The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22

Never in the most fantastic concets of
the professional story-wriJers have there
been two persons less calculated by nature
to carry on a sociable conversation than
one perfectly blind and one perfectly deaf
and mute. Very likely it would be as
sumed off hand that no such conversation
could be within the limits of possibility.
There are two persons in Berkeley, men,
bers of the same family, one perfectly
deaf and the other perfectly blind, who
daily discuss current topics and, in their
own way, are quite gay.
The difficulties naturally in the way ap-
pear when it shall be considered that if
the deaf mute employed the Ian uage of
deaf mutes. the Ian suage which is ex-
pressed silently by the fingers, the total
lack of sight on the part of the other
speaker shuts out all the sign language
from her comprehension. So. again, any
words which might be spoken ever so
loudly by the blind conversationalist must
be soundless to the deaf mute. Two blind
persons may easily converse by word of
mouth. Two deaf NJ utes may exchange
ideas by the sign language, but the condi-
tions outlined in the foregoing have prob
ably been unparalleled elsewhere when a
discussion of the sixth amendment to the
constitution of the State of California or
other topic of live concern might be a
pleasing contingency.
Bertha Carpenter, a little girl aged
about II years, has no eyes. Blindness
came upon her at 16 months as the result
of spinal fever. Ernest Carpenter, her
bro other, aged II. lost his hearing at the
age of years. The parents of Bertha and
Ernest Carpenter reside near San Diego.
Shocked as they were by the infection
which had fallen upon Ernest they w re
crushed by the disaster which came later
to their little girl, Bertha. They most of
all realized that between these two there
was little chance of acquaintance. They
must seemingly pass through life as
brother and sister, never communicating
their thoughts or affections.
What kind of world they might have
lived in may be inferred from the story by
very bright girl wno was for years a
deaf mute. 81 used to think" said this
child lately in conversation, "that the ami
mails were better off than 1. Nv father
spoke to his horse, and / saw the animal
minded, and to me it seemed clear that
the horse must be able to talk. One day I
was sent to the institution for the Deaf and
Dumb and Blind at Berkeley to learn to
talk. Two or three days l stood in cor
ners and watched the other children. All
at once il. came to me that l had entered
into a world peopled with beings like
mvself l ran out among them and
| played with them and was happy"
Ernest Carpenter went along without
talking until six years ago. He was then
robust lad, but seemingly not very
bright His faculties had not been awak-
ened. He had heard no sound since he
was an infant. He had seemingly lost all
power to speak. The parents incurred
more and more as the children grew older.
Then they decided that both must be sent
to Berkeley to be educated as much as
possible. There the deaf mute has learned
to speak articulate. words, and the blind
girl has somehow learned to so speak that
the brother reads her lips and they talk
freely. Yesterday the brother and sister
conversed for the purpose of demonstrat-
ing that such an occurrence was possible.
Their teacher, N. +. Whipple, was present
and looked on with interest.
The deaf mute squared himself off ana
] looked at his blind sister, who is head