absolute necessity. For II
Institution to accomplish the greatest
good, we must have large Improvements
and increased facilities, and we most
earnestly ask the friends of the deaf and
the blind to ad US in securing such
facilities.
We should remove the disability of
blindness and deafness, as far as possible,
by preparing them to battle with the
problems of life. Ninety per cent of he
bin / who nave been educated here, have
been and are self-supporting and we be-
heve quite all Of the deaf class who nave
received an education here earn their own
sivelihood. If they had remained unedu-
caoed, our aims houses would have had
to care for them. This, from an economic
standpoint, should convince the State
that all Of these unfortu ate ones should
be educated. But there is a higher duty
we owe them than 70 prepare them to be
self-sup porting. The educated deaf or
blind person is usually happy and indus
trious, and makes a most honorable citi.
zen, and many fill positions in various
walks Of life, even among the learned
professions. Mr.. Gerald Mccarthy, the
efficient botaniSt OF tie North Carolina
Experiment Station, at Raleigh, is deaf,
having been educated in a school for the
deaf and dumb. Humphrey More. Of
New York, a noted pain er, is deaf, and
in cur own State we AVE a prominent
editor who was educated at our IDstitu-
ton. Mr.. Pa klnson, q prominent pateGt
attorney of Washington City, is a de-
man. Mrs Alexander Graham Bell, wife
of the inventor of the telephone, is deaf.
There are several deaf ministers who labor
for Christ among the deaf. We might
mention a S core of others, but this may
be sufficient to show that deafness need
not debar Il from active duties Of life
if we will only educate him. But the
uneducated deaf person has little ides of
his responsibility to his fellow man, or to
his Creator. The most of u boys and
girls are possessed of brightest minds; it
seems that God has compensated them for
their lost sense.
What we need is a new Institution for
the deaf, entirely separate from that of
the bind. There are more Of either of
these classes in North Carolina than we
could accommodate in our present build
ings. This means that we must deny .
great many of them admittance, If you
had a deaf son would you be willing for
u State to say, You n come in?
Our last General Assembly appropriated
one hundred acres Of State land to the
Insti luton for the Deaf and Dumb, but
we have not a d Ollar to erect a building.
We need a plant with sufficient room to
accommodate one hundred and fifty white
mutes to begin with. On this land we
might teach practical agriculture and
gardening, raising and caring for stock.
We should have industrial shops where
we could teach carpentry and cabinet
making, printing, sheen aking, broom
and mattre IS msking. The North Caro-
lima Institution is the only institu ion for
the deaf in the United States that has no
art department. Many of our boys and
girls hav9 shown marked natural talent
for drawing. 1t is conceded by all who
are well acquainted with the deaf, that
they make the finest of artisans, Many
State institutions for the deaf nave turned
out some of the finest artists, many of
whom have made enviable regulations.
W. should, by all means, nave such de-
partment. Art is to the deaf what music
is to the blind.
We confidently believe hat if we had
such facilities, we could make the Insti-
tuition at least one-third or a fourth self
su oporting, after the secord or third year.
Nearly every institution In the Union has
Just such facilities as we are a1king for.
Have we any moral right to deny these
obiIdrou an odIcafiOn 2 Oar State has q