Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-24
CHURCH OF The SILENT ONES
Sunday Service for the Deaf Mutes at
st. AIMS.
ALL EYES KEPT ON THE RECTOR
No BowinE of Heads a. the
worship Of the Deaf Mutes-
Impressions Of a Hearing
Visitor.
ALL EYES KEPT ON THE RECTOR

NEW YORK, oct. 2a-From the unpre-
tentious brown structure on an upper
West side cross street bearing above its
entrance the inscription, EST. AIMS
Church" no bells call the parishioners to
service. Such a summons would be but a
hollow mockery, for st. AIMS Is a congre-
cation Of deaf mutes.
Within no sound Of organ or choir greets
the late conner. The former could not
be heard and the members Of the latter
have not the voices with which to sing.
In the e~nshrouding silence Of the service
ell the more pregnant are the inscriptions
over the left vestry door, The ears Of the
6caf shall be unstopped,' and the second
inscription over the vcstry door to the
right, THE tongues Of the dumb shall
sing"
To the hearing visitor, accustomed to
anthem and prayer and organ and the
service Of sound, the n~olseless service is
almost uncannily strange AS one enters
and takes a seat there is no turning nor
craning Of heads. No matter how nolslly
one comes these worshlppers are not dis
turbed. quietly expectant they sit and
face the altar, now and then making some
OF their mysterious passes OF conversa-
lion.
When the rector appears, and the vested
choir OF young women the attention con-
centrates, but there is yet no sound. ST.
lently the congregation rise when the rec
tor makes the gestures and movements
Of the hand which to them is the voiclng
Of prayer. and upon him their eyes are
kept riveted, for It Is a popularity OF the
deaf mute service that there can be no
bowling Of heads and resting OF eyes.
Spell of the silence.
The spell OF quietude falls upon the hear
ing v-isitor-among the deaf mutes all peo-
pie are divided into two classes, themselves
and hearing p~eople-and when a belated
one walks in unconscious of creaking shoes
the sound breaks sharply and dlsagreeably
upon the hearers ear. He starts when a
sudden cough from one OF the rear seats
cuts into the silence. II seems there should
be no sound for him any more tina for his
neighbours, who sit, eyes riveted on the
chancel.
In the center stands the rector with the
white beard, bald head and kindly face of
a patriarch. The vested young women
watch his every motion intently for they
must lead in the responses, which must
begin simultaneously, not at the cessation
OF his movement.
One Of them acts as leader. and to her
the eyes Of the others shift at the begin
ming of the response, and the lightning
passes OF hands and fingers accord them
selves, C hers, for there must be utter uni
son in this sort Of chorus expression as in
that Of the voice. The white bearded pastor
now rlvets his gaze on them In turn, for he
must see when their movements stop in
order TO know that the response is ended.
Reading the Lesson.
When the time for the reading Of the
lesson comes he adjusts his glasses. The
hearing visitor receives a slight shock at
this. The atmosphere OF a silent COM
munion has enveloped him and he can
scarcely realize that the patriarchal pastor
Is putting on ordinary spectacles with
which to look at ordinary prints as he him
self might do, in order to translate 1t In
the weird. noiseless way.
An obliging member Of the congregation
finds the place for the visitor, who, despite
his superior faculty, needs help here; finds
the place In the small Bible placed to-
getheT with a hymnal and a prayer book in
each of the pews. The congregation for the
most part seem to prefer the movements
which are as a voice to them to the printed
pages Of the book.
1t is the same with the singing OF the
hymns, There are no elaborate anthems,
for these depend altogether upon their in
tricaoles OF sound and vocal oontortion and
not upon the beauty Of the thought Of the
words. The hymn is announced by little
more than a gesture, the place is quickly
found and the chorister leads.
Motion by motion, pass by pass, glide by
glide, the others move simultaneously with
her. many Of the congregation joining in,