The Savannah morning news., 1900-12-28
HELEN KELLER.
The Little speech She Delighted Her
Classmates ny UftcrinR-IIer Fu-

CLASSMATES by tftrrian-iter Fu-
turc.
From the Boston Herald.
The maiden speech made by Miss Helen
Keller generally known as deaf dumb.
and blind. az che luncheon 81 the Red
'i,sf- C0sseFe freshman class. % =hses,
she Is Vice President. IS a notable ex-
ample Of the progress she has made IN
speech during the past seycn years OF
persistent effort Her words were heard
quite clearly through the hall She said
Classmates; IL f. great pleasure.
and I esteem b a great honor. 10 be- pres
ent here and speak to YOU am glad
20 have an opportunity 20 thank tho class
for their kindness In eicctiuE M their
vice president. and hope that ! may be-
come acquainted wiki many OF you. Al
though cannot see you. I viii soon
know you by touching your hands"
Every one heard. and there was warm
applause. II was the iirat time that Miss
Keller bad joined in the social life OF her
college Miss Grimm. sophomore. who
can use the deaf and dumb alphabet. was
by her side and lost no time IN getting
words 90 the speaker 10 tell her about the
warm reception her speech had been ac-
corded.
This may well be regarded ~ a sample
OF Miss Eelier's progress IN speech. after
some seven years Of persistent effort. To
some her talk o. more clear than 10
Others hut she generally gets along very
well with her end of the conversation. and
al one has 90 do n 10 listen closely. II
g. By practice that Miss Keller gains IN
clearnrss. she Is encouraged 20 talk az
much as possible. and 20 depend less and
less upon using the alphabet Of the hapds.
A Literary Career.
In looking forward TO future work. a
literary career ia suggested Miss Keller
already has wide knowledge Of English,
AZ from no other reason than that Mss
Sullivan uaes exceptionally fiuc language.
Then. too. all the reading required IN the
college work Is translated 70 Miss Keller
by Miss sullivan, and her style and 70
cabulnry are constantly being improved,
"But how about this matter OF expert
enceY' IL tac question that arises when
q literary career is suggested.
Those who have watched Der compost
ton md much that is promising A.
though entirely deaf ana blind. Nis6 Kel-
Ter often shows that she appreciates sound
ana color And. while she may always
BE- under the misfortune Of lacking much
In human experience that others have.
she makes such rich use Of what she has
that be future eTorts ~ the lire or Wit
INK may bring forth msny aurpriset. one
who has watched her advance for sew
cral years says.
Her writing shows much Individuality.
ANA yet Il ~ evidepf that hsr style or
Thought ara expression u AtiH compsrl-
lively undeveioped. and ~ much the same
character a. often found IN any other
vounx nerson especially those who have
not IL vide experience. She draws
much Nom her Immediate surroundings
and that means that she perceives what
there Il about her with almost. II not
quite. the flavor that others can. with
al their faculties. Take. for instance
aome OF her Conversation. u ~ natural
and on very much the same lines ~ you
hear anywhere. heard her converting
the other dsy. wlth q girl aboui her age
The girl friend waa tfllisf about q new
dress that she bad.
what Il tte colory asked Miss Ke.-
Ter. promptly.