29

Some Little Incidents

One morning, through some mistake, the girls in a certain dormitory were not summoned to the study room when the breakfast bell rang. A few moments after the ringing of the bell—which, of course, they did not hear—some of them came down to the study room, and, finding no one there, they inferred that the other girls must have gone to breakfast. They thereupon hurried down to the dining room and found the door locked. After this unpleasant discovery, some of them proceeded around to a window. Looking in, they beheld their more fortunate schoolmates quietly eating their breakfast.

“Who locked the door?” asked one of them, peering in at the window.

“The matron,” answered one of the girls at the table.

The questioner was silent for a moment, knowing if any of the girls inside ventured to unlock the door it would provoke the wrath of the matron, who thought they ought to be punished for their tardiness. “Please give me a piece of bread and butter,” she at length said. In response to this request a large slice of bread was buttered, and, the window having been slightly raised, it was slyly passed out to the hungry girl. Several other slices of the good, fresh bread were soon passed out to others.

Meanwhile the remainder of the tardy ones, having also found the door locked, became indignant and proceeded to the superintendent’s dining room, which was on the second floor. They informed him of the state of affairs, and he at once, upon learning the facts, left his own meal, proceeded through the teachers’ passage down to the pupils’ dining room, went straight to the locked door, unlocked it, and threw it open, allowing all who had been shut out to enter. The matron did not interfere; so they all enjoyed their breakfast in peace. However, they wisely resolved to avoid the possibility of a like experience in the future by assembling in the study room more punctually.

The group of large buildings which composed the institution, though spacious enough to accommodate the two hundred or more pupils then occupying them, were, however, not sufficient to afford room for all the deaf-mutes in the state of suitable age and condition to receive an education. The state legislature had therefore appropriated funds to be used in the construction of an additional building. The site chosen for this new building, which was to be of sufficient size to afford all additional accommodations that might be needed for years to come, was between the main building and the school building. Work on the new building had been begun early in the spring. Owing to that work and the time and attention it required from the superintendent, it was decided to close the present term of school in the latter part of May instead of the latter part of June, as was the custom.

Letters were accordingly dispatched to the parents or some friend of each pupil, informing them of the new arrangement. Then preparations for closing school were actively begun. While these preparations were in progress, and the pupils were eagerly counting the days till vacation, two deaf-mute young men from Germany visited the institution. One of them was both deaf and dumb and had been educated by the sign method. The signs which he used corresponded to the signs used by deaf and dumb persons in America, so he found no difficulty in conversing intelligibly with the crowd of deaf-mutes here, who, through curiosity, gathered around him. The other young man was deaf, but not dumb, and, it appears, had been educated by the oral or articulation method and was not familiar with the deaf and dumb sign language. So he was compelled to sit in silence while his companion gave a description of their trip across the ocean and conversed on other topics.

After a while two of the girls observed how lonely he appeared, being unable to join in their silent conversation. As they understood the articulation method, they undertook to converse with him by using it. But they soon found that he had been educated in the German language and did not understand the English language. As they were as ignorant of German as he was of English, they were obliged to abandon the attempt to talk with him.

It was Sunday, so when the hour for afternoon service came, the two young men were invited to attend. They accepted the invitation and were escorted to the chapel. At the close, Dr. Latimer, who had conducted the service, came down from the platform to greet them. He had previously met the one who knew the sign language, but the other was a stranger to him. Upon receiving an introduction to that young man, whom his companion omitted to state was deaf, Dr. Latimer, supposing he was a person who could hear, began talking to him orally. The young man looked embarrassed, and some of the pupils hastened to inform the doctor that he was deaf. “Oh,” exclaimed the doctor, apologetically. Then he began talking to him by signs, when his companion said, “He does not understand signs.” He now began to feel somewhat disconcerted and soon took leave of the young man. This incident illustrates the advantage of the sign method over the oral method of educating deaf-mutes.

The annual examination of pupils came and passed in the usual manner; and then the pupils, with happy hearts, turned their faces homeward, to enjoy another season of rest and recreation.