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Published monthly during the School year bj' the Printing
Department of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind at
St. Augustine, Florida.
Its object is to teach a number of the deaf pupils type setting
that they may be able from the knowledge obtained to earn a liveli-
hood after leaving school, and to provide interesting and instruct-
ive reading for the pupils, graduates and friends of the School.
The subscription price is fifty cents for the School year.
Rates of advertisement made known on application.
Address all communications and subscriptions to the
FLORIDA SCHOOL HERALD
School for the Deaf and the Blind, -
St. Augustine, Florida.
Entered at the Post Of&ce at St. Augustine, Florida, as Sec-
ond-class Matter.
Albekt H. Walkbk . . . . Editor.
iWm.B.Harb . . . . . Business Manager.
Vol. 6. JANUARY, 1905 No. 4.
An Incident of Helen Keller Day at the World's
Fair.
Next to come was a little old man, who might
have been from the humble walks of life. He held
out his hand. The guard roared, -'You can't shake
hands with Miss Keller. Move on."
But Helen Keller knew the touch. She threw
both arms around the little old man's neck and kissed
him with the delight of a child. "H^r father,"
whispered the crowd, and tears filled the eyes of
everyone. The man was not Helen Keller's father,
but her friend and benefactor, William Wade, of
Oakmont, Pa,— Exchange.
She kissed him; the girl whose soul is as pure
As the rarest rose, -or the finest pearl,
While the crowd kept up tts restless stir;
And the ^uard commanded, "Don't touch the girl;
Move on. Move on!"— but she knev,- the touch
Of his hand; his generous, helpful hand.
And throwing her fair arms around his neck,
She kissed him there, as a hero p^rand.
She kissed him. The girl he had helped to raise
So hiu'h. she is honored throughout the land.
As a victor deserving unstinted praise. ,
Who with the heroic may always stand;
Although he came with the common throng,
"A little old man," whom they did not know,
She, they all honored, knew his touch
And hastened her love, joy, to show.
She kissed him before the wondering crowd,
When he meekly passed along, as it'
He had never schemed, contrived, nor planned.
Higher and higher her class to lift;
With her dear arms clasped around his neck.
While the guard repealed his charge. "Move on."
She paid him. the tribute of gratitude.
And the nation approvingly says, "Weil done."
Says, friend to her. and her groping class.
. You merit tlie honors she proudly gave,
You merit the thanks of humanity.
For each child you have noblv saved:
To lift from the pit of Acheron,
With its silence, darkness, and aimless gloom;
Where the mind is ever dwarfed, and cramped.
And the soul is locked in a living tomb.
Yes. you merit all that, and your golden badge.
And the love that will follow you, every hour.
As each uhild you have helped, fresh knowledge gains.
Of the world, and the spirit's latent power;
To grow, to be, to rise, to do.
To conquer fate, to gain, to give-
And daily show, they held it true.
Though handicapped, it pays to live.
-Angie Fuller Fischer.
• [Entered at the Pu^i U.fice in Trenton as Second-class
';• ni alter. J
A'OL. XVII. JANUARY, 190^ No. 4
That is what Miss Keller must
A Lot have thouglit one day at the
of Johnson. Fair; for during the afternoon
of her reception a gentleman step-
ped up to her and introduced himself as IMr.
Walker, the Superintendent of the South Caro-
lina School. He was followed almost immedi-
ateU' b}' a stoutish individual with a pointed
beard who explained to her with some pride that
lie was Mr. Walker, the Superintendent of the
iLouisianaSchool. Helen smiled at the coincid-
ence and shook his hand warmh'. What was
her surprise when she released it, to have her
hand seized b}' another who vouchsafed ihe in-
formation that he was Mr. Walker, the Superin
tendent of the Wisconsin School It had ceased
to be a joke with Miss Keller and her face as-
sumed an almost troubled look, which had .«carce
subsided when our own superintendent placed
his hand in hers and spelled xMr. Walker, the
Superintendent of the New Jersey School But
Miss Keller had regained her co'mposiire b}' this
time, and, brief!}- expressing her pleasure, with-
drew her hand and reached out ^or the next one,
doHbtless thinking there was no end of them.
T\ew^o-rV.^^Vvo(Le31^\a^x\cL, ■ \\g:w^
" ^ ^a-^x\)^^-X^ A ) \ ^ o S.
SECRETS OF THE SAND.
1
[Helen Keller, in the Century.]
The handshake of some people makes
you think of accident and sudden
death. Contrast this ill-boding hand
with the quick, skillful, quiet hand of
a nurse whom I. remember with affec-
tion bepause she took the best care of
my teacher. I have clasped the hands
of some rich people that spin not and
toil not, and yet are not beautiful. Be-
neath their soft, smooth roundness
what a chaos of undeveloped charac-
ter!
All this is my private science of
palmistry, and when I tell your for-
tune it is by no mysterious Intuition
or Gipsy witchcraft, but by natural,
explicable recognition of the embossed
character in your hand. Not only is
the hand as easy to recognize as the
face, but it reveals its secrets more
openly and unconsciously. People con-
trol their countenances, but the hand
is under no such restraint. It relaxes
and becomes listless when the spirit
is low and dejected; the muscles tight-
en when the mind is excited or the
heart glad; and permanent qualities
stand written on it all the time.
As there are many beauties of the
face, so the beauties of the hand are
many. Touch has its ecstasies. The
hands of people of sti-ong individual-
ity and sensitiveness are wonderfully
mobile. In a glance of their finger-
tips they express m.any shades of
thought. Now and again I touch a. fine,
graceful, supple- wristed hand which
spells with the same beauty and dis-
tinction that you must see in the hand-
writing of some highly cultivated peo-
ple. I wish you could sae how prettily
little children spell in my hand. They
are wild flowers of humanity, and their
finger motions wild flowers of speech.
i George Brandes, the eminent Danish
; scholar, has written an extensive re-
l view of Helen Keller's took, "The Story
1; 6f My Life," for The PoUtiken, the
i leading Scandinavian newspaper. Mr.
f (Brande's weekly articles are to Scan-
[ dinavian literature what St. Beuve's
caxiserie de lundi were to the people
of hfcs-^ase.
THE PHILADELPHIA RECORD
Recwd Building, 917 Chestnut Street
I Helen Keller Reveals Its Magnificent
Secrets.
BLINDGIRUS SENSITIVE TOUCH
People May Control Tlieir Conii<eii.
ances. Btit Xot tlie Expi'ession o£
Their Hands— Syuibol of PoTver
and Work:.
Do those of us who are fortunate
enough to be able to see, hear and speak
ifullj' realize %A'hiit it is to lack these
three abilities? It is also Avell known
that a person lacking in one or all three
of these senses will have one of his other
i$enses strengthened in a remarkable de-
gree. There is. for instance, that famuus
young girl, Helen Keller, deaf, blind and
dumb, yet intensely optimistic, more so
than some of us who are blessed with
all the senses. Her own power, con- ,
trasting the three aboTO-mentioi'.ed j
senses, lies in her hand, and it is through j
her sensitive touch of other people's
hands that she is enabled to judge their
character and characteristics.
THE HAND IN EVERYTHING.
In an article in the Century Miss Keller
,pays this noble triiiute to the haml:
'In all my experiences and thoughts I.
^am i.ouscious of a hand. Whatever tonchofi
"^aie, whatever thrill.s me, is as a hand
tliat touches me in the dark, and that
itouch is my reality. You might as Avell
jSay that "a sight which makes you glad.
'or a blow which brings the stinging terns
to your eyes, is unreal as to say that those
iimpressious are unreal wnich I have :i<-
'cuiuuiated by mean.s of touch. The deli-
cate tremble of m butterfly's wings in my
hand, the soft petals of violets curliu!,'
(n the cool folds of their leaves or lifting
sweetly out of the meadow grass, the clew)-,
firm outline of face and limb, the smooth
ar(!li of a horse's neck and the velvety
touch of his nose— all these, and a thon-
; sand resultant comblnatiouB, which take
I ibape iu my mind, constitute my i^orW-
AS A GUIDE TO CHAjlAdTER.
The handsfiake of some people makes
you tliink of ac^'ldent and sudden death.
Contrast this ill-boding hand with the
quick, skillful, quiet hand of a uurse whom
I remember with affection because she
took the bast care of my teacher. I have
clasped the hands of some rich people
that spin not and toil not, and yet are not
beautiful. Beneath their soft, smooth rounds
ness what a chaos of undeveloped charac-
ter!
All this is mj- private science of palmis-
try, and when I tell yoar fortune it is by
no nysterious intuition o^- gypsy witch-
craft, l)Ut by nati'.ral explicable recogni-
tion of the embossed character in your
band. Not only is the hand as easy to
recognize as the face, but it reveals its
secrets more openly and unconsciously.
People control their countenances, but
the hand is under no such restraint. It
relaxes and becomes listless when thi?
spirit is low and dejected; the muscles
tighten when the mind is excited or the
heart glad; and permanent qualities stand
written on it all the tinia.
As there are many beauties of the face,
so the beauties of the hand are many.
Touch has its ecstasies. The hands of
people of strong i'.^dividuality and seusi-
]tiveness are wonderfully mobile. til ' a
glance of their finger-tips they express
many shades of thought. Now and again
I touch a line, graceful, supple-wristed
hand which spell.? with the same beauty
and distinction that .vou muat see in the
handwriting of some highly cultivated peo-
ple. I wish you could see how prettily
little children spell in my hand. They are
wild flowers of humanity, and their finger
motions wild flowers of speech.
THE HAND AS A SYMBOL.
Look where w:^ will, we lind the hand
in time and history, working, building, in-
venting, bringing civilization out of bar-
barism. Tiip hand symbolizes power and
the excellence of work. The mechanic's
hand, that minister of elemental forces,
the hand that hews, saws, cuts, builds,
is useful in the world equall.v with the deli-
cate hand tiiat paints a wild flower or
molds d Grecian urn, or the hand of a
statesman that writes a law. The eye
cannot say to the hand, "I have no need
of thee." Blessed be the hand! Thrice
blessed be i he Jbands that work!
"TTOY\.ci.eTy>g: e , rxWocL'^ ^^V^-WcL- .5ovxT>xa^\
"3a-^>cvo^T-Y W.X'^O^.
Mr. George Brandes, the eminent
Danish scholar, has written an exten-
sive review of Helen Keller's book "Tho
Story of My Life," for the Politiken,
the leading Scandinavian newspaper.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 1905
Helen Keller, the famous blind and deaf
girl, is at the home of her mother, in
Florence, Ala., where she went for a com-
plete rest of several months. In a pretty
cottage, surrounded by -a blue grass lawn
and handsome oak trees, she will renew
the home ties which were interrupted fif-
teen years ago, when she commenced ac-
quiring, under the guidance of Miss' Sulli-
van, the wonderful amount of knowledge
she possesses. Miss Keller an-ived the
week before Christmas to spend the first
Christmas in twelve years with her
mother, her sister, Mildred, and her little
brother. Phillips. Florence was very gay
during the holidays, and for the first time
she exchanged the habits of a student and
hard worker for those of a society butter-
tly. Up to this time she had never danced
except with girls at school, and great was
her delight when the night after Christ-
mas she attended her first real ball and
danced like the other girls. Miss Keller
is a graceful "dancer, and as she glided
around the room, keeping perfect time to
the music, it was hard to realize that to
her all was dai'kness and silence and that
her movements were not inspired by the
.strains oL the orclieslra, <
^a_^V^o^\oxv,YWa.^^^^Vv\i^SQ.\:\:. Kro,^^
Probably no prill in all the world has
5o many friends, known and unknown,
fts Helen Keller. Her growth from a
pathetic living death into a healthy,
loyous intellectual life is one of the
miracles of the age. Now that she has
come to a point where she can herself
write understandingly of her life, and
especially of her communication with
others, spite of deafness, dumbness
Rud blindness, every word is not only
5f interest but of value. Easily first,
:hen, in Interest and Importance among
:he Century's contents will be Helen
Keller's "A Chiit About the Hand." ^
Miss Anne Mansfield Sullivan, Is Fte>
ported to be Engaged tq Johji
I Albert Macy, an Editor. . J-'lj j
I Much more than the ordinary interest
attaches to the announcement just made
of the engagement of Miss Anne Mans-
field Sullivan and John Albert Macy.
Misa Sullivan is less known than her
work, which has been the education of
Helen Keller, one of the most wonder-
ful achievements of modern times. For
nearly 20 years she has been the con-
stant companion of the world-famous
girl, who, bereft of three of the five
senses— sight, hearing and speech— was
yet able to take the college course at
RadclifCe and to graduate last year,
many of her classmates being her
seniors In years.
John Albert Macy was one of the best-
known men for scholarship in his class
at Harvard. He graduated in 1899 with
high honors in English and philosophy.
Mr Macy, for some years past, has been
an intimate friend of /Miss Sullivan and
Miss Keller, and was quite often seen
bicycle riding with them through the
parks and smooth streets of Cambridgei
while Miss Keller was a Radcliffe stU'
dent.
Some of the more lively gossips haj
connected the names of Mr Macy an«
Miss Keller in love matters, but it nov/
appears that they were mistaken.
Miss SulMvan is about 10 years the
senior of Mr Macy. She was bom in
Springiield, Mass, 38 years ago, and was
left an orphan at an early age. While
still a mere child she was attacked by
a grave disease, which threatened to
destroy her sight. Her relatives were
In humble circumstances, and ther©
seemed to be little to do for the little
child, when a kind priest discovered
her condition and brought her to the
Perkins institution for the blind in
(South Boston.
That was in 1880. There, as the most i
Rotable product of the famous institu- I
JOHN ALBERT MAOY.
tion at that time, "vas .LaL>ra Dewey
Bi'idgman, and for the succeeding years,
until the latter's death in 1889, Miss
Bullivan came in clcse contact with
Jjaura Brldgman. An operation per-
formed on Miss Sullivan's eyes largely
restored her sight, though she sees
dimly.
Miss Sullivan took the full course at
the institution, and was graduated as a
teacher in 1887. It was just at this time
,that the parents of the little blind girl,"
now known the world over as Helen
JCeller, applied to the Perkins institu-
tion for a teacher. Miss Sullivan was
sent in response.
The history of these 18 years, the mar-
velous progress of Helen Keller from a
blind, deaf, dumb and untaig^htt child to
the cultured college graduate, form the
history of Miss Sullivan's life.
A year and a half ago, through . the
generosity of wealthy friends all over
America, who were interested In Miss
Keller and her wonderful teacher ana
who liberaly subscribed to a fund for
their future support. Miss Sullivan
bought a famous homestead at Wren-
tham, and since the college days of
Miss Keller ended, last June, there she
has made her home.
Mr Macy was bom In Detroit 28 years
ago, prepared for college at the Med-
ford high school, and graduated with
honor from Harvard In 1899. He at-
tained considerable literary distinction
while at Harvard, being a regular ed-
Itor of the Advocate, and its last editor-
lu-chief. He was also an editor of the
Lampoon. In addition to his literary
work Macy attracted attention as an
actor of considerable ability, his imper-
sonations always furnishing great
amusement to his frieitids.
In a social line he a..vays had what-t
ever he cared for. He was a member ol*
the English club, the Phi Beta Kappa,
the Harvard cabinet, the O. K., the
Signet, the Cercle Francais, the Delta
Upsilon and the Pudding.
After graduation he continued his stu-
dies and received the degree of A. M. in
1900. That same year he was made 'n-
structor in English at Harvard, a nosi-
tion he has since filled. In addition to
his chief work as miscellany editcsr &t
23it"
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1905
HELEN KELLER'S FRIENDS TO WED
Engagement of Anne Mansfield Sullivan
to John Albert Macy Announced
The engagement is announced of Anne
Mansfield Sullivan to John Albert Macy.
Miss Sullivan is widest known as the
teacher of Helen Keller, tow'hose rescue
from silence and darkness she has devoted
the past eig'hteen years. Mr. Macy is a
Harvard man of "99, an instructor at Har-
vard, a member of the editorial staff of tlVe
Youth's Companion, . a friend of Helen
Keller, and the writer of the introdiiction
to her book. It is chai-acteristic of the lOve
and friendship both bear the blind girl that
after their niarriage they will reside in this
^•icinitx' with Miss Keller as a member , of
their household.
Miss Sullivan narrowly escaped blindness
herself, and now sees but dimly. Born, in
Springfield, she was left an orphan at a
lender age. .Her sight being threatened by
disease, she was sent to the Perkins Insti-
tution. An operation, saved her sight, but
she remained at the institution where , she ,
was educated as a. teacher of the. blind.
Here she was thrown much in contact. with
liaura Bridgman, up to the time of Helen
Keller the most famous student of the
Perkins Institution. Graduated, as a
teacher in 1887, IMiss Sullivan was sent to ■
Alabama whence a call had come for a
competent person to instruct Helen Keller, .
then a child, deaf, dumb, blind, untaught.
Since that time Miss Sullivan and ISIlss ;
Keller have been inseparable, and the!-
young graduate of Radcliffe freely acknowl^
edges that for her transformation she h.as
Mi.^s Sullivan to Lhank.
:\lr, Macy is a native of Detroit, and a
rising CAponent of Boston letters. .•\s an
undergraduate .at Hfi!'\"ar(l he was liroaii- ,
nent in literary, dramat'c and socitil t^roJes.
He took his ••A. .AI." in lOCX.). and was ap-
pointed an iii.'structor in English the .same
year.
The da.\- of the mari-iage has not yi-i
been chosen.
BORN IN SPRINGFiELO
Helen Keller's Companion to Wed
Welll-Known Harvard
Man.
The marriage engagement has been
announced in Biston of Miss Anne
Mansfield Sullivan, for nearly 20 years
the companion of Helen Keller, to John
Albert Macy, an instructor In English
at Harvard university.
Miss Sullivan is about 10 years th«
senior of Mr. Macy, says jthe Boston
Globe. She was born In Springfield,
Mass., 38 years ago, and was left an
orphan at an early age. While still a
mere child she was attacked by a grav«
disease, which threatened to destroy
her sight. Her relatives were in humble
circumstances, and there seemed to b«
little to do for the little child, when a ^
kind priest brought her to the Perkins
institution for the blind in South Bos-
ton.
That was in 1880. There, as the most
notable product of the famous institu-
tion at that time, v/as Laura Dewey
Bridgman, and for the succeeding
yeara^ until the latter's death in 1889,
Miss Sullivan came in close contact
with Laura Bridgman. An operation"
performed on Miss Sullivan's eyes
largely restored her sight, though she
sees dimly.
Miss Sullivan took the full course at
the institution, and was graduated as
a teacher in 1887. It was just at this
time that the parents of the little blind
ghi, now known the world over as
Helen Keller, applied to the Perkins
institution for a teacher. Miss Sulli-
van was sent in response.
The history of those 18 years, the
marvelous progress of Helen Keller
from a blind, deaf, dumb and untaught
child to the cultured college graduate,
form the history of Miss Sullivan's
life.
A year and a half ago, througli the
' generosity of wealthy friends all over
America, who were interested in Miss
i Keller and her wonderful teacher and
who liberally subscribed to a fund for
their future support. Miss Sullivan
bought a famous homestead at Wren-
tham, and since the college days of
Miss Keller ended, last June, there she
has made her home.
Mr. Macy was born in Detroit 28 years
ago, prepared for college at the Med-
ford high school, and graduated with
honor from Harvard in 1899. He at-
tained considerable literary distinction
while at Harvard, being a regular edi-
tor of The Advocate, and its last editor-
in-chief. He was also an editor of The
Lampoon. He was a member of the
English club, the Phi Beta Kappa, the
Harvard cabinet, the O. K., the Signet,
the Cercle Francais, the Delta Upsilon
and the Pudding.
After graduation he continued his
studies and received the degree of A.
M. in 1900. That same year he was
made instructor in English at Harvard,
"^^osition he has since filled.
'^os>\o'r». r\A_veT\ \ ^er.
c^^-wv:)^^ty \^^\^o5'.
f^VJKfc*'^..y77T^A-\-:p^.r7r^k^L-j--.j.( t»-«r»rTr-»T-ri.--.^=^--. — i ■«■■ i.^i i i Mil I ■III rirnT f ■■u
Miss Anne Sullivan, whc is Vjfst known
as the friend and teacher of tleienJCeller,
is reported to be engaged to jTATlAacy,
lan editor of tlie Youth's Companion as well
as a a instructor in English at Harvard.
1-Ie wns one of the best known men for
scholarship in his class at Harvard. He
grraduatod in 1S99 with hig-h honors in Eng-
lish and pliilosophy. Mr. Macy, for some
years r-ast, has been an intimate friend of
Miss Sullivan and Miss Keller, and was
quite often seen bicycle riding: with them
through the- parks and smooth streets of
Cambridge while Miss Keller was 'a Rad-
cliffe student.
Obo'b-Vo'xx ^veT\.\w^ GrVo^e
""Slrcv^^rY \"\,\^o^.
JOTH TAUGHT ^ ^' |
HELEN KELLER.
Ingagement of J. A. Macy and Miss
Anne M. Sullivan Means Closer
Relation with Her.
The Boston Journal says today that
John Albert Macy, reported engaged to
kiss Anne Mansfield Sullivan, the life
;eacher of Helen Keller, has been prac-
'.ically an assistant teacher of Miss Kel-
ler for some years, and that the a,n-
nouncement of the engagement drawg
jublic attention to a uniaue romance.
It says further:
Their work for the education of the
beautiful and accomplished girl, bereft
of sight, hearing and speech, who i3
noted the world over for her wonder-
ful accomplishments, brought them to-.
gether in a common cause until the to--.
mance drifted Into their lives.
Even then Miss Keller was uppermost
in their thoughts, and after the little
god of love had impaled their hearts
on the same shaft he could not dispel
the remarkable deaf, dumb and blind
.Radcliffe graduate from their vision,
and so they will join their lives and
devote them to the welfare and comfort
of Helen Keller.
"Miss Sullivan is so much to me,"
said Miss Keller once, "that she meansi
a part of my life. I cannot think o'^
her as a person apart from me."
None knew this better than Miss Suf ."
livan and Mr Macy, and so they wW
go hand in hand through the remaind*^
of their lives, living as much for Mis3
Keller as for themselves.
For more than a score of years Miss
Sullivan has been inseparable from Miss
Keller. She has taught her everything,
she had been ears and eyes and tongue
for her, and a number of years ago Mr
Macy took deep interest in this remark-
able girl. He traveled to St Louis last
summer with Miss Keller and there
practically had charge of her and her .
teacher, whom he Is soon to marry, and j
assisted in the demonstrations Miss Kel-
ler made of her remarkable ability. He
also wrote the brilliant introduction to
I Miss Keller's book, "The Story of My
Life." ■
Tn a letter from Miss Keller, now vis-
iting her parents at her home in Plor-
encG, Ala. Miss Sullivan and Mr Macy
were informed that sho is having a
splendid time and has astonished her
friends with her ability to dance grace-
fuUj-, without hearing: the music, a,=!
much as with her education. She will
return soon and will be maid of honor
at the wedding of her dearest and best
friends, who will devote their lives to
he*.
••Yes. It's true, all right, but there
isn't any story," laughingly declared
John A. Macy. who is familiar with
newspaper w.ays, to a reporter last
night, when seen at the fine old resi-
denf^e in Wrentham occupied by Miss
Sullivan and Miss Keller; 'none, prob-
ably, except the 'same old stoi-y," md
I suppose you don't want that."
•'Wh<>n is the wedding likely to take
place'.'"
Mr Macy declared the day had not,
deiinitely been set and probably Miss
Sullivan might be able to give sonidj
information on the subject a little later;
•'Win Miss Keller remain with her
teacher?"
"By all means, she will, Miss Sulli-
van would never consent to be separat-
ed from Helen, and it is my desire they
shall remain together. We all shall
live In Boston, at least part of the
time."
"Would you mind telling when you
met Miss Sullivan?"
"Honestly, now, there isn't any
story." stammered Mr Macy, beginning
to get confused again. "I first saw!
Miss Sullivan several years ago."
Miss Sullivan could not be prevailedi
upon to discuss the result of the bow-
boy's unerring aim. but a happy laugh
from the next room indicated she was
not at all displeased.
Miss Keller once wrote the following
tribute to Miss Sullivan, her teacher:
"My teacher is so near to me that
I scarcely think of myself apart
from her. How much of my delight
in all beautiful things is innate and
how much is due to her influence I
can never tell. I feel that her being
is inseparable from my own, and that
the footsteps of my life are In hers.
All the best of me belongs to her— there
is not a talent, or an aspiration, or a
joy:.,i»-i»g"^at haiM--jaat.b;een awakened
by her loving touch."
Tlew\3OTY,"P0VxOcLe3I&\3^\v^ - \\^V\/^
Y \"\,\^o5".
, Helen I^eller, the famous blind and
deaf girl, is at the home of her moth-
er, in Florence, Ala., where she went
for a complete rest of several months.
In a pretty cottage, surrounded by a
blue grass lawn and handsome oak
trees, she will renew the home ties
which were interrupted 15 years ago,
when she commenced acquiring, un-
der the guidance of Miss Sullivan, the
wonderful amount of knowledge she
possesses. Miss Keller arrived the
week before Christmas to spend the
first Christmas in twelve years with
her mother, her sister, Mildred, and her
little brother, Phillips. Helen was very
gay during the holidays, and for the
first time she exchanged the habits of
a student and hard worker for those
of a society butterfly. Up to this time
I she had never danced except with girls
at school, and gi-eat was ner delight
when the night after Christmas she at-
j tended her first real ball and danced
like tTie other girls. Miss Keller is a
I graceful dancer, and as she glided
around the room, keeping perfect time
to the music, it was hard to realize
that to her all was darkness and silence
and that her movements Avere not in-
spired by the strains of the orchestra.
'^ OS. "Vow ^o\xXW^\.
fCENTRAL FIGURES IN THE ROMANCE
WOVEN ABOUT MISS KELLER'S LIFE
Jolin. Albert Macy,
Whose engagement to Miss Sulli-
announced yesterday.
HELEN KELLEIi'S
TEACHERS BECOi
TOWED
Miss Sullivan and J. A.
Macy Give Lives to
Blind Girl.
WILL RESIDE IN BOSTON
Hero of Romance Is Eng-
lish Instructor at
Harvard.
HELEN KELLER'S TRIBUTE
TO MISS SULLIVAN,
HER TEACHER.
'"My teacher is so near to me that
I scarcely think of myself apart
from her. How much of my delight
hi all beautiful things is innate and
how much is due to her influence 1
can never tell. I feel that her being
is inseparable from my ovi/n, and
that the footsteps of my life are in
hers. All the best of me belongs to
her— there is not a talent, or an as-
piration, or a joy in me that has
not been awakened by her loving
touch." HELEN KELLER.
The announcement yesterday of the
engagement oi Miss Anne Mansfleld
Sullivan, world-famous life teacher of
Helen Keller, to John Albert Macy, in-
structor of English at Harvard and
practically assistant teacher to Miss
Keller, heralds the most unique ro-
mance that has been recorded.
Their work for the education of the
beautiful and accomplished girl, bereft
o£ sight, hearing and speech, who is
noted the world over for her wonder-
ful accomplishments, brought thera to-
gether in a common cause until the
romance drifted into their lives.
Ever Uppermosl-. \-mmam
E\-en then Miss Keller was uppermost
in their thoughts, and after the little
,g-od of love had impaled their hearts
on the same shaft he could not dispel
ithe remarkable deaf, dumb and blind
.'Ptadcliffe graduate from their vision,
and so they will join their lives and
('devote them to the welfare and comfort
,'of Helen Keller.
"Miss SuUivan is so much to me," said
■ Mids Keller once, "that she means a
part of my life. I cannot think of her
!.as a person apart from me."
None knew this better than Miss Sul-
livan and Mr. Macy, and so they will
'go hand in hand through the remainder
. of their lives, living as much for Miss
Keller as for themselves.
Score of Years.
For more than a score of years Miss
Sullivan has been inseparable from Miss
Keller. She has taught her everything, ,
|;E.he had been ears and eyes and tongue
'for lier, and a number of years ago Mr.
Macy took deep interest in this remark-
able girl. He traveled to St. Louis last
summer with Miss Keller and there
practically had charge of her and her
teacher whom he is soon to marry, and
assisted in the demonstrations Miss Kel-
ler made of her remarkable ability. He
also wrote the brilliant introduction to
Miss Keller's book, "The Story of My
Life."
There is much of interest In the lives
of each of this remarkable trio. The
history of Miss Keller, who was tne
means of bringing Miss Sullivan and Mr.
Mack together, is known the world
over. Her home is in Alabama.
Sent Miss Sullivan.
When her parents applied to the Per-
kins Institution for a teacher for her
Miss Sullivan v/as sent there.
Miss Sullivan herself narrowly es-
caped being blind. She was born in
Springfield thirty-eight years ago, and
left an orphan at an early age. Her
relatives were in humble circumstances, '
but through the kindly offices of a
priest she was placed in .the Perkins ;
Institution for the Blind, as a disease
then threatened her sight. An operation !
saved her from blindness, although she ^
does not see clearly now. I
She was graduated as a teacher ati
that Institute in 1887 and at that time I
was sent to Alabama to teach Miss
Keller. Since then her work in teaching!
the Alabama girl has gained for her a
well deserved reputation. '
Tens Years Junior.
Mr. Macy is nearly ten years Miss Sul-
'li van's junior. He was born in Detroit,
Mich., was graduated from the Me^- )
foi^k High School, from Harvard In 1|99
and took a post-graduate course, now
being an English instructor there. He
achieved a remarkable college record
for studies, was especially strong in
literary work, was editor of the Advo-
cate, the Lampoon and also noted as an
amateuli; actor. Aside from his Har-
vard work he is miscellany editor of
the Youth's Companion.'
In a letter from Miss Keller, now vis-
iting her parents at her home in Flor-
ence. Ala., Miss Sullivan and Mr. Macy
were informed that she is having a,
splendid time and has astonished her
friends with her ability to dance grace-
fully, without hearing the music, as
much as with her education. She will
return soon and will be maid of honor
at the wedding of her dearest and best
friends, who will devote their lives to
her
"Yes it's true, all right, but there
isn't any story," laughingly declared I.
A. Macy, who is familiar with news-
paper ways, to a Journal i-eporter last
night, when seen at the fine old resi-
dence in Wrentham occupied by Miss
Sullivan and Miss Keller; "none, prob-
ably, except the 'same old story,' and
I suppose you don't want that."
When is the wedding likely to take I
place?"
"Well, you see— won't you smoke?" I
Then Mr. Macy declared the day had j
not definitely been set and probably
Miss Sullivan might be able to give
some information on the subject a lit-
tle later. |
I "Will Miss Keller remain with her i
teacher?"
"By all means, she will. Miss Sull.l-
van would never consent to be separated
from Helen, and it is my desire they
shall remain together. We all shall live
in Boston, at least part of the time."
"Would you mind telling when you
met Miss Sullivan?"
"Honestly, now, there isn't any story,"
stammered Mr. Macy, beginning to get
confused again. "I first saw Miss Sulli-
van several years ago."
Miss Sullivan could not be prevailed
upon to discuss the result of the bow-
boy's unerring aim, but a happy laugh
from the nexr room indicated she was
not at all displeaj?e(J.
^\ ovye
.aL.SSa_^Vvvo^€i <2-V\s>
.CvY\
2^g.\\.
Helen Kellar's teachers have be-
come ' aged. We have al^-ays heard
the little god was blind: but who
ever thought he was Helen Kellar!
BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT
JANUARY 19, 190o
A CHAT ABOUT THE HAND
THE WORLD BEHIND THE DOOR OF
TOUCH
Helen Keller Writes Beautifully of the
Poetry in the Most Important of Her
Three Senses— The Impressions of the
Outer Order oif Things Which It Lets
Into Her Mind — How She Literally Takes
the World by Its Hand
[Helen Keller, In the Century Mag'azine]
I have just touched my dog. He was
rolling in the grass, with pleasure in every
muscle and limb. I wanted to catch a
pictui'e of him in rny fingers, and I touched
him as lightly as I would cobwebs; but lo,
his fat body rex'olved, stiffened and solidi-
fied into an upright position, and his tongue
gave my hand a lick! He pressed close to
me, as if he were fain to crowd himself
into my hand. He loved it with his tail,
with his paw. with Ms tSnfeue. If he could
speak, I believe he would say with me
that paradise is attained by touch; for in
touch is all love and intelligence.
This small incident started me on a chat
about hands, and if my chat is fortunate
I have to thank my dog- star. In any case,
it is pleasant to have something to talk
about that no one else has monopolized;
it is like mailing a new path in the track-
less woods, blazing the trail where no
foot has pressed before. I am glad to take
you by the hand and lead you along an
untrodden way into a world where the hand
is supreme. But at tne very .outset we en^
counter a difficulty. You are so a.ccus--
tomed to lisht. I fear you will stumble
when I try to guide you through the land
of darkness and silence. The blind are
not supposed to be the best of guides.
My hand Is to me what your liestring and
sight together are to you. In large measure
we travel the same highways, read the
same books, speak tlie same language, yet
our experiences are diff^retnt. All my com-;;
ings and goings turn • oa the hand as- a
pivot. It is the hand that binds me to
the world of men and women. The hand
is my feeler with which I reacli through
isolation and darkness and seize every
pleasure, every activity that my fingers
encounter. With the dropping of a little
word from another's hand into mine, a
slight flutter of the fingers, began the in-
telligence, the .ioy, the fulness of my life.
In all my experiences and _ thoughts I
am conscious of a hand. Wliatever touches
me, whatever thrills me. is as a hand that
touches me in the dark, and that touch
is my reality. You might as well say that
a sisht which makes you glad, or a blow
which bi'ings the stinging tears to your
eyes, is unreal as to say that those im-
pressions are unreal which I liave ac-
cumulated by means of touch. The deli-
cate tremble of a butterfly's wings in my
hand, the soft petals of violets curling in
the cool folds of their leaves or lifting
sweetlj'- out of the meadow-grass, the clear,
firm outline of face and limb, the smooth
arch of a horse's neck and the velvety
touch of his nose — all these, and a thou-
sand resultant combinations, which take
shape in my mind, constitute my world.
Ideas make the world we live in, and
impressions fui-nish ideas. My world is
built of touch-sensations, devoid of color
and sound it breathes and throbs with life.
•Every object is associated in ray mind v/ith
tactual qualities which, combined in count-
less ways, gives me a sense of powrcr, of
beauty, or of incongruity: for with my hands
I can feel the comic as well as the beauti-
ful in the outward appearance of things. -
Remember that you, dependent on your
sight, do not realize how many things are
tangible. All palpable things are mobile
or rigid, solid or liquid, big or small, warm
or cold, and these- aualities are variously
modified. The coolness of a water-lily
rounding into bloom is different from the
coolness of an: evening-'wind in summer,
ana different again from the coolness of
the rain that soaks into the hearts of grow-
ing things and gives them life and body.
The velvet of the rose is not that of a
ripe peach or of a baby's dimpled cheek.
The hardness of the rock is to the hard-
ness of wood what a man's deep bass is
to a woman's voice when it is low. What
I call beauty I find in certain combinations
of all these qualities, and is largely de-
rived from the flow of curved and straight
lines whicli is over all thinsrs. The im-
movable rock, with its .luts and warped
surface, bends beneath my fingers, into all
manner of groves and hollows. The bulge
of a watermelon and the puffed-up rotun-
dities of squashes that sprout, bud, and
ripen in that strange garden planted
somewhere behind my finger-tips are the
ludicrous in my tactual memory and imagi-
nation. My fingers are tickled to delight
bj' the soft ripple of a baby's liaugh, and
find anuiseraent in the lusty c|-.pw of the
barnyard autocrat. Once I had a pet
rooster that used to perch" on my knee and
stretch his neck and crow.. A bird in my
hand was then worth two in the — barnyard.
My fingers cannot, of course, get the im-
pression of a large whole at a glance; but
I feel the parts, and my mind puts them
together. I move around the house," touch-
ing object after object in order, before I
can form an idea of the entire house. In
other people's houses I can touch only
what is shown to me — the chief objects of
interest, carvings on the wall, or a cui'ious
architectural feature, exhibited ; like the.
family album. Therefore a house . witV
which I am not familiar has for me, a|
first, no general effect or harmony of de-
tail. It is not a complete conception, but
a, collection of object impressions which,
as they corae to me, are disconnected and
isolated. But mj'' mind is full of associa-
tions, sensations, theories, and with them
it constructs the house.
Without imagination' what a poor tiling
my world would be! My garden would be
a silent patch of earth strewn with sticks
of a variety of shapes and smells. But
when the eye of my mind is opened to its
beauty, the bare ground brightens beneath
my feet, and the hedge-row bursts into leaf,
and the rose-tree shakes its fragrance
everywhere. I know how budding trees
look, and I enter into "the amorous joy
of the mating birds, and this is the miracle
of imagination.
It is interesting to observe the differences
in the hands of people. They show all kinds
of vitality, energy, stillness, and cordiality.
I never realized how living the hand is
until I saw those chill plaster images in
Mr. Button's collection of casts. The
hand I know in life has the fulness of
blood in its veins, and is elastic with spirit.
How different dear Mr. Hutton's hand was
from its dull, insensate image! To me the
cast lacks the very form of the hand. Of
the many casts in Mr. Hutton's collection
I did not recognize any. not even my own.
But a loving hand I never forget. I re-
member in my fingers the large hands of
Bishop Brooks, brimful of tenderness and
a strong man's joy. If you -^eve deaf and
blind, and could hold Mr. Jefferson's hand,'
you would see in it a face and hear a kind
voice unlike any other you have known.
Mark Twain's hand is full of whimsies and
the drollest humors, and while you hold
it the drollery changes to sympathy and
championship.
I cannot describe hands under any class
or type; there is no democracy of hands.
Some hands tell me that they do everything
with the maximum of bustle and noise.
Other hands are fidgety and unadvised, with
nervous, fussy fingers which indicate a na-;
ture sensitive to the little pricks of daily"
life. Sometimes I recognize .ijyith fQrebod:-
ing the kindly but stupid hand., of . oiifi who '
tells with many •wonS'^Hews tbatrJs na
news. I have met a bishop with a jocose
"hand, a humorist with a hand of leaden
gravity, a niai: of pretentious valor- with
a timorous hand, and a quiet, apologetic
man with a fist of iron.
Few people who do not know 'me will
understand. I think, hovr much I get
of the mood of a friend who Is engaged in
oral conversation with somebody else. My
hand follows his motions; I touch his hand,
^is arm, liis face. I can tell when he is
full of glee over a good joke which has
not been repeated to mc, or when he is
telling a lively storj'. One of my friends
is rather aggressive, and his hand always
announces the coming of a dispute. By his
impatient jerk I know he has argumeni
ready for some one. I have felt him stari
as a sudden recollection or a new idea
shot through his mind. I have felt griel
in his hand. I have felt his soul wrap it-
self in darkness majestically as in a gar-
ment, Anotlier friend has positive, em-
phatic hands which show great pertinacity
of opinion. She is the only person I know
who emphasizes her spelled words and ac-
cents them as she emphasizes and accents
her spoken words when I read her lips. I
like this varied emphasis better than t!ie
monotonous pound of unmodulated people
who hammer their meaning into my palm.
Some hands when they clasp yours, beam
and bubble over with gladness. They throb
and expand with life. Strangers have
clasi>ed my hand like that of a long-lost
sister. Other people shake hands with me
as if with the fear that I may do them
mischief. Such persons nold out civil fin-
ger-tips which they permit you to touch,
and in the moment of contact they retreat,
and inwardly you hope that you will not
be called upon again to take that_hand_ol
"dormouse valor." It betokens a prudisl|
mind, ungracious pride, and not seldom miss'
trust. It is the antipode to the hand of
those who have large, lovable natures.
The handshake of some people makes you
think of accident and sudden death. Con-.
t!-ast this ill-boding hand with the quick,
skilful, quiet hand of a 'nurse whom I
remember with affection because she* took
the best care of my teacRer. I have clasped
the hands of some rich people that spin not
and toil not, and yet are not beautiful. Be-
neath their soft, smooth roundness what
a chaos of undeveloped character! ' -'
All this is my private science of-palaws-
try, and when I tell your fortune it is
by no mysterious intuition or gypsy witch-
craft, but by natui-al. explicable recogni-
tion of the embossed character in your
h.and. Not only is the hand as easy to
recognise as the face, but it reveals its
secrets more onenly and unconsciously.
People control their countenances, but the
hand is under no such restraint. It relaxes
and becomes listless when the spirit is low
and dejected: the muscles tighten when the
min^ is excited or the heart fflad; and per-
manent Gualities stand written on it all
the time.
As there are manj- beanties of the face,
so the beauties of the hand are many,
touch has its ecstacies. Tlie liands of peo-r
pie of strong individuality and sensitiveness
are wonderfully mobile. In a glance of
their finger-tips thej' express many shades
of thought. Xow and again I touch a fine,
graceful, supple-wristed hand which spells
with the 'same beauty and distinction that
you must see in the liandwritinjr of some
highly cultivated people. I wish you could
see how prettily little children spell in
my hand. They are wild flowers of hu-
manity, and their finger motions wild
flowers of soeech.
THE .MESSENGER
PJBLISHED WEEKLY
AT THE
Alabama School fok the Deaf.
JANUARY 19th, 1905.
We reprint in another column an1
extract from Miss Hellen Keller's
very interesting article in the Jan-
uary "Century." — The present writer
recalls that in a review of Miss Kel-
ler's autobiog-rophy about two years
ago he expressed notions as to the
possible range of ideas to be acquired
through the sense of touch, which seem
to be very closely in accord with Miss
Keller's own account of what she
learns and feels in this way. Only
Miss Keller's article is written with
the sure knowledge of experience
illuminated with that poetic feeling '
which is never absent from her writ-
ing, and with her beautiful literary
finish. And apropos of this we have
a letter from Mr. Wade — if he will
pardon our mentioning his name —in
which, speaking of the superior
delicacy of touch over sight he adds
to the illustration of the mechanic de-
termining the accuracy of his work by
feeling of it, this further proof. If
you will kindly get the inner side of
a garment worn next 3"our skin full of -
little burrs, just pick out all you, can
see, then put on the garment and
note how many more you can detect
by the sense of touch. As to this form
proof, we agree with the student when
professor propounded this problem:
"Given — a cannon ball, weighing 300
pounds, moving with a velocity of
1,500 feet a second" — to which the
youth hastily replied, "Declined with
thanks. > _ . - . _j
By the way — the old Roman expres-
sion of fine work, that it was finished
"ad ung-uem," "to the nail," is usually
understood to refer to a statue in
which even the nails of the fingers
and toes are chiselled out, but it
might well mean work completed so
as to stand the test of the finger-tip
passed over it in search of a fault.
One of our schools for the deaf has
the Latin motto "manus vicaria
linguae" "The hand a substitute for
the tongue." It appears to be a still
better substitute for the eye.
RHAPSODY ON THE HAND
HKI^EN KELIyER REVEAIvS ITS
MAGNIFICENT SECRETS.
BLIND GIRI^'S SENSITIVE TOUCH — PEOPLE MAY
CONTROL THEIR COUNTENANCES, BUT NOT
THE EXPRESSION OF THEIR HANDS — SYMBOL
OF POWER AND WORK.
Do those of us who are fortunate
enough to be able to see, hear and
speak fully realize what it is to lack
these three abilities? It is also well
known that a person lacking in one or
all three of these senses has the other
senses strengthened in a remarkable
degree. There is, forinstance, that
famous young girl, Helen Keller, deaf,
blind and dumb, yet intensel}" optimi-
stic, more so than some of us who are
blessed with all the senses. Her own
pOwer, contrasting the three above-
mentioned senses, lies in her hand, and
it is through her sensitive touch of
other people's hands that she is en-
abled to judge their character and
characteristics.
THE HAND IN EVERYTHING.
In an article in the Century Miss
Keller pays this noble tribute to the
hand:
In all my experiences and thoughts
I am conscious of a hand. Whatever
touches me, whatever thrills me, is as.
a hand that touches me in the dark,
and that touch is my reality. You
might as well say that a sight which
makes jou'^Vad, or a blow which
brings the stinging: tears to your eyes,^
is unreal as to say that those impres-i
ions are unreal vvhich I have ac-
cumulated by means of touch. The
delicate tremble of a butterfly's wings
in my hand, the soft petals of violets
curling in the cool folds of their leaves ;
or lifting sweetly out of the meadow
grass, the clear, firm outline of face
and limb, the smooth arch of a hOrse's '
neck and the velvety touch of his
nose — all these, and a thousand resul- |
tant combinations, which take shape
in my mind, constitute my world. j
AS GUIDE TO CHARACTER. [
The handshake of some people makes '
you think of accident and sudden :
death. Contrast this ill-boding hand
with the quick, skillful, quiet hand of
of a nurse whom I remember with af-
fection because she took the best care
of my teacher. I have clasped the
hands of some rich people that spin ;
not and toil not, and yet are not beau-
tiful. Beneath their soft, smooth
roundness what a chaos of undeveloped
character!
All this is my private science of I
palmistry, and when I tell your fortune '
it is by no mysterious intuition or
gypsy witchcraft, but by natural ex-
plicable recognition of the embossed
character in your hand. Not only is
the hand as easy to recognize as the
face, but it reveals its secrets more
openly and unconsciously. People
control their countenances, but the
hand is under no such restraint. It
relaxes and becomes listless when the;
spirit is low and dejected; the muscles^
tighten when the mind is excited or
the heart glad; and permanent quali-
ties stand written on it all the time.
As there are manv beauties of the
face, so the beauties of the hand are
many. Touch "has its ecstasies. The
hands of people of strong individuality
and ^ sensitiveness are wonderfully
mobile. In a glance of their finger-
tips they express i many shades of
tHoug-ht. Now and afa-jn T touch a
f(-ne, g-r^eful, supple- wristed hand
wKich spells with the same beauty
and distinction that 3'^ou must see in
the handwriting- of some highly culti-
vated people. I wish you could see
how prettil}^ little cht\<i^T'en spellin my
hand. They are . wild ilowers of
humanity, "a^wd tl>€ir fix\9i^r motions
w ild floweTs oV speech. ('
THE VANMD AS A SymOO,.
IvOoK V^V\«r<j; ■y^^e will, we V\x^d. the
hand \v^ Vwae and history, >^/oTking,
building, inventing, bringing civiliz-
ation o\j.v of barbarism. The hand
synibo\v7£s power and the excellence of
work. \\\Q: mechanic's hand, that
minister oV 4lementa\ forces, the hand
that hews, saws, cutSj builds, is use-
ful in the world equally with the deli-"
cate hand that paints a wild flower or
molds a Grecian urn, or the hand of a
statesman that writes a law. The
eye cannot say to the hand, "I have
no need of thee." Blessed oe the ha
Thrice blessed be the hands lal
work!
C^va^^\A.^^,^^a-^^^g-^v3^^'^VVs ■ C -
"^;
^>xvx^-r> '2-.\.\^oS".
TEACHER ENGAGED |
LThe announcement of the -«fi&sf'
ent of Miss Anne Mansfield .Sullivan,
vorld-famous life teacher of Helen
Keller, to John Albert Macy, inetnic-
cor of En&Ush at Harvard and practi-
cally assistant teacher to Miss Keller,
heralds the most unique romance that
has been recorded.
Mr. Macy is nearly ten years Miss
Sullivan's junior. He was bom in
Detroit, Mich., was graduated from
Harvard in 1S99 and took a post-grad-
uate course, now being an English in-
structor there. He achieved a re-
markable college record for studies,
was especially strong in literary wt«*.
was editor of the Advocate, the Lam-
poon and also noted as an amateur
actor. Aside fiom his Harvard work
he is miscellany editor of the Youth's
Companioo.
In a letter from Miss Keller, now
visiting her parents at her home in
Florence. Ala.. Miss Sullivan and Mr.
Macy were informed that she is hav-
ing a. splendid time and has astonished
her f I lends with her ability to dance
gracefully, without hearing the music.
as much as with her education. She
will return soon and will be maid of
honor at the wedding of her deare«5t
and best friends, who will devote
their lives to her.
"Tes. it's true, all light, but there
isn't any story." laughingly declared
I. A. Macy. who is familiar with new^-
pai)er ways, to a reporter, Monday
night, when seen at the fine old resi-
ience in "^rentharn ~:rv~'?f ~— --liss
and Miss :: t: >^
proBa*i5,except :he s;::-
'i-^ ,\'?>oS".
Miss AniK' Maiistiold iSnlliVan, Helen
KoUer's teacher, whose eugufjenieiit to
John Albert Maoy, an instructor in E3n-
.?lish at HarA-ard colleire and one of the
editors of the Youth's Couijtaniou, is an-
iioiuued, was horn in this city. Very early
in iit> sho hocanie totally blind, and she
L'ntered the Perkins institution October 7,
1880, when she was 14 years-frf ase. Later
her siiiht was partially restored. Miss
Sullivan is about 10 years the senior of
Mr Mac.y>i^^ .\.-^,im^.
THE . MESSENGER
PJBLISHED WEEKLY
AT THE
Alabama School von tpie Dkaf.
JANUARY 26th, 1905.
The story of Helen Keller has been
one of ideal beauty from the outset.
Falstaff said that he was not only
witty himself, but the means that wit
was in others. Miss Keller is not only
loving and lovable herself but has
been the cause of drawing out both
qualities in all those whom she has
been associated with. And of all her
friends, it is Miss Sullivan, of course,
who has been the nearest and dearest
to her. Now it appears that a beauti-
ful romance has grown out of this
close and loving: relation. Miss Sulli-
van's engagement to Prof. John Albert
Macey is announced, and the marriage,
it is said, will soon take place. It will
be remembered that Prof. Macey had
charge for some time of Miss Keller's
studies and so, of course, saw much of
Miss Sullivan. It needed less psy-
chological insight than he possessed
to recognize that such ardent, unflagg-
ing, unselfish devotion as Miss Sulli-
van had shown to her friend and pupil
implied an untold wealth of affection
in store for the fortunate man who
could win it. Happily for him, "the
voice that breathed o'er Eden" awoke
the sleeping faculty — with results as
stated. Congratulations! and may as
much happiness come into both lives
as has been brought into Miss Keller's.
The Ohio Chronicle.
Published every Saturday during the school year
at the Ohio Institution for the Education
of the Deaf and Dumb.
SsLturdaLy. January 28. 1905]
Helen Keller Home For
Months of Relaxation
Florence, Ala., Jan. 14, — Helen
Keller, the famous blind and deaf
girl, whose achievements are the
wonder of the civilized world, is at
the home of her mother in this city,
where she came for a complete rest
of several months. In a pretty
cottage, surrounded by a blue grass
lawn and handsome oak trees, in
sight of the State Normal college
she will renew the home ties which
were interrupted fifteen years ago
when she commenced acquiring,
under the guidance of Miss Sullivan,
the wonderful amount of knowledge
she possesses.
^ Miss Keller arrived, accompanied
by Miss Villa Curran, to spend the
first Christmas in twelve years with
her sister Mildred and her little bro-
ther Philip. Miss Keller was very
gay during the holidays, and for the
first time she exchanged the habits
of a student and hard worker for
those of the butterfly. Up to this
time she had never danced except
with girls at school, and great was
her delight when she attended
jher first real ball and danced like
ithe other girls. Miss Keller is a
jgraceful dancer, and as she glided
around the room, keeping perfect
time to the music, it was hard to re-
alize that to her all was darkness
and silence, and that her movements
were not inspired by the strains of
the orchestra.
She was especially interested in
the German given by the "Rose-
bud," the set to which her younger
sister belongs, and was one of the
busiest at making the favors
Miss Keller is very fond of walking
and on these warm sunny days takes
long walks with her mother and Miss
Curran or with her sister's young
companions, in whose society she
delights. She is frequently seen on
the streets of Florence, generally
walking rapidly and with as much
confidence as though she saw. A
favorite amusement with her is soli-
taire, which she plays with a deck of
cards she has marked with raised
letters.
Miss Keller will return to Rent-,
ham in April to attend the wedding
of Miss Sullivan after which she will
take up her work as before. But
meanwhile she will take a complete
rest and enjoy herself as other girls
do.
^BooV^W^S-Y ^ YrXa^N^e ."RjLR VS^ Z
T,
Boothbay Harbor, Jan. 28 1905.
It is said that Helen Keller may ap-
pear before the Maine legislature, this
winter, in the interests of the proposed
Maine school for the blind.
Helen Keller,
the Blind Genius,
JLMOSl Married!
A
Three
Cornered Ro-
mance
Probably
Without a
Parallel in the
History
of
the World.
j^£AP3 W//4T roue
LlPSARtSAY/m
HELEN KELLER, the deaf, dumb and
blind genius, is nearly eugaged and
soon will be almost married. Sbe
is essential to the marriage contract,
which would never have been made wicli-
out her. She is to assist at the wedding,
and it is one of the conditions of the mar-
riage that she shall always live iu the
same house with the quite married couple.
She will be the most conspicuous figure at
the wedding. In fact there would be no
wedding without her.
Miss Keller will be, in fact, more nearly
married than any young woman who has
not actually made her responses and
promised at the -altar.
The real bride is Miss Keller's teacher.
For eighteen years she has beei. instructor,
friend and mother to the famous blind
girl. They have been thought of one ■
thought, almost flesh of one flesh, and i
when the bridegroom-elect dared to pro-
pose marriage to the girl's teacher. Miss
feullivau was amazed-
"I cannot marry anyone," .she .said.
"Why not," asked the persistent wooer.
"Because— Helen."
"But you need not be separated from
Helen. Our home will be hers. You
may go on teaching her all your life."
There followed some personal argu-
ments of the sort that all those who
have been engaged will remember are
most powerful. At their conclusion Helen
Keller's teacher said hesitatingly:
"If you will ask Helen, and if she is
willing, I will think about it."
The lover sought Miss Keller in her
study at their home in Wrentham and
made a second proposal of marriage,
this time to a gentle arbitrator. Miss
Keller put forth her hands and touched
those of her caller, as she always does
when she is interested.
"What did Miss Sullivan say?" she
asked with the swift hand pressures that
stand to her for speech. j
"Hhe said— she spoke of you," was the j
answer of quick fingers. '
"Dear Miss Sullivan. Do you love her?"
One hard hand clasp told the story.
"Does she love you?"
Another uumietakalde hand clasp.
"Then marry, of course, and I hope you :
will be very, very happy."
"We want you to be with us always.
You will be as dear and as necessary to
Miss Sullivan as you have always been.
We would not marry unless your life and i
hers were to go on just as before." i
• A grateful mist covered the blind girl's
eyes. The pulse in her white throat ,
throbbed with emotion.
,. "Thauk you, my dear friends. Now
jplease go to Miss Sullivan and tell her
Shat what you have told me has made me
very liappy aiiQ that T will be very unhap-
py unless she marries you-"
From that moment a uew Interest had
ccme into the girl's life. The rosy wlug
of romance had grazed her very cheek.
There was a new, beautiful, mysterious
element In life, of wbich she had read, but
which had seemed until now very far
away and mythical. Slie talked of the
bridegroom.
"He is a good, great-hearted man. I know
it by the touch of his hands. They are
hearty, generous, gentle hands, like Joseph
Jefferson's hands, that you can cling to all
your life, dear Miss Sullivan— hands that
will never wander, that will never for a
moment fail you. They are dear hands,
honest hands. Oh, Miss Sullivan, it is al-
most as wonderful as though I were going
to be a bride myself. I would have been
miserable if you had not accepted him.
Is there a name for the third in the mar-
riage. Miss Sullivan?"
"She— she may be the bridesmaid."
"And after that?"
"Then she may be the companion, the
very dear friend, the housemate."
"And after that, dear Miss Sullivan, the
friend and teacher and godmother of the
children?"
"Perhaps we ought not to talk about that
now," came flutterlngly from Miss Sulli-
van's nervous hand.
Helen Keller talked a great deal in dumb
fashion about trousseaus and made Miss
Sullivan take her to the shops so that she
might handle the soft stuffs of which bridal
gowna are made. She insisted that she
would, in good time, buy the bridal gown
herself, and present it to the bride. After
awhile she had an inspiration.
With rare intuition in one who knows
by instinct only the strange ways of lov-
'ers, she said one evening without the light-
est touch of guile in her innocent hand:
"Dear Miss Sullivan, I have been a little
homesick of late for the touch of home
hands. I would like to go to Florence.
Ala., to visdt my family."
The day after she started to the South-
ern town. Arrivel there, she wrote gayly:
"My family are so proud of me because I
can dance and keep time rhythmically
without hearing the music. That and
everything else I owe to you. I say to
them, as I have so many times said, 'M.v
teacher is so near to me that I can scarce-
ly think of myself apart from her. How
much of my delight in all beautiful things
is innate and how much due to her influ-
ence I can never tell. All the best of me
belongs to her, there is not a talent, or an
aspiration, or a joy in me that has not
>^een awakened by her loving touch.' Think
of my happiness! 1 am to have two teach-
ers instead of one."
Miss If eTier will soon return to the home'
at Urentham, which she shares with Miss i
Sullivan, and will be as -nuch absorbed in
the wedding preparations as the bride her-
self.
It' has been arranged rhat she shall hi^lp
to select the trousseau. She will be the
bridesmaid. She will siijn the wedding cer-
tificate as a witness. She will help re-
ceive the guests after the wedding, and
she has chosen an old slipper of her own
to throw after tie departing carriage. She
will welcome them on their return from
the bridal tour. She will herself arrange
the first dinner to be given for them.
Afterward she will become a third, and la
many senses, the first, in their household.
Miss Keller's teacher and friend of eigh-
teen years is Miss Annie Mansfield Sulli-
van. Her betrothed is John Albert Macy,
one of the honor men in his class of 1899
at Harvard. In English and TihUosophy
he won distinction. He was the regular
editor of the Advocate, and its last editor-
in-chief. He was also editor of the Lam-
poon. He displayed talent as an amateur
actor at college, and he was a popular fra-
ternity man. In 1900 he received the degre©
of M. A., and the same year he was mad©
instructor In English at Harvard, a posltlotti
he still holds. He is also miscellany editor
of the Youth's Companion. He is twenty-
elgrht years old. Miss Sullivan is ten years
older.
She was born In Springfield,, of humble
parents. It was thought that the child was
blind, and a priest secured entrance for het
Into the Perkins Institute for the Blind.
An operation saved her from total loss of
sight, although she cannot see clearly to-
day. In 1887 she was graduated from the
Pel kins Institute, and sent to Alabama to
teach Helen Keller. Since that time they
have been inseparable companions, and
their friendship has transcended that of
the Scrlptuial David and Jonathan, of the
legendary Damon and Pythias.
Mr. Macy met the girl while he was a
senior at Harvard. Shortly, lie found the
teacher even more interesting than her
wonderful prpil. Often he was seen bi-
cycling with them on the smooth roada
about Cambridge while Miss Keller was
a student at Radcllffe. He went to St.
Louis with them, last Summer and aBsisted
at the demonstrations Miss Keller publicly
made of her genius of touch and the won-
derful receptivity of lier mind. He wroU
the introduction of her book, "The SM9
of My Life,"
Persons who saw his indefatigable att«B>
tions to the twain believed that they saw
the budding of a romance for the blind
ghl. And ,t is her romance, a happier
romance than that of Nydia, the blind
girl ill "The Last Days of Pompeii." It
is not given to any one else to be so Im-
portant a third, to be as nearly engaged
and married as Is Helen Keller.
[Entered at the Post Office in Trenton as Second-cla -r-
matter.] ,__
TEENTON. Xr J., FEBETJAEY, 1905.
If recent despatches from the
iVJiss Keller's East are to be credited Miss Helen
Loss. -. Keller is about to sustain what
would apper.r to be an almost
irreparable loss. Her inseparable companion
and faithful friend, Miss Sullivan, it is said, has
accepted another engagement. As the new posi-
tion is a life one, and has advantages even over
the delightful one she held with Miss Keller, we
cannot blame her, but it will be a long time
before any one else can be of the service to Miss
■ Keller that Miss Sullivan has been, and the loss-
cannot but be one that Miss Keller will keenly
feel for a long time to come.
4 Reply to '' Zeno
Do not the hearing also suffer from "world
weariness ? "
Among them there has long been discussion
of the question "Is life worth living?" We
have only to look at the alarming increase in
suicides to tell how many hearing people have
1 answered that question in the negative. Very
seldom do we hear of a deaf suicide. It must be
that in afflicting us with deafness God also gives
us the commensurate amount of patience where-
with to bear it.
It seems to me that the orally taught deaf,
without a good compiand and understanding of
the sign-language, must be very miserable be-
ings. They certainly are an impossibility in
their own class. So in addition to mixing im-
perfectly ^with the hearing, ^they are even denied
that "sweetness of untrammeled intercourse,
that smair semblance of satisfaction and happi-
ness, "which Zeno admits the Ijigbly educated
and miserable deaf person can still enjoy in the
society of others of his kind, even if they are ad-
mittedly his inferiors. Dr. Fox, in his paper on
^'The Social Status of the Deaf," read at the St.
Ivouis Convention, described an unusually sad
case of an orall}' taught 3'oung man, who was
supremely miserable, because he was not restored
to the societ}' of the hearing, and because he was
(practicall}' ) barred from the societ}' ol the deaf,,
b}' reason of his ignorance of the sign-language.
We sometimes hear of persons losing their
hearing comparatively late in life. One can easi-
ly imagine that such a person's life must be a
sad one. He stands alone, mixing imperfectly
with the hearing, and ver}' little or not at all
with the deaf. We have such a case here in Coun-
cil Bluffs. A young man yet under thirty had
risen to holding the important position of private
secretary to a popular western Congressman in.
Washington D. C. It is quite reasonable to sup-
pose that having riaen so far, he ma}' have had
dreams of some day being himself a powerful and
famous statesman. Then think of him being:
suddenl}^ stricken with total deafness. This-
actually happened. Has not such a man an in-
finitely greater capacity for suffering than Zeno's^
deaf-mute genius, alwa3S allowing him the sign-
language ? Will not such a man feel much more
poignantly all the endless embarassments which,
fall to the lot of the deaf, than we who have, '\rb
a measure, grown used to them, However, the
young man, of whom I have been writing, has
displa3'ed great fortitude and cheerfulness in.
adapting himself to his changed relations with,
the world. He is now the editor of our leading:,
daily. Most of the ofiice force have learned the-
nianual alphabet which they use in talking to-
him. He has also picked up a few signs from.,
one of our deaf teachers who was employed in.
that of&ce last summer. As yet he is acquaint-
ed with only a few of our deaf people, but for his-
own sake it is to be hoped that he will yet be
one of us. Some extracts from an editorial of
his on Helen Keller may be interesting as show^-
ing a view different from that usual I3' taken : —
Bui is it just, is it log-ical, to point to Helen
Keller as an inspiration for w^eak and heavily-
laden humanity? Far be it from us to belittle
the lesson of Helen Keller's life of fortitude and
perseverance. But it need not be to do that to
consider a phase of her case that seems generally,
to be unthought of Is it not almost ironical to
point the struggling cripple, for instance, who,
like thousands of his kind, unaided and unheed-
ed, strives to make his bwn way in the world, to
the case of Helen Keller, for encouragement ? * *
Helen Keller is the concentration of hope;
science, sacrifice, intelligence. She is. it is sug-
gested, the masterpiece of Miss Sullivan. None
of the ordinary hard realities of life have had to
be solved in her case. True, the tiny woes of"
the world in the absolute are as nothing to her
great handicap.
But if we take our cripple again, because he is
one of the many, because he still has a grasp orL
life, although it be limited and measureable, he
is buffeted by ruthless fortune, tread on or swept
aside by his more fortunate fellows. How is it,,
then, to say to him, if he cry out against fate :.
l,ook what this blind and deaf girl has accom-
plished, consider her resignation, see how cheer-
ful and placid she remains under her great bur-
den ; you have nothing to complain of; yoiL
really have been favored? How is it then to-
speak to him who battles single handed and
alone, while at the feet of Helen Keller has been,
laid the very abundance of earth ? Is it not
almost a mockery ?
Helen Keller's optimism also may be account-
ed for. In the first place, it grew up with her.
It must have been this cheerfulness more than
all else that Miss Sullivan sought to give her
pupil, for without it all else would have been iix
vain. In the second place Helen Kellei's op-
timism is human or divine, as you please.
Adversity makes character, ease destroys it!
Those woes that do not give us more than the
i^iw^^^cioii >ji onwiigtu iieeaca lo meei mem are
petty indeed.
V\fQ(i-es^Ve-r, Vna^^^3L-^Wvx,%eVVc,^^Q^^
Dr. Theodate U. Smith, assistant to
Ur. G. Stanley HalJ in Clark univer-
sity addressed the Woodland-street
school mothers' association. Her sub-
ject -was, "Morals in the public schools."
Mrs. George Firth presided. A vio-
lin solo was played by Elsie Bacon, and
Alfred Drohan sang-. The repojt of the
secretary was read, after Avhich Mrs.
Firth introduced Dr. Smith and said
that the object of the association was
to bring the school and home neai'er to-
gether.
She said she would speak on the
training of children and especially that
portion of it which would eventually
concern the relationship of boys and
girls. She vrent back to the psycholog-
ical side of the training. She said that
the "^fundamental training should ^5e
done by mothers.
"Any normal, healthy child is curi-
ous, and any who are not curious I
should be worried about," said she.
"Take the origin of life. Children, see
growth all about them, and when they
ask questions they are told an untruth,
and the harm it does the child cannot
be measured. The child thinks there is
some secret, something to be ashamed
of in connection with one of the most
beautiful things in life.
"The question of the origin of life
was brought to my attention some time
ago, and thei'e are books on the sub-
ject ,with some simple beautiful ques-
tions Avhich can be asked up to the
age of 5 or 6. If they have not asked
questions up to the age of 8, then the
worst has happened, and you may be
perfectly sure that they have got in-
formation somewhere else and that
information is always untrue and
garbled.
"If the child's ideals have been pre-
serve^. kept pure and sweet up till
that age, there is no danger of contam-
ination, but when a child asks ques-
tions from its mother and is put off
with an untruth, it is there the danger
lies."
Dr. Smith read from Miss Sullivan's^
book about Helen Kellar. Helen was T
j'ears old, and Miss Sullivan had been
teaching- her more than a year, when
she asked some vital questions. Miss
Sullivan was only a little over 20 years
old, and she said her knowledge was
inadequate, but she made up her mind
to tell her the truth. ;
She spoke of plant life, of the seeds |
of corn, beans and watermelons beingi
planted in the warm earth and bring- i
ing forth their kind, and from that be- |
ginning s'ne explained to her the origin'
of vegetable and animal life, and since^
then there has been the utmost confi-
dence between Miss Sullivan and her
pupils.
Dr. Smith explained that as Helen
Keller was blind and deaf since she
was nine months old, she had not
I made the observations which other;
children make, but she was a normal •
child, with all a normal child's cur- 1
' iosity.
From data which she had been col- ;
lecting Dr. Smith said that the child
who was answered truthfully about
those things, when they inevitably ask-
ed the questions, would develop in cvx-
iosity. Th'Ts'ir knowledge protected them
from evil, and they were not so ready
to ask questions about things which it
was not right for them to kiiow.
■ "Think what it would mean," said
she, "to have children grow to man-
hood and womanhood with a pure,
clean, scientific knowledge, and that
there is no shame and wrong connected
with the most beautiful things in life.
It seems to me that knowledge is tne
best thing we can give our children, i
The child goes to school and the teach-'
er must do her part, and the good she
can do is tremenodus.
"Teachers," she said, "are beginning
to realize that they can accomplish a
great deal in that line from nature
study in the schools, which, if taken
with a moral, purpose, and in connec-
tion with science, deals with the great
question. In collecting statistics in the
public schools. I discovered that in not
one school was there a child over 8 who
did not know something of the origin
of life, and not in a right way." t
FEBRUARY 2, l'J05.
ITlidie Wm%
f^c
ISSUED EVERY ALTERNATE THURSDAY AT THE
SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND THE BLIND.
The object ot the paper is three-told:
FIRST- To instruct the pupils in the art of printing;
SECOND--T0 aid in the literary woric of tlie school room;
Third— To keep our patrons informed as to the doings of
the School and in touch with the work.
No parent can afford to be without it.
Terms— 50 cents for the School year of nine months.
All subscriptions should be sent to W. K. ARGO, Supt.
W. K. ARGO,Ex-officio. / p .;, ^
G. W. VEDITZ, \ i-aitors.
H. M. HARBERT, Instructor in Printing.
The Century Magazine f-^^r January is of
more than ordinary interest to our teachers, as
it contains Helen Keller's "A chat about the
Hand." The teachers of the blind department
are astonished at the wide range of kriowledge
that has come to her through the hand alone,
and those in the deaf department not only at
her extent of information but at her marvelous
command of English. The last is such as
might be the envy of a good many writers of
magazine articles. Those w^ho know the area t
difficulty the deaf have in the acquisition of
idiomatic language might even class it as re-
minding one of the deaf and dumb man vi^hose
hearing the Savior restored, and in which
episode might perhaps be found the greatest
miracle in Scripture as not only was the phy-
sical ailment remedied, but the man was put
in instant comprehension and use of a lang-
uage he had never heard nor spoken.
There have been many comments on the
article, bat the best we have seen so far, in
that it comes from a discriminating la5mian, is
that of Colonel Harvey, the versatile editor of
Harper's Weekly, which we api)end:—
"Nearly all that she knows has come to
her through the sense of touch. She is already
a well-educated woman with a very wide range
of thought and with remarkable command of
the means of expressing her thoughts. De-
prived absolutely of sight and hearin.o-.the only
avenues to her mind have been the senses of
taste, smell and feeling, the last being by far
the most important. She has doubtless the
wisest and most informed hands that exist or
have ever existed. No deaf and blind person
was ever before educated to the point that she
has reached. Her record of what her hands
tell her, of what her lingers interpret to her
about shapes and sounds and qualities, is
marvelous. The most interesting part of her
piece is her disclosure of what she reads in the
hands of other people about their personal
qualities and mental, physical and spiritual
characteristics. "Al] this," she ^vrites, is my
private science of palmistry, and when I tell
your fortune it is by no mysterious intuition,
or gipsy witchcraft, but by natural explicable
recognition of the embossed character in your
hand." It is very wonderful. She is past
mistress of the palmists' art and could doubt-
less practice it profitably for a living if there
were need of that."
Helen Keller niglit was observed by
tbe Alton Literary club, with Dr, and
Mrs. Wright last week. Miss Stella
Francis read an extended paper on
Helen Keller's early life and history, Dr.
Wright gave her biography, and Prin-
Isaac Copp had a magazine article by
Miss Keller on perceptions through the
hand. Mrs. Wright gave a rcjview of
incidents in her life. The club spends
an evening with Japan this Thursday
night at the home of Miss Sarah
Miller. Next week the subject for read-
ing and discussion will be Kussia.
The Woman s Journal
b'oSTON, FEBRUAKY 4, 1905.
MiSs Annie Mansfield Sullivan,
Helen Keller's faithful and devoted teach-
er, is to be married to John Albert Macy,
an instructor at Harvard, one of the edi-
tors of the Youth's Companion, and author
of the introduction to Helen Keller's
"Story of My Life." Miss Sullivan vras
born in Springfield, Mass., of humble
parents. It was thought that the child
was blind, and she was admitted to the
Perkins Institute for the Blind. An op-
eration saved her from total loss of sight,
although she cannot even now see clearly.
In 1887 she was graduated from the Per-
kins Institute, and sent to Alabama to
teach Helen Keller. Since then they have
been inseparable. It is said that Miss
Sullivan refused to engage herself to Mr.
Macy without Helen's consent; but that
consent was cordially given. Helen will
act as bridesmaid, and will live with the
couple after they are married. She i»
said to be almost as happy over the mat-
ter as the bride and groom.
The Ohio Chronicle.
Published every Saturday during the school year
at the Ohio Institution for the Education
of the Deaf and Dumb.
Entered at the postofflce at Columbus as second
class mail matter.
SaLiurdsLy. February 4, 1905
Helen Keller's Teacher to Ma.rrv
Well-Known Writer
A special dispatch from Boston to
the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, dated
Jan. 16, says:
Announcement is made of the en-
gagement of Miss Annie Mansfield
Sullivan and John Albert Macy, one
of the editors of the Youth's Com-
panion. Although not as well known
as Helen Keller, Miss Sullivan is in
many respects quite as remarkable
a woman as her distinguished pupil,
for practically all Miss Keller knows
Miss Sullivan taught her.
Miss Sullivan was born 88 years
ago. When a child she was attacked
by a disease that threatened to de-
stroy her sight. She was sent to
the Perkins school for the blind in
Boston, where skillful treatment
saved her eyes, and she became one
of the teachers in the school. When
Helen Keller came there, deaf, dumb
and blind. Miss Sullivan became her
sole companion and teacher, and the
infinite labor and patience which
taught the sorely afflicted girl not
only to read and write, but also to
talk and then to graduate with hon-
ors from Kadcliffe college, will nev-
er be known.
Mr. Macy is 28 years old, a Har-
vard graduate and a writer of some
reputation.
THE .-. MESSENGER.
PJBLISHED WEEKLY
AT THE
Alabama School for thb Deaf.
Address all communications to
THE ME&SENGijR,
Talladega, Ala
FEBRUARY 9th, 1905.
We gave a quotation a week or two
ago from Miss Keller's article in the
last Century on "The Hand." Since
then, through the kindness of a friend,
we have had the opportunity to read
the whole article, and we advise every
one who can get hold of the magazine
to do like-wise. It is well worth, not
only reading but preserving.
What she savs about the meaning
of a hand, illustrating by quotations
from the Bible: "The hand of the
Lord shall guide me," etc., is full of
that poetical feeling which has so
much more of truth that the truest of
plain statements of fact can hold.
In reading her charming essay it oc-
curred to us; This- is what the hand
means to one who has lived in the
atmosphere of our best modern. Chris-
tian life; it means s}- mpathy,encourage-
ment, helpfulness, appreciation. Now
it happens that among the early Ro-
mans the word hand, "manus," had a
metaphorical meaning which over-
shadowed all others. It meant, in
law and in common speech, the arbi-
trar}^ unlimited power which be longed
to the master of a household over the
earnings, the acts, the limbs and life
of his slaves, his children, his wife,
over every thing animate and inanim-
ate which was recognized as belonging
to him! Can two ideals, two great
ideals, authority and love, be more
perfectly characterized than by this
one word "the hand," as in these two
ways conceived?
TWO OPTIMISTS.
(A letter to Joseph Jefferson, ac-
knowledging a copy of Helen Keller's
Sssay on Optimism.)
To send fit thanks, I would I had the art,
F^or this small book that holds a mighty
heart,
Bnshrining as it does, brave Helen's creed, ;
In thoug'ht and word; in many a lovely deed;
In facing- what would crush a lesser soul,
Making- of barriers helps to reach the goal;
In sympathy with all; in human kindness
To the blind of heart (dear girl, not this her
blindness!) I
As well as to her brethren of the dark
And silent world, who though her see and!
hark;
— In bringing out of darkness a great light
Which burns and beacons high in all men's
sight.
That exquisite spirit is true optimist!
Yet there are other names in the bright list:
If faith in man and woman that still lasts,
Though chilled by seventy winters' bitter
blasts;
If seeing, as you see the good in evil,
And something Christian even in the devil;
If power to take misfortune as a friend
And to be cheerful at the very end;
Not to be spoiled by praise, or deeply stung
By the detractor's sharp and envious tougue;
If living in fairy land as really now
As when heaven's dew was fresh on child-
hood's brow;
If seeing, in fine, the world as through a
prism
Of lovely colors is true optimism,
Then Joseph is true optimist no less
And heaven sent both this troubled world to
bless. — R. W. G., in January Century.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1905
AN APPEAL FOR THE BLIND
Letter from Helen Keller Read to
Committee of the Maine Legrislature
Aug-usta, Me., Feb. 10-^There was a big
attendance of the blind from all over the
State, yesterday, at the hearing- before
the Committee on Finance on a resolution
, in favor of the Maine Industrial School
and workshop for the blind, which carries
$75,000 for the next two years. The com-
mittee voted to refer the resolul.on to the
next Legislature. Charl^ F. F.' Campbell,
superintendent of the Experiment Station
of Trade Training- for the Blind at Cam-
bridge, read the following extract from a
letter from Helen Keller at the hearing:
The work which you are asking the prac-
tical men of Maine to assist you in is prac-
tical and feasible. Other States are mak-
ing a start. Michigan has gone further
llian her sisters in the industrial training
of her blind citizens. During the past two
years she has established a work school
and an employment bureau for the adult
blind. Wisconsin, too, has opened an in-
dustrial school and made a slight beginning.
Maine still has a chance to lead the na-
tion. Maine is the starting point of many
great ideas and many great careers. Shall
the work for the adult blind not move in a
mighty wave from Maine to California and
give new meaning to the ^phrase and a new
distinction to the State?
I&jo'b'co^ KcLwer"V\S'2Lr
F^^^TW-^T Y \ O, \^ O S~,
HELEN KELLER "^ J /
WRITES A LETTER
Aug-usta, Me., Feb. 9.— There was a big
attendance of the blind from all over the
state today at the hearing- before the com-
mittee on finance on a resolve in favor of
the Maine industrial school and workshop
for the blind which carried $75,000 for thj
next 2 yrs. The committee voted to refer
the resolve to the next legislature.
C. F. F. Campbell, superintendent of
the experiment station of trade training
for the blind at Cambridge, read this ex-
tract from a letter from Helen Keller at
the hearing: —
"The work which you are asking the practical
men of Maine to assist you in is practical aod""
feasible. Other states are making a .-sfartT
Michigan has gone further than her sfsters in
the industrial training of her blind citizens.
During the past 2 yrs. she has established a
work school and employment bureau for the
adult blind. Wisconsin, too, has opened an In-
dustrial scliool and made a slight beginning.
Maine still has a chance to lead the nation.
Maine is the starting point of many great ideas
and many great careers. Shall the work fat
the adult blind not move in a mighty wave
from Maine to California and give new mean-
ing to the phrase and a new distinction to tho
state." ..^.^^^..--wjrMsWBeMP*,-?*'*-
THE WASHINGTONIAN.
Eight pages,
PUBLISHED SEMI-MONTHLY-
At the State School for Ijefective Youth
VANCOUVER, WASH.
SUBSCRIPTION.
Fifty (,50; cents per school year in advance.
Address subscriptions and communications to
THE WASHINGTONIAN,
Vancouver, Wash.
This paper is set up and printed by the deaf mute pupils of
the School, at the building for the Deaf Mute and
the Blind departments.
Entered as second class matter in the post-office at Tancouve'>
Washington.
Saturday, Feb., ii, 1905.
J Helen Keller's "Chat about the Hand'' in t' e
I January Century is that very rare iliin,:jf ;i new sorv
that has never been told before. Ne riy a 1 tii.it sin-
knows las come to her through the sense of t 11 h
She is already a well-educated won.an \vitl» a \\-ry
wide range of thought and with remarkable command
of the means of expressing- her thoughts. Deprivt-d
absolutely of sight and hearing, the o;V]y avenues to
her mind have been the senses of taste, sujell, a.d
feeling, the last being by far the most impurtant She
basdoubtless the wisest and nriost inform' d hinds tiiat
exist or that ever have existed. No de;)f and blind i3er-
son was ever before educated to the point that slie has
reached. Her record of what her hands tell her, of
what her fingers interpret to her about shapes and
sounds and qualities, is marvellous. The most inter-
epting part ofTieF piece is her disclosure of what she
rends in the hands of otl^er people about their pe/son-
al qualities and raent;*!, physical, and S}iiiilual char
acteristics. "All this/' she writes, '"is my private
science of palmistry, and when I tell your foi'iunt it is
by no mysterious ii-tuiton or gipsy witchcraft, but by
jiatural, explicable r; cognition of the ( mboss. d c'.ay-
acterin vour hand." It is very wonderful. Sheis past
mistrf'SS of the palmist's . art and ccu'id doubtless
practise it profitably for a living if there were need of
that. — Harpers WeeUy.
COLORADO INDEX. FEBRUARY 16, 1905.
Helen Heller's TeacHer to Wed.
Much more than the ordinary interest at-
taches to the announcement of the engagement
of Annie Mansfield Sullivan and John Albert
MacJ^ Miss Sullivan is less known than her
■work, which has been the education of Helen
Keller, one of the most wonderful achievements
of modern times. For nearly 20 years she has
been the constant companion of the world-
famous girl who, bereft of three of the five
senses — sight, hearing and speech— was yet
able to take the college course at Radcliffe,
and to graduate last year, many of her class-
mates being her seniors in years.
John Albert Macy was one of the best-
known men for scholarship in his class at Har-
vard. He graduated in 1899 with high honors
in English and philosophy. Mr. Macy, for some
years has been an intimate friend of Miss
Sullivan and Miss Keller, and was often seen
bicyle riding with them through the parks and
smooth streets of Cambridge, while Miss Kel-
ler was a Radcliffe student.
Some of the more clever gossips had con-
nected the names of Mr. Macy and Miss Keller
in love matters, but it now appears that they
were mistaken.
Miss Sullivan is about 10 years the senior
of Mr. Macy. She was born in Springfield 38
years ago, and was left an orphan at an early
age. While still a mere child she was attacked
by a grave disease, which threatened to de-
stroy her «ight. Her relatives were in humble
circumstances, and there seemed to be little to
do for the little child when a kind priest dis-
covered her condition and brought her to the
Perkins Institution lor the blind in South
Boston.
That was in 1880. There, as the most not-
able product of the famous institution at that
time, was Laura Dewey Bridgman and for the
succeeding years, until the latter's death, in
1889, Miss Sullivan came in close contact with
Laura Bridgman. An operation performed on
Miss Sullivan's eyes largely restored her siglit,
though she sees dimly.
Miss Sullivan took the full course at the
institution, and was graduated as a teacher in
1887. It was just at this time that the parents
of the little blind girl, now know^n the w^orld
over as Helen Keller, applied to the Perkins
Institute for a teacher. Miss Sulliyan was
sent in response.
The history of those 18 years, the marvel-
ous progress of Helen Keller from a blind, deaf,
dumb, and untaught child to the cultured col-
lege graduate, form the history of Miss Sulli-
van's life.
A year and a half ago, through the gener-
osity of vrealthy friends all over America, who
were interested in Miss Keller and her won-
derful teacher, and w^ho liberally subscribed
to a fund for their future support, Miss Sul-
livan bought a famous homestead at Wrenth-
am, and since the college days of Miss Keller
ended last Tune, there she has made her
home.
Mr. Macy was born in Detroit 28 years ago,
prepared for college at the Medford high
school, and graduated with honor from
Harvard in 1899. He attained considerable
literary distinction while at Harvard, being a
regular editor of the Advocate, and its last
editor-in-chief. He was also an editor of the
Lampoon. In addition to his literary work,
Macy attracted attention as an actor of consid- j
erable ability, his impersonations always
furnishing great amusement to his friends.
In a social line he always had whatever
he cared for. He was a member of the Eng-
lish club, the Phi Beta Kappa, the Harvard
cabinet, the O. K., the Signet, the Cercle
Francais, the Delta Upsilon and the Pudding.
After graduation he continued his studies
and received the degree of A. M. in 1900. That
same year he was made instructor in English
at Harvard, a position he has since filled, in
addition to his chief w^ork as miscellany editor
of the Youth's Companion. — Alabama Messen-
ger.
_________ SUNDAY, FEB 19, 1905.
ielen Keller's Teacher as
a Native of Springfield.
Springfield people are much interested
in the announcement of tiie marriage
engagement of Miss Anne Mansfield
Sullivan and John Albert Macy, a pro-,
fessor at Harvard college. Miss Suui-
van is well remembered in Springfield,
her birthplace, by many of the older
residents of that city, where she first
.saw the light of day in 1867.
Miss Sullivan is best known as the
instructor of Helen Keller, who, dis-
possessed of three of the five senses,
sight, hearing and speech, was gradu-
ated last year from Radcliffe.
In ISSO the teacher of the world-fam-
ous girl left Springfield to attend the
[ Perkins institution for the blind in
< South Boston. Early in youth she at-
tracted the attention of Rev Charles E.
I Burke, then rector at St Michael's ca-
, thedral, and now pastor of St Francis*
I church of North Adams.
' fidward A. Hall, author of the history
of the Irish pioneers of western Massa-
chusetts, says:
"There are many old settlers in Spring-
field who remember Miss Sullivan and
her antecedents. The famous teacher
was a communicant of Fr Burke's par-
ish; The parents of the girl died when
she v>'as 6 years of age, and she went
to live with an aunt, a sister of iier
father.
"The grandparents of Miss Sullivan
^7eve among the oldest Irish-American
fa'iiilies of Springfield, going to that
city about 1835 with Maj James Ripley,
; then commandant of the U S armory.
"The Sullivan family settled in fhe
locality known as the middle Water-
shops, and the homestead is often re-
ferred to ;xs the place where the first
mass in Springfield was celebrated. The
(Jaiebrant was Rev James Fitton, the
iLUQneer priest of western Massachusetts.
'Old Irish residents are also of tne
opinion that this house • was also the
birthplace of Miss Annie Sullivan. The
eld housp, wJiichi stood at the. corner of
Mill and Hancock sts, was destroyed by
fire.
"Dr Andrew A. Flanagan of Spring-
field now owns the land where the
house stood and has offered to.grive it as
a site, providing the Catholics of Spring-
field will build a church there. .
"John Sullivan and Mary Mansfield,
Miss Sullivan's father and mother, were
married by Rev M. P. Gallagher in St
Michael's church, Springfield, in 1862. Fr
Gallagher also performed the ceremony
of baptism for Misls Sullivan.
"Gov Sullivan and Gen Sullivan of
revolutionary war fame, , lived in Kit-
tery. Me, and early residents of Spring-
field . entertained the belief that Miss
S\illivan was a descendant of tliose co-
lonial heroes. .
"Miss Sullivan began her school days
by attending the old Central-st stehool,
where the late Charles Barrows, w.
at the time of his death was the oldes
pedagogue in Springfield, taught. Mr
Barrows found the little girl a. bright
and studious pupil and a leader in all
her classes.
' "After the death of her parents her
relatives were in humble circumstances,
and the case attracted the attention of
Fr Burke, a kindly priest. About a
year after the death of her father and
mother her eyesight became seriously
affected, and she was threatened with
loss of. sight.
"Fr Burke brought the case of the
little girl before the young Catholics'
friend society of the cathedral parish,
and through the kind ministrations of
its members the Sullivan girl was
placed in the Perkins institute.
"Miss Sullivan took the full course
at this institution, and as a result of
the skilful treatment received there re-
gained her vision, and was graduated as
a teacher in 1887.
"There she became acquainted with
the little blind girl,. Helen Keller. The
latter has since attracted the atten-
tion of the world by her marvelous ac-
complishments as a result of the train-
ing of her teacher, who was the off-
spring of sterling pioneer stock."
^c^VoTx NA~.'veTV\ ?5eT-
Ve^wxauX> ti^°l^,\%g>S.
A. H. Kell«
bia, Ala.
and white
bright and a good studen^
of literature and history, ^
languages quickly, but was
mathematics, and had a distag
druiSgery of figures.
THE OHIO CHRONICLE,
Columbus, Ohio.
pntered at the postoffice at Columbus as second
class mail matter.
SaLturdaLy. February 25, 1905
Miss Helen Keller, the Blind Genius
Almost Ma.rried
Helen Keller, the deaf, dumb, and
blind genius, is nearly engaged and
soon will be almost married. She is
essential to the marriage contract,
which would never have been made
without her. She is to assist at the
wedding, and it is one of the condi-
tions of the marriage that she shall
always live in the same house with
the quite married couple. She will
be the most conspicuous figure at the
wedding. In fact there would be no
wedding without her.
Miss Keller will be, in fact, more
nearly married than any young wom-
an who has not actually made her
responses and promises at the altar.
The real bride is Miss Keller's
teacher. For eighteen years she has
been instructor, friend and mother
to the famous blind girl. They
have been thought of one thought
almost flesh of one flesh, and when
the bride-groom-elect dared to
propose marriage to the girl's
teacher. Miss Sullivan was amazed.
"I cannot marry anyone," she
said.
" Why not," asked the persistent
wooer.
"Because — Helen."
"But you need not be separated
from Helen. Our home will be hers.
You may go on teaching her all vour
life."-
There followed some personal
argument of the sort that all those
who have been engaged will remem-
ber are most powerful. At their con-
clusion Helen Keller's teacher said
hesitatingly :
"If you will ask Helen, and if she
is willing, I will think about it."
The lover sought Miss Keller in
her ptndy at their home in Wrentham
and made a second proposal of mar-
riage, this time to a gentle arbitrator.
Miss Keller put forth her hands and
touched those of her caller, as she
always does when she is interested.
"What did Miss Sullivan say?" she
asked with the swift hand pres-
sures that stand to her speech.
"She said — she spoke of you," was I
the answer of quick fingers. ;
"Dear Miss Sullivan. Do vou love j
herl"
One hard hand-clasp told the
story.
"Does she love you?"
Another unmistakable hand-clasp.
"Then marry, of course, and 1 hope
you will be very, very happy."
"We want you to be with us always.
You will be as dear and as necessary
to Miss Sullivan as you have always
been. We would not marry unless
your life and hers were to go on just
as before."
A grateful mist covered the blind
girl's eyes. The pulse in her white
throat throbbed with emotion.
"Thank you, my dear friend. Now
please go to Miss Sullivan and tell
her that what you have told me has
made me very happy and that I will
be very unhappy unless she marries
you."
From that moment a new interest
had ome into the girl's life. The
rosy wing of romance had grazed her
very cheek. There was a new, beau-
tiful, mysterious element in life, of .
which she had read, but which had |
seemed until now very far away and
mythical. She talked of the bride- 1
s;rooni. I
'"He is a good, great-hearted man.
J know it by the touch of his hands.
They are hearty, generous, gentle
hands, like Joseph Jefferson's hands,
that you can cling to all your life,
dear Miss Sullivan — hands that will
never wander, that will never for a
moment fail you. They are dear
hands, honest hands. Oh, Miss Sul-
livan, it is almost as wonderful as
though I were going to be a bride
myself. I would have been miserable
if you had not accepted him. Is
there a name for the third in the
marriage, Miss Sullivan?"
''She — she may be the brides-
maid."
"And after that?"
"Then she may be the companion,
the very dear friend, the housemate."
"And after that, dear Miss Sulli-
van, the friend and teacher and god-
mother of the children?"
"Pel haps we ought not to talk
about that now," came flatteringly
from Miss Sullivan's hand.
Helen Keller talked a great deal
in dumb fashion about trousseaus
and made Miss Sullivan take her to
the shops so that she might handle
the soft stuffs of which bridal gowns
are made. She insisted that she
would, in good time, buy the bridal
gown herself, and present it to the
bride. After a while she had an in-
spiration.
With rare intuition in one who
knows by instinct only the strange
ways of lovers, she said one evening
without the lighest touch of guile
in her innocent hand:
"Dear Miss Sullivan, I have been a
little homesick of late for the touch
of home hands. I would like to go
to Florence, Ala., to visit my
family."
* * * *
Miss' Keller will soon return to the
home at Wrentham, which she shares
with Miss Sullivan, and will be as
much absorbed in the wedding pre-
parations as the bride herself.
i It has been arranged that she shall
help to select the trousseau. She
will be the bridesmaid. She will
sign the wedding certificate as a wit-
ness. She will help receive the
guests after the wedding, and she has
chosen an old slipper of her own to
throw after the departing carriage.
She will welcome them on their re-
turn from the bridal tour. She will
herself arrange the first dinner to be
given for them. Afterward she will
become a third, and in many senses
the first, in their household.
Miss Keller's teacher and friend '
of eighteen years is Miss Annie '
Mansfield Sullivan. Her betrothed
is John Albert Macy, one of the
honor men in his class of 1899 ati
Harvard. In English and philoso-!
phy he won distinction. He was thej
regular editor of the Advocate, and
its last editor-in- chief. He was also'
editor of the Lawpoon. He display-
ed talent as an amateur actor at col- j
lege, and he was a popular fraternity
man. In 1900 he received the degree j
of M.A., and the same year he was
made instructor in English at
Harvard, a position he still holds.
He is also miscellany editor of the
Youth's Companion. He is twenty-
eight years old. Miss Sullivan is
ten 3^ears older.
She was born in Springfield, of
humble parents. It was thought
that the child was blind, and a priest
secured entrance for her into the Per-
kins Institute for the Blind. An
operation saved her from total loss
of sight, although she cannot see
clearly to-day. In 1887, she was
graduated from the Perkins Institute,
and sent to Alabama to teach Helen
Keller. Since that time they have
been inseparable companions, and
their fri nidship has transcended
that of the Scriptural David and
Jonathan, or the legendary Damon
and Pythias.
Mr. Macy met the girl while he
was a senior at Harvard.- Shortly
he found the teacher even more in-
teresting than her wondeful pupil.
Often he was seen bicycling with
them on the smooth roads about
Cambridge while Miss Keller was a
' student at Kadcliffe. He went to
St. Louis with them last summer
and assisted at the demonstrations
I Miss Keller publicly made of her
genius of touch and the wonderful
receptivity of her mind. He wrote
the introduction of her book, "The
Story of My Life."
Persons who saw his indefatigable
attentions to the twain believed that
they saw the budding of a romance
for the blind girl. And it is her
romance, a happier romance than
that of Nydia, the blind girl in "The
Last Days of Pompeii." It is not
given to any one else to be a import-
ant a third, to be as nearly engaged
and married as is Helen Keller. —
New York American and Journal.
K
NX-aOVt
feW
r°^
HELEN KELLER'S MOTHE!
Memphis, Tenn., Girl — Her Husband I
Was au Alabama Nevrspaper Mas.
Helen Kellei- I>ay at the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition some time ago,
says the Louisville Courier-Journal,
again attracted attention to this won-
derful Southern girl, and it may be of
interest to Louisville people to know
that her mother spent two years in one
of the schools and received her diploma
from one of the colleges in that city.
The mother, Kate Adams, was a Mem-
phis, Tenn., girl and Avas graduated at
the head of a class of nine from the
old Louisville Female college, then on
Seventh street, between Broadway and
Chestnut. This was in June, 1874, and
;he commencement was held in the
fifth and Walnut Street Methodist
Shurch. It was a Methodist school, but
iliss Adams was confirmed in St.
•aul's Episcopal church while a school
feiii. Returning to her home, she mar-
•ied, in about two years. Captain A.
a. Keller, a newspaper inan, of Tus-
mmbia, Aia.
Several of Miss Adams' schoolmates
ive in Louisville and remember her as
I tall blonde, with pink and white
somplexion, not pretty, but bright and
I good student. She was fond of lit-
srsS.ture and history, and learned the
biiguages quickly, but was not fond of
hathematics, and had a distaste for
;he drudgery of figures.
She was a girl who had spent much
of her time with people older than her-
self and was posted in literary topics
far beyond those of her own age. With
her father a newspaper editor and her
mother a reader, Kelen Keller was
born and reared in a literary atmos-
phere and, in developing her powers,
Miss Sullivan, the teacher, had all the
help of an Inherited intellect In over-
Rom.lng her blindness, her deafness and
Ithe defects of her vocal organs.
The Ohio Chronicle.
Published every Saturday during the school yjear
at the Ohio Institution for the Education
of the Deaf and Dumb.
Entered at the postoffice at Columbus as second
class mail matter.
SaLturda.y, M&rch 4, 1905
f Ai\ Incident of Helen Keller Day
at the World's FaLir
DEDICATED TO WILLIAM WADE.
"Next to come was a little old man,
who might have been from the
humble walks of life. He held out
his hand. The guard roared, "You
can't shake hands with Miss Keller.
Move- on."
But Helen Keller knew the touch.
She threw both arms around the little
old man's neck and kissed him with
the delight of a child. "Herfather,"
whispered the crowd, and tears filled
the eyes of everyone. The man was
not Helen Keller's father, but her
friend and benefactor, William
Wade, of Oakmont, Pa." — Ex.
She kissed him ; the girl whose soul is as l
I pure
I As the rarest rose, — or the finest pearl,
■ While the crowd kept up its restless stir ;
And the guard commanded, "Don't
toucli the girl ;
Move on, Move on !" — but she knew the
touch
ff his hand; his generous, helpful
hand,
And throwing her fair arms around his
neck.
She kissed him there, as a hero grand.
She kissed him. Tlie girl he had helped
to liaise
So high, she is honored throughout the
Ian ',
As a victor deserving unstinted praise,
Who w'th the heroic may always stand ;
Although he came with the common
throng,
"A little old man," whom they did not
know\
She they all honored, knew his touch
And hastened her love, her joy, to show.
She kissed him before the wondering
crowd,
When he meekly passed along, as if
He had never schemed, contrived, nor
planned,
Higi\er arid higher \\9^ class to lift •
AVith her dear arms clasped around his
neck.
While the guard repeated his charge,
"Move on,"
vShe paid him the tribute of gratitude,
And the nation approvingly says, "Well
done." i
Say, friend to her and her groping class.
You merit the honoi's she proudly gave,
You merit the thanks of humanity.
For each child you have nobly saved ;
To lift from the pit of Acheron, i
With its silence, darkness and aimless
gloom ;
Where the mind is ever dwarfed, andj
cramped,
And the soul is locked in a living tomb.
Yes, you merit all that, and your golden
badge, ,
And the love that will follow you, every
hour.
As each child you have helped, fresh
know^ledge gains.
Of the world, and the spirit's latent
power ;
To conquer fate, to gain, to give —
And daily show, they held it true.
Though handicapped, it pays to live.
— Angie Fuller Fischer.
HELEiN KEIiT.ICR A HEROINE.
As regurds heroes or heroines, I think there Is no
irreater on© In our country or time than Miss Helen
KeUer. To be sure, her teacher. Miss Sullivan, de-
serves great praise and merit, hut if she had not
had the material to -vsrork with she never could have
accomplished what she has. Miss Keller's ambition,
I Interest in what she can do for other people, the
i utter absence of thought of self and the wish to do.
■ BtiU more are certainly heroisim.
We are apt to think of a hero as one who has
done some one great, brave act, perhaps on the im-
pulse of the moment or for some special object.
jBut, in my opinion, the one who has had to fl&ht
many obstacles, slowly, surely, coming oflt victori-
ous ftverv tlnitv, must be the jcreater hero.
Westport, Oonn. A. I. F.
\TV-a,?r\ ^ o^ o .Vry-gu^^ 5. ^VvV)^ s.e VVs . ^-xxV^t \^t\ ^^ .
Ya^or^K ^o,\^o5".
m
ist Interesting Paper Read Before
Colonial Club Upon Life of Blind
Girl.
At the last meeting of the Colonial
club, a most interesting paper on
Helen Keller was read by Mrs. E. G.
Hoitt, and pictures of Helen and her
teacher were shown, together with
specimens of the "braile" or system of
raised letters used by the blind, and
views of the Perkins institution for
the blind at South Boston. A very
interesting discussion on the work for
the blind followed. It is hoped that
there will "be a large attendance a1
the next meeting, which is to be held
April 10, at Mrs. Hunter's, as businesf
f" special importance is to be co^
^^red.
THE
FLORIDA
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA., APRIL, 1 905
A DAY WITH HELEN KELLER.
BY THE COUXTKSS OF MEATH.
REAT, jiirleed, mnst"i be the advantages en-
joyed by the liappy jiossessors of a good
memory. They see pprchance lovely scenes
in distant lands, where monntain. lake,
and sky continue to niake the view appear
heavenly in its beauty, and t'-us beauty re-
mains permanently printed on the tables
of memory. They meet interesting people, whose
outward appearance, whose ways, who-e words re-
main as a precious recollection for years, stretching out
into the unknown, future. B(Joksare read, full of help-
ful happy thoughts; they rest in the mind of these fort-
unate persons ready to be recalled in a lonely lujur. It
is well, however, for us to realise that there are com-
pensations to be found in everything. Much there
IS which is best forgotten, unkind, discouraging
words for instance, scenes ()t horror and of pain, and
so no fToubt those who, like nysidf. have often cause
to lament lack of memory, can tak-e heart. Only when
one is situated as 1 am at present, asked to give an ac-
count of what ha]T])ened hjiig years ago, it malces it
i.mp(jssible to write asfullv as if limitations were not
so great:. The erlitor of '"The Messeiio'er'' has asl<ed,
nie to reiafe something about a very interesting inter-
view Lord Meutli and I once had with a young hidy.
wlio has since accomplished much, and become very
well known, Miss Helen Keller. W'e were, at the time
when the interview tooK place, travelling in the United
States. There was, indeed, much to do, many persons
It) see, a great deal to learn; it was, therefore, little;
wonder if our recollectionsof that period became some-
what confused. We were most hospitably entertain-
ed at Boston, that very attractive city, which has pecu-
liar charms for us Britishers. It remimls us of home.
Its shady avenues, its streets with their charming:
hai)itations:, are not laid out in a purely formal manner,
as in some cities further west with the aid of the ruler.
Its very cultured people have a warui corner in their
lieart for the old mother country. Spread eagleism is
by no means raujpant here.
Tiiere were also some very interesting charitable
institutions to be visited, and stil! better, benevolent
noble-hearted men and women. Dr. Philips Brooks
^was then drawing great ccjngregations to his church,
and exercising a very wide influencf^ for good. Dr.
Edward Everett Hall was blessing and being blessed
in his work for others. He svas one of the. many in-
teresting persons whom we were privileged to meet.
He spoke to us of the remarkable little girl, Helen
Keller, who had come under his influence. Her
parents, who were in easy circumstances, were natur-
ally much opposed to the idea of iJieir child's abilities,
or decficiencies, being made [lublic, and it was to be
considered as a very special favour that Lord Meath
and I were allowed t<! visit her. She was staying. I
believe, in the same institution in which Laura Bridg-
man, whose attainments at the time were considered
so extraordiwary, had been educated. Mr. Anagnos.
the head of the Perkins Institution, no doubt, had been
especially careful in selecting the teacher (Miss
Sullivan) for this new pupil, one who would be likely
to draw out all that was best in her character and in
her mental capacities. Results, have indeed -firoved
that the choice was excellent. At first it was agreed
tliat the litfile trirl should, as far as possible, know of
iiothinof but what waj^^goorl. and for a certain limiter]
period, we were told, she was under the pleasing^ delu-
sion that evfryltody was kind and virtuous. A happv
delusion. vvi)ich nian\' wculd at times like to possess!
Perhafis it was partly on account of tliis that the little
g'irl received us so o^l^dly when we went to see her, or
more probably it was that she possessed a warm, affec-
tionate nature, and havin^y met with nothincr but kind-
ness, had no iiervous dread of meeting strangers. As
we entered the apartment where L-feleii was to be found,
a little, forlorn figure stood before us. Then we first
realised her limitations and our own. Tlujugh we
came quite close to the child, she had not, apparently,
the least idea of our -presence, A' barrier ■ existed be-
tween us which we strangers were powerless to throw
down. Accustomed as we were to meet blind people
occasionally, we knew that when the gift of sight is
lacking all the other senses seem to be intensified. It
appeared, therefore, most extraordinary to approach
so near to a sightless individual w-ithout her being
aware that we had entered the room. We could not
communicate with her, as our knowledge of the deaf
and dumb alphabet was so very deficient, but help w'as
at hand, for the kind teacher immediately went for-
ward, and taking her hand, she let her know all about
our arrival in the wonderfully rapid manner in which
whole sentences can be sjiplt out with the aid of nim-
ble fingers and active brains. The child's face bright-
ened up, and she was ready both to receive and give
information. _^
8he was evidently more drawn towards the open-
hearted Irish nature of my husband than towards me
for they had quite an animated little C(mversation to-
gether. She told hini about her beautiful home in
the far west, of its flowers, and pretty things. He
told her of his in the Emerald Isle, which lay thouands
of miles apart from hers. He was, if I remember right,
invited to go to her home, she to his, and then she
talked to me about her bird. Its cage was hung up
conspicuously in the ro(^m, with the little songster in-
side the g(d.den hars. What an emblem of herself.
The bird was shut np in captivity, but its cheering
i.nfinence could yet be felt by those not in captivity.
Its little mistress shut off from her fellow coud yet be
j.ivful. She could not see the beauty of the flowers; !
she could not hear the voice of the bird she loved, she j
could smile and be happy and wait for life, v^ith its
grand possibilities of usefulness, to open out for her
as it has since so marvellously done. We were asked
if we would like to hear her read some poetry of which
she is very appreciative. The way in which this was
accomplished was strange iiuleed. One little band
rested on the big book with its raised letters, the other
told off to her teacher what she had read, only the
curious part of the performance consisted in the fa:t
that we were told that the finger which traced the
words in the book was deciphering different linesfrom
those she told off to her teacher with the aid of the
other hand. One hand travelled faster than the other.
This double action of the brain seemed most extra-
ordinary. It was evident she was a very intelligent
girl, and what was far better a grateful, loving-heart-
ed one, ready to appreciate what had been done for her.
Our interview was soon over, but this was not the last j
we lieard of this interesting child. A letter found its
way to Lord Meath soon afterwards. Strange to say,
it was a most legibly written and charming little effu-
sion from our youthful friend. In it she said, 'T hope!
you are enjoying this beautiful day." flow could a!
child so situated know whether the days were fine or
not; did her teacher tell her so? Probably not, for
the letter wenr, on to say, "I put my hand out of the •
window, and the sun sent one of its messengers to kiss
it.'" Poor child, it was very touching, but ought one
to apply such an adjective to one w-ho was being help-
ed to triumph over difficulties which might have seem-
ed insuperable? I think not. She was a happy child,
for grand indeed is the power of those who can ignore
obstacles to progress, and are determined to make the
best possible use of the talents entrusted to them. A !
life like that of Miss Helen Keller is a wonderful il-
lustration of how that word of but four letters which '
"t^*; are so ready to use — ''can't" — is misapplied.
We are so prone to cheat ourselves as well as
others, wit'i the belief that we cannot accomplish
certain tasks. Whereas, after all, it is but will-power
that lacks. We try for a little and then abandon the
enterprise as hopeless. Perseverance is wanting. The
Scriptural injunction, ''Be not weary in well-doing,"
is needed for physical and mental achievements as
well as for spiritual, and courageous effort is apt to
bring a quick reward uuknow to the idler. — Br tish
Messenger.
SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 1905
X ^ X
The Radcliffe Scholarship Fund, which
the Cantstbrigia Clu'b wishes to complete
by its bazaar, April 27th, 2Sth, 29th, in
the Radcliffe Gymnasium, will be for the
use of Cambridge girls. The half of the
fund already presented to the college by
the club, is helping a young lads'- of unu-
sual ability to get her college education.
The book table will be one of the notice-
able features of the bazaar. President
Roosevelt has sent two of his books with
autograph, to be sold there and other con-
tributors , are Henry Cabot Lodge, Colonel
T. W. Higginson, Helen Keller, Dr. Henry
Van Dyke, Professor Kittredge and Pro-
fessor Rolfe. There will be several at-
tractions in the way of music, particularly
in the evening. The Cantabrigia Glee
Club will give a concert and the Hayden.
Li3.dies' Mandolin Club, also. There will
be soloists at these concerts, among them, '
Miss Anderson, soprano.
FOR THE BLIND BABIES
Miss Helen Keller to Hold a Reception and
Make an Address for Benefit of Boston
Nursery
Miss Helen Keller will hold a reception
for the benefit of the Boston Nursery for
Blind Babies, next Friday afternoon, at
three o'clock, at the home of Mrs. Edwin U.
Curtis, 131 Bay State road. Miss Keller
will deliver a brief, address, and has chosen
for her subject: "Needs of the Blind
Babies." She will be assisted by Dr. Charles
A. Fleischer, who will speak on the "Need
of a Nursery." 'The musical programme
will be in charge of Wilhelm Heinrich and
Mrs. Gladys Fag Benedict, with John Orth
as piano soloist.
The especial object of this reception is to
try to provide against the shortage of
money during the summer months. So far
that has been one of the nursery's pressing
problems. Miss Keller's generous offer to
assist in this matter has come at a most op-
portune time, for there are already eighteen
blind babies in tlie care of the nursery,
ranging from two months to four years
and a half old, and several new ' applica-
tions for admission have been m.'aide. It is-
earnestly hoped that the public will see to
it that Miss Keller's reception meets v/itii
the support it deserves, thus Insuring the
blind babies a comfortable home and good
care through the summer. The nursery is
located at 66 Fort avenue, Roxbury, and ia
open to visitors daily from ten to four,
Sundays excepted.
"!^Q^Vo^rv ^ v)^wcL-aJY ^ "^^ ^^^ '^
^\^^-^\ 9i, \^o5'.
Ye Colonial Club of Marlboro •Shad a
"Helen Kellar day" at its last meeting.
There was a paper by Mrs. Hoitt, ex-
tracts from Helen Kellar's writings
were read by Mrs. Lramson, and current
events were given by Mrs. Jackson. To-
morrow afternoon Mrs. Mary A. Wilder
will ije the essayist.. _ . ,..
Miss Helen Keller will tell the "Needs
of Blind Babies" at her reception Friday
afternoon, at the home of Mrs. Edwin Up-
ton Curtis, No. 131 Bay State road. The
reception is to benefit the Boston nursery
for infants born "to sit in darkness." Miss
Keller's services were volunteered when
she heard that the nursery sadly needs
money to provide during the summer for
the nineteen blind babies in its care. The
nursery is at No. 66 Fort avenue, Rox-
bury.
3>oa>\:o"^ ^vg-Tv\Wc2^ W a_TLS;i.T \ > V
Kv^n\ \S.\^^5.
PLEADED FOR THE BLIND BABIES
Miss Helen Keller and Rabbi Charles
Fleischer Urge Support for the Nursery
Miss Helen Keller and Rabbi Charles
Fleischer addressed a large audience at the
home of Mrs. Edwin U. Curtis of Bay State
road yesterday afternoon in behalf of the
Nursery for Blind Babies. Miss Keller's
words -were repeated by her teacher, Miss
Sullivan. She said in part:
"The story of the Nursery for Blind
Babies is a story of small beginnings, of
struggle and poverty. It shows how even
the most benevolent of cities may neglect a
sweet charity. The welfare of the blind
should be one interest, one need. Since the
days of Dr. Howe almost nothing has been
done for the adult blind until the movement
that started two years ago, and the work
for blind babies has hardly more than
begun.
"Boston did not realize that these two
classes were not provided .for, that her
great school for the blind does only part of
the work, that she must continue, broaden
and extend her efforts to their widest em-
brace of succor, opportunity and useful-
ness, until she has gathered in all the blind
of the State.
"The heart of Boston has always re-
sponded generously to appeals for the insti-
tutions where the helpless and the wretched
are sheltered and relieved. You, citizens of
Boston, have cfome here this afternoon,
complete in all your faculties, without a
'special sense' save a sense of Jo5^ You
who delight in the morning sun and in the
beauties of night; you whose ears are. full
of unregarded music; you who can go about
God's world as you will, unfettered, you
have come to listen to our prayer In behalf
of God's little ones, who must begin life in
the dark, grow up in the dark, learn to
v/6rk in the dark and die in the dark.
"Compare the lot of the blind babies with
that of your own little ones, who run, leap,
climb and gladden you with their prattle.
I appeal to you, who lovo the light in your
children's eyes, give the little blind ones
that other light, heart-light-kindness, pro-
tection, loving care, intelligent instruction.
"The beginning of a life of usefulness
for a blind child must not be postponed
beyond the first ypars. When little children
become blind they sink into helplessness
and become isolated even from their fami-
lies. Only in a well equipped nursery,
where competent persons can reach them
through the sense of touch and hearing,
can they be taught to exercise their minds,
their voices, their hands and the good in-
stincts of their nature. They need a
training that shall fit them for the kinder-
garten for the blind, by giving them such
habits that they begin their school life
as healthy, merry, well behaved children.
"When you realize what the Nursery for
Blind Babies has already accomplished, and
what it could do if you would give it your
support and sympathy, you will see to it,
I am eure, that this work shall be made
to thrive and prosper."
Rabbi Fleischer said: "A cause like
this ought to appeal to our sensibility and
we ought to sympathize with those who
protest against existing conditions. This
is only one instance where we are called
upon to provide a cure because we have
not provide'd a preventive."
He said the Nursery needed money, espe-
cially during the summer months. The
treasurer is Mrs. Grace Lathrop, 1(104
Beacon street. I
BOSTON HERALD
Published Every Day in the Year.
VOL. CXVII., NO. 105.
SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1905.
The Noted Boston Girl Urges Al!
to Aid Nursery tor Blind Babies
— Need of Training to Fit Them
for Kindergarten,
Miss Helen Kf>!!er held a reception
at Mrs. EdYv^in U. Curtis* residence, 131
Bay State road, ycs-terdxy afternoon, in
aid of the Nursery for Blind Babies.
Mrs. Curtis received the gr.ost?. She
•was handsomely gowned in pale gray
chiffon crepe, made in princesse style
and trimmed with bands of cloth of the
same shade, and with lace in the flowing
sleeves and about the neck.
Mr. Heinrich and Mrs. Gladys F. Ben-
edict sang, and John Crth played Schu-
bert's Impromptu, a nocturne by Chop-
in and a composition of his own.
Miss Keller, who v/as dressed in green
taffeta and wore a green hat with flow-
ers, spoke with much feeling in behalf
of the blind babies, her words being re-
peated by her teacher, Miss Sullivan.
Miss Keller said:
"The story of the Nursery for Blind
Babies is a story of- small beghmings,,
of struggle and poverty. It shows how
even the most benevolent of cities may
neglect a sweet charity. The vvelfare of
the blind should be one interest, one
need. Since the days of Dr. Howe al-
most nothing has been done for the
adult blind until the movement that
started two years ago, and the work
for blind babies has hardly more than
begun.
"Boston did not realize that these two
classes were not provided for, that her
great school for tlie blind does only
part of the work, that she must con-
tinue, broaden and extend lifr efforts
to their widest embrace of succor, op-
portunity and usefulness, until she has,
gathered in all the blind of the state:
tv "The KeaTTof Boston has always' rS=^
Bponded generously to appeals for the 1
institutions where the helpless and the
wretched are sheltered and relieved.
You, citizens of Boston, have come here
this afternoon, complete in ail your
faculties, witiiout a 'special sense' save
a sense of joy. You who delight in the
morning sun and in tlie beauties of
night; you whose ears are fuU of unre-
garded music; you who can go about
God's world as you will, unfettered,
you have come to listen to our prayer in
'behaJf of God's little ones, who must
begin life in the dark, grow up in the
dark, learn to work in the dark and-
die In the dark.
"Compare the lot of tlie blind babies
with that of your own little ones, who
run, leap, climb and gladden you witli
their prattle. I appeal to you, who
love the light in your cliildren's eyes,
give the little blind ones tliat other
light, heart-light— kindne-si', protection,
loving care, intelligent instruction.
"The beginning of a life of usefulness
for a blind child must not be postponed
beyond the first years. When little
children become blind they sinic into
helplessness and become isolated even
from their families. Only in a well
equipped nurserJ^ where competent per-
sons can reach them through the sense
of touch and hearing, can they be
taught to exercise their minds, their
voices, their hands and the good in-
stincts of then- nature. Th(?y need
a training that shall fit them for the
kindergarten for the ,bli.nd, by .giving
them such habits that they begin their
school life as healthy, merry, well be-
haved childien.
"When yon realize what the Nursery
for Blind Babies has already accom-
plished, and what it could do if you
would give it your support and sympa-
thy, you will, see to it, I am sure,
that this work shall be made to thrive
and prosper."
Mr. Charles Fleischer said: "A cause
like this ought to appeal to our sensi-
bility and we ought to sympathize with
those who protest against existing con-
ditions. This is only one instance where
we -Ate called upon to provide a cure
because we have not provided a pre-
ventive."
'. He said the nursery needed money,
especially durhig the stimmer ,montlis.
The treasurer is ' Mrs. Grace ' Lathrop,
lC6i Beacon street.
An Appeal for Those Who Sit in
Darkness,
It was rather a pathetic little appeal
that Helen Keller made yesterday at
Boston irr--i^ehalf of a fund for the ed-
ucation of blind babies. She said in
part:
"The heart of Boston has always re-
sponded generously to appeals for the
institutions where the helpless and the
wretched are sheltered and relieved.
You, citizens of Boston, have come
here this afternoon, complete in all
your faculties, without a 'special
sense,' save a sense of joy. You who
delight in the morning sun, and in the
beauties of night; you whose ears are
full of unregarded music; you who can
go about God's world as you will, un-
fettered, you have come to listen to
our prayer in behalf of God's little
ones, who .must begin, life in the dark,
grow up in the dark, learn to work in
the dark and die in the dark.
"Compare the lot of the blind babies
with that of your own little ones, who
irun, leap, climb and gladden you with
I their prattle. I appeal to you, who
love the light in your children's eyes,,
give the little blind ones that other
lightj heart-light — kiiidness, protection,
loving care, intelli.?ent instruction."
There is something touching in the
appeal of this blind girl for sympathy
and aid for those who sit in dark-
ness.
When we v^'ho love the sunshine, who
revel in the beauties of the field and
forest, think of what these unfortu-
nates naiss of the beauty of the Avoi'id,
yen though nature by some wonder-
compensating power gives therii,
alm^lst supernatural keenness to
other s3»»igfis.
"feo^Vo^f^ ^>^e-^v^^Oa .
K^^i\ \5". \^o5^
.42A]?.-4jmiiawK
HELEN KELLER
MAKES APPEAL
FOR SIGHTLESS
LITTLE ONES
Society Gathers to Hear Won-
derful Blind Woman at Bay
State Road Home.
RABBI FLEISCHER SPEAKS
For the benefit of the Blind Babies'
Nursei-y at Roxbury, society flocked to the
home of Mrs. Edwin Upton Curtis, No.
131 Bay State road, when Miss Helen
Keller, and Rabbi Fleischfer spoke in be-
' half of the needs of sightless infants, and
Mrs. Gladys Fogg Benedict and Wllhelm
iHeinrich sung groups of songs and John
I Orth gave piano solos.
j The drawing room, music room and re-
ception hall were all filled and many people
stood patiently during Miss Keller's ad-
dress.
1 Mrs. Curtis, charming in an exquisite
: princess gown of palest gray liberty crepe
; with strappings of broadcloth and
quantities of Val lace, received the guests,
[being assisted by John Albert Macy, the
fiance of Miss Keller's teacher, Miss An-
1 nie Mansfield Sullivan.
Miss Keller speaks in a low, well modu-
1 lated voice, but her enunciation is not quite
clear to those unacquainted with her
speech. Therefore Miss Sullivan repeated
each -sentence after her.
Knows Needs of Blind.
This remarkable young woman, whose
(career has held the interest and aroused
['the sympathy of the entire world, seemeflj
l<iuite glorified by the sincerity and earnest-j
tiess with which she handled the subject]
so near to her heart. No One living knows
so well the needs of the blind babies as
does Miss Keller. No one recognizes so
keenly what education means to them. No
one would give more freely of every means
at her command to help them.
"Since the days of Dr. Howe," said Miss
Keller, "almost nothing has been done for
the adult blind, until the movement started!
two years ago, and the work for blitfa"
'babies has hardly more than begun.
"If Boston has neglected these two classes
ifc was because she did not realize that they
were not provided for, that her great schooli
for the blind does only part of the work,'
that she must continue, broaden and extend
her efforts to their widest embrace until i
she has gathered in all the blind of the
State." '
In speaking of the contrast between thosel
who were listening and those for whqm
she was pleading, Miss Keller used these,'
words :
"You who delight in the morning suni
and in the beauties of the night, you whose|
ears are full of unregarded music, you
who can go about God's world as you ■w^ill,
anfettered, you who have come to listen
' to our prayer in behalf of God's little ones,
who must begin life in the dark, grow
rup in the dark, learn to work in the dark
i and die in the dark."
"Work for the Blind."
' Helen Keller believes thoroughly in a
great sphere of usefulness for those to
whom light has been denied, and it is
partly on this ground that she urges so
earnestly the early education of blind
children, that they may be prepared to
take advantage of the place there Is for
them.
"God has work somewhere for the blind
; — v.'ork they can do perhaps better than
'anyone else," she declared, her face radiant
with earnestness. "Yes," she continued,
"they are doing it every day in their
brave, patient lives. They are teaching
you that there are finei' things in the
world than you have sometimes thought^ —
endurance, patience, sweetness and courage
that can bear the cruelest fetters without
a touch of bitterness."
In closing she made a plea that those
whose children were blessed with all
'iiatural gifts would try to right the
disaster in the lives of the unfortunate
little ones.
In Rabbi Fleischer's address, he called
much attention to the fact that few chlK
dren are blind at birth, but that the ma-
.iorit.v have organic diseases of their'
parents to thank for their misfortune.
"Face Facts and Proceed."
"We are careful in the breeding of
horses, dogs, cats, all animals," he declared,
"but we allow human beings to breed pro-
miscuously.
"Society should pay the price for its
carelessness.
"Society is to blame and this thought
should be a stimulus to our social re-
sponsibility.
"We are called upon to provide a pal-
liative for this evil, as for many others
because we have not applied a preventive.
"We should ne more careiui of the mar-
riage relationslilp, and have more regard
for the responsibility of parenthood."
In closing. Dr. Fleischef gave as a prac-
tical motto for life, "Face facts and pro-
ceed,".' a sentiment which called forth ap-
plause.
"We are prone to face most of our
facts," he said, "by turning our backs
upon them."
After the lecture people were eager to
meet Miss Keller. Many had never seen
her. All marveled at her. She is a girl
of medium height, fairly plump and ex-
tremely healthful in appearance. Her
face Is sweetly seriou.s. Her handclasp
is hearty, her voice low and vibrating.
She wore yesterday a suit Of blue with
touches of white and a blue hat, and
seemed quite as much at ease and as sure
of iierseJf ^s any one present.
Miss Helen Keller held a reception
for the benefit of the Boston Nursery
for Blind Babies, on Friday afternoon,
at the home of Mrs. Edwin U. Curtis, i
131 Bay State road, Boston, Miss Kel-
ler delivered a brief address on the
subject, "Needs of the Blind Babies."
She was! assisted by Dr. Charles
Fleischer, who spoke on the "Need of
a Nursery."
..;'/;■■•> :\ ■.vs.';.-;s
Pleads for Broader Work for;
the Sightless Little Ones'
Before Large Audience of
Back Bay Society Women
HELEN KELLER, offering in Tier
own person evidence of the
effect of educating the Mind,
wade an impassioned plea for edu-
cation of sightless infants at the home
of Mrs. Edwin Upton Curtis, No. 131
Bay State road, to Boston society. It
was the occasion of a benefit for the
Blind Babies' Nursery at Roxbury,
and Mrs. Curtis's home toas crowded
with Back Bay society. Miss Keller's
address was delivered in a low, well
modulated voice, and held closely the
attention of those who were present.
MiS^ Keller's address was as fol-
lows:
By Helen Keller.
■R A \ '^^^ story of the nur-
xJroaCien > sery for blind babies is
W^ork for \ *^® story of a small be-
, -R]- J ? ginning, of struggle and
Lne ijiina. ^ poverty, it shows hoW|
the lesser may be lost'
sight of in the greater; how the child'
may be forgotten, how often the most
benevolent of cities may neglect a;
sweet charity.
Two classes of the blind for all these
years have been neglected. Since the
days of Dr. Howe almost nothing has
been done for the adult blind until the
movement which started two years
ago.
If Boston has neglected those two
classes it w^as because she did not rea-
lize that they were not provided for.
The great school for the blind does
only part of the work. She must con-
tinue, broaden and extend her efforts
to their widest embrace for succor, op-
portunity and usefulness, until she has
gathered in all the blind of the State.
The heart of Boston has always re-
sponded generously to the appeals of
hospitals, asylums and institutions
where the helpless and the wretched
are sheltered and relieved. You citi-
zens of Boston come here this after-
noon, complete in all your faculties,
withou|; especial sense except a sense
of joy.
, . rj^. , You who delight in
^^-'^l^^ ^ nem< ^j^g morning sun and
Liffht of s ^^^^ beauties of the
" ; night, you whose ears
the Heart. J are full of unre-
garded music, who can
go about God's world as you will, un-
fettered; you who have to listen to
,our prayer in behalf of God's little
ones who must begin work in the
dark, grow up in the dark, learn to
work in the dark and die in the dark.
I appeal to you who love the light
in your children's eyes, give the little
blind ones that light, that heart light —
kindness, loving care and intelligent
instruction.
The beginning of the life of strength
and usefulness for the blind child
must not be postponed beyond the
first ye^r. TS^hen little children lose
their sight they sink into helplessness
and _ become isolated even from their
families. In their homes it is often
not possible to replace by skilful at-
tention the light which the seeing
child has by nature, and which thei
blind child lacks.
Field for
Nursery-
Is Large.
The training and ex-
perience that come to
most children so large-
ly through sight are
lost to the little blind
ones because they
cannot observe and imitate those
about them. Only in a well equipped
nursery, where competent persons can
reach them through the sense of hear-
ing, can they be taught to exercise
their minds, their voices, their handSj
the good instincts of their natures.
They need a training that shall fit
them for the kindergarten "for the
blind by giving them such habits that
they niay begin their school life as
healthy, moral, well behaved children.
^og>to^ T^o^v. Ky^^' \ \b, N'^^^'.
OF HELEN KELLER
Those who heard Helen Keller speak
at Mrs. Edwin U. Curtis' at home in aid
Of the Nursery for Blind Babies, Friday
afternoon, were once more reminded of
the romance which will soon result in
the marriage of her friend and teacher,
Miss Sullivan, and John A. Macy of
Cambridge.
All three were present, and the lovers
came in for as much attention as did
Miss Keller, who after the entertainment
.held an impromptu little reception in a
corner of the big hall, as she laughingly
chatted with some old friends, running
her slim gloved hand over their features
and resting it ever so lightly on =their
lips as they spoke.
Miss Keller looked remarkably well in
a dark green taffeta having a round yoke,
trimmed with several rows of white lace
insertion, and wore a large fiat hat of
[green straw with green ribbon trimmings.
I He,r eyes, although they had that pa-
thetic look so common in those by rfiis-
fortune deprived of sight, were clear and',
luminous, while her face beamed with in-!
I tell.ig^nce. She''s~e"irJT^'!re?4#r!!3W'
I and laughed with all the light-hearted-
I ness of a child, ^while leaning affection-
ately from time to time on the arm of
the faithful sweet-faced Miss Sullivan.
While the latter remained ever by . the
side of her pupil, Mr. Macy and Mr.
Frederick S. Moore acted as ushers,
standing near the door, while to a curi-
ous young woman who inquired of Mr.
Macy his name, he said modestly: "Oh,
I'm a friend of Miss Keller."
In addition to Miss Keller's little talk
and one by Rabbi Fleischer, tliere was
singing by Mrs. Gladys Fogg Benedict
and William Heinrich, and piano selec-
tions by Mr. John Orth.
The ladies seemed much Interested In
the worthy cause of helping the blind-
babies, and doubtless many of them sent
their contributions, great and small, to
the secretary, Mrs. Grace Lathrop, 1064
Beacon street. _. .„^,
TVgvv ^^oT' K EI.\ evLAYvcr ^c.
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BLIND HELEN KELLER^S
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HELEN KELLER.
For ^the Blind
Babies of the
City of Boston.
THE story of the nursery for blind babies
is the story of a small beginning, of
struggle and poverty. It shows how
the lesser may be lost sight of in the great-
er; how the child may be forgotten, how
often the most benevolent of cities may neg-
lect a sweet charity.
Two classes of the blind for all these
years have been neglected. Since the days
of Dr Howe almost nothing has been done
for the adult blind until the movement
which started two years ago.
If Boston has neglected those two classes
It was because she did not realize that
they were not provided for. The great
school for the blind does only part of the
work She must continue, broaden and ex-
tend 'her efforts to their widest embrace for
succor opportunity and usefulness, until
she has gathered in all the blind of the
State. .. '
The heart of Boston has always respond-
ed generously to the appeals of hospitals,
asylums and institutions where the help-
less and the wretched are sheltered and
i-elifived. You citizens of Boston cogje here
this afternoon, complete in all your facul-
ties, without especial sense except a sense
of joy.
You who delight in the morning sun and
the beauties of the night, you whose ears
are full of unregarded music, who can go
about God"s world as you will, unfettered ;
you who have to listen to our prayer in
behalf of God's little ones, who must begin
work in the dark, grow up in the dark,
learn to work in the dark and die in the
dark.
I appeal to you who love the light in i
your children's eyes, give the little blind |
ones that light, that heart light — kindness,
loving care and intelligent instruction.
The beginning of the life of strength and
usefulness for the blind child must not be'
postponed beyond the first year. When lit-
tle children lose their sight tliey sink into
helpelessuess and become isolated even
from their families. In their homes: it is
often not possible to replnce by skilful at-
tention the light which the seeing child
has by n&ture, and which the bliud chilci
lacks.
The training and experience that (••->me
to most children so largely through sight
are lost to the little blind ones because
they cannot observe and imitate those
about them. Only In a well equipped nur-
sery, where competent persons can reach
them through the sense of hearing, can
they be taught to exercise theSr minds,
their voices, their hands, the good in-
stincts of their natures. -'
They need a training that shall fit them
for the kindergarten for the blind by
giving them such bnbits that rhey may 1#'-/
gin their school life as healthy, morali
well behaved children. /
V-\a-Ty\\\^oTv, QKnO; 'UemoQ.xaL't
KvfiT^V '^\,\^OS
A Blind OirVs Vision of Easter.
S WE LOOK ABOUT US at this beautiful and budding
season of the year we ought to be especially thankful
that our eyes can see and drink in the nature just tak-
mg on her spring robes. Helen Keller, the blind girl,
"has never known the' Easter time as 'most' of us hMe,
yet she has given utterance to a psalm and a sermoa
that is very pretty. It is as follows:
''Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, and
his mercy endure th forever. Sing unto him a new
^ ]||^^y^""^a>» song, for he cause th the desert to put forth blossoms,
and the valleys he covereth with greenness. Out of the night he bringeth
day and out of death life everlasting. On this day a new light is upon the
mountains, for life and the resurrection are proclaimed forever.
; ■; -'-Easier -igt^ie -promise of -the Lord , that ■all- th-e best and noblest in .
inan. shall be renewed,, even as growth and" Jaloom and ripening shall not
cease. The bars of winter are broken, and the iron bands of death are
riven. The bird is on the wing, and the flight of the soul shall know no
weariness. The lilies lift their holy white grails, brimmed with sunshine
of God's love, for has not the Lord manifested his love in flowers and in
the upspringing of green things? They are sweet interpreters of large
certainties. Each year the winter cuts them down, and each spring they
Pjat forth again. Every spring is a new page in the book of revelation,
wherein we read that life is an eternal genesis and its end is not, for it
endureth forever.
"Belief in eternal life compels us to believe in good deeds and honest
though'ts. The good man tails not for today nor for tomori-ow alone, but
beeaiise he knows that his labor shall survive long after his hand has fall-
en from the plow. The good man pours himself into the world and makes
it new. He is among the blessed who win sight out of blindness, order out
of chaos and life out of death. SINCE THE FIRST EASTER MORNING
THE SOUL OF MAN HAS SHONE WITH UNWASTING LIGHT, FOR
THEN HE LOOKED INTO THE RADIANT FACE OF THE RISEN
CHRIST AND KNEW THAT GOD'S UNIVERSE SHAPES ITSELF
NOT TO DESTRUCTION, BUT TO A YET MORE GLORIOUS GENE-
SIS-YEA, IT ENDURETH FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLAST-
U>eov^.^-^i^&V^Y-, N W^S>5i-Q,Kvv^g.V\-.'^. El-wVe
r-?T\ se,
Nip^-\\ "i.^ v^os",
; J A Generous Ofifer.
I When Miss Helen Keller was at the
exposition in St. Louis in 1904 she vis-
ited the Japanese tea house and for a
jfevr minutes shook hands with some of
.'the waitresses, little olive colored wo-
men who spoke almost no English, but
expressed their interest and intelli-
gence without words.
Many weeks after Miss Keller had
returned to Boston she heard from an
oflicial of the exposition that one of
the Japanese waitresses had gone to
a St. Louis phjj'sician and asked to
have one of her eyes taken out and giv-
en to Miss Keller. TSTien she was told
that such a gift was impossible she
wept in bitter disappointment.
^ofeYo^ K^n\e.v\ci.BJ<x. Kvv\\ ^>^"\,\^o5'
"Fiz," Presented to Her by Her
Friends, Was Her Faithful
Companion.
VISITS HIS GRAVE DAILY
Special to the Boston American.
WRENTHAM, April 27.— Miss Helen
Keller, the wonderful deaf and blind girl,
is mourning the death of her pet dog,
"Fiz," to whom she was deeply attached.
Although she was unable to see th,e animal
or hear^his bark, there was a perfect un-
derstanding apparently between the animal
and the young woman.
The death of her pet and companion has
been the bitterest grief . of Miss Keller's
life. The dog was burid in a pretty spot
where Miss Keller can visit the grave as
often as she desires. On a sunny slope
with evergreen trees near by is the fresh
mound that marks the grave of her dog.
Puts Flowers on Grave.
Every day Miss Keller takes a walk to
the spot where the body lies and drops a
flower on the little heap of fresh earth.
Visiting her now in her grief is Mrs.
Kate A. Keller, the girFs mother, from
Florence, Alabama. She has done every-
thing-she can to comfort her famous daugh-
ter in ber sorrow.
Not only was the dog valued for his
worth, and he was a splendid animal,
but the tender associations with her col-
lege mates at Radcliffe were always re-
called by the presence of the pet. The;
dog was given to Miss Keller by her girl
friends, and the story of the present Is
one of the most charming incidents of her
college life.
When Miss Keller was In her sophomore j
year she and Miss Sullivan, her teacher,
and a group of her classmates went to New-
ton, where they visited the kennels of aj
prominent man who owned many valuable
dogs. The young women were delighted
with the dogs shown them and caressed the
high-bred animals with loving pats and
gentle words.
Miss Keller always loved dumb animals,
and has great influence with them. None
of the dogs showed the least combative
spirit when she approached them, although
some of the other girls did not meet with
Such approval.
; ' "I'll show you another kind of a dog,"
said the owner. "He Is kind and gentle,
but he will not make friends with any of
■ you. It is only after he has known a per-
son a great while that he shows his friend--
ship and affection."
Made Friends With Miss Keller.
The man opened the door and a large,
handsome animal bounded out. He glanced
at, the bevy of young women in an &jashed
manner, but at first made no move toward
any of them. Then to the great surprise of
his owijer the dog walked straight up to
Miss Keller and laid his head upon her
knees. Sh6 caressed him lovingly for a
few minutes, when the man started to put
the dog back in his kennel.
But Sir Thomas, as the dog was then
known, would not move. The man tried
coaxing in tain and finally had to take
the dog by the collar and tear him aw?iy
from the girl by force.
The action of the dog made a great Im-
pression on the blind girl which was not
lost to her companions. A cocker spaniel
which Miss Sullivan had given to Miss
Keller had died and the girls conceived
the idea of purchasing the dog for her.
When the matter was laid before the owner
he reduced the price of the dog to .?100,
although it was valued at a much higher
figure, and the dog was bought and pre-
sented to Miss Keller. Miss Keller changed
flbe dog's name to "Fiz." Upon him she
l*ished a wealth of affection. In his
I d3kth she has lost a dear friend.
^os.Vo-T^'T^o^v^^^^X. Kv>^^ V ^"\,\<^C^5'.
BLIND HELEN KELLER
IS OEATH
AO
IFjET
Animal Given Her by Class-
mates at Radcliffe Had
Firm Hold on Her Affec-
tions-—Visits Fiz's Grave
Every Day.
Wrentham," April 26.— The visit at this
time of Mrs. Kate A. Keller of Flor-
ence, Alabama, to her daughter, Helen
Keller, the blind girl, is very oppor-
tune, as it helps to assuage one of the
deepest sorrows that has fallen across
the pathway of this girl. Her pet dog,
Fiz, is dead.
Miss Keller, whose progress has been
the wonder of the world, has not had
the extensive acquaintance that falls to
the lot of most American girls, and a
part of her affection has gone out to
the dumb animals, who, like herself,
hare to depend upon something besides
speech in order to make themselves un-
derstood.
Gift of College Friends.
The dog that has just died had more
than an ordinary hold on the affections
of Miss Keller, as he was a gift from
her friends in Radcliffe College. The
story is one of the many charming in-
cidents that constantly made her life
the brighter while she was in college.
During her sophomore year, in com-
pany with Miss Sullivan and a group of
j her college friends, Miss Keller went
to Newton to visit some kennels. A
[large number of high-bred dogs which
were' shown them easily made friends
with all the young women. The owner.
after a while, told the girls that he I
would show them a different kind of aj
dogr.
"Sir Thomas," he said, "is gentle and
affectionate in his way and is perfectly
harmless, but he will not approach ydu
as these others have."
Instantly Become Friends.
He then opened the door and a large,
handsome dog came bounding out. He
.hesitated but a moment and then went'
directly to Miss Keller and laid his
head upon her knee. She caressed him, i
and after a few moments his master
spoke but the dog psiid no attention.
His master used all the ways which he
knew, even offering a piece of dog bis-1
cuit. This did not tempt him. He still
stood by Miss Keller and the man Anally
had to take him by the collar in order
to lead him away.
A cocker spaniel which hah been
given to Miss Keller by Miss Sullivan
had just died and the girls who wit-
nessed this scene noticed thp impression
the dog had made on the blind girl, and
they resolved to purchase Sir Thomas
if possible and present him to thelv
classmate.
He Wa.s Called "Fiz."
The girls stated their case to him and
he reduced the price from $125 to $100 and
Sir Thomas was at once presented to
Helen Keller. He was then renamed
Fiz, to which he answered up to the time
of his de*th just a few days ago. The
end was sudden. Miss Keller was grief
stricken and insisted that he be buried
somewhere where she might visit the
grave. Down on a sunny slope looking
across toward hills fringed with ever-
green is his grave. There each day goes
Miss Keller.
Mrs. Keller Is enjoying her visit to
Massachusetts. She was in Boston for
a short time yesterday and arrived at
the home of her daughter but a few*
moments before the reporter of The
Journal. She is tall and stately, dis-
tinctly of the Soufnern tyne and wlf
the Southern accent.
TUESDAY, MAY 2, 1905
HELEN KELLER'S TEACHER WEDS
Miss Anne Mansfield Sullivan Becomes the
Wife of John Albert Macy at Wrentham
This Afternoon
Miss Anne Mansfield Sullivan, the con-
stant companion and teacher of Miss Helen
Keller for many years, and John Albert
Macy, instructor in English at Harvard
and one of the editors of the Youth's
Companion, were married at Miss Keller's
home at Wrentham at two o'clock this af-
ternoon. The ceremony was witnessed
only by members of Mr. Macy's family
and a few old friends of Miss Sullivan.
The wedding is the culmination of a
romance which has extended over several
years, beginning' in the mutual interest
which the bride and bridegroom took in
Miss Kellei-. Mr. Macy, it will be re-
called, has had critical oversight' over
mUch of Miss Keller's literary work, and
he wrote the introduction to her book, "The
Story of My Life."
The ceremony was performed by Rev.
Edward Everett Hale, D. D. No invita-
tions were issued for the cerem.ony, nor
will cards be sent out. Miss Keller, ac-
companied by her mother, who has been
visiting her at Wrentham for some time,
will leave immediately for the South,
spending several weeks at her old home
in Florence, Alabama, and returning North
in two months. Mr. and Mrs. Macy will
be at home to their friends after July 1,
at Wrentham.
Miss Anne Mansfield Sullivan, companion
and teacher of Miss Helen Keller, married
{ to John Albert Macy at Wrentham.
BOSTON ipRALD
Published Every Day in the Year.
VOL. CXVil., NO, 123.
WED'NESPAY, MAY 3, 1905.
HELEN mm
Miss Anne M. Sullivan Becomes
Bride of John A. Macy, Harvard
Instructor, at Wrentham — Fam-
ous Pupil Present.
[Special Dispatch to the Boston Herald.]
WRENTHAM, May 2, 1905, Thorough
Informality a,nd simplicity characterized
the wedding of Miss Anne Mansfield
Sullivan to John Albert Macy this after-
noon. The bride is the instructor and
companion of Miss Helen Keller, and the
groom is of the editorial staff of the
Youth's Companion, and an instructor
in English at Harvard University.
There , were present only a few Inti-
mate friends of the participants. There
had not been any announcement oT the
wedding until today, and there will not
be any cards sent out.
The few friends were tnet by either
the bride or groom at the pretty home j
which was purchased two years ago by
Miss Sullivan, and where the ceremony
took place. At 2 o'clock Miss Sullivan
and Mr. Macy took their positions near
the large window and were married by
the Rev. Edward Everett Hale. D. D.
Miss Keller stood beside Miss Sullivan,
bu-t the groom was unattended.
There were present the Hon. John
Hltz of Washington, head of the Volta
bureau, Mr.^and Mrs. Powell Macy, the
parents of 'the groom, MIrs. Kate A.
Keller of Florence, Ala., mother of
Helen Keller, Mis.s Bl.sie Macy, Arthur
Macy, Mr and Mrs. E. S. Macy, Mrs.
Polly Pratt ot Chel.sea, Mrs. S. P. Hop-
kins of Boston. Mrs. .\I. K. Bates and
?;^^"'S"f^ Farrington of Wrentham,
17°'- c^^',^P"^y Smith of Harvard and ,
\Jfi- -^'"n"^*^- ^^'"s- Smith explained to 1
M.\B3 Keller what was transpiring '
Miss Annie M. Sullivan,
Helen Keller's Teacher,
Who Becomes a Bride
The romance, which dtilminat'erin^Tre^
marriage, had its beginning in their
common interest in Helen Keller, the
young woman who, though deaf, blind
and dumb, received the degree A. B.
from RadcIlfC© College last June.
Miss Sullivan's attachment to Miss
Keller is an instance of remarkable de-
votion. During nearly 20 years the older
woman was the inspiration of the
younger— her teacher and friend; Miss
Sullivan was eyes to the blind, ears to
the deaf, tongue to the dumb, and an
open door to her who sat in darkness
until she was 7 years of age. The
teacher, who was herself temporarily
deprived of sight, by sheer genius for
her work gave to Miss Keller and to the
world the latter' s fine personality.
, For several years Mr. Macy has been
^interested in the education of Miss Kel-
ler; he became an intimate friend of
both teacher and pupil, and was often
in their company. Some of the gossips
connected the names of Mr. Macy and
Miss Keller, tout a few months ago the
engagement of Miss Sullivan and Mr.
Macy was announced.
Mr. Macy. Vvho was a prominent mem-
ber of tlie class of '99 of Harvard Col-
lege, is an instructor in English at the
iniiversity and also miscellany editor of
the Youth's Companion. He has aided
Miss Keller in her literary work, and
wrote the preface to her book, "The
Story of My Life."
Mr. and Mrs. Macy left for New York !
shortly after 4 o'clock, and will, it la
Understood, take a European trip. They !
will be at home to their friends in
"Wrentham after July 1. i
Miss Keller and her mother are to
leave next week ' for Florence, Ala,,
where they will spend the summer. !
Efelositou Journal
FOUNDED 1833
MAY 3, 1905,_
HELEN KELLER AT
WEDDING OF HER
LOVED TEACHER
18
k]
[
John Mbert Macy,lnstructor
at Harvard and Associate
Editor of the Youths'
Companion, is the Fortu-
nate Man. I
Helen Keller, with^^ycs that saw not, j
with ears that heard not, stood with
her fingers upon the lips of an inter-
preter, with a smile of joy upon her
handsome face, and understood the
marriage ceremony of her faithful
teacher and companion^ Miss Annie^
Mansfield Sullivan, to John Albert
Macy in Wrentham yesterday after-
noon.
It was probably the first wedding
ceremony thus translated to a blind and
"deaf mute under such circumstances.
The wedding was without display and
with only the immediate members of
the families and a few intimate friends
I present. The bride is world fajnmia oc.
^
the Hfe teacher of Miss Keller, arid the
groom is an associate editor of the
Youths' Companion. Thej^ were niarried
by the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, at
the home of the bride in Wrentham.
Simple Ceremony.
The wedding was one of tlie prettiest
that has been performed in that town
for several yea r's, and while it was char-
acterized by simplicity, yet the cere-
mony was performed amid a scene that
will last in the memory of those who
attended. Tiie wedding guests arrived
at noon, and after a luncheon was
served, the party passed in to the re-
ception room, . which Was a bower of
cut flowers and ferns. The most inter-
ested, and perhaps the most pleased
person present, was Mibs Keller, who,
dressed in a stylish gown of light ma-
terial, was ushered into the room and
introduced to the party.
At 2 o'clock the marriage ceremony
was performed, and Miss Keller, who
has been a constant companion of Miss
Sullivan, for so many years, had the
honor of standing with her teacher and
friend; who has been so faithful during
the years that they have been together.
Never did Miss Keller look so happy,
and. as the ceremony was translated to
her in the signs that are used, a snaile
of- joy illumined her face. j
The ceremony over, the party remained j
in the reception room until the hour of i
departure had arrived, and at 4 o'clock \
the party bade a fona gpod-by to Miss
Keller and took the 4.30 train for Bos-
ton. . ■ ■ !
The young couple are to make an ex-
tended tour and will be. gone a month.
The parting of Miss Keller and Miss j
Sullivan was most impressive, and when |
the wedding guests had gone Miss
Keller, tired from the fatigue of the
day, retired to her room. Miss Keller
will accompany her mother to her home
in Florence, Alabama, next week,
where she will remain during the sum-
mer, returning in the early autumn to
resume her studies.
The marriage of Miss Sullivan will in
: no way interfere -wath their long con-
nection, as Mr. Macy has a deep regard
for Miss Keller and the trio will go
through life together. Dr. Hale, who
tied the knot, is an old friend of both
Miss Keller and Miss Sullivan, and he
was specially requested by both to per-
form the ceremony.
EiglLteen Years Ago.
Miss Sullivan is a prepossessing young i
woman, 38 years of age. She met Miss
Keller eighteen yctir.s ago, when she
was sent from Boston to Florence, Ala-i
_lQ teach Miss Keller. Ifer early life
IMRS. JOHN A. MACY
was spent in adversity, ana, owing to
the fact that she at one time was
threatened with the loss of her sight,
she became doubly interested in Miss
Keller, and has made it her life work,
winning the esteem and admiration of
thousands of persons throughout the
United States.
Mr. Macy is a Harvard man of 28. Kd
met Miss Sullivan a few years ago,
when he became an instructor of Miss
Keller, and the strong bond of friend-
ship ripened into love, which resulted in
the marriage yesterday afternoon. He
is at present an English instructor at
Harvard and an associate editor of the
Youths' Companion. When in college he
distinguished himself as an amateur jt"s
actor and in BngHsh classics, becoming
the editor of the Lampoon and other
college papers.
The couple will reside with Miss Kel-
ler in Boston on their return from the
wedding tour, and both will devote their
lives to the. development of Miss Keller,
whom they both love' so much.
Helen Keller and Her Teacher.
):rr^Kiifm
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1905.
HELEN KELLERTHE MAID OF HONOR
Miss Sullivan, Her Teacher, and Mr Macy
Married by Dr Hale at Wrentham.
MR AND MRS JOHN ALBERT MACY.
WRENTH.iM, May 2— In a quiet anrl
unostent'itious niunner. Miss Anne
Mansfield Sullivan, the constant com-
panion and teacher of Miss Helen Keller,
and Mr John Albert Macy, instructor
in English at Harvard, and one of the
editors of the Youth's Companion, were '
married at '2' this afternoon by Rev Dr
Edward Everett Hale, an old friend of
both.
The ceremony took place in the pretty
summer home where Miss Keller and i
Miss Sullivan have lived sinc§ the deaf,
dumb and blind girl was graduated j
from Radclitle la.st Jime. ,
Hoth the bride and jrroom mingled
with the guests until the hour arrived '
and then without formality of any kind
gathered in the large parlor and were
pi-Qnoanced man and wife.
I Miss Keller stood up with them, while
friends repeated the marriaae ceremony
! in the sign languajje..
, The bride wore a dark traveling gown
and the sroom a gray prince albert with
light vest and tie.
Only 20 guests were present, includ-
ing Mrs Kate A. Keller, Hon Jolvi Hitz
oi' Washington, Prof and, Mrs P. S.
Smith of Harvard, Mr and Mrs Powell
Macy, pastor ot the groom; Miss Elsie
Macy, Mr Arthur Macy, Mr and Mrs E.
S. Macv, Mj-s S. p. Hopkins, Mrs Polly
Pratt, Mrs M. K. Bates, Miss Villa
('urren, Mr D. S. Farrington, Mr and
Mrs Osgood Page and Mr J^. W. Fishe.
Mr ancV'Mrs Macy will be absent on a
wedding journey extending over a
month and probably will take a trip
abroad.
Miss Keller, whose mother has been
visiting her, ^ill leave on a trip to her:
old honae in Florence, Ala, and will ba
gone two months.
Mr and Mrs Macy have been the re-
cipients of many valuable present.';,
among them a bond some clock ancl
(:ana,elabras from Prof Alexander. Gra-
ham Bell, a cut glass punchbowl from
Mr AVilliam Wade of Pittsburg, old
english spoons from Mrs Eawrence
Hutton, an immense silver loving cup
from a number of old college chums of
Mr Mai^j-, a handsome brooch from Mr.s
J. P. Morgan, and a profusion of silver
and cut glass from friends all over tht.:
country.-
The wedding comeis as the culminaT
tion of a romance which had its begin-
ning in the mutual interest t^ken by
Mr Macy and Miss Sullivan in Mis.'?
Keller. Jlr Macy has had critical over-
sight of Miss Keller's work and wrote
the introduction to her book, "The
Story of My Life."
Miss Sullivan is best known for her
v/ork. For nearly 20 years she has been
the teacher of the world-famous girl,
who though bereft of three of her
senses, was able to take the course at
Radcliffe and to graduate in a class
where many were older than she.
Miss Sullivan was born in Springfield
38 years ago, and is 10 years older than
Mr Macy. She was threatened with a
loss of her sight when a child, and Was
educated and treated in the Perkins
institution for the blind at South Bo.s-
ton. She was gi'aduated as a teacher
in 1887, just when the parents Of Helen
Keller applied for a teacher for the
child, and she was sent. She has de-.
voted her life ever since to the care and
training of Miss Keller.
Mr Macy was born in Detroit 28 years
ago, where his parents had moved front,
Nantucket. He prepared for cSllegi
the Medford high school and was g^
uated from Harvard with honors
1899. He achieved literary distinction
in college, and was editor of the Ad-
vocate and of the Lampoon. He took
post-graduate work, received his AM
degree in 1900, and became an instructor
in English, a position he has since
filled in addition to liis work as mis-
cellany editor on the Youth's Com-
panion.
For several years he has been an inti-
mate friend of Miss Sullivan and Miss,
Keller, and has been a constant com-
panion on bicycle rides. Last fall, in-
deed, gossip connected the names of
Mr Macy and Miss Keller in a romance-,
but it was a fiction romance.
Ww VotK V\/or\<l-
HELEN KELLEB'S
Miss Anna M. Sullivan, at 38^
: Weds Man of 28 She Met
Through Her Pupil.
MSS KELLER STANDS UP
WITH HER FRIEND.
IVferrlage Ceremony Is Re-
, peated in the Sign Lan-
' guage for Her Benefit.
P (StpeoJaa to "Ki* World!.') j
fWilENTHAM, Mass., May 2.— Miss
Slmine MansfteM SuMivan, the constant.
compenion aaid teacher of Mtea Helen;
Keller, and John Alfeent Macy, Instruct-
or In Bngaisih at Harvard, a;nd one of!
tSie editors of the "Youths' Companion,"
■were married to-day by the Rev. Dr.
Edward Everett Hale, an old friend ofl
both.
The cereonony took place in the pret-j
tjr summer liome where Miss Keller andj
Miss Sullivan have lived since the deafj
(dumb and blind grirl was graduated!
from Radcliffe las-t June. |
Both the bride and the brddegrootfffl
mlngrled with the guests until the .houq
arrived, and then, without formaffity oB
an" kind, they gathered in the large
parior and weire pronounced man and
fwif e.
rvais$ Kelleir sfcocd up with them, whllai
friends repeateid the imaTriage ceremony
In the sign language.
jMiss Keller, .whose motlher has been
vieitlnff her, will leave on a trip to iher
old home in Florence. Ala., and will be
gone two months. The wqdding comes
as the culmination of a romance, which
had its beg-inning in the mutual ii^terest
taJten by Mr. Macy and Miss Sullivan
In Miss Keller, Mr. Macv has (had
critical overslg-ht of Miss Keller's work,
and wrote the introduction to her boQk.
""The Stoi-y of My Life."
The bride is best known for her work.
For nearlv twenty years sihe has been
the teacher of the world-famous sirl.
wiho, thouerli bereft of three of her
senses, was able to take the course at
RadcliflCe, and to l>e graduated in a
class whftre there were many more older
than she.
Miss Sullivan was born In Soringfield
thirty-eight -"-ears ag-o, and is ten years
older th^yi Mr. Macv. She' was threat-
ened witn a Josa of her sight when a
i:cliild, and was educated and treated
tin tha Perkins Insititijtion for the Blind
iflit South Boston. She was graduated
!k,3 a- teacher in 1887, lust when th<>
fcareftts of Helen Keller arvrVIied for a
■jeaCTier for tlhe child, and she was sent.
Bhef 'has devoted her life ever since
ffo fw ca/re and trailnlngr of Miss Keller.
ILEN KEIL
TEACIERS M
Words of Ceremony Conveyed to
'Famous 'Blind, Deaf and Dumb \
Girl by Touch Language. i
HAPPY ENDING OF A ROMANiCE
Woman Who Transmitted a Fine Person-
ality and Man Who Criticised Lit-
erary Efforts United. :
[SPECIAL DESPATCH TO THE HERALD.] I
Boston, Mass., Tuesday.— -Owing to thfi
mutual interest tli-ey took In Helen Keller;
tine famous tolind, deaf and dumb girl,
Miss Anne Mansfield Sullivan, her teacher
and companion, and John AUbert Macy, in-!
structor in English at Harvard and one
of the editors of the Youth's Companion,
were raarried at Miss Keller's home, at
WreiDthaan, at two o'clock this afternoon.
Mr. Maoy has had critical oversight
over muc^ of Miss Keller's literary work,
and he wrote the introduction to her
book, "The Story of My Life." The cere-
mony was performed by the Rev. Edward
Everett Hale, D. D.
Miss Keller, accompanied by her mother,
who has heen visiting her at Wrentham
for some time, will leave immediately for
the South, spending several weeks at her
old home in Florence, Ala., and returning
North in two months.
Miss Keller stood by the (bride during the
ceremony, but the bridegroom was unat-
tended. A few intimate fniends were pres-i
ent, among them Professor .Sydney Smith,
of Harvard, and Mrs. iSmith.
Although fMlss Keller can neither see,
hear nor speak, Mrs. Smith, making- use
of the touch language, made known to
her what was happening, and repeated the
words of Dr. Edward Everett Hale as he
pronounced the girl's two teachers man
and wife.
Mr. and Mrs, Macy left for New Yorls
at four o'clock, presumably for a Euro-
(pean tri.p. They will be at home in
Wrentham after July L
Miss Keller received her degree of A. B.
from Radcliffe College last June largely
through the faithful ti-alning of her com-
panion and the young Harvard man. For.
nearly twenty ye«j-s the bride has been
devotedly attached to the famous pupil,
bni'il Helen Keller was seven years of age
she sat in darkness. Her teacher mas-
tered means of communication and has
educated her. The teacher herself was at
one time temporarily blind, but by her
gemus developed for Miss Keller her fine
personality.
Because of Miss Keller's proficiency In
English and her literary talents the young
Harvard English instructor became much
interested In ber education, and conse-
quently he became very intimate with the
teacher, whose personality was trans-
ferred to the wonderful pupil. At one time
gossip had It that he was engaged to Miss
Keller, but his engagement to Miss Sulli-
van a few months ago ended this specu-
lation.
Mr. Macy was a member of the class ol
1899 In Harvard, in which he was con-
spicuous for his literary attainments. He
is now an English Instructor and miscel-
lany educator of the Toutb's Companion.
Helen Keller Sheds Tears o
Joy When Beloved Teacher
Is Married
HE'S HARVARD PROF,
Helen Keller, with laer blind eyes ful
of tears of happiness, W9.S the maid ol
honor yesterday in the simple littl<
marriage ceremony which united he
teacher, Miss Annie Mansfield Sulllvar
and Mr. John Albert Macey, one of th
editors of the Youth's Companion, an
an instructor in English a,t Har^-ard.
The ceremony was repeated to >Iis
Keller in the sign language. It wa
performed in the big parlor of the pret
ty summ.er hoine where Miss Keller an'
-her teacher have lived since last Jum
Dr. Edward Everett Hale performed th
ceremony, which was witnessed only h
a small party of close friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Macy have gone awa
on a wedding journey which will exten
over a month, and probably Include
trip across the Atlantic. Ivliss Kelle
will leave Boston with her mother, wh
has been visiting her, and go for tw
months on a viisit to 'her old home 1
Florence, Ala.
Miss Sullivan is 38 years of age, ju?
ten years older than her husband. Sh
was threatened with a losfs of slgli
,when a child, and was educated an
treated at the. Perkins Institute, wher
later .«h« became Miss Keller's teachei
She has devoted her life ever eince t
the Reaching o-" Miss Keller.
rg>o&^:ci^ KcLvcrT\%er
ilELEN kELLiER'S
^ TEACHER WEDDED.
• Wrentham, May 2.— Miss Annie Sullivan,
the constant companion and teacher of
Miss ,Helen Keller for many years, and J.
A. Macy, instructor in English at Harvard
and one of the editors of the Youth's Com-
panion, were married at Miss Keller's
hornet at Wrentham at 2 p.m. The cere-
mony was witnessed only by members of
Mr. Macy's family and a few old friends of
Miss Sullivan.
The wedding is the culmination of a ro-
mance which has extended over several
years, ■ beginning in the mutual interest
which the bride and bridegroom took in
Miss Keller; Mr. Macy, it will be recalled,
has had critical oversight over much of
Miss Keller's literary work, and he wrote
the introduction of her book, "The Story
of My Life."
The ceremony was performed by Rev.
B. E. Hale. Mr. and Mrs. Macy will be at
home to their friends after July 1, at
Wrentham.
KELLER AT HER
TEACHER'S WEDDING
MISS ANNE MANSFIELD SULLIVAN,
Who became the wife of John Albert Macy at Wrentham yesterday afternoon.
She was the constant companion and teacher of Miss Helen Keller for many
years.
WRENTHAM, May 2. — Miss Anne
Mansfield Sullivan, Helen Keller's com-
panion and teacher, and John Albert
Macy of the editorial staff of the Youth's
Companion were quietly married at Miss
Keller's home here this afternoon.
The ceremony was performed bv the
Rev. Edward Everett Hale. Bes
Keller and
Macy's relatives and a few old friends of
Miss Sullivan.
Despite the marriage, Helen Keller will
not lose her friend. After their return
from their honejinoon Mr. and Mrs. Macy
will take up their home In Wrentham. In
the meantime. Miss Keller will visit with
I
The Ohio Chronicle.
Published every Saturday during the school year
at the Ohio Institution for tJie Education
of the Deaf and Dumb.
THE OHIO CHRONICLE,
Columbus, Ohio.
Entered at the postofflce at Columbus as second
class mail matter.
SaLturdaLy. MaLy 13, 1905
Waiting at Life's Shut Gate
Young People,]
When one reads Helen Keller's
"Autobiography," her address at the
World's Fair, when one takes in the
richness and fullness of social and
intellectual life which her genius
and indomitableeffortshave brought
her, when one measures the abound-
ing love and overflowing joyousness
which mark her correspondence and
intercourse with her hosts of friends,
one is almost tempted to think of
her as especially favored, and to
minimize the dark solitude which
must at times enfold her, and the
weary weight of sense imprisonment
from which she can never wholly
escape. In a recent article she says
that she dreams sometimes of the
sudden breaking of these bonds, and
wakens feeling that should this hap-
pen her heart would burst for joy.
From the following beautiful re-
velation of the sombre side of this
radiant spirit, one gathers a fuller
estimate of what she has overcome,
and of the courage and unselfishness
that inspire her words and deeds :
Sometimes, it is true, a sense of isola-
tion enfolds me like a cold mist as I sit
alone and wait at life's shut gate. Be- ]
yond there is life and music and sweet
companionship ; but I may not enter.
Fate, silent, pitiless, bars the way. Fain
is ould I question His imperious decree ;
for my heart is still undisciplined and '
j)assionate ; but my tongue will not utter
the bitter, futile words that rise to my
lips, and they fall bnck into my heart
like unshed tears. Silence sits immense
on my soul. Then comes hope with a
smile and whispers, "There is joy in self-
forgetfulness." So I try to make the light
in others' eyes my sun, the music in others'
ears my symphony, the smile on others'
lips my happiness.
THE UTAH EAGLE
OGDEN, UTAH, MAY 15, 1905.
Handcraft.
In her chat about the hand in a re-
cent number of the Century Magazine,
Helen Keller not only reveals to us
anew her own marvelous gifts and
attainments, but at the same time she
adds emphasis to the rare usefulness
and cunning- of the hand.
To Helen Keller the hand is what
hearing and sight together are to
others. What she has attained, under
wise guidance, through the sense of
touch alone is one of the marvels of
an eventful age. For, as she says, by
touch paradise has been veritably
gained by her.
Incidentally, by her wonderful pur-
suit of knowledge, that hand also has
gained a distinction that cannot be
despised. Indeed, we may not say
that the work of man's hand has ever
been really despised; but, else we are
mistaken, to work with the hands for
alivinghas not always and everywhere
been free from the stigmaof disgrace.
Today, howevei-, the skilful hand is
the most important factor in the econ-
omy of life. The test of educational
attainment is not so much what one
knows as what one can do. The su-
X)reme question is (and sooner or later
every one must ask it). Can I earn a
living?
Much of the so-called knowledge
acquired from books is untrue, still
more has become obsolete. On the
other hand, the productions of the
crafts are real and tangible. The
merits and demerits of things pro-
duced by manual effort are at once
apparent, and they administer no less
to the comfort and well-being of man-
kind than do those productions that
are more strictly intellectual in charac-
ter.
The ideal to be sought in all true
education, it seems, is the happy com-
bination of physical and mental train-
ing,— the cultivation of all the poAvers
of mind and body, to render the most
efficient and useful service in life.
Our view of titness for life's work is
changing. The significance of man-
ual training is beginning to be real-
ized.
"Look where we w^ill, ' ' the blind girl
writes, "we find the hand, in time
and history, working, building, invent-
ing, bringing civilization out of
barbarism. The hand symbolizes
power and the excellence of work.
The mechanic's hand, that minister
of elemental forces, the hand that
hews, saws, cuts, builds, is useful in
the world equally with the delicate
hand that paints a wild flower or
moulds a Grecian urn, or the hand of
a statesman that writes a law. The
eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no
need of thee.' Blessed be the hand!
Thrice blessed be the hands that
work!"
'Wg.>^poTV; T^KQcLe lEsN a-^cL ■ He-ra>\eU
Vr^ajy a>'5s,\.^o5'.
ff^n K^BlTef^XjiJology for Work.
Helen KelUer who has? been so inar-
wjllou^ly educated despite her lack bl
sight, speech, and hearing- has written
"An Apology For Going to College" for
the June McClure's. There was never a
more triumphant victory for optiniism
than this remarltable young girl's con-
quest of her limitations. She enteroa
Radclifte College in the face of the dis-
couragements of her best advisers, for
a blind, deaf-mute who could only com-
municate with the college world and
her books through the medium of her
teacher and companion to attem.pt a
course which, to even the normal girl,
is scA'ere enough, seemed to them pitiful
foolishness. "But love of knowledge,"
says Miss Keller^ "all the forces of my
nature were cudgelling .me to college."
.She went, and succeeded. The story of
the winning of her A. E. degree is mod-
estly told In a charmingly simple way.
"It was not in the hope of large schol^
arship that I made the pilgrimage to
this laborious Eldorado," she vvrites. "1
felt and still feel, that the demand of
fhe world is not so much for scholar-
ship as for effective service."
"I discovered that darkness might be
rich in , possibilities which, in my turn,
I might discover to the world."
"I found the treasure of my own isl-
and.
"Of course, I had little part in the
^ocial lite of my college. I enjoyed )Ti.y
khare of work, the obstacles which were
declared insurmountable came against
me one way, and retreated seven ways,
and that was happiness enough. I had,
too, many pleasures, solitary and apart
from the other girls but as genuine as
theirs."
"My friendship must come through
ithe medium of my hand, and few of the
girls knew the manual alphabet, and
the conditions under which, we shook
hands for a mon^ent in the crowded
class-room were not favorable to inti-
m.acy. They could not reach me through
my isolation, and in the midst of the
class, I could not help at times feeling.;
Icnely and sad.
"But a happy disposition turns every- .
thing to good, yea, the want of onu
thing lacking which so many melan-
choly beings want everything. I forgot
my loneliness in the cheerful realities
that touched me. I knew there was a
rich store of expeiience outside my
comprehension, hut the little I could
grasp . was %^'onderful enough, and
having contentment I was possessed
of the boon whereof I had been beg-
gared.
"A happy spirit is worth a library of
learning I think I derived from the
dally walk to college with Miss Sulli-
van, more genuine pleasure than comes
to many a girl who sits in a corner and
works the sunshine, the fresh air, and
even good humor out of her morning
lessens— all for high marks."
K\V\e\3OT0, VT\a,ss-a^'^V^v^^g:VV^> ^vx^\
TTVa^Y ^^ \^C)^.
I
Helen Keller's Apology for Work.
Helen Keller, who has been so
marvellously educated despite her
;ack of sight, speech, and hearing has
(vritten "An Apology For Going to
College" for the June- McCIure's.
rhere was never a more triumphant
Fictory for optimism than this re-
aaarkable young girl's conquest 'of her
limitations. She entered Radcliffe
College in the face of the discourage-
ments of her best advisers, for a
blind, deaf-mute who could only com-
oiunicate with the college world and
ler books through the medium of her
teacher and companion to attempt a
;ourse which, to even the normal
jirl, is severe enough, seemed to
;hem pitiful foolish. "But love of
inowledge," says Miss Keller, "all
ihe forces of my nature were cudgel-
ing me to college." She went, and
iucceeded. The story of the winning
»f her A. B. degree is modestly told in
I charmingly simple way.
"It was not in the hope of large
;cholar&hip 'that I made the pilgrim-
ige to this laborious Eldorado," she
vrites. "T felt and still feel, that the
lemand of the world is not so much
ior scholarship as for effective ser-
'ice."
"I discovered that darkness might
)e rich in possibilities which, in my
:urn, I might discover to the world."
"I found the treasures of my own
sland. .
"Of course, I had little part in the
locial life of my college. I enjoyed
ny sTiare of work, the obstacles
i *-Mnh were declared insurmountable
©me against me one way, and re-
tarded seven ways, and that was hap-
piness enough. I had, too, many
pleasures, solitary and apart from the
other girls but as genuine as theirs."
"My friendships must come through
the medium of my ^hand, and few of
the girls knew the manual alphabet,
and the conditions imder ' which we
shook hands for a moment in the
crowded class-room were not favor-
able to intimacy. They could not
reach me through my isolation, and
in the midst of the dlass I could not
help at times feeling lonely and sad.
"But a ihappy disposition turni
everything to good, yea, the want of
one thing lacking which so many
melancholy beings want everytTiing.
I forgot my loneliness in the cheerful
realities that touched me. I knew
there was a rich store of experience
outside my comprehension, but the
/ little I could grasp was wonderful
enough, and having contentment I
was possessed of the boon whereof I
have been beggared.
"A happy spirit is worth a library,
of learning I think I derived from the
daily walk to college with Miss Sul-
livan, mora geaiuine pleasure than
comes to many a girl who sits in a
corner and works the sunshine, th«
fresh air, and even good humor ou
6f ber morning lessons — all for higl
marlsg."
\^^VsiTe.TcQ(^,Vaa-'5sa>Q.Vvu. <se\tb. \z,\tQ,r^r(\
HELEN KELLER'S APOLOGY FOR
WORK.
Helen Keller, who has been so mar-
vellously educated despite her lack of
sight, speech, and hearing has written
"An Apology For Going to College" for
the June McClure's. There was never
a more triumphant victory for opti-
mism than this remarkable young
girl's conquest of her limitations. She
entered Radcliffe College in the face of
tlie discouragements of her best ad-
visers, for a blind, deaf-mute who
could only communicate with the col-
lege world and her books through thrj
medium of her teacher , and companion'
to ^.attempt a- course which, to even
the normal girl, is severe enough,
seemed to them pitiful foolishne.?s.
"But love of knowledge." says Mi.-^s
Keller, "all the forces of my nature
were cudgelling me to college.' She*
went, and succeeded. The story of the
winning of her A. B. degree is modest-
ly told in a charmingly simple way.
"It was not in the hope of large
scholarship that I made the pilgrim-
age to this laborious Eldorado," she
writes. "I felt and still feel, that the
demand of the world is not so much for
scholarship as for effective .service."
"I discovered that darkness might
be rich in possibilities which, in my
turn, I might discover to the world."
"I found the treasures of my own
island.
"Of course. I had little part in the
social life of my college. I enjoyed
my share of work, the obstacles whicii
were declai-ed insurmountable came
against me or,e way. and retreated
seven wavs, and that was happinC'^s
enough. I had, too, many pleasures,
solitary and apart from the other giils
but as genuine as theirs."
"My friendships must come through
the medium of my hand, and few of
the girls knew the manual alphabet,
a-nd 'the conditions under which we
shook hands for a moment in tr.e
crowded class-room where not favor-
able to intimacy. They could no^
reabh me throitgh mj- isolatfdn. anci|
in the midst of the class I could not
help at times feeling lonely and sad.
"But a happy disposition turns
everything- to good, yea, the want of
one thing lacking which so many mel-
archoly heings Avant everything. I
forgot, my loneliness in the .cheerful
realities that touched me. I knev\f
there was a rich store of experience
outside my comprehension, but the
little I could grasp was wonderful
enough, and having contentment I was
possessed of the boon whereof I had
been beggared.
"A happy spirit is worth a library
of learning. I think I derived from the
d|aily walk to college with Miss Sulli-
ylan, more genuine pleasure than, come?
to many a girl wiho sits in a corner
and works the sunshine, the fresh air.
^nd even good humor out of her morn-
feng lessons.— all for high marks."
Tl^sW^s^^Tl^w/ V\a-^^^'=sK\rg:. Tress
^^ I McClure's Magazine
Helen Keller, from a portrait piib.'-'
li'hpd for the first time, forms n frontis-
piece to the June Mc -.lure's. Tlie
opening article is on "The College'
Atblete." "Bargain Day at Tult'
House," is the title of an amusing^
illustrated story by George R, Chestpr.
An article is given to "Typhoid, an Un-
I necessary Evil," Others are "Tne
jTreble Cross," "Great Masters of Litera-
[ture," "Tbe Revolving Year," "In
"Lovers Meeting," "An Apology for
i Going to College," by MiRS Keller, "The
[Jailbird," etc, S. S. McCiure company,
[New York,
THE SILENT WORKER.
"o \jv "Y^ e \ "=^ o 5",
THK visit of Helen Keller's mother, of
Florence, Alabama, to her daughter in
Wrentham, Mass., has opportunely
alleviated one of the deepest sorro,ws
that has fallen across the pathway of
this blind girl whose pet dog is dead.
Miss Keller, whose intellectual pro-
gress has been the universal wonder,
has not had the extensive acquaintance that falls
to the lot of most American girls and a part of her
affection goes to dumb animals.
The dog that died recently this spring had a
firm hold on Helen's affections, as he was a gift
from her friends in Radcliffe College. The story
is one of the many charming incidents that con-
stantly made her life all the more interesting
while she was in college.
In the course of her Sophomore year Miss
Keller accompanied her teacher, Miss Sullivan,
and a group of her college friends to visit some
kennels. The owner of high bred dogs kindly
showed Miss Keller all around and finally reach-
ed ' ' Sir Thomas. ' ' Therefore he opened the door
and a large handsome dog came bounding out.
He hesitated but a minute and then went direct-
ly to Miss Keller and placed his head upon her
knee. MisiS Keller caressed him.
The owner spoke to "Sir Thomas" for a mo-
ment but the dog paid no attention. All the
dog's master tried was in vain. He offered a
piece of dog biscuit but this failed to tempt him.
" Sir Thomas" still stood by Miss Keller and the
man finally had to take the dog by the collar to
the kennel.
When Helen's friends noticed the impression
th^ dog made on the blind girl they kindl}' re-
membered Miss Keller with "Sir Thomas,"
which they purchased 'for $100.00. "Sir Tho-
mas" was re-named after " Fiz, " a collier spaniel
dog which, Helen Keller lost long ago, and
alvva3's answered up to the time of his death a
few weeks ago. j
Miss Keller was sorrow stricken on the sudden ,
death of her pet dog and wanted him to be buried
near where she might visit thegrave. Fiz's grave
is down on a sunny slope leading across toward
hills fringed with evergreen.
( THE YOUTH^S COMPANION.
^
^
WHO
GOING TO COLLEGE
By JfeZen KelZez^
OU have come up out of the pri-
mary school, through the gram-
mar school, through the high
school, and this beautiful June
morning finds you standing
-where the brook meets the river.
The care-free days of childhood are
past, and the mystery of an unknown
life awaits you at the threshold of
the college which you will enter next
September.
It is fitting that you pause, serious and
thoughtful ; for you have not passed this way
heretofore. The time has come when you must
put away, with loving hands, the playthings
of youi- childhood, the familiar habits and
inununities and companions of your protected
girlhood, leave solicitous friends and guardians,
and enter, through the college door, upon the
larger responsibilities and joys of womanhood.
Your life is before you, "so various, so beauti-
ful, so new. ' '
The power and the delight of unknown
coming things are filling your minds with glad
expectancy. You are ready to walk erect and
fearless in the ways of knowledge. You have
resolved to go to college, and you stand pre-
pared to make your resolution a living fact, a
visible bodying forth of the purpose that is in
you. But you must first lay aside anxiety of
mind and distrast of your powers ; for laiowledge
is holy ground, and joy alone shall lead your
steps aright.
You Also Shall Help.
HT'Tt is often said that usefulness is the end
11 of life; and so it is. But happiness
^'=*^® creates and inspires usefulness. K you
liave many gifts, and the power to understand,
even if you meditate night and day how to pro-
mote the wehare of the world, it shall all profit
you little if you have not joy. Take up joy,
then, as you stand before the gate of your student
life, and enter fearlessly. Think that the college
you have set your hearts on holds all good things
in her hand. Believe that in her halls your
higher dreams shall be realized. But do not
forget that the great gifts which you are about to
receive from your college bring with them great
obligations, and that your larger freedom is a
sacred bondage to great ideas.
In college you will be brought face to face
with nearly all the fundamental questions of
life, and you will learn how many men have
tried to solve them. Hitch your wagon to a
happy star, and you also shall help to solve
them. The world needs your intellect, yom-
scholarship, but most of all yoirr hearts— heaits
tliat are loving, brave, hopeful, happy.
Does all this dream of high privilege and
noble service seem far above your circiunstances,
beyond the reach of your strength and your
powers of mind ? Remember that Senator Hoar
said, "Much of the good work of the world
has been that of dull people who have done
their best." Many a girl who thought herself
mediocre has won high honors in college.
Fears and regrets have no place in the vocab-
ulary of youth, whose spirit sets its white and
shining wings toward the pui'ple shores of the
Promised Land. Be happy, talk happiness.
Happiness calls out responsive gladness in
others. There is enough sadness in the world
without yom-s. Rebel against the hardness and
injustice of things as much as you like. It is
always well to keep youi' fighting edge keen to
smite wrongs wherever j^ou meet them. But
never doubt the excellence and permanence of
what is yet to be. Never doubt that this is
God's world, and that it is brought nearer to
Him by the right work of the least of His
children no less than by tlie mighty works of
genius. Yon are no less necessary to the world's
uplifting than Luther and Lincoln,
A Vision in Your Souls.
r~T[nOIN the great company of those who
^^^1 make the barren places of life fruitful
•'=*^*® with kindness. Carry a vision of heaven
in your souls, and you shall make your home,
your college, the world correspond to that vision.
Your success and happiness lie in you. Exter-
nal conditions are the accidents of life, its outer
trappings. The great, enduring realities are love
and service. Joy is the holy fire that keeps our
purpose warm and our intelligence aglow. Work
without joy shall be as nothing. Eesolve to
keep happy, and your joy and you shall fonn
an invincible host against diihculties.
Perhaps in college you may meet with books
which suggest to you that it is noble and comely
to be unliappy. Many clever people have found
many reasons for unhappiness. Some learned
men have peered between the curtains of life's
tabernacle, found it empty and a cunning sham,>
and in the dimness of their spiritual sight they
have gone away grumbling, never suspectmg
their own blindness. From their conclusions
turn to Stevenson and Browning, read Saint
Paul's epistles, learn that the tabernacle is a
temple wherein God abides.
Think, read, study diligently day by day,
and the severest tests of your knowledge shall'
find you prepared and confident. Do not lose
sleep over the prospect of examinations, or fret
above the printed page until you cannot read
its lessons clear. Even if you do not win
academic distinction, remember that it may be
more worth while to help another girl perform
a difficult task than to win a high mark your-
self. It is less important to do justice to books
than to be honest and kind and generous in
your relations to yom' fellow students.
Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them ;
but do not let them master you. Let them
teach you patience, sweetness, insight. True
education combines intellect, beauty, goodness,
and the greatest of these is goodness. When
we do the best that we can, we never know
what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the
I life of another.
To go to college is like going to a strange
town to, live. Your fellow students are of all
I sorts and classes, and often seem to have nothing
I in common with each other, except the desire
for approbation, sympatliy and love. If you
understand the complex diversity of a college
comraimity, you w^ill be spared many disappoint-
ments in j'Oiu- freshman year. When you find
yom'selves forlorn and homesick for a time, you
will not feel bitterly towai-d the other girls
because they do not follow you about the campus,
or stop you On the stairs to offer you their
undying friendship.
The freshman is often painfully aware of
qualities of mind and heart which should place
her high in the council of her class, and she is
surprised that others are so slow to recognize
them. But you will find your place in college
as surely as water seeks its level. Only you
must not sit and mope, or stand outside your
class and criticize its officers, athletics and clubs.
You must throw yourselves into the midst of
its activities and discover where you can be
useful. To be a leader in your class requires the
same qualities that are required to be a leader
anywhere. It is not so much genius that
availeth as energy, industry, and willingness to
make personal sacrifices.
From the Books.
rw~"lEAE]Sr from your books not only, the
J~^y day's lesson, but the life lesson. In all
^^i® Imowledge, in the classics, in science, in
history and literature and in mathematics you
will see the struggle of man to get nearer to God.
Kesolve, then, as you stand on the threshold of
yoiu' student days, with an enlightened optimism
to consecrate youi- education to the sei-vice of
others. When your thoughts become pessimistic,
when it seems as if all men were deafened by
the tmnult of ti-ade, blinded by self-interest and
greed, turn the pages of yom- history of England,
and you will find that the ideas which sliaped
the Anglo-Saxon race were not mean or sordid.
American history, too, is filled with heroes
and martyrs who joyfully pushed aside ambition
and gave their lives to the common weal.
"Are men blind?" they cried. "We will
open their eyes. Are they deaf? We will
unstop their ears. Are they hungry? They
sliall be fed. Are they cast down and oppressed ?
As God liveth, they shall be free!"
The world needs more of this spirit of service.
There is still many a desert place where the
sun of love and the light of truth liave not
shone. The occasion waits for every college
graduate, in the joyous erectness of youth and
vigor, to answer, "Lord, here am 1 ; send me,"
The Christian Register
(14) [June 8 1905
A Letter from Helen Keller.
Prof. George Boros of Kolozsvar has
translated Helen Keller's "Story of My Life,"
which is read with a deep interest all over
Hungary. Prof. Boros gave a lecture not
long ago on Miss Keller's teacher, Mrs.
Macy, in the hall of the college, before a large
audience. Some bUnd students who were
present sent greeting to Miss Keller, to which
this letter was the reply : —
I am glad you liked my book. I am al-
ways pleased when people tell me that my
story has interested them. The world I
live in is so different from yours that I am
glad to bring you over from your world to
mine. We read the same books, travel the
same highways, smell the same flowers; but
how differently! My ideas are grounded on
experiences which you, who see and hear,
do not have, and ideas make the world we
live in.
I am interested in all that I hear about
Hungary. You have indeed faced the se-
verest tests, and have shown splendid cour-
age in your struggle for independence. You
are the frontier of Western Europe against
the South-east, and you deserve indepen-
dence among the nations you have helped to
defend. But, after all, the subject nation
finds her highest freedom in the arts of peace.
That state knows no bondage which mounts
the bright heights of civihzation.
I received a touching letter from the blind
students at the Kolozsvdr Institution. Will
you please convey to them my loving greet-
ings ? -There is a very strong bond between
us who cannot see. We, like Hungary, are
held captive from without; but we find our
vision in oiur hearts.
FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 1905
HELEN KELLER'S COLLEGE WAYS
Helen Keller, deaf, dumb and blind,
writes for McClure's her "Apolog-y for Go-
ing to College." She says, in part:
"I was of course hampered by my limi-
tations, which turned to drudgery much
work that might have been delightful; for
they imposed upon me tedious methods of
study. I was often behind in my work at
a distance forbidden by military law; I was
never ahead; and once I fell so far behind
that it seemed as if I might as well try to
keep pace with a shooting star! Experi-
ence, however, taught me to tack against
wind and tide— the first lesson of life I
learned in college. And this was easier
with Miss Sullivan at the helm. I would
not part with one of those struggles against
the gales— 'the winds and persecutions of
the sky.' They tested my powers and de-
veloped the individuality which I had been
advised to bring up on books at home.
Although I always tried to work with a cool
head and steady hand, and sleep according
to the law, I, too, was drawn into this
whirlpool of confused, incomplete tasks. I
met other girls in the college halls and on
the stairs who stopped a moment to greet
me, but they were rushing from lecture to
examination, from examination to basket-
ball practice, from practice to dramatic
rehearsal, from rehearsal to conference,
and there was no time for a pleasant chat.
And if the girls who had eyes and ears
were overburdened and distraught I was
at least no better off. During four years a
torrent of miscellaneous knowledge poured
through my fingers, and it fills me with
despair to think how much of the choicest
matter of this abundant stream dripped and
oozed away. I was eager to draw from
the living waters of wisdom; but my pitch-
er must have had a hole in it. I was like
the Danaides who poured water eternally
into a broken urn."
THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1905
HELEiV KELLER WITH A ROSE
(Picture in the Century for January, 1905)
Others may see thee; I behold thee not;
Yet most I think thee, beauteous blos-
som, mine:
For I, who walk in shade, like Proser-
pine—
Things once too briefly looked on, long
forgot —
Seem by some tender miracle divine.
When breathing thee, apart,
To hold the rapturous summer warm within
my heart.
We understand each other, thou and I!
Thy velvet petals laid against my cheek.
Thou feelest all the voiceless things I
speak,
And to my yearning makest mute reply:
Yet a more special good of thee I seek.
For God who made — oh, kind! —
Beauty for one a,nd all, gave fragrance
for the blind!
[Florence Earle Coates.
July Century.]
^-ro<i.VvVo-\^,YVL^s&-a_e.W^ -be VYb . \\r^z^.
^.
wN^e o."^ \^o5".
Miss Helen Keller is visiting* her
mother in Alabama. Though she ia
perfectly well, she is taking- a com-
plete rest from all ■writing, withdraw-:
ing herself from the responsibility even
of correspondence. „ „-. -1
^
''HELEN KELLER" THE
I^J ' SUBJECT or ORATION
' At the Brighton High School last ev-
■ ening eighty-nine graduates were pre-
sented with diplomas by Joseph A.
Sheehan of the Boston school board.
: The first honor was won by Miss Lil-
i Han Curtis, who delivered the valedic-
tory oration, "Helen Kellar." Miss
I Curtis was the winner of The Journal
prize contest for the best designed grad-
' Mating dress.
H^Vv).cV.eV. l\Vxo<LeTs\a.T\ A. TWs^
Miss\Helen keller is expected home
the first of next week from Florence,
Ala., where she has be«n spending the
summer at her old home in th^)S9^1^.
..Miss Helen Keller's book is "^beJlng-
translated into a dozen tongues, In-
cluding Russiaji, Bohemian, Roumanian,
Hungarian, Finnish, Danish, Swedish
and Japanese. j
A pacheic story is told of Helen Kel-
ler and a little Japanese girl. When
Miss Keller was at the exposition in
St. Louis in 1904, she visited the Jap-
anese tea house and for a few minutes
shook hands with some of the wait-
resses, little olive colored women, who
spoke almost no English, but express-
ed their interest and intelligence with-
out words. Many weeks after Miss
Keller had returned to Boston she
heard from an official of the exposi-
tion that one of the Japanese wait-
resses had gone to St. Louis physician
and asked to have one of her eyes
taken out and given to Miss Keller.
I When she was told that such a gift
was impossible she wept in bitter dis- ]
appointment.
THE GROWLER AS A PROPHET. '
There is no end of good to be got out
of growlers, provided only one knows
how to extract the nutritious marrow
out of them and then chuck overboard
the empty bone. Of course there are
I growlers and growlers, just as there
are philosophers and philosophers; and
no growler is worth coping with for
j long who has not a great theme to
-■ growl over.
Take, for example, the man who con-
fines his anathemas to such petty sub-
jects as the burnt chop he had for
breakfast or the lumpiness of the bed
1 he slept on the night before at the inn !
' Is he not utterly unworthy of his high
vocation, and soon, deservedly, an ob-
ject of contempt? Such much ado
about nothing as this never yet made
so delightful a comedy as Shakespeare
evoked under the same title. Indeed,
to command due respect, does not your
Diogenes require something as impos^
ing to growl about as an Alexander the
Great, bulking up between himself and
the -narm, genial sunshine he craves to
j thaw him out on a. bleak, chilly day?
I •Then his growQ reverberates clear
down through the generations, and, in
comparison, reduces the mighty Mace-
donian to a email potato.
A gentlemah from Boston, recently
returned home from a visit to Mt. De^
sert. Me., tells the story of a growler
of this more sublimated and ideal order
he fell in with on a steamboat plying
between Southwest Harbor and Bar
Harbor. As is well known, the Atlan-
tic- coast, line of the United States, all
the way from Sandy Hook to the tip
end of Florida, is the vulgarest, most
prosaic and utterly contemptible coast-
lino on the surface of the globe — an
interminable stretch, of unrelieved
beach, backed by pine barrens, with
never an eminence that reaches sev-
enty feet in height, and that mere sand
dune. But here all was glory of moun-
tain, clifP, archipelagoes of outlying isl-
ands, selvages of snow-white foam and
picturesque coves winding their way
inland.
The day was a perfect one of blue
sky, blue sea and sunbursts of re-
splendent light and shade over the
■whole scene. Hence, the Boston man
•was as happy in his own single breast
as a whole colony of barnacles on a
late bare and sunbaked rock, but now
happily visited by the lift of the cool,
refreshing ocean tide, setting every
airy-fairy tentacle athrill with delight
in drawing in the rare feast of nutri-
tive supplies.
"Surely no rhyme nor reason for the
faintest •whisper of a growler today!"
ejaculated the happy Bostonian. "With
a powerful enough glass it might be
possible to discover spots on the sun,
but no fleck anywhere on this tran-
scendent scene, nor failure of response
in ripple and flash of joy to so supreme
i an appeal!" But the Boston gentlemau
had reckoned •without his host.
Indeed, from time to time, as the
steamboat moved along, his attention
had been momentarily attracted to a
man of manifestly superior intellectual
stamp to the average passengers, yel
whose face bore witness to the work^
ing of an inward discontent, hardeuj
ing at intervals to a look qi fierce, con^
temptunus rebuke,, iYet, etrang© to say
the object that called out this sterner
expression was each time a group of
four young maidens of 18 to 20 years
who sat on camp stools with faces
turned toward the shore line of the
main island, and yet with eyes and
noses buried in books, -which cut off
every sight of the prospect as effect-
ually as though they were all four
down at the bottom of the steamer's
hold. These eyes — no doubt of cerulean
blue or flashing black— they never once
lifted from their books, unwilling for
a moment to suffer the spectacle of the
cliffs of Schooner head— with the bil-
lows Ibooming at their base and dasb-
ing their masses of spray fifty feet into
the air — to interrupt the spellbound in- ;
torest with "whidi each one of the fonr
was awaiting the finale whether the
special Alonzo of the novel she had in
hand got at last the Melissa of his
sighs and vows. Resolutely as when
St. Paul, reasoning with tremblirtg
Felix of righteousness, temperance and
judgment to come, got for sole answer,
"Go thy way for this time ; when I have
a convenient season I will call fclr
thee !" even so resolutely did the four
absor'bed maidens reply to the appeal
of the grandeur and sublimity of
Schooner head and the deep baritone
of the swell booming at its base.
It was jnst at this point that the eye
of the Boston gentleman and the ej6
of the seeming John the Baptist of tho
desert chanced to meet, and, as it were,l
hook on to one another. The effect) j
was magical. In an instant the man |
clothed (metaphorically) in raiment of
camel's hair and the man clothed in
blue serge and the finest culture of
Boston were side by side. There were
no preliminaries of introduction. "Sir,
did you ever witness a more distress-
ing, a more tragic spectacle?" broke
out he of the camel's hair with, an im-
petuosity that showed he must get re-
lief in colloquial expression or burst.
"And this is called education, this is
called the higher culture, this is the
vaunted outcome of what is to be hoped
for of familiarity with the best in liter-
ature— these myopic, blear-eyed, ner-
vously winking creatures, who have
never besitowed a passing glance on the
finest sail America has to offer and
which ought to leave behind impres-
sions so vivid as ever after to remain
springs of joy to them to their dying
day!
"Pardon me, sir, but this is a subject
on which I cannot hold my peace. It
haunts me day and night. Be where I
may anywhere about these islands — on
top of one of these mountains or lying off
on the rocks watching the eternal play
and exquisite colors of the waters— I
encounter from, one to a dozen of these
siense-paralyzed young women with her
infernal book, to 'put out' the scenery
witii, blearing her eyes, stopping her
ears and dnlling her sense of smell tiU
she can neither see the majesty of the
cliffs, hear tlie marmuTnif "®rTBe~pTne§"
nor scent the tonic invigoration of the
balsam, salt and iodine. And yet
these poor benighted creatures will
affect to shed tears of pity over the
fate of Helen Kfijier. Why, by devel-
oping and perfecting the one sense she
has — the sense of touch — Helen Keller
sees, hears and drinks in the pei'fume
of more objects of beauty and fascina-
tion than a whole bevy of such forlorn
and orphaned beings ! While, in her
mind's eye, she can lie out and watch
by the hour the magic evolutions of a
flock of circling gulls, these poor creat-
ures cannot fix attention on this poetry
of motion for five minutes without hav-
ing to relieve the strain of tension, by
reopening their books to pursue the
agitating fates of Alonzo and Melisisa.
"Sir, if I were the father of those
.four young women there, and so had au-
thority, do you want to know what I
would do on the spot? I'd stride straight
across this deck and snatch her book
out of each one of their hands and fling
it into the sea. And then I'd shout:
'You are blasphemously insulting Al-
mighty God and turning yourselves •
into idiots ; and if I were he I'd sink
this steamboat to the bottom just to i
drown out four such ingrates.' Neither -
would I care how much consternation I
caused among the passengers. It would
only serve, like the thunders and light-
nings of Mt. Sinai, to enforce the awful
significance of my decalogue, 'Thou
shalt not read in nature's presence I'
Murder the senses by thus taking out
of the divine creation all rich response
to its color, perfume, ripple, heave of
ocean and majesty of mountain, and
what will be left to worship or glory
in?. All will grow drab and insipid as
you jot
1n\\ t J-. YTL3L^g»^cV\. vx'be^ts . hew^
[\\x<Jv>.feV Su^. \9c>5r.
HELEN KELLAR IN TOWN.
Miss Helen Keilar, the world famous
college graduate blind, deaf and dumb
girl, with her teacher, who was a Miss
Sullivan until her recent marriage,
passed through Milford today, on a trol-
ley excursion. Two other ladies and a
gentleman were in the party, who
stopped for dinner at Hotel Willian,
Miss Keller, with her teacher, was in
Milford once before, about two years
M9'
''lillss Helen Keliar, the blincrT'a'Siff fha
dumb girl, with- an., international reputa-
tion was In Milford, today, on a trolley
trip' and in corrttmay with a party of twt
women and a man, ate dinner at the
Willian hotel. Miss Keliar was in Mil-
ford two years ago and stopped for di.n-
ner at the "Willian.
vlWe\s<^a>.m^%^^t.\vv3c^eVVs.l\ec.o-r<L
MISS HELEN KELLER
AT WHlfMAN STUDIO
Miss Helea Keller and her sister,
Miss Mildred Keller of Florence,
Ala., and Mrs. John Macy of Wren-
thain, had sittings at the Whitman
Studio one day this week. The
photographs of Miss Helen 'Keller,
taken at this studio, some time ago,
have attracted much atientipi^) and
have been reproduced in leading
magazines of the country.
r V «
Helen Keller, who has been passing a
quiet summer at Wrentham, was in
Boston for a short time last week. Miss
Keller has had a long rest since the
close of the college year, and she is
greatly improved in health and spirits.
She has been staying with her former
secretary, Mrs. Macy, who waa married
last year to J. A. Macy, the prominent
Harvard instructor, -aho was greatly
aided Miss Keller in her literary work.
WRENTHAM. ^5 \
Helen Keller, who has been passing
a quiet sunimer at Wrentham, was in
Boston for a short time last week.
Miss Keller has had a long rest since
the close of the college year, and she
is greatly improved in health and
spirits. j
■ ■■ — ■- ■■ — ^ ■ -—.-I ■■■- — „ , -!—■»■ !■ ■ 1—^^^^
1| An interesting incident at the State
bath house last week was a visit from
Miss Helen Kellar.the oelbrated blind
student. ..-. . \
ITheVELLSPRING^
® FOR YOUNG PEOPLE ©
A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED PAPER
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
PUBLISHED BY
THE PILGRIM PRESS
BOSTON: 14 Beacon Street
New York: 156 Fifth Avenue
Chicago: 175 Wabash Avenue
M. C. HAZARD. Ph. D., Editor
Room N0.S03 Congregational House, Boston
Helen Keller -with a Rose
Others maj' see thee : I behold thee not ;
Yet most I think thee, beauteous blossom.
mine :
For I, who walk in shade, like Proser-
pine—
Things once too briefly looked on, long
forgot —
Seem by some tender miracle divine.
^^'hen breathing thee, apart.
To hold the rapturous summer warm within
my heart.
We understand each other, thou and I !
Thy velvet petals laid against my cheek.
Thou feelest all the voiceless things I
speak.
And to my j-earning makest mute reply :
Yet a more special good of thee I seek.
For God who made — oh, kind ! —
Beauty for one and all. gave fragrance for
the blind !
— Florence Earlc Coates, in The Century.
The Ohio Chronicle.
Published every Saturday during the school year
at the Ohio Instittition for the Education
of the Deaf and Dumb.
What I Am Doing
By Helen Keller
In Ladies' Home Journal for September
ON THE day of our graduation
from college the royal road of
life stretches before us invitingly,
and we are eager to begin the jour-
ney. We fancy that no obstacle can
stand before us, for youth is invinci-
ble. We rush out of the gates with
fiery zeal to do something, we charge
upon life like an invading army con-
fident of victory. The beginnings of
the march — how certain, glad and
free they are I The world is a good
deal out of joint, perhaps; but we of
the trained minds, the skilled hands,
the courageous hearts shall set it
right. We will take up the great pro-
blems that are trying men's souls
and solve them by the simple rules
we have learned in college. Have we
not sat at the feet of sages and econ-
omists? We have all the necessary
formulas, and all that remains is to
put thejn in practice.
"Oh," cries the cynic, "you will
feel differently by-and-by when life
takes you roughly by the collar and
sets you some tedious, inglorious
task in some out-of-the-way corner
of the universe. Wait and see."
But the graduate does not hearken
to the cynic. The myriad-lianded
future stretches forth, bountiful
palms. How wonderful it is, this
world that is to be our workshop and
our temple! We shall pour our
young strength into it, we shall glo-
rify, intensify and fulfill its noble
ideals.
Has Ambitions Which Are Impossible
to Realize
On the day of my graduation I too
had dreams of large service and
splendid achievement. But the ave-
nues of usefulness open to me were
not many, and even while I stood
debating which I should follow, I
found that I had no choice in the
matter. Things thrust themselves
upon me, and I was glad to grasp the
world somewhere, even if it was not
left me to choose which end I should
take. Of course, like other girls, I
have still ambitions which are im-
possible to realize, and often incon-
gruous and grotesque. The blind and
the crippled imagine themselves per-
forming some daring feat that re-
quires gieat powers of body and
steadiness of eye. A little crippled
boy. in the hospital, who had never
walked, used to ta k about soldiering
when he grew up, and glow as he told
how he would carry the banner of
his regiment. 1, who cannot walk
alone to the road near my house, am
alhrill at the thought of finding the
North Pole — of seeing with my own
eyes, or finger, the spot that gave me
so much trouble long ago when my
teachers delighted in confusing me
about that debatable point. "Helen,
how many bears could climb the
North Pole at once?" I promptly
answered, "One large bear and one
little bear, because he could hold on
to the big bear's tail." So while I
sit here at my desk writing this arti-
cle, the real Helen Keller is slaying
lions and tigers in the heart of dark-
est Africa,
There is something pathetic, and
at the same time natural, in the fact
that the weak and the helpless dream
of a life of activity. It is this boon
of imagination that takes the sting
out of the grim facts that confront
us. We may never leave our beds,
we may have never seen the light of
day ; but imagination picks us up
bodily and drops us on a ship, and
we feel at home on the lifting waves.
But because things are not as we
would wish is no reason why we
should not make the best of things
as they are. They are all we have to
work with — here. We may not real-
ize our ideals, but we may always
idealize our realities, and our ideals
must be practical if we are to make
a reliffion of them and live by them.
She Finds Work About Her, and Is
Never Idle
As I say, I found work all about
me, and since I graduated I have not
been idle. It is very amusing to
hear what kind people say. "'Your
days are so monotonous!" said a
well-intentioned lady, "a succession
of getting-ups and lying downs in
the dark, «o to speak." ''You must |
get very tired doing- nothing," said
another; "you must miss college
which was a pleasant break in the
day for you." I am often asked
why I did not take up a post-gradu-
ate course which would have given
me something to do and occupied my
mind.
"I should think," continued the
inqu-irer, "that you would get bored,
just thinking, thinking, thinking
all day long." "Oh, you know I can
interlard the thinking with reading,"
I replied. "Yes, I kuow, but you
ought not to read, it's so bad for
your health."
These good people in the plenitude
of their sympathy deny me my work,
and would take away even my pleas-
ure. If they could look, in upon me
some morning, at nine o'clock or
even earlier, they would find me
abundantly occupied with tasks left
over from yesterday, and in a race to
beat the postman who brings to-day's
mail at noon. If I am fortunate
enough to have finished the day's
tasks, or ralher the tasks of yester-
day, I may be found reading for
pleasure. If it is bad for my health
it certainly is good for ni}' spirit. I
do not want to forget^ how to read;
for I hope 1 shall some day do a lit-
tle more studying, on my own ac-
count, be it understood — I shall not.
take a post-graduate course. I have
left my college days for good with the
long, delightful vacation-times when
I dodged work with a clear consci-
ence and idled away the happy days
under a greenwood-tree.
Since my graduation I have writ-
ten several articles : one, an essay on
the hand, its place in the life of man
and in my life; another, an essay on
Radcliffe College, its aims and ide-
als; and a little sermon to girls who
are about to enter college. However
humble it is when it apijears on the
printed page, every article I write
requires much time and labor. My
teaciier must look up information
which I have no means of getting my-
self; for most books and periodicals
are not in raised print. From what
is accessible to my fingers I must
cull carefully ideas and suggestions
pertinent to my subject and note it
all down in Braille. When I wrote
the article on the hand I spent many
da3's searching in my books for illus-
trations and salient passages, and
my teacher had to look u]) many re-
ferences for me. I have begun to put
together my views on the condition
of the adult blind, and 1 shall pub-
lish those views when I have gather-
ed them in complete form. Most of
the available material is only in ink
print, and I have had to listen with
my fingers while my teacher spelled
to me all the facts and statistics
from many reports. The writer who
sees can surround himself with the i
books he needs, he can work when he
will and as he will, whereas I must
plan my time and adjust my inspir-
ation to the leisure and inclination
of oLhers.
Listens to the Daily News and
Reads Many Letters
Just here I am interrupted in the
writing of this article to go about
one of the little domestic duties of
which I have my share. I have
hardly finished dusting my study
when my teacher comes in with a
newspaper and a budget of letters.
I listen to some news of the day and
read a great many letters. All this
has been trilling enough, yet it has
taken two hours, and wheii I come
back to the present writing, it occurs
to me to say that for one who is deaf
and blind the little unimportant
things of life require more time and
effort than they cost one who can
see and hear.
Again I am interrupted, this time
for several days. The Massachu-
setts Association for the Promotion
of the Interests of the Adult Blind
has asked me to speak at a meeting
to lay before the citizens and legis-
lators of the State the industrial
needs of the blind. I consent and
set about formulating my ideas and
collecting information. I know that
my spoken words will not be under-
stood ; but my teacher will repeat
them after me, the next' day the
newspapers will report the speech,
information about the adult blind
will spread among the people, and
the good cause will be driven for-
ward a stage. Since this Associa-
tion was formed I have been the will-
ing advocate of its efforts to give the
blind industrial training and help
them to positions of self-support.
It is gratifying to me that there has
been of late a general awakening to
the imperative need of the blind
from Maine to Colorado, and it is in-
teresting to me to learn that the
movement in Colorado was suggest-
ed by a report of the work that is
being done in Massachusetts.
It was to further the cause which
is so near to my heart thiti I went
to the Exposition at St. Louis, the
greatest educational exposition the
world has ever seen. It strengthen-
ed the faith of the optimist that be-
side the mighty machinery, the
handicraft of man in his power,
stood the silent work of the philan-
thropist and the teacher.
When I returned from the Expo-
sition and took up my work again, I
felt as if I had retired into obscurity
and solitude. But the great world
has followed me into this corner of
New England, amid fields and mead-
ows and the noiseless life of the
country. I hear news of great enter-
prises and all the varied interests of
men. The rural carrier brings his
load along the countr}?' way and
leaves a packet of letters and papers
at our gate.
She Has a Very Large Correspond-
ence
I receive so many letters that I
could devote my whole time to them,
if I would, and yet leave many un-
answered. Did I undertake to reply
to them all, I should he obliged to
set up an office with a staff of clerks.
Some of the letters are in Braille,
some in ink which must be spelled
into my hand, some in Hungarian
and Russian which must be trans-
lated for me. They come from Maine,
Texas, South Africa, Arizona, Japan,
Sweden, India, Germany, E^ngland
and Spain, from wherever the heart
of mail is warm and sympathetic.
Some I must disregard, such as let-
ters requesting my autograph or my
picture, those aslviiig questions about
my life which I have already an-
swered in my story, requests from
schoolgirls who wish me to supply
them with material for their grad-
uation essays, and letters from wom-
en who contemplate writing a paper
to be read before their olub, and who
on second thought decide that I
could do it better. But most of the
letters deserve a reply, and many of
them I must reply to myself. In one
of them I find that The Ladies' Home
Journal, which carries its messages
far and wide over the land, has borne
a word of hope to a mother with a
deaf child in some remote nook of
the Southwest. She writes to ask
what can be done for her little son,
and I am at least able to put her in
communication with the nearest
school for the deaf. Another wants
a special teacher for a deaf child, and
I am able to recommend one. Again,
a teacher of the blind in Italy asks
nie for information on some point in
my education, and perhaps if I reply
he may be a little better able to
teach his pupils.
What Some People Write to Her
A Braille letter from a blind stud-
ent in college asks me what courses
of study he can pursue : that is,, he
wants to know in which sul)jects he
can obtain embossed books. I. can
refer him to the principal of the
Pennsylvania Institution for the
Blind, whose interest in the blind is
sincere and intelligent, of to anoth-
er friend, who is a foster-father to
all the the blind and deaf in the
world. There are several blind stud-
ents in colleges for the seeing — at
Chicago University, Bates College,
Vassar and Harvard — and I am glad
that- some of the books which were
made for me are now of use to other
students.
Here is a letter to which an ade-
quate answer would be a volume on
the education of the deaf, the blind
and the feeble-minded. The writer
asks a hundred learned questions
about ideas of color among the blind,
about how it is possible to teach the
deaf-blind abstract ideas, whether
the blind blush, how we dream, if we
had a. conception of God before we
knew language, whether we thought
before we could spell, whether we
feel light with our fingers, and if our
sense of taste and smell increased or
diminished with the growth of our
■knowledge, I cannot begin to an-
swer all the questions that are put to
me, but I can often refer seekers for
information to the right sources. 1
feel sometimes like a bureau of in-
formation with sub-stations and un-
numbered applicants.
A letter comes from a French sa-
vant, who questions me in all that
man may know or woman guess
about the psychology of tactual
sensation. Another writer wants to
introduce me to the great authors of
Spain. A Scotchman sends me his
book on mathematics and a delight-
ful letter telling of sixty years' ex-
perience in teaching that science at
the University of Edinburgh. A man
in South Africa, who is interested in
sound and- its relation to the laws of
the pendulum, sends me some results
of his experiments. A missionary
in China writes me a long letter
about his work and the strange cus-
toms of the people for whom he lab-
oas. A letter from Bohemia asks
permission to translate my book and
requests a special message. Such
letters as the last I usually refer to
my publishers; but often I reply
myself.
An inventor writes me a long let-
ter about some machine which he has
just contrived, and which he hopes
will write Braille and ink-print and
send telegraph messages all at once.
It is interesting to me to find how
many men ill different parts of the
world are at work on writing ma-
chines. But as yet they have added
nothing to the mechanical equip-
ment with which I started years ago :
a good typewriter and a Braille writ-
er.
A Unique Letter From a Cowboy '
No letter, I think, has given mci
more pleasure than one I received
from a cowboy who had nothing to
offer- but his kind, rough words of
cheer and appreciation. He was
very enthusiastic about Miss Sulli-
van's method ; he said he knew it was
"all right," because he had "broken
bronchos" himself. He knew the
difficulty of teaching English be-
cause he had tried once to ''luirr' a
German kid United States," I en-
joyed ever}'- word of the breezy letter,
which was dated sixteen miles from
— somewhere. The hearty good will
of the American cowboy on the lone-
ly plains of Arizona makes him kin
, in my heart with the noble-minded,
I sorrowing Queen of Spain, wko, in
the midst of grief and many cares,
has a thought for me. Indeed, all
gifts, messages and letters are pre'-
cious to me because they declare the
abundance of love and the quickness
of human sympathy.
I am often asked to send books to
the l)lind, to mark playing-cards in
Braille for them, or suggest other
games which they can learn and
thereby make the long days less
wearisome. Last December I heard
from a deaf girl who works early and
late in a factory trying to earn a liv-
ing. She wanted to enlist my ser-
vices in getting books and maga-
zines for a little circulating library,
which, she hoped, would support her-
self and her aged mother more com-
fortably. I told the circumstances
to a friend, and he repeated them at
his -club. Instantly several men
took out their purses and gave him
a little money to send the poor wo-
man for Christmas. A lady in far-off
Turkey wrote me about a little
school for blind children which she
was endeavoring to carry on, in ad-
dition to other work, with small
means and little encouragement. I
sent her letter to a Boston newspa-
per, and to my delight a looker-out
tor oppoitunities to do good sent her
a contribution.
Almost every day I get a cheery
letter from one who lies smiling,
bright, patient and unembittered,
on the rack of pain, or from one who
performs the most uninteresting
drudgery with joy, believing that it
has its mysteries and its wonderful
side. I love to send a word to those
who have not yet learned what a good
fight it is possible to make even
when our best guns have been taken.
No one is so maimed or imprisoned
but God has a bit of work for him
somewhere.
All this correspondence is my
great pleasure, but it requires time
and effort, and insures me — and two
other people — against idleness !
Hopes to Make Her Niche of the
World Good
The urgent, stirring activity about
me impresses me continually with
the absolute necessity of work. I
must make my niche of the world
good and find out what things will
grow where the sunshine never pene-
trates. The answer to my longing
for usefulness is always clear and
steady: "God in His infinite good-
ness has seen fit to make the flowers
of the bitter-almond tree sweet.
Take them in thine hand, scatter
them in the barren places of the
world, in the world of work, where
the tumult of business deafens men
and women to the music of their
own hearts. Tell them that God
has brought thee out of darkness,
even the prison-house where was
neither light nor sound of spoken
word; and, behold, they shall be
amazed, and marvel much at the
miracle that has happened, and they
shall know that love is indeed the
greatest thing, since it hath wrought
this miracle, and in that hour their
hearts shall be made soft, and great
tenderness shall come upon them, so
that they cannot rest until all their
fellowmen are free and happy. Yet
a little while, and the night of igno-
rance, selfishness and pride fleethj
and behold, the day cometh, her
wings dipped in light which bringeth
health and peace to the nations."
;
Miss Helen Keller, tlie famous blind
girl, will visit Portland in Pebruarj''
and will atpeisr in an entertainment
under the auspices of the club women
of Portland for the benefit of the Maine
Institution of the Blind .'
Gr\ofce. Otttobe-r %\
!fi Keller, Blinil Girl Who Has Achieved So Much,
Hopes Sight May be Restored.
MISS HELEiM KELLER
TUSCUMBIA, Ala.^Oct 31— Helen Kel-
ler, -who was born' deaf, dumb and
blind, but whose achievements intellec-
tually have siirprised teachers, lives In
the hope of seeing President Roosevelt.
When the President started on
trip through the south she evinced keen
interest and had every speech read to
her, After the speecn in Richmond, in
which he referred to having an uncle
who had fought in the confederate
, navy, Miss Keller engaged in earnest
I prayer asking that sight might be ^ive^i-
his i her -before death so that she could see
President Roosevelt.
V"\o\vo Ke-.Trv^^s>a_Q,\vw'^e\-Y^~TY-a,n'bCLT\ V>f.
The story is given out that Hele« teller
is praying for sight so that she may be]
able to see President Roosevelt with hsr
own eyes. It is a foolish prayer in a !
way, for the view of President Roosevelt
that one gets by way of ones eyes isi the
least satisfying. Mr. Roosevelt pleases
pretty nearly every sense and every taste,
except that of vision. He can lay claim
to more than most men, but he i3 no
Adonis.
'^o^'^^^^f^ ro^
>V.
Tlo V e Tx^ ^ e r
U
\^
o^.
eilND HtLEN ICEtLER
,. f f^YS TO SEE ROOSEVELT
■ TUSCUMBIA, Ala.. Oct. 31.~Helen Kel-
ler, who was born deaf, dumb and blind,
Ives in the hope of seeing- President
Roosevelt.
When the President started on his
Tip through the South she evinced keen
nterest and had every speecli read to
ler.
After the speech In Richnaond, in which
le referred to having an uncle who had
ought in the Confederate navy, Miss
Celler engaged in earnest prayer, aslcing
hat sight might be given her before
leath so that she could see President
loosevelt,^^ . .,.-,v«-^ ■.^».,r-.-.>^:«-.=~<'«»'..vf» vi-«»«i.^..--
«nay see
Helen Keller is prayinig that ish
be given her sight thait she 'may
Pre^idemt Roosevelt, about whom she
has read much and in whose career she
is greatly interested. Certainly her
prayers will be echoeid by many others,
who would like to have this beautiful
and inte'llieotual young wo;man see not
only President Roosevelt, but every«^
thing that is beautiful in this great
world. No oaie would appreciate it
miOre. .
TKENTON, N. J., T^OVEMBEE, 1905.
What I am Doin^
By Helen Keller.
'i'printed by kind pcri)iissio)i of The Ladies' Home Journal for September ig<.
HHI.KX KHI.I.KR
Photo-engraved by Chas. J. L,eClercq of New York.
ON THE day of our
graduation from col-
lege the ro3'al road of
life stretches before us
invitingly, and we are eager
to begin the -journey. We
, fanc3' that no obstacle can
I stand before us, for 3'-outh is
I invincible. We rush out of
the gates with fiery zeal to do
something, we charge upon
life like an invanding arm3-
confident of victory. The
beginnings of the march —
how certain, glad and free
they are ! The world is a
good deal out of joint, per-
haps ; but we of the trained
minds, the skilled hands, the
courageous hearts shall set it
right. We will take np the
great problems that are tr^--
ing men "s souls and solve
them bj' the simple rules we
I have learned in college. Have
we not sat at the feet of sages
' and economists ? We have
all the necessary formulas,
and all that remains is to pxit
them in practice.
"Oh," cries the cynic,
" you will feel differentU' by-
and-by when life takes 3'ou
roughly by the collar and
sets 3^ou some tedious, in-
glorious task in some out-of-
the-way corner of the uni-
verse. Wait and see ' '
But the graduate does not
harken to the cynic. The
myriad-handed future
stretches forth bountiful
palms. How wonderful it is,
this world that is to be our
work-shop and our temple !
We shall pour our \'oung
strength into it, we shall
glorify, intensif}^ and fulfill
its noble ideals.
HAS AMBITIONS WHICH ARE
IMPOSSIBI.E TO REALIZE.
On the day of my gradua-
tion I, too, had dreams of
large service and splendid
achievement. But the ave-
nues of usefulness open to me
were not many, and even
when I stood debating which
I should follow I found that
I had no choice in the matter. Things thrust
themselves upon me, and I was glad to grasp the
world somewhere, even if it was not left me to
choose which end I should take. Of course, like
other girls, I have still ambitions which are im-
possible to realize, and often incongruous and
grotesque. The blind and the crippled imagine
themselves performing some daring feat that re-
quires great powers of the body and steadiness of
he eye. A little crippled boy in the hospital, who
had never walked, used to talk about soldiering
when he grew up, and glow as he told how he
would carry the banner of his regiment. I, who
cannot walk alone to the road near my house, am
athrill at the thought of finding the North Pole —
of seeing with my own eyes, or fingers, the spot
that gave me so much trouble long ago when my
teachers delighted in confusing nie about that
debatable point. " Helen, how many bears could
climb the North Pole at once ?"I promptly an-
swered, ' ■ One large bear and
one little bear, because he j
could hold on to the big bear's: |
tail. ' ' So while I sat here at
my desk writing this article,
the real Helen Keller is slay-
ing lions and tigers in the 1
heart of darkest x\f rica. i
There is something!
pathetic, and at the same time
natural, in the fact and the
weak and the helpless dream
of a life of activity. It is this
boon of imagination that
takes the sting out of the
grim facts that confront us.
We may never leave our beds,
we may never have seen the
light of the day ; but ima-
gination picks us up bodily
and drops us upon a ship,
and we feel at home on the
lilting waves. But because
things are not as we wotild
wish is no reason why we
should not make the best of
things as they are. They are
all we have to work with —
here. We ma}- not realize our
ideals, but we may always
idealize our realities, and our
ideals must be practical if we
are to make a relig-ion of
them and live by them.
SHE FINDS WORK ABOUT
HFR, AND IS NEVER IDLE
As I say, I found work all
about me, and since I gradu-
ated I have not been idle. It
is ver\^ amusing to hear what
kind people say. ' ' Your
days are so monotonous ! ' '
said a well-intentioned lady,
' ' a succession of getting-up
and l3-ing-downs in the dark,
so to speak. " " You must get
ver}- tired doing nothing,"
said anotJier ; ' ' 3-ou must
miss college, which was a
pleasant break in the day for
you. ' ' I am often asked why
I did not take up a post-
graduate course which would
have given me something to
do and occupied my mind.
" I should think, " contin-
ued the inquirer, ' ' that you
would get terribly bored, just
thinking, thinking, think-
ing, all day long. " " Oh, you know I can inter-
lard the thinking with reading," I replied.
"Yes, I know, but you ought not to read, it's
so bad for your health. ' '
These good people in the plenitude of their
sj'mpathj' deny me my work, and would take
away even my pleasure. If they could look in
upon me some morning, at nine o'clock or even
earlier, they would find me abundantly occupied
with tasks left over from yesterday, and in a race
to beat the postman who brings to-day 's mail at
noon. If I am fortunate enough to have finished
the day's tasks, or rather the tasks of yesterday,
I may be found reading for pleasure. If it is bad
for ray health it certainly is good for m.}- spirit.
I do not want to forget how to read ; for I hope I
shall some day do a little more studying, on my
own account, be it understood — I shall not take a
post-graduate course. I have left m}" college da3'S
for good with the long, delightful vacation-times
when I dodged work with a clear conscience and
idled awa\- the happ\- da3'S under a greenwood-
tree.
Since rti}' graduation I have written several
articles : one, an essay on the hand, its place in
the life of man and in my life ; another an essay
on RadclifFe College, its aims and ideals ; and a
little sermon to girls who are abotit to enter
college. However humble it is when it appears
on the printed page, every article I write requires
much time and labor. My teacher must look upj
information which I have no means of getting
myself; for most books and periodicals are not in
raised print. From what is accessible to my
fingers I must cull carefully ideas and suggestions |
pertinent to my subject and note it all down ini
Braille. When I wrote the article on the hand I
spent many days searching in my books for illus-
strations and salient passages, and my teacher
laad to look up many references for me. I have ,
begun to put together my views on the condition '
of the adult blind, and I shall publish those views
when I have gathered them in complete form.
Most of the available material is only in ink
print, and I have had to listen with my fingers
while. my teacher spelled to me all the facts and j
statistics from many reports. The writer who
sees can surround himself with the books he I
needs, he can work when he will, whereas I must ^
plan my time and adjust my inspiration to the '
leisure and inclination of others.
LISTENS TO THE DAILY NEWS AND READS MANY
LETTERS
Just here I am interrupted in the writing of this
article to go about one of the little domestic duties |
of which I have my-share. I have hardly finished
dusting my study when my teacher comes in with
a newspaper and a budget of letters. I listen to
some news of the day and read a great many
letters. All this has been trifling enough, yet it
has taken two hours, and when I come back to
the present writing it occurs to me to say that for
one who is deaf and blind the little unimportant
things of life require more time and effort than
they cost one who can see and hear.
Again I am interrupted, this time for several
days. The Massachusetts Association for the
Promotion of the Interests of the Adult Blind ha^
asked me to speak at a meeting to lay before the
citizens and legislators of the State the industrial
needs of the blind. I consent and set about for-
mulating my ideas and collecting information. I
know that my .spoken words will not be under-
stood ; but my teacher will repeat them after me,
the next day the newspapers will report the
speech, information about the adult blind will
spread among the people, and the good cause will
be driven forward a stage. Since this Association
was formed I have been the willing advocate of its
efforts to give the blind industrial training and
help them to positions of self-support. It is
gratifying to me that there has been of late a
general awakening to the imperative need of the
blind from Maine to Colorado, and it is intere.sting
to me to learn that the movement in Colorado was
suggested by a report of the work that is being
done in Massachusetts.
It was to further the cause which is so near to
my heart that I went to the Exposition at St.
Louis, the greatest educational exposition the
world has ever seen. It strengthened the faith of
the optimist that beside the might}- machinery,
the handicraft of man in his power, stood the
silent work of the philanthropist and the teacher.
When I returned from the Exposition and took
Tip my work again I felt as if I had retired into
obscurity and solitude. But the great world has
followed me into this corner of New England,
amid fields and meadows and the noiseless life of
the countr}'. I hear news of great enterprises
and all the varied interests of men. The ntral
carrier brings his load along the country way and
leaves a packet of letters and papef^ at our gate.
SHE HAS A VERY LARGE CORRESPONDENCE
I received so many letters that I could devote
my whole time to them, if I would, and yet leave
many unanswered. Did I undertake to reply to
them all I should be obliged to set up an office
with a staff of clerks. Some of the letters are in
Braille, some in ink which must be spelled into my
hand, some in Hungarian and Russian which must
be translated for me. They come from Maine,
Texas, South Africa, Arizona, Japan, Sweden,
India, Germany, England and Spain, from where-
ever the heart of man is warm and sympathetic.
Some I must disregard, such as letters requesting
my autograph or my picture, those asking ques-
tions about m}- life which I have already answered
in my story, requests from school girls who wish
me to supply them with material for their gradua-
tion essays, and letters from women who contem-
plate writing a paper to be read before their club,
and who on second thought decide that I could do
it better. But most of the letters deserve a reply,
and many I must reply to myself. In one of them
I find that The Ladies' Home Journal which car-
ries its messages far and wide over the land, has
borne a word of hope to a mother with a deaf child
in some remote nook of the Southwest. She writes
to ask what can be done for her little son, and I am
at least able to put her in communication with the
nearest school for the deaf. Another person wants
a special teacher for a deaf child, and I am able to
recommend one. Again, a teacher of the blind in
Italy asks me for information on some point in my
education., and perhaps if I reply he may be a little
better able to teach his pupils.
WHAT SOME PEOPLE WRITE TO HER
A braille letter from a blind student in college
asks me what courses of stud}' he can pursue :
that is, he wants to know in which subjects he
can obtain embossed books. I can refer him to
the principal of the Pennsylvania Institution for
the Blind, whose interest in the blind is sincere
and intelligent, or to another friend, who is a
foster-father to all the blind and deaf of the world.
There are several blind students in the colleges
for the seeing — at Chicago University, Bates Col-
lege, Vassar and Harvard — and I am glad that
some of the books which were made for me are
now of use to other students.
Here is a letter to which an adequate answer
would be a volume on the education of the deaf,
the blind and the feeble-minded. The writer asks
a hundred learned questions about ideas of color
among the blind, about how it is possible to teach
the deaf-blind abstract ideas, whether the blind
blush, how we dream, if .we had a conception of
God before we knew language, whether we
thought before we could spell, whether we feel
light with our fingers, and if our sense of taste
and smell has increased or diminished with the
growth of our knowledge. I cannat begin to
answer all the questions that are put tome, but I
can often refer seekers after information to the
right sources. I feel sometimes like a bureau of
information with sub-stations and tinntimbered
applicants.
A letter comes from a French savant, who
questions me in all that man may know or woman
guess about the psychology of tactual sensation.
Another writer wants to introduce me to the
great authors of Spain. A Scotchman sends me
his book on mathematics and a delightful letter
telling of sixty years' experience in teaching that
science at the University of Bdinsburg. A man
in South Africa, who is interested in sound and
its relation to the laws of the pendulum, sends
me some results of his experiments. ~ A mission-
ary in China writes me a long letter about his ;
work and the strange customs of the people for ,
whom he labors. A letter from Bohemia asks
permission to translate my book, and requests a
special message. Such letters as the last I usual-
ly refer to my publishers ; but often I reply my-
self.
An inventor writes me a long letter about some
machine which he has just contrived, and which
he hopes will write Braille and ink-print and
send telegraph messages all at once. It is
interesting to me to find how many men in dif-
ferent parts of the world are at work on writing-
machines. But as yet they added nothing to the
mechanical equipment with which I started years
ago : a good typewriter and Braille writer.
A UNIQUE LETTER FROM A COWBOY
No letter, I think, has giveti me niore pleasure
than one I received from a cowboy who had noth-
I ing to offer but his kind, rough words of cheer
I and appreciation. He was verj- entusiastic about
I Miss Sullivan 's method ; he said he knew it was
j "all right, ' ' because he had ' ' broken broncos ' '
I himself. He knew the difficulty of teaching
English, because he had tried once to " lurn a
German kid United States." I enjoj-ed every
word of the breezy letter, which was dated six-
teen miles from — somewhere. The heart)- good
will of the American cowboy on the lonely plains
of Arizonia makes him kin in my heart with the
: noble-minded, sorrowing Queen of Spain, who,,
in the midst of grief and many cares, has a
thought for me. Indeed, all gifts, messages and
letters are precious to me because they declare
the abundance of love and the quickness of
human sympathy.
I am often asked to send books to the blind, to
mark playing-cards in Braille for them, or sug-
gest other games which they can learn and there-
by make the long days less wearisome. Last
December I heard from a deaf girl who works
early and late ifi a factory trying to earn a living.
She wanted to enlivSt my services in getting
books and magazines for a little circulating
library, which, she hoped, woiild support herself
and her aged mother more comfortablj-. I told
the circumstances to a friend, and he repeated
them at his club. Instantly several men took
out their purses and gave him a little mone}- to
send the poor woman for Christmas. A lady in
far-off Turkey wrote me about a little school for
: blind children which she was endeavoring to
carry on, in addition to other work, with small
means and little encouragement. I sent her let-
ter to a Boston newspaper, and to my delight a
looker-out for opportunities to do good sent her a
contribution.
Almost every day I get a cheery letter from
one who lies smiling, bright, patient and unem-
bittered, on the rack of pain, or from one who
performs the most uninteresting drudgery with
joy, believing that it has its mysteries and its
wonderful side. I love to send a word to those
who have not yet learned what a good fight it is
possible to, make even when our best guns have
been taken. No one is so maimed or imprisoned
'but God has a bit of work for him somewhere.
All this correspondence is my great pleasure,
but it requires time and effort, and insures me —
and two other people— against idleness !
HOPES TO MAKK HER NICHE OF THE WORLD GOOD
The urgent, stirring activity about me im-
presses me continually with the absolute necessity
of work. I must make my niche of the world
good and find out what things will grow where
the sunshine never penetrates. The answer to
my longing for usefulness is always clear and
steady : ' ' God in His infinite goodness has seen
fit to make the flowers of the bitter-almond tree
sweet. Take them in thine hand, scatter them in
the barren places of the world, in the world of
work, where the tumult of business deafens
men and woijien to the music of their own hearts.
Tell them tfiat God has brought thee out of
darkness, even the prison-house where was nei-
ther light nor sound of spoken word ; and, behold,
they shall be amazed, and marvel much at the
miracle that, has happened, and they shall know
that love is ifldeed the greatest thing, since it hath
wrought this miracle, and in that hour their
hearts shall be made soft, and great tenderness
shall come upon them, so that they cannot rest
until all their fellowmen are free and happy. Yet
a little while, and the night of ignorance, sel-
fishness and pride fleeth, and behold, the daj'
Cometh, her wings, dipped in light which bring-
eth health and peace to the nations. "
Helen Keller i Miiose intellectital
•ichiev^txr^eTits^ despite the fact that sho
was born deaf, dumb and blind, has
surprised teachers all over the world,
said if she could see but one person
today, she would pray that it be our
strenuous President Roosevelt. She
has taken a keen interest in his south-
ern trip, and has had his speeches
brought to her in raise letters, every
one of which she has read.
BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT,
NOVEMBER 11, 1905
I LETTER FROM HELEN KELLER
jTo the Editor of the Transcript:
[ Some time ago I had the pleasure of vis-
iting the Experiment Station for the Blind
in Cambridge. Only a little .more than a
year has elapsed since the Station was
opened, and the progress made by the lit-
tle group of workers in so short a time
filled me with hope and encouragement.
With limited means and inadequate accom-
modation they have produced articles both
useful and beautiful — rugs, curtains, sofa-
pillows, table-covers, and they could pro-
duce more if they had better equipment.
There is room for but few workers at the
Station, and the machinery is insufficient.
The Station depends upon voluntary con-
tributions, and at present there is not even
money to cover current expenses, much less
to extend the work.
The purpose of the Station is to seek out
the blind in their homes, give them efficient
training, discover and try all possible lu-
crative occupations and show employers
and the public what the blind can do tow-
ards earning all or part of their livelihood.
The work is not limited to giving employ-
ment to the few who could be accommo-
dated even in a much larger shop, but aims
to find out and demonstrate what the hun-
dreds of adult blind in Massachusetts can
be taught to do if the ^State provides, all
its siglitless citizens with industrial ti-ain-
ing. The Station is only the beginning of
an enterprise which shall benefit all the
blind in the State, and it deserves the aid
of all the citizens of Massachusetts. '
I a.sk that those who have plenty in-
vest a little of their abundance in tltis
practical work for the sightless. I appeal
not for charity for the afflicted, but for
opportunity .for those who are able and
willing to work. I ask the people to broad-
en and extend the work of the Experiment
Station until every blind person in the Stato
shall have opportunity to earn his bread.
Remember that these blind men and wo-
men are blind through no fault of theirs.
Many were stricken with blindness in the
midst of active lives. Until accident or
disease turned their day to night, their
strength to weakness, they were workers
in factories, machine shops, quarries and
power-houses. They were bread-winners of
families, and asked naught of any man
save a fair chance to woric. am in an in-
stant all was changed. The day was blot-
ted out, and night, black, impenetrable
night fell upon their noonday.
Imagine the despair and impotence that
overwhelm one stricken blind. To the ac-
tive man light is life itself. In the light
he has learned his trade. He has known
his family and his friends by the light that
shines upon their faces. In the light he
has read his books and newspapers, taken
his pleasure, walked abroad with his chil-
dren and gone forth unto his work un-
afraid, unaided. Blindness obliterates all
that he has known. The world is a desert,
without path or horizon or landmark, and
he will never find his way back to work and
the active joy of life unless his fellowmen
lead him kindly by the hand arid guide his
groping feet. He must begin life all over
again, and he needs assistance at the start.
He needs to relearn to use his hands, for he
must use them without his eyes. The gen-
erous citizens of Boston have heard and
obeyed the command: "Feed the hungry,
clothe the naked and shelter the wretched."
I pray them hear the cry of the blind in tho
wilderness: "Give us opportunity to work,
that we may feed, clothe and shelter our-
selves."
On Nov. 15 and 16 an exhibition and sale
of articles made at the Experiment Station
will be held .at Perkins Hall, 204 Boylston
street, from ten in the morning until ten in
the evening. During the day blind weavers
will work at their looms, and work of the
blind in factories for the seeing' will be
shown. Information will be given about
the Experiment Station and its needs.
Contributions may be sent to the treas-
urer of the Massachusetts Association for
Promoting the Interests of the Adult Blind,
Mrs. Mary Morton Kehew, 317 Beacon
street, Boston.
Helen Keller
IISS HELEN KELLER
Will Speak For the By^d At
City Hall, Bangor, Feb. I.
W. J. RYAN IS IN TOWN
W«rk !■ Btbalf of Malae lostitution for
the Bliid Is Belif Eaerseticall^
Pasbed Forward
Bangor is to bare an opportunity Fab.
i of seeing one of the most remarkable
yonng women in the world, Miss Helen
Keller, the blind, deaf and dnjnb girl
whose wonderful progress along educa-
tional lines has astounded the world.
Mies Keller comes to this city m the
interests of the Maine institution for the
blind and another speaker on the same
I occasion will be Charles F. Campbell of
I Massachusetts. " . . , -^
Helen Keller was bom m Alabama
and lost sight and hearing at the age of
li) months as the result of a serious ill-
ness. When she was six years of age
she had a private teacher and m IHSb
when eight years of age entered the Per-
kins Institute at South Boston. Miss
Keller afterwards attended other gchools
and flnallT was graduated with honors
from Radcliffe college. Her wonderful
progress reads like a dream for in spite
of her limitations she seems to learn as
MMidily as any one. ■ ^ ^^ ^ ' ,
It will be remembered I3i.at for the
past three sessions of the legislature a
very determined effort has l>een made to
obtain an appw>pidation for the establifeb-
m«nt of an institution for tie blind in
this state. The movement at the last
session had many friends but did not suc-
ceed in getting a favorable report from
the committee,
W. J, Ryan of Portland who is sec-
retary of the Maine Association for tFe
Blind, has been and is the most earnest
worker in behalf of the project. It i«
lairgely tbrough his efforts that the city
of Portland has conditionally offered a
location. Mr. Ryan is well known in the
state as, although sightless, he has made
his way for years over the state selling
almanacs end in this way has become
personally acquainted with more people,
perhaps, than any other person. His in-
stinct for direction is remarkable and nis
knowledge of the cities and towns which
he visits good. .
Mr. Ryaii is self -supporting. Ever
since he became a young man he has
eatned his own living, overcoming ohsta-
cles that would have discouraged many
men blessed with sight. Btis first work
was as a cane braider and in a i"oom in
the basement of the city buildilig at
Portland he did a good business for years
caning chairs. Changes in fashions and
a desire to get out doors and mix with
people were responsible for his giving up
his workshop and since that time he has
traveled over Maine selling almanacs.
All he ever asked for himself was a fair
chance and an opportunity to earn a liv-
ing. He is doing that and now that he
has. been successful he is working that
Dthers as imfortunate as himself be
given a similar opportunity. He does not
ask charity for them from the state or
from the people. He believes that it is
the duty of the state to make it possible
for everyone to earn a living and to this
«nd he is working in behalf of the Maine
Institution for the Blind, the proposed
school for teaching the blind useful
trade.s. Other states have similar in-
stitutions and he iK>ints out that,
Maine has provided a school for the deaf
and dumb and for those who have crimi-
nal tendencies.
It is the intention to erect a work
Bhot> on the land secured with depart-
ments for broom, basket, caning and
mattress making.
Hon. Morrill N. Drew of Portland is
president of the corporation, Hon. F. E.
Boothby and Hon. Charles H. Randall
of Portland, vice presidents; Harry But-
ler, treasurer, and J. Calvin Knapp,
clerk. The board of directors is as fol-
lows: Morrill N. Drew, Frederick E.
Boothby. Charles H. Randall, Benj.
Thompson. Lyman M. Cousens. Harry
Butler, .T. Putnam Stevens, William J.
Ryan, Portland; J. Calvin Knapp. South
Portland; Joshua L. Chamberlain,
Brunswick; Charles M. Moses, Saco;
Alex. Hagerthy, EHswoi-th; Thomas H.
Phtfir, Presque Isle; Lindley M. Staples,
Washington; George Eaton, Calais; Wil-
liam Lynch, Portland.
I Those in charge o€ the an; .; is
'ifor the coming of Helen Keller to I>au-
]iiC'V to speak in hehaJf of the ilaine In-
j stitntion iov the Blind have decided to
hiive Miss Keller speak in this citj- the
fust of ilarcli, instead of tlie fii'st f£
Febniaiy as had heen intendeil. Slie Avill
be in Portland the fir.st of February.
K\:\:\&^o-r o,\T\.^s^-^Q-Wv^e\:t^ .^vxTt_
Ti^cev^^e^ =^ *^o'>,
VISIT POSTPONED.
Helen Keller and Mrs. Macy Did Not
Call Upon Local Friends as Expected.
Miss Helen Keller and her com-
panion and teactier, Mrs. Macy, were
to have been the guests of Rev. Ellen
G. Gustin and Dr. Laura V. Gustin-
Mackie last evening, Vut they were
unavoidably detained and their visit
was postponed.
Miss Keller's works and accoan-
plishments have attracted consider-
able interest in this community,
partly from the fact that during the
summer months she resides in
Wrentham. She has become well
known to many residents of that
town and also to a few in Attleboro
and North Attleboro.
roTt\a^'n>c^, YTL5>i>ae. U-oAes
4\(2,^^^P(\>\:ieT '^\ l^oS".
He!en Keller's Coming.
The regular meeting of the Gorham
Dames was omitted on account of the
^'no-school" bell, as it is a standing
rule that on these days the meetings
are to be postponed. Owing to the fact
that there is so much business
now before the fclub the meeting will
t>e held next Wednesday afternoon, Dec.
28, with Mrs. Clark H. Barker, Con-
gress street.
Between 30 and 40 letters have been
sent to the clergy in and around;
Portland asking that members of their:
!Ocietl€S -be appointed to serve on a
jerieral committee for Miss Keller's
^isit, '
It was Helen Keller's request that
f she came to Portland she might
lave the privilege if addressing an
ntelligent, sympathetic and thinking
ludience who wou'ld be willing to be
tonvinced ot the truth of her state-
hents, concerning the education of the
tblind. The W. L. U. at its last pro-
igram afternoon, voted to endorse the
[movement of the Gorham Dames in
ibehalf of the work for the Islind and
'to give jts moral support. This is a
igreat stimulus to the work as among
the women of this character will be
found the necessary faith and enthusi-
asm for arousing public sentiment and
shaping public opinion. Miss Keller
[will be accompanied by Mr. and Mrs.
Macey. Miss Sullivan, as the teacher of
Miss Keller, is almost as wonderful as
Helen Keller herself and when Mr.
Macy was seen so often bicycling witlx
|the teacher and her brilliant pupil
{there Avere many who thougih that
there was a love story coming into the
life of this marvelous prodigy of mod-
ern times. It proved, however, that
Miss Sullivan was the attraction and
the end of it all is that Miss Keller
now has two friends devoted to her in-
terests where she at first had but one.
There are hosts of people who are
proud to call the young girl friend, but
there can be to her but one dear teach-
er,-friend, comforter and "light of the
worid" for none can say what she has
done for her. -..mk*'^''
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1905
Dear Listener— In ancient times. wlT^n a
king made a journey through his dominions,
all who had a grievance or a petition met
him at tlie gates of the city, or in the mar-
ket-Dlace, and besought thtir sovereisn to
hear them. In modern times people send
their petitions to the newspapers; for now
the "people is king, and the press is the way
to the monarch's ear. In Boston we send
our appeals to the Transcript. The other
day > ou generously gave me space to plead
the cause of the blind of Massachusetts.
Today my plea is for the deaf of China.
There are about four hundred thousand
deaf persons in China, utterly ignorant and
neglected. The Government has done noth-
ing at all for their education. Their lot is
a peculiarly hard one, harder even than
that of the blind. For, although no provi-
sion has been made for the education of
the blind, yet they are looked up to as
soothsayers and wise men by the people,
and treated with respect, no matter how
poor and ignorant they may be. On the
other hand, the deaf are cruelly treated
even in their own homes, and when they
venture out they are hooted from street to
street, and sometimes stoned by the chil-
dren, because the Chinese believe that deaf-
ness is a punishment for some wrong done
in a previous state of existence.
Some years ago Dr. and Mrs. Mills, mis-
sionaries of the American Presbyterian
Board of Foreign Missions, became inter-
ested in the deaf of China. They had a lit-
tle deaf son of their own. Since her hus-
band's death, 'Mrs. Mills has given her
whole time to the school at Chifu, the only
school for the deaf in China. She is now in
this countrjr soliciting aid for her school.
The Board of Foreign Missions approve
her efforts, but they say that they have no
money for this work.
For years Mrs. Mills has struggled on
with the help of her friends and contribu-
tions from schools for the deaf in America.
But thus far it has been a losing fight. It
has been difficult to interest people in a
cau^e so far from home. Our sympathies
and our purses have been so taxed by the
deprivation and suffering about us, that we
have not much concerned ourselves about
the enlightenment of the heathen Chinese.
But the -day approacheth, yea, it is even
jiow here, when no man shainTve aS'TiTsl
ease while another suffercth, even in dis- 1
tant China or far-away India or darkest
'Africa.
So far most of us have been willing to
entrust the heathen to the various boards;
of foreign missions. But since there seems
to be more to do in benighted China than
the boards of foreign missions can manage,
I thought Boston would like to lend a hand.
There is never a good cause too remote to
enlist the sympathy and support of the City
of Kind Hearts.
The little school at Chifu is a feeble light
in a dark land, and it should not be allowed
to flicker out; for in the infinite wisdom and
goodness of God many such a tiny flame
has become a pillar of fire that has guided
a nation to civilization and fellowship.
Wrentham, Mass. Helen Keller
W^^^mmm]
^^^
''«--s*«r^ . - ■ -^