The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1896-03-19

To any intelligent audience IN any
country Of the world, it is not necessary
to Introduce the name of Prof Alexander
Graham Bell. Many prominent citizens
of Manltowoc had the pleasant privilege
of meeting this delightfully."- interesting
and DISTINGUISHED gentleman Saturday
evening. He was accompanied by Prof.
Robert G. Spencer of Milwaukee, PresI-
dent of the Wisconsin chronological In
stltute, "a philanthropic society, having
for its object the spread of the oral
method OF educating the deaf; which can
best be done by means of day schools,
home life and the conditions of 2aily as.
ISOLATION with hearing and speaking peo-
pie IN the community.
The Horace Mann School for the deaf
of Boston first brought DR.. Bell TO this
country IN April 1871 when people really
did not know whether 1t was practicable
to teach the dumb to speak and the deaf
to hear. The public looked upon it rs
sort of miracle. But those miracles of the
past are to-day every day facts every
mother of deaf child now knows to her
Joy, that her child can be taught to
speak, of course not as we'll as other
children. yet so as TO be lutelhg.be to
her and her friends at home and under
stand the speech of others by means of
his eyes; which is glorious accomplish
ment. The mechanism of speech has
been 9he professional study OF Dr. Bells
family for three generations. He con-
fesses that he was at first extremely
sceptlcal IN regard to the possibility of
llfe-readlng for it is more difficult for
one wuO is familiar with the mechanism
OF speech to realize the possibility of this
hn 1c1 e
sceptlclsm had one good result: It led
him to devise apparatus that might help
the children. He varied his forms of ap-
paratus all the way from the phouanto-
graph OF Leon Scott up to an apparatus
constructed of human ear taken from
a dead subject. This did not accomplish
the result intended but in process of
time became the telephone of to day. The
first oral schools We're established 10 1867
so that we have only twenty eight years
of progress TO examine. The French or
slgu method was introduced in 1917 and
for fifty years had the whole field of
America to itself. Both the sign and oral
methods have existed for more than a
century in Europe. Europe was for a
time divided Into two opposing camps.
On the one hand were oraliste, led by
Germany. On the other were the adyo-
Gates OF Il combined method, led by
France, who insisted that the sign Ian.
guGge, as well as speech, should be en-.
pioyed IN the instruction OF the deaf.
Tins question was settled at an Inter
national Convention at Milan, Italy.
September 1880. This convention de-
clared by an almost unanimous vote, 100
ayes to noes, that the pure oral method
ought to be preferred, and today those
controversies In Germany are things of
the past. All ere pure oral schools. The
adoption OF the oral method by France IS
especially significant. For the French
to abandon their nat onal method and
adopt system of German origin IS of
itself an encouragement of the intrinsic
superiority of the oral method. The very
schools of the Able De l'Epe'e. where
the sign method originated, is now an
oral school. To Wisconsin belongs the
honor OF being the first state to make
regular provision for the establishment
OF public day schools for the deaf in In
corporated cities and villages with state
aid as part of the public school system.
This she did in 1885. Convincing and
unanswerable arguments in favor of the
Wisconsin system of public day schools
were presented to the legislature by DIR.
Bell.
The Principal of "Manitowoc Day
Shoot Tor Deaf, has a few pampblets
containing Dr. Bells letter to the leeis.
lature together with his picture which
she would be pleased to distribute to
those unfortunate people who were really
interested, bot were unable TO attend
Saturday evenings reception, -