The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1915-02-20

Before an audltiyr that filled
every seat In the Oklahoma High
School auditorium last night, Helen
Keller stood for half un hour aud
talked about "Happincss" Her words
were not plain aud many In the au-
dience could not understand all She
said but they caught the drift Of her
talk and at times could understand
whole sentences. Toward the last. AS
those In the audiencr hrumr more
accustomed 10 her manner uf talk.
Ing, they md ~,stOOd fur better thuu
at first.
Dressed In white and with a bon.
quet at her belt, the hliuddcaf girI
made n pretty picture Her face
shows ut once her natural Intelligence.
With mind that n active aud clear,
she is handicapped only by nu iuabiI.
ty 10 enunciate all her words as others
do She speaks SLOWLY aud In voice
that Is not at all nHturul But even
as she talked the audience sat spell
bound at seeing and hearing one who
had overcome all the seemingly IN
surmountable difrcuIlIcs and who
has acquired the education now pos
sessed by Helen Keller
Told By Her Teacher
Miss Keller talked again ut the
high school this Afternoon and win ap
pear again tonight She is one of the
wonders Of the agr and the desire
to see and hear her b. felt 10y every
! one
There first appeared before the AN.
dience Mrs j. A. MACY who was IN
troduccd by Mrs. Fred sutton Mrs.
! Macy has been Helen kcllcrs teacher
since the girl was q years old She
told OF going to the home u the Kcl
lers IN Alabama aud Of her first meet
Ing with the child, who had been ren.
dered blind. deaf and dumb at the age
Of 10 months. The parents Of the lii.
tle girl had read about how Laura
Bridgman had been taught to read
and write, and they believed their
child could also be taught
Every since that time - years ago
! Mrs Macy has been the teacher and
constant companion of Helen Keller
She Is kQown to her pupil ~ Teach
er." and Is not called 10y any Other
name. Mrs. Macy told ~ the early
| struggles with the wilful child, but
| finally there WAS awakened In her
a desire for learning Ia know rnt
things other people know.
Was Determined TO Learn.
And since that time said Mrs
Macy, ut has been question Of
whether the teacher taught the pupil
or whether the pupil crowded the
teacher and made II student Of her
Helen WIS 80 anxious to learn that
had ~ study hard to keep ahead ~
her"
She told of the girls years In col.
| legr and the difficulties She encounter.
ed thdJt. The college authorities
were not anxious for her 10 enter the
school In fact they discouraged her
but she was determined and In time
obtained her degree
Helen Keller has met all the lead
ing men aud women VI the couAtry
and they are all her friends She
has taken her place among the think
ers Of the age, for her mind Is as
bright as that ~ any person with all
their natural senses.
When she first came upon the
stage last night her mechanical
voice did not have pleasing sound,
The audience had ibeen told by Mrs
Macy that such would he the case
Later those who heard her forgot all
these things In the thoughts she eN.
pressed TO them.
4 Love IL the key 10 happiness That
was the central thought around which
the girl talked. The thoughts are
her own, for Helen Keller has her
own ideas she reads everything and
knows all that is going Oh In the
world about her.
Knew When They Laughed.
At the conclusion Of her set speech
the audience was invited to ask ques
tlons. and these were repeated 10 Miss
Keller by Mrs Macy through the
system Of lip reading. Miss Keller
placed her finger on her teachers
lips, with her thumb on the throat
When Mrs. Macy talked Miss Keller
seldom made mistake. but under
stood perfectly all that was said to
her and answered the questions In.
stantly.
She was asked { she ever expected
to see, and answered that she did, In
the next world. In answer tO another
question she said that she could bare
ly remember having seen the light,
which grew DINNER and DINNER when
she was child and then faded alto.
gether. She was asked II she liked
Oklahoma, and said she did.
"You have wheat and corn and cat,
tie and everything said Miss Keller
What more could Won ask" She said
ahp had nevar smellad No murh oIl