The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-06

way the child learns to write the names
| Of familiar things. his vocabulary is grad
| ually enlarged. and the construction Of
| sentences mastered. objects are first
! identified in the deaf ehild's mind by their
/ written equivalents, and hence the deaf
/ never misspell
A deficiency in one faculty often pro-
! duces corresponding increase of activity
! in the remaining ones. which seem to do
( double duty. In the schools Of hearing
children there are seldom seen such eager
! eyes as those which followed Mr.. Ballard S
every move. faces which indicate such
! high tension Of the faculty Of perception
| or greater power of mind concentration.
/ Their countenances express so much and
/ they seem to talk with every feature; the
wrinklng Of the forehead and even the
different ways Of tip fitting the nose mean
something. One can readily understand
why this teachers task should not be te-
dious and feel at the same time pang
of regret that, in days gone by, children
as bright as these were abandoned TO
dullness and stagnation. The next grades
broaden the scope Of the work. and after
a few years the pupils are found pursuing
the studies of graded schools in an in
telligent, comprehensive manner The
school work is carried on through the me-
dunn of the sign language. which. by the
way seems to be the language of nature.
This was aptly illustrated in the visit OF
some Indians to the school several years
ago, The Indians engaged in connected
conversation with the pupils without aid
from interp eters boy was asked by
the chief of a tribe to come out to the
reservation. He replied, You might scalp
me-"
No. no" said the Indian, Indian white
mans friend"
More was said on both sides, yet it is
quite certain that the Indian mad never
been instructed in deaf mute language. Tie
chief was so pleased with the school that,
on his return home he secured admittance
for two red ladies, who remained 1T Ken
dali Green until their kleptomaniacal ten
denotes and avOwed hostility to the lavato-
~ compelled the authorities to return them
to the more congenial atmosphere of their
native abiding place.
Dr. Gallaudet's preference for the man
ual system in teaching is by no means an
indication that the art of reading the lips
is neglected. This department is in charge
Of Miss Mary T. Gordon, who has been at
Kendall Green more than a quarter of a
century. and is considered one OF the best
teachers OF articulation in this country.
She teaches the normal school pupils lip
reading by the most scientific and progress
siye methods The diagram OF the throat
is carefully studied. and the exact position
noted Of the vocal organs in their utter
ance of every sound. Miss Gordon also
superyises the work of the younger pupils.
studies their individual defects in aTticu-
laton. and prepares exercises for correct
ing them. Time passed in the articulation
class room is a most interesting feature to
visitors. a party recently visiting the
room found four little tots undergoing a
lesson in conversation. They were given
handfuls Of paper slips. each containing
some simple sentence. The instructor was
provided with slips corresponding to these.
He read one slowly and distinctly and
there ensued a scramble to see who had
the one Just like it. The fortunate and
proud possessor rose in his seat, and in
imperfect but Ineligible accents repeated
the sentence. This process was continued
until the slips were exhausted No books
are used, for fear that the children would
learn the sentences in regular order and
not depend upon the reading Of the lips
The process is slower than the manual
method but the children do remarkably
well, and get a great deal OF enjoyment
out Of their work; they are quick to grasp
the humOr Of a situation and smile and
chan one another in a good-natured way
over all DluuQeT5. some very DllEHt Gull
dren find it impossible to master lip read
ing. Others cannot articulate clearly
enough to make themselves understood by
hearing people. Failure TO perceive these
two points has caused many parents who
insisted on their deaf children being taught
by oral methods alone to mistake disabili-
ties for duliness.
The teaching Of articulation has re-
vealed the fact that few so-called deaf
mutes are really mutes. Deaf people used
to be dumb. not because OF inability TO
learn speech. but because they could not
hear words spoken, and no other way had
been discovered to teach them to make ar
ticulate sounds. 4 class Of older pupils
came down later to the classroom and en-
gagged in conversation with the instructor.
He afterward took up a poem, which they
had never seen (the word is used literally
read before They repeated each line with
scarcely a mistake. The pupils are given
half an hours exercise each day in lip
reading
In the school building are located the
chapel girls reading room, and dormi-
tories. The boys dormitory Is in a sepa-
rate building. designed by former pupil.