New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1893-09-20

WI ITH III b n GER TIPS.
HOW HELEN KELLER WAS TAUGHT
THE NAMES or THINGS. 5'
lsonnething Of the Method Explainsd BY
@ Her Tireless Instr uotr ess-A Face That
mirrors /. Soul yvhioh Knows Nausht 81
b the ApPsar.noe OF Sin.
The most interesting feature Of the ed
ucationa1 congress was the appearance
Of Helen Keller under the kind and skill
full guidance Of Miss Annie NJ. Sullivan,
her teacher. When 8 babe, Helen Keller
became blind, deaf and dumb. When.
Miss Sullivan. q young woman Of unus-.
ual beauty Of form and feature, stood
before the audience beside girl who,
except for the sad sign Of blindness in
the large eyes, gave promise Of still:
greater beauty, her face glistening with
9 rapture that painters try to express in
the ecstacy of angels, hearts seemed to
stand still. It was face that had never.
onsciously looked on the distortions Of
passion or pain-the mirror Of soul
that could not imagine the outward APP
pearance of sin nor remember any Of the
discords of life.
In her presence it was hard to appre-
ciate the fact that her world lay within
ours, without sun, music or speech. No
one WHO saw twill forget the impulsive
fluttering Of her young, white hand as
it sought her teachers face or round,
white throat; the satisfaction when the
contact Of her delicate white finger tips
gave her what sight gives us; the flash
Of light over her face when, with her
forefnger resting on her teachers lip.
she read the answer to the question she
had asked by the twinkling digital move
| ments in her teachers palm. There
! were those who wept when she repeated
audibly, with a depth of feeling she
alone can feel: (.
Tell me not in mournful numbers
Life is but an empty dream. sL
All were invited to ask questions, yet
not many did so. The occasion seemed
sacred. F., - Ge@: =
Elbow did you teach her the first
word?' some one ventured at last.
.Her first word was doll" was the
answer. 81 gave her the doll, placed
her finger on my lip and spoke the word.
When she wearied of the doll, took it
from her, and when returned it again
gave the movement of the lips The
second word was mug fused the cup
from which she drank, but became con
WINGED that she had not clear idea of
the name, but that it meant to her also
water or drink. So one day took he1
to the pump, and as the water was flow.
ing into her cup had her hold her hand
in the stream, and then putting her fin.
ger on my lip gave her the word water.
Then I again gave her the word mug.
The idea that everything had a name,
the comprehension Of nouns, was great
revelation to her and came then and all
at once. She was greatly excited. A
nurse, with the baby sister in her arms,
was standing near. Helen Immediately
put her hand on it's face to know its
name. told her baby and she caught
it at once. Then she stopped down and
patted the ground to know what it was
called. She learned many words that
day, and those words she never forgot
''How soon after she learned words
did she frame sentences?''
Immediately"
"Were verbs harder to learn than
nouns?' D.. = *
.'Not at all. I began with such words
as 'sit,' stand and the like that were
easy to illustrate. Propositions troubled
her most" ~,.5 .~-l..5
GLOW does she get an idea of the alb.
stract?'' .t s.5
II cannot tell. It seems to be with
her, or it comes.'' ~ L. .s&.<c
HAS she any distinguishing sense OF
musical vibrations?'' - .-..-.s.t
eyes, very distinct. She likes music. y
lis her vocabulary larger #.
every large. She expresses herself
duently and is choice of words
''What books does she like best?''
Every now and then the white fingers
AuGUCAC GU W LILO tctCU0T 3 lace IOT 1OSC
one delicate touch-a finger look it was
land now they rested on MissSulli-
vans lip: IN. .-5s ss. .=s
Tell-the people - what - books
you-like-best."
Helen's face was an open book of her
mental processes. She repeated each
word after Miss Sullivan, but hesitated
a little on the words ''tell' and .tyou, !"
the brightness of her face dimming for
the instant. As soon as she compre-
hended the question, which she did in adj
vance of its completion, the flash Of intel
ligence came, and when she turned to-
ward the audience, for she did not seem
at any time to lose her location, she said
with spirit: 4. 3
sob, I have read so much that it is
very hard to say what like best, but y
waiting amo1nent;- 50 i little Lord Faunt-
leroy !" And then followed rapidly
the names of several works, some Of
which, it would seem, could hardly be
understood by any one who cannot know