The St. Charles herald., 1922-06-24
Kansas Wonder Girl Is In>Class
With Helen Keller and VII.
Ietta Hugglns.
FEELS" MUSIC WITH FEET
Baking Angel Food and Writing on
Typewriter Among Her Other Ac-
com2Iishments--Masters Diff
cult Classical Music.

Oiathe, Kan.--After % years In the
dim world Of those who are sightless,
deaf and dumb, Miss Helen May Mar
tin ls finding her way out. She has
chosen the least reasonable" method
Of expression imaginable for one 80 af-
ficted. II In music.
Before II large asdIeDce in the Meth
odist church here, Miss Martin played
what IN probably the first piano re-
citai In the history Of the world TO
have been given by person With
neither sight nor hearing. II cannot
now be sald that she Is without speech.
for she articulates even unfamiliar
names accurately and understandlngly.
The intricncy Of the method by
which a person whose sensations are
practically limited to those Of heat and
cold, pain and taste enters whole
new world In not comprehensive to
the normal person. Mis- Martin might
possibly have been taught TO place her
fingers on certain OF the piano keys
and press them down by note, but that
would not explain her ability to grasp
rhythm. nor whatever tho sense is that
tells her when she IL about to make
mistake In time TO avert It. She never
has heard, and .as never been able to
recognize objects. For few years
after birth she was able to distinguish
between light and darkness. but never
more. For 20 years there has not even
haatt Tint tro uastv nm atVhf
"Fssis" Her Music.
Miss Martin is able to feel" her
music best by placing the ball OF her
foot against the bottom Of her upright
plano, her mother. Mrs. Helen May
Martin. says.
At the church, however. she did not
want TO risk soaring the instrument
she was using, so she got approximate
iy the same result by holding her left
foot under the soft" pedal.
Gounod's "Mnrch Pontihcal." the
"Don Giovanni" ninuet Of Mozart,
Morrison's familiar Meditation"
Lnng's equally familiar Slower Song"
the first two movements OF Beetho-
ven's moonlight" sonata, and Carrie
Jacobs Bonds "A Perfect Day" were
the numbers used. The precision with
which the young womnD picked her
notes out of completely blank space,
struck them, and managed ritards.
dynamIcs. and pedal were marvellous.
All the pieces were taken deliberately.
Of course, but the distortions that
would have been evident had she
learned entirely by rote were absent.
In the second movement of the
sonata the rhythm Is not simple. But
neither was Il too much for Miss Mar.
tin. At the end Of her program. she
repeated tho "Fiower Song" for an
encore.
Experiments with the plano were be-
gun good many years ago by the
young woman's mother, but only In the
last few years have they been pressed.
Never hns there been available a
teacher who understood both the
methods used Cor the sightless and
those for the deaf. Miss Audrea
Granger, who sat on the platform with
Miss Martin. Is by coincidence her
first and latest teacher. When Miss
Martin was small girl. Miss Granger
| was with her for short period. and
now she Is completing the work begun
then.
Has Other Accomplishments
In addition to repertoire Of 30
piano pieces. Miss Martin has many Of
the accomplishments OF the average
girl. She reads nraille. and now learns
her piano music by reading the notes
In ''point" for each hand separately,