Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1920-02-03
Mute Workmen
BY Frederic ]. Haskla

Warrington, u. c., Jan. 31-- be
theory that Tho individual who hns suffer-
I'd sorne misfortune and lost sofnc faculty
which secnm indispensable TO industrial
usefulness Is not . good bIy on the labor
| market has again been dmprov~n. Ono of
| tho big rubber companies in Akron, Ohio,
has placed on its payroll 600 people who
can neither hear nor speak, and these
handicapped individuals have demon
stratcd that they are a. efficient IN any
other group in the entire organization.
| About this group OF actual workers il
| gathered ~ many more Of their kind,
dependents upon them, and thus there
has Developed at Akron tie largest
colony OF "silcnts" that il to be found in
the industrial life Of the nation. They take
their places ~ independent, sclfreliant
citisens, who ssk no more indulgence than
do the best equipped members OF society.
The successful employment OF this
| group Of mute workers ~ an additional
proof Of theory that has been develop
| ing in the Wcrt in the pnst few years.
theory that there are places in industry
| into which handicapped individuals can
be fitted and in which they will serve IA
effectively M though they were in every
why normal
The Handicap Bureau OF Chicago give
this theory the beat demonstration 10
persuaded employers tn look over their
plants and find the places into which one
legged people, blind people and old people
would FL AZ well as the young and strong.
IL supplied tfeec handicapped persons
for thcsse special positions. The hsndicape
were so earnest in their attempts to make
good because it was almost a matter
Of life and death with them, that they
often proved better wofkmen At certain
tasls than normal workers.
This II found 10 be true OF The mutes nj
Akron. In 3 big plant ther. are many
posts in which hearing and speech arc I'm
necessary. The person without hearing
escapes annoyance from the noise The
person without speech is less likely TO be
diverted from tssk which requires con-
centration, il he cannot join the talk
about him.
The lack of speech and hearing docs
not necessarily diminish mental or physi-
cal slertness. On the contrary such dep
rivation may be conducive to even keen
er mentality, finer degree Of sensitive
ness and higher sensIbiiity, all of which
inherent treits make the deaf mute rrn-
usually efficient and highly desirable for
certain kinds of industrial work.
HIGH DECREE or MENTALITY.
Az strikingly corroborative OF the con-
tention that high degree of general
mentality il found among deaf mute en-
ployes, are records showing that In the
psychological tests given in this factory,
similar To the arrnys psychological tests,
deaf mute men and women in the factory
and main offices in Akron attained higher
average grades than any other group OF
workers.
Recently officials Of the company vere
persuaded to give deaf mute factory girls .
chance 1T Office work. Skept,cal at first, |
they were agYeeably surprised at the |
rapidity with which the deaf mute girls /!
grasped details and successfully overcame /
their handicape. So mentally alert, no /
quick TO grasp ideas, go pAinstAkiDgly /
efficient and so determined To succeed WAS
one OF these deaf mute girls, that within
two weeks she was performing unass,sted,
and in highly satisfactory manner, work
which IL had taken her immediate pre-
decc-eor, girl who could both speak and
hear, nearly seven weeks TO mas ter. And
this holds true in cases OF nearly all deal
mute girls transferred TO Office work.
Since the cstai Ilshmeut of The rapidly
growing Silent" colony in 1914, the deaf
mutes have proven themselves among The
steadiest and the sturdsest of all The com
pany's 5000 employees. Their expcrtne4
in tire building especially has demon
strated that their affection DOES not con-
stitute serious physical handicap, and
that it increases, rather than dIminishes,
both mental and physical alcrtnese.
These deaf mutes now have their own
club house, their own church service,
their own public and private social gather
ings, and their own dances. Seldom, ex-
cept when thrown in business contact
with them. do they leave the sphere of
their OWN little colony TO mingle socially
or otherwise with speaking people. They
are musica-even TO the extent of having
a 20-piece brass band which has gained
'ame as one OF the most unique musical
in the world The deaf mute
play in perfect tune and per-
'ect time, and display such keen sensi-
oilities as to be able to discern whether or
not an instrument is in tune, merely by the
vibrations they catch through chairs, or
other objects They have their OVID dramat-
&c club and literary society. They are
great movie addicts and frequently at
tend legitimate plays and musical come
lies with an interpreter. They are now
aising funds for erecting their own church
Office, upon completion Of which they
xpect 70 employ deaf mute minister to
reach to them In the silent langltauss of