Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1910-05-20
DEAF HEAR;
MUTES SPEAK
Remarkable Demonstration of
Visible Speech at Com
mencement
HANDWRITING ANAzES VISITORS
Many University Men Outdone
by Silent Boys and
Girls.

Girls.
The miracle of the olden times
when the dear were made TO hear and
the blind to see and the speechIess
talk was practically witnessed by
scores of Santa Feans this morning
when the commencement exercises Of
the pupils of the New Mexico School
for the Deaf were held at that institu-
tons a mile from the city.
Pitiful as it was perhaps to see
bright locking boys buoyapt with the
blood of youth unable to voice their
cheerfulness in the way of most
youngsters and sad as it was to behold
graceful. beautiful maidens whose
voices were stilled from infancy and
who relied on their eyes to interpret
words spoken by their teachers and
friends, still the exhibition of the pro
gress made by the pupils under the
direction Of W. 0. Connor the super
intendent and his corps of able and
patient teachers. was gratifying to the
last degree.
And the fact that all the pupils
We're able to see robbed the spectacle
of that saddest of all features, the
sight of a Helen Keller deprived OF
three senses, sight, hearing and
speech
The exercises were a revelation to
many who have believed that speech
and hearing are necessary in learning
to write a clear hand, for the pupils
who had neither of these senses wrote
on the blackboards in the presence of
their audience and wrote with such
clearness that many a university man
in the United States would be put TO
shame.
Art Display.
Territorial Secretary and Mrs. Jaf
ia, arrived at the institution shortly
before the exercises began Mr.. Jaffa
practically took the place of the gov
ernor who is ex-officio member of the
beard of trustees and who is out of
the city. Then came Samuel G. Cart
wright president, and Frank Owen,
secretary and treasurer of the board
and Attorney B. NJ Read, and other
members of the board, Arthur Selig-
man, Miss Seligman, Attorney and
Mrs. Davies, H. S. Kaune, and many
other well known Santa Feans, form
ed quite a little group of interested
spectators at the display of needle
work, painting in water color, print
ing, essay writing, etc. done by the
boys and girls at the school.
The Territorial Superintendent of
Instruction, Prof J. E. Clark, also at
tended the exercises which must have
possessed unusual interst for him, an
educator of children who enter school
without serious handicaps.
! Mr.. COnnor was assisted in showing
the work to the visitors by Miss Tu-
lare Linkey, the matron of the school
and the oral teachers, Mrs. Hazel Con-
nor, Miss Mamie Cool and Miss Myr-
tie Collatt. J. B. Bumgardner, man
ual teacher and instructor in the art
and industrial departments, also re-
ceived the guests and took pride in
showing the work of his printers who
run little printing establishment and
print a paper called THE New Mexi-
co Progress" 1t is a neat little paper
filled with items about this school
and other schools of a similar charac
ter
The teachers and pupils received
many compliments from the visitors
Oh the display of work. 1t was noted
that in one of the essays. Hally's
comet was mentioned, showing how
wide-awake the pupils are even if they
cannot read the absurd stories that
are in circulation about this famous
heavenly visitor.
Exercises Begin.
! Shortly after 10 a. M, the visitors
where the commencement began. SUI
perintendent Connor said a few words
of welcome, as follows: at gives me
great pleasure ladies, and gentlemen,
to welcome you to our school today.
might say that this is not the best
time, however, for you to see the pu-
pills actually working, nor the best oc-
casion for you to judge of their train
ing. The pupils work under strange
conditions at exercises like these and
consequently there is that disadvan-
tage to be met. The best time to see
the pupils is when they are in the
school for then it is they do work
without that consciousness that at
tends a commencement exercise.
Il suppose you know that in addi-
ton to this building we have an In
dustrial School nearby. In it we teach
the pupils the useful trades, such as
printing carpentry work and so on
and the girls learn housekeeping, sew.
ing, needlework and other useful arts.