Omaha daily bee., 1921-12-19
Helen Keller in
Omaha; Says She
Can Feel Music
Noted Blind Girl, Stricken in
Infancy, Shows How She
Overcame Her Great
Handicaps.

Helen Keller. one OF the worlds
most notable examples OF the mas
terry OF the mind over physical dis
abilities, brings a message OF happi-
ness and optimism to Omaha. She
arrived Sunday morning at 2 from
Lincoln, accompanied by Mrs. Anne
Sullivan Macy, her lifelong teacher
and friend, and Polly Thomson, her
secretary.
One is strangely ipmressed by the
remarkable personality of this wom-
an who has created world OF her
own with the sense Of touch. Her
body is a highly sensitized medium
through which information is i'm
parted to a mind that has impressed
many OF the great men and women OF
the world. Through her feet she
hears" the applause OF an audience
and she knows whether the applause
is loud. Mrs. Macy reads into Miss
Keller's hand the inioration which
ordinarily would be impaired by
word OF mouth. This method OF COM
munication includes newspapers,
books and the conversations of vis-
itorS.
Stricken at l9 Months.
The wonder of it all is unfolded
when the visitor realizes that Miss
Keller was stricken blind and deaf
when she was lo months old and
that she has no memory of the hui
man voice. She has mastered articu-
lation OF words, her enunciation hav-
ing the pecularities of the deaf.
II am glad to stand here and tell
you that though blind and deaf
find joy and beauty in life. Devotion
OF others has made this possible for
me-" said Mis- Keller to an Orpheum
audience yesterday.
How much more can you, with
all of your senses, get out OF life
and do something worth while?
There is no limitation we cannot re.
move if we only work at it long
enough and work all together"
Has Humor Sense.
Miss Keller is tall and has good
health. She radiates sweetness OF
character that is almost ineffable.
She has a sense of humor. When
asked: Does it tire you to TALK"
she replied:
What a queer question to ask
woman"
"How is it possible for yo.. to
enjoy nature?" someone in the au-
dience asked Miss Keller yesterday
afternoon, rhe words being impaired
by Mrs. Macy.
Il smell the fragrance and feel
the shapes was the ready response.
81 cannot see the stars which you
see, but there are bright stars always
shining in my SOUL"
Can "Feel'' Music.
Miss Keller has acquired the facul-
ty of lip reading, by placing an index
finger on the lips, another finger
touching the nose and her thumb on
the larynx of,the speaker. Her sense
of touch is so highly developed that
she can distinguish moods and emo
tions of another by placing her hn-
gers on the cheeks. Her senses of
touch, taste and smell are phenomen-
ally acute. By placing her hand on
the frame pf piano she can dis
tingusi1 between two notes not more
than half tone apart, A few weeks
ago she enjoyed an organ recital in
the Mormon tabernacle at Salt Lake
City. Two weeks ago at Denver
she held her hand on the violin
played by Jascha Heifetz and expert
enced sense OF pleasure which is al
most beyond the ken of the ordinary
1t has been said that her eyes and
ears aresin her fingers. She receives
many Impressions through her
senses OF smell and taste.
Tastes Are Feminine.
Miss Keller is feminine in her likes I
and dislikes. She is fond of ice cream
and candy, but these delicacies must
be of the purest quality to pass the
of her keen sense of taste.
She loves flowers, although her eyes
have meyer seen the beauties Of
color. She does not know colors ex-
cept through the association of ideas;
she knows that rose may be red,
the sky blue and snow is white, be- ,
cause she has been told so.
Does she like vaudeville? She
says it rs interesting and that it is
one adventure after another. Her !,
capacity for knowledge seems to
have no limit. She is learning much
about Omaha through Mrs. Macy,
who is visualizing through the minds
eye picture OF this city. II
And Helen, Keller asks, "How can
anyone who has eyes TO see and ears
to hear and leisure time in which to
read and study, remain uneducated?"