The Land of Silence. 



249 



Adelaide Church and Institute for* the Adult Deaf and Dumb. 



One can easily enlarge the office of a direc- 

 tor of a Deaf and Dumb Institution or Mis- 

 sion, and mentally surround him with a fas- 

 cinating halo. What a combination a perfect 

 director must be I He lives and moves 

 among people much unlike others, slips into 

 their world of silence. What infinite patience 

 is necessary to reach, the minds of the unin- 

 formed deaf, what love to touch their hearts, 

 what labour to do all that the necessity of 

 their afiflictiton requires ! He is everything in 

 one, pastor, teacher, relief officer, interpreter, 

 guide, philosopher, friend, and common re- 

 cipient of all the deaf mute's troubles. 



NECESSARY REFOKMS FOR THE SCHOOL. 



Air. Abraham, the director of the Victorian 

 Adult Deaf and Dumb Mission, is an en- 

 thusiast in his work, but feels keenly that 

 the deaf mute — at any rate, the child — is not 

 treated with justice. Charity, he grants, he 

 gets. 



and to see Mr. Abraham conducting a service by 

 means of the manual alphabet and gesture lan- 

 guage. So rapid and perfect is this speech that he 

 can translate address after address, delivered orally, 

 for hours at a stretch, as quickly as delivered. 



The Mission is a benevolent society in itself. 

 What assistant' can be given is given to unem- 

 ployed, aged cr infimi. In fact, in every way that 

 is possible the Mission acts as a home to the deaf 

 mute. It finds him work, saves his money in a 

 bank, enlarges his outlook by its monthly magazine, 

 and acts generally as Lord Bountiful in the way of 

 education, instruction, and entertainment. 



THE EMPLOYMENT OF DEAF 

 MUTES. 



But what do deaf mutes do ? 

 Well, briefly, they can do anything 

 where speech is not needed. They 

 are to be found in the ranks of 

 artists, sculptors, schoolmasters (of 

 the deaf), clerks, draughtsmen, and 

 almost all ordinary trades, such as 

 carpenters, tailors, etc. 



" Do the deaf marry ?" someone 

 asks. Yes, but generally another 

 deaf person or a hearing relative 

 of a deaf person. Surh unions are 

 most natural, and prove the hap- 

 piest. The offspring almost in 

 variably hear, though a certain per 

 centage of the children are deal 

 especially where the deafness i 

 more or less hereditary on botl 

 sides. 



but this is not what is wanted. He 

 urges that the deaf mute is not waste mate- 

 rial, not the subject for charity doles; for, properly 

 educated and rightly trained and directed, the 

 average mute will hold his own with the rest of 

 the normal community. He suggests that it is 

 cheaper for the State to give them a good educa- 

 tion, and a fair start in life, than to have them a 

 burden upon their hands, and urges that the States 

 should provide the schools and make education free 

 and compulsory. Most of the European countries, 

 America and Canada have been exercising a direct 

 control over the deaf mute. Certainly it is desir- 

 able that Australia should follow this good example. 

 The cost would not be great. It is estimated that 

 in Victoria about ;^6ooo would cover the whole 

 cost of board and education for the children. If 



South Australian Institution for the Blind Deaf and^Dumb. '.Brighton Adelaide. 



