The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-02-27
BLIND AND DUMB
 ARE ENGINEERED BY
 HARDING ADDRESS
President-elect Central Figure of Strange and Impressive Scene-Speech Is Filled
 With Sympathy
By ROBERT 1T. SMALL

St. Augustine, Fla, February 26.-- The human side of Warren G. Harding was revealed when he appeared unan- State School for the Blind, the Deat and the Dumb.
 A few years ago tnIs school would have been called a home, where its af- flicted inmates might have lived the remainder of their lives In indolence order of things it is classified as a school and the young people attending 1t are preparing themselves to take an important and useful place in the af- fairs of the world.
 When the head of the institution first came to the Harding headquar- ters and suggested that the President elect come and make a few remarks to the children, George Christian, MI. Harding's secretary, pointed out that the demands upon the senator in tho closing days of his stay in Florida were so tremendous he doubted seri- ously if the visit to the school could be arranged.
 HARDING ACCEPTS
 Remembering, however, that Mir. I1aIulnS nttS d SlSter dIllCleQ py UllHu- ness MT. Christian thought it would be a good plan for Dr A. H. Walker, 3 principal of the school, personally to convey the invitation to the President elect In less than an hour after the intervied had been arranged, Senator Harding was on his way to the school.
 He was accompanied only by pr. C. E. Sawyer of Marion, his family phy- sicians by the writer, and by Samuel T. s, 1 a The visit was so impromptu that Mrs. Harding herself was not notified and afterwards expressed regret she had been unable to attend.
 The scene at the school was one not easily to be forgotten. Less than a mile outside of this ancient city the school, modern structure of Spanish architecture, with white walls and red tiled roof, is surrounded by pro- fuse Florida foliage in which cocoanut palms and long-leaf pines predominate.
 STRANGE ASSEMBLY
 MT. Harding was in golf togs when he arrived at the school and the si- lence as he was ushered into the audi torium was the impressive silence of an assemblage of those who could not speak or hear, or, speaking and hear ing. could not see. There were chill dren in the audience also who were crippled, as if the loss of the senses of hearing, speaking and vision were not affliction enough.
 Possibly the oldest students at this strangely silent school were 16 year s of age There were others not more than 8 or 4, some happily ignorant of their handicaps and talking animated ly through the medium of the language of signs some with sad and lightle3s eyes. It required no stretch of the imagination to see how deeply MT. Harding was touched as he sat on tue platform, facing this unual audience, and waited for as strange an introduce tion as a President-elect of the United States ever had. pr. Walker, the principal, first introduced MT. Hard ing to the deaf and dumb children. who predominated His introduction was an eloquent complication of the sign language.
 DUMB APPLAUD" .s
 The silence of the signs meant noth- ing, of course to the blind students, so. finally, the principal spoke briefly to them. and at the end of the double introduction MT. Harding arose. As he spoke his words were interpreted to the deaf and dumb by the school priu- cipal. who stood beside him. The ex- pressiveness of the sign language was brought clearly home to the on-looker.
 Dr. Walker not only repeated all that MT. Harding said, but he emphasized 1 each point with peculiarly expressive gestures. Once the dumb children Were moved to applause, pu, the slightest gesture deterred them. and they lis tened to the rest of the discourse in si- lence, and, although the next Presi- dent stood before them their gaze was fixed always and necessarily on the man who made the uttered words un- Understandable to them.
 MT. Harding began in sympa- thetic vein and spoke of the point of contact between himself and the chill dren, the life work of sister devoting herself to the education of the blind. He said he wished it were in his pow CT to give the blind clear vision, and that he might return to the deaf and dumb their impaired senses.
 MORE CHEERFUL
 P Quickly. however. the senat or switched to tone of optimism and for five minutes or more he told the chil- dren of bright future they could make for themselves. He referred to the beauty of their surroundings, of the care the state was bestowing upon them, and said it was the duty of the federal government to see that the re- public always should be worthy of their particular efforts.
 There was no record made of the speech. No presidential stenographers were along. It was just homy talk of optimism and helpfulriess and it re- vealed Warren Harding at his best.