Morning journal and courier., 1890-01-27
TALKS WITH HER ARM.

Where . Deaf and Dumb Girls Car.
 ries she Alphabet and How She Uses
 Ie.
 From the Philadelphia Inquirer.l
 s'James v. Dorpman and daughter, Lodge Pole, Nebraska" is written in 8 bold hand on the register at the Ridgway House. Mr. Dorpman is tall well-built man of 60 years, with long beard strongly tinged with gray. His daughter is about IS years old. She has an intelligent, 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 ate tracted the attention and curiosity of the guests by their strange behavior. Whether in the parlor or in the dining room, Ar. Dorpman always sat on the left-hand side of his daughter and tapped her left arm con- stantly with the fingers of his right hand, as thongh playing on typswritsr. His fin gers skipped nimbly at random from the girls wrist almost to her shoulder and back again. At intervals he paused and the girl smiled, nodded her head, or else tapped her left arm in the same manner with the fn- gers of her right arm, the old man closely watching their movements.
 
 jects of continual comment and speculation among the guests. Finally some one noticed that the father and daughter were never heard to exchange word. They always sat uuietly when in each others presence, and were always drumming on the girls left arm as if it were pianoforte. The girl kept away from the other guests of her sex, and | one. At the dining table MT. Dorpman gave the orders to the walters both for him. self and daughter. When Proprietor Batter worth met the young lady on. the stairs last Thursday and said affably "Good morning" l she never answered.
 ls, The strange actions of the couple occasion l cd such widespread comment and curiosity among the guests of the house that finally | Proprietor Butterworth approached Mr. Dorp. man while he was standing at the cigar coun- l ter one day and after few minutes of gene- ral conversation asked him to explain the cause of his constant tapping on his daugh- | ter's arm.
 "So you've noticed that, eh?" said Mir. Dorpman with laugh. 'Well, that is how l I talk to Hattie. She is deaf and dumb."
 MT. Butterworth asked him how he was able to converse with his daughter by simply drumming on her arm.
 "You'l think it is easy after tell you, !" l he answered. "You must remember that we came from an obscure part of Nebraska. I 1 S6bLleO tueI6 WILL luy WuO Q 4uoAGCA Ok Q 1 century ago. Eighteen years ago when Hattie 1 was born there was not house within mile of us nor city within sixty miles. As the l child grew older we discovered that she was l deaf and dumb. We were at loss how to communicate with her. We were far away | from . civilized community and no one that | we knew was familiar with the sign manual for deaf mutes, so that the baby grew to be 8 l child before we could devise some scheme to l talk to her.
 Finally my wife hit upon a novel idea. She got g clever young fellow who worked l for us to tattoo the alphabet on Hattie's arm. The letter "A began just above the wrist and the letter 'Z' ended just below the shoulder blade. Hattie was then six years old and in less than year by this means my wife and had taught her the alphabet.
 "Then we began to spell out words by touching each letter very slowly with our 1 fingers. As the child learned we became faster and when Hattie was twelve years old | we were able to talk to her as Iasidly as c person can spell out words on typewriter. Hattie also learned to answer us by drum ming on her tsttoosd arm. Of course for several years at 6rst 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 co fine that she knew with- out looking just where each letter was located | and her mother and by constant practice | were enabled to strike these letters with her l sleeves rolled down.
 ."The tattoo was not very deep and by the time Hattie was sixteen years of age it had entirely disappeared, leaving her arm as l white and spotless as woman's arm could be. But she knows just where each letter was and 30 do I, for I've been drumming on her arm ever since she was knee high to Q grasshopper. Of course I am the only per- son alive able to talk with her, as my wife died about six months ago, but I Lope to l arrange 80 that she may be able to talk to others. While we are on East am going to get someone to instruct her in the sign man. ual. She is bright and quick and will soon learn"