The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-02-03
DEAF MUTES' SCHOOL.
Needs of One Of the Worthiest In
situations Of the State-Work
Of the Pupils.
srecin1 to The Jersey ctr Ne,us.

Special TO The JERSEY CITY Mems.
TRENTON, Feb, g., 1S93:-The New Jersey
School for Deaf Mutes was established
under the title of ssIhe State Institution
for the Deaf and Dumb of New Jersey,
by an act approved March 81, lSS2. BY
the terms of this act the Governor, Comp
troller and Superintendent of Public In
struction of. the State, ex-officio, with
| eight other citizens ma med In the ACT
whose successors were to be appointed
by the Governor, were to constitute the
Board of Trustees of the institutions;
the premises form erly occupied by the
| Soldiers Childre ms Home were set
| apart for it's use; a permanent approprla-
ton of 1924 per year for each pupil was
MADE for its support, ana every deaf per-
| son between the ages OF i've and twenty
| one wears, oeing a resident of the State.
was declared to be eligible for ADMISSION
| as q pupil. The sum of Sl5.000 was Dy
| the same act appropriated for the repairs
| aud improve ments necessary TO III the
| buildings of the school for occupancy.
| The trustees were authorized and d.
rected TO require from parents OF Pupils
| paymen of The whole or OF a pare OF tne
| of their respective children accordin g to
the %pecuniary ability in each case, or
which the trustees were the fiual judges
mt no child is to be debarred from the
privileges of the school on account OF
poverty.
AS stated ABOVE the school occupies a
| building not originally designed 1or the
purpose. and extensive repairs are now
| required. The plumbing was done at a
| time when the requirements OF good
sanitary conditions were not SO Wen
L l. INT md i'm rFOUamQnE IN fn1Q
particular is of paramount Importance.
| The room provided for the proper train
ing of the pupils is greatly cranped
| and insufficient to meet the needs
of the institution. A system of 1nstruc-
| ton In the industrial arts, such as shoe
making, carpentering, printing, dress
making, drawing and designing ha
| been Introduced, and increased rooms
| and facilities are needed for the proper
working of the system. lu fact. the en-
tire building should be thoroughly over
] hauled and made suitable for the purposes
( for which it is used. There is nearly a
half mile of sideN ak surrounding the
grounds which needs paving, curolng
aud tagging, and other alterations and
Improvements need attention speedily co
serve the convenience and efficiency OF
the school. The means to make the sug-
gested changes and improvements should
| not be withheld.
The main building is 200 feet long with
an average depth of about forty-fve feet,
aud Is three stories high. with q base
ment. The material of this and OF all
the buildings OF the Institution is brlcB,
covered with rough-cast or stucco.
The basement CONTAINS the Kitchens.
dining room, store rooms and girls play
and clothing rooms.
On the first floor are the offices, school
rooms, assembly room and boys play
room. On the second floor are the pupils
| 3orrnftoriaa attendants rooms hospital.
linen room and bath rooms. On the third
floor are servants rooms, pupils sitting
rooms and clothes rooms.
About $50 feet back and with its xis at
the right angles to that OF the main
building is the laundry, 52xa3
feet. In the cellar are Gwo
boilers which supply steam for the heat
ing of the buildings and for laundry and
bathing purposes. The lann dry and dry
lug room occupy the first floor, and the
third floor is taken mp by rooms Tor teach
ing carpentry aud shoemaking.
THOROUGH WORK.
The work of the school is designed to be
| thorough, quality of work accomplished
being the test of Improvement rather
than quantity. The great aim in the
culture of the mental powers Is to give
the spills a command OF language. They
cannot heal and. of course, the only way
in which they can communicate either
with their fellows or their friends is by
such means as they are taught, and
the more enlarged ideas oil language
that can be communicated to them. OF
course the better it is for them. 10 this
| end a library is greatly needed. and is
one Of the things that should be provided
at once.
In addition to the sign language, a great
| effort is made to have the pupils learn
articulation, or being able to understand
what is said to them by the motion ofethe
| lips OF the person speaking, and they are
then taught SO far as possible 10 speak
words. Some of them can speak mauy
words in a way that seems surprising
when the fact that they never heard d
sound is taken into consideration.
o THE CHICAGO FAIR.
The pupils are preparing some work to
be sent to the Chicago Fair. A hand
some vase has been decorated. and when
properly fired will be among the articles
on exhibition, In the dressmaking de-
partment two dolls are being dressed as
specimens of the skill OF the pu-
pills. One is dressed as a young
lady, aud her dainty outfit of silk
and other apparel to correspond is
! tasty enough for any little maiden to be
clothed In. The other is dressed in long
clothes as an iufaDt. and almost any little
girl would say il Is too sweet for any
thing. There seems to be a field opening
for the pupils who have the ability to
learn decorating as applied to the pottery
interests. A number of pieces or china
decorated by Ray Burdsal, a pupil of the
school, are certainly handsome, botn In
design aud coioring-
The printing office is very much
crowded and some proofs shown the
reporter were very clean indeed. Here
are printed the Daily Bulletin, a small
sheet OF one page, ontainlng the every
day gossip of the school, aud published
to encourage the pupils in reading, rs
shey, like some older people, who can
hear and talk, like TO see their names in
print. The Printers apprentice is a
little sheet gotten up in u four-Dage form
and intended primarily for the instruction
OF the printing Glasses, and is printed
weekly. The Silent Worker is an eight
page paper, published monthly. and is in
tended TO contain matter of interest to all
who are concerned in the welfare of the
deaf. aud it gives especial prominence to
the affairs of the institution and items
concerning the deaf of the State.
Within the first month after the OPEN
ing ofthe New Jersey School for Deaf
Mutes there were received seventy-two
pupils: by the following June the num-
Der had risen to 101, and in June, 1892. the
| number In attendance was 100.
At present the number on the rolls Is
100.
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