St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1921-12-16
Concerning the Deaf School

The School for the Deaf is
supported by taxes and it is free
to the deaf children of Oregon
from the ages of 6 to 2l. 1t is q
purely educational institution
like the public schools. Mrs.
f. s. Tillinghast is the superin-
tendent. At present there are
about 110 deaf children, divided
into 10 classes, with a teacher
to each class. The classes are
smaller than the public schools
because it is harder to teach the
deaf. The deaf are never taught
the sign language in school, but
they are taught speech and lip
reading; but the deaf use signs
among themselves out of school.
The hardest thing TO teach the
deaf is the English language.
It requires from 10 to IL years
for a pupil to finish school. Some
of the graduates enter Gallen-
det College in Washington, ID. c.,
which is the only college for the
deaf in the world. The students
there are graduated with the
degree of B. A. or B. S. In the
afternoon after school the girls
20 TO learn sewing and dress
making, cooking and ironing.
The older girls make their own
clothes, do embroidering. Gro.
cheting and other things. The
boys go to the carpenter shop and
the printing shop. The carpenter
shop has modern machinery and
the boys learn how to make fur
niture of various kinds in soft or
hard wood. In the printing shop
there is a linotype and presses
driven by motors. The boys get
out The Oregon Outlook, a semi
monthly school paper, and do all
the job printing required for
the Office and class rooms. They
also do much printing for others
outside of the school. The school
is situated in the northern part
of Salem on the Oregon Electric
Railway. The main building con-
tains the Office, the dining room
the library, the sitting rooms and
dormitores for the older boys and
girls and the chapel. The kitchen
is in the basement. The primary
building consists of class rooms,
play grounds and dormitories
for the smaller children. The su.
perintendent and his family live
in a pretty cottage near by. The
teachers have another cottage.
The industrial building consists
Of a carpenter shop. a printing
shop and gymnasium above.
The laundry is above the en-
gine room in the boiler house.
We have a herd of fine Holstein
cows and get from our farm all
ihs eggs. milk. vegetables and
fruit we need. After leaving
school or college. the deaf work
at a trade. There are deaf car
printers, auto repairers.
painters. farmers. dress makers
cooks and bakers. The
deaf work in shipyards, in tim
ber mills, in mines and in gov.
ernment positions. Some deaf
are bankers. inventors. pro.
fessors. artists and authors.
There are about 10 deaf girls
who are employed in the Meier
< Frank department store in
Portland and about 500 deaf
for the Goodyear Rubber
Company in Akron. Ohio. during
The war. The deaf graduates are |
ls independent as any gradu |
ltes from the public schools. |
There are no deaf beggars. |
Those who beg under pretext of
,eing deaf are impostors and
should be treated as such. A
leaf person growing up without
IN education is in a very de-
'endent and pitiable condition.
All deaf children out Of school
hould be reported to the su.
'erintendent of. the State School
or Deaf, Salem, Oregon. -