Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1898-04-27
DELEVAN'S MUTES.
Orlando Burnett Spends a Day
with Supt. Swiler.
SEES 200 UNFORTUNATE BADGERS.

Teaches Trades-Gymnsstics, but Not a
Note of Misunderstanding Gossip.
Madison. Wis. April 1s.-"Yeu may
recite the twenty-third PSALM"
And he die. from beginning to end.
and he was born deaf and dumb. a
nephew OF Angus Cameron, United
States senator. The boy had never
heard the human voice. He had learned
to use his own by watching the lips OF
his teacher. The "oral method" 1t is
called; as distinguishable from the
Sign language" which means the com
munication of thought by the twinkling
of the fingers.
1t was at the Delavan school for the
deaf and dumb, over which Professor
j. w. Swiler has been principal for
eighteen years. Before that he was a
teacher in the Illinois institution. 1t
Is no disparagement of the states SUI
perintendents of institutions to say
that he is the star. He is the longest
in authority. At national conventions
he Is accorded high honor as an expert.
The deaf and dumb Is the one thing ne
knows. He is courteous gentleman,
Methodist, like Merica of the Wauke-
sha school an1 Bliss of the GAINESVILLE
school for the blind-he throws enthusi-
asm into his work, and he excels in
the choice of assistants. Even the
casual observer visiting the successive
departments could note the absence of
drones and mere salary eaters. The
noble men and women are in the work
for the love OF 1t, and the children are
free from that repression which makes
passionless automatons of many an ia
stitutions charges.
l spent day at Delavan and came
away with a layman's delusion shat
tered-that mutes are unhappy and
suspicious. They may develop this
mood when tucked away alone in their
respective communities, but at the
school there is a comradeship and an
enthusiasm that makes a hearing per-
son feel lonely.
And when dick" Petherick of the
board of control goes up the hill to the
school with bag of candy for the lit
tie boys and another for the girls, they
climb over him like Santa Claus; and
"Brownie"-thatS Dicks name for the
worst little devil in the school-cuddles
down on his shoulder and says funny
| things on his fingers to make the other
children laugh, and Dick spanks the
dust out of Brownies" resting place.
Don't Allow the Sign Language.
There are eight day sch dolls for the
deaf In Wisconsin cities, and in the
Milwaukee school there are fifty pupils
These schools are the hobby of Spencer
the penman, and DR.. Graham Bell and
others, and the state pays $125 for every
pupil so instructed. These schools
teach the oral language exclusively
whereas the state institution makes
use of speech and the sign language
too. There is some friction between
the two theories of education, which
creepS out in the national conventions
But Delavan and other schools report
that only about a third or half of the
children evince the capacity to learn to
speak. The children come at the age
of and later, the earlier the better
Every child has a three-years' trial.
and II he then gives promise, he is con-
tinued in the oral instruction until he
can talk to greater or less degree.
/ saw class of little tots who entered
last fall. One of them, in obedience to
the teacher. would perform some ac-
ton, and then each pupil told the teach
er what was done-perhaps James
brought the book" In the first year
the children learn perhaps $50 simple
object words. They are shown horse
and learn to pronounce the word. They
are taken outdoors to see the robins
They jump about the room and are
taught the word Jump. But, oh! the
patience demanded of the teacher!
First the elements. the letters and COM
bnations, like 'ph and "fr," the pupil
watching the teachers lips; or having
breath blown on his wrist to illustrate
So or "po'' And when you listen to
even the advanced pupils in geography
or in reading the Psalm of Life at first
you are disappointed. Children who did
not lose their hearing until they were
three or five years of age, talk natural
ly, but the voice of the ''congenitals"
(born deaf is strained and unnatural.
The wonder is, not that they talk Sc
poorly, but that they talk at all. Par
ents are always delighted at even rudi-
mentary speech in their children I'm
againe being the parent Of bright, af-
fectionate boy or girl, shut out from
even the simplest word of endearment.
He goes off to school and returns able
to sYv Dear Papa" and to make
known even the primitive wants by the
voice. You would clasp him to your
breast and thank God. And while
strangers have difficulty in understand
ing many of these oral takers, those
who live with them grow to compre-
bend the speech with readiness. This
method of instruction dates from about
1863.
Telephone Bells Wife Is Clever.
The wife Of Bell, the inventor of the
telephone, is one of the most accom-
plished deaf takers in the United
States, though the assertion that
stranger talking to her would never
suspect she reads by the lips and hears
never word is a pleasing fiction
Laura Bridgeman of New Hampshire
was not only deaf and dumb, but blind
She was born in 1929 and died at the
age of 60. She was taught to read and
speak simple English. At first she could
not even know there was such a thing
as speech. The first aim of her teach
er was to connect objects with their
names. The hearing and seeing child
can be made readily to associate the
object horse with the word horse
1t is possible to convey the sound
"horse' to the deaf child, as it can see
the lips. But for one blind and deaf.
practically from birth, it must have
been. indeed, difficult to associate sound
combinations with objects. To do this
the teacher began with pasteboard let
tiers and the single manual alphabet,
first placing the object in the hand (as
a BALD and then the letters composing
the name. The moment the benighted
pupil first grasped the idea that oh
jects had names, progress began.
Helen Keller. Phillips Brooks little
friend is another case of the same sort,
though more wonderful She was born
in Alabama in 1880, Of high family. An
expert, who has Investigated fifty-four
blind and deaf cases in history, says:
"She herself speaks always in a very
pleasing voice and Is understood per-
fectly by almost every stranger"
1t Was Burned in 1879.
The Delevan school dates from the
early f1fties, but was burned in 1879.
Most state institutions have suffered
once from the fork-tongued demon.
The group of buildings date from 1880,
barring the $4,000 normal training
school, which is three years old. Chill
dren who come early stay about eight
years for their education. There is a
summer vacation for them and the
state pays all their bills. 1t cost about
$4,000 per year. or about 5000 per pupil
to sustain the institution, and from the
beginning there has been paid out over
81, $780, 600 for plant and running ex-
penses. About 1.2o0 pupils have been in